Subject: Re: In search of Christopher Willis

From: chris <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu May 15 20:44:00 2003

>What is a BBS?

Yikes. My first reaction was this must be a joke. Someone on this list 
doesn't know what a BBS is.

But then I realized, this is a list for classic computers, with the 
definition of classic being older than 10 years. By 1993 the internet was 
on a solid growth, and BBSs were already hard to find.

Kind of scary that some of the people that might just be getting into 
this "lifestyle" (now that we have determined it is a lifestyle) honestly 
may not know what a BBS is. Nor might they know anything about much that 
predates the existance of Windows and the Mac OS.

Hopefully, we can welcome the new people, and educate them to what they 
have missed out on... while keeping the list from degrading into a 
glorified Windows 95 tech support forum.

-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>

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From: Joe <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu May 15 21:56:00 2003

>doesn't know what a BBS is.

  Next he'll want to know what a Teletype is! :-/

    Joe

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From: Gene Buckle <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu May 15 22:22:01 2003

> on a solid growth, and BBSs were already hard to find.
Horsepucky.  Boards didn't begin to decline until 1995 or so. :)

g.

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From: "Thompson Family" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri May 16 17:00:01 2003

LOL I have a teletype and all the original receipts, manuals and service
bulletins.
Times are changing. Of course I got it and a big stash of other stuff from
someone who left it at my brother's house during a divorce. He disappears
and after 15 years or so I got it. I have been picking up the odd piece here
and there just because they are cheap and here seems to be a market for
them.

I never heard of a BBS. It ranks up there with butter churn parts and
knowledge of how to crank start a car. It is good to know but it is not
something you'd run across  - well except here. It is interesting to think
of all the detailed knowledge lost throughout history as it simply had no
use and was not preserved.

Computing has gone the path of automobiles. The first generation of owners
were hobbyists, mechanics and it evolved into an everyday thing. They have
become collectible the same as baskets, old weather vanes and Stickley
chairs.

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From: Mail List <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri May 16 18:13:00 2003

> It is interesting to think of all the detailed knowledge lost throughout 
history

But it almost seems like it was only yesterday.

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From: "Fred Cisin (XenoSoft)" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri May 16 20:45:00 2003

> use and was not preserved.

Well, since you brought it up,...
<Off-topic-useless-info>
The newest car that I've had that had a crank was a 1958 VW pickup,
although the U.S. models stopped in the early 50s.  But the parts were
around for quite a while (special crank pulley nut), so I added it to
others through the 1980s.  The special crank pulley nut had deep
asymmetrical notches, kinda like the "tamper-proof" screw-heads in public
mens' rooms, so that the crank would be pushed back and not be turned
by the engine once it started.  The crank itself is just a bent rod with a
small cross bar near the tip.

Start by chocking the wheels, or at least FIRMLY set a brake.
Make a scratch mark for the current distributor position (timing).
Retard the ignition timing to no more than a few degrees before top
dead center.  You REALLY don't want it to kick back!  That REALLY hurts! 
A friend of Charles Kettering was killed that way, and that is what led 
to the development of an electric motor for starting.  
Bring it up on compression of one cylinder.
Take it as fast as you can through top dead center; if it responds at all,
try to keep as much momentum as you can past the next cylinder.
The natural variation from one cylinder to another may mean that you might
have to try starting with several different cylinders.
Once it starts, turn the distributor back to where it was; unchock the
wheels; and next time, don't let the battery run down that far!

Hand cranking is no harder than push starting a car, except that with push
starting it is possible to distribute the work load among more people.
NEITHER will work with modern systems, such as the '70 VW Type III fool
injection or modern emission control computers unless the battery has
enough voltage remaining to power the electronics (typically about 10V).
</Off-topic-useless-info>

--
Grumpy Ol' Fred        [email-masked]

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From: Tothwolf <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri May 16 21:34:00 2003

On Fri, 16 May 2003, Mail List wrote:
> > knowledge of how to crank start a car. It is good to know but it is
> > not something you'd run across - well except here. It is interesting
> > to think of all the detailed knowledge lost throughout history as it
> > simply had no use and was not preserved.
>

Seems like? Uhm, it probably *was* only yesterday for some of us...or even
just a few hours ago ;)

-Toth

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From: Don Maslin <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat May 17 00:07:00 2003

> wheels; and next time, don't let the battery run down that far!

It was sure a lot easier when you could retard the 'spark' with
the lever on the steering column, wasn't it?

						- don

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From: [email-masked] (Tony Duell)
Date: Sat May 17 18:28:00 2003

> although the U.S. models stopped in the early 50s.  But the parts were

I am pretty sure that UK Land Rovers had the starting handle at least 
until the late 1970s... The series 3 workshop manual shows the special 
dog bolt anyway.

The starting handle makes some maintenance jobs (setting the valve 
clearances and the static ignition timing, for example) a lot easier too...

-tony

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From: Stan Barr <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun May 18 07:10:01 2003

Hi,

> until the late 1970s... The series 3 workshop manual shows the special 

As did Hillman Imp vans, the relevant parts were esily fitted to the cars.
ISTR 2CVs having them too...
-- 
Cheers,
Stan Barr  [email-masked]

The future was never like this!