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101090 discussions

by allisonp＠world.std.com

For the original topic... For those getting into VAX based machines a smaller VAX like a VS2000, VS3100 or maybe a complete MicroVax-II, MV-III, 11/730 or even 11/750 is a good starting point and an easy admission. Once you're comfortable and DECified with that then something more massive or complex to get going is reasonable. Also from a perfomance standpoint the smaller VAXen can be impressive. I can hear the crowd... 11/730 or 750s are physically larger but if complete they are otherwise ver manageable for power and cooling. Also unlike the larger 78x and 85xx series the 730s and 750s are fairly common, well known and can often be had for the effort of moving it. Allison

25 years, 11 months

Can some HP people help this guy?

by dlw＠trailingedge.com

This came in to me but I can't really help him at the moment. I know some of you HP collectors might be able to help. Contact him at the address below. ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Wed, 28 Jun 2000 10:55:06 -0400 From: "Richard Rochester" <RRochester(a)getragusa.com> My company has been using an HP9836 to do calculations for a gear shaver sharpening machine. It can no longer be booted up because the main 5.25 drive will no longer read the disk. Do you know of any sources for these machines or parts? We were thinking that we might even be able to rig an external drive that would enable the machine to boot up. I'd appreciate any information you have on the subject. Thanks. Rich Rochester rrochester(a)getragusa.com ------- End of forwarded message ------- ----- David Williams - Computer Packrat dlw(a)trailingedge.com http://www.trailingedge.com

25 years, 11 months

The cost of collecting debate

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> 8088 CPU clocked at 5MHz > > 128k DRAM on the motherboard > > 4 expansion slots, 50 pins each > > 3 6522 VIAs on the motherboard, for system control functions, the > Printer/GPIB port and the user port > > Sound I/O using a 6852 and a CODEC chip > > A strange video system. There's 2K*16 bits of video RAM, with a 6845 CRT > controller to address it. The output of that partially provides the video > attributes (intensified, etc). But 11 bits are fed to the address lines > of the main DRAM array. This DRAM acts as the character generator and > stores the bitmap patters for the characters. Note that as there are > 2000 characters on an 80*24 screen and 11 bits gives 2048 different > values, it's possible to have a different 'character' displayed at each > screen location, thus allowing a bitmapped display. FWIW, the UK Apricot > computer has a similar video system IIRC, the Victor 9000 was designed by Chuck Peddle, the architect of the 6502 (or maybe it was the 6500) processor. This might account for the Motorola/Mostek chip usage. > 2 full-height 5.25" floppy drives on the front. These are Tandon > mechanims without their logic boards. They're linked to a controller > board that uses essentially the same GCR encoder/decoder as the Commodore > 8050, etc. The drives are variable speed units (!) with an 8048 on the > floppy controller board to control the speed. Thes means the machine > manages to get 500K on a single-sided 80 track floppy disk Not only were they GCR recorded (and I'll probably get this backwards), the drives were run in a Constant Linear Velocity mode, rather than the Constant Angular Velocity mode used by most drives. IIRC, the Mac 400k drives, were also CLV , but weren't GCR. IIRC, later models used some more compatible scheme; speaking of compatibilty, there were two variants of Microsoft BASIC available, one which was either generic or Victor-specific, and another that was IBM compatible. > Software control of the brightness and contrast of the (monochrome) > monitor using 3-bit resistor ladder DACs hung off the system VIA. > > Does that sound like a Victor 9000? Oh, yeah, that's it. The thing I remember most is that the Developer's kit the owner had came with PMATE: Phoenix-Mike Aronson's Text Editor. I pirated it, then when I went to my next fulltime job, they had the CP/M version, which was configurable (using PMATE macros) for different video systems or terminals, so I was able to combine the parts to get a version working on a PC when I went to the _next_ job. Which I used for about 6 months, then I bought a licensed copy, which I still use as my preferred editor to this day. For those that are unfamiliar with PMATE, it's more or less TECO with an incremental redisplay grafted on to it. In other words, EMACS without the LISP. Not quite, but a reasonable comparison. Anybody know anything abut Mike Aronson? Nobody at Phoenix can tell me *anything* about PMATE, and it would be nice to have the source code so I could fix some bugs. -doug q

25 years, 11 months

New Finds

by r.stek＠snet.net

I don't often make great finds around Hartford, but a local HS had a tag sale, and for $20 I came away with: 2 Mac Plus w/ 2 "long" and 3 "short" keyboards, 1 numeric keypad (less the ')' key), all working 3 matching 20 MB SCSI drives, also working 5 mice for same 1 Mac LC 3 Apple Keyboard II (1 cable, 2 kb's missing 1 key each, and only 1 ADB cord) 1 "limited Edition Woz" IIGS, working 2 Mac 12" RGB Displays, working 1 Apple composite color monitor for the IIGS, working 1 Apple IIe 2 Echo IIb boards & speakers 3 3.5" Apple drives, condition unknown 3 5" Apple drives, condition unknown 2 Heath-Zenith 8088's, from which I scavenged the 2 ST-225 drives (working), 1 working HD controller, 2 5" floppies condition unknown, 2 floppy controllers (ditto), I/O boards, AST combo board, the CPU's and memory chips. AND 1 IBM PC Portable - one of the floppies was not working, so I replaced it with a HD and WD controller from one of the Zeniths - works great! If I had half the space some of you describe, I could have had 20-30 IIe's, monitors, printers, and some 286 PC's. Of course, if I did that I would also have a second ex-wife! Bob Stek Saver of Lost SOLs

25 years, 11 months

Time spent Looking VS time spent "Playing"

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jun 28, 11:07, FBA wrote: > How much time do you devote searching for old machines? Very little, now. I used to, but I've run out of room (I hid a scanner and an SGI monitor in my wife's wardrobe recently). Every so often, someone says "I hear you collect..." and before you know it, there's another one. They seem to come in little bursts, too -- nothing interesting for months, then two or three in a week from different sources. > How much time "Playing" (fixing, using etc...) these machines? Not nearly enough :-) A few months ago, I reached the state in the garage that there literally was no room to get *to* almost anything, far less *into* it. Six weeks ago was the point at which it all got moved out, and the conversion/extension work began. By this weekend, I'll be putting in the new network cable and starting painting in the new computer room. The walls have been lined and plastered (makes the room smaller, but deals with the condensation issues), new ceiling, it's all rewired (175 metres of cable in the power circuits alone), purpose-built workbenches (still to be built, though), raised computer floor, floor boxes for power and network, floor-to-ceiling shelves in one corner to hold and run about 20 small machines and their peripherals, space for two DEC racks and a couple of BA23's. Of course, not everything that went out will fit back in, but most will, and will be usable. Though it might be a while before I finish all the benches and stuff, and then I better move the scanner and monitor before I do much else, or The Boss might renege on her promise to pay for half of it! -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

25 years, 11 months

Setasi PEP70/HC43/HC45 cabling

by eric＠brouhaha.com

Does anyone here know anything about the Setasi PEP70 memory system for the PDP-11/70? I posted the question below to the PDP-11 list, and got no reply. :-( Eric Can anyone describe the correct cabling between the PEP70, HC43, and HC45 cards (Setasi's memory and cache-replacement cards for the PDP-11/70)? There are four connectors on the PEP70, and two each on the HC43 and HC45. It appears that the topmost PEP70 connector should be cabled to the second from the top on the HC45, and the second PEP70 to the topmost on the HC45. But I have no idea how the two cables between the PEP70 and HC43 should be wired. There would seem to be only two possibilities, but I am loathe to risk damaging anything by using trial and error. Thanks! Eric

25 years, 11 months

Getting into VAXing

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

Zane. You wimp. An 8350 is a fairly friendly BIbus system. Nothing weird about it. It's perhaps not the best "first" VAX, but it's certainly not as daunting as something like an 11/780 or an 8800. There's certainly more to VAX life than the desktop machines. If this guy is motivated, and the machine is in reasonably good shape, and maybe with a little help from us, I'll bet he can get this machine up & running with only a little bit of sweat. -Dave McGuire On June 28, healyzh(a)aracnet.com wrote: > Um, I suppose I'm fairly 'into' VAXen, and I definitly like messing with > VMS. I've one thing to say about this system. *I* wouldn't touch it! > Getting the stuff to get it up and running would likely be a real pain > (although I do have a system console for one). > > If you want to mess with VAXen then get a 3100 series MicroVAX or > VAXstation, or a 4000 series VAXstation. If you're more interested in VMS, > then you might also consider an Alpha. Then once you've got one system up > you can consider getting other systems such as Q-Bus VAXen, or maybe a big > VAXen. > > > > So far, I've mostly stuck with micros (Apple, Commodore, Atari, etc.) > > > > But I noticed someone auctioning a VAX 8350 for about $50 over on Ebay, > > and I wondered, would it be relatively straightforward for a VAX newbie > > like me to: > > a. ship > > Probably have to be crated. > > > b. get it running > > Nightmarish I suspect > > > c. find software (Unix, Vms, etc) and hardware (disk drives, tape drives, > > etc.) > > VMS is the *ONE* True OS!!! Info on the truely great Hobbyist licenses can > be found at the following page. > http://www.montagar.com/hobbyist/ > > But if you insist on being sick and twisted > http://minnie.cs.adfa.oz.au/PUPS/ > http://www.netbsd.com > > Hardware? Just about anywhere. > > > d. keep it running (does it require specialized maintenance) > > Probably pretty easy. While I've not messed with this particular model I've > found the VAXen I've got to be very reliable. Except the ones using old MFM > Hard drives (and that's a hard drive issue). I do suspect this model > probably requires a climet controlled computer room, but really don't know. > > > My only experience with VAXen was at a terminal in college and at a couple > > of jobs. The machine itself was always kept in its own, airconditioned, > > halon-fire-extinguisher equipped, raised floor room. > > > > So, should I jump into the fray? > > YES!!! But, not with this system. Personally I think probably your best > system to start with would be a VAXstation 4000 of some sort. A personal > VAX with 24MB is quite nice, a personal Alpha with about 112MB is quite > nice (the amount of RAM is probably the biggest thing to consider). 1-2GB > of Disk space and a CD-ROM would also be recommended. > > Zane >

25 years, 11 months

Getting into VAXing

by ethan_dicks＠yahoo.com

--- Pat Barron <pat(a)transarc.ibm.com> wrote: > On Thu, 29 Jun 2000, Tony Duell wrote: > > > > The other is the 11/730. Small, slow, but there are only 2 ASICs (Memory > > ECC gate arrays IIRC). The rest is AMD bit-slice, PALs, and simple chips. > > > > Would the 11/725 also be a good/equivalent choice? My (possibly flawed) > understanding is that the 725 is basically a 730 squeezed into a > BA123-style "end-table" box (about the size of a Perq T2 or so). Right... identical CPU, no provisions for external expansion (but you _can_ squeeze a Unibus cable out it if you're careful), RC25 disks - fun but a pain - one motor with two disks; one removable, one fixed, 25Mb each. I used to have an RC25 cart with VMS 5.0 on it, so I know it fits, but I lost it and the machine when the business it was resting at closed with so little warning that I couldn't get it out. :-P The 11/725 case is a bit larger than a BA-123, but the aspect ratio is similar. -ethan ===== Even though my old e-mail address is no longer going to vanish, please note my new public address: erd(a)iname.com The original webpage address is still going away. The permanent home is: http://penguincentral.com/ See http://ohio.voyager.net/ for details. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/

25 years, 11 months

Your dream computer room.

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> A vertical storage system with 3 foot deep by > 4 foot wide "shelves" mounted on a kind of chain > driven circular elevator. I got the idea from > some pictures of a car parking facility. The > shelf at the I/O position could slide onto a cart > which could then take it to a workstation where > it would lock in. I figure about 2 feet of > clearance between shelves and the whole system > being about 50 feet tall (or down into the floor) > so you could have 50 systems easily ready to use, > demo or work on. Sounds just like a White Data Systems Vertical Carousel... never got to work with one of those, but I wrote lots of code to move the WDS Horizontal Carousels back in the 80s... -doug q

25 years, 11 months

Your dream computer room.

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> > > You never worked with overhead raceways, did you? > > > > Oh, they're great if you like your cables getting sliced > > up as you pull them through; pulling the raceway tops off > > (the alternative) is no fun either. > > I work with them every day and don't have such problems. I rather > like 'em. The ones I use are made by Newton...might wanna check 'em > out. Ho Ho Ho! Last time I pulled cable (raceways amongst others) was in college... somebody else gets all the fun now. Not that I mind work, Hell, I love it, I can watch it all day! -dq

25 years, 11 months

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