>From: ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk
---snip---
>
>> different today, how can people relate to this? While there are still a few
>> people who know how to make a horseshoe at a blacksmiths there will be
>> nobody who knows how to run the early mainframes in 50 years, things are
>
>Rubbish!. Are you seriously trying to tell me that these skills can't be
>learnt? I would claim that anybody who _truely_ understood a modern
>machine would have no problems on an older one. The fact that very few
>people understand modern computers is the problem, not that the older
>machines are so different.
>
>-tony
>
Hi
I think these older machines are easier to work on. Things
are more exposed and excessable. Most of the newer machines
one has today are not even as repairable( motherboard fails,
swap out motherboard! ).
Dwight
Anybody know where to get memory (4mb simm or better) for a mac IIfx cheap or
have some they dont want. I think its 64 pin proprietary memory (also used in
a specific mac printer cant recall).
Its funny how apple makes proprietary memory for only 1 specific model
computer (how is that cost effective?), just like the memory upgrade for my
apple 4/600 PS laser (one of a kind).
Hi,
What is the official current subscriptionprocedure
to subcribe to the cctalk list ?
Sipke de Wal
----------------------------------------------------
http://xgistor.ath.cx
----------------------------------------------------
Hello Toth,
Noticed you posted on the web back in Dec of 2002 you
had a pallet full of JC80 parts, we are still using
the JC80 here at the University of Texas, do you still
have those parts?
Thank you,
Jeff McComas
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com
This afternoon, I hauled home an IBM System/36 - PC (5364), complete
with dedicated IBM PC (5150), Monitor, KB, cables and an IBM 4224
printer, but no documentation, all from my local Farmer's Insurance
agent. The system is complete, including the "Farmers Master System
Diskette". The components are badged "Farmers Insurance Group 5280Z".
Googling indicates that these systems were fairly common.
The system boots to the Service Control Menu, then continues the IPL to
a IPL Sign On menu.
Does anyone know the Service password or the Backup Service password for
the Service Control Menu? Does anyone know another way into this system?
I am an absolute neophyte on this system, so any help, warnings, war
stories, etc. would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Martin Marshall
I guess this might be slightly OT, and maybe a little bit of a rant,
though lots of Diamond products are easily 10 years old or older...
I just found out today that the massive archive of drivers and firmware
that was on the the Diamond ftp server [ftp://ftp.diamondmm.com/] is gone.
I didn't have the bandwidth to mirror it, but I sure hope someone here got
a copy when I recommended months back (Modem/Supra thread) that someone
archive it.
The support page for Diamond products
[http://www.diamondmm.com/support/diamond/] formerly contained links to
files on the ftp server. It now has the following posted:
S3 or Diamond Brand Support
We no longer support customer service or warranty claims on any of our
legacy products sold under the former S3 or Diamond brand. As we no
longer manufacture these products, and have not for some time, our
customer care and warranty claim call volumes related to these products
are extremely low. Because of this, we made the decision to discontinue
support for these products. If you are experiencing problems with your
Diamond or S3 legacy product please contact an independent repair
professional. We appreciate your understanding in this matter and hope
that this change does not inconvenience you greatly.
The above statement seems totally ludicrous, as how is "an independent
repair professional" (which I think I more than qualify for) supposed to
support these products without the files that were available on the ftp
site?
I put in a call to their technical support staff at (206) 515-1400, and
when I selected option '5' for diamond products, it referred me back to
the above support url, claiming that support files were available on the
website. The phone system then hung up, and I called back again selecting
the Supra support and 'other' products...same thing. I finally got someone
on the line by selecting Supra support and the first and only product the
phone system mentioned. I think it was option 4 and 1. Talk about a
nightmare.
Turns out, they've suddenly had a massive influx of calls from other
slightly annoyed customers who still support and use all this "obsolete
hardware." Personally, I don't see how hardware can be "obsolete" if it
works and does exactly what you need it to. They also seemed to have no
clue that older versions of firmware and such are very important when
maintaining and supporting these things. The ftp server formerly contained
nearly every version that had been released. Now its all gone. Some of
these products were only a couple of years old too. If other hardware
forums haven't had info about this yet, they probably will soon...
If anyone else wants to call and ask questions, the phone number above
should get you though to someone. I've asked them about returning the ftp
site to its former state, as that would seem to be the best solution for
everyone right now.
-Toth
Going to kids garage sale or goodwill....or grab it here...
Its a dual floppy 8088 10mhz laptop.
I am not into x86 boxes
Worked last timed I tried it out.
You supply power supply...
Offers welcome. Trade - not interested in cash (...):
72 pin parity ram, sun sparc 20 cpu module(s)...
Claude
http://computer_collector.tripod.com
On May 27, 21:37, John Honniball wrote:
> vassilip(a)dsl.cis.upenn.edu wrote:
> > So when the BBC + Torch arrived, the genious who was responsible
for
> > assembling the kit, promptly added a mains plug to the power cable
> > and plugged it in, feeding 240V AC to the +5 and +12V rails.
>
> Same thing happened at my Uni when one of the Prime operators took
> home a BBC for the holidays. She had an external disk drive for it,
> that plugged into the BBC's power underneath the machine (not at
> all obvious). So, she went ahead and fitted a mains plug to the
> three-core cable that fed the drive. Usual release of magic smoke...
Ah, yes, that would be one of those drives suplied by a company who
figured that you don't really need two 0V lines, and 3-core mains flex
is cheap.
I can add another to the "240-into-5 doesn't go" list. I ran the
repair and engineering department for a large Acorn dealer/distributor.
One Saturday, a customer with his son bought a BBC B, Torch Z80 with
disk pack, and a high-res Microvitec monitor; well over UKP1000 in
those days. He was back on the Monday, looking very sad. His son had
connected everything together before finding that the "mains plug"
didn't fit. When he changed it, the fuse blew, so he replaced it and
tried again :-(
He was very nice about it, quite philosophical, and so we tried quite
hard to rescue what we could, and find second-hand parts. We salvaged
one of the two drives. We repaired the monitor. We found a spare BBC
B board -- the original was deemed unrepairable. The disk pack PSU was
a write-off, but we got the original Beeb PSU back from the shop. The
Z80 board didn't look healthy, and he let us keep that too.
Eventually, we stripped every IC and some other damaged parts off the
board, fitted sockets everywhere, repaired several tracks with quite a
lot of wire-wrap wire and epoxy, and it became a test bed. The Z80 got
similar treatment, except it didn't need track repairs, and we turned
it over to a teenager who was with us for work experience. We thought
it would be good (de)soldering practice. He was delighted when he
ended up with a clean board, and even more so when the fully-socketed
version worked at the the end of it, so I suppose some good came of it
all -- he'd apparently been something of a problem to the college
tutors before he discovered there was something he could actually
achieve.
Those Torch Z80's were a royal pain. After that incident, we told the
shops not to take out or replace the BBC supply under any
circumstances, and eventually Torch stopped the practice of replacing
the original PSU. The Beeb SMPSU was perfectly capable of running a
fully-expanded machine with a Torch processor, so using Torch's rather
inferior (but more powerful) unit was not a good idea.
The Torch Z80 board is about Eurocard size, fitted with a short 40-way
ribbon cable, and was supposed to be mounted in the lid of the BBC B,
using four PCB mounts of the type that have self-adhesive pads. They
used to fall off after a while. Now you might think that's just
irritating (it's certainly awkward to fit correctly) but it's more than
that. When it falls, it tends to short things out. Unfortunately, the
regulation on Torch PSUs is very poor when they crowbar, and when the
5V rail comes back after it's shut down, it tends to overshoot -- by
about 4 volts, according to our scope. TTL doesn't like 9V. I've seen
at least two Beebs destroyed that way.
One of them looked fine, but didn't work -- something of a puzzle, as
the owner had replaced the original Acorn PSU and we didn't know he had
been using the Torch one. It just went "tick-tick-tick", as they do
when they're shorted, or as in this case, detect over-current. So we
put it on a bench supply, thinking either to blow off a faulty
capacitor or maybe find a hot chip. No, but it drew 9 amps (a Beeb
usually takes about two) and after a little while it was obvious
several LS TTL chips were cooking. So we removed them. Back on the
PSU, still several amps over normal. A few more hot chips after a
short while. And so it went on, until all that was left was the NMOS
(all of which still worked). Another expensive repair.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
>From: "Peter Turnbull" <pete(a)dunnington.u-net.com>
---snip---
>
>Not from a capacitor as a whole, but if you look inside the "black
>box"... The discussion was about electrolytic capacitors. Of course
>they have an insulator (the oxide on the aluminium foil anode) but they
>also have an electrolyte (which is the cathode), and indeed wouldn't
>(don't) work without it. It's the ability of the electrodes to conduct
>electrons that give the capacitor its ability to store them.
>
>--
>Pete Peter Turnbull
The other trick of the electrolytic is that the aluminum is
slightly etched first before forming. This greatly increases
the surface area and gives a higher capacitance per square
inch of foil.
I have a radio that was made in the 50's. I brought the
capacitors in it up slowly. I've checked them on my
bridge and they are all above 45% of the labeled value.
The radio works fine.
Dwight
On May 25, 20:19, William R. Buckley wrote:
> Steve Leach said:
>
> > If you could humor my electronic ignorance, what exactly
> > is a tantalum cap and how does it differ from a normal
> > capacitor? I was never before aware that there could be
> > more to a capacitor than plates (or foil) and an
> > electrolyte. How can a capacitor have a polarity?
>
> Not an electrolyte, an insulator. It is the inability to
> conduct electrons which gives the capacitor its ability to
> collect electrons.
> [...] Now, by being ionic, these electrolytes
> are well suited to the conduction of electron flow. This
> is most definately not the kind of behavior which you wish
> to obtain from a capacitor.
Not from a capacitor as a whole, but if you look inside the "black
box"... The discussion was about electrolytic capacitors. Of course
they have an insulator (the oxide on the aluminium foil anode) but they
also have an electrolyte (which is the cathode), and indeed wouldn't
(don't) work without it. It's the ability of the electrodes to conduct
electrons that give the capacitor its ability to store them.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
This reminds me of a true story regarding a BBC microcomputer.
This was in the early 80s when a company called Torch produced
an auxiluary processor for the BBC (I think so that it could run
CP/M programs).
Anyway the Torch was an external box that contained its own PSU and
connected via a ribbon cable with the BBC micro, which served as
the keyboard/display peripheral for the Torch.
Early BBCs had problems with their own PSU (it overheated), so the
Torch people removed the PSU from the BBC and used another cable to
supply power *to* the BBC from the Torch box. Unfortunately, they
used a cable that looked like a power cable.
So when the BBC + Torch arrived, the genious who was responsible for
assembling the kit, promptly added a mains plug to the power cable
and plugged it in, feeding 240V AC to the +5 and +12V rails.
I looked at that mainboard afterwards and a lot of tracks had melted!
**vp
> From: "Mike Ross" <mross666(a)hotmail.com>
> IBM made a bunch of printer terminals based around the Selectric typewriter
> - 1052, 2740, 2970 etc. Look in any old copy of BYTE, and you'll also find
> several vendors were selling 3rd party terminals based around IBM
> Selectrics, often converted for ASCII/RS-232c operation, as teletype
> alternatives.
>
> Where have they all gone? (I appreciate, from what I've heard, that many
> folks who used them in anger would reply 'I don't know, I don't care, good
> riddance!') Early DECwriters are not uncommon. Teletypes are (almost) ten a
> penny, ASR33s show up frequently enough on ebay, I have several.
>
> But the only Selectric based unit I've *seen* in over ten years of
> collecting is a 2970 Reservation Termainal (see
> http://www.corestore.org/2970-1.jpg ) which I was offered a year or so ago.
> It needs a fair bit of TLC, and it's a print-only device; it can receive
> data from a host and print it, but not send anything back from the keyboard.
>
> I'd love to get a bidirectional equivalent to use as an 'authentic' terminal
> for a 360 emulator I work with... any clues? Can anyone recommend a
> Selectric repair shop? No way I want to try to fettle something THIS
> mechanically-intimidating myself!
Look at my sig...you'll see where they've all gone :) I have a
dozen or so Selectric, Selectric II, and Selectric III typewriters,
mostly in various states of sticky disrepair.
Actually, I don't have any Selectric terminals, although I do have a
Selectric Memory Typewriter. My brother worked at a Byte Shop in the
late 70s, and recalls having either converted a Selectric or making a
conversion work.
I do have a manual from 1962 titled "IBM Customer Engineering Manual of
Instruction, I/O Printer, (Modified IBM Selectric), which shows the
glorious workings of this fascinating machine...the manual has lots of
text and diagrams explaining the Selectric mechanism, but not much in
the way of photos showing the solenoid mechanisms.
We were thinking a few years ago of trying to rig up a homebrew
conversion of one of my typewriters, but never got round to it. But I
did (in 1999?) see a conversion kit sell on ebay...and I was foolish
enough to not buy it.
--
Jim
Visit the Selectric Typewriter Museum!
http://www.mindspring.com/~jforbes2
Subject: RE: Where have all the Selectrics gone?
Date: Sun, 25 May 2003 00:36:49 -0400
Reply-To: cctech(a)classiccmp.org
>Are these based on a Selectric?
>http://www.govliquidation.com/auction/view?auctionId=206563&convertTo=USD
Yes!!!! Exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. Good catch! You can tell
they're the 'I/O Selectric' by the extra-deep chassis, compared with a
standard Selectric typewriter... no idea what interface they might be, but
what the hell...
Guess it's a bid on all 35 of them, or none at all... anyone else in with me
for some?
Mike
http://www.corestore.org
John Allain wrote:
.
> Not only that but I believe that Raytheon would rebuild Vaxes
> from the circuit description using advanced SMD and hybrid
> chips to make them something like 1/4 the size and weight
> of the non-gov. models.
Wow - now that would be something to add to the collection! Does
anybody on the list want to confess to owning such a beastie? If
so, please, don't be cruel - post a link to some pictures.
--Steve.
smj(at)spamfree.crash.com (lose spamfree to get through, m'kay?)
On May 27, 16:34, Greg Elkin wrote:
> Got given a couple of "Dyna 5" BA23-size QBUS enclosures a bit ago -
> a bit tatty (rusted & dirty, must try to get a sandblaster or
> something to see if they can be rescued)
> just looking through the cards, can't ID this one yet :
>
>
> dual height QBUS
> Baydel (http://www.baydel.com) logo on the handles, "Baydel ltd" "CCK
> 2789" "B01079 iss4 C1984 CTS-11" on the board.
> Any ideas? Didn't turn anything usefull up on Google, I've emailed
> Baydel support for a laugh...
Baydel were (are?) latterly quite well known for RAID systems; prior to
that they made (amongst other things) QBus floppy controllers, to
connect to SA800/850 drives. I have a couple of single-density ones
that emulate an RXV11 or a pair of RXV11s. I'd guess this board is an
emulation of an RXV21, to connect to SA800/850 drives. Power it up,
and see if it responds to the RXV21 addresses.
BTW, I found Baydel quite helpful when I wanted some information about
mine (labelled F11-311) -- but that was a decade ago and I don't know
if the same technical staff will still be there.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Hello,
I know that your request is over six months old, so you may no longer be
interested. Did you find the information you need on the 4052? I have a 1981
Tektronix catalog that has a one-page summary of the characteristics of this
device. Let me know if it is useful to you and I will send you a scanned
copy.
Tom Dodds
869 Milwaukee St.
Denver, Colorado 80206
Info request : Tek 4052
Hans B Pufal cctech(a)classiccmp.org
Tue Oct 8 10:51:19 2002
Previous message: OSI disk basic disk
Next message: scsi drive + misc. other stuff (free pentium machines & 10
year rule/windows)
Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
We are exhibiting a Tektronix 4052 computer and I am looking for some
info on the beastie:
Year of introduction
Price at introduction
Memory size
Processor
Clock frequency
Tape capacity
Tape speed
Screen resolution
The web seems somewhat reluctant to divulge this info and I'd appreciate
your help.
Regards,
-- Hans B Pufal
Ok, I know NOTHING about openVMS. However, this just came up...
A friend of a friend offered me what he says is a complete set of OpenVMS
media. No manuals, just the media.
Several questions:
>From what I understand, isn't there some type of hobbyist free license for
openvms? If so, not sure why I should grab the media from him if I can just
download it. Or is there a value to getting the media from him, as to it
giving me the ability to purchase a license transfer or something... in
short, is there a special reason getting "real" media is desirable?
Lastly... he said it runs on vax's and pdp's. Not sure if he knows what he's
talking about, so I'll ask here. Could this run on my 11/44?
Thanks for any enlightenment!
Jay West
>What is the polarity of the 12V DC connector on the back of the machine?
The middle pin is positive and is commond to battery connector.
_________________________________________________________________
Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE*
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
Well, I must say I'm rather amazed at how quickly I got a response.
Within an hour of my post, two individuals (Steve Thatcher and Scott
LaBombard) both provided the information on the tantalum cap, and I
found the parts at DigiKey. Thanks guys!
I'm so glad to see some hope at getting the Altair back up and running.
When it sizzled popped and smoked, it was like an old friend had died.
If you could humor my electronic ignorance, what exactly IS a tantalum
cap and how does it differ from a normal capacitor? I was never before
aware that there could be more to a capacitor than plates (or foil) and
an electrolyte. How can a capacitor have a polarity?
Another question, does anyone know where I can find a replacement for
the two position front panel switches on the Altair which are marked
"AMERICAN U.S.A ST1-1" These are 2 pos 3 contact switches, and I've not
been able to find anything exactly the same dimensions. I am hoping
that this is some standard switch and I'm just not aware of it :-)
Also, I've come across rumers of Altair manuals online in PDF format.
Does anyone know where I could find such a thing?
I'm sure I'll have more questions once I get the poor machine put back
together and start trying to figure out the disk drives and controllers
:-) The machine was stored for over seven years in a barn wrapped in
plastic bags (not my decision! Don't burn me at the stake!) I wonder
how many more surprises I'm in for?
Went to a flea market today and I picked up and HP 29C in excellent
condition for $2.00
That's it but I just had to brag so there :)
Thank you
Francois
Many years ago Practical Electronics in the UK
published the design of a microprocessor-based system
called the CHAMP. If I remember rightly it was built
on Veroboard. I remember reading the articles in the
school library and wishing I could build one.
Did anyone ever build one of these ? Do the plans
still exist anywhere ?
Also, I'd like to re-acquaint myself with the Microtan
65 which was one of the first systems I ever owned.
Are there any systems still in existence ?
Dave.
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com
What about the serial or parallel line printers that
used a type band/belt?
i used to see alot in the add's for pc's now thier
gone too.
i wouldn't mind finding one for the pc just to hear
the noise again;)
i remember the operating noises they made paper
clamp,line feed and the hammers hitting the paper -
the order of printing was(from the back of the printer
to the front of the paper)
hammer's,paper,ribbon then type band.
Bill
Message: 1
Date: Sat, 24 May 2003 18:33:01 -0700
From: J Forbes <jforbes2(a)mindspring.com>
To: Cassic Computing <cctech(a)classiccmp.org>
Subject: Re: Where have all the Selectrics gone?
Reply-To: cctech(a)classiccmp.org
> From: "Mike Ross" <mross666(a)hotmail.com>
> IBM made a bunch of printer terminals based around
the Selectric
typewriter
> - 1052, 2740, 2970 etc. Look in any old copy of
BYTE, and you'll also
find
> several vendors were selling 3rd party terminals
based around IBM
> Selectrics, often converted for ASCII/RS-232c
operation, as teletype
> alternatives.
>
> Where have they all gone?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com
On May 25, 22:05, Steve Leach wrote:
> If you could humor my electronic ignorance, what exactly IS a
tantalum
> cap and how does it differ from a normal capacitor? I was never
before
> aware that there could be more to a capacitor than plates (or foil)
and
> an electrolyte. How can a capacitor have a polarity?
Almost all electrolytic caps are polarised.
In principle, a tantalum capacitor is just like an aluminium
electrolytic, only using a more exotic metal (tantalum pentoxide has a
dielectric constant about 4-5 times higher than aluminium oxide) and a
solid electrolyte. The anode is the foil (or bead, if it's sintered
tantalum tantalum), the oxide layer on it is the dialectric, and the
electrolyte is the cathode.
Passing current from cathode to anode will build up the oxide layer,
the other way will break it down. From a chemist's point of view,
putting electrons into the cathode and taking them out of the anode
makes some of the metallic aluminium (Al) ionise into Al+++, and if
there are oxygen ions (O--) adjacent, it forms alumina (Al203) --
standard RedOx reaction, exactly the same as anodising aluminium for
protection. You have to maintain the polarity to maintain the oxide
layer; if you reverse it the electrons will break down the oxide layer.
The aluminium ions would gain electrons, the oxygen ions would lose
them, the alumina becomes aluminium and oxygen, and then you have no
more highly-insulating aluminium oxide dielctric.
Think of the aluminium-alumina junction as a junction diode, with a
very high resistance in one direction and a very low resistance the
other way.
There's a brief description of construction at
http://www.chipcenter.com/eexpert/akruger/akruger006.html
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Hi,
> I got a nice NCD 17c X terminal a while back, but I don't
> have the server software to download to it. Does anyone
> have such software or a pointer to where to get it?
If you just need the boot image, I think you're looking for a file called
"Xncd17c" - I use Xncd19c for my 88k-based xterm (or did, last time I used it
for anything!)
These used to be freely available on ftp.ncd.com (up until 2 years ago for
sure) in their own "older units" directory tree but seem to have vanished.
However a quick google returned:
http://www.stat.wisc.edu/p/stat/tftpboot/cs/Xncd17c
... which may be exactly what you need.
Set up a tftp server somewhere with the image on and you're away :)
cheers,
Jules
__________________________________________________
It's Samaritans' Week. Help Samaritans help others.
Call 08709 000032 to give or donate online now at http://www.samaritans.org/support/donations.shtm
you guys may need 3 inch tape some day too!
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [B205] Re: Reel Tape for B9 Builders
Date: Mon, 26 May 2003 04:24:01 -0000
From: "Stan Brewer" <brewers(a)ftc-i.net>
Reply-To: B205(a)yahoogroups.com
To: B205(a)yahoogroups.com
There is one last chance to buy a 3inch reel tape for your B9.
I have ten tapes, and once they are gone, thats it.
See ebay Item # 3026315320 for a dutch auction.
Stan
--- In B205(a)yahoogroups.com, "Stan Brewer" <brewers@f...> wrote:
> Are you building a full sized B9 robot and need a 3 inch
> reel to reel tape for the programming bay?
>
> Have you filled up the tape on your current B9?
>
> Do you just want some part of a B9?
>
> If so, check out the ebay auction Item # 3024945469.
>
> Stan
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Get A Free Psychic Reading! Your Online Answer To Life's Important
Questions.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/Lj3uPC/Me7FAA/CNxFAA/SyTolB/TM
>What type of switches are they? Toggle? Rotary? Both C&K and Alco both
>manufacture a huge variety of switches, one of which is bound to be a
very
>close, if not an exact replacement. Are the original switches not
>repairable?
These are toggle switches with two closed positions and three contacts,
ie two on positions and a common ground in the middle.
My problem is finding the correct dimensions, ie spacing between
connectors as well as height above the board and the length and width
of the "neck" to protrude through the panel..
"TeoZ" wrote:
> Like I said before museums have static displays for reasons of
> power requirements, lack of personnel that can run the machines,
> spare parts that are expensive and hard to find, and the fact
> that a screwup during operation could actually destroy one of
> the few remaining examples (or only one). Most devices in a
> museum are there for either art or function (or combination).
And then some museums don't.
There are many techniques to avoid static displays.
* Rotating the equipment on a turntable with the back open.
* Recreating really old equipment or high wear parts.
* Equipment displays with interactive java simulation of
the equipment running nearby.
* Faking the output display on unpowered equipment with
the 'PC behind the curtain'.
* Or just using equipment that is still some what available.
And don't forget the importance of the the right lighting
and sound effects. :)
I am currently trying to help a gentleman restore
a EAI TR-48 desktop analog, from the early 60s, on
display in the Retro Beep Computer Museum at Bletchley
Park. He wants to run a repetitive simulation for
visitors to see.
I asked him if the recreated Colossus is actually
operated for vistors to the museum. He replied:
> The Colossus is running for the visitors to see;
> however, there is not a guided viewing with everything
> explained and messages decoded etc. You can see the
> paper tape loop flying round the bedstead and there
> is an oscilloscope for the visitors to see the read
> in bit sequence. Also, the machine is behind a wall
> with windows because all the frames are open +/- 100
> volts DC and thus not safe for the public to directly
> approach. Also, there are various items for everyone
> to read on display to explain things.
> There is a guided tour of the site with explanations
> of the code breaking centres; the Colossus bit is
> unguided.
I also asked about interactive displays. He reply:
> You get to play with the enigma machine I think and
> there is a bit of code breaking you can do.
> Also, in the Retro beep museum, there are several old
> digital personal machines to play with; including Sinclair
> spectrums, BBC computers etc ? not very exciting for an
> engineer but the kids love them. Also there is a rare
> Apple Lisa with original disc system. As well as the
> Elliott 803 there are a couple of DEC machine, one of
> them being an old original (with front doors made from
> kitchen worktops ? as specified by DEC?s founder).
He also sent me links to some wonderful interactive
web pages, including the 'Virtual Turing Bombe', the
'Virtual 3 wheel Naval Enigma', the 'Virtual 3 wheel
Army/Air Force Enigma' and the 'Virtual Colossus'.
ENIGMA, BOMBE, and COLOSSUS Links
Codes and Ciphers in the Second World War
http://www.codesandciphers.org.uk/
Great link on the Enigma code, the Turing Bombe, and on the Colossus
Click on
Tony Sale's reconstruction of Enigma decipherment for the film Enigma
or go directly to this page
http://www.codesandciphers.org.uk/enigmafilm/index.htm
Making the Enigma ciphers for the film "Enigma"
by Tony Sale
Or if you don't want to go through the explaination of the Enigma
code and how it was broken,
you can go directly to these interactive web pages
http://www.codesandciphers.org.uk/enigmafilm/bombe/bombe1.htm
Virtual Turing Bombe by Tony Sale
http://www.codesandciphers.org.uk/enigmafilm/emachines/enigman.htm
Virtual 3 wheel Naval Enigma by Tony Sale
http://www.codesandciphers.org.uk/enigmafilm/emachines/enigma1.htm
Virtual 3 wheel Army/Air Force Enigma by Tony Sale
Or try
http://www.codesandciphers.org.uk/lorenz/rebuild.htm
The Colossus Rebuild Project
which links to
http://www.codesandciphers.org.uk/virtualbp/fish/vcolossus.htm
Virtual Colossus by Tony Sale
And the Bombe Rebuild Project
http://www.jharper.demon.co.uk/bombe1.htm
--Doug
=========================================
Doug Coward
@ home in Poulsbo, WA
Analog Computer Online Museum and History Center
http://dcoward.best.vwh.net/analog
=========================================
I got a nice NCD 17c X terminal a while back, but I don't
have the server software to download to it. Does anyone
have such software or a pointer to where to get it?
Thanks,
Dave
--
David C. Jenner
djenner(a)earthlink.net
On May 25, 17:32, Greg Elkin wrote:
> The 11/34a I collected recently (BA11-L chasis, H777 PSU) and had
> difficulty getting to power up is in better shape now that it's had a
> good clean ; backplane inspected and all the dust & debris removed
> from its slots (via "fart in a can", ie compressed air :), the cards
> have had their edge connectors cleaned (india rubber) to be nice and
> shiny.
>
> Switching to DC ON, the fans whirr happily and the front panel now
> has "DC ON" and "RUN" LEDs on, with 000000 on the 7seg LEDs.
>
> If I try to halt (keypad CNTRL + HLT/SS), the RUN LED stays on and
> BUS ERR LED also comes on.
FAQ. This is the result of having a 9302 terminator, whichg asserts
SACK, and a missing NPR jumper somewhere. Either you have a card
missing, or you've put a card that doesn't pass NPR into a slot where
previously there was a card that did (or you've put a small grant card
where you should have a full-size one). Ethan mentioned this in
response to one of your posts recently, and Tony (on more than one
occasion) explained in detail why this has the effect it does.
http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2003-May/022031.htmlhttp://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2003-May/022051.html
Don't feel *too* bad about it, I got caught myself with that, once.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
I just retrieved an Altair 8800B from long term storage. I blew away
the dust, checked for loose connections, and finally powered it up.
Lights flickered to life, and then smoke poured from the front panel.
I pulled it apart, and found a very crispy capacitor number C4 on the
front panel card. My first problem is that this capacitor is so crispy
that I have no way of determining the proper value. It is (was)
connected to a voltage regulator marked "F 79MO8 AUC 7535"
>I wish I'd picked up one of the 68k Apples. I'm sure
>the Hamvention will have scads of them though.
Any particular model you are interested in? I have some extra 68k Macs
here, maybe I have an extra of a model you are looking for
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
Hmm... Having seen this on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2731022229&category=12…
the nameplate from an ICL 2950, weighing over 2Kg alone, and had my
curiosity nudged, I was wondering if anybody knew of any pictures of the
beast itself? A quick google found me a bit of info, but no pics yet.
Hmm.. I've got a nameplate stuck to a 5.25" disc box in the cupboard from a
Ferranti "EWTS" system (Early Warning [Tracking|Training] System, I forget
which, and google doesn't help at all) ... Picked it up while I was an
apprentice there - now that was fun, wandering round the factory, about
1982/3 - I seem to recall computer generated ships and stuff on one
system. Amazing graphics for the time.
It's a shame how little of the old stuff still exists.. I also used to
"play" on a Data General Nova, must have been about 1980, at the college my
Dad taught at; I sometimes wonder whatever happened to that..
Rob.
>ie I found a couple of new in the bag Sony model
>OA-D34V-22 floppy drives. Anybody know what these go in, I am thinking just
>the 128k, but one of the web hits says Lisa 2.
If you are interested in unloading one of those Sony drives, I'd be happy
to take one. I have an original external 400K drive for the Mac, and its
drive it dead. IIRC, it is the same drive as used in the 128, so if you
wanted to unload a spare, I'd love to get my external drive working again.
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
I am now using this e-mail address for all incoming
e-mail. If convenient, please change the e-mail
address that you use when you send me private
e-mail.
Note that all of the recent e-mail address will still
be active for about a month, so if you don't do
the change immediately, it will not be a problem.
PLUS, this is a test that everything is working
properly.
The volume of spam finally became too large!
Sincerely yours,
Jerome Fine
--
If you attempted to send a reply and the original e-mail
address has been discontinued due a high volume of junk
e-mail, then the semi-permanent e-mail address can be
obtained by replacing the four characters preceding the
'at' with the four digits of the current year.
I got rid of mine at a garage sale in about 10 years ago. (Before I started
restoring my junk.)
I had a Trendata1000, which was similar to the IBM 2741. It had a real IBM
Selectric Terminal with Trendata's custom electronics. Many members of The
Northwest Computer Society (Seattle) bought refurbished Trendata1000s from a
local Computer Land store for about $900.
Here is a photo of my Selectric Terminal and my SWTPC system in 1978.
http://www.swtpc.com/mholley/MySystem/MySystemPhoto.htm
I still have the IBM reference manual for the 2741 Communitations Terminal.
It is 20 pages on how to write a driver for the 2741. I also have the
documentation on how to connect it to a SWTPC 6800 with no special hardware.
I normally used it for a printer but it also worked as a terminal.
Here is a description of my computer that I wrote in 1978.
http://www.swtpc.com/mholley/MySystem/MySystem.htm
Michael Holley
www.swtpc.com/mholley
We have 8 warehouses stuffed with mainframes and minis. Around 120 of
them in total. This belongs to the Norwegian Museum of Science and
Technology, and with so many machines, there's BOUND to be a -10 there
too :). On average, the museum recieves a query for pickup once a week.
They also ran a mainframe on public display 15-20 years ago, but this was
a Norwegian machine (NORD-1 i think, brilliant machine) and the people who
knew about it didn't have the time it took to keep the mainframe going.
This machine has been upgraded to run PDP-9 software, and has a switch on
the front panel named "USE" with the options 7 and 9.
It also had a homemade Automatic Priority Interrupt, nicknamed "Poor man's
API".
It has an oscilloscope display, two TU55 tape drives hooked up to a 550
tape controller, and the EAE (Extended Arithmetic Element).
Picture at http://tore.nortia.no .
Yes, we have a full set of schematics, except for one board (and with
godly precision, this is the one we need), the Teletype Interface Card,
seated inside the teletype. It is numbered 1818(twomoredigits).
If I restore this -7, the Museum might let me inside one of their
warehouses, and maybe restore a timesharing system, like, for instance,
a -10. But, I'm going to keep focused on this task (for now ;) My dream
has always been logging on a timesharing system with a VT terminal.
IF the warehouse has a 15 in it, i'll ask them very nicely for a TC15. Who
knows. We do have tons of -15 documentation (ask me not why) at the
University, and even some -15 OS DECtapes.
Thanks a bunch!!
-Tore
On Fri, 23 May 2003, Robert Garner wrote:
> Tore,
>
> Congratulations on your commendable project!
> I've sent your msg to some old DEC'ies would might be able to help.
>
> I have a Type 550 DECtape controller and documentation,
> which was used in the PDP-1, 4, and 7.
>
> Also have many system module boards, in case you need spares.
> (I still need to inventory them.)
>
> Do you have schematics for the 7?
> (The Computer History Museum here may have a set.)
>
> - Robert
>
> p.s. I have a PDP-15/10E. Looking for a TC15 (DECtape controller).
>
> p.p.s. I heard there was a PDP-10 (KA-10) somewhere in Norway too.
> Do you know anything about this?
>
>
______________________
|Tore Sinding Bekkedal|
|toresbe(a)ifi.uio.no |
|+47 91 85 95 08 \_________________________
|"Sure, so life's a bitch. But she's *my* bitch.|
------------------------------------------------/
Hello,
Are your VAX still available to a good home? I have a need for an 11/750
and tape units. Thanks in advance for your reply.
Sincerely,
A.G. Manzo
Hi,
I saw a forum on line and your email was there. I was wondering if you could solve my problem.
When I turn on system, the screen says turn off game before inserting cartridge. It does have the coleco logo so I know it has power and rf is working. I did what it said and I also hit the reset button but I get the same screen. I also cleaned the contacts on the cartridges. Do you have any idea what is wrong?
Thank you for your time,
Snickers48180(a)yahoo.com
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
>From: "ben franchuk" <bfranchuk(a)jetnet.ab.ca>
>
>David Comley wrote:
>
>> Since you mention it, I had been thinking about
>> designing and building a processor from scratch from
>> TTL devices. I am slowly accumulating TTL chips as I
>> come across them at hamfests and things. Perhaps it's
>> time to put pencil to paper.
>>
>> Of course I could take the NASA Apollo Guidance
>> Computer approach and build everything welded-cordwood
>> style out of NOR gates.
>
>Nope that used lots of REAL ( expensive ) TTL.
>The neat part of that was the CORE memory used.
>
>Any how a real TTL computer is about 4+ large
>logic cards. Control card, alu card, memory card
>and serial I/O card. The mother board is bus
>and front pannel logic.
>I am doing a 20 bit CPU with about 125 chips total
>in the computer and front panel. About 50?
>more chips for memory and serial i/o.
>
>http://www.jetnet.ab.ca/users/bfranchuk/ldp/ldp1.html
>Ben.
>
Hi
All make the assumption that you must make 8 bit/16bit
or, in your case, 20 bit. One can make a 1 bit alu that
can have data width controlled by instruction. It may
not be fast at math but much processor time is consumed
just looking at true/false. If your model doesn't require
passing data through the alu for mem/mem and mem/io moves,
a single bitter makes sense.
( My Nicolet is a 20 bit machine. )
Dwight
In response to the question of which came first, Non-Linear Systems or,
Kaypro Corporation. I worked in the purchasing department of both companies during
the 1980s. Kaypro Corporation was a division of the parent company Non-Linear
Systems which was established in the 1950s by Andrew Kay, who was the
innovator of the digital volt meter. In the early 1980s, Non-Linear Systems began
building the Kaypro portable computer after Kay's Son-in-law, Jonathan Badder, a
local architect in partnership with Kay's Daughter Janice Kay, expressed a
desire to have a portable computer to take out to job sites.
When the Kaypro portable computer became an overnight success and far
eclipsed the volt meter business, Kay established the computer division known as
Kaypro Corporation. Both products were manufactured simultaneously at the Solana
Beach, California location at 533 Stevens Avenue, near the Lomas Santa Fe exit
of Interstate 5.
When I joined the Company in early 1983 we went from about 50 employees to
over 500 within a year. Andrew Kay was a very interesting and forward thinking
employer, hence the name of his original company Non-Linear Systems, since he
prided himself on non-linear thinking. He was a very health conscious
individual, and had a juice and salad bar installed, which all employees could dine at
for only a dollar. He tried to treat everyone as extended family, and believed
that a work environment that incorporated nature in it's design would produce
better work. Therefore, every office had windows in front and back, with a
row of trees and grass between each building. It required some considerable
walking to negotiate around the plant, but he believed that walking promoted good
health. He also was very interested in personal intellect, and in the early
stages of Kaypro, everybody had to take a sort of IQ test that he designed and
administered. He also made versions of the Kaypro that were marketed as the
"Tutor Computer" that were a learning aide for children.
It was a fun place to work in the early days, with a very young average
employee age. We were encouraged to work hard, and to play hard. Lots of parties,
barbecues, intramural sports teams, and the like. It was fun to go to work
everyday. During the push to increase shipments before the Company's initial
public stock offering, we received some very generous bonuses, including a
Christmas bonus equal to a month's salary, which we received around December 15th.
In the latter 1980s the company was plagued by poor quality, serious
inventory management problems, a revolving door on upper management that included a
long parade of self-impressed no-nothings that couldn't break free of their
linear thinking, and a serious lack of continued product innovation. After the big
boys like IBM jumped on the bandwagon of the PC and laptop market, Kaypro
just couldn't compete. All these factors and a few more, including the employment
of Kay family members in key positions that did not have the capabilities of
founder Andrew Kay, eventually led to the demise of Kaypro. I think that the
business section writer for the San Diego Union Tribune said it best when he
penned the phrase "Too many Kays and not enough Pros."
Garr Farrell
On Tue, May 20, 2003 at 04:24:22PM -0500, Bill Richman wrote:
> All I know is they were used in counters. These have a binary to
> 1-of-10 decoder made out of photoresistors and neon bulbs (!) in
> the black box. It's not a HV supply like he guessed.
>
> It should be possible to make a clock but he'll have to modify some
> of them to reset before the usual cycle of 0-9. Resetting at
> 23:59:59 is probably harder and would take some kind of external
> logic.
>
> They already have a feedback to make them reset after 9 instead of
> counting to 15 - it just has to be modified.
>
> On the other hand if he wants to make a clock, nixies are cheap
> and it might be better to just leave the counter modules as-is and
> use some logic more suited to counting the time (which is not
> 10-based).
I have a tube digital clock, which I made out of a Beckman Berkeley
counter. The counter uses decade modules, each with four tubes used as
flip-flops, and ten neon lamps which display the count on a numbered 0-9
plasic window. The HP modules work pretty much the same way as the
Beckman tube modules, although the binary to decimal decoding scheme is
different in that it uses light and photoresistors instead of resistor
networks.
http://www.mindspring.com/~jforbes2/tubeclock/index.html
shows my clock.
The counter modules could possibly be used as the basis for a tube
computer...maybe. I have a bunch of extra modules. I believe my
brother has the schematic for the HP counter that uses the nixie
modules, and he has one of the HP counters.
--
Jim
Visit the Selectric Typewriter Museum!
http://www.mindspring.com/~jforbes2
He/they have a couple of pages related to Nixie Tubes and
building clocks from them.
Display and counting tubes
http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/count.html
Build a Nixie Tube Digital Clock
http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/nixclock.html
At 02:03 PM 5/22/03 +0100, you wrote:
>Those picture are all very interesting, but it's the results - or even
>better the doing - that is much more interesting to see...
>
>http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/esd.html!
>
>paul
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Roger Merchberger [mailto:zmerch@30below.com]
>Sent: 21 May 2003 18:04
>To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
>Subject: Re: Revengish URL
>
>
>Rumor has it that John Lawson may have mentioned these words:
> > This is diabolical - evil - reprehensible - unconconsionable -
> >sick/twisted - dangerous - damn funny.
> >
> >http://www.fiftythree.org/etherkiller/
> >
> >For those who eschew browsers - it's a series of pictures of all the usual
> >computer and networking connectors - - - spliced onto AC Mains cords. ;{}
>
>They missed one -- True Story:
>
>I had a lady walk into our store and said she needed a special cable for
>her Mac, but didn't know exactly what it was. I showed her several cables
>from our stock, and she verified the port this cable was supposed to plug
>into was the USB port, but she was *positive* the other end was supposed to
>plug into the wall.
>
>I was [evil ascii grafic follows]:
>
>===>||<===
>
>*this close* to saying "I'd be *more* than happy to wire that up for you,
>ma'am!!!"
>
>Imagining her plugging *that* bastage in... that gave all of us here at the
>shop quite a chuckle for a good long time...
>
>Laterz,
>Roger "Merch" Merchberger
>
>--
>Roger "Merch" Merchberger -- sysadmin, Iceberg Computers
>zmerch(a)30below.com
>
>What do you do when Life gives you lemons,
>and you don't *like* lemonade?????????????
This is diabolical - evil - reprehensible - unconconsionable -
sick/twisted - dangerous - damn funny.
http://www.fiftythree.org/etherkiller/
For those who eschew browsers - it's a series of pictures of all the usual
computer and networking connectors - - - spliced onto AC Mains cords. ;{}
zzzzzzzzzap - what's that *smell*????
Cheersz
Nick Tesla
I just got 17 messages in a chunk, from the one I've forwarded below
onward - I wonder who along the way has been storing traffic in it's
cheeks... ?
Note the date/time stamping -
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 21 May 2003 16:12:41 +0100
From: "Hills, Paul" <Paul.HILLS(a)landisgyr.com>
Reply-To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
To: "'cctalk(a)classiccmp.org'" <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
Subject: RE: Practical Electronics CHAMP/Tangerine Microtan 65
>I still have my ZX80 which preceded the Microtan. I
Cheerz
John
Hi;
The lab where it is at is closed and the current super is on vacation. I will
ask if he wants to help when he returns in mid June.
Paxton
Astoria, OR