On Fri Oct 1 16:39:32 CDT 2010, Tony Duell (ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk)
submitted the following words of wisdom:
>>
>> Ok, can't resist. I'm just so happy to have this machine!
>>
>> Mark
>>
>> http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5153811&l=e3d7fbce9f&id=734972117
>> http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5153808&l=e4aaef5843&id=734972117
>
> What is it with classic computer people and cats :-)
>
> -tony
Have you played the card game called "Chez Geek"? If you have, and you
didn't know it before, you would have learned that cats are an
essential companion to any geek who is really serious about his or her
geekhood.
/Jonas
> I just sold 30# of aluminum heatsink approx 8" wide x 4" high x 5' long for
> $40.00. 9 other identical pieces were scrapped out for about $15.00 each. My
> understanding is that they were in the $100.00 + catagory when new.
And that sounds like it was for stock extrusions. If you add all sorts
of machining so the heatsink actually touches the processor, you can
add a bunch more on to the price.
Fans are cheap and effective.
And the last place *anyone* wants to go is liquid cooling.
--
Will
Hello
Does anyone have any information on a VTEK Braille Display Processor
computer? I have one but can not find anything of help using google,
bing, or yahoo to search. The one I have is a model BDP-ACT II. Any
help would be great.
Thanks
JK
More old stuff I don't need but you might :)
Large paperback textbook, "Assembler Language Programming
Systems/360 and 370" by Sharon K. Tuggle, 1975, 511 pages.
$5 plus actual Media Mail shipping.
thanks
Charles
Hi guys,
Does anyone happen to have a copy of "Programming Psion Computers" by
Leigh Edwards (published by EMCC Software) sitting on the bookshelf?
I've just bought a copy, complete with CD.... but the good ol' Royal
Mail have managed to snap the CD clean in two. An ISO image or CD-R copy
would be most useful...
The publisher has gone bust, and I haven't managed to find any trace of
the author either :(
Thanks,
--
Phil.
classiccmp at philpem.me.uk
http://www.philpem.me.uk/
Hi guys,
Does anyone happen to have a copy of "Programming Psion Computers" by
Leigh Edwards (published by EMCC Software) sitting on the bookshelf?
I've just bought a copy, complete with CD.... but the good ol' Royal
Mail have managed to snap the CD clean in two. An ISO image or CD-R copy
would be most useful...
The publisher has gone bust, and I haven't managed to find any trace of
the author either :(
Thanks,
--
Phil.
philpem at philpem.me.uk
http://www.philpem.me.uk/
Found in the junkbox:
An unused 5.25" floppy from Amish Software "Bonus Disk: Amish
Bundling includes Amish Launch and Amish Desk Utilities for
Windows" (1991).
Another with Creative Labs' "Game Blaster Demo & Intelligent
Organ" (1989).
Price - Almost free (for postage) ;)
thanks
Charles
Short story: Anyone have the ability to dump an Intel D8749
microcontroller's internal EEPROM for me?
Long story: I picked up a neat-o keen display unit. (See
http://yahozna.dyndns.org/scratch/avtron/IMG_0477.JPG for a picture) It
uses two *huge* Panaplex displays (Babcock SP-431's) showing 4 7-segment
digits (with 2" digit height) each.
It's made by Avtron, an industrial automation hardware company -- I got
in touch with their support department and they helped me identify the
display (it's a "K885 Extrabrite display" designed to be used with their
K885 "Speed / Draw" systems). Alas, they can't provide any interface
specifications (which is about what I expected), so all I know is that
it uses some sort of two-pin serial interface (with connectors labeled
"High" and "Low")
I was thinking that if I could get a dump of the microcontroller ROM, I
might be able to either (a) decipher the protocol enough to allow
another microcontroller/PC to control the display, or (b) decipher the
hardware enough to figure out how to write a replacement EEPROM for the
onboard microcontroller... I think this thing would make a *really* cool
clock...
- Josh
In case anyone on the list won this ebay auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360303684042&ssPageName=…
and doesn't know what that little thin rectangular
board with the caps, resistors and coax on it is,
it is an original Software Tech Music System board.
The docs and software for it are on Jim Battle's
Sol website. Not much to it electronically, but I
really wanted an original. Rats!
Hi guys,
I've managed to get my grubby paws on a Seagate ST22R RLL controller,
and a matching ST-277R-1 hard drive (half-height 5.25in, 60MB ish). As
part of my "pre-installation research", I Googled the part number of the
one apparently-non-Seagate-custom part on the ST22R -- an Adaptec
AIC-010 RLL controller. Turns out the datasheet for this part is on
Bitsavers too.
The datasheet provides a decent overview of the on-disc format
(specifically: it's a tweaked variant of the IBM floppy disc low-level
format, sitting on top of (2,7)RLL). What it doesn't really cover is the
32-bit error-correction code and its polynomial. There is a slightly
oblique reference to Fire codes, there are two polynomials (forward and
reverse), and data is loaded in shift-register style.
Does anyone know what sort of error-correction codes were used on the
AIC-010 and AIC-100 controller chips, or the polynomials used?
Thanks,
--
Phil.
classiccmp at philpem.me.uk
http://www.philpem.me.uk/
On Thu, Sep 30, 2010 at 10:37 PM, Zane H. Healy <healyzh at aracnet.com> wrote:
> At 9:44 PM -0700 9/30/10, Mark Davidson wrote:
>>
>> Ok, can't resist. ?I'm just so happy to have this machine!
>
> I don't blame you, I'm not into HP systems, but that's a seriously cool
> sounding system. ?I'd love to try MPE.
I have a special spot in my heart for HP3000 systems. MPE is a
seriously cool OS, and I attended UTC, home of the HP3000 mailing
list. My mother also worked at the university for 20+ years. I grew
up spending summers on the campus, in the library and in their
computer center, using their 3000 (and their 1000).
Mark
So now that I know that my recently restored Apple II is going to turn into dust in the not too distant future, how can It best be demonstrated to illustrate why it was so awesome back in '78? For example, with an Altair, you can either load Billy's Micro Soft Basic or play "Fool on the Hill" through your AM radio. But what application do you run on an Apple II that epitomizes Steve and The Woz's gift to man kind?
-Mardy
Hi all --
My club (MARCH) is scheduled to exhibit at the inaugural Maker Faire
NYC. I'm starting to have second thoughts because we don't "make"
anything, we just make old things work again. Who here has been to a
Maker Faire event, and if so, would a vintage computers exhibit be well
received by the audience?
> Try pricing a big-ass hunk of extruded heatsink some day.
>
> --
> Will
I'm sure this somehow relates to the Apple Mouse, but it will need to be
explained to me so I can understand.
I just sold 30# of aluminum heatsink approx 8" wide x 4" high x 5' long
for $40.00. 9 other identical pieces were scrapped out for about $15.00
each. My understanding is that they were in the $100.00 + catagory when new.
Marvin
I'm cleaning out the closet and found my V6.1 SPSS for Windows (24
Jan 1995) on eight 3.5" floppy disks "Graduate Pack for student
home use only", purchased in 1996.
Anyone want it for $5 plus postage from zip 65775?
I havea shaft encoder here in a classic (well, it's over 10 years old
:-)) printer. And it seems to have failed in that I am getting no signal
at all on either output line (they should be quadrature signals, of
couse). They test as floating..
I've taken in apart (of course, what have I got to lose...) and the PCB
cotnains a Sharp IS501 OPIC device along with a couple of resistors
conencted to it, a supply decoupling capacitor and a limiting resistor
for the IR LED. THe latter seems to be working (dropping about 1.5V).
but no outputs.
The IS501 is a 6 pin stagered-DIP transparent package. The 6 pins are +5V,
gorund, the 2 outputs and the 2 (sensitivity?) resistors.
So not much I can so other than replace the chip. A qucik web search
turns up nothing useful (and no data sheets).
Anyone ever come across anything like this before, knows a substitute, etc?
-tony
Dallas Hemphill has:
2 HP-9816 systems
2 HP-9121 disk drives
2 keyboards
2 6-pen plotters
1 2225A printer
cables, operating system, software, and lots of manuals, from about 1983.
contact Dallas if interested:
dallashemphill at hotmail.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I apologize if you received more than one email - Yahoo "Classic" does this.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
While reorganizing my parts cabinet, I came across three unused
AMD '186 CPUs from the early 1980's, still in original antistatic
plastic box. One 80L186-16, one 80C186-25, and the small one is
also an 80C186-25.
http://s1181.photobucket.com/albums/x426/DrCharlesMorris/?action=view&curre…
$10 shipped in US; $10 plus actual postage internationally.
thanks
Charles
Following up on this thread from last July:
I found the 1989 mc magazine article on the 68K ISA coprocessor board. I
have the article and have gone through it. Instead of an PC/XT ISA
coprocessor, I've decided to pursue an S-100 68K CPU board based on the one
in the "68000 Microcomputer Systems: Designing and Troubleshooting".
Thanks!
Andrew Lynch
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andrew Lynch [mailto:lynchaj at yahoo.com]
> Sent: Saturday, July 10, 2010 5:49 PM
> To: 'cctalk at classiccmp.org'
> Subject: 68K ISA project
>
> Hi! Just out of curiosity does anyone know of any home brew ISA bus 68K
> boards?
>
> I've seen numerous home brew 68K projects of varying styles but none meant
> to plug into the PC/AT ISA bus. I tried Google but nothing obvious turned
> up. Ideas/URLs appreciated.
>
> Thanks and have a nice day!
>
> Andrew Lynch
>
> PS, something like this but with more detail
>
> http://john.ccac.rwth-aachen.de:8000/as/pcpar.html
While refreshing my memory of the bits and pieces of sundry I picked up
with an IBM System/34 several years ago I rediscovered a pair of boards
in-box that are marked AT&T MERLIN. They appear completely unused,
bubble-wrapped in apparent original packaging.
I don't know anything about the system, so if you want me to be able to
identify _which_ boards they are, you'll need to give me some hints :)
Shipping costs only, from 50441.
- JP
All,
I'm trying to scan some documentation on "IBM PC" sized 3-hole paper. For
some reason the scanner is prone to pulling multiple sheets through when
doing the reverse sides. Doesn't seem to have this issue when doing the
facing side. I haven't seen this with US letter size paper, either.
Wondering if anyone has any tips for avoiding this?
The scanner is a Umax Astra 2400S w/ Umax sheet feeder.
Steve
--
> Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2010 11:15:35 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com>
> Somehow, the absolute basics of even working with threaded fasteners have
> fallen from the educational system, and people are re-inventing basic
> normal techniques.
>
>
> When is the demo on how to suck eggs?
My experience is that most folks don't know what one means when one uses
an expression about sucking eggs. I thought everyone knew the, "Don't
teach your grandmother..." expression, but apparently familiarity with it
is kind of rare. At least around here.
Jeff Walther
Ok, as NICE as a pair of 3278 or 3279's would look in my herc setup - those aren't likely to be reasonably found. So I was looking for one or two 3179 terms to act as CMS or TSO user terminals. Anyone have some in working condition that they'd like to trade off?
J
http://library.rider.edu/special_collections/typewriters/ibm1.jpg
I am currently minding one of these on its journey to a local museum,
but it is missing the enter/return key cap [*], if anyone has a spare
please I would be willing to pay postage.
The console I have was once used with the local Elliott Brothers
Elliott 503 computer.
thanks.
[*] large square key cap seen at the right hand side of the keyboard.
>
> I think the problem is that many modern motherboards don't have the pins
> of the second drive select and MotorOn signal wired up. Whether the
> signals exist on accessible pins of an I/O chip I don't know (if they do,
> it may be possible to add jumper wires, but some people are afraid of
> soldering to motherboards).
>
Quite likely they don't. The first time I ran into a motherboard like this,
I was fortunate enough that the manufacturer provided a schematic online. I
looked at it and at the data sheet for the SuperIO chip that the motherboard
uses, and I found out that that SuperIO chip does not have enough pins to
run two floppy drives and also drive all the fans and other stuff on that
motherboard. IIRC, the SuperIO is configurable and does have the option of
bringing the signals for the second floppy drive out to pins, but if you did
that, some other functions that the motherboard needs more could not be
brought out to pins.
--Tim
Ok, apparently my PC knowledge is dated ;)
I've been working on rebuilding my Hercules setup (vm/360 with CMS and MVS/JES2). This is currently a token ring setup with a 3179 terminal going to a 3174 establishment controller. The 3174 connects to an IBM 8228 MAU. Also connected to the MAU is a token ring card in a PC running Linux/Hercules. I'm changing it to a FreeBSD PC that dualboots with FreeBSD (for hercules) and DRDOS (for PUTR which I'll use a 5.25 floppy for, and for running PromLink to attach to my Data I/O, and several other classiccmp related items that require DOS). Long story short, it will be a more "general purpose (classiccmp)" PC. I'm getting rid of the token ring card in the PC (FreeBSD dropped Olicom support, the only token ring card previously supported). So the PC running hercules will connect to an IBM 8271 ethernet switch, which connects to an IBM 2210-24M token ring/ethernet router. That will connect to the MAU and back to the 3174 and 3179.
Much to my chagrin, I've become aware when I started rebuilding that PC last night with a modern mainboard that most mainboards these days that have a FDC connector (many don't even have one) which only supports ONE floppy drive. I really need to have both 5.25 and 3.5 floppy drives, and they need to be recognized by DOS (which rules out any cards that have special drivers). I can't find a PCI floppy controller, and even if I could I'm worried DRDOS won't recognize it.
So, the only idea I can think of is would it be possible to put a small switch on the front panel that allows me to switch between 3.5 floppy and 5.25 floppy? I realize I'd have to reboot and change BIOS settings each time, but at least I would have to derack the PC and open the case and move cables. Any ideas if that is feasible or anyone have some other ideas?
Jay
I thought a video might be easier for you all to see the issue I am
having with restoring my Xerox Alto.
The issue I am having is the Diablo Disk drive does not power on fully
(I am measuring +15 and -15V on the drive, but +5V is only measuring at
around 2.5V. The lamps on the front of the drive do not light-up, and
the LOAD/RUN button does nothing, hence the door lock does not unlock.
Here is a link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx80CvjuvyE
I have visually inspected all PCB boards and components, nothing seem to
be damaged. Also, the power supplies seem to be outputting power
properly (as seen via the RED voltage LEDS in the Alto card cage.
Any recommendations on how to troubleshoot the disk drive further?
Hi! I've received permission from the author of "68000 Microcomputer
Systems Designing and Troubleshooting" to include the S-100 68K CPU board as
part of the N8VEM home brew computing project for educational purposes.
This is a classic text found in many computer science and engineering
courses in the 1980's and 1990's. It is possible some here recall the book
>from their own college and/or professional experiences.
http://www.amazon.com/68000-Microcomputer-Systems-Designing-Troubleshooting/
dp/0138113998/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway
<http://www.amazon.com/68000-Microcomputer-Systems-Designing-Troubleshooting
/dp/0138113998/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285587152&sr=8-1>
&ie=UTF8&qid=1285587152&sr=8-1
As part of that effort, I am capturing the schematic and PCB layout from the
book as closely as possible. The intent is to replicate the authors'
original board. There is a draft schematic and PCB layout on the N8VEM wiki
here:
http://n8vem-sbc.pbworks.com/browse/#view=ViewFolder
<http://n8vem-sbc.pbworks.com/browse/#view=ViewFolder¶m=S-100%252068K%25
20CPU> ¶m=S-100%252068K%2520CPU
If anyone is interested in helping with this project please contact me. In
particular, I am looking for volunteers to review the schematic and compare
it against the schematic and PCB layout in the book. Due to the complexity
of this board quality assurance is extremely important. Actually if anyone
has one of these boards or experience with them I would be very interested
in hearing from you.
The plan is to make a limited run of manufactured prototype PCBs to do an
initial build and test of the board. If you are an experienced builder and
interested in participating in the initial build and test please contact me.
The corrections/updates from the prototype board will be incorporated into a
board to be made available for all the N8VEM builders as part of the S-100
project.
Thanks and have a nice day!
Andrew Lynch
Hello
I will in Kansas City Mo on October 22 to load up some tape drives,
CPU, large printers, and other items located there in a warehouse. If
anyone can spare some time (even 30 minutes) to come by and help load
the UHAUL rental truck on Saturday the 23rd it really needed. I hope to
start loading the smaller items on Friday after I fly in and pick up
the 26' box tuck. All the large and heavy stuff will be loaded on
Saturday. If you help load email me and I will get the address of the
warehouse and a contact phone number.
Thanks in advance,
John Keys
I have a friend who has tried on several occasions to join this list. Can
someone tell me how long it is now taking to process new membership
requests?
Thanks
Rob
I have the Capture and Layout course
all the product doc, libraries and footprints bookset, about a foot and a half of manuals.
Probably will fit in 2-3 of those anything fits it ships boxes.
Randy
>> hole before drilling the full size hole", or "don't tighten any of
>> the
>
> Use a centre punch. Or a Slocombe drill. And drill a pilot hole. And
> rememebr the drill tip angles are different for different materials.
>
And remember that most ordinary twist drills aren't meant for enlarging
existing holes because their centre isn't then supported, and unless
everything is held rigidly (and often not even then) will tend to produce
some sort of curve of constant width other than the desired circle.
Folks,
Today I discovered I had more RM Nimbus machines than I actually need,
as well as a few Acorn Archimedes. Any interest?
The RMs are mostly PC-1 which is a pretty well specced 80186-based
machine but there's also an AX/2, VX/2 and a microchannel M-series.
Not strictly home based machines so I guess I should pass them onto
someone!
Cheers,
--
adrian/witchy
Owner of Binary Dinosaurs, the UK's biggest home? computer collection?
www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk
It appears as though my wireless router hub thingy has died. I need a
new one. But here's the thing. I wan't to setup a smoothwall machine
using some old hardware I have around. And since I'll have this, I
don't need (or want) the router feature that's seems to be supplied
with all these consumer grade wireless access points.
What I really want is a wireless access point that simply puts
everyone on the wired network, if that's possible. Ideally, I'd like
to handle DHCP through the smoothwall box, although I'm willing to do
static IP on the wireless devices if i need to.
Worst case, I guess I could just continue the way I always have,
having the wireless access point handle DHCP for the wireless devices
and turning off the firewall features so that everything passes
through.
Of course, maybe I want that extra layer of security since WEP is so
bad. But I know there's new wireless security standards tor replace
WEP.
Can I get away with just a wireless network board in the smoothwall
machine and use that as the access point? I suspect range would
suffer.
As you can tell, I'm not up on any of this. I know enough to assemble
a network that works. But network design and security isn't my thing.
brian
It is amazing how many people MISSED THE DAMN POINT.
The original posted "trick" involves a situation where there are *no*
threads left in the wood. By backing the screw out with a little
pressure, eventually the wood will give at the point where the
original threads were, due to how the fibers of the wood remain (not
crushed, but cut). All this happens at a scale pretty much too small
for the unaided eye.
MInd you, the new wood screw will hold, but not well, because there
just is not much good fiber left. This trick does not really work with
metal - no fibers, obviously.
This is *not* the same "everyone knows it" trick about backing out a
screw to find the thread.
--
Will
I'm restoring a couple of RK05s which I haven't used for a few years. The rocker switches have lost their springiness and the contacts are a bit hit and miss. I don't really fancy trying any disassembly as I think this is likely to be fatal. Any recommendations for the best approach and materials (available in UK)?
Thanks
Bob
At 12:31 PM 9/24/2010, William Donzelli wrote:
>It is amazing how many people MISSED THE DAMN POINT.
So the trick is how to make a wood screw hold just long enough to
make it look like everything is OK, so you can sell the item? :-)
- John
At 01:10 PM 9/24/2010, Brian Lanning wrote:
>It appears as though my wireless router hub thingy has died. I need a
>new one. But here's the thing. I wan't to setup a smoothwall machine
>using some old hardware I have around. And since I'll have this, I
>don't need (or want) the router feature that's seems to be supplied
>with all these consumer grade wireless access points.
There are consumer devices that only act as access points, such
as the Netgear WG602. It accepts DHCP from another device and
lets wireless devices connect to your existing network.
I've heard of some who take router-and-AP devices, assign them
to your desired subnet and on a static IP outside of the range
assigned by your actual router, turn off DHCP serving, and
don't connect anything to the WAN port, just patch it to the LAN side,
(using a cross-over if it wasn't auto-sensing.)
http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1080http://www.dslreports.com/faq/11233
So yes, you could use a $35 WGR614 from Walmaret instead.
- John
At 19:25 -0500 9/22/10, ard wrote:
>It's coming to the point where I am going to have to make my own portable
>DMM to get one that I like...
DMM designed by ARD? I'd buy one. I'd even buy a kit. I'd still keep
my old Archerkit, though, for nostalgia.
--
- Mark 210-379-4635
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Large Asteroids headed toward planets
inhabited by beings that don't have
technology adequate to stop them:
Think of it as Evolution in Fast-Forward.
I found a fun little "business card" in the form of a 5.25" disk platter
with a business name silk-screened on it. See
http://661.org/images/disk-ad.jpg
--
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?
This is the 84th entry in this thread, and it hasn't been on topic for at
least half that. Can the next contributor please change the subject line?
> > Do I? I've got projects that I've been working on for at least 10
> years :-)
>
> Yes, you do!
> I've got stuff in the back of my refrigerator much older than that.
Ahh.. evolution experiments, does it walk and talk yet ??
> I've got projects that I've NOT been working on for almost half a
> century :-)
Woow, I don't have those.. I'm married ;-)
My favorite use for the 555 that I ever saw, was in a homebrew paper tape reader in Byte or PE in the mid-70's.
The timing function wasn't used at all; only the Schmitt trigger function used. Default 555 Schmitt trigger action is at 1/3Vcc and 2/3Vcc; just brilliant!
Tim.
Hi,
I was planning to convert all my RSX-11 & RT-11 RL02 disks
to SIMH container files. And for that purpose I was planning
to use 11/73, which did have BSD2.11 on it.
'Did' indeed, as the disk has gone to heaven.
So' my question is if there is a kind soul who can provide
me with a (copy) of the install tape.
Postage and such can be paid for.
Thanks,
Ed
--
Dit is een HTML vrije email / This is an HTML free email.