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

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

Personally I enjoy a big Simpson 260-dash-whatever. The Triplett 630 is in the same league. Both have been in production (in one variant or another) since before WWII. The RCA Senior Voltohmysts I love for their fashion sense but unless I need VTVM class input impedances, I'd prefer the Simpson or Triplett. In terms of used Flukes, I highly recommend any used 77-series unit. You can critique the designs because of what you saw as failings of your Fluke 85, but believe me, the LCD display on any Fluke LCD DMM will be far more durable than the faceplate on my Simpson 260 or Triplett 630. At the very low end, in the $3 to $5 range there are "disposable" DMM's available at discount stores here in the US. They are not a joy to use but they do mostly work. Tim.

15 years, 9 months

11
17
0 0

Turbo Pascal floppies

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

I have a set of six 5.25" floppies containing "Borland Turbo Pascal for Windows 1.5". Please contact me off-list if interested. thanks Charles

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

How to prevent yellowing of equipment on display

by mardy＠voysys.com

I know that there has been a tremendous amount of talk about removing yellowing from vintage equipment, but going forward, does anyone have any suggestions for helping prevent yellowing of equipment on display, short of keeping them in a dark cave? I have a couple of Apple II's that are in excellent condition with minimal yellowing and would like to put them on display without having to worry about damage to the plastic. -Mardy

15 years, 9 months

12
24
0 0

Stupid egg tricks was Re: Multimeter recomendations

by db＠db.net

On Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 11:53:45AM -0500, John Foust wrote: > At 11:09 AM 9/22/2010, Dave McGuire wrote: > > Umm, yeah, I suppose, but...for what purpose? Eggsperimentation? > > > Decorations? Magic tricks? Cascarones? Easter eggs. And not the software kind. > > - John - Diane -- - db at FreeBSD.org db at db.net http://www.db.net/~db

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

Multimeter recomendations

by wbblair3＠yahoo.com

> > When is the demo on how to suck eggs? > > Too dangerous due to risk of choking, lacerations from > broken shells, salmonella etc. etc. And if you're in a combat zone, perhaps you'd get a Purple Heart. True story as related in Reader's Digest Humor in Uniform section: An Army cook in Vietnam got an egg shell fragment in his eye while making scrambled eggs. The albumin stuck it to his eyeball so he had to see the unit medic to get it removed. Some time later, he was notified that he was receiving a Purple Heart. The reason cited was "shell fragment in eye." Apparently, someone was just glancing through through the undoubtedly numerous medical treatment records to discern who to present the medals to and found his record with its deceptive entry.

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

Maker Faire

by evan＠snarc.net

MARCH's booth for Maker Faire this weekend will be indoors at the main venue (New York Hall of Science). Our maker # is 3641 if any cctalkers are looking for us. I'm told we will be inside a modern computer lab. Saturday night we'll be eating/drinking; all are welcome to join us.

15 years, 9 months

2
1
0 0

DiscFerret -- PCBs have arrived

by classiccmp＠philpem.me.uk

... Well, actually, they arrived at the beginning of last week and I didn't finish checking them against the netlist until today. My excuse is that my notes are all on Cougar (my laptop), which is currently refusing to boot without segfaulting in the kernel. Rather than deal with ASUS support, I replaced it -- the replacement (an MSI U230 named Ryoko) is far better behaved :) Scanned images: Top: http://www.discferret.com/images/discferret-pcb-top.jpg Bottom: http://www.discferret.com/images/discferret-pcb-bot.jpg They seem to have come out OK. The solder mask is a little discoloured around some of the thinner tracks, but that's a cosmetic issue. It still resists solder, thus it's OK :) For the pathologically curious: Substrate -- FR4 fiberglass, 1.6mm Track layers -- two copper, 1oz Layer stacking -- BOTTOM COPPER, FR4, TOP COPPER, TOP OVERLAY Surface finish -- looks like lead-free HASL or roller-tin. It's certainly not immersion tin or silver, the pads have roller marks on them. It turns out I hammed the entry of the order, and managed to order two sets of three boards, leaving me with six PCBs in total, and an additional 130 Euro bill. Ick. I'm still short of some parts (notably: the USB ESD suppressor chip, some pin headers, 7-pin SIL resistor packs and 10nF 0603 decoupling capacitors). A trip to the Farnell trade counter is being meticulously planned, as long as I can get someone to hang around the house and wait for my Rapid order to arrive (mouse microswitches... Logitech should be shot for using those nasty Omron things). Thanks, -- Phil. classiccmp at philpem.me.uk http://www.philpem.me.uk/

15 years, 9 months

4
4
0 0

Diablo 30 disks and failure

by mark.kahrs＠gmail.com

When I was maintaining Alto Is, I put a warning sign on the machines that stated "Avoid VD --- Venereal Disks! If your disk doesn't load, do NOT try another machine"... For the most part the drives were OK, but if they did fail, then the contagion could be spread. I certainly had my share of disk crashes. There's a reason the Alto file system had the scavanger and was designed to be recovered...

15 years, 9 months

7
9
0 0

microcornucipia magazine issues

by elazzerini＠interfree.it

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

WTD: Clarion/JPI TopSpeed C (for Psion SIBO SDK)

by classiccmp＠philpem.me.uk

Hi guys, Pushing the boundaries of the Ten Year Rule here, but I think the "coolness factor" might apply here, so please don't get the pitchforks and flaming torches out just yet... :) I just got back from the Barnsley Hamfest, with a new toy in tow: a Psion Workabout MX, 2MB version, with IrDA, TTL, RS232 and LIF ports, a 256K flash SSD and a 1MB SRAM SSD. Batteries were -- predictably -- shot, but on installing a fresh pair of AAs, it booted to SIBO. Seems the SSDs are blank, and aside from a few small screen scratches the machine is in pretty good nick. Thing is, I'd like to see it do something useful. This dictates that I write some code for it... I've managed to find a copy of the old Psion Sibo SDK and some PDF documentation on an FTP site, but this doesn't include the C compiler required to compile the code: TopSpeed C. As near as I can tell, this was a 16-bit 8086 C compiler which generated code under (and for) MS-DOS type platforms. The Psion documentation references Topspeed Compiler v3.10 and Environment v3.10.002, but I suspect other versions may also work. Psion suggest it was released by Clarion, but every other reference I can find suggests it was sold be a company called "JPI". Does anyone happen to have a spare copy of Topspeed C kicking around? Thanks, -- Phil. classiccmp at philpem.me.uk http://www.philpem.me.uk/

15 years, 9 months

5
8
0 0

GNT 3601 tape punch docs?

by chrise＠pobox.com

Probably a stretch but wondering if anyone has any info (manual, pinouts, service documentation) for a GNT model 3601 8-bit (1") paper tape punch. It was probably better known in the CNC / automated machining world than in computing but my hope is to resurrect it as a backup punch for copying tapes I use with my ASR-33 and thereby save wear on the -33's punch. The unit has serial and parallel interfaces on DB25 connectors but I do not have any pinout information for those. The serial one I can probably figure out. Unfortunately, the unit is a little more sick than "works OK" seemed to imply from the eBay seller. It has what I believe to be a power supply problem because as soon as you try to punch all eight holes with the front panel test button, the power LED dims and the punch jams, apparently from lack of umph to complete the mission. It could also be jamming to start with and that causes the power drop I suppose. In any case, looking for any docs before I open it up and start digging around. I have written to GNT without a reply so far. Chris -- Chris Elmquist mailto:chrise at pobox.com

15 years, 9 months

9
27
0 0

Well I went ahead a did it... The Multics/Honeywell panel is now on eBay

by nick.allen＠comcast.net

I had to do it, please understand =) I am just grateful I was able to share it with everyone at the Midwest Vintage Computer Festival. I live in a 2 bedroom condo with my family of 5, and the Alto already takes up plenty of the living room. Plus with my main initiative being repairing the Alto, I will need some finances to fund the project. Jim, I know you expressed much interest in the panel, if it fails to sell at the starting bid I will ensure we work out a swap as previously talked about =) If anyone is interested in the auction link, here it is: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270638335277

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

PARC turns 40: mice, money, and the new interwebs • The Register

by woyciesjes＠sbcglobal.net

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/09/20/parc_40th_anniversary/ -- --- Dave Woyciesjes --- ICQ# 905818 --- AIM - woyciesjes --- CompTIA A+ Certified IT Tech - http://certification.comptia.org/ --- HDI Certified Support Center Analyst - http://www.ThinkHDI.com/ Registered Linux user number 464583 "Computers have lots of memory but no imagination." "The problem with troubleshooting is that trouble shoots back." - from some guy in the internet.

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

Photos from VCF MW including the Alto II XM

by billdeg＠degnanco.com

Link to photos from the VCF MW http://vintagecomputer.net/vcfmw-ECCC_2010/ http://vintagecomputer.net/vcfmw-ECCC_2010/Xerox_Alto-II-XM/ Bill Degnan

15 years, 9 months

2
1
0 0

Terminals...

by bqt＠softjar.se

Richard <legalize at xmission.com> wrote: > In article <AANLkTikXa9qgOFhFazHp-MguLeJXzbO7L5AXxbJGZSRU at mail.gmail.com>, Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> writes: >> > I haven't seen a VT525 in the wild, but now I know what to do to show >> > it off if I do get one (but now I'm also wondering what it would take >> > to get what you have working on a Tektronix 4105 since I have a couple >> > of those). > > It shouldn't take much with a proper termcap/terminfo entry for the > 4105. If you need escape codes, consult the 4105 programmer's > reference on bitsavers: > <http://bitsavers.org/pdf/tektronix/410x/070-4526-01_4105_PgmrRef_Sep83.pdf> Whoa! I know you mean well, Richard, but you are making huge assumptions here, which are very wrong. First of all, you assume that termcap can actually do this stuff, which it cannot. Termcap have no clue about user defined fonts. Termcap is rather limited in some ways. There are plenty of things I can do with a terminal that cannot be done properly within termcap. But even adding the word "termcap" here, is making a big assumption about my software. In fact, my software is not using termcap, so adding information to the termcap database would not help at all. Even assuming this is a Unix system is making a mistake. It is, in fact not. And, when all that is said and done, do you really think that the tektronix terminals aren't already in the termcap database? In fact, they are... (as are just about any terminal you ever never heard of) And to make a long story short - the software I'm talking about is my Z-machine implementation, written in MACRO-11 for RSX, RT-11 and RSTS/E. It can (should) handle all V1 to V8 games, but it do not handle sound, nor full graphic games. All the rest should be fine, and it should work with most any terminal, although some fancy stuff is not possible with simple terminals. If anyone wants to take it for a test drive, just telnet mim.update.uu.se, log in as guest/guest, and when you have logged in, type ZEM <game>, or ZEM /LI (to list which games there are). And this is a publicly available RSX system. Johnny

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

quantum link video

by rachael＠telefisk.org

havent seen this one posted here a video of a quantium link session , september 1989. http://blip.tv/file/4138357 -- Jacob Dahl Pind | telefisk.org | fidonet 2:237/38.8

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

ST-277R drive and controller

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

I have an old Seagate ST-277R (62 MB) drive with ST21/22 controller. It is recognized by MSDOS and Win98 in an AMD K6/300 system and can read and write files. I'm running Defrag on it now. Someone on the list had expressed interest but I don't have your email any more - if you still want it (cheap!) please contact me offlist. thanks Charles

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

They have an Amiga now with AROS, was Re: The Commodore 64 is back..

by alhartman＠yahoo.com

AROS isn't anywhere near done enough to sell as part of a commercial product. I think there are a few garage type companies selling AROS compatible systems with AROS pre-loaded, but they intend only to sell to folks who know what they're buying. I.E.: An unfinished alpha-state OS. This makes me think this whole thing is doomed to failure if it's real at all. Mainly because nobody involved has any business sense.

15 years, 9 months

2
1
0 0

How to prevent yellowing of equipment on display

by ragooman＠gmail.com

Well, if you ever find the plans, you can go back to '93 and make sure that they remail available. Hmmm. It seems that you haven't done so, and therefore never will. :-( there still might be one in a parallel universe :)

15 years, 9 months

3
2
0 0

Apple II Killer App

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

In the time-wasting sense: The Integer Basic games that came on cassette and had an Apple I heritage, ESPECIALLY Apple Trek but to a lesser extent Breakout and Pong too Beagle Bag, or Applesoft Basic and any Beagle Bros catalog, or just a Peeks and Pokes chart. Lemonade Sabotage None are killer apps But all are excellent fun Tim.

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

6502 simulated at transistor level - right in your browser (JavaScript)

by eric＠brouhaha.com

http://www.visual6502.org/JSSim/ <http://www.visual6502.org/JSSim/index.html>

15 years, 9 months

4
8
0 0

Flux caps (was:How to prevent yellowing of equipment on display)

by dm561＠torfree.net

> Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2010 13:32:25 -0700 > From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> > Subject: Re: How to prevent yellowing of equipment on display > On 20 Sep 2010 at 16:03, Dan Roganti wrote: > >> I'm still looking for the plans to that super-electromagnet stargate >> traveling time machine that was online about '93 - if it's in your >> archive. > > Not mine, but I heard that they'd dropped it because of > unavailability of flux capacitors and ZPMs. > > --Chuck --------------- Flux capacitors are no problem: http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/plush/9fc6/ Alas, temporarily out of stock, so you might have to DIY: http://www.instructables.com/id/Flux-Capacitor/ mike

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

Mouse and Keyboard Cable for DECstation 5000/240

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

I am looking for the special cable that connects mouse and keyboard to a DECstation 5000-240. Unfortunately I don't even know a part number. Can anyone tell me what part number to look for? Better still, anyone have one going spare? Regards Rob

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

Almost free: various DEC, HP, Fluke, Wyse items, for pickup Rockville, MD, USA

by js＠cimmeri.com

Items located in Rockville, MD, 20850. Almost free: $2 (two) dollars per item, local pickup only at this time, no photos. Special offer intended especially for anyone having a hard time due to economy. I'm needing to make space fast and clear out items without hassle of ebay, ads, photos, etc.. 1.California Computer Systems S-100 chassis, with 12-slot passive terminated backplane, power supply, fan, filter. The chassis functions perfectly, has been thoroughly cleaned, and the PSU caps have been reformed. Cosmetically, the chassis is decent: has dings, scratches, some minor bends in sheet metal. 2. Fluke 8520A/AS-1 rackmount digital multimeter with GPIB. Perfect cosmetic and functional condition. 3. Digital BA23 floor pedestal enclosure, complete with front + rear covers. Very decent shape. No yellowing (painted). 4. Digital LA100 Letterprinter w/ ribbons. Tested working. Mild yellowing of plastic but not disagreeable. 5. Digital LA75 Plus Companion Printer (LA75S-A2) w/ parallel + MMJ. Professionally refurbished and assumed working (but untested). Clean and nice cosmetic shape. No yellowing. 6. Wyse 60 terminal with keyboard and spare analog board. Terminal unit is in excellent shape all around, as is spare analog board. Keyboard works but 3 of the keycaps broke when it slid off my desk. No yellowing. 7. HP PA-RISC Model 712/60 computer with floppy, hard drive, new keyboard and new mouse. Currently loaded with the NEXT operating system. I have the original hard disk with HPUX on it. You can have one OR the other. Computer is in perfect cosmetic and working condition. My handle on ebay is MdntTrain if anyone wishes to verify my character and reputation. Email me if interested in any or all. I will select who the items go to. Thank you, John Singleton js at cimmeri.com

15 years, 9 months

4
4
0 0

Tektronix inkjet printer (ancient stuff)

by mark.kahrs＠gmail.com

I had this idea once and so I gutted a Tektronix inkjet printer --- what I have is a set of driver boards and the inkjets. This is part number 070-8072-00 and others. If you'd like them, all I ask is that you pay postage / shipping.

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

Sighted on CL: Sun SparcStations FS (Oregon)

by cclist＠sydex.com

Don't know if this interests anyone, but I spotted this in the local Craigslist: http://eugene.craigslist.org/sys/1963898368.html On the same day's postings, I note that the UofO is surplusing an LSI ADM-31 terminal for $50. --Chuck

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

Terminals...

by bqt＠softjar.se

cctalk-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > On 9/17/10, Johnny Billquist <bqt at softjar.se> wrote: >> > So, in the end, implementing the ANSI color codes was the only >> > reasonable way to get colored output on the VT525, and it is nice to >> > have... I like playing Beyond Zork with color and primitive graphics on >> > my PDP11... :-) > > Ooh! Now you have my attention. Long ago, I grabbed the ITF > Z-machine source code and got it working under VMS 4.x (it was trivial > once I had a working curses library), so I was able to run an number > of v3 games on our 11/750, but now that there are many more Z-machine > choices, I haven't gone back to fiddle with newer game file types. :-) I suspect you'd also have to work on whatever Z-machine implementation you use to actually make it use both ANSI color control, and also user defined fonts. And then, of course, you need a font. > I haven't seen a VT525 in the wild, but now I know what to do to show > it off if I do get one (but now I'm also wondering what it would take > to get what you have working on a Tektronix 4105 since I have a couple > of those). I don't think you want to go down that path. :-) I did say "primitive" graphics. Beyond Zork uses font 3 to play with some crude graphics. Basically mapping, and some bar charts and nice framing. And, of course, it uses color if possible. But if you are interested, I can send you my Z-machine font definitions for the VT200, VT200, VT400 and VT500 terminals, so you don't have to define those yourself. As for playing, if you just have a VT525, it's easy to test, by just logging in to Mim.Update.UU.SE, and play any Infocom game on that machine. My Z-machine for the PDP-11 do handle the font and color stuff for the VT terminals (of course). :-) Johnny

15 years, 9 months

2
1
0 0

Terminals...

by bqt＠softjar.se

Sridhar Ayengar <ploopster at gmail.com> wrote: > Richard wrote: >> > In article<744DB5469BEB4131832EC66D4BA961F6 at dell8300>, >> > "Teo Zenios"<teoz at neo.rr.com> writes: >> > >>> >> How well would a VT525 work with a MicroVAX 3100 series model 80? >> > >> > <http://vt100.net/vt_history> says the VT525 is a color multi-session >> > terminal. So that's a fairly decent model for the 500 series. >> > >> > Judging from the programmer's manual, you can select from a palette of >> > 16 colors. >> > <http://www.vt100.net/docs/vt520-rm/ek-vt520-rm.pdf> > > Unfortunately, it uses the later ANSI color stuff rather than the > control codes used previously with the VT340/VT241. Sorry, I've been out of town some, and have not had time to make comments for a while. As for the previous stuff on modem signals and so on, I was caught in a small lie, yes. Properly, it isn't right to hook to DTEs together with a crossed cable. But I'm willing to cheat on that one. I'll let the rest of the RS-232 stuff rest unless we really want to revive that thread... As for the VT525, yes, it is correct that it's just a base unit with no screen or keyboard. It has a normal VGA connector for any VGA screen on the back, along with two MMJ connectors and two DB-25 connectors (unless my memory fails me). As for colors, well... The VT241 and VT340 have no way at all to select colors for text. You can, however, select that different attributes, such as bold and so on, instead be rendered in other colors. And the VT525 can do that as well. So it is as compatible with the older terminals as much as is possible. But, people might say, I have seen output in different colors on the VT340... Yes, you can do output in all colors on those older terminals. The problem is, you need to switch to REGIS to do that. Ie, you do that when playing around in graphic mode, which the VT525 don't have, so there is no way it could do this in a way that would be compatible with the older color VT terminals, with less than implementing the full REGIS stuff. So, in the end, implementing the ANSI color codes was the only reasonable way to get colored output on the VT525, and it is nice to have... I like playing Beyond Zork with color and primitive graphics on my PDP11... :-) Johnny

15 years, 9 months

3
3
0 0

VCFMW5.0: Success!

by silent700＠gmail.com

Old computers. A running network. Friends. Dinner. Community. New innovations in old gear. Aching backs. A lot of laughs. A little bit of capacitor smoke in the air. Alas, another VCF has passed - but what a time it was! While the seeds of plans for next year sprout, our first priority is to collect documents of this event. If you took pictures or video and have them hosted somewhere, and would like them up on the vcfmw page, please send me a link and I'll post it ASAP. You'll find them here: http://vcfmw.org I feel I can speak on behalf of the other vcfmw organizers and the Chicago-area retrocomputing community at large when I issue a big THANK YOU to all who attended, whether it was from our own backyard or >from out across the plains. You are what made the show work - without your enthusiasm, knowledge and spirit we'd have been a lonely bunch in the basement. There are a few shirts remaining, if anyone wants one for posterity. I will count them up and post a list soon. I do know we're sold out of "XL" and have a number of "L" left, along with a few M and XXL. There are mostly black ones with a few blue (which proved more popular than expected.) The front design is here (the back is just the URL:) http://picasaweb.google.com/Silent700/VCFMW50OfficialGraphics#5512512730455… Again, thanks to all who attended, helped out and made it an awesome night. It's events like this that keep the hobby alive and strong. -j --

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

SGI IRIS 3130 Joins the Collection

by legalize＠xmission.com

<http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com/2010/09/17/sgi-iris-3130-joins-the-c…> Finally! I got a member of the IRIS 680x0 product line and its a nice one. -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com/the-direct3d-graphics-pipeline/> Legalize Adulthood! <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com>

15 years, 9 months

5
5
0 0

Unknown MicroVAX 2000 Board

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

I recently acquired a couple of MicroVAX 2000s. One of them has this board in it: http://cid-fc758a5a91b91301.office.live.com/self.aspx/Public/MV2000Board-1.j pg I don't know what this board is but it connects by two ribbon cables to connectors on the main board. Can anyone tell me what it is? Also one of the machines has faulty memory. I have removed the memory option and I am trying to identify it, but the marking says "2/4 MB MEMORY OPTION". Anyone know how to tell which one it is? Thanks Rob

15 years, 9 months

5
8
0 0

RD54 Whine

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

I have just acquired a MicroVAX 2000 which I found to contain an RD54. If I try booting the machine from the disk you hear a whine, when the whine stops you can hear the heads move, then when the heads stop moving you hear the whine again. Is this a terminally sick disk? Thanks Rob

15 years, 9 months

2
2
0 0

FS: manuals (photocopies)

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

In cleaning my house I have discovered a complete and unused photocopy of the Teletype 33 service manual (Bulletin 310B Vol. 1 & 2) and 33 parts list (Bulletin 1184B). It weighs 9 lbs boxed. Also a new photocopy of the DEC PDP-8/L "Maintenance Manual Vol. 1 Oct. 1968". Chapters 1-5 plus readable schematics (8.5x11"). Shipping wt. 2 lbs. First reasonable offer gets one or both... shipping is inexpensive by Media Mail, from zip 65775. thanks Charles

15 years, 9 months

2
1
0 0

VCF Midwest: something to wet your appetite!

by nick.allen＠comcast.net

NEVER BEFORE SEEN BY THE PUBLIC: a Frankenstein Microcomputer!!! http://lh5.ggpht.com/_lkddKjPsPFU/TJOJIwCimrI/AAAAAAAABgY/6a0rGCjfs08/s640/… http://lh5.ggpht.com/_lkddKjPsPFU/TJOJGTKcIEI/AAAAAAAABgQ/FGZDkx1BC5I/s720/…

15 years, 9 months

5
4
0 0

Paging: Dave McGuire

by chd＠chdickman.com

I haven't heard from you in a while. Send me an address that I can contact you at. Regards, Chuck Dickman chd at chdickman.com

15 years, 9 months

2
1
0 0

VCF Midwest: T-16hrs.

by silent700＠gmail.com

I am at the hotel and about to start inspecting the show area. Soon we shall commence storming the Heron Point Building with never-before witnessed piles of ccmp and related ephemera. Everything that could have been done has been done, and that which should have been done and was not must wait for next year. We accept this and proceed. Twitterized folks can get updates by following @vcfmidwest. A uStream broadcast will begin sometime tomorrow morning, depending on factors of technology, polar alignment, sunspots and when I get up. View it here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/chiclassiccomp Onward to non-fail and glory! Bring on the junk! -- S.7k chiclassiccomp.org

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

Chips as jewelry

by mark.kahrs＠gmail.com

Argggh! Went with the spousal unit to a local arts fair and what did one vendor sell? Right, "obsolete" chips. I immediately spotted a LSI-11 chip set. And what about the EPROM bracelet? Some gold NASA stuff as well. Sad, very sad.

15 years, 9 months

12
16
0 0

Diablo 30 disks and failure

by mtapley＠swri.edu

At 12:00 -0500 9/17/10, Bill M. wrote: >The Perq was the result of a visit (sabbatical?) at Xerox PARC >by one of the principals of Three Rivers Computer, much like >the way Lilith originated from Wirth's experiences there.... --Bill Ah, hah! Do I correctly surmise that the correct pronunciation of "Perq" is /park/ = [pahrk] (cf dictionary.com "park") and not /p3rk/ = [purk] (cf dictionary.com, "perk") ? -- - 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.

15 years, 9 months

2
1
0 0

odd SCSI drives + parts at friend's shop.

by jws＠jwsss.com

I spotted some 3 1/2" form factor drives that I think may be SCSI drives of the narrow "SCA" persuasion. I noted them mainly because they have a small looking black plastic connector similar to a centronics connector, with what appears to be a central male bar with contacts on it. It rang a bell about the discussion about such connectors in some Sparcbook laptops. Though the form factor is totally useless, it would be interesting if the bus was the same, and one could fab up a cable out of a dead sparcbook to such a drive. Just thinking. I have to grab the drives tomorrow and see what they are. No idea at all about whether they work, but they have been around for a long time. Also I have a line on a huge amount of recent junk, and am listing it on epay. It is way too new (except for technically some 2001 dual xeon dell serverboards). contact me off line for some quantum high capacity tape drives if interested. There are 17 to be had, and a deal on them. Jim

15 years, 9 months

12
21
0 0

MicroVAX 2000 ROM placement question

by fjkraan＠xs4all.nl

For ROM image collectors or otherwise, at http://electrickery.xs4all.nl/tmp/vs2k8850ROMS.zip are images (both electrical and optical) of an all DEC8850 ROM set from a VAXstation 2000. Fred Jan

15 years, 9 months

2
1
0 0

does anybody recognize this panel?

by henk.gooijen＠hotmail.com

Hi all, I wanted to sell a big blinkenlight panel, because I realized I will never find the time for again another project ... Auction number 170539265245 shows a few pictures (auction is ended). I would like to add more info before re-listing the front panel. thanks, - Henk.

15 years, 9 months

2
1
0 0

Bell & Howell II+

by mloewen＠cpumagic.scol.pa.us

Does anyone have a good feel for the current market value of a Bell & Howell II+? Model is A2S1016B, serial #A2S3-000985 with disk drive, paddles, manuals, cassette player, cassettes and floppies. Unknown working condition. Installed boards are ROM Card, Disk II Interface, plus a Sup "R" Mod II. This isn't mine, but the owner contacted me asking what it might be worth. I haven't paid any attention to Ebay prices on these, but it looks like a generic Apple II+ might fetch $150 or more. Mike Loewen mloewen at cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://sturgeon.css.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/

15 years, 9 months

3
3
0 0

Help resurrect my Xerox Alto

by tim＠tim-mann.org

Probably not too useful a remark, but I remember from years ago when we had some Xerox Altos at the Stanford computer science department that the disk drives were very prone to head crashes. We were instructed to never attempt to remove the disk pack under penalty of flogging (or some less colorful words). So, I hope once Nick gets the voltage problem fixed, he's not disappointed to find out that disk doesn't work anyway. :-/

15 years, 10 months

3
3
0 0

MicroVAX 2000 ROM placement question

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

Hi, All, I've been trying to dust off a MicroVAX 2000 for VCFmw, and so far, all I've accomplished is literally getting the dust off. This unit was one I tried to install the SCSI-enabled patched boot ROMs in some time back. I _thought_ I had arranged the original ROMs in the same pattern, but it's possible with all the swapping, I got some mixed up. I have checked (and re-downloaded) all the ROMs I have - one factory set (23-092E7-00 through 23-095E7-00) and one patched set. Cross-checking with the Technical Reference manual (EK-VTTAA-TM-001) from Bitsavers, I have verified that all ROMs have reasonable contents in the first few bytes (there are three signature bytes, among other things). No matter which set I have installed, I cannot get the console to respond with the self-test info. Does anyone have a photograph of a KA410 board where the labels on the ROMs can be read? Alternately, does anyone have any docs with part numbers? I'm reasonably certain that the underlying hardware is functional and that I just need to re-install the ROMs correctly. Yes, I could try the lucky-dip method, but one of the ROMs is rather difficult to pull (owing to the memory interface connectors), and I'd rather not break a pin off while sequencing through a dozen chip swaps. I'd like to _know_ what goes where before I proceed (especially if I am wrong and I _do_ have a hardware fault). I don't have any video cables handy, but in case it does come down to testing with a tube vs a console terminal, I have a four-plane video interface in addition to the mono frame buffer all KA410s come with. I had just thought that it would be easy enough to use a BCC08 console cable and go from there (it's worked before). Thanks for any tips or pointers, -ethan P.S. - I've been delving into the guts of the machine deeply enough that I'm musing about what it would take to make a 16MB memory board that didn't respond in the lower 2MB (to work with the on-board memory). Static would be easy to interface, but the KA410 _does_ generate and pass along refresh signals, so something with 30-pin or 72-pin SIMMs shouldn't be that hard to whip up. I'm only considering it because my largest memory board is 4MB, and the current prices for an MS400-CA (12MB DEC board) are more than I'm personally willing to pay - I'll do without first (which is what I'm already doing ;-) P.P.S - this would probably all be moot if I had a SCSI-based MicroVAX slab of some sort, but I just haven't been in the right place at the right time. Perhaps some DEC gear will make an appearance at the VCF...

15 years, 10 months

6
17
0 0

Any design "gotchas" with the Xicor X2864 EEPROM?

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

Hi, All, I'm going through a box of older ICs and ran across a few X2864s. I know they are 64Kbit JEDEC EEPROMs, but what I don't know is if there are any odd issues with them. I found a datasheet that's mostly in Japanese - I do happen to read some Japanese, but I'm far from fluent. I'm mostly curious about in-circuit programming. I know a lot of newer hobby-type projects use different families of EEPROMs and that some devices can only program certain ones. What I don't know is how that relates to something as old as the X2864. I can probably program these in a standalone device programmer and potentially have to build a pin-swabber socket for a 2364 (or even 2332 for a PET), but I'd like to know if I'm opening a can of worms before I begin. Thanks for any warnings of pitfalls ahead. -ethan

15 years, 10 months

2
1
0 0

Mass spectrometers etc

by jonas＠otter.se

On , 15 Sep 2010 20:30:26 +0100 (BST), ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) wrote: >Subject: Re: Mass spectrometers etc >To: cctalk at classiccmp.org >Message-ID: <m1Ovxgb-000J4BC at p850ug1> >Content-Type: text/plain > >> You need to find a diffussion pump. These will get you down to > The French guy used a rotary vane pump and a molecular pump, which you could probably make yourself at home (he did). The rotary vane pump shouldn't give you any problems, and for the molecular pump you only need an old motor capable of 24000 rpm without breaking up, and some careful machining :-) A spot of high vacuum grease, a few seals etc and you are all set. The finished set up isn't particularly large either. No oil in the molecular pump either... /Jonas >Indeed I do (My father spoet most of his working days on high vacuum >systems., I think I'd head ofa 'diff pump' before I even went to school... > >OIl, from choice. Mercury vapour, even inside a vacuum system (and some >will, alas, end up in the backing rotary pump) is not something I >particualrly keen on.... > >There is the minor problem of 'where the heck do I set up a vacuum >system, along with all the other things I am working on' :-) > >-tony >

15 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Classic computing on the rise !

by jdr_use＠bluewin.ch

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10951040 show how old computers are used toteach programming.

15 years, 10 months

2
1
0 0

HP 9825 refurbishing

by dfnr2＠yahoo.com

Hello all, I bought one of the HP 9825's that Marvin recently posted here about (via VCM auction). It's a 9825T and seems to work perfectly, along with an HPIB interface I bought off Ebay. Of course the case needs cleaning and there is a penny-sized chip from the corner of the bezel, so I've got the whole thing disassembled, and am now in the process of rebuilding the chipped bezel corner with JB-weld. Next step is to repaint the case, then replace the at-risk PSU caps, refurbish the tape drive, clean the keyboard, etc. The unit is beautifully engineered, by the way. Some questions for the group: 1) Does anyone have a suggestion for the best paint to match the original color? If I can find a close match, I'll just tape over the legends on the bezel, and paint around them. If I can't get a good match, I still may do the same thing, or I'll just paint the whole thing, and then print out some decals on a color printer to match the original legends. Or, if anyone here has a better suggestion, I'd love to hear. Any suggestion for type of paint? I found a can of Rustoleum brand almond-color satin finish enamel spray-paint. Is that a good choice, other than wrong color? I also just bought an HP 87 on Ebay as well, so I'm hoping that whatever I learn here, I can apply to refurbishing the 87 as well. 2) While the unit is completely disassembled, are there any hacks, mods, upgrades, etc. that I may want to know about before I put everything back together? 3) I would like to use this in my home lab, so I was hoping to find a way to store programs without using the tape drive or a disc drive. Is anyone there moving data between the 9825 and a PC? Can some of the utilities on hp9845.net be used to interface with the 9825 as well? This would be icing on the cake, since it would be shame to let such a nice machine go unused. However, I do have the Prologix GPIB interface with PyVISA/Scipy/Numpy, Thanks for any input, Dave

15 years, 10 months

3
12
0 0

converting RGBHV to RGBS -- anyone have 74HCT86's?

by keithvz＠verizon.net

I've got a chinese converter(from ebay, recommended by a few here) that will take 15khz RGB video with composite sync and spit out VGA at ~32khz so a regular monitor can be used to display the signal. http://cgi.ebay.com/RGBS-CGA-EGA-YUV-VGA-converter-1-output-arcade-game-/25… The seller claims (and spec sheet does indeed look this way) that the RGBHV input must be 30khz+, but the RGBS input supports down to 14.5khz. I'm attempting to use this with my amiga, which sends out separate H and V SYNC signals but at 15.7khz. I found this schematic http://www.epanorama.net/circuits/vga2rgbs.html The simple VGA to RGB+CSYNC adapter TTL (which appears the same as the "Separate Sync to Composite Sync Adapter") I intend to build this, and see if this does the trick for me. This sound like a reasonable plan? Anyone happen to have a few 74HCT86's lying around? I can order them online but because they are under $0.50 a piece, and I'll likely have to pay a minimum order size fee plus S&H. Seems a waste for a dollar's worth of items. Thanks Keith in Pittsburgh, PA, USA

15 years, 10 months

3
5
0 0

Mass spectrometers etc

by jonas＠otter.se

On Fri, 10 Sep 2010 20:02:09 +0100 (BST), ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) wrote: > >Oh, I have one, but it's only a little 1cm radius one, designed mainly >for detecting the helium peak when looking for leaks. What I don't have is >a suitable vacuum pump (yet...) > You might be interested in this site (sorry it's a Web site with pictures and so on, some of it will probably be readable using Lynx, and it's in French to boot, I'm sure it would interest you however): http://paillard.claude.free.fr/ He makes his own triode valves (or tubes, for those of us who speak the other language known as English ;-) ) and in order to do that he has designed and built among other things his own high vacuum pumps. I'm sure you would be able to make one like his. /Jonas

15 years, 10 months

3
3
0 0

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

test-drb