DEC 11/83 (or 73?) system with 2 RP06 drives and several DECwriter terminals
needs to be picked up this weekend in the New Buffalo, MI area (Lake
Michigan near the Indiana/Michigan border) - you'll need at least a van or
large pickup truck. Please come prepared to take it all - no cherry picking!
Email me immediately or call me tomorrow (Friday, 10/8) at 847.424.7320
(work) or 312.804.4508 (cell). Owner is clearing out his warehouse over the
weekend.
Jack Rubin
jack.rubin -at- ameritech.net
Hi gang,
>>3490 is 36 track<<
Hate to pick nits, but 3490 is actually 18 track with
compression--physically the same recording method as 3480, but with an IDRC
compression chip.
The 3490E is 36-track.
regards, Chris
www.mullermedia.com
On Oct 7 2004, 19:31, Bob Shannon wrote:
> Be careful with high velocity rounds against pins, I've seen shots
come
> right
> back at you.
>
> Bowling pin shooters (its a handgun sport) use flat-pointed, heavy
rounds to
> 'smack' the pins back off the table.
Indeed, we used to use "pin-grabbers" -- like a flat-nosed "wadcutter"
but with teeth moulded into the front to reduce the chance of bouncing
back.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Hello all,
Does anyone have any information or instructions on how to connect the 4P to a display? I have the computer but I'm not able to connect it to anything. There are 6 what appears to be RCA type plugs on the back, 2 wide by 3 tall, with + over one column and - over the other. What do I need to do to get this thing working?
I also have an Intellec 4 that I am trying to find accessories and information for.
Thanks,
Jeff
>From: "Vintage Computer Festival" <vcf(a)siconic.com>
---snip---
>There was also a discussion about bouncing signals off the moon to create
>a delay-line memory of sort.
>
>What if we were to preserve software by encoding it as audio and bouncing
>it off the moon? I figure we could probably save a few old programs that
>way :)
>
Hi
You'd need a few different frequencies. The round trip to
the moon and back is only 2.6 seconds. It would be much more
reliable if there was a repeater on the moon otherwise the
signal would be weak.
Dwight
>From: "Tom Jennings" <tomj(a)wps.com>
>
>On Thu, 7 Oct 2004, Dwight K. Elvey wrote:
>
>> You'd need a few different frequencies. The round trip to
>> the moon and back is only 2.6 seconds. It would be much more
>> reliable if there was a repeater on the moon otherwise the
>> signal would be weak.
>
>Fill the intervening space with a gas or liquid and do it
>accoustically, you'd get a lot more bits in there. I will
>hand-wave the accoustic energy loss problems as obvious.
>
Hi
Use a mercury delay line hung from a sky hook. Put multiple
repeaters along the line. One can add some switch boxes
along the line so that one can short path the delay for
more rapid response for specific packets. You'd basically
exchange an originally out going packet of an in going
packet. If a good algorithm wasn't used, some packet might
not ever make the full loop.
Dwight
I have a question for the PDP-11 Unibus experts here.
I recently obtained a PDP 11/35 that had been dismantled
some years ago. As part of this, there were some older
style core memory board sets. These were the 8k H214
and H215 core boards and their corresponding G110 and
G231 boards. The backplane in the CPU box next to
the CPU backplane is an MF11-LP. There are three
other MM11-UP backplanes that supposedly came out of
a big BA11 expansion box. I also have the original
large field print sets for the MM11-L and MM11-S
memory, which both seem to go along with the
H214/H215/G110/G231 board sets.
Question:
Does anyone know if the older 8k H214/H215/G110/G231
memory board sets will work in the backplanes that
I have? The previous owner says that this memory went
with the backplanes that I have. I have acquired some
16k H217c, G214, and G235 memory board sets, along
with the M8293 and M7259 boards, so I can get more core
in the same space, but I would like to use the 8k core
too, if it can be used with the backplanes I have.
Thanks,
Ashley
>>> Here is something I dont understand.
>>> .45 is about 11,5 mm, while 7.62 is uuuuhhh 7.62 mm.
>>> How can the .45 come out worst?
>>> Nico (sniper in Danish National guard)
>>>
The .45 runs Windows
The 7.62 runs Linux
[or maybe it has something to do with velocity....]
David [ Major eater of Danish Pastries in the US]
hello
i have an old tek 1230 but without pods ! funny
i was searching the internet for pods as i saw that you are searching too.
Maybe did you found a reseller, or maybe do you have a tip or
explanation on
how it works to give to me.
Thanks
--
Patrice ULRICH
EOST - Institut Physique du Globe de Strasbourg
Laboratoire Proche Surface (UMR 7516 CNRS-ULP)
5, rue Ren? Descartes
F-67084 STRASBOURG Cedex
FAX 03 90 24 01 25
Email : patrice.ulrich(a)eost.u-strasbg.fr
As is traditional, the vagaries of the universe conspired to take down my
web server right after I released the latest issue of the VCF Gazette.
It's funny how you'll be up all night working on something major, and you
think, "I should back this up." But then you're so tired you decide to do
it in the morning. Then the next day your server goes down and you have
no idea why. Ugh.
Anyway, in this case it turned out to be a case of the server wanting to
have fsck run manually and so it never rebooted after some power glitch.
Fortunately, nothing was too out of whack: a few lost inodes and some
confused chains and other nonsense. I've now moved my server back to
within my own confines and have backed it up, plus I'm finishing up on a
new (faster!) web server, which will eventually have a lot of storage and
I hope to mirror some of the fine repositories on the web.
Anyway, if you tried to contact me since Tuesday and I have not responded,
this is why. I will be catching up and replying by later today.
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
[ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ]
[ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]
I've got a few (meaning, one or two) old floppies of mine that
I found, and hope are still readable, one with the sole copy
I know of of an 8086 ROM monitor debugger I used to bring up
a lot of machines with.
It's stored on a 360K 9-sector/track standard-formatted MSDOS
diskette with the right fatID and all that, but it does NOT
contain the IBM formatted crap in the boot sector that many
PCDOS implementations require.
Meaning, it will read fine (assuming it's still good) on MSDOS
but probably not PCDOS. (On PCDOS diskettes like this generate
something like "unformatted" error, Retry Ignore Abort.)
If anyone with such a capability could slurp off the source
(text) files and simply email them to me, and toss the original
media, I'd appreciate it. I'm in Los Angeles, but anywhere in
North America would be cheap postage.
I forwarded Joe's request for info on the TWX Diag Control Panel from the
ClassicCmp (cctech) list to the Greenkeys email list. Both Joe and I got a
private reply but I feel some others on both lists will be interested in
Russ' reply. To wit:
>From: Russmill47(a)aol.com
>Date: Mon, 4 Oct 2004 12:37:40 EDT
>Subject: Western Union TWX V Diagnostic Control Panel
>To: cfandt(a)netsync.net
>Cc: rigdonj(a)cfl.rr.com
>
>
>When Western Union acquired the TWX network from AT&T, there was a need to
>build a new network that would allow Western Union to integrate the
>existing Telex network with the TWX network.
>
>Western Union designed and built the Digital Exchange Network (DES) for
>this purpose. DES was not the huge success that everyone hoped as there
>were many software problems that caused reliability and availability problems.
>
>The TWX V Concentrator was located at the edge of the WU Central Office
>network, usually within a couple of thousand cable feet from the serving
>Local Exchange (Bell) Central Office.
>Typically, these concentrators would handle up to fifty (50) TWX
>customers, handling all the edge interaction with the customer TWX machine
>on one side of the box with the rest of the box providing TDM services
>that consolidated the 50 customer signals into a single digital data
>stream. In small locations, which could be rental space in a telephone
>answering service location, there would be a single box. Medium size
>locations would have multiple boxes that would feed their digital signals
>to an intermediate box that would further Mux these separate digital data
>streams to a high speed (9600 bps) Paradyne Modem.
>
>The Diagnostic Control Panel was mounted at the top of the concentrator
>and was used to monitor the internal health of the box as well as provide
>information as to the status of the individual subscriber links and the
>high speed digital data link. The technology is state-of-the art early
>1970s so you can look to processor speeds of 1-2MBps. A lot of this
>technology was designed and manufactured in Mahwah, NJ. This was the R&D
>headquarters for WU and just up the road from WU galactic headquarters in
>Upper Saddle River, NJ.
>
>Russ Miller
><mailto:russmill47@aol.com>russmill47(a)aol.com
>WA3FRP
So it appears the DES was one of the early implementations of commercial
digital communication.
Thanks for the enlightenment Russ!
Regards, Chris F.
NNNN
Christian Fandt, Electronic/Electrical Historian
Jamestown, NY USA cfandt(a)netsync.net
Member of Antique Wireless Association
URL: http://www.antiquewireless.org/
> I don't know much about PET's but I guess "working"
>means it beeps 4 times. That is working, isn't it?
I'm not the most knowlegable about PETs in this group,
but I have been working on a bunch of them lately - I've
recently debugged startup problems with a 4032 and several
8032s (essentually the same board), so I will try and
offer somewhat more helpful information .... :-)
The 4032 and 8032 normally give a "beep series", which
might be interpreted as "four beeps" - is it sort of one
long continuous beep that warbles four times, or is it
four distinct beeps?
If the former, then it's normal, if the latter, then I
don't recognize it. I dug through the starup code a fair
bit in debugging my SuperPet (8032 from 6502 point of
view) and I don't recall anything along the way before
video-init and startup message that would generate beeps
other than the "Warble".
First, make sure the monitor is working (There's a
brightness control on the back which may have been
turned down) - Check for power to the monitor, and
if you have a scope, look for drive signals.
If you think the monitor is working, then you can get into
the internal monitor by grounding the "diag" pin on the
User port - In my experience, this comes up a LOT easier
than BASIC, so it may come up even if Basic won't. Once
you get that far, then the rest should be easy.
In working on a 4032 and three 8032s recently, here's what
I found:
- Bad 4116 DRAM's - I ended up replacing 5 DRAM's in total
(IMHO This is a very likely reason for what you are
observing - one of mine hung in the ram-size function
due to a bad DRAM)
- Bad 2114 Video SRAM's - I had to replace two of these
(and a few more in Commodore disk drive units) - these
will cause "bad video" but you should still get SOME
video.
- Bad power regulator the 12v regulator on one of my 8032s.
Didn't run across any this time, but I have seen bad ROMs
in PETs in the past.
Regards,
Dave--
dave04a (at) Dave Dunfield
dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com
com Vintage computing equipment collector.
http://www.parse.com/~ddunfield/museum/index.html
Hi Stan
I don't know much about PET's but I guess "working"
means it beeps 4 times. That is working, isn't it?
Dwight
>From: "Stan Sieler" <ss(a)allegro.com>
>
>Hi,
>Does anyone know what 4 quick beeps at
>power on means for a Commodore PET 4032?
>
>When I hit the power switch, the 4 beeps
>come immediately, and then nothing ...
>no sound, and nothing at all on the CRT.
>
>This is a new-to-me 4032, allegedly working.
>
>thanks,
>Stan
>
>
Does anyone know how an RM05 drive assembly fastens to the massbus
control cab beneath? Doesn't seem likely that the drive assembly just
rests on top - but there's no obvious way of securing the drive/cab
together. I assume something's supposed to thread through the bracket at
the top-front of the control cab and attach to the drive, but what/how?
And then what secures the drive toward the rear?
We almost got out Decsystem 570 completely rebuilt yesterday (it was
totally dismantled and parts have been spread everywhere for the last
few years) - just got the battery backup units and comms brackets to
bolt on, and a couple of minor bits of trim to find and it's done.
I'd stick some pictures up somewhere but I've just realised I have no
idea how to get them off the camera with this new version of linux -
d'oh! :-)
cheers,
Jules
Yes,
I have too many HP-110 Plus portable computers - this
is the one with the large screen - 80 X 25 text.
Works great, no power adapter, but the soft carrying
case is included.
I'd love to trade one for an
Otrona Attache,
Atari Stacy,
ZX-Spectrum,
cold hard cash,
????
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage!
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
This is a really trivial question, but I wasn't really a BBC micro hacker
in the old days,
I am planning some upgrdes to a BBC Model B+ (the fact that this
particular B+ lives in the bottom of an Acorn Cambridge shouldn't
matter...). One of them is to combine some of the ROMs (the B+ can take
27256 32K byte EPROMs), thus freeing up some ROM sockets and put a RAM
chip in one of them. I then have to fiddle the write-enable line [1] (should
be easy) and I have 32K of sideways RAM.
The hardware doens't worry me (I have schematics...). But how do I load a
ROM image into the sideways RAM? Is there some loader program I need (and
where do I get it)? Anything I should know about the image file on disk
(anything about the start/end/entry addreeses in the direxctory, for
example)?
[1] I believe it's a good idea to be able to write-protect the sideways
RAM, but I don't want to drill holes in my Cambridge. Has anoyne ever
used the cassette motor line for this? Seems like an obvious thing to use.
-tony
The Tech Journal had a whole series of programs for a while. When I got
my Cauzin SoftStrip reader, I kept an eye open for any magazines that
could be used with the reader. They are still waiting to be read :).
> Tom Jennings <tomj at wps.com> wrote:
> >
> >I remember that! It was some bar code variant, I think the
> >code was some BASIC hack small enough to type in. I have no
> >recollection what the hardware was though. 1980s.
>
> Cauzin SoftStrip. Basically a 2-D barcode, read with a handheld scanner.
>
>
> --
> Don Hills
Brad Parker <brad(a)heeltoe.com> wrote:
|Anyone on the boston or mass/nh/ct area have a working 9-track drive
|which can read 800bpi tapes?
I have two drives which can in theory read 800bpi. One is a relatively
modern quad density unit and the other is an old rack-mount dual. The
latter is not currently connected to a computer, but it could be if the
former fails to perform. I'm in Gloucester.
Dan Lanciani
ddl(a)danlan.*com
Anyone happen to have a spare HP 2100A front panel key or know where I can
get one?
The HP 2100A I acquired is locked in the OFF position and disassembling the
switch to bypass the lock doesn't look like too much fun. I think someone
offered a key when I first asked about this a long time ago but I didn't
take them up on the offer at the time.
-Glen
On Tue, 05 Oct 2004 21:45:57 -0400, David V. Corbin
<david(a)dynamicconcepts.us> wrote:
> Before bidding, would it be possible to get the following pictures:
>
> 1) Internals (cover off would be ideal, but listing the little cover should
> be sufficient
> 2) Closeup of the key tops
> 3) Printed sample
I've posted them at http://www.4mcnabb.net/images/ASR33 .
My lovely spouse has finally laid down the law on the computer
collection. I've pondered for weeks the best way to move the stuff
out, and I think I've settled on a silent auction here on the classic
comp mailing list. This will (hopefully) keep it out of the hands of
scrappers and intact, since most of it still works, and I'm not really
looking for Ebay prices, just a new home and maybe my investment back.
So here is the deal. I'll accept bids for one week after an item is
posted. I'd prefer the winner pick the item up, but I can deliver
anywhere within about a 700 mile radius of Blacksburg, VA. Elsewhere
we'll have to work out once we know the final destination.
So, without further delay, here is the first thing - a nice *WORKING
with no missing pieces* ASR-33 teletype.
A picture is at http://cmcnabb.cc.vt.edu/projects/pdp8/asr33.jpg and
I'll throw in a whole slew of unpunched papertape and unprinted paper.
Bids and questions should be emailed to cmcnabb(a)gmail.com any bids
sent to the list will be ignored. The teletype listing will end on 12
October, 2004.
Hi,
Does anyone know what 4 quick beeps at
power on means for a Commodore PET 4032?
When I hit the power switch, the 4 beeps
come immediately, and then nothing ...
no sound, and nothing at all on the CRT.
This is a new-to-me 4032, allegedly working.
thanks,
Stan
I was contacted recently someone at WPI who had been approached
about reading an old DECtape. They no longer have the DEC-10
at WPI, so need to find someone with working DECtapes who might
be able to read the tape...
If anyone has a working DECtape drive on their system, please
let me know so I can pass it on...
Megan
I am trying to figure out what tape drive was used to write some DDS tapes
that I'd like to read. The only clues I have are that they were written
on a VAX of some sort under VAX OpenVMS 5.5-2.
Any ideas?
Thanks!
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
[ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ]
[ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]
Are there any PDP11 simulators that run "right down on the iron" of a
PC?
I know there are PDP11 cards that can be put in PCs, that's not what I
am looking
for.
I have "several" MS-DOS machines with 5 1/4" floppy drives that would
probably do the job, and most versions of DOS from 1.1 on up through
6.22. I'll be down in LA this Saturday (Fullerton) and could bring a
machine, or we could meet and I could get the floppies, or ... :). Or
you could mail them up here (Santa Barbara), and I could retrieve the
text files. Let me know if you still need help with this.
Marvin
> From: Tom Jennings <tomj(a)wps.com>
> I've got a few (meaning, one or two) old floppies of mine that
> I found, and hope are still readable, one with the sole copy
> I know of of an 8086 ROM monitor debugger I used to bring up
> a lot of machines with.
>
> It's stored on a 360K 9-sector/track standard-formatted MSDOS
> diskette with the right fatID and all that, but it does NOT
> contain the IBM formatted crap in the boot sector that many
> PCDOS implementations require.
>
> Meaning, it will read fine (assuming it's still good) on MSDOS
> but probably not PCDOS. (On PCDOS diskettes like this generate
> something like "unformatted" error, Retry Ignore Abort.)
>
> If anyone with such a capability could slurp off the source
> (text) files and simply email them to me, and toss the original
> media, I'd appreciate it. I'm in Los Angeles, but anywhere in
> North America would be cheap postage.
Anybody know where I can find documentation for these CPUs? I have some
Z8002's that are just waiting to be wired up to a board...if only I knew
how to use them! I have the datasheet, but no good programming info.
Jim
Does anyone have the capability to read 3480 tapes? Ideally, I'm looking
for someone in the Silicon Valley area who has the capability.
Thanks!
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
[ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ]
[ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]
Hi Jim
If you were doing 8002's I'd be glad to help you get
a CP/M-8000 up and running. Much of the code is written
for the segmented machine so it would need to be converted
to non-segemented for the 8001. It could still be done
but would require a lot more work and you'd need a reasonable
bank switching setup. I also don't have source for all
of it so it would require a little reverse engineering.
Those pieces that I don't have source for, I do have object
libraries so building a 8001 setup isn't as much of an issue.
Dwight
>From: "Jim Donoghue" <jim(a)smithy.com>
>
>Anybody know where I can find documentation for these CPUs? I have some
>Z8002's that are just waiting to be wired up to a board...if only I knew
>how to use them! I have the datasheet, but no good programming info.
>
>Jim
>
>
>
Hi
Try:
http://www.kranenborg.org/z8000/
and
ftp://ftp.groessler.org/pub/chris/olivetti_m20/
Later
Dwight
>From: "Jim Donoghue" <jim(a)smithy.com>
>
>Anybody know where I can find documentation for these CPUs? I have some
>Z8002's that are just waiting to be wired up to a board...if only I knew
>how to use them! I have the datasheet, but no good programming info.
>
>Jim
>
>
>
Hi Glen
If you don't find someone with a key, most any
lock smith will make one for around $15 or so.
I've had two keys made for me. One was a round one
and the other was a double sided. You just need
to bring the lock to a good smith.
Dwight
>From: "Glen Slick" <gslick(a)gte.net>
>
>Anyone happen to have a spare HP 2100A front panel key or know where I can
>get one?
>
>The HP 2100A I acquired is locked in the OFF position and disassembling the
>switch to bypass the lock doesn't look like too much fun. I think someone
>offered a key when I first asked about this a long time ago but I didn't
>take them up on the offer at the time.
>
>-Glen
>
>
>
At 11:37 05/10/2004 -0700, you wrote:
>I've got a few (meaning, one or two) old floppies of mine that
>I found, and hope are still readable, one with the sole copy
>I know of of an 8086 ROM monitor debugger I used to bring up
>a lot of machines with.
>
>It's stored on a 360K 9-sector/track standard-formatted MSDOS
>diskette with the right fatID and all that, but it does NOT
>contain the IBM formatted crap in the boot sector that many
>PCDOS implementations require.
>
>Meaning, it will read fine (assuming it's still good) on MSDOS
>but probably not PCDOS. (On PCDOS diskettes like this generate
>something like "unformatted" error, Retry Ignore Abort.)
>
>If anyone with such a capability could slurp off the source
>(text) files and simply email them to me, and toss the original
>media, I'd appreciate it. I'm in Los Angeles, but anywhere in
>North America would be cheap postage.
Hi Tom,
Have you tried hooking up a 5.25" drive to winblows and see if
it can read the files off? I'd also bet that anyone with Linux
could mount them and read them for you.
If you can't find anyone closer, I'm sure I could get the data
off (I've written my own MS-DOS compatible FAT file systems). I'm
located near Ottawa, Ontario Canada - give me a buzz off-list if
you want to persue this.
Regards,
Dave
--
dave04a (at) Dave Dunfield
dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com
com Vintage computing equipment collector.
http://www.parse.com/~ddunfield/museum/index.html
Hi Richard
I was just looking for Synertek stuff and came
across your page on the R65 and SYM-1. I noticed
that you had the manual for PL/65. I'd been looking
for this info for some time. I have the PROMs but
didn't have the manual.
I think I have the Rockwell manual for the Forth.
I'm not setup to scan stuff but maybe we can setup
someway to get them scanned. I live in Santa Cruz
Calif.
I've been getting a floppy disk interface up and
running for the SYM-1. It is a slow project that I've
been fiddling with for some time. I have one of
the PerSYMone ( I think that is the right spelling )
FDC-1 cards that is intended to work with the SYM-1
monitor ROM.
The card I had came from Synertek and had all the
socketed parts removed. I've been collecting the
various pieces needed to get it running. I located
a dump of the original ROM and also a modified DOS
that can be used as well. I've been having problems
finding a DP8303 bidi-bus buffer but I think I can
work around that.
I disassembled the code on the ROM and figured out
what the address decoder PROM needed ( a 82S129 ).
I'm at the point now that I just need to connect up
a bunch of stuff ( powersupply, KTM-2, SYM-1, FDC-1
and floppy drive ) to try it out.
Dwight
IIRC, PC-MOS consisted of more than just the software. One of the
hardware cards was basically a multi-serial port card, and I don't
remember the other one. One of my clients was running PC-MOS, and they
were commenting on how slow it was (running on an original 6 MHz IBM AT
that I currently have) with only one workstation connected (circa 1986).
One night, I went in and ran a disk defrag program, and the next day,
the comments had changed to how quickly this was running :).
> No, I wasn't looking for it. I found a copy and was asking what it was.
> Someone did want it and asked for it so I gave it to them. IIRC It was
> someone in Australia. I wonder if this is the copy that I sent them?
>
> Joe
>
>
> At 11:28 PM 10/3/04 -0500, you wrote:
> >I remember someone was looking for a copy of this once. Here is a boxed
> >original with all docs, etc.
> >
> >http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4619&item=5128471513
> &rd=1
> >
> >Jay West
We're on the East Coast, but can read all sorts of tapes. (well, maybe not
quite all :-)
We've even done some Vydec disks recently, if anybody can remember those
beasts.
Have a look at www.mullermedia.com.
Thanks.
Hi all,
For a fun project (I am porting ULTRIX-11 to the PRO) I could
use some help with figuring out some of the machines' internals.
If you have info, please contact me off-list !
Cheers,
Fred
--
Fred N. van Kempen, DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) Collector/Archivist
Visit the VAXlab Project at http://VAXlab.pdp11.nl/
Visit the Archives at http://www.pdp11.nl/
Email: waltje(a)pdp11.nl BUSSUM, THE NETHERLANDS / Mountain View, CA, USA
VCF Gazette
Volume 2, Issue 4
A Newsletter for the Vintage Computer Festival
October 5, 2004
Miraculously on schedule, it's time for the next installment of the
Vintage Computer Festival Gazette!
Vintage Computer Festival 7.0
VCF East 2.0 Exhibit Awards and Photo Gallery
VCF Producer Sellam Ismail on G4TechTV's Screen Savers October 19
Subscribe to the Computer Collector E-mail Newsletter
Vintage Computer Festival 7.0
----------------------------------
Since the last VCF, the trials and tribulations of daily life made
their inevitability painfully attendant: bills came due, accidents
happened, bad days at the office were had, arguments broke out, and
the morning paper was thrown into the sprinklers yet again. Woe is
us! But lo, a bright and shining beacon of nerdilicious salvation is
on the horizon and draws nigh. The Vintage Computer Festival returns!
Vintage Computer Festival 7.0 is right around the corner, taking place
on November 6-7 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View in
(still) sunny California. Flights are cheap and so is the admission,
so you have little excuse to stay home cramped behind your computer
trying in vain to craft that perfect Google search term. Just put all
that nonsense behind you and join us for some fanatical Festival
folly!
We are honored to once again have the Computer History Museum as our
sponsor!
And as always, we bring you yet another wonderful line-up of speakers,
exhibitors, and special events, including a 30th anniversary retro-
spective of Maze War, the original "first-person shooter" videogame,
plus so much more!
In fact, we're planning so much for this year's event, it might
possibly be even too much! Some of it we can't even mention yet
because we're still in the middle of planning it. So come on out and
watch us put on a gargantuan geek gala guaranteed to gasify your gall
bladder...either that or watch us crash and burn in spectacular style.
Either way, it's sure to be entertaining!
We've Got Lodging!
For out of town guests, the VCF has arranged a hotel room block at the
Residence Inn Palto Alto Mountain View, located within 3 miles of the
Computer History Museum and featuing, among other fine amenities, an
on-demand shuttle service between the Inn and the Computer History
Museum. The special VCF rate is US$79 per night. Reservations must
be made by October 15 to take advantange of this terrific rate so do
not delay! Full details are available here:
http://www.vintage.org/2004/main/lodging.php
Computer History Galore!
The VCF speaker schedule has moved back to a "track" style this year.
The talks are assembled into themes for the most part. We've got
another terrific line-up! Check it out:
Saturday, November 6
Track 01
Time Topic Speaker
------- ------------------------------------- -------------------
10:00am Using Vintage Computers in Forensics Fred Cohen
11:00am Documenting the BBS Jason Scott
12:00pm The Art of Textmode Christian Wirth
1:00pm History of FidoNet Tom Jennings
Track 10
Time Topic Speaker
------- ------------------------------------- -------------------
11:30am Confessions of an Entrepreneur Dr. Robert Suding
12:30am VCF Ramblings Sellam Ismail
Sunday, November 7
Track 01
Time Topic Speaker
------- ------------------------------------- ------------------
10:00am Early IBM History John Sailors
11:00am The IBM 360 Evolution and Revolution Jerome Svigals
12:00pm Early Microprocessor Design Nick Tredennick
1:00pm Maze War Retrospective Panel
Track 10
Time Topic Speaker
------- ------------------------------------- -------------------
10:30am Things You May Not Know... Evan Koblentz
11:30am Tipping Sacred Cows Tom Jennings
12:30am The Art of Vintage Computers Christine Finn
1:30pm Neo-Retro: The XGameStation Andre LaMothe
More information on the VCF 7.0 speakers can be found here:
http://www.vintage.org/2004/main/speaker.php
BBS Documentary Screening
Jason Scott, proprietor of textfiles.com--the Internet's largest
collection of historic textfiles--has completed work on his BBS
documentary. "BBS: The Documentary" spans across seven separate films
which cover every aspect of the world of bulletin board systems,
tracing the history of the BBS as well as the historic figures that
made it a distinctly unique mode of digital communication. This will
be the first public screening of the documentary, and audience input
>from VCF attendees will determine the final cut of the film series.
More information on the screening can be found here:
http://www.vintage.org/2004/main/screening.php
Computer History Museum Tours
As always, the Computer History Museum's terrific staff will be giving
VCF attendees tours of the Museum's fantastic collection. Tours are
held in the afternoon and run every half an hour. Tour information is
available here:
http://www.vintage.org/2004/main/tours.php
Exhibit Your Computer!
One of the best ways to enjoy the VCF is by participating directly.
Be an exhibitor! As an exhibitor, you get to be a part of all the
behind-the-scenes action. Plus you get a chance to show off your
favorite computer and perhaps even win an award for an outstanding
exhibit. The Best of Show award includes as a prize the Replica 1,
a software compatible re-creation of the legendary Apple-1 computer,
courtesy of its creator, Vince Briel. So don't delay, sign up today!
http://www.vintage.org/2004/main/exhibit.php
More information about Vince Briel's Replica 1 can be found on his
website:
http://home.comcast.net/~vbriel/
Buy, Sell and Trade at the VCF Marketplace
As always, one of the most exciting aspects of the VCF is the
Marketplace, where you can find a large and varied assortment of some
of the most fantastical old computer thingies anywhere. Find that odd
part you've been seeking out for your collection, then touch, smell,
even taste it if you like, before haggling out a deal. There is
simply no better place to buy and sell vintage computers than at the
VCF Marketplace. Vendor booths are still available. For more
information on selling at VCF 7.0, please visit:
http://www.vintage.org/2004/main/vendor.php
The VCF 7.0 BBS is Live!
Communicate with fellow VCF 7.0 attendees on the VCF 7.0 BBS! Set up
trades and carpools, talk about exhibiting, and discuss generally
anything about the upcoming Festival:
http://www.vintage.org/2004/main/bbs.php
So Much More!
Complete information about VCF 7.0, including the speaker schedule and
exhibit roster, as well as lodging information and driving directions,
can be found on the VCF 7.0 web pages:
http://www.vintage.org/2004/main/
Keep in mind that the VCF will from now on be held during the first
weekend in November.
VCF East 2.0 Exhibit Awards and Photo Gallery
---------------------------------------------
The 2nd annual Vintage Computer Festival East was held on July 16-17
at Sun Microsystems' Burlington campus in Burlington, Massachusetts.
The turnout was terrific, and so were the speakers and the exhibits.
If you didn't make this event, you'll certainly want to put it on your
calendar for next year.
A photo gallery of the VCF East 2.0 exhibits can be found here:
http://www.vintage.org/gallery.php?grouptag=VCFEAST20
In the meantime, we are pleased to present the results of the exhibit
awards.
Class Awards
First, Second and Third Place ribbons are awarded in each of five
classes that represent major areas of effort in computer collecting
and preservation. Judging is based on a set of criteria including:
appearance, condition, originality, authenticity, completeness, and
functionality. Additional judging takes into account the breadth of
the exhibit by assessing the inclusion of documentation and software.
Class A: Homebrew, Kit or Educational Computer - Any Vintage
1st Place: Vince Briel - Replica 1
2nd Place: Bob Maxwell - A Homebrewer's OSI Superboard 2 and Offspring
3rd Place: Vinal Applebee - Before There Were Blinkenlights
Class B: Manufactured Personal Computer - Pre-1981
1st Place: Bill Sudbrink - The Woodies
2nd Place: Andrew Molloy - Zeda 580 Integrated Video Computer System
3rd Place: Devon McCullough - SOL-20 Dialup to ARPANET Circa 1976
Class C: Manufactured Personal Computer - Post-1981
1st Place: Michael Thompson - Sun Microsystems History
2nd Place: Jeff Armstrong - DEC Rainbow 100 Dual Monitor Setup
3rd Place: Tom Owad - Fibercorp Rack-mount VME-bus Macintosh
Class D: Mini-computer or Larger System - Any Vintage
1st Place: Jeff Katz - PDP-8/e
2nd Place: Bob Shannon - HP1000 Minicomputer Preservation/Restoration
Class E: Open
1st Place: Curt Vendel - Atari 7800
2nd Place: Evan Koblentz - PDAs: 1973-1993
3rd Place: William Donzelli - Computers in Uniform
Special Awards
Special Awards are given to exhibits based on various practical and
esthetic criteria. These accolades are intended to award exhibits
that advance the state of computer collecting and preservation.
Best Presentation: Research
Curt Vendel - Atari 7800
Best Presentation: Completeness
Curt Vendel - Atari 7800
Best Presentation: Display
Jeff Armstrong - DEC Rainbow 100 Dual Monitor Setup
Best Presentation: Creative Integration with Contemporary Technology
Devon McCullough - SOL-20 Dialup to ARPANET Circa 1976
Best Preservation: Original Condition
Herbert Eisengruber - Computer Museum of Nova Scotia
Best Preservation: Restoration
Andrew Molloy - Zeda 580 Integrated Video Computer System
Best Preservation: Recreation
Bob Armstrong - SBC6120 PDP-8 Clone
Best Preservation: Obscurity
Vinal Applebee - Before There Were Blinkenlights
Best Technology: Analog
William Donzelli - Computers in Uniform
Best Technology: Non-Electric
William Donzelli - Computers in Uniform
Best of Show
The Best of Show award determines, based on the best overall score
achieved, which exhibit deserves to be singled out for extra special
recognition.
The VCF East 2.0 Best of Show award went to Vince Briel for his
Replica 1 Apple-1 clone. Congratulations, Vince!
People's Choice Award
Finally, the People's Choice Award taps into the pulse of the VCF
crowd. Attendees are encouraged to submit a ballot naming their
favorite exhibit of the show. The exhibit that attracted the most
votes this year was Jeff Armstrong's DEC Rainbow 100 Dual Monitor
Setup.
I would like to thank and congratulate all VCF East 2.0 exhibitors for
contributing to yet another excellent exhibition.
Watch out for news about the next VCF East in the summer of 2005!
VCF Producer Sellam Ismail on G4TechTV's Screen Savers October 19
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The VCF's Sellam Ismail will be appearing on G4TechTV's "The Screen
Savers" program on Tuesday, October 19th. Sellam will be bringing
along his PDP-1 front panel replica to demonstrate playing SpaceWar!
as simulated on a laptop running SIMH. This marks Sellam's fourth
appearance on The Screen Savers.
Check your local listings for air times.
Subscribe to the Computer Collector E-mail Newsletter
-----------------------------------------------------
The Computer Collector E-mail Newsletter published by Evan Koblentz
(formerly the ClassicTech E-Letter published by Michael Nadeau) is a
weekly newsletter that discusses the computer collecting hobby. The
newsletter is brief yet informative and always interesting. The VCF's
Sellam Ismail is a regular contributing member of the Newsletter
staff and wholeheartedly recommends it for folks interested in the
hobby of collecting vintage computers. To subscribe, visit the
Computer Collector website, which also includes helpful directories
listing upcoming events as well as places in the real world you can
visit to see old computers.
http://news.computercollector.com
The CCEN is currently undertaking a subscription drive. Whoever
ends up as subscriber #600 will automatically win a copy of Michael
Nadeau's "Collectible Microcomputers". Might that be you? Subscribe
and find out!
That wraps it up for this issue of the VCF Gazette! Until next time...
Best regards,
Sellam Ismail
Producer
Vintage Computer Festival
http://www.vintage.org/
The Vintage Computer Festival is a celebration of computers and their
history. The VCF Gazette goes out to anyone who subscribed to the VCF
mailing list, and is intended to keep those interested in the VCF
informed of the latest VCF events and happenings. The VCF Gazette is
guaranteed to be published in a somewhat irregular manner, though we
will try to maintain a quarterly schedule.
If you would like to be removed from the VCF mailing list, and
therefore not receive any more issues of the VCF Gazette, visit the
following web page:
http://www.vintage.org/remove.php
;)
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
[ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ]
[ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]
The current high bidder on this item, jandbyates, appears to be a gold
scrapper. Any PDP-11 fans want to bid on these? I have no connection
with the seller, I just don't want to see a scrapper get these boards,
even though I have no use for them.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1479&item=5723156389…
--Bill
* Microcomputer Exhibit to Open in Microsoft Birthplace
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/microcomputer_museum_041…
Microsoft co-founder, Paul G. Allen, announced today plans for a museum exhibit in Albuquerque, NM , which will document the history and impact of the microcomputer. The 3,000-square-foot Microcomputer Gallery is scheduled to open to the public in 2006 and will be housed in the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.
- John
Hello John
I came across your post via Google.
I had an Ohio Scientific C1P and C4P about 25 years ago. I have been
trying to find manuals for both these units just for the sake of
nostalgia. Have you any idea if anyone has posted these manuals apart
>from in the 20046 page document you mention? If not I would be grateful
if you could point me towards the secret link you mentioned.
Kind Regards - Ross
Hey all you big iron collectors!!
Tomorrow at the UA auction they got a Big S/390 with all the auxiliary
cabinets. I fortunatly had my digital camera with me this time,s as the
University FORGOT to post the computer on it's online site.
This means that a lot of would-be purchasers may not be there. I suspect that
the 390 and the associated cabinets will go cheap, but who knows. The
University may decide to postpone the auction for the 390 til next time. If
they don't..Here's your chance.
You can bid by phone. But you'll need to set up an account with them before
the auction. Auction starts at 8:30 MT (tucson Az.). I expect that they will
get to the s/390 at aroun 11:00 or 12:00 noon.
I have some photos I took this morning. They are not labeled. I've written
down more info and I'm looking it up as we speak. The 390 is circa 1999/2000
and is in #2 condition which is next to new. Several books/binders w
documentation. Hey don't these things run linux on a virtual partition??
Anyway, see for yourself. (the brown lines on the machines is tape. It's too
keep people from opening the cabs and removing componenets during inspection
day (today)
http://personal.riverusers.com/~dponsford/UAauction.html
Auction web page:
http://pacs.web.arizona.edu/surplus/public/auction-sale_home.html
Tom
---
Please do not read this sig. If you have read this far, please unread back to
the beginning.
Thinking about the recent posts on "Emulating right down to the Iron"..and I
had an idea, that I first thought was completely crazy, but am now thinking
that it may be only slightly nuts....
People have successfully modeled some of the processors using current
technology such as FPGA's. What if someone used and FPGA or similar and
produced a processor capable of running the instruction set of a specific
machine, but was compatible at the PIN (and other HW considerations) of a
x86. A standard motherboard (obviously with a completely vustom BIOS) and
standard hardware could then be used.
Depending on what type of HAL was implemented their might be the need for
some custom drivers at the emulated OS level. But this would provide a
platform that used current hardware (easy, available, cheap) without any
additional layers....
As I said, I thought I was completly wacko when the idea first came up, but
I wanted to get the lists thoughts....
>From: "Pete Turnbull" <pete(a)dunnington.u-net.com>
>
>On Oct 1 2004, 11:06, Dwight K. Elvey wrote:
>> Hi
>> I'm looking for a spec sheet on a 8308. I think it
>> is part of the older National Semi series DM8308.
>> It might be a 8303 ( the schematic is not to clear ).
>> I think it is an inverting 8 channel bus tranceiver.
>> I need information on which way the drivers go with
>> the direction control and is the enable true or false.
>
>I think you mean DP8303 / DP8308? Both of these are 20-pin DIL 8-bit
>bidirectional transceivers; the DP8303 is inverting and the DP8308 is
>non-inverting. In both cases, the A port is pins 1-8, and the
>corresponding B port pins are 19-12.
>
>On the DP8303 (and DP8304, which is the non-invering equivalent) Chip
>Disable (active high to disable) is pin 9; pin 11 is Transmit/-Receive;
>"transmit" (pin 11 high) means A is input and B is output.
>
>On the DP8308 (and DP8307, the inverting equivalent), pin 9 is
>-Transmit and 11 is -Receive (both active low).
>
>On all of them, port A can sink up to 16mA and port B can sink up to
>48mA.
>
>The DP7303/4/7/8 devices are extended-temperature range versions of
>DP8303/4/7/8.
Hi Pete
It looks like you are correct, they should be DP8303's. Does anyone
have any of these or know where I can get any?
Thanks
Dwight
I need a really cheap place to get a laptop. It should be reasonably
powerful (The end user will be surfing and email and light word
processing) it must have: A non-windmodem modem (possible a pccard),
ethernet (again possibly a pc-card) a cd Writer. And the cheaper the
better.
The end user is borrowing one of my machines and they are really hooked
on the whole "work at home"
be an "affiliate" buy my ebook and sell it yourself thing. I would
rather they had their *own* machine
that they could fill with spyware and junk. ;^)
I don't want to hassle with ebay.
Thanks.
If this is too off-topic you can reply off list to:
ron.hudson at sbcglobal dot net