7 Jan
1999
7 Jan
'99
6:35 p.m.
Hi, folks.
I'm new in these parts, having been referred to the list during a quest
for some (very) old Data I/O programming equipment. Before I stray from
that subject, if anyone has any "Programming Paks" and accompanying socket
adapters, I'd appreciate hearing from them by mail. I need a number of
particular sets for 1702, 5204, and 6653 EPROMs. If'n anyone's interested,
they're for an original Intel MCS-4 (4004) development system, National
SC/MP, and Intersil 6100 (the pdp8-compatible one) respectively. I'd also
like to hear from anyone who has or is familiar with any of these machines.
After a couple of days lurking, I'm finding the endless discussion of Altair
prices and email "formats" dreary. The former was a rather badly built piece
of crap compared to the IMSAI (though we obviously have to acknowledge the
Altair's historical importance - right BEHIND the Mark 8), and the latter
has nothing to do with antique computers. I should think that the list owner
should have clamped off that discussion some time ago.
In other news,
Miles O'Neal (meo(a)netads.com) queried:
I'd really like to get hold of a functioning
(or close) Compucolor or Intecolor from the
early 80s. The ones we used at Georgia Tech
were all in one unit (I think), a big color
monitor console sort of thing, like God's own
ADM3a, in technicolor. (I could be wrong,
but that's what I seem to remember.) I'd
prefer one with a disk drive.
I think this was the coolest thing ever for
learning graphics stuff.
Anyone have one a mere mortal can afford?
I can't imagine why you'd want one. The big Intecolors were mildly
interesting, but the 8-track cartridge tape drive was junk of the first
order. The later Compucolor IIs (in the hacksawed portable television
case with the 5" floppy where the tuner used to be) was one of the most
unreliable hacks of the time. I serviced them circa 1980, and they were
really bad news. One of the worst excuses for a roll-yer-own switcher
I've ever seen, and nonexistent development software. Words of advice:
If you want to learn graphics, go track down an SGI Indigo - the purple
cube. They're down in the couple-of-hundred-bucks zone now, and one of
the most elegantly built machines I've touched in almost 25 years in the
biz.
On the subject of home-supers, I'd be interested as well in hearing what's
out there. We're anticipating getting our hands on a Cray YMP-EL/98 soon,
and it appears there are a number of these air-cooled boxes being dumped
in various parts of the world.
Jonathan Levine