cray, paper tape, collector's books, tek terminals, and WANTED - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

13 Jan 1999

William Donzelli &lt;william(a)ans.net&gt; wanna know:

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   Not much to
tell yet.  It's a YMP-EL/98, the 8-cpu version of the
 air-cooled "baby's first Cray" series. 
 Not only air-cooled, but more or less plug-into-the-wall as well. I envy
 you. 
Yeah - it appears to just need 220 and enough room HVAC.  A raised floor
isn't even a requirement, though we're dying to put one in.  Our biggest
concern is simply the footprint, as our machine room has pretty much run
out of space.  We added a freebie sparcserver 690 on Saturday, and that's
about hogged out the remaining space we were figuring on devoting to the 
Cray.

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   At the moment,
we know of two other machines of the same family
 that are now in private hands. 
 I have had absolutely no luck in getting a supercomputer, for myself or
 for RCS/RI. Currently I am bothering people about a MasPar and an ETA, but
 both have hit brick walls. I suppose it helps to be in the right place at
 the right time. How did you manage? 
Never seen a MasPar - would like to.  The ETA would be a sweet find -
which model?  I stole a nameplate off of one about ten years ago; those
machines are a solid piece of super history.  Of course, in "Die Hard"
you get to see a whole floor of CDC machines, including an ETA-10, get
blown up _real_good_.

As far as "managing", I really don't want to say yet.  Any further
comments before it's in our machine room would be premature.  And the
people handing it over may very well not want us to disclose the source.
They've told us that there may be more machines in the future, as they're
decommissioned, and probably won't want the risk of people pestering them.

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Courtesy Bruce Lane (kyrrin(a)my-dejanews.com), who turned me on to the list:

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        Can someone please get in touch with this guy?
He asks a most
 interesting question. "Bill Mohler" &lt;bill(a)cs.oberlin.edu&gt;
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  Subject: Help: Paper tape reader to PC
   Any advice on how to attach a paper tape reader to an IBM compatible
 computer? How about making the PC emulate a tape reader? 
Anyone been in touch with this chap yet?  I expected someone to post
a mention of the interface in question.

ObClassicBit:  As they say, one of the jobs "on the things-to-do list" is
bringing up the front panel imsai with the asr-33 for the express purpose
of loading up a recently-acquired micro$oft 8K basis paper tape.  Just out
of curiosity, how rare is this software?  Anyone else on the list got it?
Anyone else want a copy if/when I get around to it?  Hey, Bill!  I'm 
a-leggin' yer code!  Come 'n' git me!

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"John R. Keys Jr." &lt;jrkeys(a)concentric.net&gt; pitched:

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  Another one that I really like is Stan Veit's
History of The Personal
 Computer it's a great reference source with photos so that you know what to
 look for. He writes a little history about each machine.  It's still only $3
 from the guy on ebay.  John 
This is WELL worth it.  I met Stan at his store in NYC back 79; very nice
chap.  His book is a good write from someone who was there.

On the other hand...

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  > Haddock's book is A Collector's Guide to
Personal Computers and Pocket
 > Calculators,
 > subtitled A Historical, Rarity, and Value Guide, by Dr. Thomas F. Haddock,
 > Books Americana, Florence, Alabama, 1993. ISBN 0-89689-098-8. 
is a REAL piece of shit.  This guy doesn't know anything, and the book
looks like it was assembled with a photocopier, a stack of old Byte 
magazines, and a rubber stamp that says "Value: $50-$75".

I picked up both of these books at the museum in Bozeman, Montana.  Listers
familiar with it?  Funny little place.

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