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

Wanted:TRS80 mod III/IV floppy controller or floppy kit

by claudew＠sprint.ca

Hi Finally picked up a TRS80 mod III for a realistic price. The first home computer I used when I was 15-16. It feels great... Works 100%, bright no-burn tube, 48k. Except for little bit of silver finish off front of keyboard, this unit is perfect. But, it's a no floppy system... I am looking for the floppy disk kit (including floppy mounting bracket if possible) or just a controller or even the controller schematic for a mod III or IV...Would probably install external floppies to keep case in original shape rather then make-up a mounting bracket for the drives if I cant find one... Thanks for reading Claude

25 years, 8 months

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HP 85 available

by r.stek＠snet.net

If anyone is interested, I have an HP 85 available. It works intermittently - it's nothing that re-seating the chips in their sockets fixes! The printer works - don't know about the tape drive. I can pack it, but you will need to pay shipping (and promise to send me your next 'extra' Altair <g>). I can also throw in a new roll of thermal paper (besides the remainder of what is in the unit). I'm near Hartford, CT. email me privately with any bribes. Bob Stek Saver of Lost Sols

25 years, 8 months

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Intro and Nixies

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: J Forbes <jforbes(a)primenet.com> >It had been sitting outside, and was not in very good >condition...but I pulled the display board out, and it seems to >be usefull (see link above for a pic). If you want to drive >Nixies from a TTL BCD signal, just score some 74141 type >devices, they were made for the task! I would also comment that there is a great deal of test equipment that use nixies that with maintence last for many years. My Yasu 350mhz counter is still going and it's 26 years old. Nixies have a good life. However 74141s are getting scarce. >basement, and found a Motorola 6802, 1982 vintage. I wonder if >it's usefull? Why not. I just finished an ELF (using nwer parts) and my CDP1802 chip from 1979 is still good. Allison

25 years, 8 months

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TRS-80 Model 100 to Macintosh

by owad＠applefritter.com

Does anybody have any experience hooking a TRS-80 Model 100 up to a Mac to exchange files? I have the serial cable and the null modem adapter and I've tried both ClarisWorks and ZTerm, but I just can't get the two to talk. Can anybody offer advice? Thanks, Tom Applefritter www.applefritter.com

25 years, 8 months

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Off topic but interesting?? Magnetics

by xds_sigma7＠hotmail.com

Maybe DHL is flying Junkers Ju-52's or C-47's or maybe even Ford Tri-motors? Bizarre... _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.

25 years, 8 months

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Homebrewing a digital computer

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Kevin Schoedel <schoedel(a)kw.igs.net> >Sorry, I didn't express myself clearly. In Chuck's machine the >displayed value comes from a 12 line I/O bus. He could build two >different display devices to attach to the bus: one for everyday use, >with LEDs and bcd-to-7-segment decoders, and one special occasions, >with decoders and drivers and sockets for the nixie tubes that he >borrows from whatever machine they otherwise belong to. You can but nixies are a pita to drive. Of era lamping would be bulb per bit. cheaper too. >Yes, he could make 4xx an encoded operation (like pdp8 operate >instructions) such that 400 happens to perform a clear. Or he could >make 4xx load the accumulator with 0xx, so that 400 is again a clear; >this may fit the spirit of the design better. In either case he need >not disclose the extra features at first :-) Exactly. Or the feature could be enabled/disables using a OPR like instruction. >Yes. But since I'm doing a pure 8-bit machine, including 8-bit memory >address, it's *already* limited significantly. I do currently have one >unassigned opcode, so I could add an I/O instruction if it turns out I >have enough board space. More likely I'll just move on to design #2, >where I can hide complexity in microcode. You'll find it doesnt hide. The features grow to increase complexity. ;) > >Yes, I'm still considering something like that, though I'd probably >keep it simpler, and just leave the PC in the accumulator: PC->AC, >MA->PC. I know this probably seems absurdly stripped down to anyone who >already knows what they're doing, but I don't, so I want to keep the >control very, very basic, to reduce the chance of serious errors. Not an unreasonable way. Worth considering as it has good register economy. >I think you're right. I know my current addressing scheme is too >complicated, and I no longer know why I've been so reluctant to give up >page 0 addressing. With say n-bit word and n-bit indirect address page 0 is more efficient but not required. What it does do for short words like 8bit it eats a bit that could be an address. >Do you have any comment on PC-page (upper bits from >PC, lower bits from instruction) versus PC-relative (PC + lower bits >from instruction, either sign extended or not)? Both work. If you're using an indirect address (like PDP-8) then go with PC-page as it much simpler. PC-relative is ok but requires an adder (or more gating to reuse the only adder). If there is one trick to keeping things simple, the fewer paths and gating of things will help simplify. Allison

25 years, 8 months

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RX02 drive emulation (was RE: Lisa Profile Drive emulation on a PC)

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Eric Smith <eric(a)brouhaha.com> > >I don't have documentation, so I'm not disputing that, but this >makes me very curious. How is it that the RX8-E card (M8357) can deal >with any of: > >1) RX01 >2) RX02 in RX01 mode >3) RX02 in RX02 mode The board has dual interface modes. The RX02 has multiple modes as well. The best way to no results is to try a RX02 in a Qbus box with RX01 controller. Made that error once, wasted a lot of time even though it hurt nothing. >From the standpoint of building a machine from the ttl ground up the RX01 drive controller is a great example of what can be done with little. Instruction set is: WBS (wait, branch, stall IO) DO (do pulse, xx,xxxx bits) JMP (to field X) CBR (conditional branch) It's mildly horizontally code and also verticle coded. Uses 74181 (x2) for the 8bit alu and a pair of 7489s for registers. instruction word is 8bits. Ran fast enough to decode/encode FDC data in real time. Allison

25 years, 8 months

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Homebrewing a digital computer

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Kevin Schoedel <schoedel(a)kw.igs.net> >Neat. I occasionally spend a little time working toward building myself a >simple processor. My priorities are rather different, though; I want to >make the 'moving parts' visible as far down as is practical and >affordable (which for me will probably mean SSI TTL, except for the >memory), rather than to make the programming model simple. In the end buildability means a simple machine, not always a simple programming model. >Could one build "nixie tube emulators", for instance using seven-segment >LEDs, and then borrow real ones from some other device for special >occasions? No. Nixie is one of 10 output (highvoltage very low current) and 7Segment is different in every other way. For an era machine 7 segment using incandescent lamps would be valid! > >>4 - CLEAR >> Reset the accumulator (and flags). >> Example: 400 - clears the state of the machine. >> Note: This seems a waste of a major opcode. > >I've tentatively decided that I'll go for a store-and-clear operation, ? >la EDSAC and PDP8, since, in the few sample programs I tried, the value >in the accumulator was still needed after fewer than half the stores. >This might conflict with your goal of simplicity, but on the other hand, >the question of how to retain (regain) the accumulator after a store >might make a good 'Exercise 1'. PDP-8 or the PDP-5 are a good example of minimal but useful instruction sets. PDP-8 savethe AC and store is done one of two ways. You can use the MQ but that requies three locations. SWP DCA N SWP The tighter version is also compatable across all the PDP 5/8 series. CLL DCA N TAD N Three words still but doesn't use a register that may not exist. >Alternatively you could clear with a STORE,SUB pair, at the cost of a >scratch location. You could have a microcoded bit that if set clears the AC. Depends on the number of bits you have to use. >>7 - READ > >After several partial designs than included IN and OUT operations, I >decided to punt I/O almost completely. In my current plans, one operation >can take the switch register as source, and the accumulator lights >(and/or other lights) are the only output. Limts the machine significantly. >>9 - CALL > >I have provisionally punted the CALL, too, as a separate operation; >instead, the same operation that can load the switch register into the >accumulator can similarly load the PC. Unfortunately my current design >requires the PC to then be adjusted explicitly in the subroutine. Look at how PDP-5/8 and other did it. Since memory was a universal store the first location of the JMS is the subroutine return address. That give a very simple implmentation but a real Jump to Suroutine. JMS SUB1 Breaks down to PC-> SUB1, SUB1->PC, PC+1->, fetch PC makes for simple state logic. >I'm still at the stage of designing and "building" fragments in a >simulator, since I have no real experience; I keep making things too >complicated, and then backtracking to simply again. (And I don't work on >it very often.) My current plan is roughly an 8-bit, >stripped-down-PDP8-ish architecture: Suggestion: Eliminate the ISZ from the PDP8 ops and make IOT and ISZ in to INPUT(to ac) and OUTPUT(from AC). Keep indirect addressing and drop page 0 addressing. AND TAD DCA JMP JMS OPR (skips, shifts, clears, misc ops) INP OUT three bit opcode, one bit for indirect address and 4bits for in page address. Direct addressing 256 bytes using indirect addressing. >Any bits in the instruction may of course end up complemented depending >on the nature of available gates :-) I want to hard-wire this one; if I >eventually finish it, next will come a 16-bit (or perhaps 12- or 18- or >24- bit) device with a more sophisticated instruction set and wide dumb >microcode in EEPROMs. Sounds like fun. >One is an 8-bit processor, built from TTL on an 8"x14" prototyping board, >with point-to-point soldered wire. The ALU is a pair of 74181s, and seems >to use 7475s for the registers. There are five sets of 8 LEDs -- memory >address register, program counter, instruction register, memory, and A good design to look at for simplicity and also to illustrate 8bit machine that could become the microcoded core of something bigger check out the controller used in the RX01. It had all the basic elements and was really simple. A variation of the disign was used in the LA120 printer. >A somewhat related 'thing' I picked up last week is some sort of logic >trainer. In a clear plastic frame about 12" x 20" x 6" thick, it has six >*huge* flip-flops (built with power transistors) each with a pair of >output lamps, a jumper area for "programming", and input in the form of a >telephone-style dial. (I assume people here know what a telephone dial is >:-) Haven't traced this one out yet either, but at its scale it won't be >hard. Aint seen one of those for years. Memory serves there were only a few FFs and verly little other logic. Allison

25 years, 8 months

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RX02 drive emulation (was RE: Lisa Profile Drive emulation on a PC)

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: David Gesswein <djg(a)drs-esg.com> >I haven't spent too much time looking at the interface but most of the >smarts are in the drive and serial communication is used to send >commands to it. I have a bunch of information on the RX01, the RX02 should >be similar. Do look. the two are very different. >The cable I made to hook my 8 to the DB25 on the RX02 has 22 wires in it, I >don't remember how many are grounds. Every other one. same for RX01. Different signals though. Allison

25 years, 8 months

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Old tandy 1000 keyboard 8 pin din pinout?

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

>> > slight difference in PUSHF & POPF >> > has ENTER and LEAVE instructions >> > >> > Anyone else remember anything else? > >I believe that the NEC V40 was a drop in (enhanced) replacement >for it. > - don It was similar but not drop in. >> Has two *really* fast DMA channels. It was used alot in embedded DEC TK50 drive used it. Also the TKQ50 inteface did as well. Allison

25 years, 8 months

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Welcome and VME

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk> >Why limit yourself to 8-32 bits, though? What's wrong with 4 bit >machines, 64 bit machines, etc :-). I have a few of the former (mostly as >embedded systems in measuring instruments). Can't hink of anything I've >got wit a wider-than-32 bit data path, but I certainly wouldn't refuse >such a machine... Yes, 10, 18, 24 bits are some of the more interesting of the oldies. I've found with builing or at least designing on paper that unless you want to do an existing machine there is little reason to do what others have. Sizes like 8 and 24 bits are very useful but 4bits can make the ALU core very simple without ruling out complex capability (though slow). The other direction is control oriented machines that are programable but otherwise specific. Allison

25 years, 8 months

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AUCTION> First Year MITS Altair 8800 - Very clean

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Thomas P. Copley <tcopley(a)best.com> >This 8800 is for sale by the first owners. It has the original >switches that are a rare variation--the switch handles are the >flattened "paddle" type as used on the 8800b instead of the "bat >handle" type usually used on 8800s. It includes a MITS 1K RAM board. >The original manual is not included, but is available for an extra, >negotiable price. The switches that were flattend were of the later rev bump, not the very first version. They are essentailly the same part but higher cost (8cents then @ quan 10+). What people forget is there was the 8800, 8800A and 8800B. The A revbump was about a 8months to a year out from first release and had a several desperatly needed fixes. I know I have the early version (SN the 200range) and have built at least three others including an 8800B with friends back then. Allison

25 years, 8 months

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RX02 drive emulation (was RE: Lisa Profile Drive emulation on a PC)

by djg＠drs-esg.com

> >I'm looking for a way to access a RX0? drive from a PC! I'd like to >archive all the 8" floppies that came with my '780 (including some >CPM/68K distributions) for long-term preservation. > >Anybody done anything like this? I'm still looking for the pinout >of the 10? pin ribbon cable that comes out of the dual floppy box. > >clint > I took the approach of writing a program for the PDP-8 to dump the data out the serial port so I could capture (and restore) the disk images on a PC. If you have an pdp-8 the program dumps the floppies in 8 bit mode so 11 floppies will be correctly dumped also. ftp://ftp.pdp8.net/software/dumprest.zip I haven't spent too much time looking at the interface but most of the smarts are in the drive and serial communication is used to send commands to it. I have a bunch of information on the RX01, the RX02 should be similar. http://www.pdp8.net/pdp8cgi/query_docs/query.pl?Search=rx0&stype=Partial+Wo… Or if that excessivly long link doesn't work search for rx0 at http://www.pdp8.net/pdp8cgi/query_docs/query.pl If you need more I can see if I have more information I haven't scanned, email me with what you are needing. The cable I made to hook my 8 to the DB25 on the RX02 has 22 wires in it, I don't remember how many are grounds. David Gesswein http://www.pdp8.net/ -- Old computers with blinkenlights

25 years, 8 months

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[Multics] Message from Corbato

by mac＠Wireless.Com

This note is from http://www.multicians.org/ What a debt we all owe to Multics! Long live Multics! (1965-2000) -Mike ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Letter from Prof. Corbats (10/30/00) Dear Multicians, It is hard to believe that the last instance of Multics hardware is about to be extinquished. But of course the influence of Multics has probably achieved immortality through the admirable evolution of Unix and more recently Linux. I have often wondered why we so stubbornly worked so hard to make the system survive. My own take on it is that we were young and wanted to make a dent in the psyche of the industry which in those bad old days was incredibly shortsighted. And I think we did. With the creation and persistence of working systems, Multics became a paradigm for a comprehensive solution to a host of system problems that even today are not fully addressed in many systems. In no particular order, some of the key ideas I think of are: a hierarchal file system, system backup policies, rings and memory protection, symmetric multiprocessing, paging and memory management, dynamic linking, access control, and a full character set. I can think of two reasons Multics survived so long. One was its malleability and evolvability which I attribute to the use of a higher level language (despite PL/1!), the major effort to organize and maintain the system with functional modularity, and the avoidance of cute or obscure names in modules. And the second reason was the idealistic zeal of all the Multicians who worked so hard on a system they believed in. And I think we also owe a special debt of gratitude to the original triumvirate of Bob Fano, Ed David and John Weil who had the guts to start it all, to John Couleur and Ted Glaser for their courage in messing with the hardware when the system was nothing but silly putty, and to Elliott Organick who told the world what we were up to. With fond memories, Corby

25 years, 8 months

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Old tandy 1000 keyboard 8 pin din pinout?

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Douglas Quebbeman <dhquebbeman(a)theestopinalgroup.com> >> An 80_1_86? Really. I guess I was never aware that there was one like >> that ever made. I always thought they jumped from the 8086 to the 80286 >CPU. >> >> Do you have any stats on this little baby? > >Same as the 8086/8086 except: > > slight difference in PUSHF & POPF > has ENTER and LEAVE instructions > >Anyone else remember anything else? Extended set of IO instructions as well. (V20 had instruction set differences but, they were different!) The major difference was the presence of on chip colock gen, DMA controller (non 8237 compatable), interrupt logic (not totally 8259 compatable). As a result any PC made with it was a bit different. Fast parts went to 12mhz and were also developed in CMOS. The 186 was 16bit wide bus like 8086 and 188 was like the 8088 with 8bit busses. The embedded controller market liked it. Allison

25 years, 8 months

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Homebrewing a digital computer

by cmcmanis＠mcmanis.com

For VCF next year I'm home brewing a digital computer. The goal is to produce something akin to a CARDIAC that could be used by interested students. This is what I have so far, comments/criticisms/suggestions are welcome:

25 years, 8 months

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Old tandy 1000 keyboard 8 pin din pinout?

by jeff.kaneko＠juno.com

On Fri, 10 Nov 2000 12:12:07 -0500 Douglas Quebbeman <dhquebbeman(a)theestopinalgroup.com> writes: > > >I am restoring a TRS80 model 2000 (1983), one of the rare machines > to > > >use an actual 80186 Intel CPU. > > > > An 80_1_86? Really. I guess I was never aware that there was one > like > > that ever made. I always thought they jumped from the 8086 to the > 80286 > CPU. > > > > Do you have any stats on this little baby? > > Same as the 8086/8086 except: > > slight difference in PUSHF & POPF > has ENTER and LEAVE instructions > > Anyone else remember anything else? Has two *really* fast DMA channels. It was used alot in embedded applications where you hade to move a lot of data really fast. Frequently found on SCSI disk controllers (among other things). The MAD-186 by MAD computers was a PC 'sorta compatible', I used to have (it was re-badged by TELEX). It used an 80186. The 3Com 3Server3 was another computer (well, okay, fileserver) that ran a modified MS-DOS (2.x, IIRC), had embedded SCSI (actually SASI), ethernet, and serial/parallel interfaces. It also used the 80186. Jeff ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.

25 years, 8 months

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AUCTION> First Year MITS Altair 8800 - Very clean

by tcopley＠best.com

This 8800 is for sale by the first owners. It has the original switches that are a rare variation--the switch handles are the flattened "paddle" type as used on the 8800b instead of the "bat handle" type usually used on 8800s. It includes a MITS 1K RAM board. The original manual is not included, but is available for an extra, negotiable price. See its Ebay auction at: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=491031767 The current bid is $1,725.00 and the reserve has been met. Bidding closes Sunday night. I am located in Berkeley, California. Questions are welcome. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Thomas P. Copley E-mail: tcopley(a)best.com

25 years, 8 months

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Ebay: Nova 3/12

by ncherry＠home.net

I found this on ebay (no, I'm not the person selling this, I live in NJ) Currently it's going for $9.99. http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=494399669 Remember, I have nothing to do with this other than I found it there. (I hope this asbetos suite works ;-) -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry(a)home.net http://members.home.net/ncherry (Text only) http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/lightsey/52 (Graphics) http://linuxha.sourceforge.net/ (SourceForge)

25 years, 8 months

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Old computer book found (fascinating reading/photos):Design of Real Time Computer Systems (J.Martin 1967)

by claudew＠sprint.ca

Hi Just taught I would let you know I am reading this : Design of Real Time Computer Systems (1967 J.Martin)found in a thrift store for $2 and it fascinating - at least for me... Just facinated by the photos and the concepts in there...I was 3 at that time (1967) never used computers before I was about 15-16 (model III I am still hunting for one...) Will just have to scan some of these photos for my vintage computer collection web site. I don't have machines from that era but some of these pics are just great!!! Since I have so much space left in my basement (already use 2/3 - I love my wife...) I seem to have now made the very reasonnable decision to extended my vintage computer collection to old books, magazines and manuals...I might have develloped some kind of mental illeness now, I recently mentionned "need more space for computer collection" as a reason to my wife to justify getting a larger house... Claude

25 years, 8 months

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RX02 drive emulation (was RE: Lisa Profile Drive emulation on a PC)

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Clint Wolff (VAX collector) <vaxman(a)uswest.net> >I'm looking for a way to access a RX0? drive from a PC! I'd like to >archive all the 8" floppies that came with my '780 (including some >CPM/68K distributions) for long-term preservation. RX01 is SSSD and most pc controllers are problematic with that mostly due to cost cutting. Mest best would be a machine with wd36c65 based chip (with both clocks available) as it can do all rates. You will have to create you own driver for the SSSD. I do it all the time with my CP/M crate (native 8" SSSD support). The varios other 8" formats that did get used may require a WD1771/and/or/WD1793 based controller (very non PC) to read the possible and sometimes oddball formats used. RX02 is a truly unique format and only RX02 (or the few clones) actually can read that (you must have a PDP-8, PDP-11 or VAX in other words) as most are Omnibus, Unibus or Qbus. >Anybody done anything like this? I'm still looking for the pinout >of the 10? pin ribbon cable that comes out of the dual floppy box. 10???? more like 40 for either rx02 or rx01. Allison

25 years, 8 months

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Analog vs Digital devices, was Magnetics

by dcoward＠pressstart.com

Two analog computer theads at once. COOOL! Don said: > And rather smaller and lighter than the Navy's Mark 1A (analog) fire > control computer which did a rather precise job of laying 2000# 16" > - - and smaller - projectiles to the desired location. For those that are saying "What's a Mk.1?" - my Ford Instrument page: http://www.best.com/~dcoward/analog/fordsperry.htm For more information - The Mark 1 Fire Control Computer: http://www.warships1.com/W-Tech/tech-056.htm --Doug =================================================== Doug Coward dcoward(a)pressstart.com (work) Sr Software Engineer mranalog(a)home.com (home) Press Start Inc. http://www.pressstart.com Sunnyvale,CA Visit the new Analog Computer Museum and History Center at http://www.best.com/~dcoward/analog ===================================================

25 years, 8 months

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Old tandy 1000 keyboard 8 pin din pinout?

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> >I am restoring a TRS80 model 2000 (1983), one of the rare machines to > >use an actual 80186 Intel CPU. > > An 80_1_86? Really. I guess I was never aware that there was one like > that ever made. I always thought they jumped from the 8086 to the 80286 CPU. > > Do you have any stats on this little baby? Same as the 8086/8086 except: slight difference in PUSHF & POPF has ENTER and LEAVE instructions Anyone else remember anything else? -dq

25 years, 8 months

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Old tandy 1000 keyboard 8 pin din pinout?

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Claude <claudew(a)sprint.ca> >I am restoring a TRS80 model 2000 (1983), one of the rare machines to >use an actual 80186 Intel CPU. Correction and nit, RARE PCs to use 80186. They were widely used for other non PC systems. It was a 8086 with onchip clock gen, memory selects and DMA. Excellent for embeeded uses that were formally 808x, 8224a, 8288. Allison

25 years, 8 months

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Lisa Profile Drive emulation on a PC

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Phil Budne <phil(a)ultimate.com> >I've always wanted to do the same sort of thing for RX02's; fool my >RXV211 into thinking a PC at the other end of the ribbon cable is a >pair of RX02's. It seems feasible using just a parallel port; >despite the width of the ribbon cable, it doesn't carry many signals. Why must it be a parallel port? a M8250 serial would work too though a new "RX" driver to talk to it would be needed. Also the RX01 controller is serial not parallel so that could be used in a different way. In the end any IO can be used if you create a driver to fake a known device. Allison

25 years, 8 months

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Pal and NTSC

by lgwalker＠look.ca

I have an old famicon game system that is PAL-compliant. Other than a PAL/NTSC converter or PAL TV is there any way of hooking this up. ? I do have a kaleidoscopic collection of monitors as well as several VCR tape decks and a JDH Videomate external VGA/TV adapter which allows me to use my NEC multisync as an all- purpose viewer. It has an H-Phase pot whose response on the monitor is a shift to the side of the display and otherwise not causing any picture distortion. I recall on my Atari there were programs that shifted from 60mhz to 50mhz and allowed you to play PAL formatted games, but in this case there is no computer intervention with the JDH. It is a straight-thru switch. I don't consider this OT since the PAL/NTSC is a problem for all collectors who are internationally-connected in this media. ciao larry Reply to: lgwalker(a)look.ca

25 years, 8 months

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Tandy 1000 EX

by ncherry＠home.net

All this talk of the Tandy 1000/2000 reminds me; does anyone have a boot disk for this beast? Also what are the internals drives, DS 40 Track or 96? I intend on putting the DOS in ROM (flash) so I can use it as a terminal at the very least. I may also build a LAN interface with an NE2000 clone. Of course this means upgrading to a new DOS but I think I can get freedos working on it. -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry(a)home.net http://members.home.net/ncherry (Text only) http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/lightsey/52 (Graphics) http://linuxha.sourceforge.net/ (SourceForge)

25 years, 8 months

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"Basics of Analog Computers" book

by r.stek＠snet.net

During the recent flame war, I was reminded that I have a hardcover book, "Basics of Analog Computers" by T. D. Truit and A.E. Rogers, 1960, Rider Publishers, in exeptional condition with dust cover. Although it would go for hundreds of dollars on eBay (I wish!) I thought I would offer it here in hopes of ingratiating myself to some fellow list member for a favor as yet to be determined. (BTW, there is a punched card in it used as a bookmark that would fetch $10-$20 alone on eBay <g>). So, here's the deal - I will send the book for shipping costs to the best 37-words-or-less reason for why you want / deserve / would-kill-for this classic, antique, vintage, pre-Altair, pre-S-100, pre-Intel, pre-historic tome on analog computers, beautifully illustrated (seriously) with pen-and-ink drawings on about every other page. Submit your entries to the list by midnight November 10, 2000. Decision of the judge is final. All entries become the property of everyone else. Contestants must be 18 months or older. Offer not valid in Minot, N.D. or to relatives or employees therein. Allow 8 weeks for delivery. Notary sojac. Bob Stek Saver of Lost Sols

25 years, 8 months

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Tandy 1000 EX

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> All this talk of the Tandy 1000/2000 reminds me; does anyone > have a boot disk for this beast? I have two sets of MS-DOS & MS-BASIC for the T2000. Currently, I don't have time to set up the machine to do any duplication, but maybe around Christmas (setting up means finding space to put it, etc). Claude needs a set of copies; if anyone other than Neil needs them, drop me a line and I'll see what I can do as winter sets in. -dq

25 years, 8 months

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Analog vs Digital devices, was Magnetics

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> Frank Fink is more the welcome to the bombsight, just send me > the B-17. ;p ROFL!

25 years, 8 months

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Analog vs Digital devices, was Magnetics

by xds_sigma7＠hotmail.com

I would also make the point that it isn't programmable.. The Mark I was programmable, though it lacked the ability to store programs. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.

25 years, 8 months

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Mac video (was Re: Pal and NTSC)

by ethan_dicks＠yahoo.com

--- Lawrence Walker <lgwalker(a)look.ca> wrote: > I do have a 7100/66 AV. My biggest problem is that none of my > VCRs has S control inputs only RCA jacks and I haven't found a > source for the proper plugs... Speaking of Mac video, I'm getting a 6100 from my youngest brother (as soon as I can get over to his house to pick it up) and it apparently has a funky connector that requires some sort of pod to break out regular video signals/connectors. This Mac does not have said pod/cable. Where can I get one? (presumable for less than what Apple would charge for a new one - this is a $20 computer). -ethan ===== Even though my old e-mail address is no longer going to vanish, please note my new public address: erd(a)iname.com The original webpage address is still going away. The permanent home is: http://penguincentral.com/ See http://ohio.voyager.net/ for details. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. All in one Place. http://shopping.yahoo.com/

25 years, 8 months

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Analog vs Digital devices, was Magnetics

by xds_sigma7＠hotmail.com

Frank Fink is more the welcome to the bombsight, just send me the B-17. ;p _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.

25 years, 8 months

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Mac video (was Re: Pal and NTSC)

by jhellige＠earthlink.net

At 10:46 AM 11/10/00 -0500, you wrote: >I think that is one of a very few that uses a square high-density jack on >the machine? You should be able to get a cable to a standard Mac monitor >or to an SVGA from MacWorld. Yes, the 6100 uses the 45 pin connector that was to be used with thier 14" multimedia monitor that never took off. Adapters for both VGA and Mac-style connectors are readily available. Even on eBay, they tend to go for between $15 and $19 generally. Now if it's a 6100/AV, it will have a standard Mac connecotr on the AV card, along with the S-video in/out jacks. Take care Jeff ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Power Computing PowerCurve, 288mhz G3, Mac OS 9 http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lakes/6757 Home Of The TRS-80 Model 2000 FAQ

25 years, 8 months

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Looking for old Mac software

by vcf＠siconic.com

Has anyone ever heard of some software for the Mac called "Guide for the Macintosh" by Office Workstations Ltd., circa 1980s? Anyone actually have it? If so, please let me know. Thanks! Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org

25 years, 8 months

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OT: So where was I?

by cmcmanis＠mcmanis.com

http://www.iit.edu/~kallend/rocketsci.wav

25 years, 8 months

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Analog vs Digital devices, was Magnetics

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> >It's not stretching it at all to consider the Norden to > >be an analog computer. I'm not really sure how it could > >be considered to be otherwise. > > > IBM had a Norden in its (internal only) computer museum, > so that helps support the claim of it being an (analog) > computer. IIRC, Frank Fink has a few of these, and he told me he's always looking for more... -dq

25 years, 8 months

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Analog vs Digital devices, was Magnetics

by xds_sigma7＠hotmail.com

While the Norden bombsight was smaller, etc., it would be stretching it by a large degree to compare it to a computer.. I'm fairly certain Allison was referring to the Mark I... Will J _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.

25 years, 8 months

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Lisa Profile Drive emulation on a PC

by phil＠ultimate.com

I've always wanted to do the same sort of thing for RX02's; fool my RXV211 into thinking a PC at the other end of the ribbon cable is a pair of RX02's. It seems feasible using just a parallel port; despite the width of the ribbon cable, it doesn't carry many signals.

25 years, 8 months

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Lisa Profile Drive emulation on a PC

by Anthony.Eros＠compaq.com

Tom Stepleton is the guy running this project -- I lent him my Lisa for his work. Here's a wrap-up summary he sent me on the project just before he returned the system to me. -- Tony ---------------------- Here's a summary of what I've done. Addressing the unreliability of the wiring in the last attempt, I completely rewired the prototyping board and switched to a single 84-pin MAX 7000 chip and adapter instead of the Altera experimentation board used in class. Physically speaking, the circuit is complete. I was able to get the circuit to succesfully dupe the Lisa into believing that there really was a ProFile attached to the port. Unfortunately, there is really no interim step between that and full functionality. I came a long way, but I didn't make it. Here's what I managed to do: Linux side: On a machine borrowed from Professor Maxwell, I installed a secondary Linux kernel - version 2.4.0-test4 - which provides the latest facilities for manipulating the parallel port from a userland program (read more at http://people.redhat.com/twaugh/parport/html/parportguide.html). This is a really neat driver, incidentally, although it is still in development. Using this driver, I created MrProfile, a rudimentary ProFile emulation program. MrProfile currently responds to interrupts generated by the adapter, but all calls to read() extract zero bytes of data from the port. Whether this is due to poor programming, the driver, or a malprogrammed board is not yet clear. Adapter side: Using what I learned in making the program to fake a ProFile's existence, I completely reprogrammed the full-featured version of the adapter circuit. The philosophy behind the device's role has not changed much from before, but the code has been altered quite a bit to suit the whims of Altera. What happens: Activity on the Lisa side causes the adapter to alert the PC with an interrupt. The PC fails to read any data from the parallel port; the adapter sits waiting for something to happen, and the Lisa eventually times out. There are three reasons for why this is happening, now that poor connectivity has been ruled out (via multimeter): metastability, flaws in parallel port driver, and poor assumptions about the EPP parallel port standard. I don't think it's the first, because the problem is always the same. I feel it's about even odds between the second and third choices. The future: I'm not giving up, but the likelihood that I'll be able to put real work into it this fall is not all that great. Just in case the hardware has been programmed correctly, I'm taking the prototype board home to my two Lisas there (hope this is OK, Bruce), where I'll try getting it to work with an old Pentium 90. Even if the hardware is slightly faulty, the low-level programming capability of the parallel port driver suggests that I will be able to get around it. However, if I've made an error on the Lisa side, I'll be out of luck. I'll see what options I have and then make decisions. I'll also turn over all of my code to the folks on the Lisa and Lisa Emulator mailing lists at sunder.net and see if they can offer any tips. > ---------- > From: John Lewczyk[SMTP:jlewczyk@his.com] > Reply To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org > Sent: Thursday, November 09, 2000 11:16 PM > To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org > Subject: Lisa Profile Drive emulation on a PC > > There was someone trying to interface a Lisa to a PC, making the PC act > like a > Profile drive. That college class project didn't get completed, but there > is a > bunch of info on the project, the Profile and Lisa parallel port at: > http://www.cs.swarthmore.edu/~tom/cs23/final/ > > I thought that this was a terrific project, as Profile drives are become > rarer > and they will probably all break down before the Lisa's do. Making a PC > act > like a Profile is a great solution. Unfortunately, I have never received > a > response from the folks at swarthmore college and suspect the project is > abandoned. :-( > > Anyone know what happened to the project, or are there others who have > done > this? I worry about my profile drives dying before my Lisa and would love > to > have a PC as a backup. If no one (is doing/has done) this, I may take my > own > shot at it. > > John > jlewczyk(a)his.com >

25 years, 8 months

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Here's one for the DEC engineers

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Jerome Fine <jhfine(a)idirect.com> > >I thought that you said the CE (Circus Engineer) did NOT recognize it?? > >Did you really mean to say: > >"The CE that did NOT recognize it however didn't fare as well. ;)" ??? Actaully I wrote what I ment but I like your version as both were true. The CE that got bounced, suffered. The next one had a dog on his hands. Allison

25 years, 8 months

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Here's one for the DEC engineers

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

-----Original Message----- From: Jerome Fine <jhfine(a)idirect.com> >Jerome Fine replies: > >I had to read it 5 times before I realized that the "cab" and the >"HSC thingie" were the same. Subtle. Very good. I had a >much better laugh as a result. More at myself, of course. The CE that did recognize it however didn't fare as well. ;) Allison

25 years, 8 months

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Analog vs Digital devices, was Magnetics

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Mike Ford <mikeford(a)socal.rr.com> >>> While the Norden bombsight was smaller, etc., it would be stretching it >>>by a >>> large degree to compare it to a computer.. I'm fairly certain Allison was >>> referring to the Mark I... >> >>It's not stretching it at all to consider the Norden to be an analog >>computer. I'm not really sure how it could be considered to be otherwise. > >Its a single purpose device. Computers tend to be flexible. I would call it >more of a calculator, or really a mechanical compensator. Really wrong. First calculator is a fixed program computer (mechanical or otherwise) And the lack of programability would certainly be significant for a large class of machines as to their status. We have machines (electronic, electrical, mechanical, water, air, whatever) that can: Perform repeated steps (cams, timers) Perfom compensating controls (servos, thermostats) Perform a calcuation based on several variables Subgroup fixed program (calculators) Subgroup programable by wires, jumpers, cams, gears, relays, roms (calculators, embedded computers) Variable program ("true computers", programable calculators) See the linkage, as soon as the system takes on multiple variables and procudes a results based on them we are doing calculation... Computing is just a different name. Oh, the example I posted was written with Norden Bombsight, Mark-1A and most any other tool used to calculate ballistic trajectories. Allison

25 years, 8 months

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OpenVMS Hobbyist License Question

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

Does anyone happen to have a list of what the various layered product PAKs in the OpenVMS Hobbyist program go to? I'm specifically wanting to know what the SQL-DEV PAK is for, but am interested in the rest if anyone has such a list. Zane

25 years, 8 months

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Pal and NTSC

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Nov 8, 18:07, Richard Erlacher wrote: > If I remember correctly, the format difference between PAL and NTSC lies not > only in the difference in the vertical refresh rate but also in that the > NTSC format is based on 525 horizontal scans per frame, while PAL uses 625. > I'm not at all sure about whether PAL interlaces in the same way as NTSC > does it, and, in fact, I'm not sure that they do that at all. One is a consequence of the other. The most obvious difference between PAL and NTSC is the use of different vertical scan rates (50Hz vs 60Hz) but they use the same horizontal scan rate (15.something kHz), so if you do the arithmetic, you'll see why they use different numbers of scan lines (625 vs 525). They both use interleave; so the number of full frames is 25 per second or 30 per second. They also differ in the way they encode colour information. The basic scheme is similar but the subcarrier frequencies differ, and in the case of PAL, there is a "colour burst" of pure subcarrier at the start of every line. This allows the circuitry to synchronise better. Also, the colour signal is 180deg different in phase on every second line (hence the name, Phased Alternate Line) which makes it a little more stable. In the context of broadcast TV, they also use diffent audio subcarriers (in fact, there are several PAL variants, used in different countries. They're called PAL/G, PAL/K, PAL/I, etc). The net result is that you can often use a PAL display instead of an NTSC one or vice-versa, but you would expect to lose the colour and sound. You might possibly have to tweak the vertical hold to get a steady picture. Since the sync pulses are encoded in the same way, any monitor or TV should lock on to the horizontal signal perfectly, but the vertical might be beyond the range of the sync circuit (it's usually OK in practice, though). I bet Tony knows more about this than I do. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

25 years, 8 months

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Analog vs Digital devices, was Magnetics

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> > An older elector mechanical device did this for a different > problem. > > > > Given variables: speed over surface, > > altitude, > > gravity, > > an objects drag > > > > Problem: At what time do you release an object to hit a > > predetermined spot. > > > > Hint: it was top secret in the early 1940s. > > And I would like to see an accurate simulation of one. I've seen > the real thing, but being fastened to a metal post set into a concrete > floor, it wasn't in operable condition. Not to mention that none of the > dials were labeled, undoubtedly because the functions of each were also > top secret at the time it was manufactured. I think I've seen a photo of this, with Vannevar Bush standing over it, looking at it. -dq

25 years, 8 months

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Analog vs Digital devices, was Magnetics

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

>Ever since the late 60's, very large simulations of power >grids were being performed on analog computers for the purposes of >contingency analysis and dynamic stability assessment. These >special-purpose analog computers filled entired rooms and sometimes >had thousands of dynamic states (one integrator per dynamic state). Exactly! An older elector mechanical device did this for a different problem. Given variables: speed over surface, altitude, gravity, an objects drag Problem: At what time do you release an object to hit a predetermined spot. Hint: it was top secret in the early 1940s. Allison

25 years, 8 months

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Memorex/Termiflex One-handed terminal?

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> On Wed, 08 Nov 2000 15:07:20 -0600 Bill Richman > <bill_r(a)inetnebr.com> wrote: > > Our mainframe guys recently got rid of some big hard drive chassis, > > and in the process of cleaning up they were going to thow away (!) a > > couple of little Memorex/Termiflex one-handed terminals that I've > > lusted after ever since I saw the service engineer using them. I > > think they're a 1 or 2-line LED dot-matrix display, and > they have some > > form of "chording" keyboard on the front. > > Sounds like the old Microwriter, or even the original chord > keyboard that Doug Engelbart used with the mouse. > > I'd love to see a picture of one of these, to get some idea > of how the chording works. I have a couple of Microwriters: There are two photos of Doug's chord keyset in issue #4 of MacWorld. If you can't find a copy, let me know, I'll see if I can remeber to bring it in to the orifice and scan it for you. -dq

25 years, 8 months

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Here's one for the DEC engineers

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Bill Pechter <pechter(a)pechter.dyndns.org> >The only problem with CSSE is they made it so easy to work on the DEC >stuff Field Service management began hiring the clueless to work cheap >and they lost a lot of the clued folks to people who changed the board >with the RED led lit. One day they worked on VT220's the next they >were promoted to your VAX cluster! Management... They took the work and tried to understand it. Field Circus management was a bunch of ex-bag carriers that felt they were the best and the rest were dumb. The end result is that first you couldn't find people that knew what a scope was and you still had to fix it due to committed response time. The latter often led to get a body there, NOW, I dont care who. Allison

25 years, 8 months

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Here's one for the DEC engineers

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Jerome Fine <jhfine(a)idirect.com> >I was told that while working on an 11/34A, one fellow from DEC >Field Circus blew all the boards in the backplane when he removed >the memory - seems that he forgot to turn off the power!! My favorite is a Field Circus CE arrives at site and while walking through the room he picks a likely cab to lay his stuff on. Then proceeds to ask where is this HSC thingie. Rumor has it the manager of the site was seen escorting the CE out the door with great vigor. Allison

25 years, 8 months

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