29 Jul
1998
29 Jul
'98
11:25 a.m.
The other day I was mucking around in the room I store most (some,
according to my girlfriend 8^) of my collection, and all of a sudden one of
the shelves holding a bunch of Toshibas, collapsed. Luckily, I was there
and was able to keep them from crashing to the floor, but still...
Upon closer inspection, it looks like the shelf with (some of) the GRiD's
is about ready to go as well. These are those metal shelves you get at
Target for $8 on sale.
So, I guess my question is, how to others store their collection? Keep in
mind that I'm in San Francisco, and that Earthquakes are an issue. Thanks!
Oh, and latest finds: another Panasonic Senior Partner (I really need the
specs on these if ya got 'em!) and one of those HP ThinkJets which I'm
actually gonna hook up to my Dad's computer (as soon as I figure out where
all those printer cables I use to have are!)
Most interesting was a Cable Demodulator. Yep, not a MOdulator/DEModulator
(MODEM), but just a Demodulator. Apparently, TCI at one time sent out a
free signal on the cable that could be read by anyone with a PC and one of
these boxes. So, anyone know if they still do that, and what software one
would need?
I also picked up a Mobidem, sans cable, of course, which appears to be a
radio modem made by Ericsson. If anyone has any info on this....
Last but not least, a Datasonix Pereos tape drive. It's a little unit not
much bigger than a microcassette that is supposed to be able to back up a
GB on a single cartridge. Unfortunately, I got no tapes with it, and the
only source I've found so far (www.datasonix.com) is pretty pricey
considering I don't know if it works. Anyone know of a cheaper source for
these tapes?
Thanks!
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/
30 Jul
30 Jul
2:35 a.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: CLASSICCMP-owner(a)u.washington.edu
[mailto:CLASSICCMP-owner@u.washington.edu]On Behalf Of Uncle Roger
Sent: Thursday, July 30, 1998 9:26
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
Subject: Near disaster and questions on finds
The other day I was mucking around in the room I store most (some,
according to my girlfriend 8^) of my collection, and all of a
sudden one of
the shelves holding a bunch of Toshibas, collapsed. Luckily, I was there
and was able to keep them from crashing to the floor, but still...
Upon closer inspection, it looks like the shelf with (some of) the GRiD's
is about ready to go as well. These are those metal shelves you get at
Target for $8 on sale.
So, I guess my question is, how to others store their collection? Keep in
mind that I'm in San Francisco, and that Earthquakes are an
issue. Thanks!
Oh, and latest finds: another Panasonic Senior Partner (I really need the
specs on these if ya got 'em!) and one of those HP ThinkJets which I'm
actually gonna hook up to my Dad's computer (as soon as I figure out where
all those printer cables I use to have are!)
Most interesting was a Cable Demodulator. Yep, not a
MOdulator/DEModulator
(MODEM), but just a Demodulator. Apparently, TCI at one time sent out a
free signal on the cable that could be read by anyone with a PC and one of
these boxes. So, anyone know if they still do that, and what software one
would need?
I also picked up a Mobidem, sans cable, of course, which appears to be a
radio modem made by Ericsson. If anyone has any info on this....
Last but not least, a Datasonix Pereos tape drive. It's a little unit not
much bigger than a microcassette that is supposed to be able to back up a
GB on a single cartridge. Unfortunately, I got no tapes with it, and the
only source I've found so far (www.datasonix.com) is pretty pricey
considering I don't know if it works. Anyone know of a cheaper source for
these tapes?
Thanks!
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/
well i have big single room house out the back of my property which housees
my 200+ computers
i have wall to wall tables which then have computer stacked on top of and
under them
at the moment though, it is almost impossable to get in the shed because of
the giant
VAXes i have in the room..........
i have to get around somtime to tidying it all up
most of the time though when i buy somthing it just gets stashed in the
shed........
*Desie*
2:40 a.m.
Oh, and latest finds: another Panasonic Senior Partner
(I really need the
specs on these if ya got 'em!) and one of those HP ThinkJets which I'm
actually gonna hook up to my Dad's computer (as soon as I figure out where
all those printer cables I use to have are!)
Those Senior Partner's were quite nice. I've got one. I just
wish they had more expansion slots. At least they can run on
fax paper for printing.
Bill
4:54 a.m.
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4:09 a.m.
In addition to this great and sturdy idea, he may want to wrap poultry wire or a
similar item around the open ends of the shelves (in panels to still allow
access) so that when the big one comes in SF they won't be flung off the shelf
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Russ Blakeman
RB Custom Services / Rt. 1 Box 62E / Harned, KY USA 40144
Phone: (502) 756-1749 Data/Fax:(502) 756-6991
Email: rhblake(a)bbtel.com or rhblake(a)bigfoot.com
Website: http://members.tripod.com/~RHBLAKE/
ICQ UIN #1714857
AOL Instant Messenger "RHBLAKEMAN"
* Parts/Service/Upgrades and more for MOST Computers*
--------------------------------------------------------------------
from the whipping action that occurs with the
quake/plate slip. My ex brother in
law had his shop tolls done similarly (like a
parts cage) and when he live at
Presidio the tools all stayed on the shelves, after a pretty hefty quake - the
one that nailed SF bad last time. Of course it doesn't prevent the building from
falling down on the collection and smahing everything flat.
Tim Shoppa wrote:
The other day
I was mucking around in the room I store most (some,
according to my girlfriend 8^) of my collection, and all of a sudden one of
the shelves holding a bunch of Toshibas, collapsed. Luckily, I was there
and was able to keep them from crashing to the floor, but still...
So, I guess my question is, how to others store their collection? Keep in
mind that I'm in San Francisco, and that Earthquakes are an issue. Thanks!
What I like are the 48"x24"x72" "Industrial-duty" shelf units
available
from places like Home Depot. The ones I get are rated at 1500 lbs
per shelf and have 5 shelves, and cost about US$70-$80 each.
Earthquake preparedness is handled (to some extent) by anchoring the units to
studs in the wall. If you're much above ground floor, though, this isn't
going to stop the contents of the shelves being flung onto the floor
(I was there for Loma Prieta and Northridge, so I know...). Putting
bungee cords around the perimeter of each shelf is the standard way
of dealing with keeping the contents on the shelf during the shaking,
and seems to do fine with quakes of Northridge size and smaller.
Of course, all the rack-mountable stuff goes into DEC H960's. The
960's are on casters and the hope is that they'll roll with an
earthquake rather than toppling, as they aren't anchored to any walls.
Tim. 
29 Jul
29 Jul
2:23 a.m.
On 30 Jul 98 at 11:09, Russ Blakeman wrote:
In addition to this great and sturdy idea, he may want
to wrap poultry wire or a
similar item around the open ends of the shelves (in panels to still allow
access) so that when the big one comes in SF they won't be flung off the shelf
from the whipping action that occurs with the quake/plate slip. My ex brother in
law had his shop tolls done similarly (like a parts cage) and when he live at
Presidio the tools all stayed on the shelves, after a pretty hefty quake - the
one that nailed SF bad last time. Of course it doesn't prevent the building from
falling down on the collection and smahing everything flat.
Tim Shoppa wrote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Russ Blakeman
In Tim Robbins novel "Even Cowgirls" , the "Chink" quotes the Indians
as
saying they knew the white man was crazy but not so completely bonkers
as to live in such a place when they had had demonstrations of the quakes
powers.
ciao larry
lwalker(a)interlog.com
The other
day I was mucking around in the room I store most (some,
according to my girlfriend 8^) of my collection, and all of a sudden one of
the shelves holding a bunch of Toshibas, collapsed. Luckily, I was there
and was able to keep them from crashing to the floor, but still...
So, I guess my question is, how to others store their collection? Keep in
mind that I'm in San Francisco, and that Earthquakes are an issue. Thanks!
What I like are the 48"x24"x72" "Industrial-duty" shelf units
available
from places like Home Depot. The ones I get are rated at 1500 lbs
per shelf and have 5 shelves, and cost about US$70-$80 each.
Earthquake preparedness is handled (to some extent) by anchoring the units to
studs in the wall. If you're much above ground floor, though, this isn't
going to stop the contents of the shelves being flung onto the floor
(I was there for Loma Prieta and Northridge, so I know...). Putting
bungee cords around the perimeter of each shelf is the standard way
of dealing with keeping the contents on the shelf during the shaking,
and seems to do fine with quakes of Northridge size and smaller.
Of course, all the rack-mountable stuff goes into DEC H960's. The
960's are on casters and the hope is that they'll roll with an
earthquake rather than toppling, as they aren't anchored to any walls.
Tim. 
30 Jul
30 Jul
5:31 a.m.
On Wed, 29 Jul 1998, Uncle Roger wrote:
So, I guess my question is, how to others store their
collection? Keep in
mind that I'm in San Francisco, and that Earthquakes are an issue. Thanks!
Unfortunately, mine is all stored in big heaps, one unit stacked upon the
next. I have little things like laptops and cables and crap like that in
boxes to make them stackable. Big things like S-100 and PDP boxen are
stacked about 5 or 6 feet high with an unstackable terminal to cap it off.
Little things are crammed into whatever nooks and crannies are left over.
Things like ASR33's are always a problem. I had shelf space at one point
but it is now taken up by the all-in-one systems like the PETs and Lisa
and some terminals. Now all the shelf space is crammed.
Its a nightmare.
I don't recommend this sort of storage arrangement. I don't know where
anything is and couldn't get at it anyway even if I did. But it allows me
to store the massive amounts of computer junk I have until I can find a
suitable space to do it justice.
What I recommend to Roger is to first, add an extra support to your
shelves, and make sure you are anchoring them properly with drywall
anchors (if you are mounting the shelves to drywall). Then, pack your
laptops and such inside boxes with some foam in between. That way, if
there is another episode, or an earthquake hits and the computers fall, at
least they will be moderately protected from damaging each other when they
hit the floor. You also might want to consider getting some netting to
prevent the boxes from falling in the first place (in an earthquake at
least). I imagine this would cost some bucks but maybe Target has a good
net material cheap in the garden section. Try Home Depot for ideas also.
Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ever onward.
September 26 & 27...Vintage Computer Festival 2
See http://www.siconic.com/vcf for details!
[Last web page update: 07/26/98]
5:12 p.m.
At 04:25 PM 7/29/98 -0700, you wrote:
I was in Tokyo recently and saw a store selling the (Sony) cartridges
(about the size of a quarter) for about 1600 yen (around $14 at the
time.) I almost picked one up for the "cute" factor. They were also
selling "audio" player/recorders that used this cartridge - no Pereos
drives, though.
Alas, I don't remember the store, but it was one of the seven-floor
monsters in central Akihabara.
Gary
.. snip
Last but not least, a Datasonix Pereos tape drive. It's a little unit not
much bigger than a microcassette that is supposed to be able to back up a
GB on a single cartridge. Unfortunately, I got no tapes with it, and the
only source I've found so far (www.datasonix.com) is pretty pricey
considering I don't know if it works. Anyone know of a cheaper source for
these tapes?
Thanks!
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/
31 Jul
31 Jul
12:34 a.m.
At 04:25 PM 7/29/98 -0700, you wrote:
The other day I was mucking around in the room I store
most (some,
according to my girlfriend 8^) of my collection, and all of a sudden one of
the shelves holding a bunch of Toshibas, collapsed. Luckily, I was there
and was able to keep them from crashing to the floor, but still...
Upon closer inspection, it looks like the shelf with (some of) the GRiD's
is about ready to go as well. These are those metal shelves you get at
Target for $8 on sale.
So, I guess my question is, how to others store their collection? Keep in
mind that I'm in San Francisco, and that Earthquakes are an issue. Thanks!
I have constructed several sets of low cost storage racks by assembling
rectangles of 2x4s, 4 per rack.
The verticles are notched to a depth of 3/4" to take the ends of the
horizontal 2x4s. The height of the notch should be a close fit on your
particular 2x4s.
If you can use full size sheets of 3/4" sheathing plywood, the length of
the horizontal 2x4s should be 49 1/2" to allow for the depth of the notch,
and eliminate problems fitting the shelves.
Rectangles can be assembled with nails or wood screws, but I screw the
shelves to the horizontal 2x4s for greater strength.
Spacing of shelves is determined by the size of the stuff you want to
store. I use three shelves per rack, which gives you 128 sq. ft. including
the floor under the bottom shelf.
While they haven't suffered an earthquake yet, they are supporting a lot
of computers, movie projectors, and other stuff, and were very economical
to build.
Regards
Charlie Fox
4 Aug
4 Aug
6:04 a.m.
New subject: cable modems
At 04:25 PM 7/29/98 -0700, Uncle Roger wrote:
Most interesting was a Cable Demodulator. Yep, not a MOdulator/DEModulator
(MODEM), but just a Demodulator. Apparently, TCI at one time sent out a
free signal on the cable that could be read by anyone with a PC and one of
these boxes. So, anyone know if they still do that, and what software one
would need?
One of my favorite "before its time" technologies. I think I bought
mine for about $120 in the late 80s, a version that worked on the
Amiga as well as the PC, and I think they had an Apple II version, too.
I'd bet a doughnut it qualifies for the ten-year-rule. I had TCI
once, and now Marcus, and the signal was present on both. I think
it was present on Rogers in Canada, too.
The company name slips my mind, and I'd have to hunt in the basement
to find the details - maybe General Datacom. They offered a $20/month
service to get 15-minute-delayed stock quotes, which required regular
reactivation pinging of a cartridge that plugged in the back.
Other than that, it was remarkable for its time! 9600 baud continuous,
uncompressed, quite delightful in the days of 2400 baud modems.
They had a packeted proprietary protocol. In the stream, you'd
get various second-rate wire service news stories and syndicated
columns. They could also send files - you'd see a menu of files
that were going to be sent over the next 24 hours, and select
which you wanted, and it would grab them and store to your hard disk.
There were message boards, but the uplink was done by long-distance
call to an incredibly lame BBS system running on some kind of
mainframe. I think they were aiming it at the educational market
as well as stock market players. Come to think of it, I remember
late-night TV commercials for it - maybe it was called Express PC?
I think they missed the boat. I think with better software, they
could've made lots of money selling these boxes to all the people
who were using BBSes at the time. Instead of a sole national
head-end, city or regional co-adminstration would've made it more
interesting.
It was "push" technology ahead of its time. To me, the big selling
point today would be the high-speed potential of cable, combining with
advertiser-supported content and a web-based back-link. (I know
what DirecPC is, BTW.)
Wouldn't a $100 gizmo that connects your PC to cable, and that
could refill a couple hundred spare megs every day with
interesting content (movies, cached news web sites, top-100
shareware, demos, etc.) seem like a great deal? But no,
the big cable companies would rather charge $20 a month
for that, and require a set-top box that wasted its energies
(and parts cost) trying to be a standalone device.
I seem to remember that it was only in the last two-three years
that the "carrier" light stopped working on mine. I left
it connected to the cable for the longest time. I called
the company and they said they were discontinuing the device
with no upgrade offer for me.
- John
9404
days inactive
9410
days old
9 comments
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participants (10)
-
dastar＠ncal.verio.com -
desieh＠southcom.com.au -
foxvideo＠wincom.net -
go＠ao.com -
jfoust＠threedee.com -
lwalker＠mail.interlog.com -
pechter＠shell.monmouth.com -
rhblake＠bbtel.com -
shoppa＠alph02.triumf.ca -
sinasohn＠ricochet.net