FA: TRS-80 Model IV with Corvus Omninet Network Interface

Hullo fellow classiccmp enthusiasts; I'm in the process of clearing up some 'never started' project space, and have put my TRS80 Model IV find serial terminal, but it doesn't have a serial port and I never got around to buying one. I then thought of gutting it and making it into a modern PC. I was talked out of wrecking working vintage hardware just for the case. The neato thing about this TRS80 is (what I was told to be through usenet) the Corvus Omninet Network interface, aka Network 4 board; this is a diskless client for the network. Unfortunately I have no documentation, software, or proof, that it actually is Corvus Omninet, so take my commentary with a grain of salt. My limited probing on the inside of the system did not show any boards with the company name on them, for example, but I did not break open the shielded board area for a closer look (see pics). If this in fact was a real Omninet client system, you would also need a server or controller and the software to run it; again, from word of mouth, I was told it was likely a x86 or the like with a hard drive in it and the Omninet interface on it. On the auction page you will find a load of nicely sized pictures for it, and perhaps another TRS80 enthusiast will be able to determine if I was told correctly or not about the network. Here's the auction link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2301561688&categ… Here's the thread archived on google groups here: http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&… Interesting tidbits from the above thread, thanks to "Frank Durda IV": "Corvus Omninet and Network 4 are the same beast. Tandy bought Omninet chipsets and made their own boards for the Model 4 and 1000HX/EX computers. The educational operating system that Tandy sold for use with Network 4 was written by a guy in his garage (living in the northwest as I recall)." "Omninet/Network 4 are trunk networks, more like Thinnet Ethernet in topology. (Some people came up with repeater/boosters that allowed non-daisy-chain wiring for Omninet/Network 4, but that is an extension of the basic design.)" "The underlying signaling in Omninet/Network 4 is differential, which means unshielded twisted pair works great (even using RJ11 plugs for interconnects work fine), but Tandy decided they would make more money by selling shielded wire and making you use those irritating wing-nut connectors. Tandys choice also meant that if you had one computer in the lab plugged into an outlet with a hot neutral, Tandys wiring scheme would promptly blow-out all of the machines on the network the moment you plugged that one computer in since they tried to share a shield ground via the shielded cable. This happened fairly often, and 30+ computers would simultaneously make Bing-Pop-Zing sounds as the tops blew off integrated circuits inside the case, followed by burning smells. Later, Tandy included an outlet tester with the installation kit and recommended its use..." AAAAAACCCKKKKKKKK! The horror! No burning smell from this one, however. This system was bought from a store in Sunnvyale, CA called 'Weirdstuff' that takes old computers and resells or strips them for their valuables. Wierdstuff is a cool store, check them out if nothing else to visit a blast to the computer and electronics past. They had a stack of these TRS-80 Models IVs at the time. They had been there for some time in the warehouse. Some of the systems had Tracking ID tags talking about 'Fremont School District', which is an area in Silicon Valley. My guess is they were traded or given away to make space for a more modern setup and weirdstuff ended up with them. Hope you liked all the background on it. I love collecting these old 'puters and hope to pass it on to someone equally enthusiastic. L