Hello everybody,
I've always wanted to own a minicomputer, at least, ever since I learned what a minicomputer was in my computer architecture class. Something about the user interface was wonderfully refreshing, of course all we had was SIMH, which is awesome in its own right, but wasn't the same. Anyway, last month I was finally able to pick up a minicomputer (I could afford) off eBay, the HP 1000E/2113E.
It wasn't in the best shape, but I've been able to fix the fans, bring the power supply back into spec, and design replacements for the irreplaceable front panel buttons (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:330821). As much fun as I'm having assembling and toggling in trivial programs, I'm looking to get a complete system up and running, something I can run a more-or-less useful operating system on. This brings me to my current problem:
It looks like the original system peripherals are very few and far between, and when they do show up for sale, they are astronomically priced. My plan is to put together a system with whatever inexpensive contemporaneous parts I can find, regardless of how sacrilegious it is.
I got a hold of two mostly working DEC RL02 disk drives, along with a SCSI 9-track tape drive, and my (pipe) dream is to interface this all to the HP using an FPGA and HP True In/Out card (i.e. HP Bizarro-Bus to TTL converter). As for software, I'm looking towards writing a backend for GCC (understatement x1000) and running FreeRTOS (because I'm familiar with it, I don't need runtime application loading, and I'm going to need to write drivers anyway).
Believe it or not, the RL02 interface is probably the easiest part of this project. I've already started working on a design in Verilog that should be able to provide the necessary functionality over a wishbone interface, and I've gotten the drive to spin up and do some simple tasks with just the FPGA controller connected. (Before anyone asks, yes, I suppose one could make the RL02 a really stationary USB thumbdrive.)
At this point my question is, has anybody tried something like this before and succeeded (or not)? Are there any helpful lessons to be imparted about the HP 1000 or RL02s or working on this type of project in general? I think I have everything segmented off into a monstrous series of small tasks, but I would love to hear from anyone who has already learned from the mistakes I'm about to repeat.
Thanks,
Christopher Parish
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View on www.cardboardconn... Preview by Yahoo
I have many used but clean 1000 ( ~17mb?) & 2400 (40Mb) ft data tapes avail
for late 70's early 80's DEC drives. Some DEC branded, some Control Data.
I guess you'd use with a TU80 and probably more than just DEC. Pics posted
if there is interest.
Reasonable offer + ship from Landenberg, PA. Pickup welcome.
Contact me via vintagecomputer.net/contact.cfm
1. which type
2. how many
3. your address
4. questions
$15 for one, $30 for 3, $60 for 8, $100 for 15; make offer along those
lines.
Bill
CORRECTION to earlier post tapes PLUS pdp 11/44 for sale.
http://vintagecomputer.net/digital/PDP11-44/
I have many used but clean 1000 ( ~17mb?) & 2400 (40Mb) ft data tapes avail
for late 70's early 80's DEC drives. Some DEC branded, some Control Data.
I guess you'd use with a TU80 and probably more than just DEC. Pics posted
if there is interest.
Reasonable offer + ship from Landenberg, PA. Pickup welcome.
Contact me via vintagecomputer.net/contact.cfm
1. which type
2. how many
3. your address
4. questions
$15 for one, $30 for 3, $60 for 8, $100 for 15; make offer along those
lines.
PDP 11/44 - $350 if you pick up. $450 +ship if you need mailed.
Bill
**************************************
I've got a few MAGSAV-format 9-track tapes here and need to retrieve
files from them. Since I'm after ASCII data, I assume that I can simply
check each file for strings of high-order bit-set ASCII and use that to
extract (I am aware that PRIME used space/blank compression) the data.
Still, the metadata that goes along with each file would be valuable.
Does anyone here have layout or other information of MAGSAV tapes? The
customer would be unwilling to spring $3K for the Unix MAGRST utility,
so that's out even if it's still available.
Thanks in advance,
Chuck
I've been trying to contact Vince Briel of brielcomputers.com for a few
weeks and haven't been able to get a response. I put down money for a
micro-altair kit and ramdisk back in September 2013. I got an
acknowledgement shortly after that, but then nothing. He hasn't responded
to any of my emails or PMs. Does anyone know a reliable means of
contacting him?
--
David Griffith
dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu
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?
I recently acquired 3 RK05j's that seem to have spent time in a barn as
well as having been used by a heavy smoker. I thoroughly cleaned and
de-gray-foamed them as well as putting in new absolute filters.
The first one came up after cleaning with no issues. Works great.
Number two spins up but the initial seek emits a sickening "klang" as the
voice coil drives hard to the limit (yes, the graticule lamp is working).
Any ideas?
The third drive initially had really ugly heads that never cleaned up to my
liking. I loaded a disk anyway and for about 5 seconds after the initial
head load all was okay. Then I heard the sound of the top head scouring
the disk.
So I'm thinking of buying replacement heads off of eBay. Apparently these
are the heads but not the steel tongues that they mount on.
So I have some questions for anyone on the list who may have changed their
heads.
1. How hard is it to mount the head in the tongue? Looks like just 2
screws.
2. How hard is it to remove/replace the tongue assembly? Looks like it
mounts with a couple of allen screws.
3. How hard is it to align the heads? I don't have a CE pack so I'll just
have to use a pack that works okay on the other drive.
4. Any sage advice or whatever?
Thanks for any and all help.
Marc
> From: Richard <legalize at xmission.com>
> Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 12:45:32 -0600
> Subject: Scicards and Valid graphics terminals (was: VAX-11/7xx Electronic CAD Software?)
> "auringer tds.net" <auringer at tds.net> writes:
>
>> For schematic capture, we had a trio of Valid Scaldstation minis that
>> served several green screen graphics terminals each. Each terminal was a
>> ~19" tube attached to a dedicated table with a built in digitizer. [..]
The RICM has a Valid SCALD ("Structured Computer-Aided Logic Design") system.
http://www.ricomputermuseum.org/Home/equipment/valid-scaldsystem
I don't think that we have ever powered it on.
--
Michael Thompson
I'm working on a 9100A, and there are two keys that refuse to move
whatsoever: enter and plus. Upon removal of the keyboard assembly and
opening it up, I believe I see spots of corrosion on those key stalks.
Any ideas on how to correct the issue?
Thanks,
Kyle
The other night I picked up a TRS-80 model II from a seller on Craigslist. The computer had apparently belonged to an account and it came with lots of binders of TRS-80 accounting software manuals and boxes of disks filled with old client information.
It came with some no-name 3rd party external dual 8" drive and a gigantic Centronics 703(?) printer. I tested out the computer when I got home and it looks like it probably works fine, I was able to power it up without any smoke coming out and get it to boot into one of the CP/M disks I found in the box. The keyboard is another matter, but I've already been pointed to a few sites that discuss how to deal with the foam pads inside the capacitive keyboard.
I didn't get a cable for either the printer or the external disks, although I'm not really worried about hooking up to the parallel port since I doubt I'm really going to want to print from the TRS-80 anyway. I did open up the external drive case and it has two genuine Shugart drives in it, and I've already ordered some 50 pin IDC connectors so I can make up a cable to connect it to the TRS-80.
I'm having a heck of a time hunting down a manual for the printer though. I *think* it's a Centronics 703, but the 703 was blacked out on the nameplate on the back, and there's no identification on the front. I definitely need to get a new ribbon for it, but it looks like instead of replacing the ribbon as a cartridge, you pull the whole ribbon out of the screwed in case and then have to pack a new one in. The pinch rollers for feeding the ribbon are pretty old and now flat on one side, but after a touch of oil they do *seem* to be turning and feeding the ribbon.
I've posted an album up on Google+ of the computer, you can see it here:
https://plus.google.com/112185595588625076298/posts/KT4mtRJtCAs
Hi Folks!
Just spotted this. Sadly, out of my price range but somebody might be
interested. Pretty uncommon in the UK.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261511931391
Cheers,
Dave
Along with the Tandy 1000 that I brought home the other day, I also got the
monitor plinth (just not the original monitor itself). Mounted on the
underside of the plinth are rubber feet, and these appear to have "eaten"
into the top of the 1000's plastic case.
Has anyone seen this kind of interaction before? In the hundreds of vintage
systems I've seen, I've come across many cases of rubber parts
deteriorating (and sometimes turning to goo), but not of it damaging other
materials (and in this instance the rubber feet themselves seem to be in
good condition still)
I'm not sure how widespread this is, and/or if it's going to be more of a
problem as things age. On the other hand, I'm inclined to think that this
is an isolated incident, and maybe related to aggressive cleaning materials
used on the machine's case (which then softened the plastic) - there are
more imprints on the case shell than there are feet on the plinth, so it
happened at least twice with the plinth moved in the meantime.
Thoughts?
Jules
While digging through a local estate sale yesterday, I found an unknown
(to me), unmarked system. From what I know of the late owner, the system
may be related to the aircraft industry, as many of his tools and bits and
bobs were from Boeing surplus.
As for the unit itself, it is a yellow desk, with a tinted glass
slide-down screen, a complex keyboard. It had two Canon 5.25" floppy
drives mounted behind the screen, next to a USi Pi3 amber monitor. The
bottom section of the desk had a card cage, with cards, but I was unable to
open it for inspection. The only IO I found was a 36 pin Centronics
connection on the lower back of the desk. The console itself has a red
Fault indicator, as well as 3 columns of indicator lamps, with a
corresponding button and markings 1-8. There are also light up
push-buttons for power, load, reset, and compute.
The keyboard has switches for parity select (odd/even), Logic (+/-), Caps
(vs mixed upper/lower), Aux on/off, repeat fast/slow, some sort of counter,
plus a pair of mode A/B select wheels.
Pics can be seen at http://microfilmks.com/~tesla/Oddball/
Thanks!
--Shaun
I'm curious about what sort of software might have been used during the 1980s on VAX-11/7xx series machines to support design and/or production of electronic hardware.
If there are any dusty old archived copies of such software that I might be able to experiment with on my VAX-11/730 (after I get it running, that is), that would be pretty exciting.
--
Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net>
http://www.nf6x.net/
On Mon, 23 Jun 2014 14:52:25 -0700:00, Ian McLaughlin <ian at platinum.net>
wrote:
> Hello all and thank you for adding me to the list.
>
> I am in the process of restoring a NorthStar Horizon machine. The boards in this machine
> have a significant amount of flux residue on them - it certainly appears that this
> particular machine was constructed from a kit. My question is about this flux - should I
> be removing it as part of my cleanup, or should I leave it in place? I know that this
> isn't a super-collectible machine or anything, but I've never come across this issue in
> any other machine in my collection, and I was wondering what the general consensus was.
> I'm perfectly aware of the corrosive nature of the flux and how to remove it, however this
> flux has been there for 35+ years.
>
> Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
>
> Ian
It is probably resin (or rosin) core solder, which is most likely not
corrosive. You will know by the smell if you put a hot iron to a solder
joint. Resin is a medium brown which darkens when heated. If you want to
remove it, resin dissolves in ethanol. If it has been there for 35 years
with no ill effects, you may as well leave it.
Jonas
Hello all and thank you for adding me to the list.
I am in the process of restoring a NorthStar Horizon machine. The boards in this machine have a significant amount of flux residue on them - it certainly appears that this particular machine was constructed from a kit. My question is about this flux - should I be removing it as part of my cleanup, or should I leave it in place? I know that this isn't a super-collectible machine or anything, but I've never come across this issue in any other machine in my collection, and I was wondering what the general consensus was. I'm perfectly aware of the corrosive nature of the flux and how to remove it, however this flux has been there for 35+ years.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Ian
My saved searches coughed up a TU55 single-drive DECtape transport on the eBay this morning. Then I looked at the listing and had a stunning case of sticker shock, as it's listed for $6,900 buy it now. !
I know (?) that TU55/TU56 drives aren't too common these days, but is that price in line with what they go for?
P.S.: No, I'm not even considering buying it. I'm just morbidly curious.
--
Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net>
http://www.nf6x.net/
[TRS-80 M2 and printer]
>> I didn't get a cable for either the printer or the external disks,
<snip>
> I'm having a heck of a time hunting down a manual for the printer
> though. I *think* it's a Centronics 703, but the 703 was blacked out
> on the nameplate on the back, and there's no identification on the
> front. I
Whenever I read a thread that starts with something like "...picked up a TRS
80 Model II..." my first instinct is RUN! Before it's too late! I am very
happy with a single drive system for most things BTW. But I also have a
troublesome external drive to use when I need more aggravation in my life,
or a feeling shame and doubt about my abilities to support vintage hardware.
But seriously, I have posted a bunch of new TRS 80 Model II images on my
site, that have been vetted by the TRS Yahoo group. You might find useful.
http://vintagecomputer.net/disk_images/TRS80_8in/
Bill
Hi folks,
Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be trying to liquidate some "dead weight" -- meaning, things that I don't have time to poke at and have fallen down the list of projects I want to work on. So, probably nothing terribly exciting, but if anyone is interested in any of it, I'd like to give them the chance to take it off my hands.
I have two
1. A KA660 MicroVAX 4000/200 in a BA123 pedestal chassis. It has memory errors, so it can't boot past the system console, but it might be a fun project for someone who's into VAXen. It comes with four 16MB MS650 memory modules, a couple of RF35 (I think) DSSI disks, and a TK-70 drive. That's it.
2. Compaq AlphaServer DS20e. No skins, just the bare rack-mount chassis. I think it's got about a gig of RAM and about 18GB of disk. It's fast, you know you want it. You can run OpenVMS on it and impress your friends.
Location: Fremont, California, USA. You come pick up, sorry, I can't ship anywhere.
Price: No reasonable offer will be refused!
Drop me a line off-list if you're interested in either (or both!) of these.
-Seth
Dear friends,
A friend of mine got an Hitachi MB6890 computer with a pair of drives.
Does anyone has a clue of how to copy its disks? Where to find disk images?
Thanks
Alexandre
I just got a Digiac model 5504 disk drive exerciser through eBay. It didn't include any documentation. The basic features seem pretty straightforward, but I'm hoping to find documentation to figure out the less-obvious stuff, like those "fault enable" switches under a locking cover.
It'll probably make an appearance on my web page eventually. For now, curious folks can see pictures of it on the eBay listing:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/230590661812
I plugged it into a 5.25" floppy drive and was able to start and stop the motor and move the heads around. I'll probably try to get some alignment floppies one of these days.
--
Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net>
http://www.nf6x.net/
Does anyone have RT-11 actually running with two MSCP disk controllers?
My 11/83 has a CMD CQD220A/TM at 172150, and an RQDX3 at 160334. The rqdx3 has an rx33 floppy drive, and is set for starting LUN 4.
No matter what I do, RT-11 simply won't see the floppy. I've run sysgen, specified the addresses of both controllers, nothing works.
So, if anyone actually has a running system with dual controllers, I would love to see the SET DEVICE stuff that makes it work.
Thanks for any advice.
Guys,
Many of you know about us - www.hpmuseum.net, and that we are located in the
convenient-for-everyone city of Melbourne. We are planning another
consolidated sea shipment from the US later this year. So, if you need to do
any HP closet-clearing, or know anyone who does, please put them on to us.
Our ship-to address is in Southern California (city of Orange). We pay for
shipping.
We are not just looking for hardware, software and manuals. We are also
interested in newsletters, user magazines, promotional material and videos,
etc. Thanks for reading and keep up the great work!
Cheers,
Jon
I have a quantity of 11/44 boards and backplanes and can sell either
complete sets or individual parts. Shipping from 61853. Please contact me
off list if you are interested.
Thanks, Paul
A TECO distribution has the manual in RUNOFF format. I'd like to run
that through a decent text formatter to get a PDF.
Does anyone know of a RUNOFF manual that will tell me the meaning of
the directives so I can translate this file into troff and then
process it into PDF?
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" free book <http://tinyurl.com/d3d-pipeline>
The Computer Graphics Museum <http://ComputerGraphicsMuseum.org>
The Terminals Wiki <http://terminals.classiccmp.org>
Legalize Adulthood! (my blog) <http://LegalizeAdulthood.wordpress.com>
Hi folks,
Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be trying to liquidate some
"dead weight" -- meaning, things that I don't have time to poke at and
have fallen down the list of projects I want to work on. So, probably
nothing terribly exciting, but if anyone is interested in any of it,
I'd like to give them the chance to take it off my hands.
I have two items to get started with.
1. A KA660 MicroVAX 4000/200 in a BA123 pedestal chassis. It has
memory errors, so it can't boot past the system console, but it might
be a fun project for someone who's into VAXen. It comes with four 16MB
MS650 memory modules, a couple of RF35 (I think) DSSI disks, and a
TK-70 drive. That's it.
2. Compaq AlphaServer DS20e. No skins, just the bare rack-mount
chassis. I think it's got about a gig of RAM and about 18GB of disk.
It's fast, you know you want it. You can run OpenVMS on it and impress
your friends.
Location: Fremont, California, USA, conveniently located near Decoto
Road and I-880. You come pick up, sorry, I can't ship anywhere.
Price: No reasonable offer will be refused!
Drop me a line off-list if you're interested in either (or both!) of
these.
-Seth
The BT-100 from the Communist-era Czech Republic. I'd not heard of
this before. Nicknamed the "runaway nail", it's a dot printer. Not a
dot-matrix: it only has one pin. :?)
Google translation (if the link works):
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=cs&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UT…
Source page:
http://falconsoft.czechian.net/bt100/
Plain text follows below the .sig for the WWW-impaired...
--
Liam Proven ? Profile: http://lproven.livejournal.com/profile
Email: lproven at cix.co.uk ? GMail/G+/Twitter/Flickr/Facebook: lproven
MSN: lproven at hotmail.com ? Skype/AIM/Yahoo/LinkedIn: liamproven
Cell: +44 7939-087884
________________________________
________________________________
Do you remember an old printer jednojehli?kovou BT-100, some know it
under the name "runaway nail". The manufacturer of this printer was
easy to Tesla. On his plastic box boasted logo Matrix Printer. The
printer can print on paper size A4, printing principle is the simplest
you can be, despite the carbon. Control and monitoring of moving
needles and paper is very slow, everything is controlled by computer.
The quality of the printing also has its problems, but prints.
We realize that nowadays the printer is BT-100 for its long time to
print virtually unusable, even though we have it decided to join the
C64 and develop programs for printing. This project is BT-100 is
opened, and this site will publish various information programs for
printing, and everything what this veteran piece of hardware is
concerned.
________________________________
Update: 13 June 2008 Hardcopy BT-100 v2.1
New, but still binary version of the BT-100 Hardcopy for printing
bitmaps to the printer jednojehli?kov? BT-100 contains two new
features. Needle printers neproklepne hard paper in order to print it
is necessary to swap the carbon paper with paper that is loaded in the
printer. It is still necessary to horizontally flip the bitmap,
otherwise the resulting print was mirrored. Function for flipping
bitmaps Y-axis is implemented in this version.
Another very practical novelty is the analysis of the bitmap. This is
performed on the principle of virtual printing. First, list
information about the structure of the bitmap. It is the number of
printed pixels, the area percentage and the number of blank lines. It
is also listed how many apartments will be sent to the printer and how
many will be synchronized truck. Finally, the analysis is the
calculation and listing the estimated time of printing. This is
dependent on the structure of the bitmap, and of course on the
selected print quality.
Complete instructions are included in the zip package or here .
Selected print quality concept
Estimated time of printing is 5 minutes 29 seconds
Actual print time is 5 minutes 35 secondsSelected print quality concept
Estimated time of printing is 11 minutes 29 seconds
Actual print time is 11 minutes 39 seconds
Between estimated and actual time to see a slight difference. Practice
has shown that, even in the repeated printing of the same bitmap is
some time difference. This implies that the estimated time to print
accurate to the second, of course, impossible. In practical tests, it
was confirmed that our estimated printing time is given with an
accuracy somewhere around 2%.
Release Date: June 12, 2008
The program is stored on the disk image for D64 emulator Commodore 64
Download (49kB)
________________________________
Update: October 29, 2006 Electronic scheme printers BT-100
Printer BT-100 is already old-fashioned machine that easily succumb to
a disease that, and especially in this autumn :-) Do Within "runaway
nails" can look after od?rouben? plastic cover which is convoluted
world of electronic components. For better orientation in the repair
will certainly come in handy chart that today we publish.
For the provision of this scheme are grateful Schotkovi, be sure to
visit his website www.schotek.cz
To enlarge, click on the thumbnail.
scanned image size is 1644x2201 pixels (286kB)
________________________________
Update: April 30, 2005 Diagnosis BT-100 v1.0
The tool is designed to verify basic state function printers BT-100.
Self-diagnosis is mainly focused on the test of optical sensors and
servos. This way you can test the functionality of the basic elements
of the printer. Termination whole diagnosis consists in printing a
test page. You can then check the resulting print quality and
especially the synchronization accuracy. Instructions for use of the
program is here .
Release Date: 28 April 2005
The program is stored on the disk image for D64 emulator Commodore 64
Download (24kB)
________________________________
Update: 28 July 2004 Hardcopy BT-100 v2.0
The new version of BT-100 Hardcopy looks at first glance like the
previous one, but something is different. The adjustment was made in
the main core of the program, the handler routine for printing. The
front features of this new driver is speeding up printing. Speeding is
that the truck cutting head goes only to the last point, which is
printed on the current line. Taking in the old version carriage drove
up to the end of each line. For comparison, the new version over the
previous two demonstrations, we use the new driver properties in
practice.
Selected print quality normal
time of printing in v1.0 is 17 minutes 24 seconds
time press in v2.0 is 14 minutes 49 secondsSelected print quality concept
in v1.0 Print time is 13 minutes 56 seconds
time press in v2.0 is 4 minutes 4 seconds
The sample text is seeing rapid shortening of the time of printing in
the new version of the driver program Hardcopy BT-100.
Complete instructions are included in the zip package or here .
Release Date: 28 July 2004
The program is stored on the disk image for D64 emulator Commodore 64
Download (42kB)
________________________________
Update: April 23, 2004 Printer Connection BT-100 C64
Printer BT-100 to C64 cable connects via User Port. The BT-100 are two
connectors marked DIN7 IN (input signal to the BT-100) and OUT (output
signal to C64). The printer is powered by an external source of DC
voltage 22V.
INOUT
1 Motor Vehicle right PB0 1 Sensor trolley stop PB4
4 Motor Vehicle on the left PB1 6 The sensor synchronization print PB5
5 Up write head PB2 7 The sensor coordinates of points PB6
6 Engine displacement paper PB3 3 The sensor offset paper PB7
2 Ground GND 2 Ground GND
________________________________
Update: 23 April 2004 Hardcopy BT-100 v1.0
As the name suggests, this is a program that copies the video screen
directly to the printer. Strictly speaking, the HIRES graphic prints,
graphic screen where data is stored at $ 2000 - $ 3F3F (decimal
8192-16191). This portion of graphics memory is used as a graphic
editor Art Studio. The program is implemented and functions such as
preparation of the printer (ie, offset paper), the possibility of
inversion graphics, a choice between quality printing concept or
normal. Indeed even the BT-100 can print different quality.
Instructions for use of the program is here .
As stated before printing can be done with different quality printing,
concept or normal. The quality concept is best used for printing text
(in this choice does not affect the quality of the final print), or
simple images (printing is performed quickly at the expense of
quality). To achieve better print quality images with a high density
of points you need to select the print quality is normal. It takes a
little more than a concept, but the print result is even better. The
following example can be compared.
DraftNormal
Printing takes a very long time, and listen to the antics of one
needle is cruel repair. Resolution HIRES graphics is 320x200 pixels,
it means that one has to cope with needle to 64000 points. The maximum
printing time (if in each line of at least 1 point) is indicated in
the table.
Concept: 16 minutes 47 seconds
Normal: 20 minutes 56 seconds
Another front driver properties for printing the truck unnecessarily
nep?ej??d? blank lines automatically leads to a shift of paper
processing the next line. This implies that the printing time is
proportionally reduces the number of blank lines. For demonstration we
present two examples of printed quality concept.
Number of blank lines is 40
out time is 12 minutes 22 secondsNumber of blank lines is 186
out time is 1 minute 18 seconds
After getting familiar with the characteristics of the program get to
the download section and subsequent practical use. The D64 disk image
is stored outside the Hardcopy and diagrams and descriptions printer
connection, Noter with instructions for use, and several bitmap for
test printing.
Release Date: 18 April 2004
The program is stored on the disk image for D64 emulator Commodore 64
Download (42kB)
Copyright ? 2003-2010 Falcon soft
Originally Digital Research supplied CP/M in a form suitable for an Intel
MDS, and it was up to OEMs to hack it to work on anything else. Since I've
got an MDS, I'd like to get an image of a CP/M distribution disk for the
MDS.
I thought I'd seen such a disk image online a few years back, but I can't
seem to locate it now, so perhaps I'm mistaken.
I'm interested in any versions; the more the better.
Thanks!
Eric
My contact at the dump had set aside a Tandy 1000 for me (and thankfully
the keyboard and a joystick hadn't vanished, like they have with other
vintage systems I've hauled away from there).
We did a quick search around for the Tandy monitor with no luck, but I did
locate a Taxan 720-U display in the monitor pile - the connector is a DE9
which is why it caught my eye.
Does anyone have any information on this display? What with the DE9 I was
hoping it was EGA or CGA (and compatible with the Tandy), but the few
google results I'm seeing suggest it's a multisync capable of 800x600
resolution, which makes it sound more like VGA (and I have a very dim
memory of some early VGA hardware being crammed into a DE9 connector,
rather than the typical DE15)
cheers
Jules
Ive decided to part with my boxed C128 Setup. It sits and never gets used.
Its in great shape
Im asking $300 plus shipping for it, Or Local Pickup, Will be heading
to the Flint area tomarrow. Could bring it along
Hi,
I've just built a new building that will be part machine shop and part vintage
computer display area (and workshop for repair, etc.)
I'm trying to size power requirements and AC requirements.
I know that without specifics as to exactly what I'll be running (and
all the options) then it's really hard to come up with anything.
At the same time I need to decide and get the building wired up and the
cooling set up.
I have a number of different racks of PDP-8 and PDP-11 equipment along
with other more personal sized computers.
Obviously not all will be powered up at once, but I'd like to spec out
requirements so that I can at least run a few at a time.
Likewise with the AC. I'd like enough AC to be able to run for as long
as I want without overheating the equipment or myself (and I overheat
easily.)
I know some people have been setting up shops recently and I guess I'm
wondering what they've been doing for both electrical and AC.
Any input is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Todd
Hi all,
i have here a PDP8/E with a defective M8300 Mayjor Register board. The
problem is a DEC8271 shift register that is used for bit 0 - 3 in
program counter register.
Do anyone know a modern equivalent for the DEC8271?
Greeting to all readers
Marco
* Englisch - erkannt
* Englisch
* Deutsch
* Englisch
* Deutsch
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>> i have here a PDP8/E with a defective M8300 Mayjor Register board. The
>> problem is a DEC8271 shift register that is used for bit 0 - 3 in program
>> counter register.
>> Do anyone know a modern equivalent for the DEC8271?
>>
>
>It's a Signetics 8271. The full Signetics part number is N8271B for
>plastic package or N8271E for ceramic, or "S" prefix rather than "N" for
>-55C to +125C temperature range.
>
>There is no "modern equivalent".
--- Quest shows them in stock for $4 each:
http://www.questcomp.com/QuestDetails.aspx?pn=N8271N&pnid=137216&stock=YesO…
Steve Lafferty
On 06/19/2014 02:47 AM, cctalk-request at classiccmp.org wrote:
> Hi Sean,
>
> No three-phase available nearby so if I ever do need it I'll be using a rotary
> converter or VFD or something.
>
> Luckily I don't need it at the moment.
>
> It will likely have it's own transformer and drop.
>
> I'm sure it will be at least 200A service.
There are only a VERY few devices that can be connected to a
PDP-11
that need 3-phase power. One I know of is the RP07, but that is
really a VAX peripheral. Since it is Massbus, it COULD be
connected to
an 11/70, though. Possibly also the RP06 might also be 3-phase.
In general, though, these machines are QUITE low power
compared to
higher-end machines like PDP-10's and early VAXes. I can't
imagine
any PDP-8 system that needs much power. Unless it was loaded
with a BUNCH of RK05 drives, I can't imagine it wouldn't run off
a single 120V 15A outlet.
The PDP-11/45 draws enough power it would need separate outlets
for the CPU and the drives.
Jon
I have an old friend who has developed serious issues who will be
driving from North Dallas to Oklahoma City tomorrow. He will have a
piece of equipment that I want, about the size of a microwave oven, with
him. Is there anyone here along that route who would be able to meet up
with him and take it off of his hands? He will dumpster it at the end
of his trip if it's not picked up. I will make arrangements to get it
>from whoever gets it afterwards.
(I have zero knowledge of the geography down there, no idea of what
route he will be taking, etc)
Any assistance is greatly appreciated.
NOTE: I no longer read this list; please reply privately if you can
assist.
Thanks,
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ/3
New Kensington, PA
I have a TD Systems Viking QTO MSCP emulating SCSI tape QBUS controller and
I found a manual for that one one the net:
http://manx.classiccmp.org/collections/antonio/chrisq/TD_Systems_Inc_-_900-…
But I rather have a disk controller rather than a tape controller. Or a
combined tape and disk.
An old post from '99 (
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.sys.pdp11/2XddHq03SQI) indicate
that the web address is www.tdsys.com. Accessing this webpage just informs
me that the company doesn't exist any more. But someone is paying the
domain fee. I tried to email but hasn't got neither a bounce nor a reply
yet.
I would guess that it is all up to the EPROM and the PAL chip to decide how
this card is working. QDO, QTO, QDT, QDD or QDA. The PAL is a simple 16L8
so it is most certainly only used for address decoding and should be pretty
simply to change. The EPROM contents is a problem though. I dumped it and
did some initial checking with a Z80 disassembler and simple operations
like "strings".
There are a lot of strings in there. Some of them seems to relate to tape
drives, like "EXABYTE", "WANGTEK" and "space forward". But also others that
seems to be disk oriented like "Booting from DU0", "Disk common command
set" and "Fomat unit".
A couple of years ago a someone sold such a controller on Ebay but also
included an EPROM and a PAL to convert it. I contacted this seller but
never go a reply.
Does anyone have this controller? Know anything about it? Has anyone
converted it from tape to disk?
> On Thu, Jun 19, 2014 at 2:18 AM, Marco Rauhut <marco at familie-rauhut.eu>
> wrote:
>
> > i have here a PDP8/E with a defective M8300 Mayjor Register board. The
> > problem is a DEC8271 shift register that is used for bit 0 - 3 in program
> > counter register.
> > Do anyone know a modern equivalent for the DEC8271?
> >
>
> It's a Signetics 8271. The full Signetics part number is N8271B for
> plastic package or N8271E for ceramic, or "S" prefix rather than "N" for
> -55C to +125C temperature range.
>
> There is no "modern equivalent". The 74LS395A has similar functionality
> except that it has a single clock input and a load/shift control, whereas
> the 8271 has separate load and shift clocks. And the pinout is completely
> different.
>
> If you can't get an 8271, you could program a PAL to do the same thing,
> though it's possible that the much higher speed of the PAL could cause
> problems.
>
> I wouldn't advise trying to substitute the Intel 8271.
I just recently repaired a DEC TU60 tape drive. It contained N8271
chips in the CRC logic. One of them was bad.
I replaced it with a 74179 which I bought on EBAY. As far as I
understand they are identical.
http://www.datormuseum.se/computers/digital-equipment-corporation/pdp-11-04
>
> AU/X for PowerPC would have given them a contender
>
AU/X was a pretty awful Unix cobbled together to meet a narrow market need
unrelated to the markets Copeland was intended to address. It's singular
grace was it let Apple say with a straight face "yes, you can run Unix on
our hardware" (and to a lesser extent, say "and see, it looks pretty like a
Mac"). It wasn't a contender in the Unix market, much less the "platform
to take Apple to the next level" market.
KJ
So, the memory fails when booting up and the result of a test 50 is as
follows:
?? MEM
0010.0200
01000000
According to the M38 manual, there SHOULD (not yelling, really) be a second
address of the failure after the memory size on the second line. As you
can see, there isn't.
What's up with that? Where do I begin?
I think the biggest hint is the 0200, but alas and alack, that isn't in the
manual (at least the one that I have).
My offhand guess is that this is a problem w/ the on board memory on the
processor card --- but then you'd still expect an address.
Comments?
Hi,
I've got a very nice, and working, Handspring Visor with various cases,
the docking station, the 'eye' module camera and the Targus folding
keyboard as well as all the accompanying software. Shipping in the US
is $15, for international I'd have to check based on country. Let me
know if you are interested, I can take Paypal or an echeck. I can send
pictures if interested.
Thanks,
Shawn
> While digging through a local estate sale yesterday, I found an unknown
(to me), unmarked system. From what I know of the late owner, the system
may be related to the aircraft industry, as many of his tools and bits and
bobs were from Boeing surplus.
> As for the unit itself, it is a yellow desk, with a tinted glass
slide-down screen, a complex keyboard. It had two Canon 5.25" floppy
drives mounted behind the screen, next to a USi Pi3 amber monitor.
<snip>
Others may have said something similar, but here is my 2 cents....The USi
Pi3 monitor was sold as a package by Protecto along with the liquidated
Commdore B-128 computers in the mid 80's. They bought the remaining stock.
Assuming the monitor came with the terminal, one could deduce that this
smart terminal is also from the mid 80's as well.
Bill
I've got my original IBM Thinkpad 750C (486SL version as I recall) with a
docking station (it has slots in it) which I cannot justify keeping around
any more. I need the space. Anyone here interested in it? I believe I have
the original install disks as well but finding those might be more of an
issue. It has Windows 3.1 on it and one corner of glorious 640 x 480 color
display is not working (like maybe 15 - 30 pixels out of the corner with
issues.
--Chuck
Hoping to bring some knowledge out of the woodwork here...I have
acquired what is, in any case, quite a relic, but I suspect there is
much more to learn about it:
http://silent700.blogspot.com/2014/06/leads-always-follow-them.html
In short, I stumbled upon a Sun-1. It's the rackmount version, the
1/150, but it has a strange model name on the ID plate which appears
to be "RM-CC" or "RM-0C." It has a very early serial number but I
can't determine if that was its first number or the result of an
upgrade or refurb. It appears to contain a Sun-2 CPU board so,
according to what I've read, should be ID'd as a 1/150U. I've read
nothing about re-assigning a serial, however.
I was told that Sun-1 serial numbers began at 013, due to there being
12 employees at the time. Again, I have no idea if this machine's
serial number is original or not. It was sold to the University of
Chicago, who I believe were among the first purchasers of Sun
products. They are said to still have S/N 13 (in theory the "first"
Sun made) in their posession but I have no first-hand knowledge.
I am supposed to be put in touch with the original curator of this
machine, from which I hope to learn a lot more about its history. For
now, enjoy the pics and please share whatever info you may have...
- jht
During preparation of the machine for VCFE i had a failure in the CRT's high voltage part.
Yep, flyback burnt..
The high voltage winding was potted as a separate unit, enabled my to rewind the flyback's primary (was burnt).
Then after replacing 2 transistors, 2 resistors and 1 diode I got a brief few seconds of live out of the display again.
The hisses accompanying this would indicate the maybe the flyback HV isolation is not good anymore, however i did not see sparks flying...
Current working assumption is that the secondary potted winding is also compromised.
I will also replace the HV voltage diode, is the HV capacitor something that fails regularly ?
It is a 17 inch white monochrome Ball HD17-type monitor.
What are my options : repair again, looking for a generic flyback ( is there such a thing ?) , or dumping it into lake Zurich, which is my current mood....
I am not averse to putting some modern solution in place ( to generate the HV that is )
Jos
All,
I have an (untested) H7140 here with the bias/interface module from my
dead one...took me a bit to get it in...apparently the aligning rails got
knocked loose.
Now, it comes up ad the DC OK light blinks (there is no load, I haven't
done voltage checks and I'm not ready for a load yet). However...the fans
don't spin and I measure 0VAC there. Last night the wires had gotten
caught on something, cut a bit and ended up shorted together...I hadn't
noticed as the tag covered up the damage...but I fixed that today. I
wouldn't imagine there was protection missing there...I never heard
arcing, anything frying, and I didn't see current draw shoot up.
Any ideas? I don't want to put ANY load on this until I have the fans
working...not even a dummy load.
--
Cory Smelosky
http://gewt.net Personal stuff
http://gimme-sympathy.org Projects