6 Nov
2007
6 Nov
'07
10:02 p.m.
I have posted some VCFX photos at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Joy.Wayne/VintageComputerFestivalX
Labels to follow.
6 Nov
6 Nov
10:14 p.m.
Video, and a link for some more photos, here:
http://www.news.com/1606-2-6217243.html
-----Original Message-----
From: wayne.smith at charter.net [mailto:wayne.smith at charter.net]
Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2007 10:03 PM
To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
Cc: cctalk-request at classiccmp.org
Subject: VCFX Photos
I have posted some VCFX photos at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Joy.Wayne/VintageComputerFestivalX
Labels to follow.
10:34 p.m.
wayne.smith at charter.net wrote:
I have posted some VCFX photos at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Joy.Wayne/VintageComputerFestivalX
Labels to follow.
Just what is photo 8?
7 Nov
7 Nov
2:33 p.m.
woodelf wrote:
wayne.smith at charter.net wrote:
Just what is photo 8?
It appears to be an RCA COSMAC Microtutor, which by the looks of things is
broadly similar to the Popular Electronics "COSMAC Elf"...
--
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4:21 p.m.
woodelf wrote:
Philip Pemberton wrote:
The page describing the exhibits for vcf 10 explains it:
RCA 1800 MICROTUTOR
Larry Pezzolo (Palo Alto, CA, United States)
The MICROTUTOR preceded the COSMAC "ELF" computer which was very similar
in form and function. This one is a very early version that uses the
COSMAC 1801 microprocessor, the two chip predecessor to the 1802.
It appears to be an RCA COSMAC Microtutor, which
by the looks of
things is broadly similar to the Popular Electronics "COSMAC Elf"...
I
don't see the CPU. Is that on a plug in board?
10:32 p.m.
On Wed, 2007-11-07 at 15:21 -0600, Jim Battle wrote:
woodelf wrote:
I overheard the owner describing it to someone else. He said it was an
1801 CPU not an 1802 and is the same as the first CPU chip to fly into
space on an amateur radio "satellite."
Atsushi
Philip Pemberton wrote:
The page describing the exhibits for vcf 10 explains it:
RCA 1800 MICROTUTOR
Larry Pezzolo (Palo Alto, CA, United States)
The MICROTUTOR preceded the COSMAC "ELF" computer which was very similar
in form and function. This one is a very early version that uses the
COSMAC 1801 microprocessor, the two chip predecessor to the 1802. It appears to be an RCA COSMAC Microtutor, which
by the looks of
things is broadly similar to the Popular Electronics "COSMAC Elf"...
I
don't see the CPU. Is that on a plug in board?
11 Nov
11 Nov
3:54 p.m.
Here are my pics from VCF:
http://flickr.com/photos/chiclassiccomp/sets/72157603093681411/
Not much special there. Will have my video tour of the eshibit hall
up sometime this week, time permitting :)
--
jht
4:37 p.m.
Thanks for the links to the pics.
The awesome differential engine mechanical computer looks as if it has been made out of
(or atleast held together with) meccano. Am I right? I played with my dads meccano set
when I was a kid, but didn't really build much.
Regards,
Andrew B
aliensrcooluk at yahoo.co.uk
Jason T <silent700 at gmail.com> wrote: Here are my pics from VCF:
http://flickr.com/photos/chiclassiccomp/sets/72157603093681411/
Not much special there. Will have my video tour of the eshibit hall
up sometime this week, time permitting :)
--
jht
5:01 p.m.
On 11/11/07, Andrew Burton <aliensrcooluk at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
The awesome differential engine mechanical computer
looks as if it has been made out of (or atleast held together with) meccano. Am I right? I
played with my dads meccano set when I was a kid, but didn't really build much.
I had to look up "Meccano," but I think it is that or Erector
materials, which must have been quite similar. The oracle of Wiki
tells us that Meccano bought the Erector trademark around 1990, so I
guess they are the same thing now.
Ah, here's his page. Meccano it is:
http://meccano.us/differential_analyzers/robinson_da/index.html
5:58 p.m.
Jason T wrote:
On 11/11/07, Andrew Burton <aliensrcooluk at
yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
Hmm, I thought the company who had the rights had recently (within the last
year) folded, and so the future was uncertain. Maybe that was just the UK
distributors...
Back on topic...
I recently met up with some of the folks who run the Whipple Museum of the
History of Science, based at Cambridge uni (UK), and ended up spending an age
looking through some of their computing-related artifacts. Amongst the photos
was quite a pile of ones of a Meccano differential analyser built at the
university in the '30s and credited to John Lennard-Jones (under whom Maurice
Wilkes was a researcher).
All really fascinating stuff - not only because of the fact that it was built,
but because of the material used :-)
Didn't Manchester uni also have one built from Meccano? I think I've heard of
one before built there - not sure what year it was, though.
cheers
Jules
The awesome differential engine mechanical
computer looks as if it has
been made out of (or atleast held together with) meccano. Am I right? I
played with my dads meccano set when I was a kid, but didn't really build
much.
The oracle of Wiki tells us that Meccano bought the Erector trademark
around 1990, so I guess they are the same thing now. 
12 Nov
12 Nov
12:39 a.m.
Jules Richardson wrote:
Jason T wrote:
Go to the link Jason supplied and then go up a level to differntial analysers
In addition to the page for his own analyser, Tim Robinson has web pages there
about both the Manchester and Cambridge analysers. According to Tim the Cambridge
machine is in New Zealand and still exists.
(back to VCFX photos) .. love that picture of the LINC, too.
I haven't heard much comment on VCFX although the agenda looked like it was
going to be quite interesting. I was curious what might have been said at the
talk about the 4004 (thinking in part of the discussion here a couple of weeks ago).
On 11/11/07, Andrew Burton <aliensrcooluk at
yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
Hmm, I thought the company who had the rights had recently (within the last
year) folded, and so the future was uncertain. Maybe that was just the UK
distributors...
Back on topic...
I recently met up with some of the folks who run the Whipple Museum of the
History of Science, based at Cambridge uni (UK), and ended up spending an age
looking through some of their computing-related artifacts. Amongst the photos
was quite a pile of ones of a Meccano differential analyser built at the
university in the '30s and credited to John Lennard-Jones (under whom Maurice
Wilkes was a researcher).
All really fascinating stuff - not only because of the fact that it was built,
but because of the material used :-)
Didn't Manchester uni also have one built from Meccano? I think I've heard of
one before built there - not sure what year it was, though. The awesome differential engine mechanical
computer looks as if it has
been made out of (or atleast held together with) meccano. Am I right? I
played with my dads meccano set when I was a kid, but didn't really build
much.
The oracle of Wiki tells us that Meccano bought the Erector trademark
around 1990, so I guess they are the same thing now.
Ah, here's his page. Meccano it is:
http://meccano.us/differential_analyzers/robinson_da/index.html > 
2:28 a.m.
On Sun, 2007-11-11 at 22:39 -0700, Brent Hilpert wrote:
Go to the link Jason supplied and then go up a level
to differntial analysers
In addition to the page for his own analyser, Tim Robinson has web pages there
about both the Manchester and Cambridge analysers. According to Tim the Cambridge
machine is in New Zealand and still exists.
I've just visited the museum in Auckland that has it. I have some
photos on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=analyser&w=82189696%40N00
The first one is a new display at the museum of (part of) the analyser.
If you click on this photo you'll see that the adjacent photo is of a
360/40 which is part of the same display (with a 2314).
The other photos of the meccano machine were taken a few years ago as it
was being restored. There are also some photos of my 'toy' differential
analyser which I made while at highschool (I was inspired by the meccano
machine which had been on display in the '70s; the design was from
Scientific American.)
Background on the Cambridge machine:
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/tech/7627BB58BAFE998DCC257317001AA6D1
(I had hoped to get to VCFX on the way home, but thanks to BA cancelling
my outbound flight I didn't make it.)
--
Lawrence Wilkinson lawrence at ljw.me.uk
The IBM 360/30 page http://www.ljw.me.uk/ibm360
4:31 a.m.
Lawrence Wilkinson wrote:
On Sun, 2007-11-11 at 22:39 -0700, Brent Hilpert
wrote:
Is it at MOTAT? Unfortunately I never saw it when I was there - maybe it was
all in storage then :( Certainly looks like the one in the period photos that
I was looking at, anyway.
There was some correspondence along with the photos at the Whipple museum - it
didn't say that the machine had survived, but as I recall the photo collection
*did* come from someone in Australia (I'm 99% certain it was shipped from
Australia, not NZ). As they museum had the photos for a few years now, it
seems to all tie up (there's a fair bit of moving back and forth between NZ
and Australia, after all)
Go to the link Jason supplied and then go up a
level to differntial analysers
In addition to the page for his own analyser, Tim Robinson has web pages there
about both the Manchester and Cambridge analysers. According to Tim the Cambridge
machine is in New Zealand and still exists.
I've just visited the museum in Auckland that has it. The other photos of the meccano machine were taken a
few years ago as it
was being restored.
That'll be why I didn't see it then (assuming it is MOTAT). Shame. Their
Strowger exchange was darn impressive though (and I spent ages staring into
the mercury arc rectifier which was part of their tram system :-)
Still, it's an excuse to go back again... :-)
cheers
Jules
4:47 a.m.
Is it at MOTAT? Unfortunately I never saw it when I
was there - maybe it
was all in storage then :( Certainly looks like the one in the period
photos that I was looking at, anyway.
It is at MOTAT. I saw it a couple of weeks ago, as part of the computer
collection there. The display was a bit chaotic, but definitely still very
interesting. There's an IBM mainframe (which can be fiddled with, though
it's not running), lots of micros etc. Apples, IBMs, DECs, Commodores. Video
presentations, too. I would have liked to spend longer there, but I was with
people who weren't particularly interested, so...
One thing though - from the website (www.motat.org.nz) : " Entry to
'Machines That Count - From Abacus to Internet' comes as part of your MOTAT
admission fee. Exhibition open until early 2008." So, if anyone wants to
see it, they'll have to do it soon. I don't think the collection actually
belongs to the museum, so it's probably a once-only thing.
That'll be why I didn't see it then (assuming
it is MOTAT). Shame. Their
Strowger exchange was darn impressive though (and I spent ages staring
into the mercury arc rectifier which was part of their tram system :-)
Still, it's an excuse to go back again... :-)
The whole place is definitely worthwhile really, for anyone interested in
old technology. The vintage computer collection is fascinating, but there's
a lot more to see as well, if you need to justify it! If anyone wants to go,
let me know, I'll tag along (living ten minutes away from it, I might as
well).
Mike.
10:12 a.m.
From: hilpert at cs.ubc.ca
---snip---
I haven't heard much comment on VCFX although the agenda looked like it was
going to be quite interesting. I was curious what might have been said at the
talk about the 4004 (thinking in part of the discussion here a couple of weeks ago).
Hi
I was there for Tim's talk on the 4004. I'd heard most of it before.
Tim has recreated a 4004 from original pictures of the die and films
from Intel. The recreation is all from descrete
transistors.
Of course it is much bigger.
When they made the chip, it was all layed out by hand. The mylar
film sheets the got from Intel had errors on them and were not the
final mask used to create the chips.
The choise of a 16 pin part was because that was what was being
used for RAMs at Intel. It was done as a cost saving.
Sellam had a Busicom machine to show. It was relabled as a
Unicom or something like that. He'd picked it up at a thrift shop
for $5 and had let it sit in his storage for several years. When
he eventually opened it up, he realized that it was a busicom
with the original 4004 design. Quite a find.
Dwight
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7 Nov
7 Nov
4:30 p.m.
On Wed, Nov 07, 2007 at 01:41:39PM -0700, woodelf wrote:
Philip Pemberton wrote:
Yes, I believe so, as is the RAM.
-ethan
--
Ethan Dicks, A-333-S Current South Pole Weather at 7-Nov-2007 at 21:20 Z
South Pole Station
PSC 468 Box 400 Temp -54.8 F (-48.2 C) Windchill -79.1 F (-61.7 C)
APO AP 96598 Wind 6.1 kts Grid 325 Barometer 685.7 mb (10414 ft)
Ethan.Dicks at usap.gov http://penguincentral.com/penguincentral.html
It appears to be an RCA COSMAC Microtutor, which
by the looks of things
is broadly similar to the Popular Electronics "COSMAC Elf"...
I don't
see the CPU. Is that on a plug in board?
4:16 p.m.
On Wed, Nov 07, 2007 at 07:33:46PM +0000, Philip Pemberton wrote:
woodelf wrote:
Yes... it's the RCA-badged version. One of the cards for it that I've
seen pictures of is a 256 byte memory card (dual 1822/5101). The slots
are marked "E", "P", and "M" - I'm guessing that stands
for Expansion,
Processor, and Memory, since there is no CPU nor RAM on that board.
At least it uses widely-available 22/44-pin 0.154" cards (the same
style the VIC-20 uses)... so if one had just the COSMAC Microtutor
board, it wouldn't be hard to wire up a CPU card and a RAM card.
I have lots of 1802 gear, but I've only seen that one in pictures.
-ethan
--
Ethan Dicks, A-333-S Current South Pole Weather at 7-Nov-2007 at 21:00 Z
South Pole Station
PSC 468 Box 400 Temp -54.9 F (-48.3 C) Windchill -68.1 F (-55.6 C)
APO AP 96598 Wind 2.4 kts Grid 310 Barometer 685.7 mb (10414 ft)
Ethan.Dicks at usap.gov http://penguincentral.com/penguincentral.html
wayne.smith at charter.net wrote:
Just what is photo 8?
It appears to be an RCA COSMAC Microtutor, which by the looks of things
is broadly similar to the Popular Electronics "COSMAC Elf"... 
6 Nov
6 Nov
11:52 p.m.
Hi,
I have posted some VCFX photos at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Joy.Wayne/VintageComputerFestivalX
Some nice photos there, thanks.
TTFN - Pete.
7 Nov
7 Nov
2:37 p.m.
On 7/11/07 04:52, "Ensor" <classiccmp at memory-alpha.org.uk> wrote:
Hi,
Yep, I just looked at that Conbrio keyboard and said "want one!"
:)
--
Adrian/Witchy
Binary Dinosaurs creator/curator
Www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the UK's biggest private home computer
collection?
I have posted some VCFX photos at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Joy.Wayne/VintageComputerFestivalX
Some nice photos there, thanks.
6098
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aliensrcooluk＠yahoo.co.uk -
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