3 Dec
2008
3 Dec
'08
5:19 a.m.
On Saturday (11/29/2008 at 04:42AM -0800), Chuck Guzis wrote:
On 24 Nov 2008 at 22:41, Chris Elmquist wrote:
Ha! ya.. although, we probably could have gotten at a -100 too if
we asked. I grew up with Neil Lincoln's kids and we spent a lot of
time at ADL (Advanced Design Lab) in Arden Hills. I later worked for
Neil at ETA. Lots of history there. Neil of course was the architect
for Star-100, CY203, CY205 and ETA10.
It came out of a Control Data maintanance console
for the Star-100, which
sadly, as a kid, I parted out. All I have left is the cool aluminum
suitcase that it was built in... and this paper tape reader.
The maintenance console, not the Star-100, right? That'd be a big
job even for an ambitious kid. All I can say is that I remember the suitcase tape
readers; they were
used to load code onto the drum of the MCU; they may have also been
used to load CPU microcode. They probably also had uses for running
diagnostic code on the stations.
They were also used for doing things like loading up firmware on tape
controllers and the like in non-Star applications. I'd be surprised
if any documentation survived on them, but maybe some CE squirreled
some away.
I suppose. Clearly they grabbed some off-the-shelf tape reader at the
time and put it into this box. It's not a complicated piece of gear
and I can surely trace wires to make it work. I just thought it would
be cool to have some authentic info on it if it still existed.
Of course I don't want to think about having torn the entire maintanence
console to pieces but, I guess I did other fun stuff with the parts
along the way.
Chris
--
Chris Elmquist
mailto:chrise at pobox.com