19 Mar
2002
19 Mar
'02
10:43 a.m.
As requested, I have posted a picture of my recently aquired TI980B at...
http://penguincentral.com/retrocomputing/pix/ti980b/02cj003a.jpg
I am still in the cleaning/checkout phase. I have not applied power to
it yet.
I need to get a better digital camera. Right now, I'm using an Apple
QuickTake 150, but I don't have the close-up lens. It would cost new
from Apple about 50% of what I paid for the camera,
PSU, external
battery pack and download cable. :-( As it is, I've taken
hundreds
of excellent outdoor shots with it. It's awful for indoor photos
where detail is important. I think its default minimum focal length
is about 24" and the flash is so bright it causes spots on reflective
surfaces (the closeup lens also has a flash diffuser).
I might try to rig up a 2' string and a flash diffuser to at least not
take pictures that will be clearly outside the boundaries of the camera's
physical limitations, but even so, I still need a new camera. My current
favorite is a Kodak DC290. The only thing I've seen with as much manual
control that's newer is the DC4800. Comparing them side-by-side, I
still think I want the DC290. Even got a fistful of 16MB CF cards to
go in it!
As for the TI 980B, with the exception of the very scary, undocumented,
rack-mounted 2-square-feet of prototyping board that was cabled into
the DMA slot, it looks very clean. I have no idea what this peripheal
was supposed to do, and since it was stored at a high-school electronics
shop (which is being cleaned out this year which is how I got the TI
in the first place), it's covered in bent pins and broken wires. I also
know there are several missing chips (they came in the bottom of the
box - some jumper blocks with jumper resistors and a few 74181s, at least).
I doubt I'll ever be able to discern what this homemade peripheral ever
did, so I expect to photograph it and recycle the chips into other
classic machines (there's some Motorola RTL chips on there! Perfect
for my attempts to replicate a DEC W706/W707 if I ever get that far).
If I can get my camera happy making closeups, I'll see about adding some
pictures of the CPU and memory boards to the pic of the front panel.
-ethan
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19 Mar
19 Mar
3:59 p.m.
New subject: TI 980A picture (was Re: TI 980B picture)
--- Ethan Dicks <erd_6502(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
As requested, I have posted a picture of my recently aquired TI980B at...
http://penguincentral.com/retrocomputing/pix/ti980b/02cj003a.jpg
Oops! It appears I can't read (up too late last night/this morning). It
is a TI980*A* as can be seen on the right side of the picture. It's now
at
http://penguincentral.com/retrocomputing/pix/ti980a/02cj003a.jpg
-ethan
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20 Mar
20 Mar
4:49 a.m.
Ethan Dicks wrote:
As for the TI 980B, with the exception of the very
scary, undocumented,
rack-mounted 2-square-feet of prototyping board that was cabled into
the DMA slot, it looks very clean. I have no idea what this peripheal
was supposed to do, and since it was stored at a high-school electronics
shop (which is being cleaned out this year which is how I got the TI
in the first place), it's covered in bent pins and broken wires. I also
know there are several missing chips (they came in the bottom of the
box - some jumper blocks with jumper resistors and a few 74181s, at least).
I doubt I'll ever be able to discern what this homemade peripheral ever
did, so I expect to photograph it and recycle the chips into other
classic machines (there's some Motorola RTL chips on there! Perfect
for my attempts to replicate a DEC W706/W707 if I ever get that far).
If I can get my camera happy making closeups, I'll see about adding some
pictures of the CPU and memory boards to the pic of the front panel.
You've got me curious now. A comprehensive set of shots are definitely
in order. I'm also getting a heavy vibe that you shouldn't go plundering
the board without determining what it does, who built it, and why,
first. Just a feeling that whoever built it may be wondering what became
of it and might be willing to underwrite a lot of component purchases in
order to reacquire it.
It's always a possibility with a one-off or prototype like this. Dunno
why I'm getting such a strong feeling in this case, but I am. Maybe I'm
wrong, but I wouldn't go stripping that board just yet, if it were me.
Thanks for the update and the pic.
jbdigriz
5:07 a.m.
James B. DiGriz wrote:
It's always a possibility with a one-off or
prototype like this. Dunno
why I'm getting such a strong feeling in this case, but I am. Maybe I'm
wrong, but I wouldn't go stripping that board just yet, if it were me.
Dammit, that should have been private. Didn't want to put you on the
spot, Ethan. Sorry.
jbdigriz
6:18 a.m.
New subject: Handmade TI980A peripheral (was Re: TI 980B picture)
--- "James B. DiGriz" <jbdigriz(a)dragonsweb.org> wrote:
Ethan Dicks wrote:
> As for the TI 980B, with the exception of the
very scary, undocumented,
> rack-mounted 2-square-feet of prototyping board that was cabled into
> the DMA slot, it looks very clean. I have no idea what this peripheal
> was supposed to do.... it's covered in bent pins and broken wires...
> ...several missing chips
You've got me curious now. A comprehensive set of
shots are definitely
in order. I'm also getting a heavy vibe that you shouldn't go plundering
the board without determining what it does, who built it, and why,
first. Just a feeling that whoever built it may be wondering what became
of it and might be willing to underwrite a lot of component purchases in
order to reacquire it.
I have no solid knowledge of where this came from, but from the
construction
techniques, it's a prototype, not a custom-engineered one-off. The
connectors are sawed in half for the (original equipment) I/O card,
and the DMA connector cable adapter is a sawed-up extender card from a
different bus with stripped ribbon cable ends soldered to the traces
(several of which have seperated due to poor technique). I have at least
three components which have fallen out and several broken wires, making
a full schematic impossible. It might be able to document enough to deduce
what it does, but not precisely how it does it.
The 980 was used as a process controller, AFAIK. This is probably some
custom interface to some data collection equipment and perhaps some
actuators for use in the school electronics lab. I doubt this came out
of TI, given how it's put together.
It's always a possibility with a one-off or
prototype like this. Dunno
why I'm getting such a strong feeling in this case, but I am. Maybe I'm
wrong, but I wouldn't go stripping that board just yet, if it were me.
I'm not doing anything right away. In any case, I wouldn't pull (more)
chips without a map. The only reason why I'd consider stripping it is
because the chips are c. 1969-1975 and the perfect thing for fixing
PDP-8s, etc. 7474s, not 74LS74s (not that most stuff is critical,
but it's nice to have contemporary replacements). The guy who gave me
the 980 in the first place has no interest in any RTL chips he finds.
He wants to keep the TTL for his students, but I may try to buy him
tubes of modern chips and trade him for the older ones. We'll have to
see. He at least promised me the RTL.
-ethan
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10:57 a.m.
New subject: Handmade TI980A peripheral (was Re: TI 980B picture)
Ethan Dicks wrote:
I have no solid knowledge of where this came from, but
from the
construction
techniques, it's a prototype, not a custom-engineered one-off. The
connectors are sawed in half for the (original equipment) I/O card,
and the DMA connector cable adapter is a sawed-up extender card from a
different bus with stripped ribbon cable ends soldered to the traces
(several of which have seperated due to poor technique). I have at least
three components which have fallen out and several broken wires, making
a full schematic impossible. It might be able to document enough to deduce
what it does, but not precisely how it does it.
The 980 was used as a process controller, AFAIK. This is probably some
custom interface to some data collection equipment and perhaps some
actuators for use in the school electronics lab. I doubt this came out
of TI, given how it's put together.
It wouldn't have to be TI, and my brother-in-law the electronics tech
would tell you that if that if the workmanship leaves something to be
desired, that's a sure sign of a college-boy engineer :-) (Or maybe a
pinch-hitting academic generalist? Nah.) So they might not leap forward
to take credit at this point, but that hardly means the design is
without merit.
I appreciate your position. It's not the parts themselves that matter as
much as the design in any case. A good, clear set of photos with
sufficient detail and resolution (ie. you can read part numbers) should
suffice to ward off entropy. Plus you are putting the components to good
use.
jbdigriz
8161
days inactive
8162
days old
5 comments
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erd_6502＠yahoo.com -
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