Since I was offering VAX bits that someone might want, someone suggested
that I indicate where I am located. Well, I am located in the Seattle
area.
alan
> I don't know if this has been linked to before, but I found it to have
> a few useful documents, including the System User's Guide to RT-11 V3.
>
> Gordon Bell's home page:
> http://research.microsoft.com/~gbell/
>
> His CyberMuseum:
> http://research.microsoft.com/~gbell/CyberMuseumPubs.htm
>
> The DEC part of his CyberMuseum:
> http://research.microsoft.com/Users/gbell/Digital/DECMuseum.htm
Interesting, a bunch of that stuff looks to be new, and it looks like the
new stuff might be better done (as I recall he didn't have PDF's up before).
After taking just a quick peek, I can see I'll have to have a better look at
stuff once I can find the time.
Zane
>From: "Jim Kearney" <jim(a)jkearney.com>
>
>
>> Back to the original question: I'm not sure how to do a non-gerber board
>> inexpensively. If the artwork is in a pdf file (or even a tif from a
>> scan), you would need to find a board house that could use it, but none
>> come to mind.
>
>Olimex (in Bulgaria) claims to accept them, but I don't think you would get
>any holes drilled.
>
>I just tried to convert a PDF file to Gerber by going to a BMP file and then
>converting that to an Eagle CAD script file, but it eventually failed
>because Eagle couldn't handle the number of rectangles that the simplistic
>converter generated. In principle it could work, if the converter made
>bigger rectangles than one per source pixel.
>
>LEADtools supports Gerber format as output in their libraries, so any of
>their tools might work. For example, ePrint
>(http://www.leadtools.com/Utilities/PrinterDriver/eprint_printer_driver.htm)
>is a generic Windows printer driver that has Gerber in its output format
>list.
>
>None of these work very well, though, because they're a lot of work and you
>don't have a drill file. I think in the end the only real solution is to
>get a Gerber file somehow, even if you have to re-enter the design in your
>CAD software. Toner transfer, iron-on and CNC milling all take far too much
>work for not particularly good results.
>
>
Hi
Gerber format is not all that complicated. It seems that someone
with a little cleverness could write a simple mouse program that
would digitize mouse movements and buttons.
It was a while back but I used to hand fix bad gerber files to
get PC boards made. It seems that most programs still have bugs
and will trash some of the commands. I'd display the gerber
file on the screen and look for the big trapezoid or some other
messed up thing. I'd then go in and change it back to the correct
rectangle or what ever.
It has been a number of years but like I said, it wasn't that
complicated. You need to consider that is was a direct input sequence
of moves for a gerber plotter.
Dwight
At 12:46 AM 11/21/02 -0500, you wrote:
>Since Compaq bought DEC, and then HP bought/merged with Compaq, yes, HP
>owns DEC's IP. For info on the OpenVMS hobbyist program, see:
>
>http://www.montagar.com/hobbyist/index.html or
>http://www.encompassus.com to become a member of Encompass (what was
>DECUS) so you can participate in the OpenVMS hobbyist program.
So what happened regarding membership after all? I remember that
all emails from Encompass up to June/July seemed to imply
that from then on you needed to be a paying member in order to
belong to Encompass.
carlos.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Carlos E. Murillo-Sanchez carlos_murillo(a)nospammers.ieee.org
"Steve Jones" <classiccmp(a)crash.com> wrote:
> Anybody have a one-line description of the CompuPro Net 100? Was
> this Ethernet, serial, avian carrier...?
Arcnet.
-Frank McConnell
Bit of a tricky question, but one that needs to be asked as i might
purchase one in A1 condition soon- and i don't want to be paying over the
odds for it.
INTEL INTELLEC-8 - (See attachment)
Model No. 8 - 84
Serial No. 245
S.D. 4.75 (Production Date?)
Fitted with the following cards:-
1. Intel front panel Control Console card. imm 8 - 73
2. Intel CPU. card. imm 8 - 83 (D8080AFC)
3. Intel 4k RAM Card. E48778 - 05 0042000
4. Intel 4k RAM Card. E48778 - 05 0042000
5. Intel I.O. module card 1000264 - 02
6. Intel PROM Programmer Module card E48778 - 0000090
7. Intel PROM memory module card. imm6-26
8. Mesonix 4K RAM Card
9. Mesonix I.O. Controller card (See Mesonix Casette Unit)
INTELLEC8 - INSTRUCTION MANUAL
The original instruction manual, although carefully preserved, now appears
to be missing and may well be lost. The Intellec8 will however be supplied
with a later instruction manual for the Intellec8/MOD 80, which explains
how it all works complete with a multitude of schematics etc. but
unfortunately missing the first and part of the second chapter.Chapter 1 - missing.
Chapter 2 - The imm8 - 83 CPU Card mostly intact - includes timing,
schematics & pinout diagrams.Chapter 3 - The imm8-61 Input/Output Card
Chapter 4 - The imm8-63 Output Card
Chapter 5 - The imm6-28 RAM Card
Chapter 6 - The imm6-26 PROM Card
Chapter 7 - The Intellec 8/MOD 80 Control Console
Chapter 8 - The Chassis, motherboard and power supplies
Chapter 9 - The imm6-76 Programmer Module
Chapter 10 - The Intellec 8/MOD 80 system utilisation
Appendix A - Instruction set summary
Appendix B - Electrical characteristics of logic elements used in the
Intellec 8/MOD 80
CASSETTE TAPE UNIT - MESONIX AUTOMATION LTD. (See photo)
Model No. - Fitted DCR-3 Tape Unit (Phillips?)
Serial No. - Mesonix Tape Storage Unit.
Production Date 1976?
STAND ALONE TAPE READER/TRANSMITTER - ADDMASTER 606 (See photo)
Model No.606 - (Parallel Output)
Serial No.606136
Production Date 1975.
DESKTOP PUNCH STATION - LITTON - SWEDA INTERNATIONAL, INC. (See Photo)
ROYTRON 528 PUNCH
Model No. 528
Serial No. 528 - 23 - 3382
---------------------------------------------------
WWW.COM - Where The Web Begins! http://www.www.com/
I'll just write here... lol.. Was looking at the pics of your DPS-6, and I
think you actually have 3 systems, the 2 smaller cabinets appear to each be
a Microsystem 6 type machine... FWIW
Will J
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The System 8000 is not really a development system... They are full-on
minicomputer-type UNIX machines.. It's a so-called "Super-micro"... I am
holding an ad from the DEC Professional proclaiming that the sucker can run
DIBOL... I really have to wonder if anyone ever ported DIBOL to any system
besides the System 8000, I wouldn't think there was enough of a user base to
justify doing such a thing... Anyway, it is a Z8000-based UNIX minicomputer
(yes I'm aware my definition of minicomputer may vary from some
listmembers). Someone should save it! It's freakin' cool... I wish I could
find one, stateside of course...
Will J
_________________________________________________________________
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Can anyone help this person out?
---------- Begin forwarded message ----------
From: Paolo Malara <Paolo.Malara(a)e2vtechnologies.com>
To: classiccmp-admin(a)classiccmp.org
Date: Thursday, November 21, 2002, 1:51:23 AM
Subject: CDP18S60 Evaluation Kit
The CDP18S60 is an evaluation kit for the CDP1802 microprocessor, it is not
very common and is used in some old microprocessor controlled machines. Does
anyone have any data or schematics on the evaluation kit mentioned above?
---------- End forwarded message ----------
--
Jeffrey Sharp
Anybody have a one-line description of the CompuPro Net 100? Was
this Ethernet, serial, avian carrier...?
Google seems to come up shy on this one, except for an old "for
sale" posting to this list. Herb Johnson has docs, but I'm just
trying to find out exactly what it did at this point...
Thanks,
--Steve.
Does anyone have any of these Qbus boards that I can
buy? They have a TOY that has a window of 100 years.
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.
Hi Jim:
I'll second that vote -- Advanced Circuits (www.4pcb.com) is a great place.
I have done many boards there, proto and production. Quotes, and order
status, is online 24/7. But I think they only take gerber cad files.
Back to the original question: I'm not sure how to do a non-gerber board
inexpensively. If the artwork is in a pdf file (or even a tif from a
scan), you would need to find a board house that could use it, but none
come to mind.
To make it yourself, you can print the pdf to lino film and make a board
using sensitized board material from kepro, then etching, immersion-tin
dip... Sheesh, I did a lot of those years back. Even the best homemade
etched board is shitty though. And you can't cut corners on the pricey
lino film. Transparencies from an inkjet or laser may look good, but the
black is not opaque enough for uv exposure. Board material and chemicals
are not cheap either, so it gets pricey, and you still end up with a pretty
crappy board.
There is some laser printer material that you can print and then iron onto
a bare copper board (then etch), but I have never used it. Can't imagine
you could reliably use small geometry. But the cost is now just a cheap
plain board, the laser material, and some acid. Maybe an aquarium heater
to speed up etching.
For a one-off board, and if the board is simple and just needs fat traces
(this capacitor board may well be), you can also simply get a bare board,
drill component/mounting holes, and isolate the "traces" but cutting
through the copper appropriately with a dremel or xacto. You can even use
double-sided material and isolate the upper ground plane with a small
countersink at the component holes. I have also found a that a roll of
adhesive copper tape can be very handy in times like this.
gil
>From: "Jim Kearney" <jim(a)jkearney.com>
>To: <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
>Subject: Re: Cheap PCBs
>Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2002 18:32:55 -0500
>Reply-To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
>
>
>For only a few dollars more, you can get more boards with solder mask and
>silkscreen. www.4pcb.com will do boards up to 150 sq inches for $33 ea in
>quantity 3 and up, including mask and legend. www.e-teknet.com does qty 4
>up to 55 sq inches with mask and legend for only $22.99 each. I've used
>both of them and the quality has been excellent.
>
>Jim
;-----------------------------------------------------------
; vaux electronics, inc. 480-354-5556
; http://www.vauxelectronics.com (fax: 480-354-5558)
;-----------------------------------------------------------
After a long with HP i lost ...
... they are not able to give me any operating system for my HP9000/382.
They told me, that they won't support that machine anymore, and they don't have any installation media ...
... they told me, that i've to look "elsewhere" :-(
... so i'm asking here, if there is anyone out, who will share a copy ...
Thanks Bernd
Bernd Kopriva Phone: ++49-7195-179452
Weilerstr. 24 E-Mail: bernd(a)kopriva.de
D-71397 Leutenbach
Germany
I'm trying to find some info on HVD SCSI. I know for Terminators I need HVD
SCSI Terminators, but what about cables. Will any old 68-pin SCSI cable do,
or do I need special cables?
Also, does anyone have any favorite vendors that sell this sort of thing?
Zane
What is this "hobbyist program" and "licensing" that is being mentioned?
Is HP controlling use of old DEC stuff or something?
thanks,
gil
>Message: 11
>Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2002 12:00:14 -0600
>From: Jeffrey Sharp <jss(a)subatomix.com>
>To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
>Subject: Re: Recent VAX Adventures (Long)
>Reply-To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
>
>On Wednesday, November 20, 2002, Antonio Carlini wrote:
>> If these are original DEC media tapes (rather than people's data) it might
>> be possible to persuade him not to erase them, since the hobbyist program
>> allows you to use them. (OTOH it might be safer to wipe them any way from
>> <name>'s point of view).
>
>He said that some contain student data. So those have to get bulked.
>
>He also said that he had software but I couldn't have it. I told him about
>the hobbyist program, but at the time I didn't know enough about it to
>really say anything knowledgable. If I told him I was licensed for sure, he
>might change his mind.
>
>I just filled out the online Encompass Associate membership form. Anyone
>know how long it takes to get a response?
>
>--
>Jeffrey Sharp
>
;-----------------------------------------------------------
; vaux electronics, inc. 480-354-5556
; http://www.vauxelectronics.com (fax: 480-354-5558)
;-----------------------------------------------------------
Jeff,
This is what I got when I tried to reply to your e-mail, using
jss(a)subatomix.com
Hi. This is the qmail-send program at saghotta.pair.com.
I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following addresses.
This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out.
<www.horseville.com@saghotta.pair.com>:
Sorry, no mailbox here by that name. (#5.1.1)
Is there a better e-mail to use???
Will J
_________________________________________________________________
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I know this is OT by about 5 years, but... if anyone knows much about NCR
Teradata systems (specifically a Worldmark 5100M), please contact me
off-list.
Pat
--
Purdue Universtiy ITAP/RCS
Information Technology at Purdue
Research Computing and Storage
http://www-rcd.cc.purdue.edu
John:
The way the telnet server within the Altair32 works is that it's
activated upon the "first" access of a CPU I/O port by a running program.
So, for example, if you are running a program that doesn't interact with any
of the console I/O ports (0/1, 20/21 octal), the telnet server will not be
activated and any telnet client will bomb out, complaining that no server is
found.
So, the sequence I use is to run HyperTerm and "disconnect" from the
telnet port (UDP port 23 by the way -- the standard telnet port). Then, I
run the emulator, attach disks and "boot" CP/M. I run ZoneAlarm, so I get a
notification that a telnet server is starting (with a TCP address of
127.0.0.1), so I allow the access then "connect" HyperTerm.
If you don't run ZoneAlarm, you just have to guess the timing when
connecting. When booting CP/M, it's no more than a few seconds. If you look
at the front panel address LEDs, you can "see" that it drops into an idle
loop (the address LEDs appear to only reference a tight range of addresses).
This is the signal that the CBIOS is waiting for a "live" connection.
If you prefer, you can use the built-in Windows Console. That
doesn't have the same connection problems as telnet. With telnet, however,
you should be able to reach your Altair across a subnet (although I've never
tried it).
The disks are full with stuff, and there certainly should be more
than 2-3 files. The CP/M 2.2 disk probably has 25 files on it.
Rich
Found the problem, the +5 volt line on the siemans 8
inch drive is shorted - causing the power supply to
shutdown.
also i inserted the cpu boards (yes two of them)
backwords(the osi backplane slot headers are not
keyed)(joy, more rebuilding).
i am really interested in info on "d & b computer
systems"
did they make more then clone boards for the osi
systems?
does anyone have the dip switch tables for the two
banks of switches on the dbi cpu boards.
the boards i am looking for info on are the dbi db1
(cpu mem and console board) and the d&b db-pfdco1
(fdc/comms board).
the fdc board has a 50 pin header for the floppy's but
also has a 40 pin header below it.
can a 5-1/4 or 3 1/2 floppy drive be interfaced to a
osi system?
also what is the pinout of the osi/siemans fdd-100-8 e
interface connector?
it seems to be almost the same as the shugart 50 pin -
but how does it work with the read data pin not used
in the interface?
Bill
__________________________________________________
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This is a recent email exchange ......
Someone from titanplasticsgroup.com wrote to me:
>> I was just going through a bunch of files/prints
>> that we are throwing away.
>> They are velum hand drawn prints for the Heath
>> Co. Want them? Know anyone who might?
I answered:
> The Heath Co. made many wonderful kits over the
> the years. Kits that became a part of many people's
> lifes. Of course, most of these people have a favorite
> category - Ham radio equipment, test equipment,
> computers, home automation, robots, the company itself,
> etc.
> I am most interested in Heathkit computer related
> information. But even if this is not the case, I can
> most certainly find and donate it a good home, where
> it would be very appreciated.
> If you want to send these files to me I can pay the
> shipping depending on the amount of material you have.
> Thank you for your effort to save this material from
> being thrown away.
They replied:
>> Wow! You guys are passionate about this stuff. I sent
>> this email to other people as well. One collector of
>> those kits drove up from Benton Harbor (only about an
>> hr away) and has already taken them. I thought he was
>> going to cry when he saw the prints. Sorry!
I replied:
> Thanks for finding it a good home.
> Many people started a life-long love of electronics with
> a Heathkit. And many people were able to pass their
> love of electronics down to their children with Heathkits.
> So when you find something that reminds you of the
> excitement of your youth or time you spent with a parent
> to built something together, it becomes a treasured possession.
It made me feel great to think that someone
would take the time to make old internal files
like this available to collectors.
Have nice day :)
=========================================
Doug Coward
@ home in Poulsbo, WA
Analog Computer Online Museum and History Center
http://dcoward.best.vwh.net/analog
=========================================
I'm trying to gather information about the different varieties of Mice
that were used on Lisa and early Mac systems. I'm looking for
additions/clarifications to this list, specifically which mouse would
have been shipped with which system, and if mouse #2 ever existed.
Jeff
--
#1 - Original Lisa Mouse (Lisa and possibly early Lisa2?): Had a metal
ball, long rectangular button, and a "clip"-type retension mechanism on
the connector. The mouse port on the Lisa did NOT have metal around the
connector as is common on DB-9 female connectors. Instead, there was a
plastic "lip" to which the retension clip on the mouse would mate. The
bottom of the mouse was sloped and did not have a sharp angle like the
M0100 mice. The mouse had a tan colored cord.
#2 - (Early Lisa2?): Same as #1 but with standard DB-9 connector instead
of the clip-type retension mechainism. Each thumbscrew had an Apple logo
embossed at the ends.
#3 - Early M0100 (Possibly later Lisa2/Mac XL): Button was not as
slender as the Original Lisa Mouse and had a standard DB-9 male
connector instead of the clip-type retension mechanism. Each thumbscrew
had an Apple logo embossed at the ends. Both the button and cord were
tan colored.
#4 - Later M0100 (Apple II?): Same as Early M0100 but had a gray button
and cord instead of the tan button and cord. The thumbscrews did not
have the embossed Apple logos and were somewhat thinner. The internal
mechanism was also slightly different than the Early M0100 and are not
interchangable.
>From: "Will Jennings" <xds_sigma7(a)hotmail.com>
>
>Hi,
>Does anyone know what exactly a Heath/Zenith SW-3000-A is? The plaque on the
Hi Will
The SW would indicate that it was a shortwave receiver or tranceiver.
Dwight
>front says Heath/Zenith Computer-based Instruments, and there is a card in
>it with 2 coax connectors that looks like maybe its some kind of broadcast
>crud? The machine itself is a rackmount passive backplane 286, with the
>video I asked about in it. I really need to take a pic, it is one snazzy
>looking piece of hardware.
>
>Will J
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*.
>http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail
>
>
Chris,
Well I tried 1 closed, 2-6 open, and no video... it was set to 2 and 3
closed, rest open, that produces some kinda static white noise crud on the
monitor... The card has a chips + tech chip and an Inmos chip, which I would
guess is the RAMDAC.
Will J
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Among many, many other projects I need to tend to, I am working on finishing
up on my Nova 3 restoration project. The last thing I need to do is replace
the burnt out incandescent light bulbs on the front panel. I wanted to
replace them with LEDs, but white ones cost $4.99 a piece at RadioShack.
Plus, I'm betting that the bulbs take enough power to blow out an LED.
RadioShack doesn't seem to have the exact kind of bulb that is on that
panel. So, might anyone be able to tell me what kind of bulb I need to get
to replace the bad ones, or how I might be able to use LEDs instead, which I
would prefer, as I don't want to be replacing burnt out bulbs all the time.
--
Owen Robertson
Hi,
Does anyone know what exactly a Heath/Zenith SW-3000-A is? The plaque on the
front says Heath/Zenith Computer-based Instruments, and there is a card in
it with 2 coax connectors that looks like maybe its some kind of broadcast
crud? The machine itself is a rackmount passive backplane 286, with the
video I asked about in it. I really need to take a pic, it is one snazzy
looking piece of hardware.
Will J
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>About to scream trying to find docs on a Heath/Zenith video card... It's an
>8-bit ISA board with both a 9 pin and 15 pin video interface, and the
>confounded row o' dip switches... The part number on the board is 150-307...
>Hope someone can help me! BTW I am trying to make it use the 15-pin port
>(VGA)
I have one made by Video Seven that I believe I pulled from a 386 Zenith
PC. The part numbers aren't the same as yours, so the dip settings
probably aren't the same (but in case you care 1 closed, 2-6 open).
I also don't have docs, (nor were able to find them), but with mine, it
auto selects the VGA or CGA based on which has a monitor plugged in. If
both have a monitor, it uses VGA (I wasn't able to get it to work with
both at the same time... maybe if I had docs and knew what the dips did).
The interesting thing with mine is it is one of the few cards I have with
a "Slot 8" jumper, which if I understand it right, was to let you use it
in an XT that had slot 8 reverse wired (or something to that effect).
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
Hi all,
About to scream trying to find docs on a Heath/Zenith video card... It's an
8-bit ISA board with both a 9 pin and 15 pin video interface, and the
confounded row o' dip switches... The part number on the board is 150-307...
Hope someone can help me! BTW I am trying to make it use the 15-pin port
(VGA)
Will J
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Hi,
I have just bought an Osborne Executive computer but I need an image
file of the system disk for it, I have tried to boot with an Osborne 1 disk,
but it does not work, can you help me.
Regards,
Harvey
---
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Here are some responses to a question I asked of the
people-who-who-would-know about the Convex C210 that is currently on
Ebay. It looks to me like the machine hadn't been used in quite a
while. Also, It doesn't look like the power cable assembly is
included. Also, it seems that the machine was NOT in use in Oct of this
year, regardless of what the Ebay blurb says. Email addresses and last
names have been removed to protect the innocent.
-----Forwarded Message-----
> From: Phil
> ----- Forwarded message from Roger -----
>
> Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2002 11:06:37 -0500
> From: Roger
>
> Yeah, we dumped it. Hasn't run in sometime to my knowledge. Had a very
> heavy power cable assembly that we kept. I unbolted the cables myself,
> and disconnected the cables between the units. I wonder if Mo remembered
> to format the drives before it was dumped?
>
> We have been surplusing lots of Mo junk here recently.
>
> Will be interesting to watch this auction. Can't believe the guy has a
> reserve on it.
>
> - RAL
>
> Phil wrote:
> >Did the Convex get surplussed?
> >
> >----- Forwarded message from Christopher McNabb <cmcnabb(a)vt.edu> -----
> >
> >Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2002 00:42:42 -0500
> >From: Christopher McNabb
> >
> >Know anything about this one:
> >http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2072169868&category=1479
> >
> >It is in Blacksburg and come from the Physics dept. at a "Major
> >University"
> >
> >
> >Looks like VT property tags in the upper left hand corner of each
> >cabinet (first photo)
> >
>
> --
> Roger
> Virginia Tech Physics Department, Computing Systems
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
--
Christopher McNabb <cmcnabb(a)4mcnabb.net>
The McNabb Family
I find that sellers auctions disturbing, since at least one the boards has a
comment of "just removed from the rack" : (
Will J
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Please contact the original sender.
Reply-to: <lbritton(a)sbcglobal.net>
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2002 13:50:38 -0800 (PST)
From: Lori Britton <lbritton(a)sbcglobal.net>
Subject: TI99
Hello,
I bet you already have a ton of TI 99's, right? :o)
I have one, mint condition, in box.
Let me know.
Best regards,
Lori
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
* Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com *
mike, just read your thread. I've got a wall of vr201's and the keyboards.
I've been testing them on decmate III's of which I have about a dozen. If
your looking for a monitor and keyboard at a real good price email me at
trestivo(a)tarinc.com. I don't know if this is proper protocol for this board
as it is my first visit here. If I am out of line my apologies and please
let me know. thanks, thom.
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
Hello everybody,
~ I have to prepare a 1 hour lesson on history of computer architecture
as a part of a university exam.
It must be a technical lesson (ie: process technology, innovations such
as pipelines & superscalar processors, risc vs cisc, and so on - I study
informatic engineering), not just a historical resume.
I started collecting informations, but I wonder if you can suggest me
some interesting sites and/or books.
Tank you!
Davide Rizzi
ps: Sorry for my bad english...
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> (0) A 6'Hx10'W superwall of VAX, VMS, and layered product manuals. There
> is an orange wall, a grey wall, a white wall, a multicolored wall,
> another white wall, and so on. I don't remember how far back it goes,
Orange will be V4 and grey will be V5. Newer than that (V6 and V7) will be
the perfect bound white books. That's assuming these are all VMS manuals - it's
possible, given the history, that you may have scored some RT11, RSTS or RSX stuff.
> (1) About 100 blank magtapes, as soon as <name> runs them through the
> bulk eraser.
If these are original DEC media tapes (rather than people's data) it might be
possible to persuade him not to erase them, since the hobbyist program allows
you to use them. (OTOH it might be safer to wipe them any way from <name>'s point
of view).
Antonio
At least $1500, ending today....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2071171983
>From: Sellam Ismail <foo(a)siconic.com>
>Reply-To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
>To: <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
>Subject: Re: Whats wrong with chip collecting?
>Date: Sun, 17 Nov 2002 14:04:53 -0800 (PST)
>
>I suggest the former. Prices for old computers are fairly well
>established by now. These prices are independent of, for instance, the
>CPU that may power the computer. For example, if a SOL-20 goes on the
>market, chances are it could fetch up to $1,200, regardless of whether it
>had an Intel C8080 on the original Processor Technology CPU board or if
>it had a Cromemco ZPU with a Zilog Z80 (even a first run Z80). The CPU
>has no bearing on the valuation of the machine.
_________________________________________________________________
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Hi Lawrence:
I expected a keyboard problem, since the owner said it had a stuck key.
Sure enough, the boot screen would flash as if you were holding down an
incorrect key.
When I opened it up, the row and column flex connectors were plainly
visible. Also, the keyboard pinout is in the tech ref (which is online, if
you don't already have it).
I peeled a corner of the flex circuit up off the aluminum plate, and could
see metallization crossovers where the shorts likely exist. I could punch
a hole at the crossover to break the short, but then I would need to jumper
the cut traces. And this does not look like a solder job -- liquid
conductive ink perhaps? There could be shorts in the middle of the key
array too. The keyswitches are plastic, with posts that protrude through
the mounting plate, and then melted into place.
All in all a nasty thing to even think about repairing. Perhaps I am on
the wrong track (no pun intended), but I pulled the two flex connectors
out, so the ribbon cable is not connected -- I can measure many shorts
right at the flex terminals. All of the melted-in-place keyswitches would
need to be removed to asses the situation properly. Bummer.
At least I have a new keyboard I can plug in. I have not opened that one
up, so I don't know if it is different.
gil
> Uh-Oh ! I picked up a beige Osborne 1 last summer. It's in my
>lengthening To-Do queue. I booted it at the time but it had a problem
>not recognising the keyboard. I simply figured it was likely a cable
>fault. Now I wonder if there may be larger problems with the
>keyboard. What was your methodology to check the k-b ? I don't
>want to open mine up now to do a visual inspection, lest I be
>captured by the "fix-it" bug and neglect more pressing tasks.
;-----------------------------------------------------------
; vaux electronics, inc. 480-354-5556
; http://www.vauxelectronics.com (fax: 480-354-5558)
;-----------------------------------------------------------
Complete, pristine Convex with lots of original docs, tapes, etc. No
idea what the reserve is (and no connection to it):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2072169868&category=1479
Been up there for almost a week already and I haven't seen any talk
of it here. Hopefully someone can save it - someone else, the house
is filling up as it is... ;^)
--Steve.
Tony wrote:
> <88W> ... since
>it's steady, I think we can assume it's correct (at least for the moment).
OK. I'll probe around looking for a resistor connecting high end to +5V.
>What I would _expect_ is the following :
>
...
>
>2) A potential divider across one of the supply rails (probably the +5V
>rail), with the tap to the other input. Possibly a capacitor from the tap
>to ground to provide a bit of power-on delay. The idea is to take the CPU
>out of the reset state when the supply rails are high enough (== when the
>comparator switches over)
The orange 6192 may be that. Its job is just to make sure the
voltage-divider tap comes up slower than the voltage reference?
I'll look for another component (a black one this time) in parallel with
the 6192, to form the bottom end of the divider.
>3) A high value resistor from the output back to one of the inputs to
>provide a bit of hysteresis and prevent the darn thing oscillating. May
>not be essential, but it's good practice to put it in
All,
I didn't get around to the soldering last night. My wife informed
me that we were going to get up at 0400 so the kids could see the Leonid
meteor shower, so I decided to get to bed earlier. Glad I did, it was
spectacular.
I did do some more probing around the mainboard.
>> <88W>...I'll probe around looking for a resistor connecting high end to +5V.
I looked. It doesn't connect to anything nearby, and when I say
"doesn't connect" I mean completely open circuit to everything. Practically
every other connection shows at least *some* conductance to *something*.
Also, I noticed that the other pins from SMD's like this one have a little
trace running off to a microscopic little pit in the printed circuit board.
I assume this pit is where the conducting path dives into the innards of
the circuit board. There's no such trace and pit on the upper right
terminal of this device. I think it really is a no-connect.
On the 6192: I misled you all, I think. My apologies. Although I
remembered the color as "orange", it's in fact a subdued burnt orange, in
contrast to the bright international orange of the tantalum capacitors.
Someone who didn't graduate from the University of Texas might reasonably
refer to it as a reddish brown. :-) Meantime, there is in parallel with it,
just as Tony predicted, a tantalum capacitor (bright orange, with a pip).
One more piece of evidence: all the tantalum caps have, in addition
to the pip, a "+" printed on the circuit board near one end. There is *one*
exception to that, where the pip points toward the power supply and away
>from the "+" on the PCB. It's over near one of the connectors on the back
edge (maybe the SCSI, or 25-pin serial? I forget, but will post good
directions if anyone wants). The "+" mark is not present on 6192's position
on the PCB.
1) Anyone with access to a 4000 VLC mainboard, would you mind checking and
confirming that *all* of the tantalums are supposed to have the pip near
the "+" (and hence one of mine is probably in backward)? Or wait for better
directions, and check just the one that's backward on my board?
2) What's the consequence of having it reversed? Is that cap. probably now
dead?
Anyway, by now I'm pretty convinced 6192 is the lower resistor of a
voltage divider.
I did not find a feedback resistor for the comparator. It still could be
there, but I don't think it's very close by.
- Mark
> > The tinker gene is alive, but tinkering is indeed getting harder to do.
> > Kit building and ground up projects are very much alive in audio,
> > especially speakers. If you visit www.headwise.com you will see close to
> > a dozen different headphone amp projects.
>
>Is that url right? Looks like that one points to a web portal of
>somesort...
I may need to see a URLologist, try this one
<http://headwize2.powerpill.org/index.htm>
Hi folks:
I recently got two Osborne 1 computers. The first one (blue case) had a
dead power supply -- I fed +5/+12 DC power into the battery connector and
was able to bring it to life, but had no software to test it further. This
one has a double-density option board inside (and drives I presume), as
well as the optional modem.
I also got a second osborne (early beige case), which came with software
and manuals. This one has a keyboard that seemed to have a stuck key.
Turns out that the keyboard matrix has many shorts, not only row-to-column,
but also row-to-row and col-to-col. It is a flex-circuit soft of design,
and it appears to have a silk-screened or deposited metallization pattern
for the matrix. There is an insulating layer of some sort and then a
second metal layer. Anyway, it seems that the insulation between layers
has failed where some traces cross. It'll be a mess to fix, if even
possible. Anyone else have this problem on an early keyboard?
So I plugged the later keyboard into the early unit, and was able to boot
cp/m. I tried to copy the original cp/m disk to a new one, but copy had
read errors on a couple of tracks. I could see some visibly-crappy spots
on the disk surface too, but it did boot fine, and the utils seemed to run
ok. So I formatted a new disk, copied just the system, and then pip'd the
files over. Hmm, no errors on file reads with pip -- does that make sense,
since copy previously found bad tracks? After booting and running off the
new disk, it seems that all command files are working, with the possible
exception of movcpm (which seems to hang the machine, though I am not sure
how it works).
So I finally got the original disks copied, and learned a bit about the
machine in the process.
I fired up the later (double-density) model, but it would not boot from the
single-density disk. Should the DD drive be able to read the SD disk? The
drive was making an odd noise, so it may be drive-related. Is there a way
to boot from drive B? Can I swap the drives, and if so are there
master/slave jumpers, or terminations that need to move as well? On the
early machine, there was a diagnostic mode in rom (ctrl-D at the boot
screen, I think it was), but the newer unit does not respond to that. Were
diagnostics removed from later roms?
I swapped the working power supply from the old unit into the new machine
(yes, I know about the different jumper/harness connections). It worked fine.
Then, I put the non-working power supply into the early unit, and it
started working! I think the original power supply problem in the newer
machine may have been an intermittant in the fuse/voltage-selector gizmo,
which tells the PS whether to expect 115 or 230 -- in the early unit, this
gets hard-coded by the jumper wire on the PS board. Crazy frickin'
computers.
Then I accidentally cracked the brightness trimpot on one, as I put things
back together. Tacked a temporary pot in place while I look for a
replacement. I shouldn't try to do this stuff at 2 in the morning, I guess.
Well, that was sort of an FYI ramble, but any thoughts appreciated. Does
anyone have double-sided software for sale or trade?
thanks,
gil smith
;-----------------------------------------------------------
; vaux electronics, inc. 480-354-5556
; http://www.vauxelectronics.com (fax: 480-354-5558)
;-----------------------------------------------------------
Makes life blow when you have no money, though... Trust me!
Will J
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Sellam Ismail wrote:
> I believe the seller is being completely disingenuous when he says, "I
> don't have a monitor or the expertise to test it", considering that he is
> selling a monitor with the Sol! Being that it only contains a RAM card,
> this is seller code for "it doesn't work but I don't want to let you know
> that". Dishonest.
>
He says the keyboard lights up when it powers on, so it does also have
the main board (which is where the processor is in a SOL), but still at
these prices you're paying for collectability rather than functionality,
so a non-original memory card doesn't add much value - it is a minimal
SOL, albeit in nice condition.
I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he doesn't realize
that the TV is meant as a display - he probably thought the PL-259 video
connector was to attach a boat anchor or some other exotic accessory. It
seems that a lot of the tech stuff on eBay is sold by people who are
*completely* non-technical - I stumped one seller by asking him what
card an Apple 3.5 drive was attached to - he had trouble "tracing the
wires". Doh!
Ben
P.S. I read in the CCTalk archives that you had Bob Marsh as a previous
VCF speaker .. did you ever put a transcript of his talk on-line, or
maybe have a recording of it available?
There's one that I just saw get unloaded a few minutes ago at Purdue
University Salvage. Looks to be in good condition... except it's laying
outside on its side since they regard big things like it as 'junk'. Well,
if anyone's interested and nearby, drop me an email and I'll get you more
details.
Unfortunately, I don't think it'll last too long outside - they may end
up dumping more stuff on top of it, or mother nature may end up dumping
stuff on top. I would get it myself but I don't have any way to get it,
let alone somewhere to store it.
Pat
--
Purdue Universtiy ITAP/RCS
Information Technology at Purdue
Research Computing and Storage
http://www-rcd.cc.purdue.edu
As mentioned, I just picked up some new machines in Canada...
A gent had saved some National Semiconductor ICM-3216's from a university
lab and was glad to find a new home for them. These are fairly full-
featured little systems designed to showcase NS's 32000 family, with on-
board serial and parallel ports, a SCSI controller with it's own Z80 to
mind the bus transactions, a modest expansion bus, etc. Since these were
board-level products, everything else like cases and drives had to be
built or found elsewhere.
Two of the hosts I received were timesharing systems and are housed in
nicely designed cases custom built from sheet steel. A third timesharing
host has gone elsewhere, and a fourth ICM was later built in a PC/AT clone
case where students could try coding on the bare metal by booting from a
SCSI floppy drive.
One of the timesharing systems powered up and ran just fine before
loading for the trip South.
The icing on the cake was an unexpected trove of manuals that originally
came with all this stuff, including full schematics for the boards, and
two (binary) versions of SysV Unix on QIC tape. I'm still sorting through
all this stuff, which includes a folder full of notes, letters, and some
brochures for different components like disk drives and terminals, mostly
>from 1986.
Eventually I expect to get some pictures up, and depending on where VCF
East is I think I'd bring one along.
--Steve.
A while back I'd asked for tips on moving machines from Canada down
to the US. Thought I'd answer my own question now that I've done it.
The gentleman giving me the systems (details to follow) wrote me a
note stating that they were obsolete, over 15 years old, and that any
commercial value was less than $100. It also stated that the machines
were a gift rather than a sale, which was the case.
It looked like the US Customs agent wouldn't have bothered asking,
but I mentioned the machines and handed her the letter. Had it been
a trailer-load rather than a couple boxes in the back of the SUV, it
might have been different, but as it was she just waved me through.
--Steve.
Actually there's two SOL's currently on eBay.
The 2nd one is currently "only" $500 or so:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2071406461
The difference being that it has no documentation (which I suspect accounts for
the price difference), and also it only has a single card in it - a non-PT 64K
memory card (I asked the seller if it was PT or not).
In recent history SOL's have sold for anywhere from $490 to $2500!
Documentation also seems to be what has so far driven this Altair to $4K:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2072033128
Ben
Glen Slick wrote:
>At least $1500, ending today....
>
>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2071171983
>
>
>>From: Sellam Ismail <foo(a)siconic.com>
>>Reply-To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
>>To: <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
>>Subject: Re: Whats wrong with chip collecting?
>>Date: Sun, 17 Nov 2002 14:04:53 -0800 (PST)
>>
>
>>I suggest the former. Prices for old computers are fairly well
>>established by now. These prices are independent of, for instance, the
>>CPU that may power the computer. For example, if a SOL-20 goes on the
>>market, chances are it could fetch up to $1,200, regardless of whether it
>>had an Intel C8080 on the original Processor Technology CPU board or if
>>it had a Cromemco ZPU with a Zilog Z80 (even a first run Z80). The CPU
>>has no bearing on the valuation of the machine.