29 Sep
2007
29 Sep
'07
1:47 p.m.
In Stargate Atlantis, season 2 episode 19, I spotted the console
of an Etec Autoscan scanning electron microscope, identical to mine.
It appears on what I think is the bridge of the warship that McKay is
working to resurrect, a moment after "more fissures open" in the
volcano. Neat!
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL
Farewell Ophelia, 9/22/1991 - 7/25/2007
29 Sep
29 Sep
4:54 p.m.
Dave McGuire wrote:
In Stargate Atlantis, season 2 episode 19, I spotted the console of an
Etec Autoscan scanning electron microscope, identical to mine. It
appears on what I think is the bridge of the warship that McKay is
working to resurrect, a moment after "more fissures open" in the
volcano. Neat!
So how much of the scope do you have?
-Dave
Ben.
5:24 p.m.
On Sep 29, 2007, at 7:54 PM, woodelf wrote:
All if it. It was operational a few years ago at my old place,
but I haven't set it back up since I moved.
http://www.neurotica.com/albums/sem/
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL
Farewell Ophelia, 9/22/1991 - 7/25/2007
In Stargate
Atlantis, season 2 episode 19, I spotted the console
of an Etec Autoscan scanning electron microscope, identical to
mine. It appears on what I think is the bridge of the warship
that McKay is working to resurrect, a moment after "more fissures
open" in the volcano. Neat!
So how much of the scope do you have?
5:35 p.m.
Dave McGuire wrote:
All if it. It was operational a few years ago at my
old place, but I
haven't set it back up since I moved.
http://www.neurotica.com/albums/sem/
What is growing on the filaments?
-Dave
Ben.
5:36 p.m.
On Sep 29, 2007, at 8:35 PM, woodelf wrote:
I'm no chemist, but I assume they're some oxide of tungsten.
That's what happens when an incandescent light bulb blows out due to
loss of vacuum. Pretty amazing stuff, if you ask me.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL
Farewell Ophelia, 9/22/1991 - 7/25/2007
All if it.
It was operational a few years ago at my old place,
but I haven't set it back up since I moved.
http://www.neurotica.com/albums/sem/
What is growing on the filaments?
5:51 p.m.
On Sep 29, 2007, at 8:43 PM, woodelf wrote:
Yup. I was amazed...I scanned around that filament for many, many
hours. It was like exploring a jungle.
I'm no
chemist, but I assume they're some oxide of tungsten.
That's what happens when an incandescent light bulb blows out due
to loss of vacuum. Pretty amazing stuff, if you ask me.
Looks organic like some thing was realy growing. PS. Nice PDP 11.
Thanks! But...which one?
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL
Farewell Ophelia, 9/22/1991 - 7/25/2007
5:57 p.m.
Dave McGuire wrote:
On Sep 29, 2007, at 8:43 PM, woodelf wrote:
Yup. I was amazed...I scanned around that filament for many, many
hours. It was like exploring a jungle.
The 11/70 in the album. I'll get back to it now
that
found 'home' on your web site and I eat supper. Drools -- wishing there was a
for sale section.
I'm
no chemist, but I assume they're some oxide of tungsten.
That's what happens when an incandescent light bulb blows out due to
loss of vacuum. Pretty amazing stuff, if you ask me.
Looks organic like some thing was realy growing. PS. Nice PDP 11.
Thanks! But...which one? -Dave
6 p.m.
On Sep 29, 2007, at 8:57 PM, woodelf wrote:
Yup. I was amazed...I scanned
around that filament for many,
many hours. It was like exploring a jungle.
The 11/70 in the album.
Ahh yes, my "pride and joy". Thanks for noticing. :-)
I'm no
chemist, but I assume they're some oxide of tungsten.
That's what happens when an incandescent light bulb blows out
due to loss of vacuum. Pretty amazing stuff, if you ask me.
Looks organic like some thing was realy growing. PS. Nice PDP 11.
Thanks! But...which
one? I'll get back to it now that
found 'home' on your web site and I eat supper. Drools -- wishing
there was a
for sale section.
Heh...there may be if my country's middle class continues to die
out at the current rate. ;)
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL
Farewell Ophelia, 9/22/1991 - 7/25/2007
30 Sep
30 Sep
12:22 a.m.
New subject: CDP System question
I just got a bunch of diskettes in that were written about 1982/3
with a Columbia MS-DOS system (DOS 1.26). I know the 1600 was pretty
common back then as PC clones go, so no surprises there.
The diskettes are all 320K DSDD and contain a bunch of Perfect Writer
files, but one contains the actual Perfect Writer executables--and
they're not the x86 version, but the x80. All were written before
1986.
Here's my question. Did CDP ever include a program with their DOS
boxes to read files from the older 964 Z-80 CP/M systems?
I'm trying to put some chronology together on this. Curiously, the
guy who owns the diskettes never used PW on his x86 box. He can't
remember what came from where or how (Some folks are blessed that
way).
Thanks,
Chuck
29 Sep
29 Sep
7:55 p.m.
At 8:51 PM -0400 9/29/07, Dave McGuire wrote:
On Sep 29, 2007, at 8:43 PM, woodelf wrote:
Yup. I was amazed...I scanned around that filament for many, many
hours. It was like exploring a jungle.
I used to be part of a Micro-Mineral club, and each newsletter would
contain pictures of minerals made with an electron microscope. Some
pretty amazing stuff.
Zane
--
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator |
| healyzh at aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast |
| MONK::HEALYZH (DECnet) | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| PDP-10 Emulation and Zane's Computer Museum. |
| http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |
I'm
no chemist, but I assume they're some oxide of tungsten.
That's what happens when an incandescent light bulb blows out due
to loss of vacuum. Pretty amazing stuff, if you ask me.
Looks organic like some thing was realy growing.
7:58 p.m.
On Sep 29, 2007, at 10:55 PM, Zane H. Healy wrote:
Yup. I was amazed...I scanned around that filament for many,
many hours. It was like exploring a jungle.
I used to be part of a Micro-Mineral club, and each newsletter
would contain pictures of minerals made with an electron
microscope. Some pretty amazing stuff.
Yeah. I'd love to do more of that with mine; I'm midway through
the construction of my new lab (converted 3-car garage) which will
hopefully allow me to (among other things) resurrect my SEM. At that
point I plan to make it available for cool people to send me samples
and such; I've already had a few requests. I've completely run out
of money so the lab construction has stalled, but I hope to resolve
that soon.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL
Farewell Ophelia, 9/22/1991 - 7/25/2007
I'm no
chemist, but I assume they're some oxide of tungsten.
That's what happens when an incandescent light bulb blows out
due to loss of vacuum. Pretty amazing stuff, if you ask me.
Looks organic like some thing was realy growing. 
9:11 p.m.
New subject: Scanning electron microscope offer
At 09:58 PM 9/29/2007, Dave McGuire wrote:
Yeah. I'd love to do more of that with mine;
I'm midway through
the construction of my new lab (converted 3-car garage) which will
hopefully allow me to (among other things) resurrect my SEM.
If anyone wants a classic SEM, I have one I'd part with.
In summer 2001, I picked up a circa 1983 Amray 1610T SEM with
a PGT 4000 EDS (energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy unit) from
Northwestern University. It had been donated by Littelfuse out
of Des Plaines. It was still palletted and wrapped when I got it.
It was in purportedly working condition, but NWU never used it.
See the pictures at:
http://www.threedee.com/jmosn/microscopes/amray/index.html
I performed a few simple repairs to the unit: resetting the
chamber door hinges, resoldering a few broken connections,
and mapping the reconnection process, gathering docs.
I found the tech at Littelfuse who'd once known the unit, and
picked up a few more manuals and schematics from KLA Tencor and
a fellow in Germany.
I have floppies for the PGT, a half-dozen extra filaments,
a Leybold model D8A vacuum pump, and the vibration isolation
unit (a bucket filled with cement with a tube through it.)
The Amray is run by an 8085. It'll magnify down to about 50,000 x.
The PGT computer is a customized RT-11 running on a PPD-11/23.
It powers up but doesn't boot. Hitting the reset button does
trigger the floppy, but I'm not seeing anything on-screen.
It's heavy. The column base is 33"x33" and may weigh as much
as 1,200 pounds, but the real danger comes from it having a
high center of gravity.
The Amray console is wider and may weigh only 300 pounds. The PGT
is in a 19"-ish rack with a terminal on top.
A friend and I moved it all with a pallet jack and a flat-bed
truck. (He was sympathetic to crazy projects like this because
he does the same with Jaguars.) To get it in and out of my
garage, I used a bucket on a tractor. For the last few years,
it's been in heated storage at a friend's facility with a dock.
Sometime in-between now and then, I saw the same model Amray
and PGT sell for about $15,000 on LabX. Of course, the difference
between working and "sitting in storage for seven years" may be wide
and costly so don't think that I think it's worth that. SEM techs
get a nice penny per hour, per diem, and travel. I have no idea
what I'd take for it. If I get tired of it, I'm sure all that
quality stainless steel in the column will fetch a nice price
at the scrapper. :-)
I'm open to offers. I'm in Wisconsin between Madison and Milwaukee.
- John
6295
days inactive
6296
days old
12 comments
5 participants
participants (5)
-
bfranchuk＠jetnet.ab.ca -
cclist＠sydex.com -
healyzh＠aracnet.com -
jfoust＠threedee.com -
mcguire＠neurotica.com