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

Large inventory of transputer parts for sale!!!

by kenny＠kinnes.demon.co.uk

>> >> Yes that us true. The T801 had several additional "features" compared to >> the T805, but instruction wise, it didn't have any of the debugging >> instructions >> (plus some additional operators). The T801 was an experimental piece as far > >Were they ever shipped? I know _I've_ got a couple somewhere, but then I >have some odd Transputer stuff.... Yes they were shipped and ran very well. They were an updated version of the basic T800 with as you say an optimised for static ram memory interface ie demultiplexed. > >> >> as I am concerned. The T805 is the top-of-the-line "classic" transputer. >> And >> I dont consider the T801 as classic. > >Oh, come on. It's closely related to the T800 - the main difference is >the memory interface. Same link spec, same-ish instruction set, etc. Is it not identical software wise ? Mine are....or seem to be ;-) > >I can understand not calling the T9000 a 'classic Transputer' -- it's >very different to the T2/T4/T8 range. But the T801? No, I have to group >that one with the other T8's > >-tony The T9 is maybe not a classic Transputer but the ones that work run ok ! Using a little board (size 2) on a B008 you can get em to talk to "classic" Trannies Kenny > >

26 years, 12 months

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Sun Monitor (UK) (2)

by edick＠idcomm.com

What irritates me is that I, who have practiced in this industry for many years as an outgrowth of my hobby, which this was until about twenty years ago, since most of my earnings were in a different engineering discipline up to that time, recognize the skinflint syndrome among hobbyists more than I ever did before. Those same individuals who lament that vendors won't "document" their products enough to allow their repair (long after their projected economic life, measured in seconds, not years, has ended twice over) because they (these hobbyists) have no respect for the intellectual property rights of equipment and software vendors, to wit, they use software they "borrowed" and never buy even their most frequently used software tools claiming that "better" stuff is "free" by which they mean it didn't cost THEM anything. They make excuse after excuse for not parting with a dime, yet see it perfectly satisfactory to spend a man-year avoiding an expenditure not much larger than the price of a common lunch on hardware or software. While it's their choice about how they spend their time, if they valued their time because it was of economic value, they'd better understand the situation. The fact is, not everyone wishes to run old and obsolete hardware/software exclusively, and not everyone is, therefore, in the position that they have to fix something because they can't buy one. That's what thrift stores are for, or even used computer gadget stores. There's no benefit in delaying one's use, for enjoyment or exploitation, of a given piece of equipment just because it costs half a dollar to buy what might take only a year to fix. In cases where my objective is to use something, I don't spend a year fixing a part if a half hour's wages will buy a replacement. Just to let you know my heart's in the right place, though, I've spent dozens, if not hundreds of hours fixing those 8" floppy drives I'm essentially giving away for the cost of freight. Nevertheless, I believe that more often than not, penny-wise is pound-foolish. Dick -----Original Message----- From: Glenatacme(a)aol.com <Glenatacme(a)aol.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Tuesday, July 20, 1999 10:22 PM Subject: Re: Sun Monitor (UK) (2) >In a message dated 7/20/99 9:58:39 PM Eastern Daylight Time, edick(a)idcomm.com >writes: > >> What the computer industry is about is MAKING MONEY. It's good that there >> are some people working in the industry who realize that it's about GETTING >> PAID, and not so much about having fun. > >For those of us who are both computer professionals and hobbyists the trick >is making enough money to be able to have fun with our hobby ;>) > >Glen Goodwin >0/0

26 years, 12 months

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Transputer libs

by kenny＠kinnes.demon.co.uk

I have some of the data/notes on this card but no s/ware as yet. My first experiences with transputers was designing and building a T222 board with 64K (wow) and a Z80 interface. Hmmm I seem to remember I got it working but did not do a fantastic amount with it. Got a few T414's then started to play with designing for them and Z80's, bit sad really. I finally got a B430 to try and devlop a SCSI/Floppy/IDE interface board. It sort of got sidelined. Now I've got some T9's (working) some B108's and a T9 to "classic" transputer interface board based on a C100. This should be fun. Ram tells me that you have a B020 board, I also have one unfortunately I don't have any data/drawings etc for it but you do ;-) Is it possible for you to let me have a look at it ?? Kenny >> >> It is the GPIB library. >> I have a B419 that I want to test as I don't know what > >As do I.... > >> state it is in. >> If/when I get a copy you will get one too. >> Who is Tony ? > >'Tony' is almost certainly me. I've worked with transputers, have a >number of TRAMs/motherboards, ISA cards, an ITEM, etc here. > >I spent 5 years at Bristol University working on homebrew (wirewrapped, >by me) transputer systems. For this I get a piece of paper saying that >I'm a particle physicsist :-). Since I worked mostly with bare chips, I >must admit that I've not done that much with the standard TRAMs. > >-tony > >

26 years, 12 months

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anyone want a Burroughs adding machine?

by roblwill＠usaor.net

Hey! I've got one of those old Burroughs Adding machines, but it's the type with the printer. I bought it at a flea market for $1. Does anyone know where to get a crank for one? Mine needs a crank (although right now a vice-grip is working...) ThAnX, ///--->>> -Jason Willgruber (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#: 1730318 <http://members.tripod.com/general_1> -----Original Message----- From: Max Eskin <max82(a)surfree.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Sunday, July 18, 1999 2:05 PM Subject: anyone want a Burroughs adding machine? >Hi, >I've got a Burroughs Class 5 adding machine here, which I am almost >finished repairing. It has 10 drums of numbers, and 9 rows of buttons >numbered from 1 to 9. One presses these buttons in order to add, and the >result is shown on the drums. There is a picture at: > > http://www.teleport.com/~dgh/adddir.htm > >If anyone wants this thing, please tell me. It's not very heavy. Maybe you >can show it off at your VCF, Sellam? > >--Max Eskin (max82(a)surfree.com) > http://scivault.hypermart.net: Ignorance is Impotence - Knowledge is Power > >

26 years, 12 months

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Computers using a TV as the display

by roblwill＠usaor.net

It actually depends... I have a computer cooked up (with a $45 video card) to a 25" color TV. It works pretty good (from about 5-10 feet away. ///--->>> -Jason Willgruber (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#: 1730318 <http://members.tripod.com/general_1> -----Original Message----- From: Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Wednesday, July 21, 1999 3:21 PM Subject: Computers using a TV as the display >I happened to notice an advert in a UK newspaper today. > >Apparently some company (related to Tiny Computers I believe) is offering >a free PC if you use them as your telephone company and make a certain >value of calls in each of the first 12 months (the details are not >important). > >However, in the small print it says something like (from memory) > >'The PC is not supplied with a monitor. However the necessary >cables/connections to use your TV as a display are included' > >So it appears that using a TV as a computer display is alive and well in >the UK. Mind you, IMHO trying to view Windows (and I am sure that's the >OS that came with this machine) on the average TV screen would make it >even more unpleasant than usual. > >-tony > >

26 years, 12 months

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Inventory Liquidation

by max82＠surfree.com

Hi, I decided to get rid of 90% of the 'classic' crud lying around my room, since I never touch it anymore. Here is the first installment of stuff which I will ship out to people for the price plus shipping. Mac Portable w/backlit display and manuals; perfect condition -$10 1200 bps Hayes external modem for use with Macintosh (docs included)- just shipping Apple //c in working condition w/power brick and "Owner's Manual"- $5 Tandon 386 laptop in working condition but power supply is a bit flaky. This is the first laptop to have suspend/resume function; has 1200 bps modem; I also have another one which is dead, you can use it for spare parts - $15 Data General serving tray from 1983 (has a timeline of DG's history with some photos) - $3 Kensington System Saver for Apple ][ (the little fan that hooks on the side) - $3 C-64 Koala Pad, with software (if I can find it) $3 Epson "APL Board" printer controller for Apple ][ - just shipping Apple "I/O Controller" for Apple ][ - just shipping Digital Research CP/M card w/manuals and disks for Apple ][ - $3 Apple "Language Card" - just shipping Videx video card for Apple ][ - just shipping QuadRam QuadBoard for PC/XT - just shipping Hayes 1200 bps modem for ISA - just shipping IBM CGA card for ISA - just shipping ESDI Hard Disk Controller for MCA - just shipping If nobody wants these, they will meet a fate crueller than death (think desoldering tool :) --Max Eskin (max82(a)surfree.com) http://scivault.hypermart.net: Ignorance is Impotence - Knowledge is Power

26 years, 12 months

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Classic computers article in the NY Times

by ckaiser＠oa.ptloma.edu

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26 years, 12 months

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Transputer libs

by kenny＠kinnes.demon.co.uk

It is the GPIB library. I have a B419 that I want to test as I don't know what state it is in. If/when I get a copy you will get one too. Who is Tony ? What are you using to run/compile/edit the B020 CVC stuff ? K At 03:33 PM 7/21/99 -0400, you wrote: >Kenny Innes wrote: > >> Transputer Software. >> >> Does anyone out there have a copy of the IMS F001B and/or >> the IMS F003A libraries for the Transputer ?? > >Hi Kenny, > >The IMS F003A will not work on the B020 (so I am told). >It was never ported to the B020. The best thing to do is to use the >CVC kit I gave you. What is the IMS F001 used for (is it the GPIB >libraries or the ethernet libraries)? Well, anyway, shoot over a >copy to me if you do find these as I know Tony would be anxious >about these. > >Ram > > >-- > > ,,,, > /'^'\ > ( o o ) > -oOOO--(_)--OOOo------------------------------------- >| Ram Meenakshisundaram >| Senior Software Engineer >| OpenLink Financial Inc >| .oooO Phone: (516) 227-6600 x267 >| ( ) Oooo. Email: rmeenaks(a)olf.com > ---\ (----( )-------------------------------------- > \_) ) / > (_/ > > > >

26 years, 12 months

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Large inventory of transputer parts for sale!!!

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<If I were you, I would buy one B008 motherboard, it holds 10 size 1 <TRAMS (transputer modules). Then, I would buy the IMSB426 size 1 trams <which contains 4Megs per processor. The T805 is the top-of-the-line <"classic" transputer (forget about the ST20450 and the T9000 <transputers, <they were failures). This would give you plenty of space to play with. <Of <course you can fill up the whole motherboard with 10 size-1 trams <(giving you 10 processors) or use size-2 trams which take up two slots <in the motherboard. The T800 is an older fabrication of the T805 and After much snippage... Huh? I'm not familiar with Transputers at all. for my interests one or two are likely enough and even then. Allison

26 years, 12 months

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Sun Monitor (UK) (2)

by edick＠idcomm.com

-----Original Message----- From: Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Wednesday, July 21, 1999 2:00 PM Subject: Re: Sun Monitor (UK) (2) >> >> What irritates me is that I, who have practiced in this industry for many >> years as an outgrowth of my hobby, which this was until about twenty years >> ago, since most of my earnings were in a different engineering discipline up >> to that time, recognize the skinflint syndrome among hobbyists more than I >> ever did before. > >I am trying to work out what the heck you're doing on classiccmp, since >your views seem so different to the general idea of the group. > >FWIW, yes I am frugal. I'll admit to that. This doesn't make me dishonest >or a criminal. It doesn't mean I'm an idiot. It just means that for some >strange reason I prefer using properly made devices (rather than the crap >down the local PC shop), and that I prefer to keep things running rather >than to further polute this planet. You can do what you like... > >> >> Those same individuals who lament that vendors won't "document" their >> products enough to allow their repair (long after their projected economic > >Maybe you're happy with sending a perfectly good device to the landfill >for want of a few pence in parts. I am not. For that reason I certainly >moan when manufacturers won't provide proper repair documentation/parts >(and so far, all you've provided is bogus reasons why they don't). > >> life, measured in seconds, not years, has ended twice over) because they >> (these hobbyists) have no respect for the intellectual property rights of >> equipment and software vendors, to wit, they use software they "borrowed" > >You are lucky I am generally a 'nice guy', or I'd have you in court >under whichever of libel or slander applies to mailing lists. FWIW I am >using a totally free OS/tools on this PC. Covered by the GNU license. I >haven't ripped it off from anywhere. I have a SCO license for PDP11 unix. >I've got originals of OS-9, TRS-DOS, Apple DOS 3.3, etc, etc, etc. I >don't make a habit of stealing things. > PLEASE! I didn't mean to imply that you are dishonest, or any other negative thing. I was thinking about someone completely different when I made the remarks to which I think you are reacting. He does say many of the same things as you, but for entirely different reasons. I meant no personal reference to you except in the sense that you do often point to the expense of a given item. We're all concerned about that to some extent. You've made your position abundantly clear many times, and, while I don't share your views in all cases, I understand what you are saying. The only point of disagreement, in this case, is that the fellow who wants to USE the SONY monitor he already has, apparently in working condition, has not indicated he wants to use it in a restoration project, nor does he apparently want to make any other sort of project of it. Instead he wants to use it because he already owns it. I wanted to offer a simple and QUICK way to get there, starting with how to determine whether he can get there at all with what he's got. It pains me too to have to toss something because it's taking up valuable space and I haven't time to fix it before the space is needed. I would never have ended up in this discussion if I didn't feel it important to continue to use resources rather than to discard them the moment they become unfashionable. The way I got here was by trying to give away a bunch of aging computer hardware which has gotten too space-consuming to warrant my keeping it. My own evenings and weekends are spent on trying to take a dozen or so 8" floppy drives and ship them out to people in condition suitable for their use, since most of them don't have the equipment or the experience to adjust them to nominal specifications. If I didn't care about preserving the usefulness of this old hardware, I'd just take off the boards, unscrew the steel, and collect about $8 per drive as scrap aluminum. That's certainly more than I get by fixing them and shipping them. I had no intention of giving any offense with the remarks I made. They were certainly not directed at you. There are people who will pinch software or other easily appropriated intellectual property, and they've always been among us, and probably always will be. I don't believe in making things any easier than necessary for them. > >> and never buy even their most frequently used software tools claiming that >> "better" stuff is "free" by which they mean it didn't cost THEM anything. > >You're dead right it didn't cost me anything. Now read the GNU Public >License to find out why. > I have read that document and certainly hope they're able to uphold it under the current commercial trend in the LINUX community. > >> >> They make excuse after excuse for not parting with a dime, yet see it >> perfectly satisfactory to spend a man-year avoiding an expenditure not much > >Perhaps you could explain what's wrong with learning to do things >youself. Particularly as few other people seem to be able to do them. In >general when I've had dealing with other people to do computing tasks, >the result has been a mess that has taken longer than it would have taken >me to do it in the first place. > There's nothing wrong with pursuing a project for self-education. It's just not what I perceived the goal in this instance to be. > >That's why I've learnt to do so many things myself. It's the same story >time and time again. I have something that's broken. The so-called >service agents want to charge me an arm and a leg to so-say repair it (== >swap random parts until it seems to work). So instead I take it to bits, >_make_ new parts, get it working, and then attempt to share my knowledge >with others. And amazingly so many of these so-called 'skilled jobs' that >should only be attempted by trained professsionals turn out to be dead >easy to do with the tools I have here. > >> larger than the price of a common lunch on hardware or software. While it's >> their choice about how they spend their time, if they valued their time >> because it was of economic value, they'd better understand the situation. > >I don't value my time because nobody else values my time :-(. If I wasn't >fixing old computers, what would I be doing? Watching TV??? > Frankly, it's curious that you have no commercial application for your talents. I know a few fellows who claim to know quite a bit about hardware, software, etc, but who have problems with taking direction, reporting to work on a schedule, adhering to a schedule in general, and solving the problem at hand instead of some other related and more interesting problem. > >> >> The fact is, not everyone wishes to run old and obsolete hardware/software >> exclusively, and not everyone is, therefore, in the position that they have > >No, but I thought most people on Classiccmp had some interest in old >computer repair/restoration. Obviously I am wrong (as usual). So the >simple solution is for me to unsubscribe from the list. > Based on what you've said, that would probably be a mistake, but different people will have different views on what aspect of repair/restoration is of interest. In the current case, repair and restoration were not the issue. Seamlessly adapting a fixed-frequency monitor to a multi-sync environment is the issue. That's probably somewhat off-topic, since it doesn't really deal with the classic hardware at all. However, since the monitor is "old" and the problem is old as well, it popped up. > >> to fix something because they can't buy one. That's what thrift stores are >> for, or even used computer gadget stores. > >It's different in the UK. Many charity shops (thrift stores) don't sell >electrical stuff at all, since all second-hand electrical stuff has to be >safety tested. The second-hand computer shops that I know about tend to >sell working stuff not much cheaper than buying it new. So I generally >dig in the 'untested, spares or repair' bins and get an assortment of >bits that I know I can fix. > I'm unprepared to comment on the situation in the UK, but, since the individual who initiated this thread is in the UK, perhaps you could contact him and determine whether he wants a fix or whether he wants an education. > >-tony >

26 years, 12 months

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VAXstation 3100 netboot problem

by jack_truman＠hotmail.com

Hello, I've followed the instructions to the letter for how to netboot a VAXstation, and stuff happens, but it doesn't seem to do anything.. I turn the VAX on, and break it to the console, and type 'b/100 esa0'. Everything is up and running on my Linux box across the room, and mopd reports activity. I see this on my console: [root@kadath fs]# mopd -a -d mopd: not running as daemon, -d given. MOP DL 8:0:2b:12:84:6b > ab:0:0:1:0:0 len 18 code 08 RPR MOP DL 0:40:5:5e:df:71 > 8:0:2b:12:84:6b len 1 code 03 ASV MOP DL 8:0:2b:12:84:6b > ab:0:0:1:0:0 len 18 code 08 RPR MOP DL 0:40:5:5e:df:71 > 8:0:2b:12:84:6b len 1 code 03 ASV MOP DL 8:0:2b:12:84:6b > ab:0:0:1:0:0 len 18 code 08 RPR MOP DL 0:40:5:5e:df:71 > 8:0:2b:12:84:6b len 1 code 03 ASV MOP DL 8:0:2b:12:84:6b > ab:0:0:1:0:0 len 18 code 08 RPR MOP DL 0:40:5:5e:df:71 > 8:0:2b:12:84:6b len 1 code 03 ASV MOP DL 8:0:2b:12:84:6b > ab:0:0:1:0:0 len 18 code 08 RPR MOP DL 0:40:5:5e:df:71 > 8:0:2b:12:84:6b len 1 code 03 ASV MOP DL 8:0:2b:12:84:6b > ab:0:0:1:0:0 len 18 code 08 RPR MOP DL 0:40:5:5e:df:71 > 8:0:2b:12:84:6b len 1 code 03 ASV MOP DL 8:0:2b:12:84:6b > ab:0:0:1:0:0 len 18 code 08 RPR MOP DL 0:40:5:5e:df:71 > 8:0:2b:12:84:6b len 1 code 03 ASV MOP DL 8:0:2b:12:84:6b > ab:0:0:1:0:0 len 18 code 08 RPR MOP DL 0:40:5:5e:df:71 > 8:0:2b:12:84:6b len 1 code 03 ASV MOP DL 8:0:2b:12:84:6b > ab:0:0:1:0:0 len 18 code 08 RPR MOP DL 0:40:5:5e:df:71 > 8:0:2b:12:84:6b len 1 code 03 ASV MOP DL 8:0:2b:12:84:6b > ab:0:0:1:0:0 len 18 code 08 RPR MOP DL 0:40:5:5e:df:71 > 8:0:2b:12:84:6b len 1 code 03 ASV MOP DL 8:0:2b:12:84:6b > ab:0:0:1:0:0 len 18 code 08 RPR MOP DL 0:40:5:5e:df:71 > 8:0:2b:12:84:6b len 1 code 03 ASV MOP DL 8:0:2b:12:84:6b > ab:0:0:1:0:0 len 18 code 08 RPR MOP DL 0:40:5:5e:df:71 > 8:0:2b:12:84:6b len 1 code 03 ASV MOP RC 8:0:2b:12:84:6b > ab:0:0:2:0:0 len 54 code 07 SID This repeats ad nauseum, every 5 minutes or so. This appears in my syslogs: Jul 21 19:07:20 kadath mopd[12768]: mopd 2.5.3 started. Jul 21 19:07:20 kadath mopd[12768]: Initialized eth0 Jul 21 19:07:20 kadath kernel: mopd uses obsolete (PF_INET,SOCK_PACKET) Jul 21 19:09:53 kadath mopd[12768]: 8:0:2b:11:12:92 (1) Do you have MOPBOOT? (Yes) Jul 21 19:10:35 kadath last message repeated 3 times ...and so on. So, my box is seeing request from the VAX, but nothing happens on the VAX screen. It simply hangs at '-ESA0'. Any idea what's up? Did I miss some critical step in my massive ignorance? Help would be greatly appreciated. :) Thanks. _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com

26 years, 12 months

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Honeywell/Bull Terminals

by doug＠notme.com

Anyone know how to get into the setup on a Honeywell/Bull HDS-5 terminal? I need to get in and configure the connection so it can be used for an application other than paper weight. :) _____________________________________________ Free email with personality! Over 200 domains! http://www.MyOwnEmail.com

26 years, 12 months

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vacuum tube circuits

by lemay＠cs.umn.edu

> > > I saw a hardcover book from 1957 at the used bookstore, that discussed > > digital computer circuits, and had chapters on vacuum tube logic circuits, > > corememory circuits, some transistor circuits, etc. If this is something > > that someone here is dieing to have, perhaps because you're designing > > a vacuum tube computer circuit, just let me know and i'll try to get it > > before someone else does ;) > > In fact, my plan is to build a tube computer someday soon. What was the > title of the book, and how much was it selling for? > Well, several people have asked about this book. Its "Digital Computer components & circuits" by R. K. Richards, 1957, reprinted 1958. He says its a companion book to his "arithmetic Operations in Digital Computers", which the bookstore also has, but thats just a general boolean-logic type of book. Anyways, the used bookstore wants $15 for it. Perhaps I should see about photocopying this. chapters: 1 History & Introduction 2 Diode switching circuits 3 Vacuum tube systems of circuit logic 4 Transistor systems of circuit logic 5 magnetic core systems of circuit logic 6 Large capacity storage: non-magnetic devices 7 Storage on a magnetic surface 8 Magnetic core storage 9 Circuits and tubes for decimal counting 10 Miscellaneous components and circuits 11 Analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters -Lawrence LeMay

26 years, 12 months

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New Finds

by jrkeys＠concentric.net

Today I hit the jackpot and got a van load of items for only $10 at the yard. I got Mac's (7) and Powerbooks (2) done 10 years old yet, Next Station and Next laser printer, two other laser by HP, Inkjets (2), and the best was SiliconGraphics Indy. I only got the missing the KB, mouse, memory, and Monitor. I looked at SG's site and they still sell this unit for $2500. All and all a good day for collecting. John

26 years, 12 months

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First laptop?

by max82＠surfree.com

Hi, I walked into Radio Shack today, and was delighted to see a row of posters on their wall with photos of old Radio Shack stores and equipment from the beginning of the chain to now. They mentioned that the TRS Model 100 was 'the first laptop in the industry'. Is this even marginally true? --Max Eskin (max82(a)surfree.com) http://scivault.hypermart.net: Ignorance is Impotence - Knowledge is Power

26 years, 12 months

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Rdio Shack TRS-80 MC-10?

by roblwill＠usaor.net

Does anyone know the approximate value of a TRS-80 MC-10 computer with 4k RAM, in good condition? Also, does anyone have any pictures of one? ThAnX, ///--->>> -Jason Willgruber (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#: 1730318 <http://members.tripod.com/general_1>

26 years, 12 months

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I R Dum...

by zmerch＠30below.com

Dang, Dang, Dang!!! These 13+ hour days really make me lose my mind! Sorry, all! "Merch" -- Roger "Merch" Merchberger --- sysadmin, Iceberg Computers Recycling is good, right??? Ok, so I'll recycle an old .sig. If at first you don't succeed, nuclear warhead disarmament should *not* be your first career choice.

26 years, 12 months

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Sun Monitor (UK) (2)

by edick＠idcomm.com

plz see embedded remarks below. Dick -----Original Message----- From: Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Wednesday, July 21, 1999 2:00 PM Subject: Re: Sun Monitor (UK) (2) >> >No normal VGA card (I am not talking about the special ones designed to >> >work with sync-on-green monitors) has the hardware for sync-on-green. So >> >programming the card, however you do it, won't produce a sync-on-green >> >output. That is what your resistor mod is for - to stick sync pulses (I >> >wouldn't have thought they met the specs either...) on the green signal. >> > >> I seem to recall that several of the Brooktree DAC's, almost excusively <snip> >> the DAC pins, had the ability to impose negative sync on the green video as >> well. > >Since monitor video inputs are almost always AC coupled (at least on real >monitors), you don't need to be able to generate a -ve output. > >If you want to use the DAC for this, then either you need to use up part >of the range of the DAC for the sync pulse (which will reduce the number >of colours you can get), and find a way of loading the right values into >the DAC during the sync pulse time, or you need to fiddle the bias >votlages at that time. Either way it's a pain. > I've got a couple of Philips workstation monitors and one from DEC which aren't AC-coupled, or at least don't tolerate the resistor bias trick I mentioned before. > >But adding an external sync mixer is a lot easier. Using separate syncs >is easier still. > The advantage to using the resistor from composite blanking is that the frequencies, albeit not the pulse widths, are correct. > >> Multiple encounters with this particular task have taught me that this >> entails a >1K-hour involvement for a specialist who has experience and all >> the precise specifications at his disposal, including the unpublished ones. >> I have no idea how long it would take someone who knows little about >> graphics and less about the undocumented features of the display controller >> LSI. > >Never underestimate what hobbyists can and will do. It may suprise you, >but often a good hobbyist can easily outperform many so-called professionals. > That's true, but in this case, we're looking for a solution, not an amusing problem. > >I am not suggesting that reprogramming an SVGA card is a good idea if you >know _nothing_ about video - although you will surely know a lot about >video by the time you've done it. Just that it's certainly possible. > >> >At VHF you may well have problems if you try to make it on stripboard. >> >Dead-bugging would work. A proper double-sided PCB with a ground plane >> >would be even better. Decoupling is going to be very important. >> > >> >Compare that to inverting a 64kHz signal (less than 1 thousandth of the >> >frequency) with a 74LS04. You can stick that on stripboard, tag a 0.1uF >> >capacitor across the power lines for decoupling and expect it to work >> >first time. >> > >> With orderly and precise assembly techniques, the little circuit I recommend >> and use will work every time. The transistors are spec'd to 500 MHz and the > >I don't dispute that at all. But RF (and this most certainly is RF) >circuit construction _is_ an art that not everybody has experience of. >There is a a lot more to RF construction than components that happen to >have suitable specs. > >There is a well known myth in electronics. It goes like this : Resistors >have resistance, capacitors have capacitance, inductors have inductance. >It reality, all components have all 3 properties. So do pieces of wire. >And while I'll believe in wires without resistance, to have them without >inductance or capacitance would involve major changes to the laws of >physics. > >So, in fact, you might find that your nice little electrolytic capacitor >has a very high impedance at 100MHz due to its self-inductance. Not what >a beginner would expect at all. > >Now, all this is 'old hat' to anyone who's done a lot of RF work (high >speed digital electronics is most certainly RF, BTW). But I've seen >plenty of so-called designers who have made a mess of it. > >I'd have no worries in building this (I've worked considerably faster, >many, many times). > >> >But if the card already supports something near the right rates, it's >> >worth giving it a go. Maybe the card supports 1024 lines at 60Hz >> >vertical. Your monitor uses 52Hz vertical (I've seen monitors that have >> >that, for some odd reason), also at 1024 lines displayed. You probably >> >could reprogram the card to do that. >> > >> I keep forgetting that a major part of the world doesn't use 60 Hz. !!! ) > >It's not that at all (FWIW a lot of machines over here do use 60Hz >vertical rates, or whatever is used in the rest of the world). The reason >some workstation monitors used strange scan rates was precisely the >reason you mentioned earlier - the DACs weren't fast enough, so they had >to slow everything down to get the number of pixels/line that they wanted. > >> This means that you have to do your own arithmetic. I've designed and > >Which is not hard, provided you remember that #displayed line != #total >lines and #horizontal displayed pixels != #equivalent pixels/line. There >are blnking intervals to consider... > >> >At these sorts of frequencies it's worth taking care with the layout, >> >decoupling, etc. After all, ghosting on green (only) is going to look >> >terrible. I am not saying it can't work. It can. I would also claim that >> >you could have problems with it. >> > >> You'll see it's dirt simple to build one of these that works fine because >> the switching speed is relatively leisurely, though the Brooktree folks >> spec'd a 1/2 GHz transistor array. The one I used is spec'd faster than the >> CA3227. Like I wrote above, it's likely a 100 KHz version would work since >> all it switches is the sync. > >Sure.. But none-the-less you are working with a 100MHz video signal, even >if only to resistively mix it with the sync pulses. And that's where >problems _could_ start. > The combiner is only active well into the blanking cycle. Before the blanking cycle, and I'm referring to my 5-transistor/2-diode green+sync combiner, the circuit draws its constant current from ground through one side of the dif-amp. When sync goes active, it switches to the other side, which draws current from green video and sinks it into a mirror-controlled constant current sink. That's why the negative voltage is needed. That way, the circuit is essentially passive except during blanking. The only connection to GREEN is through the collector of one of the transistors in the dif-amp, which is in cutoff when sync is inactive. I admit it may have imperfections, but it's served many of us well for many years. What's more, it's easy to build, since the transistor array is a package which serves as a platform for the diodes and resistors. > >> >You seem to think of everything in terms of money. You are totally >> >forgetting that (a) you'll learn a lot from doing this (or are you in >> >favour of knowing nothing and letting everybody else do the work). (b) >> >that some people enjoy doing this sort of thing. (c) that the 20" monitor >> >from the PC shop is most likely a cheap/poor design which gives a >> >marginal picture even when new. That Sony looks like a good design from >> >the schematics. >> > >> . . . and you're assuming that, perhaps like you when you started this >> stuff, one knows nothing about this stuff. The third time you do this job > >I am not sure I follow you. Of course I knew nothing when I started, but >I learnt it pretty quickly. And I've used knowledge gained from doing >things like this to solve problems elsewhere. > That wasn't my point at all. I know from your previous writings that you are a devoted hobbyist and you enjoy very much tinkering with things that perhaps don't work quite as you'd like in order to learn how to make them do what you do like. The guy who started this thread, however, at least in my perception, was concerned about how to get some utility from a very heavy and difficult to ship monitor he already owns and is unlikely to move without considerable expense/effort on his part. What I tried to do is find him a quick and easy, perhaps quick-and-dirty, solution to his particular difficulty which probably involved a tradeoff between utility, economic conservation, and space. My solution may not be THE solution, but it's worked for me and others, so I thought it might work for him as well. > >The sure way to learn something is to do it. You can read all the books >you like, and you _won't_ get the full story. > > >> I remember the monitors we bought for $30K each back in the mid-'80's, which >> are comparable in the most superficial way to this GDM1950. The 20" >> monitors down at the discount have everything superior in almost every way >> to the SONY except for the tube. The ones with a SONY tube cost $500 > >Have you sat down with the schematics and compared them? Looked at build >quality? Looked at the specs they're supposed to meet for things like >corner convergence? You'd be amazed. > >I've got a PC monitor on my bench at the moment. The fault is an >open-circuit horizontal driver transformer (not the flyback). Now this >transformer handles almost no power. There is no other fault that would >cause it to burn out. No, the reason it failed is that the wire was >damaged when it was wound (I have unwound it, you see, as I intend to >rewind it). That's the sort of thing you get on cheap monitors. > >> >You seem to be of the opinion that it's not worth learning how to do >> >something if somebody else (doesn't matter who or where) can do it for >> >you. This is a strange attitude for a hobby. It also probably explains >> >the state the computer industry has got into. >> > >> Well, if it's an industry, it's not a hobby to everyone, and the state it's >> gotten into is PROFITABLE, which means it will be around a while longer. > >Profitable != it will be around, alas. Not in this case. What has >happened is that companies are making a lot of money selling the same old >stuff. Just finding ways to cheapen it. There is next to no inovation >going on any more, at least not in the UK. > >Oh, there'll still be companies selling computers/software. Whether >anybody will still be designing them is another matter... > >> >Sometime in the future I intend to make a mechanical clock. The necessary >> >tools are certainly not cheap. And it's going to cost me around \pounds >> >100 for the metal, etc to do it. The result will be less accurate than a >> >\pounds 5.00 quartz clock. So what! >> > >> Well, some of us already know enough about how a mechanical clock works and > >Have you made one? > >Sure it's trivial to 'count a train' (work out the number of teeth on the >gears in a clock). Any schoolkid could do that. What is a lot less >trivial is to make an escapement that runs, carries on running, and keeps >good time. > >There are other things that seem wrong until you've done them, as well. >Most people think that the holes in clock plates are cylindrical. >They're not. They're conical - the pivots run essentially on an edge. >There is a lot of 'slop' when you put a pivot into just one of the >plates. That's how it should be. A clock with cylindrical holes will >almost certainly stop at once. > >> even how to build one. Of course that's not everybody's goal, but . . . > >I don't beleive anyone can claim they can do something until they've >actually done it. In this case, by taking a piece of sheet brass and a >length of steel rod and actually making a clock. > >-tony >

26 years, 12 months

2
1
0 0

Using a TK50 tape on a TK70?

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<Someone who is very experienced has suggested doing a bulk erase <on a TK50 tape and using it in a TK70 tape drive! Has anyone <ever done so and what happened? Ah, I believe TK50 and TK70 tape is different media (magnetics). That is why the TK70 can only read TK50 formats. <I want to decide if a TK70 is the drive for doing backups? It is <more than twice as fast as a TK50 and the capacity is about <4 times when a TK70 is used. Also, the "/VERIFY:ONLY" <switch in BUP works very well taking less than double the <time as a straight RESTORE. This is a no brainer, TK70 is better. By then the technology is more mature and fewer tapes will be needed to backup a large disk. Allison

26 years, 12 months

2
1
0 0

Using a TK50 tape on a TK70?

by sms＠antinode.org

From: allisonp(a)world.std.com (Allison J Parent) > Ah, I believe TK50 and TK70 tape is different media (magnetics). That > is why the TK70 can only read TK50 formats. The number of tracks is different, with more on the TK70 than on the TK50 (not surprisingly). When a TK70 drive tries to read a TK50 tape, it's easy enough to center a smaller (TK70) read head on a larger (TK50) track. It is far more difficult (that is, practically impossible) for the smaller write head to write a track which covers the larger track well enough to satisfy the larger read head. _This_ is why a TK70 drive can not write a tape which can be read by a TK50 drive. The magnetic properties of the tapes may or may not be different. My experience suggests that they're close enough. (Of course, also I've used HD floppies as DD by taping over the hole, again, with no problems. Please, let's not start that discussion here.) Regardless, it's the difference in track configuration which is the fundamental source of the problem. The same argument applies similarly to QIC tape drives of various densities. If anyone actually _knows_ about the magnetic properties of the two types of tapes, I'd be pleased to learn of the differences, if any. I could live happliy without additional uninformed speculation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Steven M. Schweda (+1) 651-645-9249 (voice, home) 1630 Marshall Avenue #8 (+1) 612-754-2636 (voice, work) Saint Paul MN 55104-6225 (+1) 612-754-6302 (facsimile, work) sms(a)antinode.org sms(a)provis.com (work)

26 years, 12 months

1
0
0 0

Computers using a TV as the display

by edick＠idcomm.com

Your assessment that the display is more or less TERRIBLE when using a TV with WINDOWS is correct. My WinBook provides NTSC video output on demand, ostensibly for when you're away from home and your docking station/port expander, and want to use a BIG display. It's pretty sorry looking! Dick -----Original Message----- From: Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Wednesday, July 21, 1999 4:26 PM Subject: Computers using a TV as the display >I happened to notice an advert in a UK newspaper today. > >Apparently some company (related to Tiny Computers I believe) is offering >a free PC if you use them as your telephone company and make a certain >value of calls in each of the first 12 months (the details are not >important). > >However, in the small print it says something like (from memory) > >'The PC is not supplied with a monitor. However the necessary >cables/connections to use your TV as a display are included' > >So it appears that using a TV as a computer display is alive and well in >the UK. Mind you, IMHO trying to view Windows (and I am sure that's the >OS that came with this machine) on the average TV screen would make it >even more unpleasant than usual. > >-tony >

26 years, 12 months

1
0
0 0

Sun Monitor (UK) (2)

by edick＠idcomm.com

-----Original Message----- From: Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Wednesday, July 21, 1999 4:24 PM Subject: Re: Sun Monitor (UK) (2) >> >> OK . . . I admit it . . . I'm off topic getting into attitudes, etc. I >> agree that there are times when it's certainly better to fix something than > >You're righht. This thread has drifted too far... > <snip> > >Oh well. I guess some of us do think there were better machines than the >PC :-) > The question is really not one of better, just of convenience. > >-tony >

26 years, 12 months

1
0
0 0

digital cameras

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

I agree, the sony mavica is a great camera for $500! the built-in floppy drive makes it so convenient to save files and the picture quality is really good. my brother had one and used it to take pictures for my computer collection site. In a message dated 7/13/99 9:51:27 PM Eastern Daylight Time, rigdonj(a)intellistar.net writes: > Lawrence, > > I've been using a Sony Mavica 81 and I LOVE it! I has 1024 x 768 > resolution and a 3X **** Optical***** zoom. Many of the cameras out there > use a digital zoom That just blows up a portion of your image and you get > a bigger picture but lower resolution. A digital zoom is worthless IMHO. > I've been able to focus in on lots of circuit boards and the like with the > Sony without having a Macro capability. Take a look at > "http://www.intellistar.net/~rigdonj/don-ad.htm". There are links there to > several pictures that I took with the Sony. This were just a quick and > dirty web page for a friend of mine to advertise his stuff and I didn't > take much care to get the best possible picture. Also you should be aware > that ALL the current cameras except the Sonys require Windozes 95 or 98 > just to download your pictures to a PC. The Sonys use 3.5" floppy disk in > the camera and save the pictures as standard JPEG files. > > Joe

26 years, 12 months

6
10
0 0

Sun Monitor (UK) (2)

by edick＠idcomm.com

OK . . . I admit it . . . I'm off topic getting into attitudes, etc. I agree that there are times when it's certainly better to fix something than to buy a new one. With the classic computers, that's not an option, and for TONY, the hobbyist, it's not an option either because it's what he loves to do. The question originated about how a guy who has an ostensibly functional fixed-frequency monitor too heavy to ship without going into debt, could possibly squeeze a bit of usefulness out of it, and I felt that since this isn't a fix but rather a hack that's called for, the simplest and lowest cost hack would probably serve the purpose the best. I know how long it takes to work through someone else's object code trying to figure out how an undocumented LSI works. It just seemed to me that rather than spending kilobucks' worth of time, since that's not what the originator of the question defined as "fun," primarily, it would be easier to buy a second hand board, already capable of doing what he needs done, use it with the A/B switch he indicated he wanted to use in order to put a normal vga monitor in use when the scan rate was wrong. What I proposed was simply what I perceived to be the shortest path to the solution sought after in this particular case. The last time I mentioned something like this, i.e. application of a SUN monitor to a PC, someone jumped me for suggesting a way to do that, insisting that the only REAL way to do justice to the monitor was to get some SUN equipment to use with it. I thought that was a bit off the mark too. It confuses me when people complain on one hand about the COST of a given solution, yet are perfectly willing to spend hundreds of hours which, if spent shining shoes, would solve the problem a dozen times over. I understand that there are people who are happy when something breaks, so they can fix it. I am not one of them, however. Please accept my apologies for presenting my position in a narrow way, but, in the spirit of looking at the "big picture" it's wise to keep in mind that some people want to tinker while others merely want to play. Dick -----Original Message----- From: Bill Yakowenko <yakowenk(a)cs.unc.edu> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Wednesday, July 21, 1999 12:36 PM Subject: Re: Sun Monitor (UK) (2) >From: yakowenk(a)csx.unxc.edu (remove x's) > >On Tue, 20 Jul 1999, "Richard Erlacher" wrote: >] Well, if it's an industry, it's not a hoby to everyone, and the state it's >] gotten into is PROFITABLE, which means it will be around a while longer. >] ... >] I guess if you only want to do what people did 20 years >] ago, then fixing stuff isn't a priority, since it will be much more of an >] antique once you get it fixed. I always figured it's good to know what is >] happening out there now. That's particularly true since that's how I intend >] to continue making my living. >] >] What the computer industry is about is MAKING MONEY. It's good that there >] are some people working in the industry who realize that it's about GETTING >] PAID, and not so much about having fun. > >I think maybe you have a little case of tunnel-vision here. The goal >is not just "get a working monitor". And "$MAKE MONEY FAST$" is not >even vaguely a part of the equation. The bottom line is that he wants >to fix it, and there definitely are benefits to doing that. The financial >bottom line may not show them, but they are there. Those dollar signs >on the bottom line don't show the whole quality-of-life picture, just >one aspect of it. > >Zoom out and look at the whole picture. Having dollars in your pocket >are certainly a good thing. But having toxic waste buried everywhere >is not. Having megacorporations trampling civil rights is not. Having >bored geeks is not. Having people who don't understand the world they >live in, but vote about it anyway, is not. These things may not all >be connected to Tony's monitor, but they are all results of seeing only >the financial bottom line. Somebody makes a big profit in causing each >of those things. Money in their pocket; crap for the rest of the world. >Keep that in mind, and think about everything that is affected by the >decision of repair vs. buy new: where the physical material goes, where >the money goes, whose mental states are changed and in what ways, etc.. >Then, repairing an old monitor instead of buying a new cheap one makes >a lot more sense. You don't enjoy it yourself, fine, for you the >holistic bottom line is still a no-go. For others it can go positive. > >So lets not have any more "your hobby is a waste of time" talk, OK? >Especially when that hobby is the raison-d'etre for this list. > >Okay, end of rant. > > Bill. >

26 years, 12 months

2
1
0 0

digital cameras

by peter.pachla＠vectrex.freeserve.co.uk

Hi, >The software is called gPhoto.... Thanks, I'll go take a look at their web site. TTFN - Pete. -- Hardware & Software Engineer. Sound Engineer. Collector of Arcade Machines, Games Consoles & Obsolete Computers (esp DEC) peter.pachla(a)virgin.net | peter.pachla(a)vectrex.freeserve.co.uk | peter.pachla(a)wintermute.free-online.co.uk | www.wintermute.free-online.co.uk --

26 years, 12 months

1
0
0 0

Sun Monitor (UK)

by peter.pachla＠vectrex.freeserve.co.uk

Hi Richard, >if the monitor is one of the SONY GDM1950 types, you can adapt >a1280x1024-capable display.... I think I'd have to dismantle the thing to figure out the type since the sticky labels identifying it have long since shrivelled and disappeared. I did consider modifying it for use on my PC but, to be honest, the thing is way too big for my uses so I just want rid of it. TTFN - Pete. -- Hardware & Software Engineer. Sound Engineer. Collector of Arcade Machines, Games Consoles & Obsolete Computers (esp DEC) peter.pachla(a)virgin.net | peter.pachla(a)vectrex.freeserve.co.uk | peter.pachla(a)wintermute.free-online.co.uk | www.wintermute.free-online.co.uk --

26 years, 12 months

1
0
0 0

Sun Monitor (UK) (2)

by edick＠idcomm.com

Have a look below, plz. Dick -----Original Message----- From: Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Tuesday, July 20, 1999 1:05 PM Subject: Re: Sun Monitor (UK) (2) >> The Sony GDM1950 designation is strange. Yours was a Sun, mine is a SuperMac >> and in searching the net I also found references to a Radius version, whom I > >That monitor was used/badged by a lot of companies. There have been other >common workstation monitors as well - Hitachi made one (HM4119), KME made >a number of monochrome ones that turn up on all sorts of UK machines, >etc. Very few companies designed and built their own monitors. > >> had thought manufactured their own monitors. There seem to be 19-21" versions >> and now I find also 3 and 5 BNC editions. Makes finding specs difficult. I >> found this reference in the Sync on green FAQ : >> >> "For example, a STORM 1280/256 will drive a Sony GDM-1950 at 640x480, 800x600, >> 1024x768, 1280x1024 and DOS modes (this monitor is rated at 63.34Khz Horizontal >> sync. and the card runs at 64Khz Horizontal sync.). This card uses an S3 >> graphics accelerator. See also PC Magazine/April/13/1993." >> The easiest way to stay within the range of the fixed frequency while switching video modes as this one does is to play with the fonts. If you use a large font (lotsa pixels) you generate fewer lines of text and fewer characters, yet don't change the actual sweep rate at which the monitor operates. Unfortunately, most cards don't allow enough character generator flexibility. That might mean drawing the fonts manually, or at least in segments potentially supportable by the features of the graphics chip. >> >> Now what kind of bloody "fixed frequency" is this. On another site ISTR they >> even had a different scan rate. > >Fixed frequency != known scan rate :-(. > >Fixed frequency means that the scan frequencies are set when the monitor >is built and can't (easily!) be altered afterwards. But different >monitors may have been built for different frequencies. I've got monitor >manuals that cover (say) 50kHz and 64kHz versions of the chassis. They >all go under much the same model number though. > >-tony >

26 years, 12 months

1
0
0 0

Sun Monitor (UK) (2)

by yakowenk＠cs.unc.edu

From: yakowenk(a)csx.unxc.edu (remove x's) On Tue, 20 Jul 1999, "Richard Erlacher" wrote: ] Well, if it's an industry, it's not a hoby to everyone, and the state it's ] gotten into is PROFITABLE, which means it will be around a while longer. ] ... ] I guess if you only want to do what people did 20 years ] ago, then fixing stuff isn't a priority, since it will be much more of an ] antique once you get it fixed. I always figured it's good to know what is ] happening out there now. That's particularly true since that's how I intend ] to continue making my living. ] ] What the computer industry is about is MAKING MONEY. It's good that there ] are some people working in the industry who realize that it's about GETTING ] PAID, and not so much about having fun. I think maybe you have a little case of tunnel-vision here. The goal is not just "get a working monitor". And "$MAKE MONEY FAST$" is not even vaguely a part of the equation. The bottom line is that he wants to fix it, and there definitely are benefits to doing that. The financial bottom line may not show them, but they are there. Those dollar signs on the bottom line don't show the whole quality-of-life picture, just one aspect of it. Zoom out and look at the whole picture. Having dollars in your pocket are certainly a good thing. But having toxic waste buried everywhere is not. Having megacorporations trampling civil rights is not. Having bored geeks is not. Having people who don't understand the world they live in, but vote about it anyway, is not. These things may not all be connected to Tony's monitor, but they are all results of seeing only the financial bottom line. Somebody makes a big profit in causing each of those things. Money in their pocket; crap for the rest of the world. Keep that in mind, and think about everything that is affected by the decision of repair vs. buy new: where the physical material goes, where the money goes, whose mental states are changed and in what ways, etc.. Then, repairing an old monitor instead of buying a new cheap one makes a lot more sense. You don't enjoy it yourself, fine, for you the holistic bottom line is still a no-go. For others it can go positive. So lets not have any more "your hobby is a waste of time" talk, OK? Especially when that hobby is the raison-d'etre for this list. Okay, end of rant. Bill.

26 years, 12 months

2
1
0 0

OT: Free Scanning Electron Microscope in Santa Barbara, CA

by jfoust＠threedee.com

From: "Edward Hennessey" <edwjhnhnnssy(a)earthlink.net> To: "Paleonet" <paleonet(a)ucmp1.berkeley.edu> Subject: paleonet Free Scanning Electron Microscope in Santa Barbara,Ca.,USA Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 12:51:56 -0700 Sender: paleonet-owner(a)ucmp1.berkeley.edu Reply-To: paleonet(a)ucmp1.berkeley.edu This is an abstract of an offer just posted on another listserv. Free Hitachi mode S-500 SEM, manufactured in 1977,disassembled for transport and complete with all manuals and some spare parts. Contact: Dave Pierce--Geology Department,University of California at Santa Barbara pierce(a)magic.geol.ucsb.edu voice and message phone: 805-893-2466 fax:805-893-2314 They need this out by the first week in August. There are machinery movers and crating firms out here that can handle the shipment if a more detailed report on the condition and function of the machine makes the prospect attractive.I can get recommendations if needed. Regards, Edward Hennessey

26 years, 12 months

1
0
0 0

Transputer libs

by kenny＠kinnes.demon.co.uk

Transputer Software. Does anyone out there have a copy of the IMS F001B and/or the IMS F003A libraries for the Transputer ?? Kenny

26 years, 12 months

2
1
0 0

First laptop?

by peter.pachla＠vectrex.freeserve.co.uk

Hi, >Yes, that was also made by the "Model T" OEM manufacturer, which was >Kyocera. They also made the Olivetti M-10.... On this subject, does anyone have any hardware docs (or boot disc image) for the Hitachi OEM'd Olivetti M-15? I recently came by one and guess what....I gave away my docs and discs a couple of years back.... TTFN - Pete. -- Hardware & Software Engineer. Sound Engineer. Collector of Arcade Machines, Games Consoles & Obsolete Computers (esp DEC) peter.pachla(a)virgin.net | peter.pachla(a)vectrex.freeserve.co.uk | peter.pachla(a)wintermute.free-online.co.uk | www.wintermute.free-online.co.uk --

26 years, 12 months

1
0
0 0

UK, PDP11/23 free to good home UK

by peter.pachla＠vectrex.freeserve.co.uk

Hi Dan, >Just spotted and thought UK members might be interested. I know >nothing about the poster so please contact him directly. >Dan >-----Original Message----- >From: stu <s.d.birchall(a)surveying.salford.ac.uk> >Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec.micro,comp.sys.dec,uk.comp.misc >Date: Tuesday, July 20, 1999 7:00 AM >Subject: UK, PDP11/23 free to good home > > >>Hi, >>I have a PDP 11/23, two rl02 drives and CPU, several disk packs.... I can vouch for Stu and the machine. The machine was actually mine until I traded it to him about 6 weeks ago, it's in good condition and mounted in the standard, "classic", forty inch cabinet. One correction however, the drives are actually RL-01s. TTFN - Pete. -- Hardware & Software Engineer. Sound Engineer. Collector of Arcade Machines, Games Consoles & Obsolete Computers (esp DEC) peter.pachla(a)virgin.net | peter.pachla(a)vectrex.freeserve.co.uk | peter.pachla(a)wintermute.free-online.co.uk | www.wintermute.free-online.co.uk --

26 years, 12 months

1
0
0 0

Fw: UK, PDP11/23 free to good home UK

by danburrows＠mindspring.com

Just spotted and thought UK members might be interested. I know nothing about the poster so please contact him directly. Dan -----Original Message----- From: stu <s.d.birchall(a)surveying.salford.ac.uk> Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec.micro,comp.sys.dec,uk.comp.misc Date: Tuesday, July 20, 1999 7:00 AM Subject: UK, PDP11/23 free to good home >Hi, >I have a PDP 11/23, two rl02 drives and CPU, several disk packs. Works >fine. Free to good home. >Collect in Salford/Manchester >

26 years, 12 months

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Sun Monitor (UK) (2)

by edick＠idcomm.com

Please view comments embedded in the quoted text below. Dick -----Original Message----- From: Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Tuesday, July 20, 1999 6:39 PM Subject: Re: Sun Monitor (UK) (2) >> >> Unfortunately the "few weeks' training you get from programming the VGA >> chips on most display boards is worth less than nothing because it's >> consuming too much time and effort and using time which could be used in > >By that argument just about anything to do with classic computers is a >waste of time and effort. I don't agree with that, and I don't agree that >hacking aVGA card is a waste of time. You _will_ learn about graphics >chipsets, video, etc. You will find that knowledge comes in useful the >next time you have to do something like this. > >> more valuable pursuits. I can assure you that soldering a resistor onto the >> back of a display adapter is sufficient to verify that the monitor can be >> used, and no programming of any sort is needed. If the card is capable of >> 60 Hz non-interlaced 1280x1024x256-color display, programming it won't be >> necessary, as it will support that format. If it's not, all the programming >> either of us could do won't help. > >You are confused, very... > >No normal VGA card (I am not talking about the special ones designed to >work with sync-on-green monitors) has the hardware for sync-on-green. So >programming the card, however you do it, won't produce a sync-on-green >output. That is what your resistor mod is for - to stick sync pulses (I >wouldn't have thought they met the specs either...) on the green signal. > I seem to recall that several of the Brooktree DAC's, almost excusively what's used on VGA cards and later adapters, including the ones internal to other mfg's devices, are entirely capable of generating a bias on the video sufficient to allow the sync to be run negative with respect to nominal black. Others, also from Brooktree or Inmos, (they made similar products by arrangement) would, in the presence of sufficient negative level on one of the DAC pins, had the ability to impose negative sync on the green video as well. > >What programming can do - on some cards - is support strange scan rates >that the on-card BIOS doesn't give you. Things like xfree86 do this >anyway on some cards (mostly the ones where the programming information >is available). But you might want to modify the on-card BIOS ROM so that >the BIOS/MS-DOS work with this card/monitor combination. > I've seen some of these attempts, some good, some not so good. They're all limited by the performance of the DAC. Most cards with a fast enough, hence much more costly, DAC have that DAC because they support the high pixel rate. If they do, they probably already have a special mode in their BIOS to allow the exploitation of that costly feature. If they don't have the DAC, all the programming in the world won't make it adequate. > Multiple encounters with this particular task have taught me that this entails a >1K-hour involvement for a specialist who has experience and all the precise specifications at his disposal, including the unpublished ones. I have no idea how long it would take someone who knows little about graphics and less about the undocumented features of the display controller LSI. > >> >> The sync mixer I have used, and instructed others to use, many times since >> the mid-to-late '80's is quite simple, uses a current mirror, a dif-amp, and >> a couple of diodes configured as a negative logic OR, with the aid of a half >> dozen resistors. It's a circuit any first year EE student should be able to >> build and fully understand. If the first year EE student can do it, so can >> anyone else! It was probably designed by a student and then cleaned up by >> the guys at Brooktree, from one of whose app-notes I pinched the circuit >> back in days of old. I had to add details about the hookup, but it's >> essentially their circuit. The benefit is that it will happily tolerate >> either polarity of one or the other sync signals if you fiddle with it a >> bit. > >I am not disputing that the circuit works. There are plenty of good sync >mixer circuits out there. But this won't solve the scan rate problem. Nor >is it necessary with a GDM9150. > >I have no worries _myself_ in working with VHF (and the sort of dot rates >we're talking about are VHF). But it's a lot harder than simply linking >up a 74LS04 to invert the sync signals. > >At VHF you may well have problems if you try to make it on stripboard. >Dead-bugging would work. A proper double-sided PCB with a ground plane >would be even better. Decoupling is going to be very important. > >Compare that to inverting a 64kHz signal (less than 1 thousandth of the >frequency) with a 74LS04. You can stick that on stripboard, tag a 0.1uF >capacitor across the power lines for decoupling and expect it to work >first time. > With orderly and precise assembly techniques, the little circuit I recommend and use will work every time. The transistors are spec'd to 500 MHz and the actual rate at which they switch is not harmed by the fact that the switching is done in a DIF-AMP and the result of switching is simply that the circuit draws current from the opposite transistor each time the amp switches. It sinks the current into a current-mirror-controlled sink so there's little noise. If the circuit is neatly built it can be double-sticked onto an open ground plane on the video adapter card, which is nearly anywhere on the board, these days, since they have little circuitry other than a few memories and a control LSI. If it's built such that its profile is low and there are no protrusions aside from a judiciously located bypass cap or two, it will occupy little more space than the DIP in which the transistor array lives. This location also facilitates the use of a negative supply from within the computer. I've never tried this circuit with a CA3083 which, though MUCH slower, has the same pinout and array configuration as the very fast CA3127 or the somewhat slower (than the 3127) CA3227 which is still a VHF array, but I bet it would work, since the video doesn't go through it. My mod only requires that the sync be drawn via the termination resistor in the monitor during the blanking interval. That's why the blanking will work. > >> >> I'd not consider trying to program this display format in to a board which >> doesn't normally support it because that normally indicates it isn't > >Depends on what the board also supports. There's no point in taking an old >plain VGA (not SVGA) card and tying to get this sort of rate out of it, sure. > >But if the card already supports something near the right rates, it's >worth giving it a go. Maybe the card supports 1024 lines at 60Hz >vertical. Your monitor uses 52Hz vertical (I've seen monitors that have >that, for some odd reason), also at 1024 lines displayed. You probably >could reprogram the card to do that. > I keep forgetting that a major part of the world doesn't use 60 Hz. ( !!! ) This means that you have to do your own arithmetic. I've designed and supervised the build and test of scan-rate-converters intended to display output from a variety of sources on a (US) standard television projection system in an auditorium in several instances, and never had to deal with the European video scheme. I don't know what the pixel rate would have to be for a DAC supporting a 1280 x 1024 formatted display, but it's pretty high at 60 Hz. The 1024 x 765 is barely supported by the fastest (65 MHz) of the common 28-pin DAC's they no longer use. I'd have to say that at 50 Hz vertical rate, which is used on cards offering the 87 Hz interlaced rate as do most cards today, isn't far off the mark for this monitor if it's set up for a 50Hz vertical rate. The rates can all be reduced by 17%. > >A lot of the better SVGA cards _do_ have the bandwidth to drive these >workstation monitors. They just don't support them in software. > >> capable. You might want to get out your slide rule and figure out how fast >> the pixels have to fly out of the DAC if you want 1280 of them in the active > >Sure, I know it well. That's the standard PERQ mode (albeit in 1 >bit/pixel monochrome) and I've had to debug the video output often enough. > >IIRC the dot rate would appear to be a little under 90MHz, apart from the >fact that you have to consider the flyback time as well. In other words a >'line' consists of 1024 displayed pixels + flyback time. That sticks the >effective pixel clock to somewhere between 90MHz and 100MHz. > >> >Inverting a TTL signal (particularly one < 1MHz) is IMHO a lot easier >> >than making a sync mixer which has to handle video signals aproaching >> >100MHz. Still, it's up to you. >> > >> You're right, it is easier, but this circuit is already designed and proven. > >Are you seriously claiming that using a 74LS04 to invert a slow-ish TTL >level signal is _not_ a proven circuit. I can't think of a circuit that >is more likely to work first time :-) > >> It simply needs to be built faithfully to the schematic and such that it >> looks good. So long as there are no excessively long (meaning longer than >> absolutely necessary) wires, and so long as the soldering is neat and clean, >> everything should go well. > >At these sorts of frequencies it's worth taking care with the layout, >decoupling, etc. After all, ghosting on green (only) is going to look >terrible. I am not saying it can't work. It can. I would also claim that >you could have problems with it. > You'll see it's dirt simple to build one of these that works fine because the switching speed is relatively leisurely, though the Brooktree folks spec'd a 1/2 GHz transistor array. The one I used is spec'd faster than the CA3227. Like I wrote above, it's likely a 100 KHz version would work since all it switches is the sync. > >> >You've forgotten the education you'll get doing this :-). You'll learn >> >about programming VGA chips, working with video/sync signals, maybe >> >getting inside the monitor and tweaking the scan rates, etc. >> > >> at $1(US) per hour you'll save a fortune by buying a good 20" monitor at a > >Rubbish! > >You seem to think of everything in terms of money. You are totally >forgetting that (a) you'll learn a lot from doing this (or are you in >favour of knowing nothing and letting everybody else do the work). (b) >that some people enjoy doing this sort of thing. (c) that the 20" monitor >from the PC shop is most likely a cheap/poor design which gives a >marginal picture even when new. That Sony looks like a good design from >the schematics. > . . . and you're assuming that, perhaps like you when you started this stuff, one knows nothing about this stuff. The third time you do this job it gets old! It's always the same story . . . fix the other guy's mistakes and then spend a year coding a device that was taken out of production ten years ago. That's not terribly useful information unless it's your first or second time. I remember the monitors we bought for $30K each back in the mid-'80's, which are comparable in the most superficial way to this GDM1950. The 20" monitors down at the discount have everything superior in almost every way to the SONY except for the tube. The ones with a SONY tube cost $500 instead of $400. However, if you want to be able to see the display from Windows2050 as the first stabile display you see on the thing, then go ahead and hack the ROM. That might work with one of the *NIX versions which don't whip the display format around as much as WIN/DOS, but if you want to use current stuff within this life, you need equipment today, not in the next millenium. > >It's for the last reason that I spent a couple of afternoons fixing a >colour TV monitor that I was given. Yes, I could buy a new onr for not >much money. But it wouldn't have been anything like as good as my Barco... > >> computer store. You'd be better off shining shoes for it than trying to >> program a board which doesn't already do what you want. > >You seem to be of the opinion that it's not worth learning how to do >something if somebody else (doesn't matter who or where) can do it for >you. This is a strange attitude for a hobby. It also probably explains >the state the computer industry has got into. > Well, if it's an industry, it's not a hoby to everyone, and the state it's gotten into is PROFITABLE, which means it will be around a while longer. Because of volume increases on the order of 1000%, those monitors like the one on the floor to my left, for which I paid >$5k some 8 years ago, now can be had for $500. I guess if you only want to do what people did 20 years ago, then fixing stuff isn't a priority, since it will be much more of an antique once you get it fixed. I always figured it's good to know what is happening out there now. That's particularly true since that's how I intend to continue making my living. What the computer industry is about is MAKING MONEY. It's good that there are some people working in the industry who realize that it's about GETTING PAID, and not so much about having fun. > >> > >> >Or at least that's how I justify spending a few weeks mending something >> >when I could buy one for a few pounds down at the local PC shop :-) >> > >> Don't they say, "penny-wise, pound-foolish" where you live? > >Yes, they do. > >But time is something that I have a lot of. Money (not from choice) I >don't. So it is worth me spending time to fix things. If I was being >payed at <n> pounds an hour it might be rather different. > >Anyway, it's impossible to justify the money you spend on hobbies IMHO. >Sometime in the future I intend to make a mechanical clock. The necessary >tools are certainly not cheap. And it's going to cost me around \pounds >100 for the metal, etc to do it. The result will be less accurate than a >\pounds 5.00 quartz clock. So what! > Well, some of us already know enough about how a mechanical clock works and even how to build one. Of course that's not everybody's goal, but . . . > >-tony >

26 years, 12 months

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Eniac

by dogas＠leading.net

I just received this month's 'return it or pay' notice from the LIbrary of Science's A-Book-When-You-Dont-Look of the month club and one of the alternate selections was "ENIAC: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the World's First Computer by Scott McCartney"... Thought I'd pass along the title if anyone is interested. :) - Mike:dogas@leading.net

26 years, 12 months

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FS Tandy 200 computer (fwd)

by jpl15＠netcom.com

Possible heads up: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 09:22:58 -0700 From: Dr. Pepper <DrPepper(a)iwvisp.com> To: "QTH@BITBUCKET" <bitbucket(a)qth.net>, "QTH@FORSALE" <forsale-swap(a)qth.net>, "QTH@TANDY" <tandy(a)qth.net> Subject: [BitBucket] FS Tandy 200 computer I was going to use this for packet, , , , but no joy. I have a Tandy 200 "Portable computer" that I can't get to work. There are two manuals, and it looks clean and nothing missing (apparently). If someone wants it, I'll take $5.00 plus shipping from 93555. -- 73 de Ron, WB6GKI ---- Submissions: bitbucket(a)qth.net

26 years, 12 months

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Sinking feeling

by Philip.Belben＠pgen.com

>> As Tony said, option 31 is not related to the 31 calculators. In fact it is the >> multiple pen option for the 4662 - an 8-pen semicircular carousel. > > I was sure happy to hear that!!! Seeing something dumpstered is bad enough, > but to find it is something relatively rare is enough to bring ulcers ... or > is it continued paranoia about getting rid of stuff! The 4662 was considerably more popular than Tek's computers and calculators, I think, but that doesn't mean there are loads of them out there... >> How technical is this manual? I have some manuals, somewhere, I think, but I >> need to know the part number for the little gear that bolts onto the motor >> spindle in the option 31. (This drives a toothed belt which in turn drives the >> carousel). > > I took another look at the manuals, and one is labeled "Programmer's > Reference Manual" and the other is "Operators Manual." As I browsed through > the manuals, I didn't see anything relating to the mechanical portions of > the plotter. Programmer's Reference is the manual I have. Mine is a photocopy of a pre-release draft, I think, but it fulfils its function pretty well, so I won't ask you to send me your copy unless the only alternative is the trash. Operator's I may also have. Probably won't tell me much of use anyway. Philip.

26 years, 12 months

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Sys/36 on ebay

by bsa3＠cornell.edu

Someone's selling a System/36 on ebay -- current price is $100. <http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=132600363> Might be worth a look for those in the area (Grand Rapids, MI, USA). Seller doesn't know how to spell "peripherals", so I'd suggest an in-person inspection before bidding. -- Brad Ackerman N1MNB "...faced with the men and women who bring home bsa3(a)cornell.edu the pork, voters almost always re-elect them." http://skaro.pair.com/ -- _The Economist_, 31 Oct 1998

26 years, 12 months

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Sun Monitor (UK) (2)

by Glenatacme＠aol.com

In a message dated 7/20/99 9:58:39 PM Eastern Daylight Time, edick(a)idcomm.com writes: > What the computer industry is about is MAKING MONEY. It's good that there > are some people working in the industry who realize that it's about GETTING > PAID, and not so much about having fun. For those of us who are both computer professionals and hobbyists the trick is making enough money to be able to have fun with our hobby ;>) Glen Goodwin 0/0

26 years, 12 months

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Curators Ignorance

by Glenatacme＠aol.com

In a message dated 7/20/99 2:56:49 PM Eastern Daylight Time, ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk writes: > This is even more amusing when the machine in question has an RK05-like > drive. People won't believe that the 14" packs for one of those are the > rough equivalent of floppy disks. LOL! I'll bet you have fun when that situation arises! > > Yeah, we've got a junk bin full of those cards at the shop, but who > remembers > > Hey, I'm still using them :-) Right on! Glen Goodwin 0/0

26 years, 12 months

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Using a TK50 tape on a TK70?

by sms＠antinode.org

From: Jerome Fine <jhfine(a)idirect.com> > Someone who is very experienced has suggested doing a bulk erase > on a TK50 tape and using it in a TK70 tape drive! Has anyone > ever done so and what happened? It's been done. I just bulk-erased a couple of TK50 tapes which had been written by a TK70 drive so I could use them in a TK50 drive again. Long ago, I wrote a few TK50 tapes in a TK70 drive and had no problems. I always use BACKUP /VERIFY. > I want to decide if a TK70 is the drive for doing backups? It is > more than twice as fast as a TK50 and the capacity is about > 4 times when a TK70 is used. Also, the "/VERIFY:ONLY" > switch in BUP works very well taking less than double the > time as a straight RESTORE. The rated capacity of a TK50 is 95MB, and that of a TK70 is 296MB, so I'd say 3X is closer than 4X. The TK50 tapes can be read by either drive type, but it's slower, and you need more tapes that way. What's more important to you? Not to sound ignorant, but "BUP"? "/VERIFY:ONLY"? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Steven M. Schweda (+1) 651-645-9249 (voice, home) 1630 Marshall Avenue #8 (+1) 612-754-2636 (voice, work) Saint Paul MN 55104-6225 (+1) 612-754-6302 (facsimile, work) sms(a)antinode.org sms(a)provis.com (work)

26 years, 12 months

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Using a TK50 tape on a TK70?

by jhfine＠idirect.com

Someone who is very experienced has suggested doing a bulk erase on a TK50 tape and using it in a TK70 tape drive! Has anyone ever done so and what happened? I want to decide if a TK70 is the drive for doing backups? It is more than twice as fast as a TK50 and the capacity is about 4 times when a TK70 is used. Also, the "/VERIFY:ONLY" switch in BUP works very well taking less than double the time as a straight RESTORE. Can anyone else comment please?

26 years, 12 months

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core... more

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<The previous mentioned article in Byte is "Coincident Current Ferrite Core <Memories" and is in the July, 1976 Issue. It is very helpful. It describes That's the one. Lost my copy (a whole xerox paper box of 3+years) two major moves ago. A copy of that would be of some help. Finding patterns for stringing the core plane is tough. Allison

26 years, 12 months

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Sun Monitor (UK) (2)

by edick＠idcomm.com

Unfortunately the "few weeks' training you get from programming the VGA chips on most display boards is worth less than nothing because it's consuming too much time and effort and using time which could be used in more valuable pursuits. I can assure you that soldering a resistor onto the back of a display adapter is sufficient to verify that the monitor can be used, and no programming of any sort is needed. If the card is capable of 60 Hz non-interlaced 1280x1024x256-color display, programming it won't be necessary, as it will support that format. If it's not, all the programming either of us could do won't help. The sync mixer I have used, and instructed others to use, many times since the mid-to-late '80's is quite simple, uses a current mirror, a dif-amp, and a couple of diodes configured as a negative logic OR, with the aid of a half dozen resistors. It's a circuit any first year EE student should be able to build and fully understand. If the first year EE student can do it, so can anyone else! It was probably designed by a student and then cleaned up by the guys at Brooktree, from one of whose app-notes I pinched the circuit back in days of old. I had to add details about the hookup, but it's essentially their circuit. The benefit is that it will happily tolerate either polarity of one or the other sync signals if you fiddle with it a bit. I'd not consider trying to program this display format in to a board which doesn't normally support it because that normally indicates it isn't capable. You might want to get out your slide rule and figure out how fast the pixels have to fly out of the DAC if you want 1280 of them in the active portion of a 64kHz sweep. Most of them (the boards in question) simply won't do that. Dick -----Original Message----- From: Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Tuesday, July 20, 1999 1:05 PM Subject: Re: Sun Monitor (UK) (2) >> >> Having had a while to recall, I believe the SONY, formerly attached to a SUN, >> did, indeed, have five BNC inputs on it. However, in order to get the >> display board and the monitor to "play" together, it was easier to use only >> three of them because, in the absence of SYNC on the last two BNC's it >> happily responded to negative-going sync on GREEN. I'm not sure whether > >This is certainly going to be a YMMV thing, so I think it's best if I >make my comments as well, and whoever is trying to get the monitor >working can pick which one they prefer... > >I prefer to use separate syncs where possible. For one thing it >eliminates the sync mixer and separator stages. For another, it gives me >nice simple signals to trigger a 'scope off when I have problems. > >Inverting a TTL signal (particularly one < 1MHz) is IMHO a lot easier >than making a sync mixer which has to handle video signals aproaching >100MHz. Still, it's up to you. > You're right, it is easier, but this circuit is already designed and proven. It simply needs to be built faithfully to the schematic and such that it looks good. So long as there are no excessively long (meaning longer than absolutely necessary) wires, and so long as the soldering is neat and clean, everything should go well. > >> All the points you've made are well considered, which is why I suggested you >> start with the resistor to green just to see whether you can use this >> monitor with the cards you own. It's really not worth the effort to make a >> card not already capable of the right scan rates do the job if you have to >> reinvent the display board's BIOS, as that vendor in southern California >> does. At 50 cents per hour, the effort will approach the national debt. A >> really decent 19" monitor compatible with most any current VGA card costs >> $400 at the Best-Buy or whatever other discount store you like. There is a >> point beyond which even I, frugal as I am, won't wander. > >You've forgotten the education you'll get doing this :-). You'll learn >about programming VGA chips, working with video/sync signals, maybe >getting inside the monitor and tweaking the scan rates, etc. > at $1(US) per hour you'll save a fortune by buying a good 20" monitor at a computer store. You'd be better off shining shoes for it than trying to program a board which doesn't already do what you want. > >Or at least that's how I justify spending a few weeks mending something >when I could buy one for a few pounds down at the local PC shop :-) > Don't they say, "penny-wise, pound-foolish" where you live? > >-tony >

26 years, 12 months

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SSB DOS68? Anyone? Anyone?

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jul 20, 22:15, Tony Duell wrote: > Subject: Re: SSB DOS68? Anyone? Anyone? > > > > On 20 Jul 99, at 16:33, Bill Yakowenko wrote: > > > Heck, while I'm begging, does anybody out there have Flex for > > > the Radio Shack Color Computer? > > > > No but I wish I did. If you locate a source let us know. > > I've just found what I think is the Flex-09 boot disk for an Acorn 6809 > system... Aha! Tony, can I have a copy of that? BTW, did you ever dig out the other 6809 bits for me? I suppose that means I'll have to type in that ROM listing now... -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

26 years, 12 months

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SSB DOS68? Anyone? Anyone?

by yakowenk＠cs.unc.edu

From: yakowenk(a)csx.unxc.edu (remove all x's) I just got e-mail from a guy reviviing an old SWTPC 6800 box with SSB disk drives. He now has the CPU working, but his old DOS68 disks won't boot. Does anyone out there have a copy that they would be willing to send him? If so, reply to him directly at: bxrinxson(a)us.ibm.com (remove x's). For that matter, I hope to be in a similar situation in a couple weeks, except that I have the SWTPC drives and controller rather than the SSB ones. Anybody want to send me boot disks for that? Heck, while I'm begging, does anybody out there have Flex for the Radio Shack Color Computer? Cheers, Bill.

26 years, 12 months

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IBM PS-2 model 90 486 available

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

http://www.can.ibm.com/helpware/8590.html In a message dated 7/20/99 3:38:41 PM Eastern Daylight Time, rhblake(a)bigfoot.com writes: > Also for anyone interested in what a 90 looks like or specs, go to > http://members.tripod.com/~ps2page/ and click on the appropriate area. > > Joe wrote: > > > Does anyone want an IBM PS/2 model 90 XP 486? I have one that needs a > > home. It's supposed to work but I haven't tested it. If someone wants it, > > I'll check it out. This one has a built-in tape drive. I don't know if > > that's standard on the model 90 or not but it certainly looks like it came > > from the factory that way. Trades or $$$ welcome. > > > > Joe >

26 years, 12 months

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Sun Monitor (UK) (2)

by edick＠idcomm.com

Having had a whileto recall, I believe the SONY, formerly attached to a SUN, did, indeed, have five BNC inputs on it. However, in order to get the display board and the monitor to "play" together, it was easier to use only three of them because, in the absence of SYNC on the last two BNC's it happily responded to negative-going sync on GREEN. I'm not sure whether there was a switch to enable this function. The monitor on the floor next to me has such a switch and I was using it up until a few weeks ago, and for seven or eight years, so it's likely I'll occasionally confuse it with my SONY experience. The one on the floor is a multisync-capable Hitachi with both the DE15 and the 5 BNC's on it with a switch to select which it uses. All the points you've made are well considered, which is why I suggested you start with the resistor to green just to see whether you can use this monitor with the cards you own. It's really not worth the effort to make a card not already capable of the right scan rates do the job if you have to reinvent the display board's BIOS, as that vendor in southern California does. At 50 cents per hour, the effort will approach the national debt. A really decent 19" monitor compatible with most any current VGA card costs $400 at the Best-Buy or whatever other discount store you like. There is a point beyond which even I, frugal as I am, won't wander. I'd advise you to find a card which looks like it works at a non-interlaced 60Hz vertical and approximately 64kHz horizontal sweep and negative going sync. If it has the rate but not the polarity, don't fiddle with the firmware, just attach the resistor as I suggested and see what you get on the display. If that works, then maybe you should build an adapter which serves more appropriately and safely for the long run. (The resistor never impressed me as particularly good for the display board.) You can easily build a perfectly solid adapter using a CA3127 or equivalent HF transistor array and a few resistors which will adapt your display board capable of a suitable sweep rate to "WINDOWS-compatible" sweep rates. If you want more than that, perhaps you're beating a dead horse. Dick -----Original Message----- From: Lawrence Walker <lwalker(a)mail.interlog.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Tuesday, July 20, 1999 5:26 AM Subject: Re: Sun Monitor (UK) (2) On 19 Jul 99 at 18:48, Richard Erlacher wrote: > What I meant was that IF your monitor has only three BNC's, as my formerly > SUN SONY GDM1950 19" monitor did, then you need to impose negative-going > composite sync on the GREEN Video output of your VGA/XGA card. IF your > monitor has five BNC's on the back, then any reasonably close to 60Hz > vertical and 64kHz horizontal sweep rate will probably work fine. > Unfortunately, since these are fixed frequency monitors with a VERY fine > pitch and a VERY linear sweep and a VERY easy-to-converge system, one price > you pay is that you can only use them at the ONE sweep rate for which they > were designed or close to it. > > If you have the five BNC's, then you need an adapter cable which has the HD > DE15 connector at one end and, guess what, the five BNC's emanating from it. > These should have RED, GREEN, and BLUE, with the respective returns on each > 75-ohm coax, and HSYNC and VSYNC, negative-going from ground, by the way, > but that may not matter as they're AC coupled at the monitor. > > Since you can buy the adapter for about $20 here in the US, I doubt they're > much different there in the UK. In any case, you've avoided any soldering > other than at the cable if you build it yourself. > I use a 5 BNC to VGA adaptor with my NEC now so that's no problem. The Sony GDM1950 designation is strange. Yours was a Sun, mine is a SuperMac and in searching the net I also found references to a Radius version, whom I had thought manufactured their own monitors. There seem to be 19-21" versions and now I find also 3 and 5 BNC editions. Makes finding specs difficult. I found this reference in the Sync on green FAQ : "For example, a STORM 1280/256 will drive a Sony GDM-1950 at 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024 and DOS modes (this monitor is rated at 63.34Khz Horizontal sync. and the card runs at 64Khz Horizontal sync.). This card uses an S3 graphics accelerator. See also PC Magazine/April/13/1993." Now what kind of bloody "fixed frequency" is this. On another site ISTR they even had a different scan rate. > If you need a circuit suitable for the three BNC arrangement, I actually > have a really solid one using an HF transistor array and a negative supply, > which, by the way, is on the motherboard, so neatly attaching it to the > video card isn't too unrealistic. For just checking it out, I'd suggest the > 500-ohm resistor, though, provided you can find an application (that's the > formerly edge-connector at the top of the VGA cards of yesteryear. They had > 16 pins as do the current pin fields, so you'll find from old doc's which > one's the composite blanking.) connector somewhere. > Ah, now I see what your referring to. Usually called a "feature" connector by IBM. > If the monitor has all the signals entering via the 5 BNC's you just need to > fiddle with the VGA card's operating mode to get it into a 60Hz > non-interlaced mode. Many of the newer VGA's won't do this, so read the > spec's carefully! The older ones which did produce the high frequency dot > clock required were expensive, and the newer ones don't have fast enough > DAC's to do the job, so shop carefully, and make sure you can return the > board if you buy one. IT MUST BE CAPABLE OF 1280 x 1024 lines at 60Hz > without interlace! > > Good Luck! > > Dick > I'll likely bite the bullet and just try it on the old MCA ATI MACH 32 card (which also has the "feature" connector BTW) in my PS2 8580 after seeing what info I can pry out of ATI who are based here in Toronto. Thanks. ciao larry lwalker(a)interlog.com Let us know of your upcoming computer events for our Events Page. t3c(a)xoommail.com Vintage Computer Collectors List and info http://members.xoom.com/T3C

26 years, 12 months

2
1
0 0

Sun Monitor (UK) (2)

by lwalker＠mail.interlog.com

On 19 Jul 99 at 18:48, Richard Erlacher wrote: > What I meant was that IF your monitor has only three BNC's, as my formerly > SUN SONY GDM1950 19" monitor did, then you need to impose negative-going > composite sync on the GREEN Video output of your VGA/XGA card. IF your > monitor has five BNC's on the back, then any reasonably close to 60Hz > vertical and 64kHz horizontal sweep rate will probably work fine. > Unfortunately, since these are fixed frequency monitors with a VERY fine > pitch and a VERY linear sweep and a VERY easy-to-converge system, one price > you pay is that you can only use them at the ONE sweep rate for which they > were designed or close to it. > > If you have the five BNC's, then you need an adapter cable which has the HD > DE15 connector at one end and, guess what, the five BNC's emanating from it. > These should have RED, GREEN, and BLUE, with the respective returns on each > 75-ohm coax, and HSYNC and VSYNC, negative-going from ground, by the way, > but that may not matter as they're AC coupled at the monitor. > > Since you can buy the adapter for about $20 here in the US, I doubt they're > much different there in the UK. In any case, you've avoided any soldering > other than at the cable if you build it yourself. > I use a 5 BNC to VGA adaptor with my NEC now so that's no problem. The Sony GDM1950 designation is strange. Yours was a Sun, mine is a SuperMac and in searching the net I also found references to a Radius version, whom I had thought manufactured their own monitors. There seem to be 19-21" versions and now I find also 3 and 5 BNC editions. Makes finding specs difficult. I found this reference in the Sync on green FAQ : "For example, a STORM 1280/256 will drive a Sony GDM-1950 at 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024 and DOS modes (this monitor is rated at 63.34Khz Horizontal sync. and the card runs at 64Khz Horizontal sync.). This card uses an S3 graphics accelerator. See also PC Magazine/April/13/1993." Now what kind of bloody "fixed frequency" is this. On another site ISTR they even had a different scan rate. > If you need a circuit suitable for the three BNC arrangement, I actually > have a really solid one using an HF transistor array and a negative supply, > which, by the way, is on the motherboard, so neatly attaching it to the > video card isn't too unrealistic. For just checking it out, I'd suggest the > 500-ohm resistor, though, provided you can find an application (that's the > formerly edge-connector at the top of the VGA cards of yesteryear. They had > 16 pins as do the current pin fields, so you'll find from old doc's which > one's the composite blanking.) connector somewhere. > Ah, now I see what your referring to. Usually called a "feature" connector by IBM. > If the monitor has all the signals entering via the 5 BNC's you just need to > fiddle with the VGA card's operating mode to get it into a 60Hz > non-interlaced mode. Many of the newer VGA's won't do this, so read the > spec's carefully! The older ones which did produce the high frequency dot > clock required were expensive, and the newer ones don't have fast enough > DAC's to do the job, so shop carefully, and make sure you can return the > board if you buy one. IT MUST BE CAPABLE OF 1280 x 1024 lines at 60Hz > without interlace! > > Good Luck! > > Dick > I'll likely bite the bullet and just try it on the old MCA ATI MACH 32 card (which also has the "feature" connector BTW) in my PS2 8580 after seeing what info I can pry out of ATI who are based here in Toronto. Thanks. ciao larry lwalker(a)interlog.com Let us know of your upcoming computer events for our Events Page. t3c(a)xoommail.com Vintage Computer Collectors List and info http://members.xoom.com/T3C

26 years, 12 months

2
1
0 0

Curators Ignorance

by Glenatacme＠aol.com

In a message dated 7/19/99 7:09:29 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Hans.Franke(a)mch20.sbs.de writes: > As we know, TV sets have been a very common display solution. > > can people forget that fast ? > Isn't the C64 still (somewhat) around ? Where did these > museum people live in the past 20 years ? some south sea > island ? the moon ? or beyond ? Oh, probably Mars, which is almost as far away as the Moon ;>) They can't forget because they never knew. As has been pointed out here before, to most folks "computers" were mysterious, faraway giants controlled by trolls -- a totally abstract idea -- until the PC. So to most people a "computer" is a PC, and they have 8 MB SVGA display adapters, 56K modems, etc. What does a TV have to do with that (they ask) ??? Tony Duell wrote: > DOubtless they'd think the same thing about using audio cassettes/normal > cassette recorders for data storage.... The first thing people ask me about my old computers is "Where do you put the disks in?" Most people these days would be shocked to learn that the original PC could load programs from cassette. > A TV display (US TV) was supported on the IBM PC with a CGA card. There's > an internal connector for an RF modulator, and a composite output on the > back. Yeah, we've got a junk bin full of those cards at the shop, but who remembers that there was an RCA jack in the back of their computer 15 years ago? Moral of the story: the public knows very little, and has a very short memory. Glen Goodwin 0/0

26 years, 12 months

3
2
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