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

by orgwood＠iaxs.net

I was an Intel salesman and have this board...I have lots of docs, serial monitor, chess PROMs but no keyboard monitors. Do you have the BIN files for them to fit in 2716s? I can scan, copy eproms, anything to help you if you can help me. Thanks, Dave http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2015-January/002410.html http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/www.bitsavers.org/bits/ http://www.intel-vintage.info/apps/blog/ Original Woodworks 4631 Lake Ave., White Bear Lake, MN 55110 By appointment only! (651) 429-2222 www.originalwoodworks.com orgwood at iaxs.net --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://www.avast.com

11 years, 1 month

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Place of manufacture for DEC equipment?

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

be aware there was a DEC terminal plant here in phx az late 70s early 80s Ed Sharpe archivist for SMECC _www.smecc.org_ (http://www.smecc.org) In a message dated 5/19/2015 9:53:59 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, ddsnyder at zoominternet.net writes: The serial number can be broken into 3 areas... The first two digits indicate the country of Manufacture AY = Ayr, Scotland BK = Germany GA = Galway, Ireland IQ = Somewhere else NI = Salem, New Hampshire, USA PC = Irvine, Scotland KA = Kanata, Ontario, Canada CX = Colorado Springs, CO, USA WF = Westfield, MA, USA AB = Albuquerque, NM, USA The 3rd Digit indicates the year 7 = 1997 8 = 1998 9 = 1999 etc. The 4th & 5th digits indicate the week of manufacture from January. 01 = 1st week in January 12 = 12th week after January 1st (End of March) 20 = Mid April For a rough calculate take 4 weeks to the month The remaining digits indicate the run number. 00005 = The 5th one made at this plant 00100 = The 100th one made at this plant >From the fog in my head... Dan Snyder, Butler, PA ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jack Rubin" <j at ckrubin.us> To: <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Sent: Friday, May 01, 2015 5:25 PM Subject: Place of manufacture for DEC equipment? Is there a way to identify which DEC plant manufactured a specific piece of equipment? I'm certainly aware of the Maynard, Massachusetts label on my equipment and I'm pretty sure I've seen DEC Kanata, Canada on flipchip handles. Maybe even PR serial numbers on computers built in Puerto Rico. Can anyone supply any more extensive and/or detailed information? Thanks, Jack

11 years, 1 month

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PDP-11/74 MP

by john＠forecast.name

CASTOR:: was the M+ group?s 11/74 housed in it?s own machine room in ZK. Since the machine hardware could be relatively easily reconfigured, POLLUX:: was reserved for when the system was running as 2 independent nodes (3+1 or 2+2 CPUs). The DECnet group had a dual processor system with node name ELROND::. I used CASTOR:: standalone a couple of times while debugging the MP changes to the DECnet kernel code until ELROND:: became stable. Eventually, ELROND:: became the timesharing system for the DECnet-RSX group. The lack of cache-coherency and the limited work-arounds (cache-bypass or cache flushing) meant that all the DECnet kernel code, both drivers and protocol stack, ran with cache-bypass enabled on its data PDRs. So the networking code on an MP system had lower peak performance than on a normal 11/70 although you would never notice the difference in regular operation. John.

11 years, 1 month

2
1
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Place of manufacture for DEC equipment?

by j＠ckrubin.us

Is there a way to identify which DEC plant manufactured a specific piece of equipment? I'm certainly aware of the Maynard, Massachusetts label on my equipment and I'm pretty sure I've seen DEC Kanata, Canada on flipchip handles. Maybe even PR serial numbers on computers built in Puerto Rico. Can anyone supply any more extensive and/or detailed information? Thanks, Jack

11 years, 1 month

20
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Olivetti Programma 101 article (In Italian)

by jws＠jwsss.com

http://blog.startupitalia.eu/p101-make-in-italy-de-sandre-olivetti-intervis… There is a museum in Ivrea with the Programma 101 on display. I think some of the photos from modern times were from there. This article is related to a maker fair in Trieste. Please visit the page for pictures and to give them page clicks, since I am archiving the info here for the list. Thanks Jim Google translated from article: The engineer of the legendary P101: "Here are the secrets of the first Pc of history" The Mini Maker Faire Trieste meeting with the engineer De Sandre, one of the creators of the program 101 Olivetti: the first personal computer will be among the stars of the show to Make In italy Expo (from May 18). Last October, in the Maker Faire Rome , was presented the exhibition "50 years of Italian innovations: from P101 to the first espresso machine space". An exhibition, organized by the Foundation Make in Italy , which now arrives in Milan Expo 2015. From today, in fact, can be seen, in an expanded version of the original, in two locations in which it was divided: Telecom Italian pavilion within the exhibition center in Rho and the National Museum of Science and Technology of the Lombard capital. The prototype of the P101 ( Program 101 ), recognized as the first desktop computers in history, made ??his international debut at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1965. The team, led by Pier Giorgio Perotto, devised an instrument that had some features that still they form the basis of any personal computer: CPU with discrete components, RAM (magnetostrictive delay line), mass storage (magnetic card) and serial printer to impact. Within the team of Perotto was a young engineer, Giovanni De Sandre. Matthew Tro?a met him at the second edition of the Mini Maker Faire Trieste to talk with him about the success of the P101 (and many other things). The interview How did your story with Olivetti? I entered into Olivetti April 1, 1960, after the previous talks that had established my eligibility in that company. I even received the head of the laboratory at the time, the engineer Mario Tchu , who was the son of a Chinese ambassador to Vatican. Tchu had specialized in the United States, and this greatly pleased to Adriano Olivetti , who cast him in his team. That time I had just graduated, fresh from Politecnico di Milano, and you think, now my degree is equivalent to a degree in electrical engineering, but at the time did not exist in this formulation, so I got a degree in electrical engineering with a "certificate studies of electronics. " So she was received by engineer Tchu, who then assumed? The engineer Tchu was a very friendly, helpful and friendly. He explained all the activities of the laboratories, mostrandomeli one by one and explaining with great patience and care that what took place in those places. In the end I remember that I said, "then engineer, she is interested in what more? One thing in production or in the project? "And I said a little 'afraid' to me honestly like to work on projects ...". Tchu then he asked again, "but she would like to work on the evolution and improvement of our existing products or instead of entirely new products?" And then I said that without wishing to presumptuous, I would have loved work on projects entirely new. The engineer Tchu picked up the phone, called the engineer Perotto and said "dear engineer, I have here a person that suits her." That phrase always decided for my professional future. I went well in the working group of engineer Perotto, who was my direct responsibility even though he was only a few years older than me. Perotto was a nice person, of great culture and technical ability. He had a spontaneous orientation toward the concrete. I was very lucky because I was thrust into an almost idyllic. In the Olivetti corporate hierarchy was not seen as an imposition, not weighed. The leaders were, but they respected because it was natural respect. People were so influential that respect for them was spontaneous. I found an atmosphere of great freedom, but also of great involvement. If I had a problem it was enough to ask for help and I was listening. My problems and my gaps I filled asking. I learned a lot while I worked. What he is initially occupied? The first thing I worked were checks magnetic, which still bear the bottom two spaces wider than three a little 'closer. The location of these areas determines the reading code. The machine that read these codes had designed Perotto and I was in charge of setting up, checking its operation, and connecting it to an existing machine Olivetti. Within six months I had accomplished something. And then the P101 ... Work began on the P101 with a deep study of the feasibility of the product, initially purely theoretical. We wanted to create a car that was not limited only to make four simple steps that already did with the mechanical machines. Then produce mechanical machines cost 39,000 lire, but then were sold to 390 thousand pounds. For Olivetti invest in this product would not bring the expected revenue. We had to do something to level a little 'higher. So we started working on the prototype of the P101. We did not know that the machine had to create, in the sense that there was still nothing like it on the market. However for me the bonds were crystal clear: it had to be easy to use, accessible to a non-professional user. Accessibility was to be the characteristic trait. In the second place it had to be reduced in size. Finally it would cost as little as possible. Led by engineer Perotto, then, we started working on this electronic project. So the first thing to do was to decide the type of memory to be installed in the machine. Of course we had the opportunity to go to the store and choose from dozens of memories at our disposal. In those years there were very few memories. In particular there was the core memory , but was not good for the small size of our future machine. The engineer Perotto I knew immediately, I'm a bit 'after. (Laughs) After a study of the type of memory to choose from we focused on a type of memory of the past generation, which had been abandoned by now (working memory was a magnetostrictive delay line ). The technology of the time gave us memories that were not going to respect the constraints that we had set, so we used the components of the past, to make the "car of the future". The revolutionary products as was the P101, they appreciate when they are ready. Behind their implementation but there is always a big job. How much have you been working on this project? We got to work with his head down, day and night, often without realizing that had arrived the weekend. In some periods there was no agreement on Sunday as a day of rest. There were no arrears with whom to spend the afternoon. All this does not remember it as a burden, but as the most exciting period of my life. We had to finish first. I think that needs to come first in some things, that does not mean overdoing it, but engage and expend maximum to achieve their goals. Running behind is far worse than through the air. He never felt the weight of fatigue in what he did? There was no concept of fatigue for us. It was completely overcome by the interest that was for what we were doing. We felt a bit 'pioneers in a world where we often designed parts of electronic circuits, but never a car full. We proceeded by trial and error, but they hand it proceeded increased experience. Chapter Innovation What about her? Innovation has to have some unmet need. To return to my story, I believe that the fact of working at P101, was not immediately something innovative. For me initially was mainly a strong need. If I think back to when the University did the calculations with the ruler with which often was wrong, the idea that you could create a machine that would help me with extreme speed and precision to make those calculations, for me was the solution to my real need . Need to be put together with some technical expertise required to carry out in practice his idea. Innovation means want to go into the unexplored wilderness, hoping to find an oasis, a solution but we were not ready, but we have done us. Italy is a country still able to accept the technology? When there is something really innovative, I do not know if Italy is the best country in which to tell this innovation. From this point of view, perhaps the United States is a country more ready mentally, more pragmatic and more accustomed to understand the news. But this happens only in the initial phase. Olivetti also initially was little more than an island than the rest of the country. A lot of people did not even know that there was this company. But I believe that the issue on which we must reason is as follows. Today the world has certainly changed and we are used to accept anything new very easily. The challenge is to understand what, in this chaos of new, really creates innovation, understood as making something useful for our lives. What really affects our lives? That is, if what we invent or we make an impact in a way that is not obvious, trivial, obvious, then maybe other countries are more receptive, but Italy certainly not least, because of quality products makes many as he wants. The important thing, as I said, you know what, among the many new features, it's really helpful to improve their lives. He would redo everything you did? Yes absolutely. Though I speak with hindsight. One can not always project her life and does not know what may happen in the future. Certainly more than the experience in Olivetti itself, I would like to relive the spirit of those years, that basically was a spirit extremely positive, optimistic, enthusiastic. From my experience I have learned that critical is the commitment and self-criticism, that a little 'lacking nowadays. Innovation also means being confident, determined and feed their inner spring. It helps a lot to be introduced in the technology world, especially now that has become pervasive. Everything comes from a right balance between a strong driving force and a large capacity that criticism must regulate itself within us. What did you learn from your experience? That we must never stand still. But think of Steve Jobs! What has to do what he did? It's not that he invented something. What made the difference, however, was its continuity, his desire to fight, his steely character, which allowed him to transform a company that was going to fail in company we know today. What did Jobs? In fact did what many others did, but of course with an attention to detail and some aspects that have allowed him to make a difference. Today, companies ride the wave for a couple of years and when they feel it is necessary to reinvent itself give up and sit down. Steve Jobs? More than sitting! That one had the pins under the seat which put him constantly on the move. He never lies and never gave up, and certainly helped him a lot of his character. Today we have to stay on the move, never sit down, because innovation is moving. 16/05/2015 Matthew Tro?a & Alessandro Frau

11 years, 1 month

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Weird stuff has a TI 810 (also if anyone has token ring wiring)

by dave＠mitton.com

RE: Token Ring As said below, you can probably not worry too much about the wiring impedance (etc.) for a small ring. But you will still need a MAU or something like it. The token ring adapters have a physical layer protocol for ring insertion and token monitoring. The power-up state for a station wire is a physical loopback and it will try to successfully loop itself before inserting. A copy of the newsgroup comp.dcom.lans.token-ring FAQ still lives at http://www.networkuptime.com/faqs/token-ring/index.shtml Connector pinouts and other info is in there. Stuff on Wikipedia too. I had to dust off a few neurons to remember this stuff. Dave. I'm not reading this list consistently anymore... any direct questions should be CCed to me. On 5/18/2015 01:00 PM, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote: >Date: Sun, 17 May 2015 12:58:20 -0400 >From: Sean Caron <scaron at umich.edu> >To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> >Cc: Sean Caron <scaron at umich.edu> >Subject: Re: Weird stuff has a TI 810 (also if anyone has token ring > wiring) >Message-ID: > <CAA43vkUJ7US+72OiYhEtrvOgM76u0tUv55wqAP65R21otLkbEg at mail.gmail.com> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > >I can tell you from firsthand experience that if you're just doing short >little runs within a vintage computer room in your home or something like >that, you can directly pin the 9-pin D-sub over to 8P8C and make short runs >with common unshielded Cat V cable and it should work fine. I did this all >the time when I was in high school to connect old MCA PS/2 machines with >the IBM token ring adapters (9 pin D-sub) to various old 8P8C MAUs that I >had acquired. I can't speak to dealing with those funky IBM connectors; >never worked with those. > >Best, > >Sean > > >On Sun, May 17, 2015 at 12:50 PM, Dave G4UGM <dave.g4ugm at gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of > > jwsmobile > > > Sent: 17 May 2015 16:30 > > > To: General at classiccmp.org; Discussion at classiccmp.org:On-Topic and Off- > > > Topic Posts > > > Subject: Weird stuff has a TI 810 (also if anyone has token ring wiring) > > > > > > There is a white cased TI 810 at Weird Stuff in the AS IS room. Probably > > > cheap. Of course unknown condition. > > > > > > Got some very nice Token ring equipment from an IBM facility of some > > sort. > > > will be using for Hercules setups. > > > > > > I'll need some balun's for the RJ45 (ibm version) to the DB9 if anyone > > has an > > > idea of the hookup. I'd like to figure out if I can wire this w/o using > > the token > > > ring cables, since I have what appears to be a bridge unit. I'll have to > > research > > > that though. > > > > > > Thanks > > > Jim > > > > Jim, > > Is there a part number on the "bridge" unit? Typically the IBM units just > > switch the stations it and out of the ring. > > Dave > > > > --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://www.avast.com

11 years, 1 month

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DOS Frotz testing request

by dave＠661.org

I've finished up things for a new release of Frotz, an extremely portable Z-machine emulator (plays Infocom games). The Unix port is tested and ready to go, but I don't have real DOS hardware in working order. Could I get some people to try it out and let me know how it fares? It's compiled with Turbo C++ 3.0 for 16-bit DOS. The zipfile is at http://661.org/if/frotz244.zip. Source is at https://github.com/DavidGriffith/frotz. Games are available at http://ifarchive.org/ or https://661.org/if/ (some of my games). -- David Griffith dave at 661.org A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?

11 years, 1 month

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EPROM dumps for HP Draftmaster II 7596A

by martin＠shackspace.de

Hello! The EPROMs are labeled 07595-18045 and 07595-18046. We suspect some bits have toggled. Can anyone do a dump for me? It's for the 7596A of our local hackerspace. Greets, Martin -- Martin Peters martin.peters at news.uni-stuttgart.de

11 years, 1 month

2
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Question about HP3000 weight

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

Johannes Thelen - and others... HP-3000 Series II? series II?? We would pay handsomely for one. We found our backup archive set of HP-3000 software - heh heh all kinds of software including FORUM/3000 which was a multi user 100 seperate boards bulletin board, electronic mail, electronic poll and voting system, multi user chat rooms... ( this was all pre Internet so it was way cool back then! just gotta read the tapes.... amazed... this grouping of tapes was an off site storage I had forgotten about and re found in the back closet at the house... had not seen it in over 23 years.. I am really hot on getting e series II or II back to have one at the SMECC museum here in Arizona as it was one of my favorite machines but also we have the giant plug in front panel for it that shows all registers that the customer engineer would bring out in a suit case to really get down and dirty.... We have the series II and III interface board as well as the HP-3000 CX series interface board which is a separate item.. see http://www.smecc.org/hp/hewlet16_series_3_with_maint_panel.gif to see it hooked to HP 3000 WACC-B from U Wisconsin Used by Marlys Nelson - HP-3000 Programmer Extraordinaire! this photo was shot after we even had retired the system was using a series 48 with 303 meg drives I kept in next to my desk and would test boards in it.... When the panel was active on the III with users on it it was fun to throw it into single step BEWRAHHAHHAHH!!!AA!!! Ed Sharpe Archvisit for SMECC In a message dated 5/18/2015 2:30:24 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, aek at bitsavers.org writes: On 5/18/15 1:13 PM, Johannes Thelen wrote: > the big one of this donate is HP3000 Series III! :D > Finding software for the Series II and III has been extremely difficult so please try to find any that was associated with the machine.

11 years, 1 month

1
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Checkerboard pattern on a Mac Plus

by terry＠webweavers.co.nz

Posting this for those that might be interested... No it wasn't capacitors. This time it was something else. http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2015-05-14-mac-plus-checkerboard.h… Terry (Tez)

11 years, 1 month

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Question about HP3000 weight

by johannesthelen＠hotmail.com

Hello friends! I just got another donate to my collection... It contains several items, but the big one of this donate is HP3000 Series III! :D Do anyone know what it weights? This one have CPU with Option 200 rack (my best guess, like some expanded IO?). And is there wheels below racks? Ps. IBM 1800 project is going further bit by bit, all gate doors and flat cabling is assembled back where they were. More coming about this later! - Johannes ThelenFinland Before microcomputers blog (Finnish) http://ennenmikrotietokoneita.blogspot.fi/

11 years, 1 month

3
3
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3.5 floppy imaging

by shumaker＠att.net

I'm looking for a tool to do a bunch of 3.5 floppy imaging using a linux or a windows box.... Media is all early PC stuff. Any thoughts, comments, tools of choice? Is IMD the format of choice for these as well or is there something else for the newer formats? Steve

11 years, 1 month

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ID help, Ampex tape drive and other things.

by pontus＠Update.UU.SE

Hi I'm about to go on a small road trip to pick up some computer gear. I'm curious about what I'm actually getting :) http://www.update.uu.se/~pontus/slask/L%C3%B6fberg-haul/ I know what the Siemens and IBM things are, but: What system would the the Ampex Series 800B have been used with? The Alfaskop terminals, are they 3270 compatible? Regarding the huge stack of tapes, what should I look for in order to identify what might be on them, is the "9270" label any clue? I will leave the Esselte Scribona FD 20 behind, but I'm curious what it is? I think it may have served use on an airport, printing boarding passes or similar. Regards, Pontus.

11 years, 1 month

6
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Weird stuff has a TI 810 (also if anyone has token ring wiring)

by jws＠jwsss.com

There is a white cased TI 810 at Weird Stuff in the AS IS room. Probably cheap. Of course unknown condition. Got some very nice Token ring equipment from an IBM facility of some sort. will be using for Hercules setups. I'll need some balun's for the RJ45 (ibm version) to the DB9 if anyone has an idea of the hookup. I'd like to figure out if I can wire this w/o using the token ring cables, since I have what appears to be a bridge unit. I'll have to research that though. Thanks Jim

11 years, 1 month

4
5
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PDP-11/74 MP

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: John Wilson > Even if E11's mP feature is officially unsupported, it was a *crazy* > amount of work What made it so much work? (Just curious about the technical aspects...) Noel

11 years, 1 month

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HP board id?

by marc.verdiell＠gmail.com

Thanks another million. - Marc >> Is the "HP 1000 M/E/F-Series Computers I/O Interfacing Guide" >> (02109-90006 September 1980) available online somewhere? >I thought I had sent it to Al some years ago, but it's not listed. In any >case, I've posted it here: > http://home.earthlink.net/~jdbryan/dropbox/02109-90006_Sep-1980.7z > See chapter 5, pages 5-5 and 5-6. > -- Dave

11 years, 1 month

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FYI - Plato Terminal has been sold

by curt＠atarimuseum.com

Thank you for all of the inquires... The CDC 721 Plato Terminal has been sold. Curt

11 years, 1 month

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R: Re: 3.5 floppy imaging

by supervinx＠libero.it

The only reason I guess is that they're bootable disks. Otherwise a simple filecopy is more than enough :) -------- Messaggio originale -------- Da: Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> Data:17/05/2015 16:40 (GMT+01:00) A: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Oggetto: Re: 3.5 floppy imaging > If they are just plain old dos format (DD or HD) dd under linux will do IF they are just plain old DOS format (DD or HD), then COPY will do. IF they are just plain old DOS format (DD or HD), then there is no reason to "image"! IF they are just plain old DOS format (DD or HD), then the files are all that matters. IF they are NOT just plain old DOS format (DD or HD), THEN there might be reason to image, such as if they are some unknown and not understood format, and the files can not be extracted, or there is reason to believe that there is some form of information in the structure and format of the disk that should be preserved, such as system tracks on CP/M disks, etc. Or, if they are copy-protected, and stuff other than the files needs to be preserved to be able to use the files.? 'Course then, your "imaging" methods are not likely to work, anyway. But, IF they are just plain old DOS format (DD or HD), then there is NO information other than the file content on the disks. If you format a 3.5" disk in a DOS/Windoze machine, and copy some file onto it, . . . Could you please explain to me WHY you would want an "image" of that disk?

11 years, 1 month

4
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PDP-12 Restoration at the RICM

by michael.99.thompson＠gmail.com

Dan (the donor) brought more manuals, diags on paper tape, and his very nice color oscilloscope. Dan's 'scope displays RMS, PTP, Average, and other voltage values on the side of the trace window, so it makes power measurements very easy. After reading the manual and getting instructions from Warren, we found that some of the misbehaving front panel was due to operator (me) error. The Mode switch to change between LINC and 8 operation only has an effect after you press the I/O Preset switch, so that is working correctly. When you press I/O Preset the INST FIELD is set to 1 and the DATA FIELD is set to 3. I though that this was wrong for an 8k machine. If you look at the front panel you will see three bits and an additional 2 bits for the INST FIELD and DATA FIELD. So part of this is for the 8 and all of it is for the LINC, and it is working correctly. We recabled the VR14 and TU56. The Local Forward and Reverse switches on the TU56 do not get the correct behavior from the motors. The Line fuse on the VR14 blew when we turned it on. We will replace the fuse and try a slow power up with a Variac. We received lots of comments on reforming the capacitors in the power supply and strong recommendations from experts to just replace them. Since new caps are a different physical size, and would cost about $250 we decided to continue with reforming the originals. We measured the voltage ripple on the backplanes near the power connectors. - +5.0V = 5.01V, 200 mV PTP ripple - +10.0V = 5.9V, 200 mV PTP ripple - -15.0V = -14.2V, 800 mV PTP ripple - -30.0V = -31.2V, 800 mV PTP ripple The 800mV of ripple on the -30 is a sign that the caps in the power supply were not working well, and is probably too noisy for the core to work. We tried to measure the capacitance of the power supply capacitors using an ancient, but very nice, GenRad capacitor meter, but unfortunately the caps were too big to measure. We thought that more power on time for the caps might improve their behavior, so we started debugging the processor. We found that bits 4 and 11 in the Program Counter were always on. We looked at the flip-flops on the M221 modules in the processor that make up the PC register and they the contents matched what was loaded from the console switches. We need to determine why the indicator lights on the front panel do not exactly reflect the internal state of the registers in the processor so we can continue debugging. After running the system for about four hours the ripple on the -30V was down to 180mV, so the capacitors are getting better. More run time will hopefully reduce the ripple to an acceptable level. If not, we will have to replace them. -- Michael Thompson

11 years, 1 month

2
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Weird stuff has a TI 810 (also if anyone has token ring wiring)

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

one here but not cheap. I was happy I got a diablo KSR I can not even tell you how bad I used to lust after one of those in 1979...... http://www.omnidatasys.net/catalog/printers/texas-Instruments-ti-820-ksr In a message dated 5/17/2015 12:19:45 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, jwest at classiccmp.org writes: I am looking for a TI 820 or 825 KSR, if anyone has one in good shape with all keys that they are willing to part with - sale or trade... J

11 years, 1 month

1
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old DEC and HP boards are claimed.

by sales＠elecplus.com

All gone, that was fast J Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 1613 Water Street Kerrville, TX 78028 830-792-3400 phone sales at elecplus.com AOL IM elcpls

11 years, 1 month

3
2
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Wanted: ASM-48 for Intellec MDS-2

by mainpatents＠gmail.com

The 8041 has the same pinout as the Intel 8741 programmable. A Pro-Log M980 PROM Programmer with a PM 9054 personality module can read out the programs inside. I did a lot of Intel 8741 Development back in the day and even reverse engineered the PIO in an Intel MDS-225. I have a MDS-225 now I'm getting going from pieces. Richard Main +1 510-229-9711 Newark, CA USA

11 years, 1 month

3
3
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54 TK50 tapes on eBay

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

This just popped up today: http://www.ebay.com/itm/LOT-OF-54-USED-VINTAGE-DEC-DIGITAL-COMPACTAPE-TK50-D ATA-TAPE-CARTRIDGES-SOFTWARE-/221774909736? It is a bit expensive in my view and shipping to the UK is too much, but I thought there *might* be some old versions of DEC software on some of those tapes. I thought of asking about the DEC software myself, but as I know I wouldn't bid it wouldn't be right for me to ask. Anyone in the USA interested enough to find out what historical DEC software there might be and recover the tapes (if possible)? Regards Rob

11 years, 1 month

4
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Update - PDP 11/44 Now on Ebay no reserve

by billdeg＠buzz1.com

I decided to put the 11/44 on Ebay for $1, no reserve. (currently at $40.39). New photos (what is on ebay plus what I took today after opening the cabinet to see what is in there) http://vintagecomputer.net/digital/PDP11-44_2nd/ Ebay listing http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-PDP-11-44-/271869650084 Item is pickup only BUT If you can't pick it up but want to make arrangements to have a shipping company come to pick it up, pack and ship, I am happy to help but it's on you to make all of the arrangements. I am available during the work day. Location - Landenberg, PA which is about 40 minutes South/west of Philadelphia, about 60 minutes North/east Baltimore, 10 miles or so from I95 at the MD/Delaware border. vintagecomputer.net/contact.cfm Bill

11 years, 1 month

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Old DEC and HP boards

by sales＠elecplus.com

The scrappers are here, clearing out the warehouse. I saved a box of old DEC and HP boards. First $100 plus about $35 UPS ground shipping takes them home (in CONUS). I have no idea if any of them still work, but I pulled them from large working cabinets I was required to destroy about 18 years ago. Part numbers are: M8061 97871 401-33692 Quad Cache qty 3 85-3438-02 Cache memory M8059FH M8048 qty 3 M8059FB M8186 qty 3 Peritek Corporation DMA-Q 97871 MUX qty 5 5020477-01-DC1 Diceon 6A M8016YB HP boards: C-2440-40 2443-9572 5181-5649 Rev A 98257-66524 98257A 33445-60002 A-2745-39 D2237-60001 (no CPU chips) A1470-66521 16MB memory qty 2 Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 1613 Water Street Kerrville, TX 78028 830-792-3400 phone sales at elecplus.com AOL IM elcpls

11 years, 1 month

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PDP-11/74 MP

by Paul_Koning＠Dell.com

A correspondent just pointed me to a nice collection of photos of a (the?) 11/74 MP system: http://oboguev.livejournal.com/2696291.html I assume this is the one at DEC used by the RSX-11M+ group for their multiprocessor support work. As far as I know these didn?t become a product. I remember the name of the machine as ?Cerberus?, not sure what that label ?daemon? refers to. Maybe a DECnet node name? paul

11 years, 1 month

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DECpc 433 Workstation manual wanted

by pontus＠update.uu.se

Hi I received a DECpc 433 Workstation today with SCSI expansion box. It's a small system which reminds me of the VAX VLC, but not quite. I've not been able to find any manuals online, does anyone have anything? Regards, Pontus.

11 years, 1 month

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Oregon Software Pascal (was RE: RT11 / RSTS-E games

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

John wrote.... ---- I'm still looking for Oregon Software Pascal as well... ---- I said I would look, I did, and it was fruitful. I have in my hands an original distribution fedex shipping box from Oregon software to my high school (Saint Louis University High) containing: Oregon Software Pascal-2 Software Development System version 2.1F for RT-11 release package checklist (RN-121, august 1988): Installation & Release notes Oregon Language Letter, Summer 1988, announcing two new compilers (Oregon Modula-2 and Oregon C++) 8 SS/SD RX01 format disks containing P-2 RT-11 v2.1F (original, Oregon software labels, including my high schools site/license number) Oregon Software Field Report form (4 carbon copy) Misc Notes of my own from a skim of the above: The compiler version here runs under RT-11 v5 or later The compiler can run under XM or SJ monitors Programs compiled with the compiler can run under FB, BL, SJ, or XM Minimum requirements: EIS. P-2 uses FPP hardware or simulated floating point software (FIS). Also need 3500 blocks to install, and during compilation about 500 blocks are used for temporary storage. Computers with only flexible disk systems do not have enough storage. I have no idea if these diskettes are still readable. I know my high school was fastidious about making a copy and then locking the masters away so these disks likely only saw one read. I do know that they used this software extensively, and there may well be other copies of these floppies around here. I'd love to post images of these diskettes, but I don't know the status of Oregon Software and the IP situation. So in the interest of completeness, anyone have other RT-11 versions of other Oregon Software's compilers? I also found original S&H distribution copies of TSX+ v5, v6, and v6.2 (again, stamped with my high schools license number). Best, J

11 years, 1 month

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HP board id?

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

Dave - - actually there should be a scan out it out there already... it is of the same vintage as the hp minicomputer handbook with the old hp-2115 on the front.... Here I found a link to the early version! just enter any word in the human checker thing and you can download the pdf! there are other hp 2000 things there too at that main url http://www.hpmuseum.net/capcha/freecap_wrap.php?r=1124 posting the cc also to rest of list for those that would like this also... Yea our old one if we opened it to flat bed scan it it would be a sheaf of lose pages I fear... but this pdf should be good for info. We love HP 2000 stuff here it was part of my work in the old days fixing and selling therm and selling time on them. We still have our first 2000 system we bought but we NEED THE 2883 disk drive and the hp version of the GE terminet 300 to put with it. Ed Sharpe archivist for SMECC _www.smecc.org_ (http://www.smecc.org) In a message dated 5/16/2015 11:27:44 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, jdbryan at acm.org writes: Hi Ed, On Saturday, May 16, 2015 at 21:35, COURYHOUSE at aol.com wrote: > Many Thanks for the HP 1000 interface board manual... You're welcome. > We have the old one here at the museum with the 2115, 2116 etc > but it has gotten brittle on the back binding and if we do not > have to open it....... Maybe open it one more time to scan it? -- Dave

11 years, 1 month

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NYT writer wants to write about creative collectors

by tosteve＠yahoo.com

I received this email - contact Alex below if interested: =================================================================== I'm a reporter for the New York Times and I'm working on a story about vintage tech/computer equipment, particularly when used as items to be displayed, or as home-decor. Do you know have any collectors of vintage tech who have used it in any creative way as objects around the house? If you have any thoughts on the topic, I'm all ears. Thanks! -- Alex Williams Reporter The New York Times 212 556 1158 ===================================================================

11 years, 1 month

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Old Control Data Drives

by bpettitx＠comcast.net

Chuck Guzis wrote: One more category springs to mind--5xx would be printers (e.g. 501 and 512). Maybe I;m trying to forget about what it was like having a machine gun on one side (501 drum printer) and a screaming banshee (512 train printer) on the other side. 8xx also includes drum storage. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ To add a little more: 1XX was test equipment; 3XX was paper tape equipment; 7XX was interconnect gear. Later the numbers were changed to an elaborate code that used 2 Alphanumerics a dash, 3 more alpha numerics. This was later modified to include another dash and alphanumeric. For example, a disk drive might be: BJ-3A4-C. There is a model decoder somewhere on bitsavers. And there was a whole family of unique specially designed peripherals called SPAM boxes = Special Purpose Alogrithm Machines. These were usually all electronic. Most were used in the oil industry; for example strip recorders/readers for seismic data. One I worked on a lot when in Houston, would add up all the one bits in a large field of data. For some applications, the petrol companies loved it. Inital telecommunication products started here then evolved into their own families. Chuck, I'll swap you for the time I was at CERN working on 627 (one inch) tape drives and some idiot rewound 24 of them at the same time. It was a gag they pulled on new operators. It could take an hour before you could hear people talk again. Billy Pettit

11 years, 1 month

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Looking for VAXStation 3520 parts

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

Sean Caron <scaron at umich.edu> wrote: > I remember long ago there used to be a really neat site about the > VAXstation 3520/3540 machines but it's long gone ... Any chance you have the URL noted? If so, the WayBackMachine might still have it. Noel

11 years, 1 month

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HP board id?

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

Many Thanks for the HP 1000 interface board manual... We have the old one here at the museum with the 2115, 2116 etc but it has gotten brittle on the back binding and if we do not have to open it....... At one time when we would building voice boards to the 2000/1000 series back then we had scored a batch of blank IO proto boards with the buss tag traces on them.. be interesting to see if I saved any... Thanks ! Ed# _www.smecc.org_ (http://www.smecc.org) In a message dated 5/16/2015 3:42:18 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, pbirkel at gmail.com writes: That is a *really* nice document, in so many ways. Thanks for sharing, and for the answers to earlier questions :->. On Thu, May 14, 2015 at 11:31 AM, J. David Bryan <jdbryan at acm.org> wrote: > On Thursday, May 14, 2015 at 1:46, Paul Birkel wrote: > > > What do they recommend on the receiver-end? > > LSTTL with a 4.7K pulldown to -2V on the input. > > > > Is the "HP 1000 M/E/F-Series Computers I/O Interfacing Guide" > > (02109-90006 September 1980) available online somewhere? > > I thought I had sent it to Al some years ago, but it's not listed. In any > case, I've posted it here: > > http://home.earthlink.net/~jdbryan/dropbox/02109-90006_Sep-1980.7z > > See chapter 5, pages 5-5 and 5-6. > > -- Dave > >

11 years, 1 month

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FW: Altair 8800 Electrical Engineer Estate "lot"

by rich.cini＠verizon.net

All ? I thought I would pass the attached on to the group. Please let me know if the attachment (Word doc) doesn?t come through and I?ll send it separately to those interested. I received the attached email, unsolicited. Looks like two complete Altair systems for sale for $7,000, with offers considered. No location is given in the listing but the area code points to Washington State (Olympia??). Rich -- Rich Cini Collector of Classic Computers Build Master and lead engineer, Altair32 Emulator http://www.classiccmp.org/cini http://www.classiccmp.org/altair32 From: Richard Cini <rcini at msn.com> Date: Saturday, May 16, 2015 at 10:54 AM To: Richard A Cini <rich.cini at verizon.net> Subject: FW: Altair 8800 Electrical Engineer Estate "lot" From: ecyclenw at msn.com To: ecyclenw at msn.com Subject: Altair 8800 Electrical Engineer Estate "lot" Date: Fri, 15 May 2015 01:32:57 +0000 Hi, You are receiving this e-mail due to interest expressed as a collector, on theantiquecomputer.com. Please find attached a word document with the information and details of this Altair 8800 Estate Lot. More photos available. Also, please pass this information to anyone who may be interested. Thank You Dan Dan Tharp EcycleNW dan at ecyclenw.com ecyclenw at msn.com Sent from Windows Mail

11 years, 1 month

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Intellec MDS available in Twin Cities MN

by mainpatents＠gmail.com

Am I too late? Still available for sale? Richard I really need some cash and some space, so it's time for my Intel Intellec MDS gear to find a new home. I inherited this kit some years ago, and know almost nothing about it - in fact, I'm even confused as to the correct model number; 'experts disagree', it's either an MDS-225 or MDS-800. It's a large white cube, about 20" on a side, with a CRT, one 8" floppy and a number of plug-in boards. There is also a blue Intel dual 8" drive, one seriously heavy-duty keyboard, a few cables and a bevy of 8" floppy discs. I also have an ICE pod for it, somewhere.. It has never been powered-up once since I've had it, though it was apparently 'working fine' when retired sometime in the early-mid 1990s. Cosmetics are very good, it's no ugly duckling by any stretch. Photos will appear as I'm able to move it to a location with sufficient light. *Richard Brewster Main, Esq.* *Of Counsel*Main Cafe invention & patent development Newark, CA 94560 +1 408 409 6246 http://www.maincafe.us/ CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: E-mail may contain *attorney-client confidential information* that is legally privileged. Do not read this e-mail if you are not the intended recipient. This e-mail transmission, and any documents, files or previous e-mail messages attached to it may contain confidential information that is legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, or a person responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of any of the information contained in or attached to this transmission is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. If you have received this transmission in error, delete it, please immediately notify us by reply e-mail to mainpatents at gmail.com or contacting us by telephone at 408-409-6246

11 years, 1 month

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ROM dumps of Intel MDS-2 IOC

by mainpatents＠gmail.com

F.Ulivi, I have an MDS-225 on a breadboard for easy access. I bought it in pieces and now getting it going. I believe I may be able to dump all the EPROMS in my Pro-Log M980 and het hexfiles over USB-232 to my WINDOWS laptop to email to you. I just got the Intel 2708 personality module for the Pro-Log and not sure its working. On the built in CRT, Intel used the Ball Brothers TV120 with an early VGA interface. It is TTL with /VERT, HORIZ, and VIDEO. You can wire up a modern DB25 VGA monitor to the IOC and hook each of R G B through 270 ohm resistors to IOC VIDEO. maybe need to invert the vertical sync. Richard I'm looking for the images of ROMs installed on the IOC (I/O controller) board of Intel MDS-2 development systems. In particular I'm looking for the content of the character generator ROM (A19-2708) and of firmware ROMs (A50 to A53-4x2716). So far I had no success in googling them. My goal would be to contribute a good emulation of MDS systems to MESS, especially for what regards the look of the video terminal. Well, this is the plan, when "real-life" is not inteferring too much... *Richard Brewster Main, Esq.* *Of Counsel*Main Cafe invention & patent development Newark, CA 94560 +1 408 409 6246 http://www.maincafe.us/ CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: E-mail may contain *attorney-client confidential information* that is legally privileged. Do not read this e-mail if you are not the intended recipient. This e-mail transmission, and any documents, files or previous e-mail messages attached to it may contain confidential information that is legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, or a person responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of any of the information contained in or attached to this transmission is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. If you have received this transmission in error, delete it, please immediately notify us by reply e-mail to mainpatents at gmail.com or contacting us by telephone at 408-409-6246

11 years, 1 month

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8257 use in Intel MDS IOC

by mainpatents＠gmail.com

Hi Eric, I reverse engineered the Intel IOC in my MDS-225 back in 1980 and designed/programmed the Zendex equivalent. Your project sounds interesting. I just got a MDS-225 in pieces that I'm getting fired up with DD dual 8" floppies and ISIS-II. Got any parts or need any parts? Richard Main Newark, CA USA +1 510-229-9711

11 years, 1 month

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Olivetti M24 LAN Interface

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

I picked up an Olivetti M24 the other day. When I opened it up I found a "Fox Research LAN Interface" dated 1984. I have not been able to find any information on this card. It has a make DE-9 connector with only 3 pins (technically does that make it a DE-3?). Can anyone give me any details of this interface? The machine does not have the expansion board, and it is missing one of the floppy disk drives. It also does not have a hard disk controller. If anyone has any of these bits going spare I would love to hear from you. Thanks Rob

11 years, 1 month

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Wanted: ASM-48 for Intellec MDS-2

by mainpatents＠gmail.com

Hi *Dave Mabry,* *I have an Intel MDS-225 that I'm getting up and running. I have quite a bit of experience with these from back in 1980's when I developed a lot of Intel SBC boards and wrote ASM-80 assembler on the MDS. I have a complete double density dual drive Intel disk for it and will be up and running ISIS-II on this soon.* *What parts, software are you looking for? What do you have to sell?* *Richard Main 510-229-9711*

11 years, 1 month

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UNIBUS backplane finger contact repair

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

>> it looks like the backplane blocks .. are cast around them > From: Brent Hilpert > all have secured the pin in the housing via some deformation of the metal > pin, post-insertion; as opposed to moulding the housing around the pin. > From: Ethan Dicks > these are cast blocks of plastic with embedded pins. > From: Jon Elson > On some of the connectors, the pins are pressed in from the card side. There appears to be some question as to whether thyy are cast in place, or inserted. Actually, I started to wonder about my assertion shortly after I posted it, and took another look at the backplane. The thing is that the hollows that the finger contact pins are in are fairly complicated (since they allow the contact pins to move back and forth, but hold them from going too far), and I'm really wondering if it would be possible to cast that shape, and then remove the mold, and also have the pin in there. So I'm wondering if in fact they weren't inserted post-casting. > From: Brent Hilpert > The problem in your situation of course, is getting the remainder of > the pin out from between the edge connector housing and the backplane > PCB without having to unsolder the entire connector. Well, I'm kind of assuming they are inserted from the edge-connector side, and not the wira-wrap pin side (what with the contact pins being bent, etc on the edge-connector side), If they _were_ inserted from the wire-wrap pin side, I'm totally @&@^$#%@&^, there's no way to get that PCB off now. So in theory, at least, I'd have to de-solder them from the PCB and then try and push the remaining part back through (after identifying and defeating whatever the capture mechanism is - which I might not be able to reach with the PCB in the way). And then I'd have to find replacement pins and put them in. Both of those sound non-trivial. (All assuming, of course, that they are inserted post-casting, and not cast into place... still not sure about that.) This has assumed a little extra urgency as on closer examination, some of the pins in the UNIBUS in-out area are clearly very weak - I imagine there's only a tiny bit of metal holding the contact pin in place, and it could break off any time. And I won't be so lucky as to have them all be ground pins.. So if one breaks off, the backplane is toast (unless it's the the last thing on the UNIBUS, it could be kludged - i.e. attach the termination/ pull-up directly to the wire-wrap pin). Which I guess is not the end of the world - DD11's aren't _that_ rare... Noel

11 years, 1 month

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PDP-12 Restoration at the RICM

by michael.99.thompson＠gmail.com

> > Date: Mon, 11 May 2015 10:17:41 -0700 > From: "Kirk B Davis" <kirkbdavis at hush.com> > Subject: Re: PDP-12 Restoration at the RICM > > Pictures?? :-) > http://www.ricomputermuseum.org/Home/equipment/dec-pdp-12 -- Michael Thompson

11 years, 1 month

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old control data drives

by gerardcjat＠free.fr

Do we know where theses drives are ( located ) ?? --- L'absence de virus dans ce courrier ?lectronique a ?t? v?rifi?e par le logiciel antivirus Avast. http://www.avast.com

11 years, 1 month

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Paging Wayne Smith

by sellam＠vintagetech.com

Forgive the interruption... I am trying to get a hold of Wayne Smith. I sent him an e-mail a couple days ago but he has not responded. Is he lurking here? If so, please contact me. Thank you! -- Sellam ibn Abraham VintageTech ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintagetech.com Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. The truth is always simple. * * * NOTICE * * * Due to the insecure nature of the medium over which this message has been transmitted, no statement made in this writing may be considered reliable for any purpose either express or implied. The contents of this message are appropriate for entertainment and/or informational purposes only. The right of the people to be secure in their papers against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated.

11 years, 1 month

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altair lot available

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

I got a private email (I suspect many of you did too) regarding a sizeable altair setup (and other accoutrements) being offered up out of an estate sale. >From a quick scan, I don't see that this made it to the list. Just in case, I'm reposting brief info here and a link for more info. Email: Hi, You are receiving this e-mail due to interest expressed as a collector, on theantiquecomputer.com. Please find attached a word document with the information and details of this Altair 8800 Estate Lot. More photos available. Also, please pass this information to anyone who may be interested. Thank You Dan Dan Tharp EcycleNW dan at ecyclenw.com ecyclenw at msn.com Also - the attached file (which I cant send to the list, I don't allow attachments) has been placed at http://www.ezwind.net/altair It is a word document, but it has embedded pictures and such. Best, J

11 years, 1 month

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HP board id?

by marc.verdiell＠gmail.com

Dave, Thanks a million! I did not know that. As for the receivers, it can go into straight TTL apparently, I read that somewhere in an HP manual. Marc >From: "J. David Bryan" <jdbryan at acm.org> >> ...where to get the older CTuL logic IC bus drivers (the 9956 in >> particular) besides from old boards? >With the inclusion of a pulldown resistor to -2V, the TI SN75121 is a recommended replacement, per page 5-6 of the >"HP 1000 M/E/F-Series Computers I/O Interfacing Guide" (02109-90006 September 1980). It's an active part: > http://www.ti.com/product/sn75121 > -- Dave

11 years, 1 month

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HP board id?

by marc.verdiell＠gmail.com

Boy, if you don't know, then who is... But this brings up another good point, where to get the older CTuL logic IC bus drivers (the 9956 in particular) besides from old boards? I'll probably need a few to make my own I/O boards, else I'll have make my own level converters out of SMD components... Marc >From: "Jay West" <jwest at classiccmp.org> >Subject: HP board id? >It seems over the years I acquired more than a just a few of these (two >types of) boards for the HP1000. I'm pretty certain they all came from a >batch of about twenty HP 1000 series systems I got that were decommissioned >from military use. They do not seem to be HP in origin, and I don't have >any >clue what they are for. Mostly they seem to be stuffed with large numbers >of >op amps and some line drivers. Perhaps just flight line testing or ATP? > If no one thinks these are of any use. they will be scavenged for bus > driver chips. But I'd hate to do that if they might be historical or > "interesting". >A few pictures of each board are at www.ezwind.net/hp-unk >Educated guesses?

11 years, 1 month

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MARCH Straight-8 restoration

by evan＠snarc.net

David Gesswein made some web pages about his work on MARCH's PDP-8: http://www.pdp8online.com/shows/vcfe15/vcfe15.shtml http://www.pdp8online.com/shows/vcfe15/restoration.shtml

11 years, 1 month

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A DIY card reader, FYA

by mhs.stein＠gmail.com

This grew out of off-list correspondence about the card punch I'd mentioned on here recently; I thought it might amuse some folks or just possibly even be interesting: ----- Original Message ----- > On Tue, May 5, 2015 at 10:11 PM, Mike Stein > <mhs.stein at gmail.com> wrote: > > I've got a crazy idea; are you handy > mechanically and electronically? > > I've got a couple of mag card readers; I think > it would be a most awesome kludge to turn one > into a punched card reader ;-) > > On the other hand, one of my PPT readers also > reads EPCs (Edge Punched cards)... > > m ---------- > From: Kyle Owen > To: Mike Stein > Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2015 11:23 AM > Subject: Re: Fw: Wright card punch > > Hey Mike, > > I'm certainly more handy when it comes to > electronics than mechanics, though I've dabbled > in a bit of everything it feels like. > > What kind of mag card readers do you have? And I > assume PPT is punched paper tape? I guess I > haven't seen too many EPCs in my time. What were > they used for? > > Kyle ----------------- Hi Kyle, I wasn't entirely serious about the mag card readers, but it's not a totally ridiculous idea either. They're sort of like a linear floppy disk: Imagine a credit card reader like the one at your local ATM that sucks in the card and spits it out, but the card is the size and shape of an 80 column punched card but made from more or less the same material as a floppy disk. The tracks are straight and lengthwise instead of concentric and they're read the same way as your credit card, with a stepper mechanism to select a specific track across the width (height?) of the card either under computer control or manually (note the < and > buttons on the front). Remove the track-select stepper mechanism, add a light source and an array of 12 photo sensors (or a mechanical contact of some sort) and you've got a one-at-a-time card reader; it's even already got a couple of photo sensors ;-) As usual with the old stuff (and most of the 'real' punched card readers) the feed rollers look a little rough, although it looks like you could probably make new ones out of wood or plastic and just put a rubber band around them. Pity I'm getting rid of the punch or I might actually try it myself for a lark. EPCs are really just punched cards of various sizes but instead of using the whole area of the card the data is punched along the bottom edge just like paper tape; they're usually read by normal PPT readers that have a special guide for the card. Pictures of the mag card reader here: http://s1056.photobucket.com/user/dm561/library/?view=recent&page=1

11 years, 1 month

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PDP 11/44 avail, Landenberg, PA

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Bill Degnan > Accepting best offer for a PDP 11/44 located in Landenberg, PA. Before Bill's mailbox explodes, he has listed this on eBay, and it will sell there. (Note, he has it listed local pickup only.) Noel

11 years, 1 month

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Looking for VAXStation 3520 parts

by derschjo＠gmail.com

I have a VAXStation 3520 I'd like to upgrade a bit (because why not) -- if anyone has any spares they'd be willing to sell/trade for, let me know. I'm looking for additional memory (I have only 8mb) or an extra dual processor board (so I can have a quad-processor VAX, which sounds fun). Thanks as always, Josh

11 years, 1 month

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