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

by e.tedeschi＠ndirect.co.uk

Dear Friends, There is no desire from my part to start another flame war (but a discussion, yes) but in answer to the many that have expressed (here or privately) their total disinterest for the *meaning* the *history* and the *culture* behind our collections may I ask them to consider what their machines would mean without somebody behind (or rather in front) of them. Machines are just pieces of metal and plastic. They mean something because they are related to the minds, fingers, emotions, life, behaviours and destinies of the people behind them. YOU love so much that piece of hadware for what it meant to you (or to somebody else you are related with), to your life, to your history of for it meant to the history of mankind. So I am asking *you*, lover of the hardware to reconsider your thoughts and ask yourself what would your collection mean without all of the above. I, for one, will be glad to learn that you had second toughts about this. In either cases it could be useful to read here your motivations. Thanks -- ================================================================ Enrico Tedeschi, 54, Easthill Drive, BRIGHTON BN41 2FD, U.K. tel/fax +(0)1273 701650 (24 hours) or 0850 104725 mobile website <http://www.ndirect.co.uk/~e.tedeschi> ================================================================ visit Brighton: <http://www.brighton.co.uk/tourist/welcome.htm>

29 years

4
9
0 0

AIM65

by dastar＠crl.com

Ok, here it is. Mike Westerfield, the guy with the AIM65s, phoned me yesterday and we spoke about the deal. He has been offered $125 for EACH unit from a company called Dynatem which still uses the AIMs commercially. Mike started a company way back with a product based on the AIM65. It was an insurance rate calculator. In order to make the product marketable, he designed a plastic and a metal-base enclosure. He also placed a compact power supply inside the enclosure to make for a nice complete package. He apparently was very successful with this venture and sold many. At this point, unless someone comes along and offers him more than $125 per unit and buys the whole lot, they are going to Dynatem. That's too rich for my blood. After explaining all this to me, and after I explained what we do here on classiccmp, Mike mentioned that he had a bunch of other stuff that we might be interested in. He has a whole basement full of stuff he would like to sell off. Here's what he told me he has: EPROM burners Logical Devices GangPro-S and GangPro-2S. These can burn 32 chips at a time. These also have other features which make them very nice. Logical Devices GangPro-8 and GangPro-4 which can burn 8 and 4 respectively. Optical Technologies EP-2A-88 and EP-2A-89. EPROMs A "ton" of NEC-2716 and Hitachi 2716 EPROMs He also has the line on hundreds of Panasonic RL-H18 palmtops. This is a palmtop which came out around 1985 and had FORTH in ROM. It also has a 20-col (or 40-col?) thermal printer and a case which bundles the two together. His company also developed an expansion "tray" which houses extra memory that the Panasonic can access through bank-switching. He sold this product to (I believe) an insurance firm and now they want to dump them all. Now again, he said they have hundreds, and were just going to shit-can them, but he said the company would most likely opt to get some money back for them if they could. He said probably about $10 per unit would get them, but they'd have to be purchased in one shot. Now I don't think that there are enough people here with an interest to buy one. I suggested that perhaps they can set aside a couple hundred and then shitcan the rest because I don't have a couple thousand lying around in which to buy all of them, nor would I want to. It's up to us to come up with a proposal. As far as dealing with Mike, I asked him contacting him. At this point, he would perfer the current arrangement whereby I am the central point of contact because it is easier for him. However, this tends to put me in a bad spot for certain reasons. I'm sure there will be people interested in working out a bulk deal with him. To those people I say feel free to contact him since he is most interested in getting rid of everything in one shot. He's not interested in dealing with onesies and twosies. So he would like for everyone who has an interest in a little here and a little there to contact me about it and then he's going to call me again in a week. This would refer mainly to someone wanting one of the panasonic's or a few EPROMs. As far as the Panasonics, he's finding out more information about quantity and we will talk more about price next week. As far as the EPROM burners, I would think that dealing directly with him would be best. Anyway, his e-mail address is Mikeooo1(a)aol.com. He's a very nice guy. He offered that if there was anyone in New Jersey (I believe there is at least one person here, I can't remember his name) to come on down to his place and he'll show you through all the stuff he has. Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

29 years

9
10
0 0

pieces of metal and plastic

by sinasohn＠crl.com

At 04:11 PM 6/24/97 +0000, you wrote: >I think that there is no need to get vulgar. If that is the general >feeling I apologise and widthdraw my question. Sorry There is no "general feeling". We are not the Borg. We are a bunch of individuals with differing opinions and attitudes. You are one of us, I am one of us, each of us is one of us. Some are more vocal than others. Take what is of use or of interest to you, and ignore the rest. --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad sinasohn(a)crl.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/

29 years

3
2
0 0

MSX, TRS-80, Colour Genie, etc.

by coslor＠pscosf.peru.edu

Greeting: I am located in central Nebraska, USA, and am looking for the following to add to my collection. If you have these systems or might be able to get them for me at a reasonable price, PLEASE e-mail me. MSX computer Colour Genie TI 99/4a I am also looking for any old classic software for these types of computers. My specialty is the TRS-80 Model 1,3,4 computers. I am especially interested in TRS-80 and Apple ][e games at this time. If you would like a complete (65 page) listing of all my hardware and software available, please send me your mailing address. If you would like it immediately, please send $3 to the address below to cover shipping charges. Well, thanks a lot for your time, and I look forward to hearing from fellow collectors. Remember, I am always buying, selling, and trading. CORD COSLOR Archive Software //*=====================================================================++ || Cord G. Coslor P.O. Box 308 - 1300 3rd St. Apt "M1" -- Peru, NE || || (402) 872- 3272 coslor(a)bobcat.peru.edu 68421-0308 || || Classic computer software and hardware collector || || Autograph collector || ++=====================================================================*//

29 years

2
1
0 0

Why?

by sinasohn＠crl.com

At 06:43 PM 6/21/97 +0000, you wrote: >I accept that....but you are such a big country. Isn't it about time you >start looking outside and try to understand other cultures? (no offence But we are a country of other cultures. My father came over from Germany as a boy. My mother was of english descent (going back to Ann Boleyn and Katherine(?) Howard, two of Henry VIII's wives). My sister is an honorary Nigerian. My girlfriend is Russian, French Canadian, and who knows what else. Her sister-in-law is a philippina. Some of my best friends include jamaicans, scotsman, irish, french, german, native american, japanese, chinese, aussies, South African, eritrean, and so on. --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad sinasohn(a)crl.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/

29 years

3
2
0 0

Convergent Technology Computers

by ccm＠sentex.net

And don't forget the Workslate from Convergent. It was the slickest laptop around in 1984. Small LCD screen but built in voice digitization and voice mail system! No disk, only min-cassette. Kevin

29 years

2
1
0 0

CLASSICCMP digest 93

by foxnhare＠goldrush.com

>From: Kai Kaltenbach <kaikal(a)MICROSOFT.com> >Subject: My current For Trade/Wanted List >-------------------- >Wanted: >Commodore PET dual floppy system model 2040 I would suggest looking for a 4040, they are compatible with the 1541 as the 2040 is, more 4040s were made, and you won't have to worry about getting DOS 1.0 ROMs (which should be upgraded) The single drive equivelant to the 4040 is the 2031. Larry Anderson -- -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Visit our web page at: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare Call our BBS (Silicon Realms BBS 300-2400 baud) at: (209) 754-1363 -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

29 years

1
0
0 0

apple II - SCORE!

by manney＠nwohio.nwohio.com

> My girlfriend is a professional sculptress, I don't know why I > didn't ask her to begin with. She recommended plain amonia, which I was > sceptical of. I wanted to use Formula 405 basically because you had > recommended it. Well, the amonia worked great and the case looks nearly > brand new - it sure took several hours though. ;-) Never doubt a woman I'm told that FANTASTIK handles static better than Formula 405. I noticed a reference to trichloroethane a few days ago. I usta use it years ago on Xeroxes. Be *careful* with it on hot parts. I'm told that on contact with hot metal, trichlor produces phosgene gas, which was one of the war gases used in WWI...slightly fatal. :> > You could remove the keys and actually clean the > contacts with alchohol. Is this possible, or am I just going to be able > to get dust bunnies between the keys? I've successfully used alcohol to clean keys by squirting it in there at high pressure from a bottle. Have you tried MEK? I think of alcohol (the kind without water) and MEK as safe on almost anything.

29 years

1
0
0 0

A very nice evening

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

Last night, a saintly gentleman was kind enough to present me with several wonderful pieces of equipment and parts, including: - IBM 5100 with a box of tapes! - KIM-1 in original box(!) w/documentation, etc. - Altos 5000 series Z80A with built-in dual 8" (might give this away if u-pick-up) - Tandy 200 portable with docs & carrying case Plus a bunch of useful parts: - Two SoftStrip readers in original boxes w/docs, etc. - Three Shugart SA800 8" bare drives - Two 5 1/4" bare drives - Several PET motherboards and video power supplies (I'm giving these away if u-pick-up!) - Altos terminal (this goes with the Altos if someone picks up) - IBM 5103 printer (companion printer to the 5100 PC) - 4 slightly broken Tandy 200 portables (I'm giving these away if u-pick-up!) - Two unidentified front panels (look for mail on these) - A CardBoard expansion bus (for the KIM, I think) - PET dealer service manual stuffed with schematics, updates and diagnostic program cassette tapes - PET 80-column video/graphics board upgrade w/docs and box Kai

29 years

2
1
0 0

Digilog 1500

by IVIE＠cc.usu.edu

>Roger Ivie wrote: >> >> No promises, but I _may_ have a CP/M boot disk for the thing and (depending >> on how recently my cow-orkers have cleaned their offices) I may be able to >> find a bit of technical info. >> > >Wow, that would be great! It would also be good to get enough >information to add it to the "Big List" that Bill maintains. In any >case, thanks for the info! OK, here's what I have found so far: - Technical manual for "Microterm II" (also labelled "Series 2000") - Technical manual for "Series 1000" - A few other manuals, including a BASIC language manual and something to do with 2780 communications. Both technical manuals contain schematics. I've not yet compared the schematics to see what the differences between "Series 1000" and "Series 2000" are. I've not yet come across boot disks, but I've been informed that we still have one of the machines in our storage shed, so I expect to find one when I get _really_ serious about poking around. Roger Ivie ivie(a)cc.usu.edu

29 years

3
2
0 0

EBCDIC

by rcini＠msn.com

Phil: I also have a "Datamasher", which did work at one point. Now, I can't seem to get it to boot from the Diagnostic Diskette. I don't know if the diskette is bad, or if the floppy is bad. I don't know if it is possible, but would you be willing to make a copy of a known-bootable disk and send it to me?? I'll cover the cost of postage. I'd also like to get some sort of operations manuals, but that is probobly not in the cards at this point. Anyway, when I first got the 23 (also known as the 5322; from a school in Gerogia), I made contact with John Kelley, whose wife worked on the Datamaster project. Below is a copy of the message thread. I thought that you might be interested... ================= #: 517922 S0/General [H] 07-Dec-94 18:27:07 Sb: #517503-#IBM 5322 Datamstr? Fm: Richard Cini 70153,3367 To: John Kelley 73467,450 (X) John: I do have several questions: 1: An historical Perspective -- What was IBM's original purpose for that machine?? I read somewhere that the Datamaster was supposed to be IBM's first 'personal computer' (which flopped after a short time, and was replaced with the IBM PC). If that's true, how long did IBM make the 5322? The PC was introduced in 8/81, but my 5322 has manufacturing date tags in late-1982. What was it like working on a project like that? I've always been fascinated by the thoughts of people who basically created a multi-billion-dollar industry, the market climate, as well as comparing the capabilities of those machines to today's. In fact, I collect old, historically-significant computers. 2: Was there any real software available for that machine, or was it around for too short of a time to garner any significant market support? 3: What was its specifications? I didn't take the whole thing apart yet, I just cleaned it up and turned it on to see if it worked. (Yes, it works!) 4: Do you have any of its documentation original; maybe a system manual or a system diskette? How about schematics or a service manual? 5: Anything else that you may find useful. Thanks so much for your (and your wife's) help! Regards... Rich There are 2 Replies. #: 518568 S0/General [H] 09-Dec-94 08:51:43 Sb: #517922-IBM 5322 Datamstr? Fm: John Kelley 73467,450 To: Richard Cini 70153,3367 (X) Richard, I will convey your questions to the expert and get back to you. I can tell you this regarding creating a multi-billion-dollar industry: the folks doing the development work were too busy with heavy overtime in the trenches to have much opportunity for "big picture" thinking. IBM had a very structured software development process. Back to you later, - John K. #: 519705 S0/General [H] 12-Dec-94 08:52:04 Sb: #517922-IBM 5322 Datamstr? Fm: John L. Kelley 73467,450 To: Richard Cini 70153,3367 (X) Rich, Things were busy this weekend but I did get some info for you. The System 23 (Datamaster) was indeed the first move towards a PC. It was the first IBM product to use a non-IBM processor, namely the Intel 8085. Interestingly, this fact is what made the product revolutionary within IBM, and a threat to some. Apparently there was much conflict internally over the non-Blue processor. Some say that the only reason the product saw the light of day was that Frank Cary (then chairman of IBM) had gotten convinced by the backers of the system. Otherwise it would have died of attacks from the entrenched interests. It was actually IBM's first attempt at a PC. IBM provided business software: billing, accounts payable and receivable, general ledger, inventory, report-writer, etc. IBM provided telephone support through an Atlanta location to users of this software. The "real" PC came along right on its heels and so it never saw large volume, but thousands of users called the support lines, so it was in use. There may have been third party software as well. Some of the managers and developers who worked on this product also worked on the development of the real PC. The 23 apparently started shipping in 1980, and was still being sold when the IBM PC emerged. Big brother was then eclipsed by little brother. We don't seem to have much documentation or info on specs but something may turn up. I'll have to get back to you on that. To me, the interesting thing is that this "PC version 0.5" was almost killed by internal interests, just as the real PC was almost killed. Good luck with your collection! - John K. ======================= ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Mon, 23 Jun 97 11:23:18 BST From: Philip.Belben(a)powertech.co.uk To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu Subject: EBCDIC Message-ID: <9705238670.AA867090681(a)compsci.powertech.co.uk> Last week - while I was on holiday on the Noprfolk Broads - someone (I forget who) asked if there had ever been a microcomputer that used EBCDIC. Anyone else out there have one of these? Know any more about it? {etc.} Philip.

29 years

1
0
0 0

C64 CP/M carts

by chemif＠mbox.queen.it

At 13:54 23/06/97 -0800, you wrote: >> On another note, has anyone ever seen (or have) a Basis-xxx? I know it >> has a number in the name, but I can't remember it. It was an Apple ][ >> clone that also ran CP/M I believe? Something like that. I'm sure >> someone knows about it. I only knew one guy who ever had one, but I never >> saw it. It was a friend in high school back in 1989. > >I believe these were designed/built in Europe, probably Germany. In Italy there was Lemon computer building Apple-clones. Has anyone heard about them?

29 years

1
0
0 0

Basis 108 (was Re: C64 CP/M carts)

by fmc＠reanimators.org

Sam Ismail <dastar(a)crl.com> writes: > On another note, has anyone ever seen (or have) a Basis-xxx? I know it > has a number in the name, but I can't remember it. It was an Apple ][ > clone that also ran CP/M I believe? Something like that. I'm sure > someone knows about it. I only knew one guy who ever had one, but I never > saw it. It was a friend in high school back in 1989. Yep, a Basis 108. They are something like the Apple ][+ with integrated language card, Microsoft Softcard and some sort of 80-column display on the motherboard, all housed in a big brown cast metal case with a detachable keyboard. Um...there are also integrated serial and parallel I/O, but I think there was something not-quite-compatible about the way they were decoded so one or the other or maybe both did not appear to be at the canonical slot addresses. They were made in Germany and imported into the US. I can't remember all the details, but I think Apple tried to restrict their import for a while (maybe due to ROM copyright issues?) and the distributor changed hands and/or locations a couple of times. For a while it was in Scotts Valley, CA, then I think went to somewhere in New England. Maybe I have it backwards. I bought one used (via the net) for ~$500 ca. 1991 because I missed my Apple ][+ (had left it with Mom, who just did not get the hang of Wordstar under CP/M and now has a Mac Plus, and yes I got my ][+ back). And the posted ad was for a dream system: Basis 108, PCPI Applicard, Vista 8" disk controller, Videx Ultraterm with a good monitor that could really show the lotsa-text you could get with one of those. All the stuff I had had in my ][+ and, more importantly, *all the stuff I had lusted after*. The only problems were due to some carelessness in packing, and the system was shipped from Connecticut to California. Mistakes submitted for your educational experience: The floppy drives are mounted by way of having brackets screwed to them which are then screwed to the base. The end result is that for each of two floppy drives there are these two brackets holding a floppy drive some distance above the base. Well, the shipper left them in, and UPS threw the package around enough that the brackets deformed and broke loose from the base. So the floppy drives with brackets could rattle around inside. (To be fair, I'm not sure I'd have caught this either, but I certainly won't ship things where two solid objects are connected quite like that -- not without dismantling them first.) He had also left the peripheral cards installed. Apple ][ peripheral cards just sit in their slots, there are no card guides or screws or anything like that. Well, guess what the floppy drives whacked into as they rattled around, not that I really think they would have stayed in place anyway. The boards weren't broken, but some of the ICs had been popped out and mashed. Between loose bits and spares that came with the system and other bits I had around I was able to get it working again, but still haven't replaced the floppy-drive brackets to my satisfaction. So it has a couple of gaping holes up front with half-height floppies showing where there should be full-height units. ... I don't have room to set the system up at present, so it is in storage. Except for its manuals, some of which are on loan to a friend of mine over the hill in Santa Cruz (who had one when he lived in Buffalo, NY and picked up another one at Weird Stuff a few years ago). If y'all have particular questions about this send e-mail and I will ask for them back and try to find the other bits in storage. It is a fairly thorough set of documentation, including user group newsletters, and would probably shed a little light on things I can't remember about it and Basis and the moves in distributorship and so forth. One other thing I remember about this system is that the previous owner had bought a set of Apple ROMs, then copied them *and* the Basis ROMs into 2732?s with a switch on the back to select one bank or the other. So he could boot with Basis or Apple personalities depending on what he needed to be compatible with. There were some things that depended on each, but I can't remember specifics. I remember seeing slicks somewhere in there for another Basis system that had two half-height 8" floppy drives in a similar case (different cutout up front for the floppies), and have the impression that that was a pure CP/M machine. Never saw one up close, though. Anyone know anything about that? -Frank McConnell

29 years

3
2
0 0

Why?

by jscarter＠worldnet.att.net

At 06:43 PM 6/21/97 +0000, you wrote: >Allison J Parent wrote: > >> There is the matter of customs which many americans have little experience >> with. >I accept that....but you are such a big country. Isn't it about time you >start looking outside and try to understand other cultures? (no offence >meant) >-- >================================================================ >Enrico Tedeschi, 54, Easthill Drive, BRIGHTON BN41 2FD, U.K. >tel/fax +(0)1273 701650 (24 hours) or 0850 104725 mobile >website <http://www.ndirect.co.uk/~e.tedeschi> >================================================================ >visit Brighton: <http://www.brighton.co.uk/tourist/welcome.htm> How quaint. A culture TROLL in a classic computer mailing list. Perhaps you were looking for alt.usa-sucks. At least the subject header now fits. James jscarter(a)worldnet.att.net

29 years

15
20
0 0

IBM PCjr

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

ive also got a pcjr, with a 128k module and a printer adaptor. isnt this thing supposed to run whatever cartridge you plug in? i noticed it resets when you insert one. my pcjr only boots to basic because ive been too lazy to make a dos 3.3 boot disk. i also have a joystick and serial/video/rf mod./300b modem in all their original boxes too along with a tech ref and basic guide. i have a cable/dongle for it that will let you plug in a standard cga monitor into the back. if anyone's interested, i could post the pinouts of the dongle so you can use cga. the last hamfest i went to have pcjr stuff for $1 a peice! that's where i got my missing psu from. david

29 years

7
8
0 0

C=1570 Drive (was Re:C64 CP/M carts)

by steve＠kennard.keme.co.uk

At 21:44 20/06/97 +0100, we wrote: >> >>>Besides, I was talking about CP/M for the Commodore 1541 drive. That's a >>>multi-speed drive that uses GCR encoding, not MFM. Try writing THAT with >>>22DISK on your PC-clone. >>>I used to know that only C=1570 and C=1571 were capable to read and write >>CP/M disks in a proper way. (GCR+MFM) >>By the way anyone else apart me owning a C=1570 here? >> >>Ciao >> >>i own a 1570, its a american one with a step down transformer, Its >connected to my PC, and guess what, it writes CPM!!! >Steve >Emulator BBS >01284 760851 >Keeping 8-Bit ALIVE Hi Steve, Yours was the only one response I get (since now) from C=1570 owners Mine was made in Germany (did you buy it in the U.S.?) Ciao Emulator BBS 11,000 Emulator Related Files 01284 760851 Keeping 8-Bit ALIVE

29 years

1
0
0 0

Help identify these front panels

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

I just got a couple of unidentified front panels. If anyone can shed some light on what computers these come from, please let me know! Front Panel #1: - No bezel - Has flat switches exactly like the Imsai except they're all black - In the upper right there's a 16-key hexadecimal keypad; black keys with white lettering. - Two rows of switches; 7 in the upper left, and a row of 18 below. - There are numerous LEDs arranged mostly in banks of 4 with 7545 TTL drivers. - The LEDs are on a riser card about 1/2" off the main front panel card. The main card is dark gray and the LED card is green. - Three 40-pin ribbon cable connectors on the bottom edge. Front Panel #2: - Very simple design with metal bezel. Looks like it's from a mini. - 20 cup-shaped plastic paddle switches, some navy blue, some sky blue in color. - Switches are labeled "CLR, STP, MRD, MWR, ADR, EXE" and numbers 2 through 15. - Three lights in the upper left are labeled "POWER, WAIT, CARRY, ENABLE" - There's a key lock in the lower right - A bundle of cables trail from the panel terminating in two 46-pin connectors and a few power leads. - An ink stamp on the PCB reads "5172" - 5/1/72 perhaps? thanks all! By the way, if someone needs one of these, let me know! Kai

29 years

2
1
0 0

apple II - SCORE!

by thedm＠sunflower.com

Once they are broke, they are broke, trust me on this, You can remove the keycaps, but the switch itself is sealed in one piece. ---------- > From: Sam Ismail <dastar(a)crl.com> > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> > Subject: Re: apple II - SCORE! > Date: Tuesday, June 24, 1997 12:40 PM > > On Tue, 24 Jun 1997 jpero(a)mail.cgo.wave.ca wrote: > > > Nip! Sad story about key problem... > > > > Can't you take that switch apart and clean it with alcohol? I had to > > do that on my "speedy". Generic keyboard but used good quality gold > > contacts switch in it only minor cleaning there then it worked 100% > > The one key tab needed pounding to get anything but now I just > > merely poke it. :) Total time of repair: 15 to 20 mins. > > I don't think you can do that with apple keys. Once they're broke > they're broke. I could be wrong about this. I've just never tried it. > At the time, I don't think I would've had the dexterity necessary to fix > the key. At the very least I didn't have the brain capacity to think > about it. > > > Sam > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- > Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

29 years

1
0
0 0

Why?

by thedm＠sunflower.com

Im gonna take a risk here, but do any of these folks collect computers, maybe the recent conversations havn't driven them nuts and they can give us some information about old computers rather than start some type of political hate crime debate. GROW UP EVERYONE. ---------- > From: Uncle Roger <sinasohn(a)crl.com> > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> > Subject: Re: Why? > Date: Monday, June 23, 1997 8:09 PM > > At 06:43 PM 6/21/97 +0000, you wrote: > >I accept that....but you are such a big country. Isn't it about time you > >start looking outside and try to understand other cultures? (no offence > > But we are a country of other cultures. My father came over from Germany as > a boy. My mother was of english descent (going back to Ann Boleyn and > Katherine(?) Howard, two of Henry VIII's wives). My sister is an honorary > Nigerian. My girlfriend is Russian, French Canadian, and who knows what > else. Her sister-in-law is a philippina. Some of my best friends include > jamaicans, scotsman, irish, french, german, native american, japanese, > chinese, aussies, South African, eritrean, and so on. > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- > > Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad > sinasohn(a)crl.com that none but madmen know." > Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates > San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/

29 years

1
0
0 0

IBM PCjr (some parts info you y'all)

by marcw＠lightside.com

Something is odd here. There was some 25 PCjr messages in my box. Somehow the discussion didn't get to me 'til it was underway. I did go through them but I don't know anything. :) Anyway, assuming PC Enterprises still carries this stuff, you might want to check with them. The catalogue also doubles as an information source since they give a few paragraphs on various tech stuff. For instance what happens when your system board malfunctions, etc. Here's some stuff from their PCjr catalogue that may be of interest. There's a lot so this is just a few. PCjr System Board #78739 $98 Power Supply Transformer (brick) #78712 $44 PCjr Power Supply Card (original) #78707 $49.95 PCjr Power Supply Card (heavy duty) #78729 $69.95 64K Memory & Display Expansion #78709 $50 Cartridge BASIC #78722 $119 Configuration Plus Cartridge #18026 $29.95 Allows for using BASIC/BASICA if you don't have Cartridge BASIC Compatibility Cartridge #18032 $39.95 Allows for running "modern" DOS apps that normally have problems with the PCjr BIOS Combo Cartridge V3.0 #18034 $89.95 Combination of four different cartridges (available separatly): Compatibility, Quicksilver (memory speedup), Keyboard Buffer, jrVideo (video speedup). jrExcellerator Speed-up Board #14802 $99 Megaboard Sidecard #14031 $199 Adds 1MB to anything else you already have. Load High Sidecar #97509 $35 Brings 640K system to 736K There's a lot more (drives, video, etc.). Also info and memory expansion for Rapport, Racore, and Quadram users. This catalogue is from 1995 and no doubt they don't have everything anymore (if their lack of Tandy parts is any indication). PC Enterprises is the reason I have EMS and SCSI on my Tandy 1000 HX but most of the stuff they used to have is no more. 1-800-922-7257 or 908-280-0025. Getting help is also a problem. Marc -- >> ANIME SENSHI << Marc D. Williams marcw(a)lightside.com marc.williams(a)mb.fidonet.org IRC Nick: Senshi Channel: #dos #IrcHelp http://www.agate.net/~tvdog/internet.html -- DOS Internet Tools

29 years

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CLASSICCMP digest 93

by ghjorth＠sn.no

Will someone please remove me from this list. Thank you. -- +------------------------------------+ ! Thomas Jarvis Bigshaker on IRC ! ! ghjorth(a)sn.no Y.C.D.B.S.O.Y.A. ! +------------------------------------+ It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.

29 years

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Perceptions

by kyrrin＠wizards.net

At 00:02 22-06-97 PDT, you wrote: <snip> >Well, to get more specific, I have the (perhaps wrong) feeling that: > >a) You are against collectors who collect for the historical importance >onyl and are not really worried if the item works or not (as long as all >the parts are in there and the thing can be made to work if and when >required). I have been ridiculized when I suggested this one way to go >about collecting. ??? What on God's green Earth would make you think that? I collect a few bits and pieces mainly for historical value (I've got an original Seagate ST212 in one of my Micro-PDP11's that I don't ever plan to use; just exhibit), and I've never been ridiculed. Even if you have been jeered at, what of it? People have taken plenty of pokes at me for my open criticism of Bill Gates, Microsoft, Intel, et al, and my collecting of DEC stuff that's at least ten years old. My take on this? Let 'em jeer. I see them as narrow-minded victims of the Wintel monopoly's marketing sharks, and I am confident in the fact that I'll likely forget more about computer hardware than such people will ever learn. >b) You are against collectors who want ot take out bits and pieces from >the systems in order to show them separately (but retaining and perhaps >even ehibiting the "crippled" item). I have been refused help in thsi >respect when it became apparent I was going to do this. I don't see an issue with this. What I do have a problem with is people who just blindly throw 'bits and pieces' or entire machines on the scrap heap just because they think they're "obsolete" (an overused word if ever there was one!) >c) You are against helping "foreigners" (and therefore "different") >collectors to export "your" stuff perhaps in the wrong perception that >it will diminish the heritage of the country (yours). I have striken a ?!? Good Lord, man, who's been beating you up? I would WELCOME aiding anyone, in any country, that wanted to restore or collect some piece of hardware that I'm familiar with and needed help to get it going (I obviously can't be of much help with stuff I don't know anything about). Tell you what... if you want proof of this, at least from me, I'd be happy to offer any aid I can with the equipment that I'm familiar with. That includes DEC stuff, from the PDP11/03 on up through the MicroPDP's and VAXen. There are others on here who, I'm sure, would be willing to help you in their particular areas of expertise. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, Sysop, The Dragon's Cave BBS (Fidonet 1:343/272) (Hamateur: WD6EOS) (E-mail: kyrrin(a)wizards.net) http://www.wizards.net/technoid "Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."

29 years

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Today's Scrounging Run

by jrice＠texoma.net

Today's scrounging haul: TI99/4 Impact Printer, clean, working, new ribbon $ 1.00 Mac 20mb SCSI external hard drive $20.00 200 360k floppys, new in boxes of 10 $ 3.00 Mac ADB coil cord $ 1.00 Tandy CoCo/1000 delux joystick NIB $ 1.00 Passed up on a C64 with PSU $ 3.00, Amiga A500 NIB $ 25.00, C-128 $1.00 (looked a little well used), Apple 2e $ 5.00 with Disk II.

29 years

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Computer simulation of an organ (fwd)

by transit＠primenet.com

This is a message I sent to the Electronic Organ list today. They were discussing simulating a pipe organ with a computer. I looked at the Alphasyntauri in my collection, and thought "Been there, done that . . ." ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 08:40:21 -0700 (PDT) From: "Charles P. Hobbs" <transit(a)primenet.com> Cc: EORG-L(a)CFRVM.CFR.USF.EDU Subject: Computer simulation of an organ Anyone here heard of the AlphaSyntauri? This was an organ keyboard, connected to an Apple II computer. The Apple was equipped with sixteen 8-bit DACs (digital-analog converters). The DACs converted digital waveforms (sequences of numbers in the Apple's RAM) to analog, audio signals. The AlphaSyntauri could play up to eight notes simultaneously (2 DACs were normally assigned to each note). Tonalities could be easily selected via software. There were even Fourier-analysis tools allowing the users to make and manipulate their own waveforms. This instrument was popular in the early 80's, but died out before the age of MIDI. By that time, its output (8 bit DACs, relatively low sampling rate) had made the instrument obsolete for most serious musicians (I have one as a collector's item). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Charles P. Hobbs __ __ ____ ___ ___ ____ transit(a)primenet.com /__)/__) / / / / /_ /\ / /_ / / / \ / / / / /__ / \/ /___ / -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

29 years

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IBM PCjr

by thedm＠sunflower.com

Picked up one of these the other day, no power supply, anyone know what this monster needs for the 3 pin powersupply connection? {pinouts}

29 years

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pieces of metal and plastic

by allisonp＠world.std.com

> So I am asking *you*, lover of the hardware to reconsider your thoughts > and ask yourself what would your collection mean without all of the > above. I, for one, will be glad to learn that you had second toughts > about this. In either cases it could be useful to read here your > motivations. Interesting comment.

29 years

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AIM65 (fwd)

by dastar＠crl.com

More information on the AIMs. I am currently working on a bulk deal with Mike for $20 a piece. While these are truly AIMs, they are not "stock" AIMs. They have been altered (really improved). While I think the improvements are very nice, I would've preferred a stock AIM. However, these definitely sound like nice units. Anyway, here's the scoop. Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 20 Jun 1997 15:45:28 -0400 (EDT) From: Mikeooo1(a)aol.com To: dastar(a)crl.com Subject: Re: AIM65 Gentlemen, In response to all the interest so many of you have shown in my Aim 65 collection let me say that they are all in new working condition.The beauty about the Aim 65 is that it was a single board computer which was self contained in that it had its display,printer,and memory all mounted on its board so that peripheral attachments weren't necessary.Yes,it comes with a keyboard and power supply also.I developed a plastic enclosure and metal base and ROM board for the system so the keyboard and power supply could be housed with the Aim in a compact unit and programs could be burned onto eproms which would seat in the ROM board rather than rely on tape storage which involves a recorder hookup and would be quite slow. I didn't like the enclosure or the unwieldy power supply that Rockwell created for the Aim so I had my own plastic enclosure injection molded by a plastics manufacturer. I had a metal base manufactured for the unit so it could be professionally represented as an industrial computer rather than just the "hobbyist's computer" Rockwell originally designed it for.I also have production equipment I developed for creating programs downloading them directly from the Aim into the RAM buffer of eprom burning devices and ultimately housing the programmed eproms in the ROM board I developed which sat on the bottom of the case housing.I have built a successful company around the Aim which is truly an amazing computer and has withstood the test of time as many people are still using it today.As for its value,the unit sold for approx.$450 (computerboard and keyboard) and its part are still in demand today.The display chips alone cost $30 apiece and there are 5 on each display while the print head alone sells for $105,the entire printer about $180.

29 years

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Banning Culture (was: Re: Why?)

by sinasohn＠crl.com

At 07:59 PM 6/21/97 +0000, you wrote: >Is "culture" banned from this site then? (We are getting there in the >end....it's a CULTURE clash, is it?) Yes! No more culture! Only trashy romance novels, Beverly Hills 90210/Melrose Place, and the Bee-Gees should be discussed here! And that's Culture *Club*! (Seequa, seequa, seequa, seequa, seequa, seequa chameleooooon...) --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad sinasohn(a)crl.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/

29 years

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Larry's List

by foxnhare＠goldrush.com

Well after getting my Educator 64 working (yipee!) and realizing I have alot of the Commodores I kinda wanted to collect from years back I decided to write out a quick list (a>this is from memory so there probably is stuff missing and b>it in no way shows how many repeats of items I have (like 3 VIC-20s, umpteen datasettes, etc.) c>I have NO interested in selling any of it.) Hope you find it interesting. (=)) Larry's Commodore Collection: Calculators: Minuteman 6 Minuteman 6x Custom Greenline Rechargable (greenline?) Model 784D PET Series Original PET with original ROMs and 32k ExpandaPET board PET 2001 Series w/Upgrade ROMs 32k PET 2001 Series w/4.0 ROMS & MTU VM Graphics Board CBM 2001 Series 32k PET 4000 Series w/32k CBM 8032 SuperPET Model SP9000 PET/IEEE-488 Peripherals/Firmware RAM/ROM EPROM emulator Centronics Printer Interface 4040 Dual Disk Drive 2031LP Single Disk Drive 8023 Wide Carriage Dot-Matrix Printer Original 'modified' Sanyo cassete deck C2N Datasette in black case C2N Datasette in cream case w/counter Toolkit ROMs (upgrade and 4.0 versions) VIC-20 Series VIC-20 (DIN power Supply) VIC-20 Peripherals/Firmware Commodore Joystick Commodore Paddle Controllers Commodore C2N/1530 low-profile datasettes Commodore VIC-1541 Single Disk Drive Cardco Cartridge expansion unit Koala Pad MSD 24k RAM cartridge Commodore 8k RAM cartridge Commodore 3k+SuperExpander Cartridge HES HESMON utility cartridge Omega Race Tooth Invaders Defender Choplifter Radar Ratrace Donkey Kong Cosmic Cruncher C64/B-128 Series Commodore 64 (8-Pin Video) Commodore 64 w/stereo SID modification Commodore SX-64 portable Commodore P-500 Educator 64 (Commodore 64 in PET/CBM 4000/8000 style case) 64/B-128 Series Peripherals/Firmware Commodore 1702 Color Monitor Commodore 1541 Disk Drive Star Micronis NX1000C Dot Matrix Printer Citizen iDP560CD 2 3/4" wide Dot Matrix Printer Kinney Video Digitizer Alien Group Alien Voicebox Voice Synthesiser Currah Technologies Voicemaster 64 Wico Trackball controller Total Telecommunications 300 Baud Modem Inkwell Tech. Lightpen Lemans Jumpman Jr. SuperGraphics Jr. HESMon 64 Gridrunner Astroblitz Commodore 264 series: Commodore 16 Commodore Plus/4 Commodore Plus/4 w/standard 64 PS connector 264 Peripherals/Firmware Atari style joystick adapter Datasette plug adapter +4/16 joystick Jack Attack Plus Calc Plus Script Commodore 128/128D series Commodore 64C Commodore 128 Commodore 128D (missing keyboard) Commodore 128 Series Peripherals Commodore 1670 1200 Baud Modem Commodore Modem 300 - 300 Baud Modem Commodore 1902 Color Monitor Commodore 1541C Disk Drive Commodore 1541-II Disk Drive Commodore 1571 Disk Drive Commodore 1581 3.5" Micro Floppy Disk Drive Commodore 1764 RAM Expansion Unit Commodore 1351 Mouse CMD RAMLink Ram Expansion Unit CMD HD series Hard Drive Unit Aprotek 2400 Baud Modem SuperSnapshot 5 Utility Cartridge Lotsa Joysticks... ;) Still Looking for: 8050 Dual Disk Drive 8250 Dual Disk Drive SFD-1001 Single Floppy Drive 8010 Modem (acoustic coupler) 4010 Voice Response Unit (speech synthesiser) CBM 9060/9090 Hard Disk Unit B-128/B-256 Series Computer Computereyes for Commodore 64 Commodore comaptible EPROM programmer Commodore 65 Commodore LCD (I wish!) Serial<->IEEE-488 interfaces -- -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Visit our web page at: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare Call our BBS (Silicon Realms BBS 300-2400 baud) at: (209) 754-1363 -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

29 years

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EBCDIC

by Philip.Belben＠powertech.co.uk

Last week - while I was on holiday on the Noprfolk Broads - someone (I forget who) asked if there had ever been a microcomputer that used EBCDIC. I have an IBM System/23 (aka Datamaster) at home. It has system board, mono monitor, twin 8-inch floppies and PC-style keyboard in one box, and a printer hung off the back. It has an 8085 processor, 64k RAM and 112K ROM. The expansion slots are suspiciously IBM PC like... This box programs in BASIC (the 112k of ROM contains almost a complete mainframe basic with matrix ops, etc.) and uses EBCDIC as its character set. It has interesting features such as a file system with 8.8 character filenames (as opposed to the CPM and later 8.3 that everyone seems to use nowadays :-( ). If the printer is switched off or disconnected, it fails power on diagnostics! As I recall, I was given it by a friend at college in ?1988. He informed me that his stepfather paid L11000 (i.e. UK pounds) for it in ?1980. I once tried to get the BASIC manual out of IBM technical publications. It was out of print, so they persuaded me to shell out L30 (about $40 or $50?) for the mainframe BASIC manual. Not a good buy!!! Anyone else out there have one of these? Know any more about it? Philip. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Philip Belben <><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Das Feuer brennt, das Feuer nennt die Luft sein Schwesterelement - und frisst sie doch (samt dem Ozon)! Das ist die Liebe, lieber Sohn. Poem by Christian Morgenstern - Message by Philip.Belben(a)powertech.co.uk

29 years

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CLASSICCMP digest 92

by foxnhare＠goldrush.com

Subject: Re: Classsic Computing Newsgroup revisited Message-ID: <199706222028.4491(a)tw500.eng.cam.ac.uk> >> I'm against new newsgroups being created, especially when the topics >> are quite technical and already well-handled by existing newsgroups. >> For example, people wanting Apple II help can go to comp.sys.apple2, >> users of various CP/M systems hang around comp.os.cpm, PDP-11 >> users have vmsnet.pdp-11, etc. >Agreed. Off-hand I can't think of a single classic computer which is not >covered by at least one existing newsgroup. If you don't know which group >to post to, you'll find that most of them are quite friendly to >just-off-topic questions. If you find an obscure Z80 machine that didn't >ever run CP/M, I'm quite sure that a post to comp.os.cpm would get either >some help or a pointer to the appropriate newsgroup. I'd be _very_ >supprised if it got a flame. Let's get this straight: A) alt.technology.obsolete does not need to be created, it has been on the net for at least as long as I have (6+ months) B) The newsgroup is currently dead (except for the occasional spamming post.) C) having specific newsgroups is ok, but what if you want the open discussion of computers like we have here? I kinda get irked seeing Spectrum posts in comp.sys.cbm. But wouldn't mind on a mixed group, because I am in that mode when I am reading it. (sound logical?) So, again, the newsgroup (alt.technology.obsolete) exists now and has been in existence for quite a while and I suggest we put this good opportunity (and name) to use. Larry Anderson -- -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Visit our web page at: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare Call our BBS (Silicon Realms BBS 300-2400 baud) at: (209) 754-1363 -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

29 years

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Computer Ind. Books

by foxnhare＠goldrush.com

>From: "e.tedeschi" <e.tedeschi(a)ndirect.co.uk> >Subject: bibliography >What do you think of this bibliography? Have I missed any important book >on the subject? Please help me in making this a useful refence for >everybody to use, if you care. Thank you There was also one by COMPUTE! Books, the (Small?) Computer Wars I think the author's name is Michael Tomzyk. I have yet to find it (or many that you mentioned) Though I found Steven Levy's Hackers very entertaining! One interesting book my wife came across in a thrift store is: "The Compleat Computer" a compilation edited by Dennie Van Tassel. It was printed in 1976 and has alot of press clippings, cartoons, articles and anecdotes of the then blossoming microcomputer age. One nice bit is the transcript of the session between Eliza (the psychiatrist program) and Parry (the paranoid program). Larry Anderson -- -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Visit our web page at: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare/ Call our BBS (Silicon Realms BBS 300-2400 baud) at: (209) 754-1363 -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

29 years

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Collecting old microprocessors (as opposed to Computers)

by bluesky6＠ix.netcom.com

Does any one here collect old microprocessors like 4004, 4040, 8008, 8080 etc? The oldest CPU type I have is an NEC 8080A. Still trying to figure out how to make use of it. The legs are pretty corroded (used to live in humid climates). I've a Z8001 too, paid more than $100 for it but never used. Maybe I'll find an Olivetti M20 one of these days... There's a UK company that used to advertise in the UK version of the Elektor 4-5 years ago. They advertised the TI9900, NS32032 and other odd CPUs. Ben

29 years

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IBM PCjr

by IVIE＠cc.usu.edu

> -spc (Although with proper programming, the CGA could support 160x100 > 16 colors (or was it 160x200?)) 160x100. You program the 6845 to display two scanlines per character then use the half-on/half-off blocks to control the pixels. Roger Ivie ivie(a)cc.usu.edu

29 years

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Collecting old microprocessors (as opposed to Computers)

by IVIE＠cc.usu.edu

> The reason I liked the 7000 so much was the display. It used a - I want > to say NEC 7202 display chip - might be wrong tho. It allowed vector > graphics and text to share the same screen. You could tell it how much > text and then anything above that was graphics. It took basically plotting > commands to do the graphics. Never did understand why that didn't catch > on! That would be the NEC 7220. It was also used in the DEC Rainbow graphics option; I've not seen a DECmate II graphices option, but I suspect it was used there as well. A friend of mine built a video card for an Apple ][ using the 7220. We could do 1024 x 780, IIRC. He was experimenting with it and a touch screen device (a flat glas plate to go over the monitor with transducers along two edges; it put a high-frequency vibration on the glass then listened for echoes) as a programmable user interface. We were using Microsoft F80 on the Softcard connected to 8" DSDD diskettes. When does it start being an Apple ][ and start being a CP/M machine? Oh yeah; we used a plotting library from a company called Tesseract. Anyone else used it? Roger Ivie ivie(a)cc.usu.edu

29 years

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H8 Computer

by manney＠nwohio.com

> >What is a Heath H8 worth? I generally see H89's go for $25 US at hamfests. *I* wouldn't tie up $100 unless it was lovely and I really wanted one. Of course...it's worth what you want to pay for it, as Jim says

29 years

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PLEASE READ - suggestions to reduce list traffic

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

I'd like to suggest that we all keep in mind the following tenets to help reduce the amount of superfluous traffic on this discussion list: - If your reply is to one individual, please send directly to them (you'll have to override your email program's default Reply address). - Please direct responses to solicitations such as group purchases, etc. directly to the solicitor only. thanks! Kai

29 years

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Jr. Dragons?

by jscarter＠worldnet.att.net

It's been years since I fiddled with a PCjr. It has a self test, to activate press Control-Alternate-Insert. Can't remember the specifics of the self test though. I don't know if Lotus for the jr required a disk, but I have been told it came on two separate cartridges. At 02:35 PM 6/23/97 +0000, you wrote: >As such, right now I have 1 complete Jr with floppy drive, sidecar, and >128K mem expansion (I believe... hafta look at the chips & calculate the >storage) with an extra internal floppy drive, an extra motherboard, an >extra keyboard (neither are chicklet, and one has a few stuck keys) I think >there was a Lotus 123 cartridge with it (but I heard rumors that it needed >a disk as well?) and a basic cartridge. There may be more stuff, but I >haven't looked at it since the move... > >Are you interested in it? > >HTH, >Roger "Merch" Merchberger James jscarter(a)worldnet.att.net

29 years

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Need source for...

by kyrrin＠wizards.net

In the process of getting ready to upgrade my RQD11 QBus/SCSI adapter to near-current level, I discovered that I need a source for a hard-to-get PROM. Specifically, one of two parts should do it. Signetics 82HS189 AMD AM27S281A I've already checked with the manufacturers and a couple of local distributors. Yes, I'll be looking for these on my upcoming scrounging trip, but it would be a Really Cool Thing if someone could point me at a source for them. Thanks in advance. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, Sysop, The Dragon's Cave BBS (Fidonet 1:343/272) (Hamateur: WD6EOS) (E-mail: kyrrin(a)wizards.net) http://www.wizards.net/technoid "Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."

29 years

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My current For Trade/Wanted List

by manney＠nwohio.com

I have an SX-64. don't lnow if it works, without KB cord (has KB, though.) Manney

29 years

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Cocos

by bwit＠pobox.com

Yes, that's correct. Over in the UK you had the Dragon, a neat little machine. Regards, Bob ---------- From: e.tedeschi[SMTP:e.tedeschi@ndirect.co.uk] Sent: Sunday, June 22, 1997 3:22 AM To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers Subject: Cocos Just to help me understand better...when you refer to Cocos, do you refer to the Tandy TRS-80 COlour COmputers? Thanks enrico -- ================================================================ Enrico Tedeschi, 54, Easthill Drive, BRIGHTON BN41 2FD, U.K. tel/fax +(0)1273 701650 (24 hours) or 0850 104725 mobile website <http://www.ndirect.co.uk/~e.tedeschi> ================================================================ visit Brighton: <http://www.brighton.co.uk/tourist/welcome.htm>

29 years

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My current For Trade/Wanted List

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

-------------------- Wanted: -------------------- Apple I * Altair 680 * Altair 8800a ("a" only) * Altair disk system * Compucolor II or 8051 Apple Lisa Exidy Sorcerer IBM 5100 KIM-1 RCA COSMAC (ELF/VIP) Commodore PET dual floppy system model 2040 Commodore SX-64 Portable (only if cheap or local) TRS-80 Model III (only if cheap or local) * Will trade Altair 8800b up/down/across for Apple I, or Altair equipment. Will also make substantial cash offers for these items and will reward leads. -------------------- For Trade: -------------------- North Star Horizon (wood case model) Apple ///+ Mattel Aquarius C64 in original color display box Kaypro II (wonky keyboard; FREE if you pick up, Seattle area) (Must sell/trade! Need space! Especially good deals available for LOCALS with reasonably interesting trades and/or cash offers, since that saves me so much time and effort with shipping!) Kai

29 years

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Friend Has Altos and Sanyo For Sale

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

A friend of mine has the following systems available for sale (he's not a collector). Neither of us could really come up with a price, since these systems are a little out of my line. The Sanyo is a Z80 (not to be confused with the later MBC-550 which was an early 8088 MS-DOS clone). Both are in full operating condition. Altos 586 - 8086/512K - Xenix 3.0b - With 2 terminals (supports 8-9 users) - Hard drive - Floppy - Xenix Multiplan, etc. Sanyo MBC-1000 - Z80A - Built-in monitor - Single floppy - External 10MB HD - Keyboard - CP/M, WordStar, CalcStar, etc. email thadh(a)microsoft.com with offers (local preferred due to the size of this stuff)

29 years

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Apple ]['s and C=64 video/ Bad Feelings...

by cerebral＠michianatoday.com

You are correct about the slowness of the 1541, and I was not saying the 64 was 100% perfect, but for the money, the 64 still gives more bang in the video and sound department. and recently, CMD (Creative Micro Designs) wrote a new OS called JiffyDOS. it was comaptible with the original ROM, but used better timing loops that increased the serial bus performance! you just replace the ROM in the motherboard, and the rom in the 1541 with jiffydos, and the results were fantastic, just by rewriting the firmware, the 1541 was now FASTER than a 486 running MS-Hoss with a 5.25 drive. but no matter what 8 bit cpu you use, it is amazing what you can do with 1 MHZ by proper software design. I also timed the performace with a stopwatch, and I loaded a large music editor from the same disk, 1541 drive, with and without jiffyDOS stock 1541 1541 with Jdos 1 minute 20 sec 10 SECONDS!!! pretty spiffy eh?

29 years

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Update

by bill＠booster.bothell.washington.edu

Phew. Well I've pruned through my mail and made it to the bottom. To all of you who sent me personal e-mail over the last week - I'll get back to you in the next couple days. I'll also work on processing all the unsubs. On topic - this weekend I picked up some stuff: Need info on: Acorn monitor with strange connector, switch selects modes I, II, III 5 1/4" floppy drive for Atari ST (no brand) Just gloating: Apple IIgs with monitor and 5.25" drive (ROM 1) for $15 Stack of needed manuals at 0.39$ ea. (I'll post duplicates) Apple Disk III drive Franklin Ace 1000 An interesting one - I already have a 1000 and unforch. I think this one is too damaged to save (crushed case - cracked board). The thing is it has a strange disk controller which the Disk III (as in Apple II disk drive) was attached to. It also has a video board of some kind. No part numbers but I'll play around with it some more later. Bill ---------------------------------------------------- Bill Whitson - Classic Computers ListOp bill(a)booster.u.washinton.edu or bcw(a)u.washington.edu http://weber.u.washington.edu/~bcw

29 years

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Apple ]['s and C=64 video/ Bad Feelings...

by cerebral＠michianatoday.com

At 05:04 PM 6/22/97 -0700, you wrote: >On Sun, 22 Jun 1997, A.R. Duell wrote: > >> > from, there are compnents of computers that are shear art as the disk >> > controller in the apple II (from what I read the board was drawn 'not >> >> I'll have to disagree with you there. IMHO the Disk II controller is >> nothing other than a kludge. It could certainly have done with a track 0 >> sensor (that would have stopped the heads from banging on start-up). And, >> as a hardware designer, I don't like designs where most of the >> functionality is handled in software. > >Blasphemer! No really though, if you must call the Disk ][ controller a >kludge, at least qualify it by calling it a beautiful kludge, which it is. >Also, having software control over the disk drive is not a bad thing at >all. It allowed you to play directly with the bits on the disks and make >your own disk formats. It provided years of fun and challenge during my >teenage days trying to crack the ever-more-complicated disk copy >protection schemes that the software houses kept creating by way of being >able to control the disk circuitry from software. > >> > totally in the dark about). Case in point, Exidy Sorceror, I purchased >> > one and sent it to Sam Ismael, he is now looking for information, not >> > very many people ever seen one, much less an ad for one, sometimes the >> >> Somewhere I have a Techref for the Sorceror, and one for the S100 adapter >> for it. I also have some user group newsletters, etc. Feel free to pester >> me on this list if you want me to dig this stuff out. >> >> BTW, it's not up for grabs. I need it to maintain my Sorceror :-) > >Tony, any information you can e-mail me or send me concerning the >Sorcerer would be appreciated. I need information about the power >requirements, plus just general information such as how much RAM it came >with, processor type, built-in languages, etc. Thanks. > >Sam Hello there, I an fairly new here, but I am interested in all kinds of hardware and software hacks. Someone out there mentioned the 'sophistication' of the Apple ]['s video addressing, saying that the RAM refresh steals CPU cycles, Apples method is worse than a kludge, it was simply a crufted idea. yes, the Disk II is an elegent kludge,as ALL of my homebrewed electronic gear are kludges just to make them work!<G>. My first computer was a Commodore 64, and comparing it to apples(not oranges :0) the 64 is WAY more advanced, and it too shares a medium populated motherboard. I can do 90% of the multimedia stuff on the 64 as you can with a P-133! my point being, the Apple and 64 both had 6502 compatible proccessors, but the 6510 used by the 64 has smarter memory mangament, and it is fast enough to refresh the ram AND do sprite graphics AND use bit mapped memory. adding perhiperals to the 64 via the serial bus worked NICE, and I can prove history is repeating itself. Look at the new USB (Universal Serial Bus) standard, where they want to run evrything from keyboards, mice, modems etc... the Wintel croud calls it BRAND NEW IDEA, but we did this 10 years or more ago. I got a good taste of Apple's machines in school, and they were ok, but nothing I would ever try to own. the only drawback to the C=64 is that it did not have an expansion bus built in, however it did have a expansion connector which you can hook up a passive backplane to. I dont have much classic stuff but here is what I have: 3 CoCo's, one with 1 floppy drive, all 16K machines. the floppy drive as sold by radio shack is actually an IBM compatible 5.25 drive! the ONLY difference is an attempt by radio shack to foil anyone trying to USE off the shelf floppy drives by placing the ribbon connector on the opposite side, and because of this, the data cable was too short to connect the normal drive. But the controller card and pinouts are all the same IBM standard. The reason was that radio scrap wanted to charge you $400 for adding a drive that costed $50 max at the time. so IBM drives are not limited and can be used in any way, it just takes more hacker skill to implement it. 3 Commodore 64's, one is souped up with JiffyDOS, 1 meg REU, and 1.6 MEG floppy drive. 2 Commodore 128's both work and was extensively used, and because of this, they are on the verge of expiring... the keyboards on the 128's were never as durable as the 64's. 1 IBM XT works, but needs XT keyboard. 1 IBM 286-12, works too, and loaded with MORE TTL than the XT was.... Now the rest of the bunch are not classic, but I will place them here to make the list complete. 1 Acer 386-33, used as a file server 1 home built AMD 586 machine which is what I am composing this message from.

29 years

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C64 CP/M carts

by rector＠christcom.net

I was looking through a book I had picked up a year or so ago called "The Elementary Commodore 64". Towards the front amongst the description of various types of peripherals available for the C64 under the title "Other Gadgets" was this: Z-80 CP/M -- This cartridge goes right into the cartridge slot to turn your machine into a Z-80 base computer enabling you to access the vast array of CP/M software. With over 2000 CP/M software programs available, there is little you will not be able to access. Dan Rector

29 years

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C=1570 Drive (was Re:C64 CP/M carts)

by chemif＠mbox.queen.it

At 21:44 20/06/97 +0100, we wrote: >> >>>Besides, I was talking about CP/M for the Commodore 1541 drive. That's a >>>multi-speed drive that uses GCR encoding, not MFM. Try writing THAT with >>>22DISK on your PC-clone. >>>I used to know that only C=1570 and C=1571 were capable to read and write >>CP/M disks in a proper way. (GCR+MFM) >>By the way anyone else apart me owning a C=1570 here? >> >>Ciao >> >>i own a 1570, its a american one with a step down transformer, Its >connected to my PC, and guess what, it writes CPM!!! >Steve >Emulator BBS >01284 760851 >Keeping 8-Bit ALIVE Hi Steve, Yours was the only one response I get (since now) from C=1570 owners Mine was made in Germany (did you buy it in the U.S.?) Ciao

29 years

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IBM PCjr

by thedm＠sunflower.com

A place in my location called surplus exchange, has about a dozen pcJR's on a skid. I didn't find any power supplies, but by the looks of the place, they could be anywhere. Let me know what to look for when I go back and I'll see if I can't rescue some more. (assuming the old lady lets me). I know the PC JR I bought, has a Parallell port on the outside, which I learned only today is a "Side-car". I have dozens of composite mono and color monitors from my apple// and Zenith collections. I also managed to scrounge out of this pile, [one] keyboard with cable, and [one] joystick and about 5 or 6 cartridges. The other PCjr,s seemed to be alone. Let me know what to look for on the CPU's and I can go through all of them one by one. If anyone else want's one, let me know and we can see what we can do. Last trip there I got a TI99/4a, atari 800, 1050 drive, 410 drive, Tandy COCO 1,. Commodore 1741 drive, Commodore mps 803 printer (I think) it works good. And an apple//+ for parts. I paid 35 for everything. I noticed this pallete of Jr's but I sure as heck didn't see any monitors, keyboards or power, except the one keyboard I did find elsewhere in the building. ---------- > From: jpero(a)mail.cgo.wave.ca > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> > Subject: Re: IBM PCjr > Date: Monday, June 23, 1997 9:28 AM > > > > Welp, that rules out rigging one, thats beyond my techincal ability to > > fabricate. Anyone have an Extra for sale or trade? > They're underrated but you can just get one to keep orginals but I > could supply you a adapter for your own use with a PC power supply > box. This way, you can simply plug in and go? > > I do not know where to get these black transformer bricks. The > PCjr around here is rare as hen's teeth in my hometown. :) > Considering that, I was lucky to find it in standard configuration of > parallel port side car and the box but no cartidges! :( > > I also overheard that someone was trying to use TV with PCjr, you > missed something really needed: demodulator box or find a computer > compsite monitor which works better especially in 80 column mode. > Commorde color monitors is good picks for this. > > Jason D.

29 years

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Apple III+'s for sale

by jimw＠agora.rdrop.com

but *not* from me! Read carefully! Forwarded from comp.apple2.marketplace --- Begin forwarded message --- Date: Mon, 23 Jun 1997 05:22:35 -0600 From: HartranftR(a)nabisco.com Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2.marketplace Subject: Apple III's for sale FYI ... I have 5 Apple ///'s for sale (improved re-release version), including original monitors. Some with 512K memory. Some peripherals also, including spare parts, Corvus 20 meg server with related Apple III interface cards. Would prefer selling at least computers/monitors in bulk and will consider any reasonable offers. I understand there are now thriving museums and actual user groups still utilizing. If NOT interested, would appreciate any leads for other possible contacts. These machines actually served us quite well ! Thanks Rich H -------------------==== Posted via Deja News ====----------------------- http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Post to Usenet --- end of forwarded message --- -jim --- jimw(a)agora.rdrop.com The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw Computer Garage Fax - (503) 646-0174

29 years

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