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

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<All are very reliable. To your surprise I'm sure. Win9x problems <caused by addons that u don't need and many downloads s/w (recent one W95 is not as robust as Linux however, it can be. I have 4 w95 (all Build 950-C with FAT32) print servers and one of they is also a DOCument server along with the 3 w/Nt3.51 servers. Down time is near zero (power failure caused last down time). However the hardware is all very tried and proven Pent 133s and 166s and updated device drivers. Heck the Domain and mail server is a 486dx/100! Junk apps will however kill you. Way to little ram, 32mb is enough though. What will really kill you is if there is not enough space on the disk, between temporaries and swap space I've seen systems go unstable with 100mb of free space. Also failing to install updates and service packs doesn't help any. I happen to really dislike MS and their products but they can and do work. Allison

27 years

2
1
0 0

Altair 8800bt, IMSAIs, and friends looking for a good home

by wts＠exo.com

Hello, Today I met a gentleman in Orange, CA that had the good fortune to acquire an 8800bt, three IMSAIs, a couple IMSAI floppy cabinets, and a few S100 boards. He also has a MITS hard disk drive and controller. The equipment may end up on ebay, however I thought you might like an opportunity to make him an offer he can't resist. Here is his contact information: Bob Muse Machine-Tech Engineering Orange, CA 714-633-2960 mtebob(a)earthlink.net Regards, Tom Sanderson Virtual Altair Museum

27 years

3
2
0 0

OT: Quick Q about uploading to website.

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< For C, you can't beat _The C Programming Language_ by Kernighan and <Ritchie (creators of the C langauge). It covers the entire language and <does include exercises to work on. It is perhaps the best book on C. I have that and the original Bell labs report (internal) describing C and the basics of programming with it. Good book K&R did, small too! Allison

27 years

2
1
0 0

Hamfest goodies..

by a2k＠one.net

I got a few fun bits from the Milford Amateur Radio Club Hamfest today... besides a nice 386 laptop w/ docking station for $20 (which I probably shouldn't mention.. don't think it's over 10.) I also got a TRS-80 model 2 with one floppy drive... my first machine (now sadle departed..) was a model 3. I would like to do something with this machine... just about anything ;) as I don't have any software for it. Any sources? Can a Pc floppy drive read/write TRS-80 disks? And where can I get a serial cable to hook it up to a modem / one of the serial ports on my Linux machine? Thanks, Kevin ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "It's you isn't it? THE BASTARD OPERATOR FROM HELL!" "In the flesh, on the phone and in your account..." -- BOFH #3

27 years

3
2
0 0

Altair 8800bt, IMSAIs, and friends looking for a good home

by kstumpf＠unusual.on.ca

>On Mon, 21 Jun 1999, W. Tom Sanderson wrote: > >> Today I met a gentleman in Orange, CA that had the good fortune to >> acquire an 8800bt, three IMSAIs, a couple IMSAI floppy cabinets, and a > >"Good fortune" being because these are historically significant machines, >or "Good fortune" being because he can whore them on ebay for a quick >buck? > >Pfeh. > >Sellam > What's all the fuss Sellam? Good fortune here probably means precisely that, in the sense of "how many of us had the opportunity to acquire such computers." Lighten up, and as a Canadian I am obligated to say, please. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- Kevin Stumpf * Unusual systems * www.unusual.on.ca +1.519.744.2900 * EST/EDT GMT - 5 Collector - Commercial Mainframes & Minicomputers from the 50s, 60s, & 70s and control panels and consoles. Author & Publisher - A Guide to Collecting Computers & Computer Collectibles * ISBN 0-9684244-0-6 .

27 years

1
0
0 0

I have some Digital Rainbow 100's For Sale!

by jedsmith＠cyberhighway.net

Okay here is what I have if you are interested in anything here make an offer: Digital Rainbow Keyboards Rainbow Monitors, White, Amber, Green Various Rainbow 100's and 100a's Memory and Memory Cards RX50 Drives RX50 Controller Cards Internal Power Supplys Cables, Including: Monitor, MotherBoard Power, Short RX50 Cable Manuals Rainbow 100 User's Guide Rainbow 100 Owner's Manual Rainbow 100 Getting Started Rainbow 100 Installation Guide Rainbow 100 Memory Board Option and Adapter Installation Guide Rainbow 100 MS-Dos User's Guide Rainbow MS-Dos Getting Started Rainbow MS-Dos Advanced User's Guide Rainbow MS-Dos User's Guide Rainbow MS-Dos Installation Guide Rainbow MS-Dos Version 2.11 Update Documentation Rainbow Memory Board Option Installation Guide Rainbow Color/Graphics Option Installation Guide Rainbow Memory Test Procedure Thanks for looking Jed Smith jedsmith(a)cyberhighway.net

27 years

2
1
0 0

OT: Internet/AC Power question about University in Cusco, Peru

by dastar＠ncal.verio.com

I'm going to be spending a month at the university in Cusco, Peru starting June 23. Are there any South American's here that know anything about that university's computing facilities? I'm hoping I'll be able to access the internet from the campus. Also, what is the voltage used in Peru? I assume its 220V? I want to make sure I have a converter for my laptop. Thanks!! Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Don't rub the lamp if you don't want the genie to come out. Coming this October 2-3: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0! See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details! [Last web site update: 05/25/99]

27 years

1
0
0 0

Top 150 Collectible Microcomputers

by KFergason＠aol.com

In a message dated 6/20/99 12:26:19 AM Central Daylight Time, mranalog(a)home.com writes: > > 4) Available from a manufacturer (not just plans in a magazine) > > RCA COSMAC 1802 / ELF / Super ELF > > A RCA COSMAC 1802 is a microprocessor, right? And I still > have not find any evidence that there was a kit for the ELF, > the Popular Electronics ELF was just plans in a magazine. > You could say "ELF II/Super ELF". > It should probably say RCA COSMAC VIP, as I have several of them. Kelly

27 years

1
0
0 0

Top 150 Collectible Microcomputers

by mranalog＠home.com

Kai said: > 1) Collectible Microcomputer (yes, I know the H-11 is on here as an > "honorary" micro) I don?t of anything that would keep an LSI-11 from being called a microcomputer. DEC calls it the first 16 bit microcomputer. I have a DEC brochure that says on the the cover "LSI-11 The Microcomputer Family of the 80?s". > Come to think of it, there were 3 Lobo TRS-80 clones... the LNW-80 > (Mod 1 clone), PMC-80 (Mod 1 clone with built-in tape drive and plastic > case like a Sorcerer), and MAX-80 (Mod 3 clone) Someone already explained the LNW-80, but the PMC-80 and the PMC-81 were built by a company called Personal Micro Computers Inc. of Mountain View, CA. They were sued by Tandy in what maybe the first case of firmware infringement (the keyboard input routine was too similar to the one in the Model I, AFAIK). So their next computer was the 128K CP/M machine, the PMC-101 "MicroMate". http://www.best.com/~dcoward/museum/mpmc.htm > 4) Available from a manufacturer (not just plans in a magazine) > RCA COSMAC 1802 / ELF / Super ELF A RCA COSMAC 1802 is a microprocessor, right? And I still have not find any evidence that there was a kit for the ELF, the Popular Electronics ELF was just plans in a magazine. You could say "ELF II/Super ELF". The microcomputer that I would add to the list would be the Heathkit ET-18 "Hero 1". It's a 6808 based microcomputer that has some really great interface options. Oh! and it's a portable too. :) --Doug ==================================================== Doug Coward dcoward(a)pressstart.com (work) Sr. Software Eng. mranalog(a)home.com (home) Press Start Inc. http://www.pressstart.com Sunnyvale,CA Curator Analog Computer Museum and History Center http://www.best.com/~dcoward/analog ====================================================

27 years

1
0
0 0

Top 150 Collectible Microcomputers

by edick＠idcomm.com

I know my memory's been failing, but I do believe I read about Alpha Micro back in '77. Was there another model before the AM100? Dick -----Original Message----- From: ss(a)allegro.com <ss(a)allegro.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Friday, June 18, 1999 5:46 PM Subject: Re: Top 150 Collectible Microcomputers >Hi, > >What about the various Alpha Micro systems? Many models fit all >of your criteria. > >The Alpha Micro 100 (circa 1979) > >http://www.eps.ufsc.br/~gio/cmuseum/am100.htm > >Stan

27 years

3
5
0 0

Companies first computers

by bill＠chipware.com

Here's a request for a list that's a little more objective than the "collectable" list. I'm trying to figure out what the first computer that Ohio Scientific Instruments produced was. What were other companies number one machines? I'll start with the obvious: Apple: Apple I

27 years

2
1
0 0

Motorola UDS modem....

by roblwill＠usaor.net

I'm located in Economy, about 20 miles North of Pittsburgh, PA. It's about 5 minutes from the Wexford Turnpike on ramp. ///--->>> -Jason Willgruber (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#: 1730318 <http://members.tripod.com/general_1> -----Original Message----- From: Bruce Lane <kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Samstag, 19. Juni 1999 09:08 Subject: Re: Motorola UDS modem.... > > 201's are actually pretty common, and inexpensive, on the surplus market. >Where are you located? I'll try and find you another one while I'm on my >scrounging trip. > > >-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- >Bruce Lane, Owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies >http://www.bluefeathertech.com >Amateur Radio:(WD6EOS) E-mail: kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com >SysOp: The Dragon's Cave (Fido 1:343/272, 253-639-9905) >"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own >human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..." >

27 years

1
0
0 0

OT -mostly -

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jun 19, 18:03, Chuck McManis wrote: > Sun dropped the bundled compiler (based on pcc from the original BSD > releases) and now ships _no_ compiler with the system. To buy C you buy > SPARCWorks or whatever it is called these days and run the stuuupid license > manager etc. That's about what I thought (and meant, though I guess I didn't express it clearly). Thanks for clarifying it. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

27 years

1
0
0 0

OT -mostly -

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jun 19, 12:21, Chuck McManis wrote: > Hmm, I've stayed out of this conversation for now, but Pete is mistaken. I > participate (as much as anyone could) in the decision to drop the C > compiler from SunOS as part of the "BWOS" (acronym for Big Wad Of Stuff). I > argued to keep it, marketing argued to drop it > Basically you could either view it as a competition inspiring move or a > price increase in the base system (since the C compiler was now extra cost) > > It did raise quite a bit of money for Sun but GCC pretty much wiped out the > marginal dollars and the people who buy it now are corporate types and the > hackers have pretty much abandoned the platform. OK, I stand corrected. But I'm not quite sure what you're saying that Sun now offer. Are you saying there's still a bundled compiler (but not a very great one, and probably non-ANSI) and there is also a separate set of relatively expensive compiler tools? I could believe that; we've just ordered something involving Sun, large chunks of money, and the name 'C'. Or are you saying it's not dropped, just not bundled with Solaris? I didn't mean a decent ANSI C compiler didn't exist, merely that it wasn't bundled. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

27 years

2
1
0 0

Aesthetics

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jun 19, 17:29, LordTyran wrote: > Subject: RE: Aesthetics > > Eh? SGI has made some very groovy-looking stuff! Not just the Indys, but > some machine (I don't remember the name or the model number) has a neat > little waterfall going down the front (after it flows over the > processor(s) on the way to the cooler/heat exchanger/whatever they use. I > saw it from about 30 feet away but couldn't get closer). I'm not sure what that was, but I'd say Indigos (not Indigo2's) are nice, too. But Indys and Indigos fit the "first part of the 1990s" that William mentioned. Indigo2's are just ugly IMHO, and O2s are, well, odd. Don't even think about mentioning the SGI disgusting PCs. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

27 years

1
0
0 0

One more..

by a2k＠one.net

I forgot to say that I also got a MaxSpeed VGA MaxStation, which appears to be an X terminal... I'd really like to get this working, but I don't know anything about the power requirements.. it didn't come with a PSU. Anybody know anything about it? Thanks, Kevin ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "It's you isn't it? THE BASTARD OPERATOR FROM HELL!" "In the flesh, on the phone and in your account..." -- BOFH #3

27 years

1
0
0 0

Timex Sinclair 2068

by Glenatacme＠aol.com

In a message dated 6/19/99 1:04:30 AM EST, ckaiser(a)oa.ptloma.edu writes: << The 2068 is even harder to find than the TS1000. (It's just TS1000, not TS ZX1000.) UK people, what was the 2068 a clone of? The Spec +3? >> I'm a Timex/Sinclair collector, and happened to strike up an e-mail conversation with George Grimm, formerly head of Timex Computer Corp. (may it rest in peace). George says the 2068 was a modified clone of the original 48K Spectrum -- the +2, +3 came later. The "modified" bit is what put Timex off the computer business. If Timex had simply changed the RF modulator & power supply to US standards they would have made a buck. Unfortunately (or fortunately, for collectors/users), Timex spent huge amounts of time & money "improving" the Spectrum, thus making it late to market and incompatible with 97% of Spectrum software -- a complete flop in the US market, whereas millions of Spectrums were sold throughout Europe. Third parties soon marketed a Spectrum ROM cartridge which allowed 97% compatibility, but by then Timex had bailed out. Regards, Glen Goodwin

27 years

1
0
0 0

AT&T 3B2 300

by kees.stravers＠iae.nl

On Fri, 4 Jun 1999 03:05:05 GMT, lemay(a)cs.umn.edu said: >Does anyone here have experience with AT&T 3B2 300 hardware/software? >I apparently have a pile of doc and software which is in complete disarray. >The software is all on 5.25" DSDD diskettes, and i'm not even sure if >i have what i need to format and reinstall an operating system. Does >anyone know what type of hard drives these computers support, or know >if the floppy drive can be upgraded to high density? This is going to be tricky. I have a 3B2/400 which seems to work, but I have never dared to do much with it because I do not have any software on tape or floppies at all, only what is on the hard disk. To install or maintain the system, you need a special 'system manager' floppy which has the needed formatter and other tools, and that even until the end of life of the systems was only available from AT&T direct for a stiff price. Even the tcp/ip communications software was an (expensive) option. I don't have it, my machine only has serial ports. BTW, you need special RJ45 to DB25 cables for the serial ports, do you have those? AFAIK the floppy drive in my 3b2 is 80tr dsdd. The hard disk is 70MB MFM. Never heard of other floppy types working. My 3B2 has two hard disks, I don't think more are possible. You should back up the floppies at once, you will have a lot of trouble getting other ones if you damage the ones you have. I think Teledisk will be capable of copying them. comp.sys.att is the newsgroup where the 3B2 fans are. It has a FAQ. Web sites that may be useful (just copied from a list, haven't looked at them) http://cua6.csuohio.edu/~bob/3b2faq.html http://www.apex.net/users/tgoodin/3b2.htm http://www.iserv.net/~retroj/3b2/ ftp://little.nhlink.net/ http://members.aol.com/jitb/stand.htm Be very careful handling the 3B2, mine was very heavy although it didn't seem to be. When I parked it I don't know how many years ago (yikes) where it still is now, I pulled a muscle in my back so bad I had to have four weeks therapy. When I am tired the pain sometimes returns, reminding me yet again that living in a house filled with old computers that need to be moved sometimes to make room for more, may have a few slight disadvantages. That reminds me, the room in the house where the 3B2 is I haven't photographed yet for my web page. Have to dig up the camera again. Good luck, and let the group know if you manage to get the machine to work! Kees. -- Kees Stravers - Geldrop, The Netherlands - kees.stravers(a)iae.nl http://www.iae.nl/users/pb0aia/cm/ - My Computer Home page http://www.vaxarchive.org/ - Docs for old DEC VAX systems NetTamer 1.08.1 Registered

27 years

7
7
0 0

OT -mostly -

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jun 18, 20:22, Allison J Parent wrote: > <But does freeware/shareware count? The original point was that the > <manufacturers don't provide their tools for free as part of the OS; of > <course you can add on any amount of 3rd party free software to virtually > <any OS. > However the shareware/freeware counting part I agree it's questionable > but often there are better out there than from the OS oem. Hmm... sometimes. The Sun C compiler was dropped because it wasn't up to scratch; gcc outperformed it easily. However, the reverse is true for SGI's C compiler for IRIX, which easily outperforms gcc, and for which there are a whole range of development options. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

27 years

2
1
0 0

Top 150 Collectible Microcomputers

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

I assume this is sarcasm... the list doesn't have foreign computers on it, for the same reason a list of "Great Italian Sports Cars" wouldn't include the Ford Pinto. Kai -----Original Message----- From: Robert J.M. Edis [mailto:robert.edis@creatcomp.com] Sent: Friday, June 18, 1999 2:09 PM To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers Subject: RE: Top 150 Collectible Microcomputers I'm sorry, I didn't this was a USA 'only' listserv. Excuse me while I take my dirty foreign hands to remove myself from the list! Great computers did and do exist outside of the USA. Blue PowerHouse consultant Rhode Island, USA Disclaimer: The opinions and ideas expressed in this message are my own and have no relationship to my current employer, Initial Technical Staffing, its client CCI, or any of CCI's clients. -----Original Message----- From: Kai Kaltenbach [mailto:kaikal@MICROSOFT.com] Sent: Friday, June 18, 1999 5:12 PM To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers Subject: Top 150 Collectible Microcomputers Here's the first draft at a list of the Top 150 Collectible Microcomputers (from the U.S.A.). I would have gone for Top 100 but there are just too many great machines, and 200 is too many. It's currently at 133 items. Some related models are combined as one, even though they are rather different... other similar models are kept separate. This is basically just because I personally feel they rate their own separate listing, feel free to disagree. Please add items! Items on the list should meet the following categories: 1) Collectible Microcomputer (yes, I know the H-11 is on here as an "honorary" micro) 3) Sold in the USA 4) Available from a manufacturer (not just plans in a magazine) The list: Altos 586 Altos ACS 8000 APF MP1000 Apple I Apple II Apple II+ Apple II+ Bell & Howell "Black Apple" Apple IIc / IIc Plus Apple IIe / IIe Platinum Apple IIgs / IIgs Woz Limited Edition Apple III Apple III+ Apple Lisa / Macintosh XL Apple Macintosh 128 Apple Macintosh 512K Through SE Apple Macintosh Portable AT&T Unix PC / 3B2 / 7300 Atari 400 Atari 800 Atari XL Series Atari 520ST / 1040ST Atari Portfolio Byte Computers Byt-8 California Computer Systems (CCS) S-100 Coleco ADAM Commodore/MOS Technologies KIM-1 Commodore PET 2001-8 Commodore PET 4032 / 8032 Commodore SuperPET SP9000 Commodore VIC-20 Commodore 64 / 65 Commodore 128 / 128D Commodore C16 / Plus 4 Commodore SX64 Commodore Amiga 1000 Commodore Amiga 500 Compaq Portable PC / Plus / II / III CompuColor II CompuPro S-100 / 8-16 Convergent Technologies WorkSlate Corvus Concept Cromemco C-10 Cromemco System One Cromemco System Three Cromemco Z Series Data General One DEC Rainbow 100 Digital Group Systems Dynalogic Hyperion Epson HX-20 Epson PX-8 Geneva Epson QX-10 & QX-16 Exidy Sorcerer Gimix Franklin ACE 1000 / 1200 Hewlett-Packard HP85 Hewlett-Packard HP150 Heathkit H-8 Heathkit H-11 Heath-Zenith H88/H89 IBM 5100 Personal Computer IBM 5140 PC Convertible IBM 5150 Personal Computer IBM 5160 PC-XT IBM 5170 AT IBM 5155 Portable PC IBM PCjr IBM PS/2 Model 80 IMSAI 8080 IMSAI PCS-80 IMSAI VDP-80 Ithaca Audio InterSystems DPS-1 Intertec SuperBrain Kaypro II Kaypro 4 / 10 Lobo PMC-80 Mattel Aquarius Mindset PC MITS Altair 680 MITS Altair 8800 MITS Altair 8800a MITS Altair 8800b MITS Altair 8800b Turnkey Morrow Decision 1 Morrow Micro Decision Morrow Pivot NEC PC-6001A NEC PC-8001A NEC PC-8201A / PC-5000 North Star Advantage North Star Horizon Ohio Scientific Challenger C1P Ohio Scientific Challenger C4P Ohio Scientific Challenger C3D Osborne 1 Osborne Executive Osborne Vixen Otrona Attache Polymorphic Systems POLY-88 Processor Technology SOL Quasar/Panasonic HK2600TE Hand Held Computer Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 1 Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computers 1-3 Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 2 Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 3/4 Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 4P Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 12 / 16 / 6000 Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100 / 102 / 200 Radio Shack TRS-80 Micro Color Computer MC-10 Radio Shack TRS-80 Pocket Computers RCA COSMAC 1802 / ELF / Super ELF Rockwell AIM-65 Sanyo MBC-1000 Seattle Computer Products 8086 Sharp Pocket Computers PC-1500 / PC-1500A Sinclair ZX80 Sinclair ZX81 / Timex-Sinclair ZX1000 Smoke Signal Broadcasting Chieftain Spectravideo SV-318 / SV-328 Sphere SWTPC (SouthWest Technical Products) 6800 SWTPC (SouthWest Technical Products) 6809 Synertek SYM-1 Texas Instruments TI 99/4A Timex-Sinclair 1500 Timex-Sinclair 2068 Tomy Tutor Vector Graphic Vector-1 Vector Graphic Vector-4 VideoBrain Vtech Laser 128 Xerox 820 Zenith Z-110 / Z-120

27 years

2
1
0 0

Semi-rescue in Oregon

by jimw＠agora.rdrop.com

If someone needs a large hit in disk space, there is a DECArray drive rack sitting in the Hillsboro 'Wacky Willys' that has not been torn down for parts (yet). There are two RA-90 drives that I could identify in it, and looks like between four and eight other drives that I could not identify right off. Don't know what the asking price is, but if no one fetches it within a week or so it will probably get torn down. -jim --- jimw(a)computergarage.org The Computer Garage - http://www.computergarage.org Computer Garage Fax - (503) 646-0174

27 years

1
0
0 0

Aesthetics

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

-----Original Message----- From: allisonp(a)world.std.com [mailto:allisonp@world.std.com] Sent: Saturday, June 19, 1999 8:28 AM To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers Subject: RE: Aesthetics <Has anyone ever put together a list of handsomely designed computers? <Not great runners, not powerful, but just aesthetically pleasing? My <impression is that there probably are not all that many, and that the <first machines to exclude from such a list are the iMac grotesques. Hummm. Well I think form and function are related. My thoughts would suggest... NorthStar* Horizon (wood cover) as a simple but pleasing to the eye design. Kaypro Toteables, very functional and simple. DEC BA123 based machines for simple styling and good mechanical/thermal engineering. Epson PX-8 laptop. small package for its time but not industrial looking. TRS80, TI99, Commodore C64/C128 for evolving the wedge design to the limit. Others, PDP-10 (KA10), PDP12 Allison North Star Horizon (love that wood!) Processor Technology SOL-20 (ditto) Commodore PET (Jerry Anderson couldn't have designed better*) Apple /// (love the way it stacks with the ProFile and monitor ///) IMSAI 8080 (in the movies in those days, REAL computers had flashing lights and switches!) Compucolor II (multicolored keyboard and woodgrain "TV set" case) Atari 800 (nice how the industrial design extends to the external floppy drives) Kai *Jerry Anderson == UFO, Space:1999, Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, etc.

27 years

1
0
0 0

A couple of Commodore bits

by ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk

A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text Size: 2072 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/attachments/19990617/f52834ba/at…

27 years

4
8
0 0

Top 150 Collectible Microcomputers

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

-----Original Message----- From: Bill Sheehan [mailto:sheehan@switchboardmail.com] I'd also be curious as to why you consider a particular microcomputer collectible. Certain ones are obvious - the Atari Portfolio was the first palmtop; the Epson HX-20 was the first laptop; and so on. But the qualities of many of these are unknown to me, and I'd love to know more about them. A fair question. OK, let me give a real brief off-the-top-of-my-head summary (remember, it's late at night after a long week, so please don't take issue with me if I space something here) * Altos 586 Popular early multi-user system * Altos ACS 8000 One of the first serious single-board business CP/M boxes * APF MP1000 A notable attempt to build a "gaming computer", rather than just play games on a computer, or add a keyboard to a gaming system. * Apple I * > Apple II Self explanatory * Apple II+ Although the Apple II had more "significance", the II+ was the far better selling machine that most people used. * Apple II+ Bell & Howell "Black Apple" This has a certain cache simply because it's black, and has always been considered a collector piece for Apple afficianados. * Apple IIc / IIc Plus * > Apple IIe / IIe Platinum * > Apple IIgs / IIgs Woz Limited Edition The standard school equipment for years, thus eminently collectible for those who first learned to compute on them. * Apple III * > Apple III+ Apple's first big failure, and always a great story about the tech support solution of dropping it onto a table top to reseat the chips. * Apple Lisa / Macintosh XL The big Xerox-PARC-inspired ancestor to the Mac. * Apple Macintosh 128 1984. The Super Bowl. * Apple Macintosh 512K Through SE Another series with great sentimental attachment for many users * Apple Macintosh Portable Apple's first laptop * AT&T Unix PC / 3B2 / 7300 We may well have all ended up running machines like this if things turned out differently * Atari 400 * > Atari 800 Launched the Atari computer line * Atari XL / XE Series The quintessential "Atari 8-bits" loved by a generation * Atari 520ST / 1040ST Atari goes GUI and tries to compete with the Mac & PC * Atari Portfolio Arguably the first real palmtop computer * Byte Computers Byt-8 Great early S-100 system featured in many magazine ads from the period * California Computer Systems (CCS) S-100 Solid, typical example of serious S-100 business computer * Coleco ADAM A great quirky failure in the computer market from the great games manufacturer * Commodore/MOS Technologies KIM-1 Probably one of the ten most significant machines of all time, this SBC got Commodore into the computer business. * Commodore PET 2001-8 Wonderfully "Century-21" futuristic Apple competitor and ancestor of the C64 * Commodore PET 4032 / 8032 The PET gets a real keyboard and tries to go business * Commodore SuperPET SP9000 A rare example of a machine with two different microprocessors - a 6502 and 6809 * Commodore VIC-20 A huge seller that spawned the C64 * Commodore 64 / 65 Probably the biggest selling computer of all time, in terms of market share at the time * Commodore 128 / 128D The C64 gets serious, runs CP/M * Commodore C16 / Plus 4 I don't care much for these, but Commodore fanatics love 'em * Commodore SX64 The one and only portable Commodore 64, just about the only example of the "second tier" manufacturers building a luggable version of a mainstream machine * Commodore Amiga 1000 First of the line that eventually brought us the Video Toaster. * Commodore Amiga 500 The big selling Amiga that was the first machine for most Amiga lovers * Compaq Portable PC / Plus / II / III The first genuinely IBM PC-compatible portable (possibly the first genuinely IBM PC-compatible machine, period) and the progenitor of one of today's giants of the computer industry, a company that would eclipse IBM itself. * CompuColor II One of the first computers with built-in color; a wonderful design with a computer essentially built into a color TV set, woodgrain plastic and all! * CompuPro S-100 / 8-16 The CompuPro S-100 mainframes were the standard of the time, and the 8/16 is notable for running both CP/M and CP/M-86, and with a ROM BIOS card, even running some MS-DOS compatible software. * Convergent Technologies WorkSlate A wacky early laptop that used a spreadsheet metaphor for _everything_. * Corvus Concept A not-quite-so-GUI take on the Xerox Alto, with portrait monitor and all. * Cromemco C-10 Cromemco the big S-100 iron manufacturer builds a funky plastic home system with the CPU built into the monitor. * Cromemco System One * > Cromemco System Three Serious S-100 business boxes with huge power supplies and pull-out card-cages * Cromemco Z Series Cromemco's high-end hobbyist/low-end business line, in big steel cubes that could be driven over by a Mack truck. * Data General One DG really wanted into the burgeoning micro market, and tried their hand in desktops with the MicroNOVAs, but eventually found some small, brief success with this kinda-sorta-PC-compatible laptop. * DEC Rainbow 100 DEC cloned the PC and made it even better than the original design, but better doesn't mean 100% compatible. * Digital Group Systems Digital Group's proprietary bus didn't really take off, but they were really in the market early and had a choice of CPU's. * Dynalogic Hyperion Sure, it's another kinda-sorta-PC-compatible, but it's really amazing looking and is sought after by collectors. * Epson HX-20 A cute early take on laptops. * Epson PX-8 Geneva A big improvement on the QX-10, this system has a flip-up display, CP/M in ROM(!) and a tape drive that acts like a floppy to the OS. * Epson QX-10 & QX-16 Arguably the first laptop * Exidy Sorcerer With a great design, nice graphics, a terrific name, ROM cartridges built into 8-track-tape shells, the Sorcerer was featured in a lot of early magazines and though it didn't sell very well, many early enthusiasts got to play with it and remember it fondly. * Gimix An early follower of SWTPC's 6800-series CPU religion and SS-50 bus standard. * Franklin ACE 1000 / 1200 Successful Apple II clone used in a lot of schools * Hewlett-Packard HP85 Is it a really big calculator, or a small portable PC with built-in monitor? HP breaks into the portable computer market with a machine that looks strangely like a plastic IBM 5100. * Hewlett-Packard HP150 Although this is another not-quite-IBM-compatible box, it's notable for its unique features like touchscreen interface, and modular peripherals * Heathkit H-8 Surely one of the top ten most significant early computers, the H-8 had its own bus, and a lot of support from an established electronics kit manufacturer - plus a lot of great advertising. * Heathkit H-11 While this is technically a PDP-11 mini, some peripherals with the H-8, but more importantly shared its advertising targeted towards microcomputer magazines and enthusiasts. * Heath-Zenith H88/H89 The Heath-Zenith merger brings a nice solid single-chassis Z-80 box with monitor, keyboard and floppy drive. * IBM 5100 Personal Computer IBM's first personal computer, and the first portable personal computer. * IBM 5140 PC Convertible IBM's first laptop * IBM 5150 Personal Computer Hey, it's the IBM PC * IBM 5160 PC-XT First IBM PC with a hard drive * IBM 5170 AT First 80286 IBM PC * IBM 5155 Portable PC IBM's competition for the Compaq, stuffing a regular IBM PC motherboard into a luggable chassis * IBM PCjr One of the most significant PC failures of all time, remember the "Little Tramp" character in the ads? * IBM PS/2 Model 80 Signifies IBM's downfall as the dominant force in personal computing. * IMSAI 8080 Quite possibly the best personal computer ever made. Also known for its appearance in the movie "Wargames" * IMSAI PCS-80 * > IMSAI VDP-80 IMSAI struggles to follow up their early success via one-piece monitor/keyboard designs, without much success, and with notorious unreliability. * Ithaca Audio InterSystems DPS-1 A wild looking S-100 front panel machine with big orange levers, quite popular in its day and featured in mags. * Intertec SuperBrain An early one-piece design, the SuperBrain is really a Z-80 computer stuffed into a smart terminal, which already used its own Z-80, so the SuperBrain essentially had dual CPUs. * Kaypro II Kaypro proves that being cheaper than the Osborne is the only thing that matters. One of the biggest selling luggables ever. * Kaypro 4 / 10 Kaypro goes double-density, then adds possibly the first portable hard disk system. * Lobo PMC-80 The first TRS-80 clone * Mattel Aquarius Classic example of early-80s educational/gaming computers that died a quick death when the video game crash hit. * Mindset PC Truly strange proprietary 8088 box with high-end graphics at the time. * MITS Altair 680 MITS' backplaneless 6800 design. * MITS Altair 8800 * > MITS Altair 8800a * > MITS Altair 8800b * MITS Altair 8800b Turnkey Self explanatory * Morrow Decision 1 Decidedly different-looking kind of wedge-shaped CP/M box with built-in floppy drives * Morrow Micro Decision Morrow tries to build a single-board Z-80 CP/M machine that looks like an IBM PC * Morrow Pivot Trick early portable * NEC PC-6001A NEC's kind-of-TRS-80-clone * NEC PC-8001A A more advanced take on the 6001, a CPU-in-the-keyboard design reminiscent of the Sorcerer, and with external expansion units like the TRS-80 * NEC PC-8201A / PC-8300 / PC-5000 Same as the TRS-80 model 100/102/200 * North Star Advantage A one-piece design like the IMSAI VDP-80 but more reliable * North Star Horizon Fabulous early S-100 box with a genuine wood case top and a semi-motherboard design with serial ports on the backplane * Ohio Scientific Challenger C1P * Ohio Scientific Challenger C4P OSI's homage to the Apple II, these wedge-shaped designs look like SOL-20s and ran 6502 CPUs * Ohio Scientific Challenger C3D Would you believe THREE different microprocessors in one chassis? 6502, 6809, and Z-80. * Osborne 1 They said Adam Osborne should stop preaching about how to build a good computer, and just go build one. A great design, and a great success until nuked by cheaper, less engineered copycats by companies like Kaypro. * Osborne Executive A slightly more advanced Osborne 1, notable for the press generated by not having a big enough screen compared to the Kaypro II. * Osborne Vixen The machine with which Osborne "Osborned" himself out of business, lending the computing industry a new term for preannouncement stupidity. * Otrona Attache Simply a nice luggable design * Polymorphic Systems POLY-88 Neat compact S-100 essentially housed in a 5 1/4" drive enclosure, it was known as the "Micro Altair" until MITS threatened to sue. * Processor Technology SOL Probably the first computer with built-in video output, and otherwise just terrific * Quasar/Panasonic HK2600TE Hand Held Computer Reasonably significant handheld PCs with BASIC * Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 1 One of the best selling computers of all time, viewed as the "serious" machine versus those "color graphics" 6502 boxes from Apple and Atari. * Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computers 1-3 If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Radio Shack goes color and 6502. * Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 2 Radio Shack goes business. * Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 3 & 4 First the TRS-80 must go single chassis due to FCC requirements, then it adds CP/M capability. Nice one-piece machines * Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 4P The only TRS-80 portable, also runs CP/M, a great collector piece to run virtually all the software and not take up much space * Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 12 / 16 / 6000 TRS-80 goes multi-user * Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100 / 102 / 200 One of the most popular portable computers ever; in continuous use until just a few years ago by many organizations. Durable, practical, light, user-programmable, inexpensive. * Radio Shack TRS-80 Micro Color Computer MC-10 Perfect example of why people hate small chiclet keyboards. * Radio Shack TRS-80 Pocket Computers Some of the first calculator-style "computers" with BASIC * RCA COSMAC 1802 / ELF / Super ELF The Voyager space probe was powered by three RCA 1802 CPUs, which hobbyists could play with themselves on these cute single-board computers. True classics. * Rockwell AIM-65 You've got a display (one line) a printer (tiny & thermal) and a keyboard... what more do you need? Maybe an optional plastic case. * Sanyo MBC-1000 Popular CP/M desktop for business and word processing * Seattle Computer Products 8086 "Gazelle" The machine that QDOS (later to become MS/PC-DOS) was written on. * Sharp Pocket Computers PC-1500 / PC-1500A Actually similar to some of the Radio Shack pocket computers which were built by Sharp, these later, larger units had a lot of software and peripherals. * Sinclair ZX80 First of the Sinclair line, and an early inexpensive hobbyist computer. Nasty membrane keyboard, but cute! * Sinclair ZX81 / Timex-Sinclair ZX1000 Sinclair merges with Timex and gets popular, but not more usable. * Smoke Signal Broadcasting Chieftain Like the Gimix, another SS-50 bus homage to the SWTPC 6809 * Spectravideo SV-318 / SV-328 Some of the only examples of the failed MSX standard to sell in the USA * Sphere Not much is known about this rare semi graphical box. * SWTPC (SouthWest Technical Products) 6800 * > SWTPC (SouthWest Technical Products) 6809 Champions of the 6800 series, SWTPC built solid chassis due to their history as an audio equipment manufacturer. The 6800 is one of the most significant machines ever, and one of the very earliest PCs. * Synertek SYM-1 Clone of the KIM-1 with more features, very popular * Texas Instruments TI 99/4A A huge seller, but could never quite beat Commodore at their own game. Tons of software, magazines and accessories available. * Timex-Sinclair 1500 * > Timex-Sinclair 2068 A bigger seller and more popular in Europe than in the US, these chiclet-equipped boxes still had a following in the states. * Tomy Tutor Like the Mattel Aquarius, a quick failure in the edutainment market at the time of the video game crash. * Vector Graphic Vector-1 Popular system in the heyday of S-100 * Vector Graphic Vector-4 An odd two-piece system with the CPU and drives housed with the monitor, and 8088 CPU * VideoBrain Rare gaming computer * Vtech Laser 128 The other successful Apple II clone * Xerox 820 A conventional CP/M system from the people that brought us the GUI * Zenith Z-110 / Z-120 Nice CP/M systems with built-in keyboard and disk drives

27 years

5
5
0 0

Motorola UDS modem....

by roblwill＠usaor.net

So, it's sort of like a long-distance link between two computers? Anyone know where I'd find another? Or one that I could connect to? ///--->>> -Jason Willgruber (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#: 1730318 <http://members.tripod.com/general_1> -----Original Message----- From: Bruce Lane <kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Donnerstag, 17. Juni 1999 23:08 Subject: Re: Motorola UDS modem.... >At 22:29 17-06-1999 -0700, you wrote: > >>I just found an old Motorola Universal Data Systems model 201B/C modem in my >>basement while I was cleaning. I have the original box and manual, but >>can't figure out how to get it to work. > > <snip> > > That's no surprise. That's an old 4-wire leased-line modem. You'd need >another 201 at the opposite end of a four-wire data circuit for it to be >useful. It will only handle synchronous data. > >>Anyone ever worked with one of these? > > Frequently, in my datacomm days (many moons ago). > > >-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- >Bruce Lane, Owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies >http://www.bluefeathertech.com >Amateur Radio:(WD6EOS) E-mail: kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com >SysOp: The Dragon's Cave (Fido 1:343/272, 253-639-9905) >"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own >human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..." >

27 years

2
1
0 0

OT -mostly -

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jun 18, 19:07, Allison J Parent wrote: > Subject: Re: OT -mostly - > <Compare this to modern OSs - windows, macos, etc where the development pack > <costs hundreds or thousands of dollars extra. > > VMS, all of the Unix clones, All cost extra, unless you mean gcc etc. None of HP/UX, Solaris, IRIX, AIX, come with more than the minimum required to relink the kernel, although you can buy the development tools separately. > RT-11 to name a few still provide full > development environment. That's certainly valid. The exception that proves the rule, perhaps :-) > I'm sure some(I would) here would add CPM > OS9 and even PC based DOS(MS, DRdos, CCPM...). the amount of freeware > or lowcost shareware for DOS/winders is quite impressive and plentyful. > > Of all the software out there CPM-80, APPLE and PCdos has the largest > archives, but the PDP-8, -11, VAX archives are getting big. But does freeware/shareware count? The original point was that the manufacturers don't provide their tools for free as part of the OS; of course you can add on any amount of 3rd party free software to virtually any OS. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

27 years

4
4
0 0

Compilers not coming with the OS anymore

by ethan_dicks＠yahoo.com

--- Huw Davies <H.Davies(a)latrobe.edu.au> wrote: > At 16:13 18/06/99 -0700, Ethan Dicks wrote: > > ISTR that the error log analyzer is written in PL/1, for example. > > CUSP is something like Commonly Used System (Software?) Program. That's it. > I'm not sure about the error log analyzer but certainly part (if not all) > of the monitor program is written in PL/1. (Monitor monitors the > performance of a VMS system and is not to be confused with The Monitor > which was the system for a DECsystem-10). Right! The system monitor was written in PL/1. The error log analyzer was written in COBOL. -ethan _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com

27 years

1
0
0 0

Fwd: Re: Compilers not coming with the OS anymore

by ethan_dicks＠yahoo.com

--- Huw Davies <H.Davies(a)latrobe.edu.au> wrote: > I've heard that Bliss was not liked within Digital. As they used to say: "Bliss is Ignorance" -ethan === _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com

27 years

1
0
0 0

Top 150 Collectible Microcomputers

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<On a side note, perhaps it would be better to have the most <collectable by category (e.g. 8 bit home, S-100, early GUI, etc). <That way more items can be listed but still be managed. Plus then <everyone can argue about how to classify things (does the <CompuPro go under CPM or S100 or both). Well, the people that classify things have a field day. The reality with computers is that they are metamorphic making that a challenge. For it to work the list must have a coherent set of rules. For example: S100 is a buss but that does not dictate what cpus are used and the list of CPUs (and OSs) are quite large(nearly every cpu used!). Listing by OS narrows that to groups or specific cpus. the list in my mind has these criteria. Order by introduction, by OS or CPU, by bus used, by attributes (first, portable, GUI...). I'm sure there are more ways but it would likely end up looking like a matrix. Allison

27 years

1
0
0 0

Compilers not coming with the OS anymore

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<I've heard that Bliss was not liked within Digital. I'm assuming some <aspects of NIH along with support issues. Perhaps someone who was there <might like to comment? Correct BLISS was not a favorite of the systems people and there was an effort in the 80s to move a lot of bliss (vax) code to C. It was partly the portability plus interfacing issues between languages and that C or Pascal was seen as becomming the more standard languages. I think also it was considered by more than me to be an esoteric skill that showed little value outside of DEC or DEC environments. Allison

27 years

1
0
0 0

OT -mostly -

by CLASSICCMP＠trailing-edge.com

>> Ah, but does this not actually fall under the same catagory as the above >> comments about UNIX? Or does RT-11 ship with more than Macro-11? You >>kind >> of have to have Macro-11 in order to run a SYSGEN I believe. >True, but a fair amount of development work is/was done with MACRO-11. That's an understatement. Compared with a PC-clone or Unixy assemblers, the expansive abilities of a true Macro assembler are astounding. Think of Macro-11 not so much as an assembler, but as a completely extensible language. Many other architectures have similarly powerful macro assemblers. Unfortunately, folks these days think of "macros" in relation to programming as being limited to what 'cpp' is capable of. Tim.

27 years, 1 month

1
0
0 0

Cromemco System 1 in Ghostbusters

by CLASSICCMP＠trailing-edge.com

>I wonder if anybody's ever put together an "old micros spotted in movies" >list. It doesn't necessarily meet everybody's definition of a "micro", but at the start of _Three Days of the Condor_ there's some nice shots of a PDP-8 with DECTape drives. -- Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa(a)trailing-edge.com Trailing Edge Technology WWW: http://www.trailing-edge.com/ 7328 Bradley Blvd Voice: 301-767-5917 Bethesda, MD, USA 20817 Fax: 301-767-5927

27 years, 1 month

1
0
0 0

OT: Included Development Tools

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jun 18, 22:32, Roger Merchberger wrote: > Subject: OT: Included Development Tools > Rumor has it that Tony Duell may have mentioned these words: > > >For the unices mentioned earlier, I believe that cc, an assembler, etc > >were _not_ included with the OS. So there is no way of writing programs > >with the software as supplied. > > Dunno about the others that were mentioned, but Solaris (in every form that > I dealt with, anyway...) did include cc, plus perl, tcl/tk, I think Python, > and maybe some others. > > Now... the libraries that were included with Solaris were lame at best, and > it is tough to get 3rd party programs to compile with the included cc (a > quick upgrade to gcc fixes that...) but it was included, and was enough to > write C & perl programs out of the box. IIRC that isn't ANSI C, and certainly isn't intended for development work. Sun sell a development compiler separately, and it's *not* cheap. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

27 years, 1 month

1
0
0 0

OT -mostly -

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jun 19, 2:53, Tony Duell wrote: > It doesn't matter (IMHO) _why_ Macro-11 was included, the fact is that it > was. And it's possible to write programs in Macro-11, so it counts as a > programming tool. > > For the unices mentioned earlier, I believe that cc, an assembler, etc > were _not_ included with the OS. So there is no way of writing programs > with the software as supplied. Usually there would be only part of the compiler, and a linker, but no assembler; and in some cases the linker would be a cut-down version. For example, in IRIX, you only need to able to link COFF executables to rebuild the kernel, whereas the normal linker/loader handles ELF executables. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

27 years, 1 month

1
0
0 0

OT -mostly -

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jun 18, 16:39, Zane H. Healy wrote: > Pete wrote > > On Jun 18, 19:07, Allison J Parent wrote: > > > VMS, all of the Unix clones, > > > > All cost extra, unless you mean gcc etc. None of HP/UX, Solaris, IRIX, > > AIX, come with more than the minimum required to relink the kernel, > > although you can buy the development tools separately. > > > > > RT-11 to name a few still provide full > > > development environment. > > > > That's certainly valid. The exception that proves the rule, perhaps :-) > > Ah, but does this not actually fall under the same catagory as the above > comments about UNIX? Or does RT-11 ship with more than Macro-11? You kind > of have to have Macro-11 in order to run a SYSGEN I believe. True, but a fair amount of development work is/was done with MACRO-11. However, very few people would even contemplate writing assembler for a UNIX system (except for very small very low level things). 18 months ago I had to write some applications stuff in MIPS assembler for IRIX, and was disgusted to find that SGI's C compiler could do just as good a job as I could, most of the time. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

27 years, 1 month

1
0
0 0

TRS-80 Model III for sale

by dastar＠ncal.verio.com

Is there any interest here for a TRS-80 Model III located in the Dallas area? Please let me know and I'll pass you on to the seller. Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Don't rub the lamp if you don't want the genie to come out. Coming this October 2-3: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0! See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details! [Last web site update: 05/25/99]

27 years, 1 month

1
0
0 0

Top 150 Collectible Microcomputers

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

CoCo... 6809... OS-9... duh! I said it was a late night. I put the C65 on with the 64 not really because they're similar, but because the 65 is just a prototype. Victor 9000, good addition! Check out the WorkSlate at http://www.geocities.com/~compcloset/ConvergentTechnologiesWorkSlate.htm. One cool thing about the WorkSlate, the tapes were stereo, and the data was only one one track - the other track held audio! So as you loaded the program, the audio would play back, telling you about the program and its functions. Kai -----Original Message----- From: Cameron Kaiser [mailto:ckaiser@oa.ptloma.edu] Sent: Friday, June 18, 1999 11:06 PM To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers Subject: Re: Top 150 Collectible Microcomputers My comments ... ::* Apple Macintosh 128 :: ::1984. The Super Bowl. Right on. :-) ::* Commodore 64 / 65 :: ::Probably the biggest selling computer of all time, in terms of market share ::at the time These should really be separate. The 65 is much, much more interesting than the 64 (and, coming from a guy who logs in with his 128, that's really saying something :-) in terms of hardware, rarity and history. ::* Commodore C16 / Plus 4 :: ::I don't care much for these, but Commodore fanatics love 'em They're stupendous machines that never found a use. Commodore really shot themselves in the foot by making them 64-incompatible, but TED graphics are stellar. ::* Convergent Technologies WorkSlate :: ::A wacky early laptop that used a spreadsheet metaphor for _everything_. Whoa. Who can tell me about these? Spreadsheet metaphor? ::* Data General One :: ::DG really wanted into the burgeoning micro market, and tried their hand in ::desktops with the MicroNOVAs, but eventually found some small, brief success ::with this kinda-sorta-PC-compatible laptop. Weren't they more successful than this? My DG One runs Caldera OpenDOS now, btw. :-) ::* Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computers 1-3 :: ::If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Radio Shack goes color and 6502. I'm sure you mean 6809, right? :-P The CoCoers would kill you over this one. ::* Radio Shack TRS-80 Pocket Computers :: ::Some of the first calculator-style "computers" with BASIC Don't forget the Sharp and Casio systems these were unabashed clones of, though I think you mention the Sharps somewhere ... ::* Sharp Pocket Computers PC-1500 / PC-1500A :: ::Actually similar to some of the Radio Shack pocket computers which were ::built by Sharp, these later, larger units had a lot of software and ::peripherals. ... yep. The PC-4 is a Casio PB-410, btw. (Someone check this ... ?) ::* Sinclair ZX81 / Timex-Sinclair ZX1000 :: ::Sinclair merges with Timex and gets popular, but not more usable. The 2068 is even harder to find than the TS1000. (It's just TS1000, not TS ZX1000.) UK people, what was the 2068 a clone of? The Spec +3? ::* Sphere :: ::Not much is known about this rare semi graphical box. But sure sounds cool! When did it appear? What did it run? ::* Tomy Tutor :: ::Like the Mattel Aquarius, a quick failure in the edutainment market at the ::time of the video game crash. I love mine, though :-) Ones I'd add: * though not US: Apricot F1 for the colour graphics * Victor 9000/Sirius 1 Good job! -- -------------------------- personal page: http://calvin.ptloma.edu/~spectre/ -- Cameron Kaiser Database Programmer/Administrative Computing Point Loma Nazarene University Fax: +1 619 849 2581 ckaiser(a)ptloma.edu Phone: +1 619 849 2539 -- He is rising from affluence to poverty. -- Mark Twain ----------------------

27 years, 1 month

1
0
0 0

Top 150 Collectible Microcomputers

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

>-----Original Message----- >From: Marvin [mailto:marvin@rain.org] >Sent: Friday, June 18, 1999 2:32 PM >To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers >Subject: Re: Top 150 Collectible Microcomputers > >> Lobo PMC-80 > >Do you possibly mean the MAX-80? I hadn't heard of a PMC-80. Come to think of it, there were 3 Lobo TRS-80 clones... the LNW-80 (Mod 1 clone), PMC-80 (Mod 1 clone with built-in tape drive and plastic case like a Sorcerer), and MAX-80 (Mod 3 clone) I'll probably list all 3 on one line. Thanks for the heads up Kai

27 years, 1 month

3
2
0 0

Rainbow Dvorak

by mtapley＠swri.edu

jpero wrote:> ... very sinister quiet here.... Quiet time, eh? I can help :-) by tossing out dumb questions. Here's the first: I've got a DEC Rainbow 100A. I love it, but I love the Dvorak keyboard layout more. There *is* a program on ftp.update.uu.se that purports to rearrange the keyboard in software (guess mode on: it intercepts the key input, remaps it using a table lookup, then passes it back to the remainder of the key input routine : guess mode off) I've been emailed that the program works .... but it does *not* work on my machine. It runs, terminates normally, and reports that it's already installed (as a TSR?) if re-run, but it has no effect on the keyboard. I have no Rainbow B to test it on, that could be the difference. I'm running MS-DOS 3.10B from Suitable Solutions. Could a DECspert with both a 100A and a 100B let me know if that's the problem? Better still, is it easy to disassemble the program, find out where/how the intercept I hypothesize is done, and re-target it for the 100A? Better still, does anyone know the whereabouts of Jim Beveridge (sic?) the author of the program? I know I've left out a slew of relevant details, like where the program acutally is on update, what the Dvorak keyboard layout is, etc etc. I'll be more than happy to supply them if anyone is interested in digging into this and when I get back near my machine with a bit of time to dig into it. I guess this is reasonably on-topic, but I'll be happy to take it off-list if folks are happy with quiet time. Thanks in advance! - Mark

27 years, 1 month

1
0
0 0

Compilers not coming with the OS anymore

by ethan_dicks＠yahoo.com

--- Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote: After someone else asked: > > After playing with BeOS a while something occurred to me. Does anyone > > remember at what point operating systems stopped coming with development > > tools? > > I wasn't aware that they had :-). At least Linux, *BSD, VMS (I think), > etc come with compilers. VMS (V5.X and before, for sure) came with an assembler. Compilers were always extra. At least the engineers stuck it to the marketing types when the marketing types wanted to charge extra for *run-time* libraries for the various languages. The engineers wrote a system utility (CUSPS, as they were called by DEC - I forget exactly what it stands for) in each of the languages DEC shipped so that the runtimes would have to ship with the OS, not as a seperate product. ISTR that the error log analyzer is written in PL/1, for example. Solaris 2.x never came with a C compiler, but SunOS (BSD-based) did. AmigaDOS 1.0 came with ABasic, 1.1 and later came with AmigaBASIC (M$). The assembler and C compiler, etc., were always extra. After 1987, AmigaDOS came with AREXX. At least the Amiga, after 1.3, came with MicroEMACS as an alternative to the crappy standard editor. -ethan _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com

27 years, 1 month

3
3
0 0

Info Needed: DQ606 Floppy Controller

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

27 years, 1 month

1
0
0 0

OT -mostly -

by jim＠calico.litterbox.com

After playing with BeOS a while something occurred to me. Does anyone remember at what point operating systems stopped coming with development tools? I'm remembering the commodore 64 that came with Basic, and if you typed in the assembler from the manual, you could (at least in theory) write proffessional quality assembly language programs worthy of being sold to others. Compare this to modern OSs - windows, macos, etc where the development package costs hundreds or thousands of dollars extra. (small plug - BeOS comes with (theoretically) all the tools you need to do development on it.) -- Jim Strickland jim(a)DIESPAMMERSCUMcalico.litterbox.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------- BeOS Powered! -----------------------------------------------------------------------

27 years, 1 month

8
8
0 0

Top 150 Collectible Microcomputers

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<APC probably needs to be there, along with the Wave Mate Bullet. If you include the bullet then the AMPRO LBseries... it get big after a while. Allison

27 years, 1 month

2
1
0 0

RL02s available in Puget Sound, WA area

by djenner＠halcyon.com

Well, John Lawson didn't quite make off with all the RL02 drives around here. I've just uncovered 3 more drives available to anyone who can pick them up. One is known to work, the other two may be "for parts". If anyone is interested, let me know and I can get the particulars on them for you. You would have to be able to pick them up in the vicinity of Seattle, WA. Dave

27 years, 1 month

1
0
0 0

2 computers

by peterutz＠worldnet.att.net

A friend has a couple old computers gathering dust. Both work but need new homes. Any buyers? Timex Sinclair ZX-80 with manual. Radio Shack TRS80 Model 1 with monitor, dual disk drives, 48K memory, manuals, documents, software. And for video collectors: Sony Portapac model 3400, also called the Rover, the first popular EIAJ reel-to-reel portable VCR, with power supply and tape. peterutz(a)worldnet.att.net

27 years, 1 month

3
2
0 0

Any KSR-1 or 2s out there (OT-newer but rare)

by Innfogra＠aol.com

Is there anyone out there maintaining or know of a Kendall Square Research KSR 1 or 2 massively parallel supercomputer. Unfortunately a local scrapper got to the chassis but the cards & power supplies of one are available. Paxton Portland, OR

27 years, 1 month

3
2
0 0

OT -mostly -

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<> VMS, all of the Unix clones, < <All cost extra, unless you mean gcc etc. None of HP/UX, Solaris, IRIX, <AIX, come with more than the minimum required to relink the kernel, <although you can buy the development tools separately. Unix clones also include Linux, Freebsd, Minix... <> I'm sure some(I would) here would add CPM <> OS9 and even PC based DOS(MS, DRdos, CCPM...). the amount of freeware <> or lowcost shareware for DOS/winders is quite impressive and plentyful. <> <> Of all the software out there CPM-80, APPLE and PCdos has the largest <> archives, but the PDP-8, -11, VAX archives are getting big. < <But does freeware/shareware count? The original point was that the <manufacturers don't provide their tools for free as part of the OS; of <course you can add on any amount of 3rd party free software to virtually <any OS. CPM however did come with a fairly complete devlopment environment for 8080 (or 8086 for cpm-86). However the shareware/freeware counting part I agree it's questionable but often there are better out there than from the OS oem. Allison

27 years, 1 month

1
0
0 0

OT -mostly -

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<The Hobbyist version of OpenVMS comes with compilers, the Commercial versio <most definitly does not. Ah yes to a point, no compilers. There is MACRO and also BASIC, though a lot of work is easily done in DCL. Allison

27 years, 1 month

1
0
0 0

OT -mostly -

by CLASSICCMP＠trailing-edge.com

>After playing with BeOS a while something occurred to me. Does anyone remember >at what point operating systems stopped coming with development tools? I'm >remembering the commodore 64 that came with Basic, and if you typed in the >assembler from the manual, you could (at least in theory) write proffessional >quality assembly language programs worthy of being sold to others. Well, CP/M came with a good assembler, MS-DOS didn't. That's where I draw the line in my head. Admittedly the version of ASM that came with CP/M wasn't awfully featurefull, but it did work. And you got documentation for writing programs with CP/M. And admittedly MS-DOS commonly was installed with some version of MS-BASIC, but I (personally) don't categorize that as a "real" development tool. -- Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa(a)trailing-edge.com Trailing Edge Technology WWW: http://www.trailing-edge.com/ 7328 Bradley Blvd Voice: 301-767-5917 Bethesda, MD, USA 20817 Fax: 301-767-5927

27 years, 1 month

6
6
0 0

Ancient Modems (was Re: Who says familiy activities are extinct? ^_^)

by ethan_dicks＠yahoo.com

--- Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote: > Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 19:53:11 +0100 (BST) > Reply-to: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu > From: ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) > To: "Discussion re-collecting of classic computers" > <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> > Subject: Re: Who says familiy activities are extinct? ^_^ > > > > > Yeah, those are what they are, LDSsomethings, with 4-wire connections. > > Do those need AT commands to set up or similar, or do they just > > stay in data mode all the time? > > AT commands? Surely you jest. Have you looked inside (take off the feet > and slide the cover backwards). It's all simple analogue chips and > discretes inside. No microcontroller, no command language. > > Once you've connected them up, they behave like a long RS232 cable (data > leads only). Squirt data in one end, get it out the other. I missed the top of this, but I think this thread is about some older Modems, Motorola UDS's, yes? If I read what's gone on correctly, a four-wire device is for leased lines. You didn't even dial them. You just hooked them up and squirt away. Older two-wire modems, especially those that move sync data, are also lacking in dialing facilities. There was a seperate box that you routed the phone line through and sent commands via serial or parallel port to make the external box do the dialling. We used one when we were making sync comm equipment for VAXen more than ten years ago. I forget the first part of the designation, but it was a mumble-mumble 850 autodialler, the standard. Much later, ANSI invented an autodial protocol, V.25, IIRC. I have a Motorola 2400 sync/async V.25 _and_ Hayes modem from those days. It would work like a regular modem over a regular serial port, or if you used it in sync mode, you could send it V.25 autodial commands. One of my jobs back then was to retrofit the V.25 command set into our product. It was pretty cool when it all worked, but cool is a relative thing when you are working with stone knives and bearskins. -ethan _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com

27 years, 1 month

2
1
0 0

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

test-drb