>I picked up an Amigo computer today from a thrift store. Now, this is
>something cool as I have never seen one before and it is an interesting
>design for its time.
>
>The CPU and CRT are in one unit. In fact, at first I thought this was
>simply a dumb terminal because normally when you had a computer with
>integrated CPU/CRT it was a lot bulkier than this one is. The motherboard
>on this is tucked right under the tube. It has a Z-80 CPU and a 6502 (I'm
>assuming the 6502 is for the video display). The keyboard is an IBM XT
>keyboard (same key layout) but it has a 1/4" phono plug that connects to
>the front of the CRT/CPU (just like the Apple Lisa keyboard). I also got
>a dual half-height disk drive unit for it and two boxes of 5.25" floppies
>with programs such as WordStar, Supercalc, etc. I got a couple CP/M
>master disks with it as well.
I have something called an Amigo, made (although the name is hard to
read) by Surwave. Mind you, it could well be a Surwave made by Amigo. :)
It also has the z80 and the 6502 on the mother board, but it is not an
all-in-one unit. Indeed, it looks a bit like the Aplle ][. I have done
what research that I could, and so far have learnt that it was a Korean
Apple ][ clone, that could run cp/m or Apple software. They were made in
the very early eighties, and were imported into Australia via a person
who still resides in Adelaide. I have tracked down some information
about him, but have yet to find the person himself. They were quite
popular here, but few survived - mine didn't, as it won't show anything
on the screen. I am considering getting it repaired, but I don't know
enough to do it myself.
Anyway, I imagine that your computer is another model by the same people
- try an Apple boot disk and see what happens. :)
If you want I can continue to try and track down the importer. I know he
stopped importing computers and went into the computer embroidery
business, which does give me something to work with, anyway. I had given
up as I had covered almost everyone I could find who had anything to do
with old Apples, but there are still a couple of loose leads. I'm sure he
would know about any other systems made by the company.
Adam.
This weekend, I decided to replace the rotting foam in my RK05 drives.
BTW, self-adhesive weather striping seems to fit well. Home Depot carries
one in white (3/8" square) that works for the disk pack air intake. There is
also a black one, 7/16" x 3/4" that works for the foam between the blower
motor and the card cage.
Anyway, I digress. When I finished replacing the foam, I made sure that
I vacuumed up any foam particles. I powered-up my 11/34a, and now neither
drive gives me an "On Cylinder" light.
AFAIR, inserting a disk pack and pressing "load" would produce a
distinctive hum, indicating that the spindle motor is starting. Now, I get
no hum. Looking inside, I don't see the spindle running. Also, for the first
time, one drive popped its circuit breaker. It's almost like both spindles
are stuck. They're not, though; I checked (While looking into the spindle
motor and spinning the disk spindle I can see the motor fan move.)
I did not disconnect any wires during this process. Any clues?
BTW, what's the little red switch on the power supply board for?
Thanks for the help, again.
Rich Cini/WUGNET
<nospam_rcini(a)msn.com> (remove nospam_ to use)
ClubWin! Charter Member (6)
MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking
============================================
<a M9192? The list I have shows it as being a "DUAL HEIGHT CPU BRD", whic
<is "real" informative! According to the list I've got the 23's CPU's hav
<different numbers.
M8186 PDP-11/23 (KDF11A)
M8189 PDP-11/23 (KDF11B)
<
<They both have 256KW of 18-bit memory. This brings up an interesting
<question, how many bytes are there in in a Word when you're talking
<PDP-11's? Since it's 18 my guess would be 2 with parity bits.
Correct the extra are parity and it's always 2 8bit bytes to a 16bit word.
<SCD-RQD11/EC -- this one had 6 connectors for ribbon cables
I believe this is a distribution board for the RQDX1/2/3 floppy/hard disk
controllers.
<M8059-KP -- I believe it's 64k, is it for PDP?
256kb(128kw) parity memory.
<M3104 DHV11 -- It's got two ribbon connectors, by guess is it's for addi
<other terminals. I seem to have a pair.
These are terminal line controllers with silos and modem controls. Handy!
<Distributed Logic Corp. DQ342 -- no idea, two ribbon connectors
Unknown to me.
<Plessey P/N 70590-100A -- looks to be a RAM board
There were a lot of third part ram suppliers.
Allison
<> > BTW, what is a DEC Professional 350? I passed on both that and a Rai
<> > or two (they had a huge stack of Rainbows, but no monitors or keyboar
<> > sight). I really want to go back, and would tomorrow I think, but th
<> > weather is turning bad, and I'm supposed to be elsewhere :^(
The PRO350 is a member of the PDP-11 family. The processor is the F-11,
that's the same one as the 11/23 and they could carry up to 1meg of ram.
The bus physically is unique to the pro but it is similar to q-bus in
signals and timing.
As to options:
RX50 floppy
RD50/51/52 hard disks(rd51 10meg was common)
various memory options
APUs for 8088 or z80s
eithernet interface
Color graphics
Operating system was POS and was a modified version of RSX and is a
multitasking os. RT-11 was also available. Many programming languages
were available. Venix is available on the net for this box.
Speed, the PRO350 was slightly faster than the 11/23 though the disk
interfaces were slower. It did make a good workstation.
Versions, There was a PRO380 which used the J-11 (11/73 11/83) processor
which was faster and also the design carried more memory. Same box.
I have one and they are neat small machines. You need a monitor and
keyboard to make it complete.
Allison
Hello. From what I've heard, XT's practally line the streets in some
places. But, not here. :-( But, I've got most of an XT here. If anyone
has some spare parts, that they're willing to donate/sell, than that would
be great.
What I need:
a HDD, as after testing the one that came with mine on 2 machines, it
doesn't work. It sounds bad, too. Preferably, one that's a 10MB, like the
origional IBM. I don't have any SW, so it would be handy if you could just
take one out. But, if not, I can try other things.
A Controller, one that can handle Big Blue's origional 360K
A second one, that can handle the above hard drive. (May not be needed)
A video card. I need to figure out what's wrong with my XT monitor, as it
doesn't seem to be working. But, I could just use my CGA.
And, yes, I'm sure that I need all these. I've tried every part, and
none of them work. I tested my monitor on a friends CGA graphics card (but
set to mono), and the picture was CLEAR.
I'm willing to pay for these, as they'd make my first working classic.
And, I know that beggers can't be choosers.
<> >First programable calc
<>
<> Then there is the "first solid state electronic calc" which I think goe
<> the Busicom from Japan that employed the first production run of the in
<> 4000 chip set: the 4001 (2048 bit ROM), 4002 (320 bit RAM), 4003 (10 bi
No, this was not the first by a long means. I vaguely remember a desktop
HP job that was years earlier.
There were designs that were RTL and utililogic and even earlier designs
that were about the size of a desk drawer that were both totally
electronic and to some extent programable.
Allison
At 01:53 PM 1/11/98 -0500, you wrote:
>> Get an HP-IB cable or two if they have them but don't let them overcharge
>> you for them. A lot of people act like they're made of gold.
>
>That is because they are, at least to the test engineering world. These
>people spend large amounts for just about everything ($500 power supplies,
>$3000 signal generators, etc.), so a $20 cable is nothing to them. The
>dealers know they can get a large amount for HPIB cables, so they do.
>
>William Donzelli
>william(a)ans.net
$20 HA! Some of the dealers want $50+ plus for used ones around here.
OTOH I have been given bunches of them and there are tons of them
available. I just meant to warn him not to let them stick it to him for a
cable or let the price of the cable stand in the way of buying the HP IPC.
Joe
>
>
At 01:44 PM 1/11/98 -0500, you wrote:
>> >First programable calc
>>
>> Then there is the "first solid state electronic calc" which I think goes to
>> the Busicom from Japan that employed the first production run of the intel
>> 4000 chip set: the 4001 (2048 bit ROM), 4002 (320 bit RAM), 4003 (10 bit
>> shift register), and the 4004 (4 bit CPU). That chip set was shipped to
>> Busicom in March 1971 according to Michael S. Malone's "The
Microprocessor:
>> A Biography" ISBN 0-387-94342-0
>
>Wang's first (or quite near their first) product was an all electronic
>calculator, introduced in the late 1960s. They are big, but could be
>lugged around. The best part about them is the core memory! No
>microprocessors here (in fact, it may be discrete transistors - I better
>open the thing up a check).
>
>William Donzelli
>william(a)ans.net
>
HP's first calculator, the 9100a, was introduced in 1967 or 68. It had
no ICs, used core memories, and used logic gates made of diodes and
resistors. It did have transistors but they were mainly used as amplifiers
for the core memory. I guess it still qualifies as "solid state".) It was
fully proggramable and used RPN. I have a 9100B with a 1969 date code.
I believe the Japanese Busicom calculator is even older and dates from
about 1966.
Joe
>
>
OK, pardon my myriad of questions tonite, but I'm learning something
totally foriegn here. I've done some hunting, and it appears that I was
right, the pair of small PDP-11's aren't 23's their 73's. I wan't to see
if I can get them to boot, however, I'm wondering how I should connect the
terminal. Do I use a straight serial cable 9600 8-N-1, null modem cable,
or what.
I'm already getting the impression that I'm going to end up building a
cable for the VAXstation 2000. Based on what I've been able to find out on
that. Hopefully the snow tonite isn't to bad, I don't think I've got any
spare connectors laying around right now. Probably a good thing, I'd be
tempted to build the cable right now :^) Is this the correct penout for
the VS2000 console cable?
2<->3, 3<->2, 7<->7
Zane
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator |
| healyzh(a)ix.netcom.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast |
| healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| For Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| see http://www.dragonfire.net/~healyzh/ |
| For the collecting of Classic Computers with info on them. |
| see http://www.dragonfire.net/~healyzh/museum.html |
