11 Apr
2005
11 Apr
'05
6:21 a.m.
Every now and then, you can still get a good buy on ebay.
Described simply as:
5 1/4 Full height floppy disk drives
this lot:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4193&item=51…
is not one, not two, but three MPI B51 floppy drives. Ohio
Scientific used this model in all of their "MF" (mini-floppy)
offerings. If you don't want to bother following the link,
I got the lot for $10 plus shipping. One of the drives has a
gray faceplate, which I've never seen before. I've had a hard
time figuring out what other manufacturers used B51s. Atari
used the mechanism in some of their 810s but with their own
custom electronics. Before any Atari enthusiasts scream, I
have not and will not disassemble any working 810s for parts.
11 Apr
11 Apr
9:32 a.m.
Atari 810's disk drive models used both Tandon and MPI mech's and had
appropriate face plates for each type.
You can still scrounge up both mech types from B&C Computervisions and
Best Electronics, but you'll pay a pretty-penny for them, easier to pick
up a full 810 off of Ebay for $10-$15
Curt
Bill Sudbrink wrote:
Every now and then, you can still get a good buy on
ebay.
Described simply as:
5 1/4 Full height floppy disk drives
this lot:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4193&item=51…
is not one, not two, but three MPI B51 floppy drives. Ohio
Scientific used this model in all of their "MF" (mini-floppy)
offerings. If you don't want to bother following the link,
I got the lot for $10 plus shipping. One of the drives has a
gray faceplate, which I've never seen before. I've had a hard
time figuring out what other manufacturers used B51s. Atari
used the mechanism in some of their 810s but with their own
custom electronics. Before any Atari enthusiasts scream, I
have not and will not disassemble any working 810s for parts.
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10:47 p.m.
On Apr 11, 2005 6:21 AM, Bill Sudbrink <wh.sudbrink at verizon.net> wrote:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4193&item=51…
is not one, not two, but three MPI B51 floppy drives. Ohio
Scientific used this model in all of their "MF" (mini-floppy)
offerings.
Nice. I used to have just a CP-4MF CPU board, but I gave it to Hans
Franke on a visit years ago. I've always wanted to get my hands on
some Ohio Scientific (they were based a couple hours from my house),
but as close as I am, I've never seen any bits for sale around here.
One of my childhood friends upgraded from a Quest Elf to a Superboard,
and a family friend had a Challenger III, but that's it for OSI
computers I've seen in person. :-/
-ethan
12 Apr
12 Apr
9:25 p.m.
On Mon, 11 Apr 2005, Ethan Dicks wrote:
On Apr 11, 2005 6:21 AM, Bill Sudbrink <wh.sudbrink
at verizon.net> wrote:
OSI stuff seemed to be the hardest thing to get a hold of for me, but
eventually I started to get them. I now have about 5-6 OSI systems of
various models, including an unbuilt Superboard kit ;)
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
[ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ]
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http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4193&item=51…
is not one, not two, but three MPI B51 floppy drives. Ohio
Scientific used this model in all of their "MF" (mini-floppy)
offerings.
Nice. I used to have just a CP-4MF CPU board, but I gave it to Hans
Franke on a visit years ago. I've always wanted to get my hands on
some Ohio Scientific (they were based a couple hours from my house),
but as close as I am, I've never seen any bits for sale around here.
One of my childhood friends upgraded from a Quest Elf to a Superboard,
and a family friend had a Challenger III, but that's it for OSI
computers I've seen in person. :-/
13 Apr
13 Apr
9:45 a.m.
Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
OSI stuff seemed to be the hardest thing to get a hold
of for me, but
eventually I started to get them. I now have about 5-6 OSI systems of
various models, including an unbuilt Superboard kit ;)
Damn! The one place I thought I had one up on you...
OK Sellam, come clean. What have you managed to acquire?
Bill
10:31 a.m.
Bill Sudbrink wrote:
Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
Damn! The one place I thought I had one up on you...
OK Sellam, come clean. What have you managed to acquire?
Bill
The hard copy must be 3 or 4 lbs at least. Ducks and runs ...
Ben alias woodelf
PS. The impressive thing is that the people with the large computer
collections have vast amounts of knowlage about the computers
they have. Something that a average collector does not seem to have
now days.
5:26 p.m.
woodelf wrote:
Bill Sudbrink wrote:
I have a good bit more than that!
Three copy paper boxes full of documentation (appropriate because a lot
of the originally supplied OSI docs were just photocopies, stapled together)
and two more full of the "glossy" docs. The "glossy" docs being the
extra
books that they sold, the SAMs manuals, the marketing lit that they also
sold
(did any other company sell their product description pamphlets?) and the
few
price sheets and pages that they gave away. I also have some product
descriptions and price sheets for a couple of OSI third party add-on
companies
in those boxes.
OK Sellam, come clean. What have you managed to
acquire?
The hard copy must be 3 or 4 lbs at least. Ducks and runs ... Ben alias woodelf
PS. The impressive thing is that the people with the large computer
collections have vast amounts of knowlage about the computers
they have. Something that a average collector does not seem to have
now days.
Well, I like to think that I know a few things about OSI but I'll take
this opportunity to make a confession. I've said several times on this
list that you can't make a C4P into a C4P-MF by just adding a 470 board
to it. This was told to me in 1981 by a tech at a local OSI reseller,
The Math Box. I never checked it out for myself. Well, I just did (last
week) and (with OS-65D v3.3) it works just fine as far as I can tell. I
don't know if I misunderstood what the guy was telling me back then or if
he was just wrong. I'm thinking maybe that the 470s came adjusted from
the factory for 8 inch floppy timing and he was trying to tell me that
you couldn't use one with 5 1/4 inch drives without modifications.
Glad to get that off my chest,
Bill
11:47 a.m.
On Wed, 13 Apr 2005, Bill Sudbrink wrote:
Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
Well, you do have that extremely rare OSI single-board (what model was
that again?) I did consider clubbing you in the back of the head and
running off with it at VCF East but there would've been too many
witnesses.
OSI stuff seemed to be the hardest thing to get a
hold of for me, but
eventually I started to get them. I now have about 5-6 OSI systems of
various models, including an unbuilt Superboard kit ;)
Damn! The one place I thought I had one up on you... OK Sellam, come clean. What have you managed to
acquire?
From what I can see and not see but remember having:
Challenger 2P
Challenger 1
Challenger C4P
Superboard kit (unbuilt)
And I think one other I'm forgetting.
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
[ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ]
[ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]
2:15 p.m.
Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
Blue/black? Integrated keyboard (C2-4P)? Floppies?
On Wed, 13 Apr 2005, Bill Sudbrink wrote:
I _WISH_ that were mine, but Bob Maxwell and I were babysitting it for...
Dang! I seem to have lost a few brain cells and can't remember who the
owner was. I was sorely tempted to try to casually pack it up with my
stuff at the end of the show.
Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
Well, you do have that extremely rare OSI single-board (what model was
that again?) I did consider clubbing you in the back of the head and
running off with it at VCF East but there would've been too many
witnesses. OSI stuff seemed to be the hardest thing to get a
hold of for me, but
eventually I started to get them. I now have about 5-6 OSI systems of
various models, including an unbuilt Superboard kit ;)
Damn! The one place I thought I had one up on you... OK Sellam,
come clean. What have you managed to acquire?
From what I can see and not see but remember
having:
Challenger 2P Challenger 1
You mean a C1P or a first series Challenger?
Challenger C4P
Superboard kit (unbuilt)
Do you have the original packaging with it (I would guess so)? If so,
I would love to see some pictures of it.
Bill
2:58 p.m.
On Wed, 13 Apr 2005, Bill Sudbrink wrote:
Oh, sorry. I didn't know all these details mattered :) It's blue;
integrated keyboard. I can't remember if this one has floppies. I have
another one which may be a II that did come with at least one floppy
drive.
Um, dang. Will have to double check later today.
It's a pretty normal looking box. When I dig it out next (I think I might
know where it is) I'll snap several photos.
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
[ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ]
[ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]
Challenger 2P
Blue/black? Integrated keyboard (C2-4P)? Floppies? Challenger 1
You mean a C1P or a first series Challenger? > Challenger C4P
In the original box, with the dual 8" floppy drive subsystem (also in the
original box).
Superboard kit
(unbuilt)
Do you have the original packaging with it (I would guess so)? If so,
I would love to see some pictures of it.
4:46 p.m.
Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
Um, dang. Will have to double check later today.
Tan/brown keyboard integrated box with a Superboard inside, C1P.
Blue/black box with "CHALLENGER" silver and black paper label on
the front, Challenger 1.
Dual 8s on a C4P? I didn't know it came from the factory that way.
It's a pretty normal looking box. When I dig it out next (I think I might
know where it is) I'll snap several photos.
Wondered how the components were packaged, whether they included sockets for
all of the ICs, what the assembly and testing instructions looked like.
Bill
On Wed, 13 Apr 2005, Bill Sudbrink wrote:
Oh, sorry. I didn't know all these details mattered :)
Inquiring minds want to know!
Challenger 2P
Blue/black? Integrated keyboard (C2-4P)? Floppies? It's blue; integrated keyboard.
That makes it a C2-4P.
I can't remember if this one has floppies. I
have
another one which may be a II that did come with at
least one floppy drive.
A 'II' would be in a box with either an external OSI keyboard
at the end of a ribbon cable or a serial port for a terminal.
Challenger 1
You mean a C1P or a first series Challenger? >
Challenger C4P
In the original box, with the dual 8" floppy drive subsystem (also in the
original box). Superboard kit (unbuilt)
Do you have the original packaging with it (I would guess so)? If so,
I would love to see some pictures of it.
4:37 p.m.
I wrote:
Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
OK, pages swapped back in from secondary storage seem to indicate that
it was owned by Vince Briel but there is still a ~20% chance of error.
Bill
Well, you do have that extremely rare OSI single-board (what model was
that again?) I did consider clubbing you in the back of the head and
running off with it at VCF East but there would've been too many
witnesses.
I _WISH_ that were mine, but Bob Maxwell and I were babysitting it for...
Dang! I seem to have lost a few brain cells and can't remember who the
owner was. I was sorely tempted to try to casually pack it up with my
stuff at the end of the show.
6:02 p.m.
I wrote:
I wrote:
Sigh... A little bird has reminded me that it in fact belongs to Jim Kearny.
So, now you know whose house to rob! ;-)
Bill
Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
OK, pages swapped back in from secondary storage seem to indicate that
it was owned by Vince Briel but there is still a ~20% chance of error.
Well, you do have that extremely rare OSI single-board (what model was
that again?) I did consider clubbing you in the back of the head and
running off with it at VCF East but there would've been too many
witnesses.
I _WISH_ that were mine, but Bob Maxwell and I were babysitting
it for...
Dang! I seem to have lost a few brain cells and can't remember who the
owner was. I was sorely tempted to try to casually pack it up with my
stuff at the end of the show.
16 Apr
16 Apr
11:03 p.m.
On Wed, 13 Apr 2005, Bill Sudbrink wrote:
I'm not sure, I made that up :) This is the one which I know I have but
can't find. It may well be a II or a 2 of some variety.
Still looking...couldn't find it.
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
[ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ]
[ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]
Challenger 1
You mean a C1P or a first series Challenger? Challenger
C4P
Superboard kit (unbuilt)
Do you have the original packaging with it (I would guess so)? If so,
I would love to see some pictures of it.
7034
days inactive
7040
days old
13 comments
5 participants
participants (5)
-
bfranchuk＠jetnet.ab.ca -
curt＠atarimuseum.com -
ethan.dicks＠gmail.com -
vcf＠siconic.com -
wh.sudbrink＠verizon.net