25 May
2000
25 May
'00
3:13 a.m.
**************
I'm sending this again because my first attempt went to
classiccmp-classiccmp-org(a)jade.tseinc.com and was rejected.
If you are receiving a second copy of this,ignore it.
**************
Joe <rigdonj(a)intellistar.net> wrote:
I found this in a pile of surplus computers
yesterday. Can anyone tell
me what it is? It looks like an ordinary external 5 1/4" drive box but on
the back of the box it has a DB-25M connector marked "MODEM/CPU" and a
DB-25F connector marked "TERMINAL". There's also a rotary switch labeled
"RATE" with positions marked "10", "30", "120",
"240", "480", 960" and
"EXT". Then there's a toggle switch with positions marked "BIN CTRL
ON"
"ODD" and "EVEN". And another toggle switch with positons marked
"FULL" and
"HALF". It has a socket for a standard AC line cord. It's made by Techtran
Industries of Rochester, N.Y. and it's a model 950A. My guess is that it's
a disk drive that's made to go between a terminal and it's MODEM or
computer but I've never heard of one before. If that's what it is, then
how do you give it coomands?
Joe,
I don't think this is one of those file-system/data logger type
drives,I have one of those and it has a keypad on the front of the
drive you use to open a disk file before dumping serial data to it
and to close the file when you're done.
Instead, I think you have a CP/M computer. It sounds alot like
my PMC 101 "MicroMate".
http://www.best.com/~dcoward/ebay/micromat.jpg
The MicroMate is about the same size as and looks like a TRS-80
Model 1 disk drive. On the back it has DB-25s for "Terminal" and
"Modem". It weights only 10 pounds but when you open the case
there is a DSDD 400K floppy drive, a power supply and a board
that runs the length of the case, which is a 128K 4Mhz Z80A based
CP/M computer. If this is the "case" - you'll need a boot disk.
What is inside this box of yours?
--Doug
====================================================
Doug Coward dcoward(a)pressstart.com (work)
Sr. Software Eng. mranalog(a)home.com (home)
Press Start Inc. http://www.pressstart.com
Sunnyvale,CA
Curator
Analog Computer Museum and History Center
http://www.best.com/~dcoward/analog
====================================================
25 May
25 May
8:28 a.m.
At 08:13 AM 5/25/00 -0700, Doug wrote:
**************
I'm sending this again because my first attempt went to
classiccmp-classiccmp-org(a)jade.tseinc.com and was rejected.
If you are receiving a second copy of this,ignore it.
**************
Joe <rigdonj(a)intellistar.net> wrote:
Doug,
I think Tony is right about it beins some kind of buffer box. I wish it
was some kind of small computer! There are a couple more where I found this
one. I opened it this morning and it has has a 8085AH CPU in it along with
a 8212 IC (8 bit latch) and two 8156 ICs (8 x 256 bit SRAM with timer and
I/O ports) in it along with a lot of SSI TTL chips. All the ICs seem to be
dated 1979 and 1982. There's also a linear power supply in it and it has a
Tandon model 100A1 single sided floppy drive in it. There's no keypad on
the front but it does have three LEDs marked "READ", "WRITE" and
"READY"
and a toggle switch with postions marked "BINARY", "ON-LINE" and
"OFF". I
found an original disk for it and installed it and powered it up and the
READ and WRITE LEDs flash a few times then go out and the READY LED comes
on and stays on. I tried the same thing with another disk and the READ and
WRIE LEDs flash a few time but then the READ, WRITE and READY LEDs all
start flasking in turn so it knows that it's not the proper disk. I tried
to find a file system on the original disk but I haven't found one yet.
I'll post some pictures as soon as I can. Perhaps someone will recognize
it. If it is just a buffer, I may see if someone wants it for a small
computer box or for an external drive for an old computer. It's in a good
stout steel case and has a good power supply and a fan with filter in it.
What was your MicroMate made for? It seems kind of limited with so few
ports.
Joe
I found this in a pile of surplus computers
yesterday. Can anyone tell
me what it is? It looks like an ordinary external 5 1/4" drive box but on
the back of the box it has a DB-25M connector marked "MODEM/CPU" and a
DB-25F connector marked "TERMINAL". There's also a rotary switch labeled
"RATE" with positions marked "10", "30", "120",
"240", "480", 960" and
"EXT". Then there's a toggle switch with positions marked "BIN CTRL
ON"
"ODD" and "EVEN". And another toggle switch with positons marked
"FULL" and
"HALF". It has a socket for a standard AC line cord. It's made by Techtran
Industries of Rochester, N.Y. and it's a model 950A. My guess is that it's
a disk drive that's made to go between a terminal and it's MODEM or
computer but I've never heard of one before. If that's what it is, then
how do you give it coomands?
Joe,
I don't think this is one of those file-system/data logger type
drives,I have one of those and it has a keypad on the front of the
drive you use to open a disk file before dumping serial data to it
and to close the file when you're done.
Instead, I think you have a CP/M computer. It sounds alot like
my PMC 101 "MicroMate".
http://www.best.com/~dcoward/ebay/micromat.jpg
The MicroMate is about the same size as and looks like a TRS-80
Model 1 disk drive. On the back it has DB-25s for "Terminal" and
"Modem". It weights only 10 pounds but when you open the case
there is a DSDD 400K floppy drive, a power supply and a board
that runs the length of the case, which is a 128K 4Mhz Z80A based
CP/M computer. If this is the "case" - you'll need a boot disk.
What is inside this box of yours?
--Doug 
10:41 a.m.
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3:50 p.m.
At 11:41 PM 5/25/00 +0100, Tony wrote:
Ok OK.
Yes.
There must be something for it to execute
I think
Tony is right about it beins some kind of buffer box. I wish it
was some kind of small computer! There are a couple more where I found this
Well, technically, it is a computer (it's got a microprocessor in it),
but it may well not be user-programmable :-(. one. I opened it this morning and it has has a
8085AH CPU in it along with
a 8212 IC (8 bit latch) and two 8156 ICs (8 x 256 bit SRAM with timer and
I/O ports) in it along with a lot of SSI TTL chips. All the ICs seem to be
Two things which you don't mention...
Firstly, any kind of ROM/EPROM. on power-on. Is there an EPROM in there? If there is,
and you can make a
dump of it, then it's worth running strings(1) (a unix program that finds
text strings in a binary file) (or a similar program under another OS).
Sometimes you'll find what's clearly a list of commands or something in
the EPROM.
I've thoguht of that. I'll do it if I get the time. One of the list
members thinks he may have a manual for it. I'll see what he finds first.
Secondly, you don't mention any kind of disk controller chip. From which
I conclude it doesn't use one. This almost certainly means that the
format is non-standard, and probably something that no other machine
could read or write. It might be hard-sectored (look at the original
disk).
No, the disk is sided sided, double density and soft sectored. There's no
disk controller IC in it.
It might read/write a track at a time. It might even put
_asynchronous_ data (from some kind of UART) onto the
disk -- I've seen
that done once or twice!
How can you check for that? Other than monitoring with a scope while
it's in operation. Is there any way to check the disk and tell?
Joe
-tony
26 May
26 May
6:20 a.m.
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25 May
25 May
11:43 a.m.
Joe <rigdonj(a)intellistar.net> wrote:
> I found this in a pile of surplus computers yesterday. Can anyone tell
> me what it is?
<big snip>
I posted some pictures of the box. They're at
"www.intellistar.net\~rigdonj\strange\front.jpg",
"www.intellistar.net\~rigdonj\strange\back.jpg",
"www.intellistar.net\~rigdonj\strange\drive.jpg", and
"www.intellistar.net\~rigdonj\strange\logic-bd.jpg".
Joe
8927
days inactive
8928
days old
5 comments
3 participants
participants (3)
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ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
mranalog＠home.com -
rigdonj＠intellistar.net