26 Sep
1997
26 Sep
'97
6:14 p.m.
Found this on alt.folklore.computers
We have a working (or at least it was) Nicolet 290 computer. that
need to vacate the room its been taking up for the last 20+ years.
This system is rigged up as a test bench for an MRI system (that's
all still there too) and we have all the manuals, disk packs, paper
tape programs, banks of core memory etc etc.. I plan to do a small
inventory of the parts and pieces but if I don't find it a home soon
it'll get smashed up.
Does anyone know anything about these computers? I have no idea what
else they may have been used for or how rare this thing is. Anything
anyone knows about it could be helpful towards finding it a proper
home. BTW.. Size wise you're looking at a large console with a plotter
built in and a short 19 inch rack plus many boxes of disk packs
(Diablo) and manuals.
Ken Montgomery
CSU Sacramento
kenm(a)csus.edu (Ken Montgomery)
I've never heard of a Nicolet 290... What is it?
Ken Harbit
krh03(a)cvip.fresno.com
27 Sep
27 Sep
9:15 p.m.
New subject: help with DG Nova 3
Being inspired by the likes of Carl Friend, Tim Shoppa, and others,
Friday I joined "Club Nova". I now have a DG Nova 3 (CS/40). I will
not say that it was a pleasure to move since the rack was full and
weighed about 400 pounds (the other stuff was about 200 pounds)*. (In
retrospect removing parts from the rack would have made it much easier.)
A Brother-in-law with a truck is a gift from heaven.
The machine is big, beautiful, and mine.
I have not taken a complete inventory, but I know that the haul included:
a disk unit which has a fixed disk and removable disk packs (CDC I think)
about 10 packs
a tape unit (Cipher 1600bpi) (with about 10 tapes),
a printer,
a terminal,
20 or so pieces of of documentation (mostly COBOL related)
a small box of cables
a few "extra" boards.
(I'll try to put together a more exact list.)
Unfortunately, while there are some sales and technical documents none of
them cover the Nova 3**. There is a good deal of microNova technical
and sales literature. The guy also had a microNova at some time in the
past, I wonder if whoever has it now also has all of the Nova 3 docs.
The machine has been sitting for the last 7 years and has not been
powered up in that time, but (everyone sing along) it was working the
last time it was run.
Now for the questions:
Does anyone have hardware (or any) documents on the Nova 3?
What is the best way to the machine running again? I am a software guy,
but I have a cheezy Radio Shack multimeter and know which end of a
soldering iron is hot.
Which parts are most likely to fail after sitting unused for long periods.
Which parts are likely to get me killed our injured if I am not careful?
Basically this is my first exposure to minis so everything will be
and adventure. Any advice or information is welcome.
Thanks,
--pec
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Saved From The Dumpster Collection: http://www.crl.com/~pcoad/machines.html
Moving soon to a new location.
*Things always weigh more than what people estimate, usually by 100%.
Sellers always guess low and buyers always guess high.
**Anyone notice that in many sales literature pictures for minis there
are:
1-2 people sitting at terminals (usually smiling)
1 man in a suit looking at a piece of paper (usually fan-fold)
1 woman also looking at the paper
I've seen this in both DEC and DG stuff.
28 Sep
28 Sep
4:30 a.m.
New subject: help with DG Nova 3
Paul E Coad wrote:
Being inspired by the likes of Carl Friend, Tim
Shoppa, and others,
Friday I joined "Club Nova". I now have a DG Nova 3 (CS/40). I will
Which parts are most likely to fail after sitting
unused for long periods.
While *I* have never seen it happen, friends have told me that the
electrolytic capacitors in the power supply can cause problems if they have
been sitting for long periods of time. Some of them have put a variac on
the unit and brought the voltage up slowly over a period of ???? but I seem
to recall it was at least hours. Someone else on the list might have more
info there.
4:40 a.m.
New subject: Copy II Option Board
I seem to recall someone looking for the Copy II Option Board. There is one
for sale on ebay at:
http://komodo.ebay2.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=614310
30 Sep
30 Sep
8:41 p.m.
New subject: CC> Who's on the list?
Hi,
Is it possible to find out if someone is still subscribed to the list
other than sending a message to them through the list? What I really
want to know is: is there a way to get a list of the subscribers
from the listproc?
Thanks,
--pec
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Antique Computer Collection: http://www.wco.com/~pcoad/machines.html
New location, new name, same old stuff!
28 Sep
28 Sep
5:19 a.m.
New subject: IC Chips
After the discussion about older chips, I kept my eyes open at TRW for
things that might be interesting. I found a couple multi-bus stuff circa
1979 that looked interesting. The first is a Microcomputer Systems 16K RAM
board with some MM5271D Ram chips of some sort (1K x 1?). The second is a
Datacube SMK INc RM 117, 16K Dual Port Memory card with 88114E memory chips.
I also found a Motorola microsystems MC68000 Educational Computer (board)
Copyright 1981 that appears to be complete except for all the missing chips
:). Anyone have any info on this?
9:58 a.m.
New subject: help with DG Nova 3
While *I* have never seen it happen, friends have told
me that the
electrolytic capacitors in the power supply can cause problems if they have
been sitting for long periods of time. Some of them have put a variac on
the unit and brought the voltage up slowly over a period of ???? but I seem
to recall it was at least hours. Someone else on the list might have more
info there.
Yes, please remove the supplies from the load (the boards, etc.), and
replace it with a suitable BIG power resistor to simulate a proper load
(also known as a dummy load). If you do not have a variable transformer
(Variac or otherwise), go ahead and turn the thing on - the Nova is not
that ancient, so the caps probably have not degraded much. If you do have
a transformer, ramp up the voltage from 0 over ten minutes or so. It
really only needs it once.
For truely ancient capacitors (no use for 15-20 years), it is probably
best to ramp it up over a half hour or so thru a 240 v light bulb (current
limitter). Most of use, however, never run into computer stuff that needs
this extreme treatment - some radio stuff, however, does.
William Donzelli
william(a)ans.net
9943
days inactive
9947
days old
6 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
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