- test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org - classiccmp.org

by vintagecomputer＠bettercomputing.net

-------- Original message -------- From: "Ian S. King" <isking at uw.edu> Date: 2016-10-09 2:30 PM (GMT-08:00) To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: Twiggys [was: Re: ka... ching!] On Sun, Oct 9, 2016 at 2:37 AM, Dave G4UGM <dave.g4ugm at gmail.com> wrote: > > -----Original Message----- > > From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Brad H > > Sent: 09 October 2016 07:41 > > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts > > <cctalk at classiccmp.org>; jwsmail at jwsss.com > > Subject: Re: Twiggys [was: Re: ka... ching!] > > > > > > > > I'd like to learn more about programming, esp for my 6800.? It'd be fun > to test > > its limits and see what uses I can find for the graphics board I got. I > just don't > > understand how they programmed the thing. All the hex stuff throws me > > off.? :) > > Does it have a serial interface and memory. In which case it was probably > programmed in Assembler. > When I started with 6800 board and 256 bytes of memory, and toggle > switches to load it I used to hand assemble the programs to get the > hex/binary. > I soon got bored of the toggle switches and built a little box with an old > calculator keyboard and display and some TTL so I could enter data quickly. > > > Dave > > I recently acquired a SWTPC 6800, a machine I remember from when it was new.? :-)? There are many programming environments available for it - I'm working to get Forth running on mine, then I'll branch out. It's been said that the 6800 inherited a lot of ideas from the PDP-8, and I agree with that to some extent.? The ISA is actually very clean and neat, once you wrap your head around it - I used to program 6800 assembler professionally, my first paid job as a programmer!? Unlike the PDP-8, I/O is memory-mapped.? Depending on what monitor ROM you have (if any), you may have different system services available.? One very useful system is the one that can read S-records from the serial input, allowing you to easily transfer programs onto the machine. If you want to grok the 6800 in fullness, there are online scans of Motorola's programming manual for the device.? Another great resource is the swtpc.com site, even if you don't have a SWTPC machine (what do you have?). Have fun with it!? Cheers -- Ian -- Ian S. King, MSIS, MSCS, Ph.D. Candidate The Information School <http://ischool.uw.edu> Dissertation: "Why the Conversation Mattered: Constructing a Sociotechnical Narrative Through a Design Lens Archivist, Voices From the Rwanda Tribunal <http://tribunalvoices.org> Value Sensitive Design Research Lab <http://vsdesign.org> University of Washington >There is an old Vulcan saying: "Only Nixon >could go to China." I've an original SWTPC 6800. ?Also have an ASCI System X and a Tektronix 6800 board bucket. ?Right now I'm enjoying working with the SWTPC. ?I'm trying to deck it out as completely as one could have. I don't quite understand assembly.. I assume to program in that, as with BASIC you need to load an 'assembler' language first? ?I tried this with my Digital Group system with 5 different tapes marked 'assembler' but never got them to load. ?Not sure if I understand the concept.

9 years, 8 months

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Twiggys [was: Re: ka... ching!]

by vintagecomputer＠bettercomputing.net

I'd like to learn more about programming, esp for my 6800. ?It'd be fun to test its limits and see what uses I can find for the graphics board I got. I just don't understand how they programmed the thing. All the hex stuff throws me off. ?:) Sent from my Samsung device -------- Original message -------- From: william degnan <billdegnan at gmail.com> Date: 2016-10-08 8:54 PM (GMT-08:00) To: jwsmail at jwsss.com, "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: Twiggys [was: Re: ka... ching!] To me, getting old computers up and running, or programming on them *is* the game as far as I am concerned.? More fun than most packaged software games.? I have made my own games, and I certainly play computer games, but that's not why I am interested in vintage computing. I just spent a few hours tonight attempting to network my NeXTstation color computer and get to the post of accessing the vcfed.org forum so I could post a message on there.? Just for fun, using ancient dawn of the WWW technology.??? Feels like a game to me, there is no practical purpose to doing this other than enjoyment. My point is for those of us who pooh pooh vintage gamers not to take themselves too seriously.? We're all just playing games if you ask me.

9 years, 8 months

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cctech Digest, Vol 28, Issue 4

by trayres＠gmail.com

I'm interested! I'm down in California and I also have no idea what it's worth, I'm new to the PDP scene. On Oct 9, 2016 10:00 AM, <cctech-request at classiccmp.org> wrote: > Send cctech mailing list submissions to > cctech at classiccmp.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctech > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > cctech-request at classiccmp.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > cctech-owner at classiccmp.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of cctech digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. PDP-11/23 system for sale in Portland Oregon (Scott Baker) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sat, 8 Oct 2016 11:31:29 -0700 > From: Scott Baker <scott.l.baker at gmail.com> > To: cctech at classiccmp.org > Subject: PDP-11/23 system for sale in Portland Oregon > Message-ID: > <CABW5Ymky8tCrsTKL4ehEUDt4vtkDxO1hYTDAUS2ANnxxux8Ykg at mail. > gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > Hi, > > Pictures can be found here: http://sierracircuitdesign. > ddns.net/temp/pdp11/ > > The system is located in Portland, Oregon. Local pick-up is preferred. > Not sure if it still works. I have not tried to turn it on in years. > I do not have any software of floppies for it. > I'm not sure what it's worth. If you are interested in it, make me an > offer. > > Regards, > Scott > > > End of cctech Digest, Vol 28, Issue 4 > ************************************* >

9 years, 8 months

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TPC-I back in one piece (was Re: TeleVideo progress)

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Ian S. King > What I want to record here for posterity is how to open one of these > things. I archived this to the Computer History wiki: http://gunkies.org/wiki/TeleVideo_TPC-1 Hope that was OK! Noel

9 years, 8 months

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Twiggys [was: Re: ka... ching!]

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

no real interest in playing games though the curiously of seeing star trek game on friends Digital Group Computer ( had little screen in the front of it... I want one for SMECC display working or not) group and getting a baudot teletype model 14 lead to me starting a computer company in 1979... The big and best game for me was THE HARDWARE and running timeshare systems ) hp-2000 then later hp-3000 later also became full line Independent HP PC products dealer.... but that was just selling stuff not the feel of thrill and adventure the other phases had! Ed# _www.smecc.org_ (http://www.smecc.org) In a message dated 10/9/2016 9:07:45 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time, ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk writes: > > Find better games :) > > Nope, not even. Has as much appeal as base jumping. I'd rather be I think I'm with you on this one. The only computer games I find even mildly interesting are ones that involve thought and/or hackery to complete. I found the HP67 Games Pac (A set of programs for a handheld calculator with a numeric display) to be much more entertaining than anything on a modern console. But even so, I even enjoy those games that much. Relaxation for me is reading the service manual for something I don't own, figuring out what the schematics really mean, etc. Or mindlessly stuffing a PCB. -tony =

9 years, 8 months

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Twiggys [was: Re: ka... ching!]

by vintagecomputer＠bettercomputing.net

Flipping is just treasure hunting by another name. ?Estate and storage locker sales are the modern equivalent of digging for pirate gold. ?I think people worldwide love that stuff but particularly Americans because they have that brash adventurer spirit embedded in the national character. Sent from my Samsung device -------- Original message -------- From: ethan at 757.org Date: 2016-10-09 8:46 AM (GMT-08:00) To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Cc: General at classiccmp.org Subject: Re: Twiggys [was: Re: ka... ching!] >>>? Just like the car collecting, comic book collection and just about >>> most other hobbies when they mature.? The same type of people who The comic book market crashed due to the flipping side of it as far as I know. When it changes from a hobby to a speculative mania, I suppose that is when things eventually explode? They can go on a lot longer if backed by the government and low interest rates, see speculation in housing. Plus weak returns in other markets. Unlike basic needs like the housing market bubble (which has yet to crash, but probably will which isn't a bad thing) hobbies like Classic Computers probably have interest waves. Certain people who grew up with such and such hold it dear. Eventually interest in it will probably fade as the people with memories of the subject fufill reliving the experience, or die. And there is a lot of money to be made, then vendors might swoop in to make cash (see Roland and Yamaha with their recent Botique recreations of vintage analog synthesizers.) Also for much of the younger generation housing costs are so high (and perhaps job opportunities weak) that collecting things becomes more of a burden. It costs a lot of time to move stuff from apartment to apartment, and money to store it. Buying a house with low prospects of job stability is also a risk and can damage chances of relocating for jobs after layoffs. The damage of the years of offshoring and outsourcing is hidden behind the national debt, student loan debt and housing debt. Also there is some sort of American obsession with flipping stuff. A lot less shows about building new things versus shows about flipping stuff (be it Pawn shops, Storage Units, American Pickers type stuff, and of course -- housing flip shows.)

9 years, 8 months

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ka... ching!

by aek＠bitsavers.org

http://www.ebay.com/itm/291894250804

9 years, 8 months

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Twiggys [was: Re: ka... ching!]

by vintagecomputer＠bettercomputing.net

-------- Original message -------- From: Chuck Guzis <cclist at sydex.com> Date: 2016-10-08 2:17 PM (GMT-08:00) To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: Twiggys [was: Re: ka... ching!] On 10/08/2016 09:46 AM, js at cimmeri.com wrote: > I think the people who complain about "Altairs just sitting on > desks" might be doing so for at least one reason being because a > particular purpose seems to violate the original spirit, intent, and > purpose behind the creation.? I hear that a lot eg. "it's a shame > it's just sitting there, not being used." > > It's when other purposes come in, and begin to make this hobby > purpose more difficult to engage in and "unobtainium", that the > hobbyists lament.? If there were enough for everyone, then there'd be > no complaining. I have to confess to a certain amount of bemusement when I witness the phenomenon of game-obsession with early PCs.? With the exception of "home" systems, such as Commodore and perhaps Apple and the like, I knew very few people who *purchased* a PC for game playing.? Did people play games on PCs?? Sure--but that was rarely the reason that anyone ponied up for a 1970s or 80s multiple-kilobuck system.? Mind you, this was around the time that one could purchase a Porsche 914 for little more than $3000. Most of the people I knew purchased a PC to do business applications (AR, AP, GL, inventory, payroll or word processing) or worked with spreadsheets.?? Yet, very little of this is ever discussed on fora such as the Vintage Computer Federation site. Indeed, I think it's safe to speculate that the bulk of Intel Inboard cards were sold to those running Lotus 1-2-3. After we're all gone, what will future generations think of us? That we developed new hardware and software solely to play games? Wow. --Chuck > When I was a kid we had the IBM PCjr through PS/2. ?Concurrently I had my own Commodore 64. ?Up until we got our AT, the Commodore was the game machine. ?There were lots of PC versions of games out there but they *sucked* in terms of graphics and sound (we also lacked a joystick for the PCs) compared to the Commodore. ?King's Quest was the earliest game I played on PC.. but I don't recall it being available on Commodore at the time. ?One of my best memories was of the computer lab at our school. ?We had 30 64s up there chained to a 4040 (I think) via C64 Link expanders. ?We had a game day every so many weeks and had all kinds of fun trying to get games to load via that setup. I remember thinking of gaming on 'Dad's computer' as an odd idea. ?But then Test Drive came out. ?Then our school dumped the Commodores and went to PCs. ?People started showing up at school for game day with PC games like Empire. ?And then the PC finally started to catch up and surpass the Commodore in quality and the games reached a level the Commodore couldn't do. ?Between that and the ease of loading things quickly from hard drive.. the C64 ended up going into hibernation. ?After that it was all about upgrading the PC to run Falcon or some such acceptably.

9 years, 8 months

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Executive desk phones anyone?

by witchy＠binarydinosaurs.co.uk

Hi folks, I happened upon a rare beast last weekend and it finally dropped into my hands yesterday. Most folk know about the ICL One-Per-Desk which was essentially a Sinclair QL with re-engineered microdrives and sold massively well here in the UK (British Telecom rebranded it as the BT Merlin) and Australia (Computerphone) and I think it made it to the US too? People don't seem to know about its predecessor, me included. STC (Standard Telephone & Cable) had this designed in the late 70s but it didn't make it to market until 1984 - the STC Executel 3010. It's an AMD8085A powered desk phone with 5" monitor that could store your phone entries, diary appointments, autodial and connect to Viewdata services - PRESTEL in the UK. It was expensive and didn't sell, some googling seems to show that there are only maybe half a dozen in existence with 4 of them in the Cambridge area, apt since it was designed by PA Consulting who amongst other things redesigned the Tandy Coco for the UK and marketed it as the Dragon32. What's interesting from a US standpoint is that it apparently DID make it over the pond and was sold as the 'Buckingham' so the question is, anyone heard of it? http://www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk/STCExecutel01.jpg -- Adrian/Witchy Binary Dinosaurs creator/curator Www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the UK's biggest private home computer collection?

9 years, 8 months

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PDP-11/23 system for sale in Portland Oregon

by scott.l.baker＠gmail.com

Hi, Pictures can be found here: http://sierracircuitdesign.ddns.net/temp/pdp11/ The system is located in Portland, Oregon. Local pick-up is preferred. Not sure if it still works. I have not tried to turn it on in years. I do not have any software of floppies for it. I'm not sure what it's worth. If you are interested in it, make me an offer. Regards, Scott

9 years, 8 months

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TPC-I back in one piece (was Re: TeleVideo progress)

by isking＠uw.edu

On Sun, Oct 2, 2016 at 8:20 PM, jim stephens <jwsmail at jwsss.com> wrote: > > > On 10/2/2016 6:23 PM, Ian S. King wrote: > >> Hi all, >> >> I've posted looking for help with a TeleVideo TPC-1, and I've heard a lot >> of crickets <snip> >> > I saw your FB posting, good job, and chirp chirp. > >> I've ordered an exact, tested/guaranteed >> working replacement from ePay, >> > Those were common drives, but be sure to do a careful inspection, as some > of the drives had variants that were subtle. > > good job, great you got it working. > thanks > JIm > >> and I'm going to have everything working to >> spec before I snap this thing back together. >> >> Yes, I'm having fun. :-) >> >> OK, my 'new' Teac drive arrived and passed inspection. I carefully jumpered it to match the original, reassembled just enough that I could plug it in, and... success! So to recap (pun intended), the machine had bad caps in the power supply (leaking goo) and a bad drive 0. What I want to record here for posterity is how to open one of these things. It was a real pain, which I've heard was intentional. Reassembly was challenging, too, but at least I could see what was happening. So here goes: To disassemble, you need to remove four screws. Facing the unit as it sits on the bench (i.e. operating position), there are two screws on the top of the machine at the front corners and two others on the rear, vertically centered and near each vertical edge (one of them is in the recess where you can store the power and keyboard cables). Now it gets fun. The unit disassembles into a top cover that wraps over side-to-side, and a rear piece that holds the majority of the electronics. The bottom piece of the main case holds the power supply, floppy cage and some of the video electronics. There are plastic 'teeth' that fit into indents at various point along those pieces. For the top cover, the 'teeth' are part of the cover, one per corner. For the back panel, the teeth snap into the top and bottom of the main part of the case. The teeth are also accompanied by a very thin indent in the case piece. It's sort of a muscle job to get these things separated. I got the back piece free before removing the top piece, with a little help from a putty knife in those indents. There are screws in the bottom of the case that hold in the power supply and the floppy cage One of the floppy case screws is located underneath the tilt 'foot'. Putting it back together: be sure you have the logic board *inside* the screw points for the back panel, but don't put in the screws yet. Seat the top cover with its teeth in place, and insert the two front screws (don't screw down tightly yet). Then, lever the back panel's teeth into their slots, watching the top cover to be sure it doesn't try to pop off. Insert the two rear screws and tighten. Now tighten the front two screws, and it's back together. It may take a little jostling to get everything to reseat completely. Now to go through the metric butt-ton of software I got with this thing - over a hundred floppies. Looking at the labels, some are duplicates, some are 'working' disks, and some are original TeleVideo floppies with system software. Fortunately, one of them is Kermit, which will make the archiving job a lot easier! OK, that was fun. Next! Probably the Kenwood TH-77A I bought that won't transmit. Cheers -- Ian -- Ian S. King, MSIS, MSCS, Ph.D. Candidate The Information School <http://ischool.uw.edu> Dissertation: "Why the Conversation Mattered: Constructing a Sociotechnical Narrative Through a Design Lens Archivist, Voices From the Rwanda Tribunal <http://tribunalvoices.org> Value Sensitive Design Research Lab <http://vsdesign.org> University of Washington There is an old Vulcan saying: "Only Nixon could go to China."

9 years, 8 months

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Twiggys [was: Re: ka... ching!]

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

Right on... The most important thing is.... IS THE OBJECT BEING SAVED? Even if you restore something today it will be crap in another 50 years If you do not restore it now it will run like crap too. SO... in 50 years both are equal.. they will both run like crap no matter if restored now or not. The only caveat to the above examples is in ANY and EVERY case make sure the old batteries are out of it! And lastly... usually the people that raise the most protest 'about something not being used' are those that do not have one. Draw your own conclusions... Ed# In a message dated 10/8/2016 9:46:04 A.M. US Mountain ....................... > Just like the car collecting, comic book collection and just about most other hobbies when they mature. The same type of people who complained about the price of an Xmen#1 because people would just buy and display them and not read them, complain when someone buys an ALTAIR to sit on their desk and doesn't turn it on. Better that than the garbage heap, without money coming into our hobby it would eventually die out and many artifacts would be lost to the dump.

9 years, 8 months

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Blown Tantalum Capacitor Advice

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

I have an RD53 disk drive. When I plugged it in the other day something blew up, smoke etc. I found that it was a tantalum capacitor on the motor control board that had gone. I suppose I am wondering if just replacing it is a good idea, could the failure be a symptom of another problem, could it have damaged something else? I realise that without a schematic it may be difficult to comment, but I suppose it is more a question about what can cause these caps to fail? If anyone has a schematic, or a drive they can examine, it is C1 on the motor control board, quite close to the molex socket for power. Regards Rob

9 years, 8 months

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Picked up Commodore Amiga 2000

by lyokoboy0＠gmail.com

A buddy located this just in time, it was out at a scrapyard and we are about to get hit with a hurricane over here in florida. Picked up a commodore amiga 2000 with the keyboard, no mouse or monitor. I hooked it up to a tv via composite and get to the boot screen. It appears to have a scsi hard drive controller in it. I figured this would be the place to ask... It looks as if PC compatibility boards can be added to the machine, boards with a 286, 386, or 486 and some memory on a board, capable of running MS DOS. IF i were to install such a board, what kind of graphics capability would the dos side of things have? I just got started with the machine, im still trying to get it to boot up, but if it would be pretty capable with dos then i will keep an eye out for one of the cards. any suggestions to get started would be appreciated. --Devin

9 years, 8 months

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Twiggys [was: Re: ka... ching!]

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Fred Cisin >> Did you tell the dumpsterers that they'd thrown out stuff worth >> thousands of dollars? (I would have made to sure to let them know >> that, with great spite.) > "So? Boss said throw out everything in the closets. ..." Clearly, the Indians weren't to blame. But I sure hope someone told the chief... > From: Corey Cohen > As for stuff in vintage computer that is going up, it's not just Apple. > It has to do with how mainstream and how rare something is. ... I do > agree the rare Apple stuff is growing faster, but that's because it can > pull from the business community as buyers who love the comeback story > of Apple and what it represents. Oh, I don't have any issue with Altairs going for $1-2K; I think one can make a rational case for that; they were a key machine the growth of personal computers, etc, etc. But I do think that when it comes to Apples, there is a certain level of irrationality in some/many buyers. ($20K for a pair of floppies?) There is definitely an Apple cult, which I think is a factor. Let me make another analogy with cars (which I also used to collect). I think early Ferraris are really, really cool - and the 330 P4 is, in my eyes, one of the most beautiful race cars ever built (maybe _the_ most beautiful). But if I had $10M, I sure as hell wouldn't spend the whole lot on an original P4; I think better value would be to buy a down-to-the-last-bolt-exact replica, for say $500K, and have $9.5M left over to buy other cool stuff with. This goes quintuply for an original GTO, at $50M. One could do all sorts of amazing things with that much money. Is having an original _really_ worth as much (or more) than all those other things? Like I said, a certain level of irrationality. Noel

9 years, 8 months

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Twiggys [was: Re: ka... ching!]

by vintagecomputer＠bettercomputing.net

-------- Original message -------- From: Brent Hilpert <hilpert at cs.ubc.ca> Date: 2016-10-07 8:46 PM (GMT-08:00) To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: Twiggys [was: Re: ka... ching!] On 2016-Oct-07, at 5:17 PM, Noel Chiappa wrote: >> On 10/7/2016 5:21 PM, Chuck Guzis wrote: > >> That simply defies logic. I *really* don't get this collecting business. > > It's Apple-related. Some Apple devotees seem to have an, ah, excessive > attachment to things Apple. (Q.v. $1M Apple I's.) I'm suprised that some of > them didn't commit suttee when Steve died. I agree this valuation is primarily "Apple"-driven rather than say "vintage-computer" driven, but here's an interesting non-Apple sale, just completed: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cromemco-Dazzler-JP-1-Joysticks-D-7A-S-100-Card-Doc…>IMSAI-/291888851989 And yet the untouched original Mark-8 boards I bought only went for $1500. ?I don't get it.

9 years, 8 months

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Twiggys [was: Re: ka... ching!]

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

90 mm f 2 summacron was a great lens! wish I had one back for our M2. In a message dated 10/7/2016 7:15:36 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, cisin at xenosoft.com writes: On Fri, 7 Oct 2016, COURYHOUSE at aol.com wrote: > Leicas dumpstered? OMG !? > oh.... the humanity!!!!!!! Indeed! M2 AND M3, with marvelous lenses. CHead had promised me the Summicrons, which I have always dreamed of having. I found 2 cases that the dumpsterers missed, containing a mint 2-1/4x3-1/4 Graflex and lenses, and a Visoflex Tele-Elmarit with serious cosmetic damage due to the foam deteriorating. When it became clear that the rest were gone, I did a quick sale of the Tele-Elmarit for $1000, kept a 47mm Super-Angulon (almost fills 4x5!), and gave the Graflex with the rest of its lenses to another of CHead's friends who wanted to learn what HE considered "large format". I'm currently playing with swings and tilts with the Super Angulon on a Hama/Kenlock/Spiratone bellows as a miniature technical camera.

9 years, 8 months

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Twiggys [was: Re: ka... ching!]

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Fred Cisin > I found 2 cases that the dumpsterers missed ... I did a quick sale of > the Tele-Elmarit for $1000 Did you tell the dumpsterers that they'd thrown out stuff worth thousands of dollars? (I would have made to sure to let them know that, with great spite.) And if so, what did they say? Noel

9 years, 8 months

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Twiggys [was: Re: ka... ching!]

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

Leicas dumpstered? OMG !? oh.... the humanity!!!!!!! In a message dated 10/7/2016 5:18:44 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, cisin at xenosoft.com writes: On Fri, 7 Oct 2016, COURYHOUSE at aol.com wrote: > but.... if you were a hardcore mustang collector you would not sleep > until you had every part that went with it... Having been around when they came out, and still around when I did not buy non-running rolling rebuildables for a few hundred dollars, I'm not likely to ever become that hardcore Mustang collector! I will sell my Leicas to the hardcore! (So that they won't get dumpstered after I die, like CHead's did!)

9 years, 8 months

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ka... ching!

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> Maybe not astronomical, but most of the systems I'm interested in, > anyways, are almost always outside my price range. > ... > it's not 'astronomical' just out of reach. Look at old cars. There's a whole range, from $15M Ferraris on down. The existence of cars are higher prices doesn't stop lots of people from enjoying lower-priced ones. I completely fail to see why old computers should be any different. Can everyone afford a Ferrari? No. Has this seriously damaged old car collecting? Doesn't see to have. Noel

9 years, 8 months

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Twiggys [was: Re: ka... ching!]

by vintagecomputer＠bettercomputing.net

I'd like to see a dig like they did for the Atari ET carts where the Lisas are buried. ?Although, I think they were all Lisa 2s? Sent from my Samsung device -------- Original message -------- From: Chuck Guzis <cclist at sydex.com> Date: 2016-10-07 4:58 PM (GMT-08:00) To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: Twiggys [was: Re: ka... ching!] On 10/07/2016 04:41 PM, Al Kossow wrote: > > > On 10/7/16 4:32 PM, js at cimmeri.com wrote: >> >> >> how astonishingly retarded that they sold for that much. > > nah.. maybe Alan in Soquel will list the ones he's been hoarding. In non-computer-related sales that initially commanded an outrageous price, I've seen the prices of subsequent sales decline precipitously. So Alan may not be in such a deliriously happy place. Sort of like a stamp collector selling a specimen thought to be the only one in existence and then discovering that there were 10 more out there. In particular, I have to wonder how much of this stuff is buried in overseas e-waste piles. --Chuck

9 years, 8 months

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Twiggys [was: Re: ka... ching!]

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

but.... if you were a hardcore mustang collector you would not sleep until you had every part that went with it... Ed# In a message dated 10/7/2016 5:07:12 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, cisin at xenosoft.com writes: If I had a 65 Mustang, missing the ashtray, the only reason that I would pay anything significant for NOS replacement would be if I had immediate plans to sell it to somebody for whom that stuff matters. Yes, I can see the differences between the original headlight assembly on the Honda, and the Chinese imitation replacement. But, I don't care.

9 years, 8 months

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'Revolutionary Force' Bombs IBM Offices

by billdegnan＠gmail.com

'Revolutionary Force' Bombs IBM Offices Computer Word, March 18, 1970.. http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=654 Does anyone have a stash of these old Computer World's? I have found very few online. I assume there is a complete set somewhere...? Bill

9 years, 8 months

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TI memory board

by aek＠bitsavers.org

wonder why all the interest. gold bugs, or do people realize there are i1103s on there? http://www.ebay.com/itm/262652558004

9 years, 8 months

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Data on a Platter!

by silent700＠gmail.com

Here's a scan - and special bonus audio tracks - of a brochure and 7" record I found on ebay recently: http://chiclassiccomp.org/docs/index.php?dir=%2Fcomputing/EG%26G "Data on a Platter" from a company called EG&G (anyone heard of them?) describes their vinyl (as in analog audio record) data storage scheme and how it will fit into your business. There's no date anywhere but the brochure is a great example of 60s typefaces, not to mention language. The recording includes examples of how the data sounds if played on a regular phonograph. Who's up for decoding it? -j

9 years, 8 months

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Picked up Commodore Amiga 2000

by barythrin＠gmail.com

I don't get the lack of love here. Every good hacker knows the answer is because it can. I think it adds to the charm and shows the power of the Amiga quite well. Also it shows off the technology of a computer on a card technology.? For the architecture wars fans it also reflects that they don't need a dreaded "pee see". In any event I'm a fan of emulation and hardware emulation I think is pretty solid technology vs the software counterparts. In a demo story an Amiga employee in town said he did a demo of his Amiga 3000 tower on a tech TV show. While he was playing some music on the Amiga he started up his bridge board app and loaded Windows 3.x. Then while waiting for Windows to load switched windows to show a restore off an internal SCSI tape drive. Pretty amazing technology. Plus you could even run a dos game then see the difference in the Amiga version ?(that'd be a great VCF demo). -------- Original message --------From: Chris Hanson <cmhanson at eschatologist.net> Date: 10/5/16 12:50 PM (GMT-06:00) To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: Picked up Commodore Amiga 2000 On Oct 4, 2016, at 7:13 PM, devin davison <lyokoboy0 at gmail.com> wrote: > > It looks as if PC compatibility Frankly, um, who cares?

9 years, 8 months

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DEC 3000 model 400 memory

by lists＠sysop.ca

A generous list member gifted me a DEC 3000 model 400 early alpha system. This is my first alpha and I'm excited to play around with VMS and Tru64 however he warned me that it was having some memory issues when he retired it several years ago. It does indeed appear to have some bad ram. I'm wondering if anyone on the list has memory modules they'd be willing to part with.

9 years, 8 months

3
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late-night insane request

by linimon＠lonesome.com

Is there anyone on this list who has a VNEbus Ethernet adapter? I figure not, but I've been using a fair amount of alcohol to troll ePay tonight, just out of morbid curiosity, and might as well ask. mcl

9 years, 8 months

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equipment in NH

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

I forgot to post. the PDP/VAX/Altos stuff in NH has been claimed... J

9 years, 8 months

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Any updates on the 3b2 emulator?

by other＠oryx.us

Hello Seth, Its been a few months, and I am wondering if the 3b2 emulator project is still moving forward, or put on the back burner for now? Thanks for any updates, Jerry

9 years, 8 months

2
1
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Anyone in the UK wan 40 x PC Game CDROMS Win95/98 era for postage?

by mark＠wickensonline.co.uk

Does anyone want a collection of 40 CDROMs with PC games on from around the Windows 95 and 98 era? All I want is to cover postage and save these from the bin. A paypal gift of $4.99 will cover Collect+ shipping. Please email me direct - first come first served! Regards, Mark.

9 years, 8 months

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Unexpected Apple Lisa display - what is it?

by barythrin＠gmail.com

Lol well crap. I was trying to remember which member here owned that site but figured it out. So where'd you find the picture Steven? -------- Original message -------- > From: steven stengel <tosteve at yahoo.com> > > What is this unusual Apple Lisa display - some sort of diagnostics? > > http://oldcomputers.net/temp/lisa.jpg

9 years, 8 months

3
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mc68010+mc68451 Unix source?

by seefriek＠gmail.com

I've got a half dozen different source trees for mc680x0 Unixen, but nothing for an mc68010 CPU + mc68451 MMU. I know Unisoft did some. I don't know if the Motorola ports (like for the VME/10) were Unisoft or done internally. Did any '010+'451 source trees survive to escape into the wild? KJ

9 years, 8 months

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Vintage Computer Festival West 2016 Gaming Panel 1080p with perfect audio

by applecorey＠optonline.net

https://youtu.be/bS_qGy3Ei3s <https://youtu.be/bS_qGy3Ei3s> Finally got around to converting this down from 4k 100mbps to 1080p and uploaded it to youtube. Enjoy, Erik Kline did a great job moderating the panel. Cheers, Corey

9 years, 8 months

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Picked up Commodore Amiga 2000

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

have a unit with toaster but we need a keyboard. it sets flat not a tower. Ed# _www.smecc.org_ (http://www.smecc.org) fills history in 2 areas we cover - computers and video production In a message dated 10/4/2016 9:58:46 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, nf6x at nf6x.net writes: Congratulations on rescuing the 2000! I wanted one pretty badly when I was working in an Amiga dealership in the late 1980s, but had a 1000. I still don't have a 2000, but I've scratched that itch with a 3000 that I got a couple years ago. I still have my old 1000, but haven't powered it up for a very long time. It's overdue for a cleaning-up and resurrection. > On Oct 4, 2016, at 21:32, TeoZ <teoz at neo.rr.com> wrote: > > Anyway the XT and 286 Bridgeboards are not that expensive but anything faster sure is. The Bridgeboards were indeed an odd kludge. I don't remember if we actually sold any in the store I worked in, but I think we had at least one installed in an Amiga 2000 for demo purposes. I quit looking for Bridgeboards over a year ago when eBay and I started seeing other people, but at the time I had little luck finding any. I wouldn't mind having any working Bridgeboard to try out in my Amiga 3000 just for kicks, but I wouldn't expect it to be of much practical use. So if there's a hidden source of cheap XT and 286 Bridgeboards out there, I might like to acquire one. Devin would get first dibs on any that turn up, of course. I do have something vaguely Bridgeboard-esque: I have one of the SunPCi cards in my Sun Ultra 60. I think I set up DOS and NT virtual disks for it, but I haven't found any practical use for it. It's just a neat example of the wacky things that were kludged together for folks such as engineers who needed a UNIX workstation for their main job, but also needed access to a PC for things like Word. Now that I think of it, I haven't exactly found a practical use for the Sun it's installed in, either. :) -- Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net> http://www.nf6x.net/

9 years, 8 months

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To infinity and beyond: Re: uVAX system (mostly) that Ian King was interested in

by seefriek＠gmail.com

From: "Ian S. King" <isking at uw.edu> > Sorry for the delay in responding, Jon - I'm launching a spaceship this > week. :-) May I once in my life be able to say this and not be engaged in metaphor. :-) pssst...If Blue Origin is looking for a CSO/CISO, I'm in. KJ

9 years, 8 months

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Wanted: IBM 5324 Monitor

by cctalk＠ibm51xx.net

Hello Everyone, I was wondering if anyone out on the list has (or knows of someone who has) an IBM 5324 monitor? This would be the monitor that goes with the IBM 5324 system (the tower version of the 5322/System 23/DataMaster). I have spare parts from a 5322 including a working display unit which I can transplant into a nonworking external monitor case. However, my preference would be for a clean/working monitor > non-working but clean monitor > working beat up monitor > beggars can't be choosers! Thanks. -Ali

9 years, 8 months

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mc68010+mc68451 Unix source?

by seefriek＠gmail.com

From: Phil Budne <phil at ultimate.com> > >A quick google search found: > No source trees. But...thanks? KJ

9 years, 8 months

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mc68010+mc68451 Unix source?

by seefriek＠gmail.com

From: "Mike Stein" <mhs.stein at gmail.com> > >Did Unisoft distribution tapes normally include sources? > Good question. I don't recall that they did, but it's been a frighteningly lot of years since I've culled through a Unisoft distro tape. KJ

9 years, 8 months

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cut some updates and BS-windows-10-without-the-cruft-windows-10-ltsb-explained/

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

Due to the gnashing and wailing on windows 10 updates recently - wondering if this offers some relief! Ed# http://www.howtogeek.com/273824/windows-10-without-the-cruft-windows-10-ltsb -explained/

9 years, 8 months

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Getting Ready to the NeXT Adventure at SMECC

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

Getting Ready to the NeXT Adventure at SMECC Found some of the boxes of cables, the mouse, trays for the laser printer. Another crate had these slipcases with lots of 8x11 NeXT Manuals in them... In addition there are CDs Located the CUBE, the Monitor and Keyboard need to find where the printer is. I know it is there! A couple weeks back I was given a copy of "Steve Jobs & the Next Big Thing" and started reading it. Very Interesting although it was done before apple got jobs back and from what I see in other sources adapted the NeXT software to be OS-X. I would interested in hearing from the group to how accurate they consider this book. I am also interested an any suggestions how I handle the initial power up... this whole machine is a new thing to me as Macs and NeXT are systems I never used back in the 'the day' Any advice on or off list appreciated! After I get it running, assuming it will I will set it in the display area and will need to look for some colorful advertising stuff to help decorate the display. If is totally roached and will not fire up then I guess it becomes a static display ( until some other parts units show up?) Thanks Ed# _www.smecc,org_ (http://www.smecc,org)

9 years, 8 months

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Datapoint

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

So I just bought, and have been avidly reading: Lamont Wood, "Datapoint: The Lost Story of the Texans Who Invented the Personal Computer Revolution" and I was wondering what other people thought of it. (For those who aren't familiar with it, his thesis is in the sub-title. He reckons the first Datapoint machine, the 2200 - announced 1970, shipped 1971 - was the first personal computer, and a direct ancestor of all the PC's out there today. The Intel 8008 - base of the later 8080 and 8086 - was not actually related to the 4004, but instead was done persuant to a contract with Datapoint to provide a CPU for the 2200, to replace its inital CPU, which was built out of discrete chips.) It seems to be a reasonably scholarly work - he did a lot of interviewing of the principals, has made extensive use of archives of contempory written material, and it has some source footnotes (although not as many as would be optimal). So I think he might have a good case.... Any collectors of early Datapoint machines out there on the list? If his thesis is correct (and I think it is) these are very historic machines - up there with Altairs, etc. Noel

9 years, 8 months

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pinouts for LH Research Super-Mite and Mighty-Mite-A sense connectors

by michael.99.thompson＠gmail.com

> > Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2016 20:53:27 -0700 > From: Al Kossow <aek at bitsavers.org> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: pinouts for LH Research Super-Mite and Mighty-Mite-A sense > connectors > Message-ID: <7cf54132-fe8b-abde-0fe0-d4dcfeb17f04 at bitsavers.org> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > > I'm working on documenting these supplies, since there seems to be almost > nothing on them on > the web of use. There is a list of what is on the 9 pin molex on the SM, > but no actual pinout. > Same for the 15 pin D on the MMA, but at least there are enough pictures > around to be able to > assume the sense lines are on 1 and 2. > > The general form of the part numbers for them starts with 2 or 3 letters > (TM,MM,MMA,SM) a rough > power rating code (1-7) and the number of outputs (1-5) a dash, then model > number probably encoding > supply outputs/amps. This is based on looking at a bunch of eBay pictures. > Al, I have a MM65-E0506/115 that needs repair. This is also known as a DEC H7130C from a KS10. 5V at 30A 5V at 60A 12V at 10A 15V at 3A 5V at 5A I see lots of companies that advertise repair services for these supplies, so the documentation must exist. It would be great if you could find some documentation for these power supplies. -- Michael Thompson

9 years, 8 months

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VCFed is restructuring

by evan＠snarc.net

Vintage Computer Federation has big dreams. We?re restructuring our organization to help make them come true. Our mission is to empower collectors, grow the community, and teach everyone about computer history. We especially want to raise interest in computer history among young people. To do so, we are planning many changes. For example, we want to expand the Vintage Computer Festival event series, offer new resources on the vcfed.org site, foster regional chapters, and improve our museum space. There are still other ideas that we hope to share in 2017 and beyond. We firmly believe these goals are attainable and imperative. However, as an all-volunteer unit, there simply isn?t enough time to devote to our cause without overly sacrificing time spent at our regular jobs, being with family, collecting vintage computers, and so on. As such, effective today, Vintage Computer Federation co-founder Evan Koblentz is stepping down as president and accepts the new position of part-time director. Evan is the Federation?s first employee. He reports to the board. Evan will continue day-to-day administration of the Federation and will embark on new fundraising initiatives. Erik Klein, formerly vice president, is now board chairman. Jeffrey Brace, also formerly a vice president, is now vice-chairman. Corey Cohen retains his role as business manager. We feel this new structure will help us gain resources, meet our goals, and continue to save and teach computer history for many years to come. Vintage Computer Federation Inc. is a 501(c) non-profit organization.

9 years, 8 months

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11/35 on eBait

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Al Kossow > Stack Limit That's there - that's the KJ11. > From: Tony Duell > KW11-L line time clock? I don't really consider the LTC as a CPU option. It's on the actual UNIBUS, it's just in a specially wired UNIBUS slot that's only one slot wide, and only has BR/G6 and D6/7 wired to it. Yes, in this case that slot is in the CPU, so one can make an argument... Noel

9 years, 8 months

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ka... ching!

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Alexandre Souza > the outsider comes and says "if he is selling for 1000, I'll sell mine > for 1100 and see what happens" and the price goes to actual unpayable > levels. Except it usually doesn't work. Look at that PDP-8 that was listed for ever at $25K. No takers. And this PDP-11/04: http://www.ebay.com/itm/172192522620 which does, after all, have the programmer's console, and has been listed for months at $2K. Noel

9 years, 8 months

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11/35 on eBait

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: William Degnan > Some of the CPU options not present. Huh? The KT11-D is there, as is the KE11-E and KE11-E, and even a KJ11-A of sorts (might be an after-market one, doesn't have the standard DEC handle). What other 11/40 CPU options are there? Noel

9 years, 8 months

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2
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My H316 environment

by hachti＠hachti.de

Hi folks, if you're interested... I have made available my Honeywell H316 environment. Consists of all you need to run the machine and more. Contains software to split and rearrange libraries. The Fortran IV compiler SOURCE. The assembler. Scripts that run compiler and assembler transparently on files (with help of SIMH). Plotter library. Mandelbrot program. Much more. Only SIMH is needed. The rest should be done by the Makefile. It's just all I have. http://gitweb.hachti.de/git/h316.git :-) -- Dipl.-Inf. (FH) Philipp Hachtmann Buchdruck, Bleisatz, Spezialit?ten Alemannstr. 21, D-30165 Hannover Tel. 0511/3522222, Mobil 0171/2632239 Fax. 0511/3500439 philipp at hachtmann.com www.tiegeldruck.de facebook.com/buchdruck UStdID DE 202668329

9 years, 8 months

3
3
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pinouts for LH Research Super-Mite and Mighty-Mite-A sense connectors

by aek＠bitsavers.org

I'm working on documenting these supplies, since there seems to be almost nothing on them on the web of use. There is a list of what is on the 9 pin molex on the SM, but no actual pinout. Same for the 15 pin D on the MMA, but at least there are enough pictures around to be able to assume the sense lines are on 1 and 2. The general form of the part numbers for them starts with 2 or 3 letters (TM,MM,MMA,SM) a rough power rating code (1-7) and the number of outputs (1-5) a dash, then model number probably encoding supply outputs/amps. This is based on looking at a bunch of eBay pictures. They want waaaay too much money for them on there. This all started because I need to fix the MM72s for the Alto. I got the four I took a look at fixed by replacing all of the 19000uF/7.5v caps. All of them were dried out. Not a huge surprise since they were from around 1978. Measured the rest of the caps in them with an in circuit capacitance/ESR meter and they were all reasonable, even the 1400uf/200v ones, which I had some spares for, but are much harder to find in the right size than the 19mF ones. Switching supplies from the mid 70's are NOISY (10-20mV on all four supplies)

9 years, 8 months

1
0
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HP 9000 Model 550 sold on eBay

by glen.slick＠gmail.com

I was wondering if this item would attract much attention. http://www.ebay.com/itm/262642624725 Sold for $787 this evening. I don't know anything about these systems. Looks interesting, but this bit of text didn't sound too encouraging: "The 550s have not held up particularly well over time. As of 2013, the museum had two units. Both units have non-functioning power supplies. The system control boards are also subject to damage from battery corrosion." http://www.hpmuseum.net/display_item.php?hw=581 Also this bit of text about the HP-UX 5.0 Operating System: "The downloadable file is an image of the system software tape for HP-UX on 500 Series computers. It was made from a 150ft tape. We obtained 47 read errors while imaging the tape, so it's probably not entirely intact, and we don't have a working 500 Series machine to check. However, the file contents of the tape are readable by issuing the BASIC CAT command from a 300 Series computer." http://hpmuseum.net/display_item.php?sw=534 Just curious if anyone knows much about these systems and if anyone has one in working condition. What might the chances be for whoever bought this system to get it into any sort of working setup? Does anyone else have software for these squirreled away in their collections?

9 years, 8 months

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