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

by altair8800＠hotmail.com

> >I was looking at the Altair kit on E-OverPay. The owner says that his kit >didn't come with the Altair label. I also have an Altair that was build >from a kit. Mine didn't come with the label either. Anybody know why? > > Joe My kit did not have a label with it when shipped either. I have corresponded with others who tell me their's came sans label too. One speculated that it is the early ones which were sent out without labels. Don't know why. Bob Wood ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 6 months

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datapoint 1800 (1980 )

by maurice.hamm＠wxs.nl

First I am Maurice Hamm 30 years old and living in the Netherlands. I have a privite collection of old Radio's, Tv's and computers. The datapoint 1800, a dec pdp 11/23, a zx81, a commodore 64, a IBM 8086 etc. What has happend. I have reorgenized my collection room and got the craziesed idea to start up my DATAPOINT 1800 computer. (1980 ) This was my first computer and had for several years lot of fun with it. I am industrious seeking for somebody that knows something about this machine or has some information or docs I got the machine in 1988 and has worked for several years whith it. But now after several years I start up the machine and it did not start up, the screen keeps black !! There is power in the machine, the disks spins and the picture tube is glowing. There is also no response of the keyboard. I think the ROM is emty. There is no self test. I know for certain that it was in a working state the last time I had used the machine +/- 7 years ago. I opened the case to look for bad fuses or contacts but every thing looks ok. What has gone wrong? Question: I know its a long time and a very, very old machine But I just like to see this machine working again. The comp. works under DOS.G I have several programes and documentation and a wheel printer attached to this comp.. Please help me. Greatings, and a Happy new Year, Maurice Hamm

27 years, 6 months

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Really off-topic but who cares on this one!

by rhblake＠bigfoot.com

You have GOT to see this page! It will sure as heck lighten up your day, especially if you're looking at the ice collect on the phone and power lines like I am..... http://viperspit.com/funny.html Check the "dancing baby" page out as well, very funny. And now back to our regularly scheduled mailing list....

27 years, 6 months

1
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seeking docs for Qantel systems hardware

by museum＠techniche.com

Hi, I've got a Qantel model 10 system sitting around the house. My wife used to (I guess she still does occasionally) program on it. Qantel was a hardware manufacturer out of Hayward Ca. They went out of business (sort of) around 1987/88. I say 'sort of' because I think Mohawk Data Systems bought the support rights. I also think that someone may have attempted recently to relaunch parts of their product line. Anyway this system isdefinitely 10 years old. I'd like to see what hardware documentation might be floating around out there for this. In particular I have a real nice High-speed line printer that I would like to get service and interface info on. It was manufacture by Teletype but I haven't been able to find a model number on it and I didn't want to disassemble it right now. It is currently still working fine, but I'd like to connect it to some other equipment. From the little I've examine it, it appears that it might be a current loop interface (the era is right for this also). Anyone familiar with this printer? Thanks, Jon

27 years, 6 months

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Ohio Scientific floppy progress

by bill＠chipware.com

> > So I built the PC to 8 inch floppy converter and > > got the software working (see other message). > > I have tested four of the six drives I have and... > > THEY ALL WORK! > > Not only that, but they all agree with each other. > > That is, a disk formatted and written on one drive > > will read on any other drive. > > > > Can I assume that this means they are all > > What you've done is called an 'interchangeablity test' in the manuals. It > doesn't mean all the drives are correctly aligned, or even that they're all > aligned exactly the same. It does mean, though that they're all pretty close. > It's possible that they're all way off, but I doubt it. After all, how would > they have all been aligned to each other? > > So I think it's safe to say that they're probably aligned well enough to use. Now I'm 6 for 6. All six work, all pass interchangeability. For those keeping score: 3 Seimens model FDD 200-8P 1 Seimens model FDD 120-8 1 Seimens model FDD 100-8 1 Shugart model 801 (missing one cap) Now to go through and jiggle all of the boards in the C3-D, power it up and see if she boots. Wish me luck.

27 years, 6 months

1
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Possibly OT, Memory testing

by wpe101＠banet.net

Can anyone point me to a good utility for testing memory that DOS 6.22 (HIMEM) occaisionally reports as suspect? I'm looking for something other than yanking the SIMM's out, and testing them (it's a govt owned 'puter, and the repair person 'll take forever if I don't provide some kind of serious guidance as to the cause of the problem).. Yeah, I've thought of opening it up, and cleaning the contacts on the SIMMS etc, but, as a Contractor Employee, I don't want to risk getting my company getting blamed for anything.. AdvTHANKSance Will

27 years, 6 months

1
0
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IBM XT

by radack＠juno.com

I have an IBM XT with monitor & keyboard. Anyone interested? ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]

27 years, 6 months

1
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Altair kit on E-OverPay

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

I was looking at the Altair kit on E-OverPay. The owner says that his kit didn't come with the Altair label. I also have an Altair that was build >from a kit. Mine didn't come with the label either. Anybody know why? Joe

27 years, 6 months

1
0
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That does not compute

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

In a message dated 12/31/98 9:42:11 PM EST, adavie(a)mad.scientist.com writes: << I wonder if there are other examples of ins/outs that you oldies remember and would care to share. Things that were ubiquitous and no longer with us. >> how about BBSs? they are still around, but with the net catching on and everyone getting on it, bulletin boards are all but forgotten it seems.

27 years, 6 months

4
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Apple 1

by amc358＠interserv.com

> On Thursday, December 31, 1998 7:49 PM, Andrew Davie wrote: > A gent I've just traded with to obtain a boxed SYM-1 casually What version of SYM is it? I have a SYM that is a slightly later one, 1.1? It's not the one that took a 680x chip (version 2?), but the one after the VIM. I'm looking for a manual, or at least a photocopy of the schematics. Someone from Australia sent me an old SYM manual set, but it was for the earlier VIM. He also sent along the BASIC and RAE (assembler) proms. I'm keeping the BASIC, but would be willing to trade the RAE for a SYM manual. Al McCann amc358(a)interserv.com

27 years, 6 months

1
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FSOT: WANG WLTC "Transportable" laptop

by roblwill＠usaor.net

Hello. I have a WANG WLTC computer that I would like to either sell for a reasonable price, or trade for another laptop/portable computer (preferably classic). Here are the specs: -8086 (8MHz?) -10MB internal HD -WANG compatible LCD (can emulate CGA or Hercules) -Built-in thermal printer w/plain-paper capability (ribbon available) -512K RAM -50-pin Centronics SCSI port for floppy drive, external HD, etc. This computer supposedly has an in-ROM wordprocessor and spreadsheet, but I have yet to figure out how to get into them. I have a not-so-good battery for it, so it will occasionally not boot (sort of like the Mac Portable - must have a charged battery to run correctly). The internal P/S has a small problem in that it will occasionally blow a cap. I think this is either caused by the bad battery or because some of the other electrolytics are starting to go bad (I have no way of testing them). It requires an 18vDC, 1.5 amp external P/S, which I don't have. The person that I previously had a deal with seems to have backed out again, so I'm offering it to the first person that responds with a reasonable offer. I have two WLTC's , and I don't like to have more than one of a single type of computer, so I'm offering it here, where someone would would possibly be able to fix/use it. I'd say that it's a fairly durable computer, since my other one has nearly (a guess) 27,000 hours on the HD, with no bad sectors, it still ran fine, even after it was dropped, until the external P/S got zapped last year. Now I run it off of three 6v Power Wheels batteries. If anyone is interested, or wants a picture of it, send me a personal email, and I can send you one (about 40k). -- -Jason Willgruber (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#: 1730318 <http://members.tripod.com/general_1> PS>> If anyone has any spare WLTC power bricks, and you want to sell one, let me know. -ThAnX!

27 years, 6 months

1
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Glass capacitors that look like diodes

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<The "glass capacitors" that look like diodes look that way because they = <ARE diodes. It turns out that one of the cheapest and best ways to make = <0.1uF capacitors is to make two diodes in the same case, in series with = This is inaccurate. The size of the junction needed to create a .1uF cap would be huge. It would not be cheap nor effective. The cap inside is similar in construction to those now seen on SMT loaded cards. It is possible to make caps using the junction and there are devices that use this principle. However the capacitance is A) variable with voltage imposed across the reverse biased junction and B) 300-500pf is about the upper limit for them. They are known as varactor or varicap diodes and are not found on SA8XX drives. The glass caps were generally just a different package with one advantage in that glass is hermetic. Or better said compared to plastics and some ceramics they are impervious to moisture. Allison

27 years, 6 months

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Glass capacitors that look like diodes

by Watzman＠ibm.net

The "glass capacitors" that look like diodes look that way because they ARE diodes. It turns out that one of the cheapest and best ways to make 0.1uF capacitors is to make two diodes in the same case, in series with opposite polarities (it never conducts because one of the diodes is always back biased). The back-biased junction forms the capacitor, and it has very good characteristics for bypass (decoupling). As for the 104 notation, this is 10**4 (ten to the 4th power). Thats 10,000 pF = 0.1 uF. 50V is the voltage rating. Barry Watzman

27 years, 6 months

2
1
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Shugart Model 801 (8 inch floppy)

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jan 1, 0:08, Tony Duell wrote: > Yes.. 104 -> 10*10^4 pf (read the numbers like the bands on a resistor, > but in pf) = 0.1uF. The Z is the tolerance, I think. 50V is the maximum > working voltage. Yes, the letter is the tolerance, as defined in IEC 63(1963) (and possibly elsewhere). J=5% K=10% M=20% and Z means "something else" or "not very good" or "unclassified", often +20% -80%. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

27 years, 6 months

2
1
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Another DOS source for internet software

by rhblake＠bigfoot.com

Mr "TV Dog" is back up and around with his MSDOS/Tandy 1000 realm and has posted a page of general purpose software for internet use on older non-windows machines at http://www.agate.net/~tvdog/internet.html Just in case you wanted to know <g>

27 years, 6 months

1
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SYM-1 single board computer

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<The AIM-65 (single-board, full keyboard, LED display and 20-column <printer on-board), SD Systems Z-80 starter kit, Motorola MEK6800, VIM-1 <(predecessor to the SYM-1). What about the Intel SDK80, SDK85, SDK88, NEC TK80, the AMI EVKseries and the IMSAI IMP48? Allison

27 years, 6 months

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SYM-1 single board computer

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<I am fortunate to have recentlyly added a SYM-1 to my collection. <Could anybody with instructions/documentation for this machine please <contact me. I'd like to explore the possibility of purchase or trade of <these documents, or copies. I now have the KIM and SYM - would anybody car <to suggest another target to aim for? ie: What other single board computer AS a collector you should study records of the time (magazines and the like) for your targets. IT would give you a better idea of the significance and the relationships of thse items. FYI: AIM-65 would be one to looks for. Allison

27 years, 6 months

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That does not compute

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Dec 31, 20:01, Sam Ismail wrote: > AppleSoft didn't have a PRINT @ statement so chalk that one up to my > arrogant ignorance. Interestingly though, Woz squeezed the '@' symbol > on to the original Apple ][ keyboard above the P key (shift-P = @). Who > knows why. The @ wasn't used for anything inherent in the Apple. It follows teletype usage, I think; CTRL-SHIFT-@ = CTRL-@ = NUL Probably Woz had a use for 'NUL' rather than '@'. w.r.t. "PRINT @", several BASICs (but not Applesoft) had "PRINT AT" instead. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

27 years, 6 months

2
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SYM-1 single board computer

by dogas＠leading.net

>The AIM-65 (single-board, full keyboard, LED display and 20-column >printer on-board), SD Systems Z-80 starter kit, Motorola MEK6800, VIM-1 >(predecessor to the SYM-1). > I have a full doc set for the AIM-65 if anyone needs any info on this machine. Happy new year all! - Mike: dogas(a)leading.net

27 years, 6 months

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SYM-1 single board computer

by dogas＠leading.net

>> to suggest another target to aim for? ie: What other single board computers >> from the era, with on-board keypads, would be fitting companions for the SYM >> and KIM? > >The AIM-65 (single-board, full keyboard, LED display and 20-column >printer on-board), SD Systems Z-80 starter kit, Motorola MEK6800, VIM-1 >(predecessor to the SYM-1). > >There are many more, but you only wanted those with on-board keypads. > A few more keypad systems immediately come to mind.. Heathkit ET3400: 680x based HP5036A: 8085 based IMSAI 8048 controllers: - Mike: dogas(a)leading.net

27 years, 6 months

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Tri-Data Memory Boards

by neil＠goodnet.com

Hi, I have some old memory boards that use the EMM SEMI 4200 Chip (the same as the Altair 16K Static RAM 16-MCS Board uses). They have TRI-DATA etched into the copper. They also have "MCI 1" in white silk screen on the card. They have a strange configuration: 6 Bit colum X 4 Bit row. They also have an EPROM on board. Does any one know where they came from, what they are used for and if they are worth anything. If they are worth something, I would be willing to exchange them for a fair price. If they aren't worth anything, I'll just scrap them and sell the memory for use with an Altair. At any rate, if anyone knows anything about them, I would appreciate knowing about them. Thanks, Neil.

27 years, 6 months

1
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That does not compute

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Dec 31, 20:07, Zane H. Healy wrote: > As for the function keys, until recently I think the only thing I'd ever > used them for was WordPerfect. Now I use them all the time on VT420's, and > wish I knew how to set them on a RS/6000. They would probably be used a > LOT more if people knew how, or if there was some nice UNIX/Mac/Windoz Apps > for setting them to do stuff (of course there probably is, but I can't > think of any). I use them a lot too, partly because on my Unix box there's a little utility called 'bindkey' to assign arbitrary strings to keys. It works for any keys, but generally I find it more useful to assign command strings to function keys, and I'm used to programming strings into function keys on other micros (BBC Micro, Archimedes, mostly). The insert() and string(string) functions in xterm should allow you to program your function keys, but it's a bit tedious by hand, I expect. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

27 years, 6 months

1
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what is this? motorola alphamate

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

At 10:38 PM 12/22/98 -0600, you wrote: > size keyboard and a 3x40 line lcd display. machine also has connections for > rs232, telephone, and din plugs for modem and printer. machine can also run >I tried to buy a lot of those once. I thought they were portable >terminals, but they turn out to be "portable paging entry terminals" used >to send pages to pagers, I assume.

27 years, 6 months

2
1
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Shugart Model 801 (8 inch floppy)

by bill＠chipware.com

> From: Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk> > 25229 : This also has the 40 pin ASIC but with a totally different > layout. C1 is a 0.1uF cap Near the power connector. CR1 is a 1N4148 a few > components back from the middle of the front edge. There are 2 zeners, > CR8 (12V) near the head connector and CR18 (2.4V) about halfway between > the front edge of the board and pin 1 of the 40 pin chip That's the one! I suck at ASCII art so lets try text. Looking at the board component side towards me, 50 pin edge connector up. In the upper right corner is a tin can cap aligned veritically, silk screen seems to be "C26". To its left is the power connector. Below it, aligned horizontally, is a clear component with bright copper ends and fine black print which (straining my eyes) seems to read: 104 Z 50V The silkscreen that seems to be associated with it is "C25". Directly below that is where the missing component was, also aligned horizontally. The silkscreen that seems to be associated with that position is "C1". The leads that remianed had the same bright copper ends still attached. There were bits of curshed clear material stuck to the board.

27 years, 6 months

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what is this? motorola alphamate

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

In a message dated 12/31/98 10:14:47 PM EST, sinasohn(a)ricochet.net writes: << > size keyboard and a 3x40 line lcd display. machine also has connections for > rs232, telephone, and din plugs for modem and printer. machine can also run >I tried to buy a lot of those once. I thought they were portable >terminals, but they turn out to be "portable paging entry terminals" used >to send pages to pagers, I assume. >From my research into alphapaging standards (I was working on a program for the RS m100 to use it as an alphapaging station) I believe that is exactly what it is. A tech from airtouch recommended I just buy one of those instead of writing my own program. (Probably shoulda listened; the pgm isn't done yet.) >> well, if anyone wants this alphamate, just let me know. i dont want it.

27 years, 6 months

1
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RT-11 Crashes During UNLOAD

by jhfine＠idirect.com

Before I go into the detail, let me first say that this bug likely is as old as V5.5 (I only have looked at the V5.6 code on a friend's system) which is when extended device drivers were first introduced. So, we can say that the bug is about 10 years old and qualifies for this list since V5.5 of RT-11 was released in 1989. The bug in RT-11 occurs when RT-11 has had a SYSGEN to allow extended device drivers and a device driver which is extended (allows more than 8 devices - in my case, I was using a DU: MSCP device driver which allowed 64 partitions). In a test case, the following sequence produces a crash: SRUN KEX.SAV/LEVEL:n/NAME:KEXn for n = 1 => 6 after each do a CTRL/B to return to the background Then do: ABORT KEXn for n = 1 => 6 UNLOAD KEXn for n = 1 => 6 I tried this under RT11XM on V5.6 with an RL02 being the boot device and DU: being auto-installed and not referenced the whole time. In the actual situation, DU: was being referenced on a magneto optical disk drive to obtain specified files, but the DU: device driver was not LOADed since there was insufficient space left in low memory. So, although there are probably a number of work arounds, the real problem is that UNLOAD has a bug and does not work correctly in these circumstances. UNLOAD in KMOVLY has a bug, as far as I can understand. In fact, possibly more than one. But, for now, just one that I can handle. It would seem, in addition, that co-ordination between different portions of the monitor may not have been done very successfully since the USR does have the correct code to handle the situation (a "Beq" instruction) while UNLOAD seems to want to ignore the problem. Of course, if the USR had not handled the problem correctly, there are likely going to be many more occasions when the bug would have occurred, so in the USR it was caught and the code is correct. The exact description of the bug and owner tables may not be correct. If so, please refer to the SSM. But the essential nature of the bug is, I believe, correctly described. THE PROBLEM, from what I can understand, is that in UNLOAD, a system job MAY "own" a specific device (done via a LOAD command). There is a two word owner table entry for each device which has 4 bits allowed for each of the possible 8 drives normally associated (DU0: => DU7:) with each device driver. When a SYSGEN is done which includes extended device drivers, that owner table entry of two words is too small and is used to "point" to a 16 word (maximum size) table within the device driver ONLY when the device driver is LOADed (I presume that a .FETCH may also allocate the same 16 words, but they would not be used). SO IF THE DEVICE DRIVER IS INSTALLed, BUT NOT LOADed, the two word owner table entry can't "point" anywhere and the pointer word is set at a default of zero. In the USR, when that word is picked up, a "Beq" is used to detect that the device driver has not yet been LOADed and no owner specific code is executed. BUT, UNLOAD in KMOVLY does not have that instruction ("Beq") and merrily goes and assumes that the extended device driver owner table entry (in the case of an extended device driver SYSGENed system PLUS an actual extended device driver such as DU:) is at the location starting at zero. In the process of disconnecting the system job from a device driver, the first 16 words in low memory are assumed to contain the owner table entry AND the 8 vectors there (00 => 34 - which obviously includes the EMT vector) can be "MODIFIED". Which results in crashes in RT-11. If anyone is truly interested in this bug, but does not understand what I have stated - the explanation I have given is only a small portion of all the detail, please inquire further. Since this bug has not been encountered before - or if anyone has but was unable to track it down - then likely the situation does not occur very often. When DU: is resident, obviously DU: has been LOADed. But I suspect that an extended LD: which is not LOADed could also cause the same problem. The simple solution that I was told about a number of years ago (when I had not yet been informed that it was UNLOAD which was causing the problem) is to not do the UNLOAD, but to instead do a BOOT which, of course, does an UNLOAD of everything. Sincerely yours, Jerome Fine

27 years, 6 months

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Win95 in running very slowly shocker!

by gareth.knight2＠which.net

Tim Hotze wrote: >I agree here, too. Windows 95 really won't like a 486/20. Sure, in >theory, it SHOULD boot, but your lifetime warranty on RAM might >expire before you get to see a Start button. Win95 OSR1 runs fine on my 486 33MHz. Well, good enough to run the occasional game of multi-player Doom at any rate. Now if only I could work out how it managed to upgrade itself from an SX to a DX whilst I was installing Win95 ;)

27 years, 6 months

2
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vaugue musings...

by netcafe＠pirie.mtx.net.au

-----Original Message----- From: Hans Franke <Hans.Franke(a)mch20.sbs.de> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Friday, 25 December 1998 2:20 Subject: Re: vaugue musings... > >> Merry Christmas All >> It's after 7:30pm Xmas Eve, and it's 36C. >> Seeya > >If it wasn't for Christmas, I'll hate you for teasing us >with this ridicoulus temperatures while we have -3C :) Want to swap? I HATE summer. My shop is not airconditioned and I can't take computers apart while I'm dripping on to the boards. I really like cold weather. Mind you, it never gets below 0C here, except maybe a couple below during the mid winter nights. >Anyway, Fr?hliche Weihnacht to all of you. And to you all. It's 9pm on Christmas Day, we had a cool southerly change, and the temp is now a very comfortable 22C or so. But it's still 30+ in the shop. Gonna have to get some exhaust fans or an evaporative cooler at least...... We had Xmas Dinner outside around the BBQ, but it was a bit warm even there. Cheers Geoff Roberts Computer Room Internet Cafe Port Pirie South Australia. netcafe(a)pirie.mtx.net.au

27 years, 6 months

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Ohio Scientific floppy progress

by bill＠chipware.com

So I built the PC to 8 inch floppy converter and got the software working (see other message). I have tested four of the six drives I have and... THEY ALL WORK! Not only that, but they all agree with each other. That is, a disk formatted and written on one drive will read on any other drive. Can I assume that this means they are all properly aligned? I find this hard to believe as two of the drives were mishandled during shipping so badly that they sheared off their mounting bolts and a few of the components on one of the electronics boards were damaged (more in next message). Finally, where is write protection enforced? There is a signal from the drive to the controller. Is that just for the controllers information or does the controller enforce the protection? If the controller or software is bad can a drive be forced to write to a protected disk? Bill Sudbrink

27 years, 6 months

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PC-4 printer

by ckaiser＠oa.ptloma.edu

A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text Size: 619 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/attachments/19981231/90537eb0/at…

27 years, 6 months

2
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Shugart Model 801 (8 inch floppy)

by bill＠chipware.com

> If it has a C1 next to it you can bet it is a capacitor. > You should have rows of them on the card. Nope, I'm sure that it was a diode. The ends of it were still on the leads. There is another one next to where it was labeled "C25". > Is it is the one by the resistor and transistor? > Or the one by the two 'normal' looking capacitors on the other side? There are no transistors on the board. The diode is in the corner, near the power connector. Just for reference, the main component on the board is a 40 pin IC labeled: AMI KOREA SHUGART 16271-0 8130B1M There are only three caps that I see on the board. They are the little silver can types, no ceramics. They are labeled "C17", "C22" and "C26".

27 years, 6 months

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Virus Checking

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

In a message dated 12/31/98 0:33:13 AM EST, Pjoules1(a)cs.com writes: << Agreed, apart from home produced or piarate ones which you have already pointed out are always suspect. IIRC there have been rare ocasions where floppies have been distributed with viruses in bulk, one was a batch of preformatted ones where the master (or duplicating machine or whatever) was infected with aa boot sector vvirus, and I belive that there has been at least on occasion where a major software house accidentally distributed some but that was many years ago. >> i think not long ago that a commercial mac cd was shipped with a virus. can anyone elaborate?

27 years, 6 months

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8 inch floppy notes

by bill＠chipware.com

Using the CP/M FAQ I built a 34 to 50 pin converter. A couple of notes: 1) read the whole FAQ. The wiring instructions in Q14 don't take into account the IBM-PC "floppy twist". Q16 gives the wiring that worked for me. Spent an hour scratching my head on that before I read further. Primary indicative behavior: seeks with no head load, software reporting access attempts with no head load. 2) The Radio Shack General Purpose Component PC Board (Cat. No. 276-168B) makes a great platform to build the converter on. Took me about an hour to solder it up. 3) There seems to be a bug in 22DISK versions greater than 1.31. The directory read code does not seem to use the seek delay. Either that or it simply misses a head step. It always reports cylinder 2 read errors. Despite this, it can format, read and write just fine. It just can't display directories. Spent another two hours on that. BTW older versions of 22DISK can be found with FTP searches, sorry I don't remember where I got 1.31 (I downloaded 5 different versions from different sites). Bill Sudbrink

27 years, 6 months

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Replies to old threads

by Philip.Belben＠PowerTech.co.uk

Hi! I'm back! I've just been off the list for a few weeks - first a course, then two weeks ill - and I came into work after Christmas to find 1200 messages waiting for me from Classiccmp. I am trying to put replies to a few older threads together in this message. SYSTEM/23 I too have a Datamaster, and a number of the manuals. I think these machines ought to be kept running, so I'll provide what help I can. The service manuals are mainly board swappers' guides, but there is some useful info there if you dig hard enough... SINGLE INSTANCE MACHINES Do I have the only Tek 4052? I think there are at least three 4051s on the list. I also have an IBM 6150 but I doubt that's unique. I don't have the only FTS Series 88 on the list - I distinctly remember giving Tony Duell one for his 21st birthday - but I'd guess I have the only FTS Series 86. Oh yes. Tony's P850. Tony wrote: > Mine was made in about 1971. Last time I powered it up was about 3 months > ago, and it behaved perfectly. I've had it for about 12 years, and in > that time it's needed the switch contacts on some of the frontpanel > switches cleaning, and one new TTL chip in the processor. In other words > it's pretty reliable. And you had to re-solder some inter-board connecting wires on the core memory modules. IIRC these wires were little strips of springy stuff. Boards wired together with these while lying next to each other, and then folded over, the springy connecting wire acting as a hinge. Unfortunately springy wire doesn't take as well to soldering as ordinary wire... Philip.

27 years, 6 months

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Looking for PolaPulse or equivalent

by mbg＠world.std.com

I recently unearthed an acquisition from several years ago (and added it to my home_systems web page). I have a TC200, a handheld, battery-powered portable terminal which appears to have been built by IXO, Inc, yet it has a Digital logo on it (so it either was, or was going to be, marketed by Digital). It is powered by a 6v Litium battery, like the kind you find in a Polaroid film pack (but they are not identical -- the battery terminals are in different places). It is called a PolaPulse battery. Does anyone know of a source for this battery nowadays? Also, does anyone happen to have any documentation or other information about this thing? Thanks in advance... Megan Gentry Former RT-11 Developer +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry!zk3.dec.com | | Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg!world.std.com | | Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of '!' | | 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ | | Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler | | (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

27 years, 6 months

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Transformer theory (was:Re: Another ~1960 computer kit)

by Philip.Belben＠pgen.com

Dave Dameron wrote: > OFF topic: > Max wrote: > There's little need to make coils these days, and wiring electric lights > isn't very fun when one can play around with things millions of times more > complex. > > Hey! I've wound several experimental coils this year. Did you wonder _how_ a > transformer works? I know the equations to design one, but am asking > something more fundamental. The secondary winding of a transformer has > voltage induced in it, but what couples the energy to it from the primary > winding's magnetic field? > (Hint: The magnetic field can be zero at the secondary) As the list's resident electrical (as opposed to electronic) engineer, I feel I must make a stab at answering this. Especially since my first job at PowerGen was research on transformers. (Not at this fundamental level though - I was looking at fault detection systems) As I see it, when you have a winding linked with a magnetic field, you induce a voltage in the winding proportional to the rate of change of the field. If you like to visualise lines of magnetic flux, the voltage is related to the number of flux lines that actually cut the wires of the winding, not the flux linked with the winding at any time. This means, among other things, that (for sinusoidal ac) the flux is zero when the voltage is at its peak and vice versa. The transformer, though, is not a differentiator since the magnetic field is proportional to the integral of voltage in the primary. That is, flux = integral (Volts in).dt; (Volts out) = d(flux)/dt (assume = means "is proportional to") Note also that the flux depends only on voltage, NOT CURRENT. You associate magnetic fields with currents (well, I do, anyway), and as you increase the primary current you expect the field to increase. But it doesn't. An equal and opposite effect from the secondary current exactly balances this. This has a number of implications that are quite important for my current (pun not intended) job, modelling power systems. 1. The equivalent circuit of a transformer has a branch in parallel with the primary, the magnetising branch. This is an inductance representing the magnetic field (and it's in parallel, so it depends only on voltage as above) and a resistance representing "iron losses" 2. No transformer is perfect. There is regulation - inductance and resistance apparently in series with it. The resistance represents "copper loss" - the physical resistance of the windings. The inductance represents flux in each winding that _does not_ link with the other, and therefore is not backed off by current in the other winding. But in an electrical system model, the simplest representation of a tranformer is a series inductance connecting two sides of the transformer. Ironically, this represents physically the magnetic field that does not connect the two sides of the transformer! 3. For metering, protection and the rest, you see a lot of current transformers. One of these consists of a high current, low voltage primary - usually a bar running through the middle of the toroidal core - and one or more multi-turn (low current) secondaries. The equation is simple. The mmf (magnetomotive force = amps * turns) of all the windings add up to zero (equal and opposite effect of secondary current again). Because the measuring kit acts as an effective short circuit on the secondary - or drops a few volts at most - the magnetising current is almost zero, and you can thus make very accurate measurememnts. Is this the answer you wanted? Final note. What do you mean by "the primary winding's magnetic field" as distinct from that of the secondary? To a good approximation, the magnetic field is the same at both the primary and the secondary. It may be close to zero, for reasons I described. But the difference between the mag. field at the two windings contributes only to the equivalent series impedance. It is not something to look at when discussing the detailed operation of the tranformer. > As for wiring lights, Christmas tree light strings here are now cheap series > strings although the bulbs may have some wire turns wrapped around the leads > to prevent a open circuit if a bulb burns out. This often don't work, so the > entire string is usually thrown away, like many modern ASIC type computer boards Aargh! I've not heard of that (throwing the whole string away) before but I can well believe it. Philip.

27 years, 6 months

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OT, but info needed: RAM uprade

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<> Yes. The 8259 PIC (interrupt controller) is fully programmable for edge <> and level. It's possibel to go from edge to level on a common PC but you < < <Unfortunately the interrupt inputs on the 8259 are always active high <(specified clearly in the data sheet), so you still need inverters on all <the inputs for active-low lines. Yes and they would be needed as putting raw unbuffered mos inputs on a bus is bad form. <all, the reason for having a PC is compatibility. There are plenty of <nicer machines to hack about with (which is where we started). yes, multibus and other implmentations were better. Even S100 got that part right! Allison

27 years, 6 months

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Looking for PolaPulse or equivalent

by mbg＠world.std.com

I know, but the ones in the film packs aren't compatible with this one. I'm going to try to contact polaroid about it... Megan D

27 years, 6 months

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Osborne 01 for only $5000.00

by roblwill＠usaor.net

I wonder if it was a mistyped $50.00.... -- -Jason Willgruber (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#: 1730318 <http://members.tripod.com/general_1> -----Original Message----- From: Phil Clayton <musicman38(a)mindspring.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Thursday, December 31, 1998 3:11 PM Subject: Osborne 01 for only $5000.00 >Gads!! Check this out on eBay !!! Ha! Ha! HeHeHe!!! > >An Osborne 01 for an opening bid of only $5000.00 HeHeHe!!! >As stated in the ad it could be a "Corner Stone" of your computer >collection.. > >He is even generous enough to include free shipping.. HeHe!! > >http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=50980862 > >Funny thing there are no bids on it yet.. <Grin> > >Phil.. > > >

27 years, 6 months

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ZDTV sightings...

by roblwill＠usaor.net

I've got a Tandy 600. When I try to boot it, it gives an error message, seeks the floppy, then shuts off. When I restart it, it says "critical system error", or something like that, and goes into ROM (MS-WORKS). Then when I try to access something, it locks. -- -Jason Willgruber (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#: 1730318 <http://members.tripod.com/general_1> -----Original Message----- From: Roger Merchberger <zmerch(a)30below.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Thursday, December 31, 1998 1:37 PM Subject: ZDTV sightings... >ZDTV is running a news story on donation of old equipment (right now) and - >of all things - they had a *big* table full of classic equipment! Just in >glancing, I saw 2 Tandy 100/102's, I think an Epson HX-20, and - >wherethehell'dtheygetit??? a Tandy 600! That really caught my eye. > >I'd like to find out what they are doing with the machines *after* the >story... > >See ya next year, >Roger "Merch" Merchberger > >

27 years, 6 months

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NEC CDR-84-1 SCSI Cdrom Info needed

by rhblake＠bigfoot.com

I just obtained a like new CDR-84-1 SCSI cdrom, no docs as usual. I need info on the jumper block (some may be DIP switches instead) numbered 1-6 on back as well as what speed (I'm guessing 3x) the cdrom is rated for. If someone out there might knwo where I can get a copy of it's docs or can scan and attach the pages to me it would be greatly appreciated. The cdrom is going into my Dell 4066/XE server (#2 of 3) to be used on a BBS I'm setting back up.

27 years, 6 months

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SCSI floppies

by Philip.Belben＠pgen.com

Tony Duell wrote: > I'm quite sure that things like SPARCbooks are normally considered to be > both laptops and workstations.... Oh yes. Obvious really. My SPARCbook has no internal floppy drive and communicates with an external one via the SCSI bus. Since it is my employer's property, not mine, I haven't dismantled it to see what's inside, but I imagine a standard floppy drive and an interface board... Some years ago we had a piece of data acquisition equipment called MDAS-7000. Originally made by Transera corp., by the time we bought one by Kaye Instruments. This had a 68000 CPU, a UNIX-alike in ROM (called Rnix), and built in Tektronix BASIC. The floppy drive on this was not connected to the CPU board. There was a separate board controlling it, based around an 80188 CPU, that communicated with the CPU board via, you guessed it, the SCSI bus. I wonder if the box still exists, and if so, if I can get my hands on it. Another potential Single Instance machine, I reckon... Philip.

27 years, 6 months

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Looking for PolaPulse or equivalent

by ddameron＠earthlink.net

Hi Megan, At 11:56 PM 12/30/98 -0500, you wrote: > >I recently unearthed an acquisition from several years ago (and >added it to my home_systems web page). > >I have a TC200, a handheld, battery-powered portable terminal >which appears to have been built by IXO, Inc, yet it has a >Digital logo on it (so it either was, or was going to be, >marketed by Digital). > >It is powered by a 6v Litium battery, like the kind you find >in a Polaroid film pack (but they are not identical -- the >battery terminals are in different places). It is called >a PolaPulse battery. > >Does anyone know of a source for this battery nowadays? > Would it be this one? http://www.polaroid.com/products/oem/battery/p100.html -Dave

27 years, 6 months

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Virus Checking

by Pjoules1＠cs.com

In a message dated 30/12/98 21:49:06 GMT Standard Time, ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk writes: > What you're not going to get is the odd one or two CD-ROMs that are > infected, unlike floppies where it could easily happen. Agreed, apart from home produced or piarate ones which you have already pointed out are always suspect. IIRC there have been rare ocasions where floppies have been distributed with viruses in bulk, one was a batch of preformatted ones where the master (or duplicating machine or whatever) was infected with aa boot sector vvirus, and I belive that there has been at least on occasion where a major software house accidentally distributed some but that was many years ago. Regards Pete

27 years, 6 months

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Virus Checking

by Pjoules1＠cs.com

In a message dated 29/12/98 11:03:53 GMT Standard Time, tim(a)thereviewguide.com writes: > > Yes, I booted from a write protected floppy, but before that I did a > virus scan with a normal boot. A basic precaution of which some are not aware. > And of course I don't use MS Anit Virus. IIRC, it hasn't been > updated since 1992 when Windows 3.1 shipped! > Once again, you would be surprised how many people trust it. Regards Pete

27 years, 6 months

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OT, but info needed: RAM uprade

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<If I understood, this could be summed up as: <When an interrupt happens, the interrupt line is pulled low by the <interrupting device. If it's edge triggered, the CPU can't tell how many <devices are causing the interrupt and only services the first one. Assuming the interrupt was active low. the PC made it worse by being edge and active high...poor. <And are you saying that if they were level-triggered, I could have two <devices on IRQ 7? Yes! <And is it easy to design a level-triggered equivalent <to the PC on paper? Yes. The 8259 PIC (interrupt controller) is fully programmable for edge and level. It's possibel to go from edge to level on a common PC but you have to write your own drivers and other drivers would blow up. <Are all PS/2 s level-triggered or only the MCA ones? Only MCA. Allison

27 years, 6 months

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Old Radios (CAUTION)

by adavie＠mad.scientist.com

Recently a list of Russian Radios was posted to this group. I have been in communication with the sellers, with an interest to having them find me Russian calculators and computers (see my page at http://www.comcen.com.au/~adavie/slide/calculator/soviet.html). They indicated that they were able to get just about any model that I wanted, so I asked for the "top 4" - three of which had never been seen other than as grainy photographs. Within a day or so, they responded that they have the calculators I asked for. I have asked for more details - pictures - photocopy - serial numbers - anything!! No response, yet. It will be great if they really DO have what they say they have, but at this stage my scam detectors are hooting really loudly. I'd advise anyone dealing with these people to exercise caution. They may be genuine, but usually if something looks too good to be true... I'll keep the group informed, if there's any further developments. A -----Original Message----- From: Jason Willgruber <roblwill(a)usaor.net> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Thursday, December 24, 1998 10:15 AM Subject: Re: Old Radios I collect old radios, and I can definitely say differently. Just try plugging in a metal-cabinet radio with a few bad tubes, turning it on, and touching the case. Also, get out of the way when a shelf collapses with a 52-pound short-wave receiver on it. Other than that, you're probably right. -- -Jason Willgruber (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#: 1730318 <http://members.tripod.com/general_1> -----Original Message----- From: Marty <Marty(a)itgonline.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Wednesday, December 23, 1998 2:40 PM Subject: Re: Old Radios > Come now comrade Griffiths, an old radio never hurt anyone. > > Marty > > >

27 years, 6 months

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OT, but info needed: RAM uprade

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<The bit is how would _you_ have done it in 1975 with the parts <available then without knowing what would show up soon after. Try more like 1977 for the apple controller. In 75 it was two or three boards of TTL. Allison

27 years, 6 months

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Q: Tandy Model 3 and 4 Displays

by todd.osborne＠barnstormer-software.com

I have a Model 3 whose display has grown very dim. I also have the lead on 4 Model 4's that I can get for a steal. I am hoping that the display >from a Model 4 could be moved to my 3. Is this possible? Are they they same? Thanks, -- -------------------------------------------------------- Todd Osborne Senior Software Engineer FMStrategies, Inc. http://www.fmstrategies.com/ -------------------------------------------------------- FMStrategies, Inc: tosborne(a)fmstrategies.com Internet E-Mail: todd.osborne(a)barnstormer-software.com -------------------------------------------------------- Founder of the Virtual Windows Class Library (C++) http://www.barnstormer-software.com/vwcl/ -------------------------------------------------------- Anagrams? (http://www.wordsmith.org/anagram/) Can you figure out this one? Want the answer? E-Mail me. COCO VERDI MOM (Hint: Think Late 1970's Computer) -------------------------------------------------------- Quote: 2 Wrongs Don't Make a Right, But 3 Rights Make a Left! --------------------------------------------------------

27 years, 6 months

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Zork question

by DSEAGRAV＠toad.xkl.com

Can someone who's got a copy of the game (and is good enough) supply me with a description of the Wizard of Frobozz? -------

27 years, 6 months

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