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

Still looking for: Nova 800/1200 power supplies

by derschjo＠gmail.com

Hi all -- Nearly two years back I picked up some Nova 800/1200 gear, mostly in pieces. I've been trying to track down power supplies for these for awhile, thought I'd try asking here again and see if I have any better luck this time :). Both chassis are the "Jumbo" variety, and take two power supplies each -- one that provides +/-5 and +/-15 and another that just supplies dual +5. At the moment I have just one power supply -- a dual +5 supply. I also only have one of the "DGC NOVA RESISTOR BD" boards that are the go-betweens between the backplane and the power supply -- the 52-pin edge connector from the supply plugs into this board, and the board plugs into the backplane. I need at least one more of these... It's relatively unlikely, but if anyone happens to have any 800/1200 power supplies going spare, in any condition, drop me a line. Thanks again, Josh

10 years, 2 months

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Stuff for sale in Seattle

by derschjo＠gmail.com

Hi all -- Spring is nearly here and it's time to clear out some space. The following stuff must go, drop me a line if you're interested. Local pick-up in Seattle, WA. Free: - 2x TI 1500S UNIX workstations. One's an S1505 with a 68030, one's an S1507 with a 68040. Both power up and pass built-in diagnostics. No OS media, no drives. - Honeywell/Bull DPS-6 workstation/server. No OS media, no drives, no drive controller. CPU, Memory, I/O present. Heavy. A bit dirty, but will clean up nicely. For Sale: - Zilog S8000. This is a Z8000-based machine that originally ran a UNIX port called ZEUS. System includes CPU unit, two 80mb SMD drive units (one with cartridge tape drive) and two empty units at the bottom. I had the system powered up and running a couple of years back, but I have no OS media (this would appear to be a theme) and the hard drives were either wiped or corrupted. I have a few spare boards as well. I actually really like this system, but I need the space. Asking $250. Thanks, Josh

10 years, 2 months

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In search of VAX 8550 or similar...

by ian.finder＠gmail.com

Would like to purchase and restore a big mid-80s VAX. Stupidly passed one up recently. Let me know if you have one you'd be willing to part with- also open to trades. In the Seattle area, but a little too comfortable with arranging freight shipping... Sent from Outlook for iPhone

10 years, 2 months

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IBM/PC XT and AT boot disks needed

by rich.cini＠verizon.net

All ? I?m helping a buddy of mine restore an original XT and original AT and I?m looking for original boot disks for them. I have the AT Diagnostics disk but the other disks I have seem to be bad. Does anyone have images that they could send me or point me to an archive of original disks? Thanks! Rich -- Rich Cini http://www.classiccmp.org/cini http://www.classiccmp.org/altair32

10 years, 2 months

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websites on the classiccmp server

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

10 years, 2 months

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DEC LPS11 Laboratory Peripheral System for PDP-11

by echristopherson＠gmail.com

I saw a DEC LPS11 Laboratory Peripheral System for PDP-11 somewhere and was thinking of getting it just because of the Digital nameplate, but I was too broke. Now I see that an ebay listing[1] of it has the ambitious Buy It Now price of $1600 -- but that's with cabling and a book of schematics, and they've tested it out at least a bit; and it has analog in and out, and several specific boards in it. The one I found, on the other hand, is untested and doesn't have any external goodies; it does seem to be populated with boards, but I don't know what they are. It also seems to be lacking any analog in or out (unless the "DISPLAY" port is an analog out). I'm wondering if there would be a demand for this item. If so, I may have to send someone to pick it up for me when the place is open next. [1]: http://www.ebay.com/itm/DEC-LPS11-Laboratory-Peripheral-System-for-PDP-11-A… -- Eric Christopherson

10 years, 2 months

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H-11 Updates

by rich.cini＠verizon.net

All ? It?s been a productive two weeks with my pseudo-DEC Heath H-11. I got myself an Emulex UC07 SCSI card and a SCSI2SD SCSI drive emulator. After a week of noodling around with why the on-board diagnostics wouldn?t load (stupid LTC jumper) I was able to confirm that the board and SCSI2SD setup worked. Tonight I built an RD54 image of RT-11 v5.7 using SIMH and dd?ed it to the card and now I have RT-11 5.7 running over SCSI. Yea! Rich -- Rich Cini http://www.classiccmp.org/cini http://www.classiccmp.org/altair32

10 years, 2 months

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Voltage regulator with alternate voltage source...

by hilpert＠cs.ubc.ca

On 2016-Apr-08, at 11:58 AM, Bill Sudbrink wrote: > I don't know why I bothering to be coy about it... > > My unit here: > > http://wsudbrink.dyndns.org:8080/images/cyclops-latest/P4060005.JPG > http://wsudbrink.dyndns.org:8080/images/cyclops-latest/P4060006.JPG > > Actually, I'm further along than that, but I > don't have more recent photos. > > Original unit here: > > http://www.swtpc.com/mholley/PopularElectronics/Feb1975/PE_Feb_1975_pg30.jpg > > Schematic here: > > http://www.swtpc.com/mholley/PopularElectronics/Feb1975/PE_Feb_1975_pg28.jpg Well that's neat. I assembled the Cromemco kit version of the Cyclops ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cromemco_Cyclops ) ca. 1976 for a friend with an IMSAI, and built the companion adapter to provide display on an oscilloscope, but I don't know that it was ever made to work. (The kit version presented an interface for a computer rather than the scope drive of the magazine article. Hopefully you're more successful with your unit. (I think you'll find the MC7805 there is indeed plastic not ceramic. Moto produced various power transistors and regulators in those packages (case 90 in Moto parlance) as well as a smaller version from the same plastic material) A 9V wall wart would probably do for the power supply, or remove the regulator and use a modern 5V switching wall wart (not that I wish to promote wall warts, but if they're on hand . . )

10 years, 2 months

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ADM 3a with no horizontal scan

by lists＠loomcom.com

Hey folks, I've been on a tear trying to resurrect old projects here, and next on the list is an ADM 3a. This particular 3a has no horizontal scan. None at all. I just get a vertical line down the center of the screen. First thing I checked was the horizontal deflector on the yoke, which seems secure. Before I go diving into the schematics, I figured I'd ask here: Is this a common failure mode? Has anyone else experienced no horizontal scan on a 3a? Any tips on where to look first? -Seth -- Seth Morabito seth at loomcom.com

10 years, 2 months

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Stuff searching for new home around Duesseldorf, germany

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Peter Koch > rumours are that kids do place stuff like this into their parents > basement :-) I've even heard rumours of parents placing stuff like this into their kids basements! (I certainly have some PDP-11's in my daughter's old bedroom! :-) Noel

10 years, 2 months

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A tale of a chip and a socket

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Torfinn Ingolfsen > Most likely a bad solder joint. That was my first thought, and so I carefully inspected all the pins, but they all looked good to me. But I suppose it might have been something that wasn't visually obvious. Noel

10 years, 2 months

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A tale of a chip and a socket

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

So I just had the incredibly amusing experience of managing to repair an -11/04 CPU by un-soldering a chip, putting in a socket, and putting _the same chip_ back in that socket! Before you go 'WTF?!?!', let me explain what happened. The CPU wouldn't run, and in poking around, I stumbled on the cause: all the registers would not 'take' 1's in the 0360 bits. Hmm, 4 contiguous bits - sounds like it might be a bad register file chip. But before I pulled it, I wanted to make sure it wasn't some other part of the data path - Mux, ALU, etc. So I put a DIP clip on the chip, whipped up a 3-instruction 'scope loop that would exercise it, and... while I was looking at it, the problem went away! WTF? So I pull the clip - and the problem comes back. Repeat. Clearly there's a bad connection in the chip, and the pressure of the clip is 'fixing' it. So I pull the chip, put in a socket (I always use sockets on repairs, I'm paranoid I'll overheat the parts - I don't mind living with an potential eventual bad contact from corrosion), and figure what the heck, let me see if fiddling with it fixed the bad connection - and sure enough, it now seems to work! And if it eventually fails, no problem - it's in a socket, I know where to go if the machine stops working, those P3101A's are rare and expensive, etc! :-) Noel

10 years, 2 months

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Stuff searching for new home around Duesseldorf, germany

by cctalk.pkoch＠dfgh.net

Hi all, we have been using two Sun 6800 (each fully equipped with 96GB of RAM and 24 Sparc III processors 1.2GHz) for many years. Now they are retired and must leave our machine room to make place for newer machines. Anybody out there willing to give them a new home? They are very good in transforming electric energy into heat. And by activating only some of the processor boards you can regulate the heat flow. Your wife will love to stand behind it and use it as a whole-body blow-dryer. Take one for free and you will get another one for no additional costs. While rearranging our machine room, we found lots of other stuff that must go away too. Here's the current list: - Sun E250 - Sun A5200, 2xA5100, D1000 with lots of disks - Sun E450, 2x, one is still needed for a couple of months - Sun L1000, 3x, one is still needed for a couple of months - Sun 6800, 2 fully equipped and a third one for spare parts - Sun 880 with 12 disks - Sun 480 2x, with spare processor boards - Sun L11000 tape library (aka ATL P3000) with 6 drives and lots of tapes Be warned: You need a truck with lift to transport a Sun 6800. It's 191x130x61cm and weights approx 500kg. Same thing with the tape library: 192x72x145cm, approx. 600kg. On the other hand rumours are that kids do place stuff like this into their parents basement :-) I took some pictures and uploaded then to http://flic.kr/s/aHskuakSMT Peter

10 years, 2 months

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really old test equip

by sales＠elecplus.com

When I was at the recycler last week, I saw a lot of really OLD test equipment. I started looking through it to see if there were things I could recognize, but the closest thing I could figure out was a 1940s telephone equipment tester. All of these were portable, with lids that closed with latches. Probably weighed abt 20-30 pounds each. Any cables that might have been needed to run the equipment was gone. If things like this are of interest in the $25 range, then I can pick some up next time I see them. Unfortunately I have no cell phone numbers for anyone in the DFW area to tell them to come and see the goodies while I am there, and they will not let strangers come in and poke around. I am (or was) an electronics tech, but most of the functions on these old test machines eluded me. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

10 years, 2 months

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Shipping big things across the atlantic.

by pontus＠Update.UU.SE

Hi. I'm considering to ship an empty full height rack from the USA to Sweden. It is definitely something I wont find here so it might be worth the cost and effort. What are my options to get it here safely? If you have any experience I would greatly appreciate if you could share them. Thanks in advance, Pontus.

10 years, 2 months

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Voltage regulator with alternate voltage source...

by wulfman＠wulfman.com

You should be just fine. On 4/7/2016 1:38 PM, Bill Sudbrink wrote: > If you have a circuit which is normally designed to > operate with an unregulated supply, through a regulator... > say unregulated +8 through a 7805 to a regulated +5 and > you want to test it independent of the +8 supply, if > you leave the unregulated rail unattached and put +5 > switcher straight onto the regulated +5 rail, will you > damage the 7805? Clearly the VIN is open, but the ground > pin will still be attached. Would this push voltage > back through and screw things up? > > Thanks, > Bill S. > > > -- The contents of this e-mail and any attachments are intended solely for the use of the named addressee(s) and may contain confidential and/or privileged information. Any unauthorized use, copying, disclosure, or distribution of the contents of this e-mail is strictly prohibited by the sender and may be unlawful. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately and delete this e-mail.

10 years, 2 months

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Why do good floppy disks go bad?

by jplist2008＠kiwigeek.com

I had one of those Japanese Koan moments recently when someone asked me "Why do floppy disks stop working?" and I realised I... didn't actually know. I thought I'd throw it to the group and get some theories/proofs. Let's work on the assumption we're talking about 5.25" and 3.5" disks. Several guesses: - Repeated use slowly wears away the magnetic media layer on the mylar. - When left in an unprotected state, or a poor environment, damp, mold and dust can damage the surface, either degrading the magnetic layer or causing the gap to shrink enough that the drive head physically damages the disk? - Quantum fluctuations in the state of the universe, caused by millions of mostly non-interacting particles passing through a disk in any given minute, alter the magnetic spin of the ferric atoms causing gradual data loss over time (mostly tongue-in-cheek) - Given the lack of use of most floppy drives they themselves pick up 'gunk' and on first reading a diskette after a long time of disuse damage it. It _seems_ like when you put a 3.5" disk down for ten years and pick it back up, a disk that used to work fine no longer does. Of course, after ten years, it could be your own memory that's failed. Dare I ask, what's the consensus? - JP

10 years, 2 months

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Voltage regulator with alternate voltage source...

by ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk

> > > 1) I have a 12 volt DC supply. 12 volts seems to be > > > within the VIN range for the 7805s whose data > > > sheets I've now read. Can I simply apply 12 volts? > > > > Yes, but that regulator might get mighty hot! I would > > not do this for fear of cooking the poor thing. > > That's what I figured to start with, before reading the > datasheets. If as your photos (in another message) suggest it will run OK from 8V with no heatsink on the 7805, then I would be pretty sure it will be OK at 12V if you bolt a reasonable heatsink to the regulator. Give it a smear of silicone grease, of course. -tony

10 years, 2 months

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Voltage regulator with alternate voltage source...

by ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk

> > First, a few quick "whys": > > 1) The 7805 is actually a Motorola MC7805CP, date > code 7308 with gold leads. Very hard to exactly > replace. Any reason why it would have to be an exact replacement? In any case, the behaviour of the 7805 if you apply a voltage to the output with the input floating may well depend on the manufacturer and even the date (some devices were improved over the years). Unless you have a 1973-or-so data sheet from Motorola, I don't think you know whether it will be damaged or not. [...] > 1) I have a 12 volt DC supply. 12 volts seems to be > within the VIN range for the 7805s whose data > sheets I've now read. Can I simply apply 12 volts? Yes, but... The power disipated in the 7805 will increase, in fact it will be more than doubled. To put it crudely, a linear regulator acts like an automatic variable resistor. I have no idea what current the load takes, let's call it I. If you supply 8V, then the power disipated in the 7805 is 3*I watts, if you supply 12V it's 7*I. This may or may not be a problem. > 2) Could I place a resistor in series between the 12V > supply and the 7805 to drop the voltage at the 7805 > to somewhere around 8? Yes. You need to know the maximum current the load will draw, which will be much the same as the current drawn >from the PSU. Then just calculate the resistor to drop 4V at that current. If you can find one, you could probably use a 7808 to supply 8V to the unit from a 12V supply. Or a 7805 'jacked up' with a 3.3V zener diode (in series with the common lead to the extra 7805 only). My guess is that giving it 12V will be fine though. What is the device, and do you have any idea how much current it is going to draw? -tony

10 years, 2 months

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Voltage regulator with alternate voltage source...

by wdonzelli＠gmail.com

> 1) The 7805 is actually a Motorola MC7805CP, date > code 7308 with gold leads. Very hard to exactly > replace. Is that the big flat plastic package with the wide flat leads? I might have a few of those around, but I agree, not an easy variant to find. > 1) I have a 12 volt DC supply. 12 volts seems to be > within the VIN range for the 7805s whose data > sheets I've now read. Can I simply apply 12 volts? Yes, but that regulator might get mighty hot! I would not do this for fear of cooking the poor thing. > 2) Could I place a resistor in series between the 12V > supply and the 7805 to drop the voltage at the 7805 > to somewhere around 8? Yes, you could do this. Pick an appropriate power resistor, or use a big wirewound rheostat. > 3) If I was to "tack on" a jumper between VIN and VOUT, > would that protect the 7805 and allow me to power the > circuit with 5 volts? I would not do this at all. -- Will

10 years, 2 months

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Dumb terminals for daily use today; failure scenarios

by echristopherson＠gmail.com

If one were to use a dumb CRT terminal from the early '70s regularly in this day and age, would it be more prone to hardware failure than if it were kept in storage or just kept to look at but powered off? -- Eric Christopherson

10 years, 2 months

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VCF Europe, April 30th - May 1st, Munich + registration for VCF Berlin

by stueberahoo＠yahoo.de

Hi list, the 17th edition of VCF Europe[0] is coming soon! It will take place on April 30th and May 1st in Munich, Germany. Please be aware that the information on the English version of the website might be outdated or less detailed than on the German page, but Google Translate will help. Also the registration for VCF Berlin[1] in October is open now. We are looking for speakers, workshop instructors and exhibitors, both for the regular exhibition and this year's special exhibition on computers and languages. It will be open for visitors on Sunday, 2nd and Monday, 3rd of October, as the 3rd October is a public holiday in Germany, but we are thinking about inviting people to build up on Friday already and using Saturday, 1st of October as a day just for the participants and the community. This way there would be more time to talk and see the other exhibitions. Maybe we could even offer advanced workshops on Saturday. Come and visit us! Ping me if you need a place to stay. Regards, Anke [0] http://vcfe.org/E/index.html [1] http://vcfb.de/2016/index.html.en

10 years, 2 months

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Pinging Joe Rigdon

by connork＠connorsdomain.com

Anyone know if Joe Rigdon is still around? Thanks, -Connor K

10 years, 2 months

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Voltage regulator with alternate voltage source...

by jrr＠flippers.com

On 04/07/2016 2:18 PM, Bill Sudbrink wrote: > drlegendre wrote: >> Not saying it's going to smoke-out, but it does >> seem like a wonky thing to do. > I disagree about "wonky" let me try with more > diagram and less English: > > (+8) > | > VIN| ceramic cap > |-----][----- > ___|____ | > | 7805 |----------GROUND > -------- | > | | > VOUT|(+5) | > | | > ___|____ | > | LOAD |-------| > -------- > > +8 is not currently available (no pun intended). > I would like to test LOAD without removing 7805 > as it is soldered in place. Is damage to 7805 > likely if alternative regulated current is applied > at (+5) and (+8) is left open? > > Bill S. > > > Yes, you can damage the 7805 - READ the data sheets... Raising the Output Voltage above the Input Voltage: Since the output of the device does not sink current, forcing LM340/LM78MXX Series 3-Terminal Positive Regulators LM340/LM78MXX Series 3-Terminal Positive Regulators the output high can cause damage to internal low current paths in a manner similar to that just described in the ?Short- ing the Regulator Input? section. LM340/LM78MXX Series 3-Terminal Positive Regulato John :-#(# -- John's Jukes Ltd. 2343 Main St., Vancouver, BC, Canada V5T 3C9 Call (604)872-5757 or Fax 872-2010 (Pinballs, Jukes, VideoGames) www.flippers.com "Old pinballers never die, they just flip out"

10 years, 2 months

2
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Why do good floppy disks go bad?

by kspt.tor＠gmail.com

The problem with lifetime warranties is that they're not about the lifetime of the owner, and they're not about the lifetime of the product. What it means is "as long as it's a product we're still selling" (except for those cases where it *really* is the lifetime of the product.. in which case it means "the warranty is valid until the product fails").

10 years, 2 months

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Mac SE/30 analogue board and PS caps

by dave＠661.org

Does anyone have a list of the capacitors on the analogue board and power supply for a Mac SE/30? -- David Griffith dave at 661.org A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?

10 years, 2 months

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Voltage regulator with alternate voltage source...

by geneb＠deltasoft.com

On Thu, 7 Apr 2016, Bill Sudbrink wrote: > Maybe I'm overthinking this. If I just put > regulated +5 on the 7805 VIN will it work? > Isn't the minimum input voltage for a 7805, 6vdc? g. -- Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007 http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind. http://www.diy-cockpits.org/coll - Go Collimated or Go Home. Some people collect things for a hobby. Geeks collect hobbies. ScarletDME - The red hot Data Management Environment A Multi-Value database for the masses, not the classes. http://scarlet.deltasoft.com - Get it _today_!

10 years, 2 months

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Voltage regulator with alternate voltage source...

by henk.gooijen＠hotmail.com

-----Oorspronkelijk bericht----- From: Bill Sudbrink Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2016 10:38 PM To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts' Subject: Voltage regulator with alternate voltage source... If you have a circuit which is normally designed to operate with an unregulated supply, through a regulator... say unregulated +8 through a 7805 to a regulated +5 and you want to test it independent of the +8 supply, if you leave the unregulated rail unattached and put +5 switcher straight onto the regulated +5 rail, will you damage the 7805? Clearly the VIN is open, but the ground pin will still be attached. Would this push voltage back through and screw things up? Thanks, Bill S. --------- It is a special situation I have never seen, but I would try to disconnect the output of the 7805 before connecting a foreign +5V to the circuit. It is good practice to have a diode reverse connected from output to input to prevent damage to the 78xx in the case that the output voltage gets higher than the input voltage. Normally that would not happen, but if you have a high capacitance at the output and the load is minimal it could be possible when power is switched off that the input voltage dropped, but due to the big capacitor at the output the output voltage did not yet drop. And then that diode in reverse from output to input comes into play. Now the input is not connected, but GND and the output are ... I would have a look at a data sheet of the 78xx series to see what could happen if the input is not connected, but the output is. So, if possible, simply disconnect the 78xx output lead first. - Henk

10 years, 2 months

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Voltage regulator with alternate voltage source...

by wh.sudbrink＠verizon.net

If you have a circuit which is normally designed to operate with an unregulated supply, through a regulator... say unregulated +8 through a 7805 to a regulated +5 and you want to test it independent of the +8 supply, if you leave the unregulated rail unattached and put +5 switcher straight onto the regulated +5 rail, will you damage the 7805? Clearly the VIN is open, but the ground pin will still be attached. Would this push voltage back through and screw things up? Thanks, Bill S.

10 years, 2 months

1
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Front Panels Latest

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Hi Guys PDP-8/e A panels now shipping PDP 8/e B panels ship on Friday PDP-8/ f and /m ship on 14th I have some extras of the above if you are quick. Rod (Panelman) Smallwood

10 years, 2 months

2
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DEC fieldguide

by shadoooo＠gmail.com

Hello, I'm a modest collector of DEC and PDP11 stuff, I always thank who wrote the PDP11 field guide with the almost complete list of all the existing boards... Now comes the idea: could be useful having a website where the field guide assume a graphical aspect, including pictures of the parts, descriptions, and so on? Of course it would be almost impossible for one alone to do all the work, but I'm thinking of a sort of wiki, where subscripted users can upload pictures, informations and documentations. Maybe something similar already exists? Thanks Andrea

10 years, 2 months

2
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Giving away 0.35 metric tons of books*

by alexey.toptygin＠gmail.com

*some restrictions apply :-) Evan Koblentz pointed me to a rescue here in the triangle, NC area back in August 2015. Some items were set aside for VCFed, but there were A LOT of books and other media that were up for grabs. Because I'm a sucker, I took and then carefully cleaned and catalogued them all. The master list is here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19UYeJlhiVYVExCAO2NSzcAkBww0kEeAYrEG… There really are 17 boxes, and they really do weigh 780lb or approximately 0.35 metric tons. They're mostly books (from the 80s and 90s), but there are some floppies, some boxed sets, and even a small box of VHS tapes. The previous owner stored all this stuff in abysmal conditions, so there was a lot of mold (and some dead insects and some live insects, and... you know how it goes). I cleaned every item as much as possible. Some items had to be disposed of for safety reasons. That which made it into the cataloging stage is at least scanable, but if it says 'mildewed' on it, and you have a mold allergy, you don't want it. I don't know if any floppies are readable, and unless the catalog says it comes with media, I haven't got the media. Luckily most items survived relatively intact. You can have anything in the spreadsheet free of charge provided: 1) You are willing to take WHOLE BOXES at VCF East XI, you let me know by Weds 4/13/16, and they fit in my car when I pack for VCF. OR 2) You want to come to Durham to pick them up at a prearranged time after VCF OR 3) You are willing to wait until the next VCF East, and let me know far enough in advance that I can set items aside for you. If you want single items, and you don't want to wait until VCF East 2017, I'll do my best to mail them to you after this VCF is over, but you'll need to pay for shipping. I would prefer not to ship whole boxes; they're sturdy moving boxes but they weigh 40-60lb each and I'm pretty sure if you drop them hard enough the contents won't like it. I'm in Durham, NC 27701. I don't want any of this to go to recycling, so I'll try to hold it for at least a year or the next VCF East after this one. After that, all bets are off. Let me know if you are interested in any of this stuff, or if you have questions; in case the mailing list(s) eat it, my email is alexey.toptygin at gmail dot com. Thanks!

10 years, 2 months

1
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AT&T 4425 (Teletype 56D) repair

by lists＠loomcom.com

About a month ago I was given a very nice AT&T 4425 terminal, which was AT&T's OEM of the Teletype 56D. Alas, the terminal suddenly died on me last week and I'm going to have to dive in and figure out why. It appears to be something going wrong with the digital board, not the analog, since sometimes I can get strange characters to show up on the screen (but not always). I did my normal searches of BitSavers and Google, but I haven't found any schematics for the 4425. I don't suppose anybody has them? At least it looks easy to work on. Kudos to whoever designed the innards, it comes apart very easily and cleanly. -Seth -- Seth Morabito seth at loomcom.com

10 years, 2 months

3
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VCF East update - three keynotes, TWO original Apple 1, etc.

by cctalk＠snarc.net

Hi classiccmp'ers. VCF East starts in just 8 days from now. It's at the InfoAge Science Center in Wall, New Jersey, USA. Three keynotes: John Blankenbaker (Friday), Stewart Cheifet (Saturday), Ted Nelson (Sunday). Three dozen hands-on exhibits. TWO original Apple 1 computers, including one up-and-running. Oh and there will be a Kenbak-1 also. :) A dozen-ish tech classes. 8-bit game programming competition sponsored by Hackaday. Consignment room. And the on-site, year-round computer museum is now TWICE as large as before. Come see awesome stuff such as our circa-1965 UNIVAC 1219B mainframe. Kids get in free on Saturday/Sunday. All the details, along with online ticketing, are at http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/.

10 years, 2 months

1
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RSX-11M trouble

by mark＠matlockfamily.com

> Date: Mon, 04 Apr 2016 20:44:26 +0200 > From: supervinx <supervinx at libero.it> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: R: RE: RSX-11M trouble > Message-ID: <1459795466.2891.10.camel at PIV-Ubuntu> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" > > Il giorno dom, 03/04/2016 alle 19.33 +0200, supervinx ha scritto: >> Il giorno dom, 03/04/2016 alle 14.59 +0200, supervinx ha scritto: >>> Hmmm.... RSX-11Mplus 4.2 aren't recognized as TSK images by "normal" 4.2 >> Well... the files have been correctly transferred... i did a DMP on both >> sides >> so definitely I need a 4.2 non plus. > I SYSGENed the 4.8 image on simh, and transferred ICP.TSK, just to do > another try... > > The newly inserted task, showed the same parameters, using TAL ...AT., > but issuing a @command causes the same big crash, dropping me on the > initial ODT monitor. > > I did another test, with DMP. > Only three blocks of the original ICP.TSK are unreadable: > o73, o107, and o177 (all numbers are in octal), with the usuale I/O > error -101, and no mention in ELI DU0:/SH > > I'm angry: the damaged ICP.TSK is TCP.TSK;3 and I did a purge to make > room on the disk the first day I got it. Can't remember if another > version was present... > > I've a couple of questions: > 1)VFY gives me two error I can't clearly understand. > 000541,000226 owner [1,54] > file is marked for delete > > 000647,000000 > I/O error reading file header -101 > > How can I associate xxxxxx,yyyyyy to a file name? > I tried PIP /FI:xxxxxx:yyyyyy/LI with no luck This is a good question but I do not know the answer. > > 2) the .tpc images found in the net, if converted to .tap, are suitable > for use in TU85em? Having no tape unit, I could try to install > everything from scratch using a tape emulator. I would use Simh to boot a BRUSYS tape then copy the tapes to make a bootable disk. > > But the best would be to have 4.2 (*not* plus) tape images or someone > with a running installation so kind to give me the four damaged files. > > VFY seems not to be able to repair the FS... > > Thanks The closest RSX11M (not Plus) distribution I can find is an RL01 distribution of RSX11M V4.1 Since it is disk and not tape it can be directly booted with Simh and it does have a ICP.TSK that should be pretty compatible with V4.2 since it is from V4.1 Baseline. You can find this RSX11M V4.1 distribution at: ftp://ftp.trailing-edge.com/pub/rsxdists/rsx11mplus_4_0_netkit_aq-ew97b-bc.… It will unzip into 6 RL01 disk images and 3 update E disk images. Below I mapped the first two disks and found a copy of ICP.TSK on the 1 disk which is a Baseline image that should run on a range of different hardware. sim> sh rl RL RLV12, address=17774400-17774411, vector=160, 4 units RL0 2621KW, attached to rsx11m41_1of6_rsxm35.ax-d518e-bc, on line write enabled, RL01 RL1 2621KW, attached to rsx11m41_2of6_excprv.ax-d521e-bc, on line write enabled, RL01 RL2 2621KW, attached to rsx11m41_3of6_rlutil.ax-d522f-bc, on line write enabled, RL01 RL3 2621KW, attached to rsx11m41_4of6_mcrsrc.ax-h927f-bc, on line write enabled, RL01 sim> b rl0 RSX-11M V4.1 BL35 124.K MAPPED (BASELINE) >RED DL:=SY: >RED DL:=LB: >MOU DL:RSXM35 >@DL:[1,2]STARTUP >* PLEASE ENTER TIME AND DATE (HR:MN DD-MMM-YY) [S]: 20:36 5-APR-86 >TIM 20:36 5-APR-86 >* ENTER LINE WIDTH OF THIS TERMINAL [D D:132.]: >SET /BUF=TI:132. >ACS SY:/BLKS=512. >@ <EOF> > >mou dl1:/ovr/pub/vi Volume Information Class: Files-11 Device: DL01 Volume label:EXCPRV Pack serial: 00000273341 Owner: [1,1] Protection: [RWCD,RWCD,RWCD,RWCD] Default: [RWED,RWED,RWED,R] Processor: F11ACP >ins $pip >pip [1,54]i*.tsk/li Directory DL0:[1,54] 22-APR-83 18:16 ICP.TSK;1 142. C 22-APR-83 17:48 INI.TSK;1 58. C 22-APR-83 17:48 INS.TSK;1 60. C 22-APR-83 17:48 Total of 260./260. blocks in 3. files >from the RL01 image you should be able to PUTR read and then write to an RX50 as you have done before. Good Luck, Mark

10 years, 2 months

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KY11-LB prints, and versions

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

So I'm in the process of repairing a couple of M7859 KY11-LB -11/04-34 Programmer's Console boards, and the existing FM Print Set was kind of hard to read in some areas, so I looked online for another set, and although I didn't find one, I noticed several other people with the same issue - asking for a better set. My brain did eventually turn on, and I remembered DEC's habit of putting prints for included devices in with print sets for computers, and with that in mind, I managed to locate another set in the -11/34A print set; that one is a lot clearer. To my surprise, they showed a slightly different board from the one in the existing FMPS available online: in the later version, the four 8093 quad tri-state buffers between the UNIBUS data lines, and the internal bus, are replaced by 74173's. I'm not sure quite what motivated this change - no documentation that I know of refers to the existence of two different versions. The PCB is slightly different, but the ROMs are apparently all the same, so >from the point of view of the i8008, the two versions must look the same. (And given where the change is, it can't make any difference to the interface between the card and the front panel, CPU boards, etc, so either version should work anywhere.) Anyway, the version in the -11/34A prints didn't include the actual front console, plus to which the prints there had been heavily marked up by someone at some point. So I have produced a new set of prints: http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/pdp11/MP00015_KY11-LB_Jan78.pdf which includes the front console pages from the earlier set, and a cleaned up version of the pages from the -11/34A set for the M7859; hope this is useful to someone! Noel

10 years, 2 months

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What do members do for substitute monochrome monitors ?

by pete＠petelancashire.com

I'll soon be powering up a HP 9000/310 (98561-66525) but do not have an a single monochrome monitor. Suggestions ? -pete

10 years, 2 months

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Document treasure trove

by Paul_Koning＠Dell.com

While looking for DECnet documents, I noticed that there's a very large collection at http://manx.classiccmp.org/collections/antonio/dec/ . Probably not news to many, but in case some had not seen it... Among other things, there are two CD collections MDS-1997-10 and MDS-2000-01. The former contains a rather obscure document, the DECnet Phase IV Token Ring datalink spec. That also includes the Phase IV routing layer tweaks necessary to support token ring -- or other datalinks if you don't want to use the AA-00-04-00 prefix. paul

10 years, 2 months

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MEM11A Status

by ggs＠shiresoft.com

Hi, The board layout is complete and has passed all of the design rule checks from the board house. I?ll be ordering some boards for me to assemble and test next week. I have also received a quote for ?turnkey assembly? where I hand them the files and get back fully assembled boards. In order to get the price reasonable I have to have 25 *firm* orders for the boards. I?ll be charging $395/ea + shipping. If folks could let me know (private emails please) as to the quantity that they want (don?t send $?s yet) so I know I won?t be $1000?s in the hole on this before I order the boards. The timing is that I?ll probably place the order for the boards (assuming sufficient interest) in mid-May. I?ll let folks know when I have the minimum quantity. BTW, this is for the MEM11A 128KW SPC memory board (not to be confused with the UMF11). TTFN - Guy

10 years, 2 months

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RSX-11M trouble

by mark＠matlockfamily.com

>> The closest RSX11M (not Plus) distribution I can find is an RL01 distribution of RSX11M V4.1 >> Since it is disk and not tape it can be directly booted with Simh and it does have a ICP.TSK >> that should be pretty compatible with V4.2 since it is from V4.1 Baseline. >> You can find this RSX11M V4.1 distribution at: >> >> ftp://ftp.trailing-edge.com/pub/rsxdists/rsx11mplus_4_0_netkit_aq-ew97b-bc.… >> > > Perhaps you did a cut and paste of the wrong link? > > Maybe you meant this one instead: > > ftp://ftp.trailing-edge.com/pub/rsxdists/rsx11m41_and_update_e.zip Glen, Yes, I did paste an incorrect link. Thank you for catching my mistake. Yours above is the correct one. Mark

10 years, 2 months

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3B2 C compiler and Assembler

by lists＠loomcom.com

Now that I have my 3B2/300 up and running, I'd like to get developer tools installed. Unfortunately, I can't find any of them on the web anywhere. Apparently what I'm looking for are the following packages: * "C Programming Language Utilities" * "Software Generation Utilities" * "Extended Software Generation Utilities" Apparently these three packages are contained on five diskettes. If anyone has these, or can track them down, please let me know! -Seth

10 years, 2 months

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Front Panels - PDP-8/e Type A Availablity

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Hi Guys I now have a limited quantity of PDP-8/e Type A Front Panels ready to ship. Type A is the early kind where the selector switch runs from the 12 o'clock position anti clockwise to the six o'clock position. If you have a paid order for a Type A then it will ship to-morrow. The others will go in the order that I receive payments via PayPal When they are all gone you go to the top of the list for the next batch. PayPal Payment as follows $150 per panel plus shipping at $20 per panel, You can order more than one but to be fair everybody who orders in time gets one and the rest to follow. Don't worry there will be a new batch of Type A next week. It gets better there will be a Type B release to-morrow. Same rules as above. Same Pricing Even better PDP-8/f and PDP-8/m artwork is complete and panels will be made starting to-morrow. Release 1-2 weeks Rod (Panelman) Smallwood

10 years, 2 months

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R: RE: RSX-11M trouble

by supervinx＠libero.it

Hmmm.... RSX-11Mplus 4.2 aren't recognized as TSK images by "normal" 4.2

10 years, 2 months

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Xerox 8010 Star software on Ebay.

by mattislind＠gmail.com

Just saw this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/331820201025 In case someone is interested. I was unable to quickly figure out if it already was archived on bitsavers. /Mattis

10 years, 2 months

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C & undefined behaviour - was Re: tumble under BSD

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Mouse > A pity pdos.csail.mit.edu is willing to impair its accessibility for > the sake of..I'm not sure what..by refusing to serve it over HTTP. It's the latest cretinous-lemming craze in the world of high tech - we _MUST_ hide all our bits in encryption, because otherwise some dastardly, evil government agency will peer at them ... or something like that. Let's all just conveniently ignore the fact that if said government agency/ies _really_ wanted to know what someone was doing online, they'd perhaps infect that machine's bloat-/Swiss-cheese-ware, which passes for contemporary 'best software practices', with a virus that would report every keystroke ... or something like that. Never mind! Everyone turning on mandatory HTTPS on their server, refusing to even deign to talk to you without it, can sleep the oblivious sleep of the morally superior, rigidly secure in the knowledge that they have done their bit in the crucial fight of out time, to protect privacy and human rights. ... Or something like that. Sorry. You pressed one of my hot buttons - one that is connected to several other of my hot buttons. Noel

10 years, 2 months

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VR241 Substitute

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

I could do with getting hold of a VR241, but these seem to be pretty unobtainable. So the alternative is to rig up an adapter of some kind to work with a VGA LCD, which also saves on space. I came across the following: http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?38450-VR241-substitute-for-Rainbow -VT240-etc, has anyone else tried this with success? Regards Rob

10 years, 2 months

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List of HP 9000 200/300 i/O modules in plain text

by pete＠petelancashire.com

I'm looking for a list of the I/O modules that is in plain text before I start making one from surfing the web. Anyone have one ? -pete

10 years, 2 months

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AT&T 3B2 floppy format

by lists＠loomcom.com

I finally have my own AT&T 3B2/300, and I'm having a heck of a time getting disk images transferred to physical media. I have here a set of AT&T SVR3.2 diskette images, apparently made (not by me) using dd. I would like to transfer them to physical media in such a way that they're usable by the 3B2/300. Here's what I know so far: * 3B2 diskettes are 720KB, Double Sided Quad Density (DSQD) 96tpi * Each side is 80 tracks, 9 sectors per track, 512KB per sector * Sectors use 3:1 interleave * Physical media should be good quality DSDD * The 3B2 fdc is a TMS2797 (WD 2797 compatible) * The 3B2 floppy drive is a CDC 9429 On my PC, I'm using a venerable TEAC FD55-GV with the "I" jumper in place, so at double density it should be spinning at 300RPM. ImageDisk claims that reading and writing at 300kbps is successful. I have been using ImageDisk to translate the BIN files I've downloaded into IMD files with the following commands: D:\> BIN2IMD DISK1.BIN TMP.IMD /2 /U N=80 DM=4 SS=512 SM=1-9 D:\> IMDU TMP.IMD DISK1.IMD IL=3 (The two-step translation is necessary because BIN2IMD cannot directly write 3:1 interleaved data unless it's interleaved in the BIN image, so you have to use IMDU to reshuffle things... it's complicated!) Anyway, after doing this, what I end up with is a disk that is _almost_ usable. I can boot off of it, but it fails shortly after loading the UNIX kernel. I can run the 3B2's "dgmon" floppy diagnostics on it, and they almost pass, but fail to reliably read and write during the R/W test. Now, here's the thing: If I use the exact same media and low level format it _on the 3B2 itself_, the disks are 100% readable on the 3B2 and pass all floppy diagnostics with flying colors. So I'm trying to pin down what about my setup is not right. My pet theory right now is that the R/W gap and Format gap are wrong. The default values for the gaps when calculated by ImageDisk are 24/64. I've played with 22/32, 34/62, and 42/80, all based on reading the datasheet and/or old Linux "fdprm" settings, but nothing seems to make the disks 100% reliable on the 3B2 when written on the PC. Does anyone have any insight into the gap lengths used by the 3B2? Or, have you successfully written 3B2 floppies from disk image before? -Seth -- Seth Morabito

10 years, 2 months

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Original HP 2116A is running again!

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

what is tumble? Ed# In a message dated 4/3/2016 12:41:59 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, aek at bitsavers.org writes: On 4/2/16 2:01 PM, william degnan wrote: > Thanks for that. I could not find much about the 2116A (2114/15) software > on Bitsavers or the HP museum site. Where else does one go for these > manuals? > I have a bunch scanned, just need to post-process them. Now that tumble is running in my new workflow, I'll see what I can do.

10 years, 2 months

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Original HP 2116A is running again!

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

That is really neat to have an "A" We have a few manuals in the library and a few paper tapes. BUT! we recently were shipped crates of paper, some of which I never saw before in my life. There are some HP manuals in there Similar to what Al is mentioning. I will have to look again to see if we have anything out of the ordinary aside from the basic manual set. We have a 2116"B" here which was the Phx Union HS HP-2000 2000A main processor than became the I/O processor for their HP-2000F when Computer Exchange Inc. bought it. Unfortunately when I retired in the early 90's I did not save all the paper tape. I have the stuff in the drawer in the 2000 ACCESS cabinet ( yea was a neat addition to add a pull out drawer in the cabinet to keep taps, pens and etc in!) A few white boxes showed up in the garage at home I noticed recently when cleaning... always grateful to find neat stuff that got misplaced over 20 years ago.... We will wait to see what Al comes up with and see if a fill is needed from our sloooowwwwwwwww scanner..... Ed

10 years, 2 months

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