Houston Classic Computers was {Off-Topic: Re: Anyone have a MicroVax II in a BA123 available?}
3 Dec
2001
3 Dec
'01
2:39 p.m.
I don't know of a formal (or informal....) classic computer user group in
Houston, but I would love to participate in one.
I know that there are several of us in Houston. I met with David and Mitch
recently; very nice people. David has a real neat collection of older
"personal" computers and some other Unix-class boxen as well.
Obviously there are more of us, an informal gathering would be neat.
- Matt
Now, to change the subject of this thread, does anyone
know of any
"classic computer" user groups in the Houston area?
-Toth
Matthew Sell
Programmer
On Time Support, Inc.
www.ontimesupport.com
(281) 296-6066
Join the Metrology Software discussion group METLIST!
http://www.ontimesupport.com/cgi-bin/mojo/mojo.cgi
"One World, One Web, One Program" - Microsoft Promotional Ad
"Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer" - Adolf Hitler
Many thanks for this tagline to a fellow RGVAC'er...
3 Dec
3 Dec
3:15 p.m.
Keep me posted as I will be moving back to Houston at the end of this
month. I will be driving down a full 24 footer if anyone would like to
help unload it at the warehouse. It will take about 5 trips with the
truck to get everything moved.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Matthew Sell" <msell(a)ontimesupport.com>
To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2001 7:39 PM
Subject: Houston Classic Computers was {Off-Topic: Re: Anyone have a
MicroVax II in a BA123 available?}
I don't know of a formal (or informal....) classic computer user group
in
Houston, but I would love to participate in one.
I know that there are several of us in Houston. I met with David and
Mitch
recently; very nice people. David has a real neat
collection of older
"personal" computers and some other Unix-class boxen as well.
Obviously there are more of us, an informal gathering would be neat.
- Matt
Now, to change the subject of this thread, does
anyone know of any
"classic computer" user groups in the Houston area?
-Toth
Matthew Sell
Programmer
On Time Support, Inc.
www.ontimesupport.com
(281) 296-6066
Join the Metrology Software discussion group METLIST!
http://www.ontimesupport.com/cgi-bin/mojo/mojo.cgi
"One World, One Web, One Program" - Microsoft Promotional Ad
"Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer" - Adolf Hitler
Many thanks for this tagline to a fellow RGVAC'er...
5:03 p.m.
New subject: Houston Classic Computers was {Off-Topic: Re: Anyone have a MicroVax II in a BA123 available?}
Lemme know if you need any help.....
- Matt
At 08:15 PM 12/3/2001 -0600, you wrote:
Keep me posted as I will be moving back to Houston at
the end of this
month. I will be driving down a full 24 footer if anyone would like to
help unload it at the warehouse. It will take about 5 trips with the
truck to get everything moved.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Matthew Sell" <msell(a)ontimesupport.com>
To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2001 7:39 PM
Subject: Houston Classic Computers was {Off-Topic: Re: Anyone have a
MicroVax II in a BA123 available?}
Matthew Sell
Programmer
On Time Support, Inc.
www.ontimesupport.com
(281) 296-6066
Join the Metrology Software discussion group METLIST!
http://www.ontimesupport.com/cgi-bin/mojo/mojo.cgi
"One World, One Web, One Program" - Microsoft Promotional Ad
"Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer" - Adolf Hitler
Many thanks for this tagline to a fellow RGVAC'er...
I don't know of a formal (or informal....) classic computer user group
in
Houston, but I would love to participate in one.
I know that there are several of us in Houston. I met with David and
Mitch
> recently; very nice people. David has a real neat collection of older
> "personal" computers and some other Unix-class boxen as well.
>
> Obviously there are more of us, an informal gathering would be neat.
>
>
> - Matt
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >Now, to change the subject of this thread, does anyone know of any
> >"classic computer" user groups in the Houston area?
> >
> >-Toth
>
>
>
> Matthew Sell
> Programmer
> On Time Support, Inc.
> www.ontimesupport.com
> (281) 296-6066
>
> Join the Metrology Software discussion group METLIST!
> http://www.ontimesupport.com/cgi-bin/mojo/mojo.cgi
>
>
> "One World, One Web, One Program" - Microsoft Promotional Ad
> "Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer" - Adolf Hitler
>
> Many thanks for this tagline to a fellow RGVAC'er...
>
> 
5 p.m.
I too would be interested in getting together with other collectors in
the Houston area. Always like to meet others in the area, visit or
hit collecting spots. I know there are a few more on the list. Any
others interested?
David
On 3 Dec 2001, at 19:39, Matthew Sell wrote:
I don't know of a formal (or informal....) classic computer user group
in Houston, but I would love to participate in one.
I know that there are several of us in Houston. I met with David and
Mitch recently; very nice people. David has a real neat collection of
older "personal" computers and some other Unix-class boxen as well.
Obviously there are more of us, an informal gathering would be neat.
- Matt
-----
"What is, is what?"
"When the mind is free of any thought or judgement,
then and only then can we know things as they are."
David Williams - Computer Packrat
dlw(a)trailingedge.com
http://www.trailingedge.com
7:14 p.m.
New subject: Houston Classic Computers was {Off-Topic: Re: Anyone have a MicroVax II in a BA123 available?}
On Mon, 3 Dec 2001, David Williams wrote:
I too would be interested in getting together with
other collectors in
the Houston area. Always like to meet others in the area, visit or
hit collecting spots. I know there are a few more on the list. Any
others interested?
I've got a few favorite collecting spots I'd be willing to share. Sadly,
some of my former favorites seem to have very few old computers show up
anymore.
-Toth
4 Dec
4 Dec
5:04 a.m.
New subject: Houston Classic Computers
On 4 Dec 2001, at 0:14, Tothwolf wrote:
I've got a few favorite collecting spots I'd
be willing to share.
Sadly, some of my former favorites seem to have very few old computers
show up anymore.
I'd be happy to share places I look as well. Alas one of my most
favorite spots (had lots of classic stuff and was the type of place
with no prices, you'd grab a bunch of stuff and the manager would
ask what do you offer) threw everything out and converted to a
$0.99 store. Guess my offers weren't making him enough.
So who wants to get together one weekend? I'd be happy to act as
a central point if people want to email me off list.
Kelly, are you reading? Want to join in?
David
-----
"What is, is what?"
"When the mind is free of any thought or judgement,
then and only then can we know things as they are."
David Williams - Computer Packrat
dlw(a)trailingedge.com
http://www.trailingedge.com
8:22 a.m.
New subject: Houston Classic Computers
On Tue, 4 Dec 2001, David Williams wrote:
On 4 Dec 2001, at 0:14, Tothwolf wrote:
A few weeks ago when I went to one place I visited regularly, they told me
they got rid of all their old computer stuff. There wasn't so much as a
single pc board or power supply to be found. One of my current favorite
spots, I find a box, load it up with board/cables/junk, and ask em what
they want. The more it's piled up, the better the price seems to be ;)
Most of the stuff I pick up at that place is old Mac/PC stuff, but I've
seen some Sun parts in there at times too. If you are looking for MFM/RLL
type drives, dead or alive, they seem to be one place worth looking.
Another place that used to be one of my favorites is a scrap metal dealer,
I don't go there much anymore, since they always wanted way too much money
for anything they had. They always seemed to have very loud annoying music
playing too :/
-Toth
I've got a few favorite collecting spots
I'd be willing to share.
Sadly, some of my former favorites seem to have very few old computers
show up anymore.
I'd be happy to share places I look as well. Alas one of my most
favorite spots (had lots of classic stuff and was the type of place
with no prices, you'd grab a bunch of stuff and the manager would
ask what do you offer) threw everything out and converted to a
$0.99 store. Guess my offers weren't making him enough. 
7:59 a.m.
New subject: Shugart hard disk info
This is being asked out of curiosity, since I happened to
think about it today. About 13 years ago, a large hard disk was
pulled out of a piece of medical equipment and made it's way across
my desk. The drive was made by Shugart and I believe it had a SASI
interface. It was easily as big as a dual-8" floppy enclosure, maybe
14" in diameter and had it's own PSU. The case over the platters was
clear plastic. One of the guys I worked with pulled the PSU parts
out of it and unfortunately I didn't think to keep the rest of it
from being junked, mainly due to it's size. Any
ideas as to what
this might have been? It certainly wasn't near new at the
time of
it's removal. At the time, we were still running a CP/M system for
our tracking database and we backed up it's hard disk once a week on
it's 8" floppy drive, which was integrated in the system and standing
on it's side.
Jeff
--
Home of the TRS-80 Model 2000 FAQ File
http://www.cchaven.com
http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lakes/6757
7 Dec
7 Dec
5:33 p.m.
New subject: Shugart hard disk info
Kinda sounds like a Quantum Q2020. I had one with a sasi board mounted on
it back in 93'. Has a smoked plastic mech cover and a whole bunch of
warning stickers indicating it can remove digits if you dink with it while
open? I used a CSS Black Box for an interface. Sasi drives (and most scsi
bridge controllers) require specific formatting code. Also, iirc, sasi
devices required a dos-level bad sector map of the drive. In other words,
the dos you use scans the drive and creates a file occupying all the bad
sectors detected. The hardware didn't do that as with most (all?) scsi
drives/bridge controllers.
As I recall, the q2020 has the same geometry as the Seagate st225
(620/4/17).??
The q2020 is an 8" 20mb unformatted drive which yields 16mb (more or less)
when formatted and has a 40ms average seek time.
Mine had an aluminum cased ps bolted to it and the drive stood on it's
side.
Regards,
Jeff
In <01Dec4.151208est.119070(a)gateway.mediacen.navy.mil>il>, on 12/04/01
at 02:59 PM, Jeff Hellige <jhellige(a)earthlink.net> said:
This is being asked out of curiosity, since I happened
to
think about it today. About 13 years ago, a large hard disk was pulled
out of a piece of medical equipment and made it's way across my desk.
The drive was made by Shugart and I believe it had a SASI interface. It
was easily as big as a dual-8" floppy enclosure, maybe 14" in diameter
and had it's own PSU. The case over the platters was clear plastic.
One of the guys I worked with pulled the PSU parts out of it and
unfortunately I didn't think to keep the rest of it from being junked,
mainly due to it's size. Any ideas as to what this might have been? It
certainly wasn't near new at the time of it's removal. At the time, we
were still running a CP/M system for our tracking database and we backed
up it's hard disk once a week on it's 8" floppy drive, which was
integrated in the system and standing on it's side.
Jeff
--
-----------------------------------------------------------
Jeffrey S. Worley
Asheville, NC USA
828-6984887
UberTechnoid(a)Home.com
-----------------------------------------------------------
8 Dec
8 Dec
5:02 p.m.
New subject: OT: on-air closed captioning and lost carriers
This is off topic but thought some of you might find it
interesting. I actually started laughing when I saw it and my wife
couldn't figure out what I was laughing at.
We were watching the figure skating competition that was
being broadcast from the MCI Center in Washington D.C. tonight. She
always has the closed-captioning turned on and suddenly a 'no
carrier' popped up on the screen. A few seconds later it was
followed by a 'RING' and then almost immediately it was followed by a
'Connect 1200'. It would appear that whomever was doing the
captioning was doing it remotely and lost the connection and that the
computer they were connected to was broadcasting anything that was
transmitted, including error messages. This brings back memories of
connecting by older modems to BBS systems, as well as memories of
occasionally seeing a GURU error when an Amiga on a Cable TV station
would crash.
Jeff
--
Home of the TRS-80 Model 2000 FAQ File
http://www.cchaven.com
http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lakes/6757
5:18 p.m.
New subject: Shugart hard disk info
see below, plz.
Dick
----- Original Message -----
From: <UberTechnoid(a)home.com To:
<classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org Sent: Friday,
December 07, 2001 9:33 PM
Subject: Re: Shugart hard disk info
IIRC, the Q20xx series had 512 cylinders and 2,
4, or 8 heads. I may yet have
a data sheet for that series, as I have one or two of each model, still.
> The q2020 is an 8" 20mb unformatted
drive which yields 16mb (more or less)
> when formatted and has a 40ms average seek time.
> Mine had an aluminum cased ps bolted to it
and the drive stood on it's
> side.
> Regards,
> Jeff
<snip
Kinda sounds like a Quantum Q2020. I had one with a
sasi board mounted on
it back in 93'. Has a smoked plastic mech cover and a whole bunch of
warning stickers indicating it can remove digits if you dink with it while
open? I used a CSS Black Box for an interface. Sasi drives (and most scsi
bridge controllers) require specific formatting code. Also, iirc, sasi
devices required a dos-level bad sector map of the drive. In other words,
the dos you use scans the drive and creates a file occupying all the bad
sectors detected. The hardware didn't do that as with most (all?) scsi
drives/bridge controllers.
Shugart also made drives fitting this description, though I don't believe the
Shugart drives extracted the clock for you as ISTR the Quantum drives did. Both
drive types had a 4.34 MHz data rate and a 3125 RPM index rate, though.
The bridge controllers didn't do the media flaw or the bad-sector management for
you. The drive maker sent a defect list with the drive and, since the format
was up to the controller, and the number and size of sectors were for you to
choose, in some cases, they couldn't do bad sector mangement because that was
your job via the system software and utilities. Since the bad spots fell on
different sectors with differing sector sizes, the controller couldn't know in
advance where the defects lay.
As I recall, the q2020 has the same geometry as the Seagate st225
(620/4/17).??
3 Dec
3 Dec
7:07 p.m.
New subject: Houston Classic Computers was {Off-Topic: Re: Anyone have a MicroVax II in a BA123 available?}
On Mon, 3 Dec 2001, Matthew Sell wrote:
I don't know of a formal (or informal....) classic
computer user group in
Houston, but I would love to participate in one.
I looked at the HAL-PC http://www.hal-pc.org/ user group listing, and
didn't see a classic computer group or anything similar listed. Anyone
thought about starting a special interest group?
I know that there are several of us in Houston. I met
with David and Mitch
recently; very nice people. David has a real neat collection of older
"personal" computers and some other Unix-class boxen as well.
I only recently found the classic computer mailing list. I wish I had
know it existed a long time ago. I've been collecting computer stuff for
the last 10 to 12 years or so.
Obviously there are more of us, an informal gathering
would be neat.
That could indeed be fun.
-Toth
8336
days inactive
8341
days old
11 comments
7 participants
participants (7)
-
dlw＠trailingedge.com -
edick＠idcomm.com -
jhellige＠earthlink.net -
jrkeys＠concentric.net -
msell＠ontimesupport.com -
tothwolf＠concentric.net -
UberTechnoid＠home.com