16 Apr
2005
16 Apr
'05
9:37 p.m.
I went to the Trenton Computer Fest today. I didn't get over to the MARCH
table, sorry. I did see John Allain however, but down the end of a row,
and by the time I got down there to say hi, I lost track of him.
Back to the point. I picked up a pair of NeXT slabs for $2 each. I think
even Sellam would agree that is a good price ;-)
One is a Turbo the other is a Color. No idea yet was is in them other
than visually, there is a floppy drive and a hard drive. I've never
played with a NeXT, and at that price, I wasn't going to ask many
questions.
The Turbo has a DA-15 connector that looks like a Mac RGB connector. Is
it compatible with Mac monitors? The Color has a connector that I don't
know what it is called, but looks like a Sun monitor connector. Is it
compatible with those monitors? I'm crossing my fingers for a yes on both
counts since I have both available to me already.
And to verify, the keyboard/mouse uses ADB correct? These slabs were just
the computer, nothing else. (although I did find a guy that had a NeXT
mouse, but he was holding it to sell with his MacTV and wouldn't part
with it. I considered getting the MacTV, but since I got one from John a
while back, I decided against spending the $50 since it didn't have any
docs, software, cables, keyboard, remote, or the correct mouse).
The only other thing I picked up that might be of interest to this group
is some kind of video conferencing terminal. I don't know anything about
it at all yet, I wasn't actually interested in it, but the guy said if I
took it away right then, I could have it for free, so I took it simply
because it looked cool.
Over all, I was a little disappointed this year in the items available.
It is only the 2nd time I've gone, the first was two years ago, and I
remembered there being far more vendors with a better selection. This
year was a bunch of so-so priced used PCs, TONS of old laptops, and some
over priced used Macs. I was surprised I couldn't find a decent deal on a
rack mount PC server, or much in the way of RJ-45 patch panels (I needed
two 72 port ones, I was able to find two 48 port ones at an ok price, and
that was about it). Its possible that some of the vendors just weren't
there yet or fully unpacked, I was there from about 10 am to 12:30. I
also didn't go indoors anywhere, so I may have missed a bunch of other
dealers (I had limited time today as I had to be back home by 2, and it
takes about 1.5 hours on the drive).
Anyone else get anything of interest? Oh, and Hi John, since I didn't get
to say it to you today. :-)
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
17 Apr
17 Apr
5:23 a.m.
I just got back from the TCF and boy are my arms tired.
Hi Chris, I wasn't trying to avoid you at all, sorry I didn't see you.
The MARCH group was definitely worth the visit. I went there
first off in the day and I wasn't disappointed. They got a lot into
the small room (Full rack PDP-8 with three different mass storage
devices!). Dave.G and Bill.S are definitely pro's on the show&go
circuit. I went to the flea right after, and kinda got lost there as you
saw, I guess.
I'll post more later, I'm a little toasted right now.
My regrets? Showing up a little late (not first thing in the morning),
and trying to get back to see the MARCH group *after* they had
secured the building (5:20pm). Otherwise a worthwhile 14 hour day.
Anyone else get anything of interest?
I should
mention that there'll be a guy there today practically giving away
HP 2U servers. Later...
John A.
1:54 p.m.
On Apr 16, 2005, at 9:37 PM, chris wrote:
The Turbo has a DA-15 connector that looks like a Mac
RGB connector. Is
it compatible with Mac monitors?
The DA15 is for DSP I/O. The monitor port is a DF19; you must use the
monochrome NeXT MegaPixel monitor (N4000, N4000A, N4000B) on this
machine. All the human interface logic is in the monitor; it's where
the keyboard plugs in.
The Color has a connector that I don't know what
it is called, but
looks like a Sun monitor connector. Is it
compatible with those monitors? I'm crossing my fingers for a yes on
both
counts since I have both available to me already.
You're in a little better shape with the Color. You need the SoundBox,
which houses the HCI logic that would normally be in the monochrome
monitor, and Y-cable which splits out the video and HCI signals, and
connects them to the appropriate device. Once you have that, you can
use any number of multiscanning monitors with it. The original
specification on the NeXT Megapixel 17" color monitor is 1120x832 @
68Hz (the turbo does 72Hz) with composite sync on green.
A Sun monitor isn't likely to work on any NeXTstation because of the
sync-on-green thing; an SGI monitor is likely to work instead.
The connector is a DB13W3.
And to verify, the keyboard/mouse uses ADB correct?
These slabs were
just
the computer, nothing else.
SOME NeXT machines can use ADB. You need a NeXT with ROM revision v.74
minimum, as well as either the N4000B monochrome monitor or the ADB
SoundBox (s/n ADD.....), as well as the ADB monitor cable (part numbers
4534 or 4535) or an ADB soundbox cable (part number 4536). The ADB
cables can be used with a non-ADB system as well; the reverse is not
true.
I do not know if the power key on a Macintosh ADB keyboard can be used
to power on a NeXT, which may mean you would have no way to turn the
machine on or off without a NeXT keyboard, ADB or no. None of my NeXTs
support ADB, so I can't try it.
The NeXT ADB parts are visually distinct from the non-ADB parts; the
ADB keyboard has round 'chicklet' type keys for the
power/volume/brightness buttons , whereas the non-ADB parts have
regular keytops. Additionally, the power key on the ADB keyboard is
solid in color and bright green whereas the power key on the non-ADB
keyboard is black with green legending. The ADB mouse is known as "the
batarang", as it is round with trapezoidal buttons flaring dramatically
out the top. It is quite obviously different from the traditional
rectangular slab that is the non-ADB mouse.
Hope this helps.
ok
bear
5:42 p.m.
Round 2...
Over all, I was a little disappointed this year in the
items available.
It is only the 2nd time I've gone, the first was two years ago, and I
remembered there being far more vendors with a better selection.
The TCF may be slowly shrinking, but I'm looking forward to Edison/Raritan
next year, they seemed to have the set-up going verry smoothly there.
...and it didn't smell, like David noted.
Important consideration with these markets: the mainstream is 5yo home
machines and 10yo business servers. Anything outside of that is
hit-or-miss.
On Topic Finds this year. My first 10bFL equipment: transcievers from AUI
and cables. DLT-IV tapes for 75? each. DEC brand SCSI cables and 10b2
terminators. A TZ-857 DLT stacker in external enclosure for $25. One of
those little DDS stackers. Not bought were decent old books, reel-tapes or
some ASCII terminals. Yeah, I did get some of the recent stuff.
I was surprised I couldn't find a decent deal on a
rack mount PC
server,
Wow, what was wrong with those dual PII/PIII ones in the pickup truck?
They had dual ethernet, dual RS-232, Ultra SCSI, were tested right
in front of the purchaser, and started at $40. Highway robbery (and OT
I realize). But they seemed rather "pre-Carly".
John A.
7189
days inactive
7190
days old
3 comments
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participants (3)
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allain＠panix.com -
bear＠typewritten.org -
cb＠mythtech.net