22 May
1999
22 May
'99
2:28 p.m.
<Check the quality of the decoupling capacitors on that board. A lot
<of noise can be caused by low grade decoupling caps. If in doubt replace
<them with speedy MKM-type 100n caps.
Would not help the ram card. Could even make it worse as the power and
ground gridding is part of the problem.
<Putting the board in a slot near one of the terminators may also be
<helpfull.
<
<Does this machine has active termination on the bus?
Standard NS* horizon does not have any termination passive or active. Most
work fine without it but I happen to have one that is a bit more stubborn.
Though the NS* 64k dram installed works fine without termination on the bus
most everything else wants it. Odd as I have another that never had
termination!
Allison
23 May
23 May
9:09 a.m.
New subject: Semi-Final Northstar Horizon Update
Standard NS* horizon does not have any termination passive or active. Most
work fine without it but I happen to have one that is a bit more stubborn.
Though the NS* 64k dram installed works fine without termination on the bus
most everything else wants it. Odd as I have another that never had
termination!
Well, the Northstar now sports a nice clean pair of Shugart SA400s in its
drive bays, both of which work fine. I cleaned up the aluminum chassis
with some rubbing alcohol (though I have one handwritten sticker on the
front left to remove). It spiffed up real nice!
On a disk that Doug Coward sent me, which doesn't boot but can be read
once I boot of one of the disks sent to me by Don Maslin, I have a
couple programs called RAMTEST3 and RAMTEST5. They're purpose is
obvious BUT I don't have any docs for them. Does anyone have information
on the various values it can show for each 1k block of memory it examines?
Thanks...
Anthony Clifton
10:05 a.m.
New subject: Final Northstar Horizon Update (for now)
On a disk that Doug Coward sent me, which doesn't
boot but can be read
once I boot of one of the disks sent to me by Don Maslin, I have a
couple programs called RAMTEST3 and RAMTEST5. They're purpose is
obvious BUT I don't have any docs for them. Does anyone have information
on the various values it can show for each 1k block of memory it examines?
Using RAMTEST3 and RAMTEST5, which load at 3000h and 5000h respectively,
I was able to configure and drop in two more 16k ram boards so I now have
the system up to 48k.
Using some BASIC programs off of Doug Coward's disk I was able to load
and run STARTREK! Woo hoo! I've always loved that game!
Now I just need to figure out one of my many miscellaneous 8k boards
and repair the N* RAM16 A3 board to replace the slightly flakey
RAM16 A3 board in the machine currently. Then I'll have 56k. Perhaps
then I'll be able to load and use CP/M 2.2. =-D
Anthony Clifton
11:22 a.m.
New subject: Vector Graphic S100 Identification Request
Greetings,
Ok, I've got a Vector Graphic S100 chassis full of cards and another
chassis with an 8" hard disk. I picked up this machine last fall from
Jeff Kaneko. Thanks Jeff! I thought since I've had such good luck
with the Northstar that I'd start tackling the VG.
Ok, here's what I know about it. The system chassis says just
Vector on the front, has a keyswitch and a reset button. It also
has a 5 1/4" floppy drive in the front.
The Part Number on the back says 9007-0018 while the Serial Number
says 1003. A similar sticker on the inside bottom next to the floppy
drive says PN 5034-0016 SN 10014.
The system has a Bitstreamer II card, which I'm assuming goes to something
like a tape drive (which I do not have), 4 Vector 64k RAM cards, a Vector
CPU card with a Z80B, which has a serial console cable going to a DB25
on the back of the unit. The unit also has three serial cards going to
five DB25s on the back, each having a label that says "Vector Mindless
Terminal Only".
The CPU card says ZCB on it and has a copyright of 1979.
What can anyone tell me about this system? What model is it? Did it
run CP/M or M/PM or both? Anyone have bootdisks for this thing?
On a side note, the cables to the hard disk have been snipped but there's
enough on either side to know what they're supposed to be. Obviously,
when I reconnect those there's a possibility that it will boot off the
hard disk. ??? (Maybe that's an assumption)
Thanks...
Anthony Clifton
PS: I'm sending this directly to you, Don, as well to see if you have
a bootdisk for it. Thanks!
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allisonp＠world.std.com -
wirehead＠retrocomputing.com