27 Dec
2007
27 Dec
'07
10:43 p.m.
A greatly updated history of Alpha Micro, including their use of alternative
operating systems such as UNIMOS/Unix and Pick, and the invasion of the clone
systems, is now up on the Alpha Micro Phun Machine. In addition, the models
page is tremendously expanded with corrected chronology and more information
on loadouts. This is all with the help of Bob Fowler, who graciously
allowed me to raid his AMUS document archive and take images.
He also put a lot of his software onto a QIC tape for me, but naturally my
AM-626 streamer has decided to be recalcitrant, so this will wait for the
next update until I can fix it.
Also, I recently acquired an AM-1200, and there will be a model page for that
as soon as I get it operational.
http://ampm.floodgap.com/
--
------------------------------------ personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ --
Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckaiser at floodgap.com
-- The son becomes the father, the father becomes the son, the uncle has a beer.
28 Dec
28 Dec
10:25 p.m.
On Thursday 27 December 2007 22:43, Cameron Kaiser wrote:
A greatly updated history of Alpha Micro, including
their use of
alternative operating systems such as UNIMOS/Unix and Pick, and
the invasion of the clone systems, is now up on the Alpha Micro
Phun Machine. In addition, the models page is tremendously
expanded with corrected chronology and more information on
loadouts. This is all with the help of Bob Fowler, who graciously
allowed me to raid his AMUS document archive and take images.
Great site. Thanks!
I'm an Alpha Micro fan, as well (also DEC and ModComp and
Apple ... ;-)
Years ago I was the angel for "Personal Computer Corp." - and we sold
Alpha Micro AM-100's as our "high end" system :-)
I have a AM-2056 that I restored to "health" about two years ago. One
thing about AM's - once you have 'em running - they seem to stay up
forever...
AM Story: I picked up some AMOS VHS system tapes from a friend -
which had been stored for years in a warehouse - and who know where
before that. I used a new VHS player to read them all successfully
into my AM. Quite amazing after all those years...
I also backed up my AM-2056 to a new VHS tapes - and restored the
tapes to a new HDD - which worked perfectly. AM's use of VHS
technology was a clever and inexpensive backup technique - it
clearly has more "lasting power" than some other backup
technologies.
--snip--
Also, I recently acquired an AM-1200, and there will
be a model
page for that as soon as I get it operational.
I also have a nice AM-1042 that is anxiously awaiting restoration.
It's clean (came from a dentist's office), I've tested the PS, but
it's currently not bootable.
If any of the folks on this list are not familiar with Alpha Micro,
do yourself a favor and check out Cameron's website!!
Cheers,
Lyle
--
Lyle Bickley
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
Mountain View, CA
http://bickleywest.com
"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"
29 Dec
29 Dec
7:25 a.m.
Great site. Thanks!
I'm an Alpha Micro fan, as well (also DEC and ModComp and
Apple ... ;-)
Years ago I was the angel for "Personal Computer Corp." - and we sold
Alpha Micro AM-100's as our "high end" system :-)
I have a AM-2056 that I restored to "health" about two years ago. One
thing about AM's - once you have 'em running - they seem to stay up
forever...
I like the AM-2000 series also. I'm still hoping to get a AM-2K or -3K
(or -4K? a man can dream) at some point, but I imagine most of those are
still operational somewhere.
What's installed in your machine? How many ports? Ethernet?
I do have to say that the Eagles are still my favourites. The E300 that
AMPM runs on is 1994-vintage, so on-topic (this one was built in 1997, so
still on-topic), but the fact that they have TCP stack and Ethernet
options makes it fun and easy to work into a server farm. And hosting an
Alpha Micro site on an Alpha Micro is fun stuff!
AM Story: I picked up some AMOS VHS system tapes from
a friend -
which had been stored for years in a warehouse - and who know where
before that. I used a new VHS player to read them all successfully
into my AM. Quite amazing after all those years...
I also backed up my AM-2056 to a new VHS tapes - and restored the
tapes to a new HDD - which worked perfectly. AM's use of VHS
technology was a clever and inexpensive backup technique - it
clearly has more "lasting power" than some other backup
technologies.
When you say "new VHS player" are you using the AM's VCR equipment NOS,
or just an off-the-shelf one?
I remember the system administrator at the Salvation Army telling me that
they backed up to VHS (in retrospect I think they were using either AM-20XX
or AM-3000 units at the individual corps/churches) and being incredulous,
that it had to be some other form of magtape.
I'm getting questions now and then about what hardware people need to find
to restore from an AM tape, like the old PC and Mac-based VideoTRAX system,
so I should probably do a page on that.
Also, I
recently acquired an AM-1200, and there will be a model
page for that as soon as I get it operational.
I also have a nice AM-1042 that is anxiously awaiting restoration.
It's clean (came from a dentist's office), I've tested the PS, but
it's currently not bootable. If any of the folks on this list are not familiar with
Alpha Micro,
do yourself a favor and check out Cameron's website!!
Thank you for the kind word :)
--
------------------------------------ personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ --
Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckaiser at floodgap.com
-- Gravity is a myth. The Earth just sucks. -----------------------------------
31 Dec
31 Dec
4:38 p.m.
On Saturday 29 December 2007 07:25, Cameron Kaiser wrote:
--snip--
Ah, that's a shame.
I think of it as an "opportunity" ;-)
Now if I can only find time to work on it....
Your welcome!
Lyle
--
Lyle Bickley
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
Mountain View, CA
http://bickleywest.com
"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"
What's installed in your machine? How many ports? Ethernet?
The poor critter, it's documentation and log are stashed behind an
SGI Onyx IR in my internal storage area. I can see it - but not its
backside. IIRC, It has six ports, 170MB HDD, DAT tape (and VHS
port) - but no ethernet :-(
--snip--
When you say "new VHS player" are you using
the AM's VCR equipment
NOS, or just an off-the-shelf one?
Off the shelf. It would have been nice to have AM's VCR - but the
off-the-shelf worked fine (just a bit more "operator" interaction
required).
I remember the system administrator at the Salvation
Army telling
me that they backed up to VHS (in retrospect I think they were
using either AM-20XX or AM-3000 units at the individual
corps/churches) and being incredulous, that it had to be some
other form of magtape.
As you know, the VHS backup is actually quite reliable - because
there are multiple redundant copies of all records (quantity user
controlled). This is a critical feature since a VHS player can't
stop, backspace record and re-read like a "real" tape backup.
What is really "strange" is that one can duplicate AMOS backup VHS
tapes using two standard VHS units (1 read and 1 record) - and the
duplicated tape will be readable by AMOS.
I'm getting questions now and then about what
hardware people need
to find to restore from an AM tape, like the old PC and Mac-based
VideoTRAX system, so I should probably do a page on that.
Good idea...
Also, I recently acquired an AM-1200, and there will
be a
model page for that as soon as I get it operational.
I also have a nice AM-1042 that is anxiously awaiting
restoration. It's clean (came from a dentist's office), I've
tested the PS, but it's currently not bootable. If any of the
folks on this list are not familiar with Alpha
Micro, do yourself a favor and check out Cameron's website!!
Thank you for the kind word :) 
5:01 p.m.
Why is that strange? As long as it's a first or second (or up to say about 4th)
generation copy there shouldn't be any read problems (unless the tape is dodgy to
begin with).
Happy New Year,
Andrew B
aliensrcooluk at yahoo.co.uk
Lyle Bickley <lbickley at bickleywest.com> wrote:
What is really "strange" is that one can duplicate AMOS backup VHS
tapes using two standard VHS units (1 read and 1 record) - and the
duplicated tape will be readable by AMOS.
5981
days inactive
5985
days old
4 comments
3 participants
participants (3)
-
aliensrcooluk＠yahoo.co.uk -
lbickley＠bickleywest.com -
spectre＠floodgap.com