Newbie's got a dead 386 - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

17 Nov 1998

-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Duell &lt;ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk&gt;
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
&lt;classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu&gt;
Date: Wednesday, 18 November 1998 14:02
Subject: Re: Newbie's got a dead 386

...
 > >Or, of course, 'Failed UniBus Address
Register' :-) 

...
 Rumour has that the designers were getting back at the
marketroids for
preventing the sign-extend mnemonic on the PDP11 being SEX.... 

I wouldn't be surprised....

...
 Yep, sure, but I tend to keep such words for when
they're needed - like
when I've dropped a PDP11 on my foot, or an EHT supply has decided that
my fingertip makes a handy ground point ;-) 
For PDP11 read RA81, same story.   I had steelcapped boots on which saved
 my toes from being crushed, nice bruise on the instep though.

Have been bitten by eht in tv's a few times as well.
Got caught between an antenna cable with a grounded shield and a "hot"
chassis tv set once too.  Effect is about half mains voltage.
Bearing in mind that our mains is 240vac, it lights you up pretty well.
footnote: My then boss had "borrowed" the isolation transformer it was
plugged in to while I was working on it, without telling me. (!)
I was very unimpressed and made some fairly strong remarks about
his parenthood, sexual habits, intellectual capacity and the likely
consequences of
any similar occurrence in the future.   Only sweetener was when I fell over
(yes it was that
big a hit) I pulled the set off the bench and busted the tube, so he had to
buy the customer
another one.

Cheers

Geoff Roberts
Computer Systems Manager
Saint Marks College
Port Pirie  South Australia.
My ICQ# is 1970476
Ph. 61-411-623-978 (Mobile)
      61-8-8633-0619 (Home)
      61-8-8633-8834 (Work-Direct)
      61-8-8633-0104 (Fax)