Subject: Looking for MSD service manual

From: "Musicman" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon May 5 22:14:00 2003

I am desperatly looking for a copy (electronic, scanned, hard, any!) of the
MSD service manual (for the MSD Dual Drive sometimes called the SD2 or Super
Drive 2) for the Commodore line of computers...I'd like to sell my MSD dual
drive, and it is in great shape, but I have the owners manual and figure it
would be nice to include a service manual as these are 20+ years old!

Thanks

-----Original Message-----
From: [email-masked] [mailto:[email-masked]]On
Behalf Of [email-masked]
Sent: Sunday, May 04, 2003 12:32 AM
To: [email-masked]
Subject: cctech digest, Vol 1 #495 - 49 msgs

Send cctech mailing list submissions to
	[email-masked]

To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
	http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctech
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
	[email-masked]

You can reach the person managing the list at
	[email-masked]

When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of cctech digest..."

Today's Topics:

   1. HP's Amigo Protocol, HFS (Peter Brown)
   2. RE: HP 9000 300 data acquisition card - Infotek AD200 (Peter Brown)
   3. Another rubber capstan turns to mush ([email-masked])
   4. DATA I/O SetSite module (Joe)
   5. dnd (Ken Carlin)
   6. Re: More DEC Stuff Coming (Jeffrey Sharp)
   7. Fw: Germany: Free RS/6000 ! (Robert F. Schaefer)
   8. Re: Heathkit EC-1 ([email-masked])
   9. Great Finds Todayin Houston (Keys)
  10. Re: Pens for TRS-80 PC-2 plotter - found. (Ethan Dicks)
  11. Re: More DEC Stuff Coming (TeoZ)
  12. wanted: documentation for IBM 3164 terminal (Joseph Ballantyne)
  13. RE: More DEC Stuff Coming (Witchy)
  14. VAXStation 4000/90 Manuals (David de Gruyl)
  15. Re: Inquiry about Classic Computers Collectors List (John Boffemmyer
IV)
  16. Re: VAXStation 4000/90 Manuals (Paul Williams)
  17. Re: VAXStation 4000/90 Manuals (David de Gruyl)
  18. More items from the 'Garage'... (James Willing)
  19. RE: FS/FT Items ([email-masked])
  20. FA: HP computer manuals; Pascal, Fortran, IPC (Joe)
  21. RE: H89 disk formats? (Patrick Rigney)
  22. Re: Heathkit EC-1 (Doug Coward)
  23. Re: Heathkit EC-1 (Doug Coward)
  24. Re: Heathkit EC-1 (Dwight K. Elvey)
  25. Looking for a 11/44 in denver area / colorado (emanuel stiebler)
  26. RE:256x4 80NS or faster (Geoff Reed)
  27. RE:256x4 80NS or faster (Joe)
  28. Re: HP Amigo command set and HFS disk format (Joe)
  29. Re: Heathkit EC-1 (Doug Coward)
  30. Re: Heathkit EC-1 (Ethan Dicks)
  31. Neat find (in my own junk bin!)  - NS 8073 (Ethan Dicks)
  32. Re: Looking for a 11/44 in denver area / colorado (Tony Duell)
  33. Northgate OmniKey Ultra (David Holland)
  34. Re: Heathkit EC-1 (Dwight K. Elvey)
  35. VCF Europa 4.0 (Vintage Computer Festival)
  36. Re: Northgate OmniKey Ultra (Frank McConnell)
  37. MicroVAX4000/5050A drive sleds (Greg Elkin)
  38. TRS-80 / System 80 (Alan Greenstreet)
  39. Re: MicroVAX4000/505A drive sleds (Robert F. Schaefer)
  40. Gnomes (Bob Clark)
  41. HP's Amigo Protocall & HP IPC (Joe)
  42. Fw: Viewfax 258 (Bob Clark)
  43. VCF Europa Live (Vintage Computer Festival)
  44. Re: HP's Amigo Protocol, HFS (Joe)
  45. Re: Northgate OmniKey Ultra (David Holland)
  46. Soroc IQ120 Chip Problem (Marvin Johnston)
  47. HP9915 (Tony Duell)
  48. Re: Another rubber capstan turns to mush (R. D. Davis)
  49. Re: HP Amigo command set and HFS disk format (Frank McConnell)

--__--__--

Message: 1
From: "Peter Brown" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Subject: HP's Amigo Protocol, HFS
Date: Sat, 03 May 2003 17:53:15 +0000
Reply-To: [email-masked]

Hi Joe,

The drive is a 9134XV - serial number begins with 23 so I guess that it
would be from around 1983.  If I look at the drive with an HP 9000 332 it
sees an HFS partition - with basic 6.0 binaries :).

When I ask the drive to identify itself it returns a pair of bytes that I
don't recognise (1 and 15 from memory but I could be wrong).  This pair of
bytes is not the same as the pair that would be returned by a CS80 drive.

I managed to check the reader software with a pair of 9133 drives, a 9134
drive (which fails) and a 7907 drive (this identifies itself correctly but
appears to have been wiped of data at some time).

I have some other software recorded on 7906 removable cartridges - does
anyone know if an HPIB version of this drive was made? - I think that the
model number may be 7906H but I have no further information.  Does anyone
have a 7906H tht they don't need?

Cheers

Peter Brown

_________________________________________________________________
On the move? Get Hotmail on your mobile phone http://www.msn.co.uk/mobile

--__--__--

Message: 2
From: "Peter Brown" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Subject: RE: HP 9000 300 data acquisition card - Infotek AD200
Date: Sat, 03 May 2003 21:47:05 +0000
Reply-To: [email-masked]

Hi All,

I've just acquired an HP 9000 series R332.  In the back of it amongst the
usual HPIB / GPIB cards there is a card marked Infotek Systems AD200
Converter, \ Assy 900-13992 rev E - I assume that this is some sort of data
acquisition card.

Does anyone have details of the card specification / the software required
to drive it?

Cheers

Peter Brown

_________________________________________________________________
It's fast, it's easy and it's free. Get MSN Messenger today!
http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger

--__--__--

Message: 3
Date: Sat, 3 May 2003 20:58:49 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Another rubber capstan turns to mush
From: <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Reply-To: [email-masked]

Hello All - bah, was just playing with my QIC drive, a WangTek
5150ES (Using dos tar!) and halfway thru the first listing
tape stops. Turns out the rubber what drives the tape has gotten
very soft. Anybody have a box full of cheap replacements?
(pic here: http://mail.schillernet.us/wangtek/ ).  I'd like to
keep it working, but paying for depot service ( like
http://www.eds-sales.com/EDS-QICPG.htm ) on a 150Mb drive
is, uh, a questionable investment.

--Chuck

--__--__--

Message: 4
Date: Thu, 01 May 2003 13:45:52
To: [email-masked]
From: Joe <[email-masked]>
Subject: DATA I/O SetSite module
Reply-To: [email-masked]

  Anybody know where I can find a PDF copy of the manual for this?

    Joe

--__--__--

Message: 5
From: "Ken Carlin" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Subject: dnd
Date: Thu, 1 May 2003 20:10:47 -0400
Reply-To: [email-masked]

Hello:

I have been searching for the source code to DND for quite a long time now,
and I ran across this post you made at some time in the past.  Would you
happen to have worked out the details in order to distribute the source
code?
I used to play this game in college many years ago, and it would mean quite
a
lot to me to get it up and running again.

Thanks for any help that you can offer,

Ken Carlin

>From what I've read, banned inside of DEC is the best description :^)  It
>uses creatures and spells straight from D&D.

Yep, I know exactly which one you speak of... I have the sources
for the pascal version of the game, along with the data files,
preserved for almost 20 years.

I have ported the game to C using curses (actually, it was mostly
a brute-force translation from the pascal) and have it running
at least as well as the original pascal version (which was incomplete)
at home on my Alpha PWS running Linux.

I've been in contact with one of the people who was responsible for
writing the pascal version, and am trying to get ahold of all the
others so that I can figure out how to write up a 'copyright' page
with proper attributions.

>Basically all I know is what's written up at the following webpage:
>http://www.io.com/~adastra/rancourt/dnd/

>It was written by Daniel Lawrence, started on the PDP-10, was ported to
>RSTS/E part way through, and after that ported to VAX/VMS.

I played it on RSTS/E when I was working at Parker St (DEC) in Maynard
back in 1977.  Actually, the pascal version was also built on RSTS
using, I believe, the OMSI compiler, and ran on RT-11.

Dan has apparently given permission for any and all versions of the
game to exist with his blessing, but since the source I have had
a copyright which is problematic (since it doesn't mention him), I
have to try to do the right thing.

>I grabbed the source off of the web page above, and it almost works.  In
>fact it might work, IF, I could figure out exactly how to build it.  BTW,
>the "TOPS-20" executable, looks to be a VMS V1.0 executable.

If/when I can resolve the issues of attribution, I'd love to make it
available... should I even bother with sourceforge? :-)

					Megan Gentry
					Former RT-11 Developer

+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL   | email: gentry at zk3.dec.com (work) |
| Unix Support Engineering Group |        mbg at world.std.com (home)  |
| Hewlett Packard                |             (s/ at /@/)             |
| 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43   | URL:     http://world.std.com/~mbg/ |
| Nashua, NH 03062               | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler |
| (603) 884 1055   (DEC '77-'98) |  required." - mbg            KB1FCA |

--__--__--

Message: 6
Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 01:13:57 -0500
From: Jeffrey Sharp <[email-masked]>
To: ClassicCmp Mailing List <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: More DEC Stuff Coming
Reply-To: [email-masked]

On Thursday, May  1, 2003, Tony Duell wrote:
> I got a red pen and made up some 'Danger Implosives' signs which I stuch
> to the sides of the VR201.  This was before the current panic over
> terrorism, of course. Thus labelled, I carried the machine onto the train
> and to London. I got some very odd looks ;-)

When I was a bit younger I read PC/Computing.  Penn Jillette used to write
the back page, which I loved to read.  In one issue, he recommended that
people put commands in their AUTOEXEC.BAT file such that their computer
would count down from 10 upon bootup, as if preparing to detonate.  He
suggested that this be done to have fun with the security people at airports
who ask you to turn on your laptop.  I wouldn't try this today! :-)

I loved the back page of PC/C.  As my special homage to it, at every job
I've had, I have introduced the term 'Thurman unit' into the corporate
vocabulary.  Anybody else here remember what a Thurman unit is?

--
Jeffrey Sharp

--__--__--

Message: 7
From: "Robert F. Schaefer" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Subject: Fw: Germany: Free RS/6000 !
Date: Thu, 1 May 2003 20:36:50 -0400
Reply-To: [email-masked]

Saw this on spamnet news...

----- Original Message -----
From: "Frank Ebinger" <Frank-Ebinger>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware
Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2003 12:44 AM
Subject: Germany: Free RS/6000 !

> Hello!
>
> Is anybody near Karlsruhe interested in RS/6000
> Model 320, 340, 360 and some other Models?
>
> Look at the Newsgroup  ka.markt.computer
> The University in Karlsruhe offers RS/6000 !
>
>
> Best regards
>
> Frank Ebinger

--__--__--

Message: 8
To: [email-masked]
From: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: Heathkit EC-1
Date: Thu, 01 May 2003 19:59:06 -0500
Reply-To: [email-masked]

In message <[email-masked]>, The Design Fort DTP
wri
tes:
>I would be interested to learn more about the Heathkit EC-1 analog
computer.
>So far I only found pictures and specifications on the net. Is there a
>website that actually explained how this machine worked and/or what it
>could/can do.
>Even more are there informations about "programs" that this machine could
>run?
>
>I have to admit that the "analog" times of the computer age was a bit
before
>my time, but I really would love to learn more about it.

Others have already posted some good information on this.  However,
I thought I'd mention a little thing I wrote up as a handout
for a class on the history of computing I taught several years
ago.  You can find the html version at:

http://bellsouthpwp.net/d/r/drbrians/analog/analog.html

and a PDF file at:

http://bellsouthpwp.net/d/r/drbrians/analog/analog.pdf

It's not an in-depth treatment by any means, but it does give a
run down on the basic math behind how they work.

Brian L. Stuart

--__--__--

Message: 9
From: "Keys" <[email-masked]>
To: "cctalk@classiccmp" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Great Finds Todayin Houston
Date: Thu, 1 May 2003 22:23:37 -0500
Reply-To: [email-masked]

I picked up the following items today while searching the thrifts:

SGI Indigo2 IMPACT cpu only no KB or monitor with it.

HP Visualize C180 cpu only no KB or monitor.

HP apollo Series 700 product # A2286A.

TRS-80 micro computer system Catalog # 26-01006-G. No monitor or power
supply with it.

Apple IIc Plus cpu only.

Tandy 1000SL cpu only.

NBA JAM cassette/cartridge for the Super Famicom.

Panasonic R E A L  FZ-10 3DO console.

--__--__--

Message: 10
Date: Thu, 1 May 2003 22:52:10 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ethan Dicks <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Pens for TRS-80 PC-2 plotter - found.
To: [email-masked]
Reply-To: [email-masked]

--- Philip Pemberton <[email-masked]> wrote:
> If someone wants to send me one or two plotters with bad drive gears,
> I'd be willing to have a go at repairing them. My technique involves
> repairing the damage with Araldite (epoxy adhesive - sets rock hard)
> and then putting a small (#10) staple in across the damaged section.

I have a number of NOS plotter engines with nearly all (pre) cracked
gears.  I will be happy to loan you one, but I think you will find that
your technique is not suitable for such a small gear.  The diameter of
the staple wire is about the same as the thickness of the plastic
between the bottom of the groove and the bore.  There are two gears
per engine - X and Y.  Same size.  Same problem.  One on the left,
one on the right.

I have used similar techniques (with success) fixing Atari joystick
actuators (I used to get the joysticks for free from overenthusiastic
friends with 2600s)

You would have to get the plastic to mate up rather closely where
the crack is - the "problem" is not that the shaft slips in the broken
gear; it's that the gap causes the gear not to mesh with the driven
gear and the gear train binds, preventing X or Y motion.

> I'd be tempted to take a few 10ths of a mm off the inside of the hole
> for the shaft that the gear fits onto. If they're cracking, the shaft is
> probably too big for the hole. Enlarging the hole very slightly should
> reduce the pressure a bit and hopefully make the gear last a few more
> years that it would have done if it were not modified.

The shaft diameter is 1/20" (1.27mm).  If you enlarge the bore by
7%-14% (one or two tenths of a mm) off the inside of the gear, it will
freewheel and fly off the shaft then get lost in the carpet.

I have some closeup pictures I can e-mail to someone (no ftp access from
the machine they are on)  :-(   The relative sizes of the gears are
visible, as are the cracks.

-ethan
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com

--__--__--

Message: 11
From: "TeoZ" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: More DEC Stuff Coming
Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 02:26:41 -0400
Reply-To: [email-masked]

No idea, does it have somthing to do with Uma Thurman which he mentions alot
about in those articles?

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeffrey Sharp" <[email-masked]>
To: "ClassicCmp Mailing List" <[email-masked]>
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2003 2:13 AM
Subject: Re: More DEC Stuff Coming

> On Thursday, May  1, 2003, Tony Duell wrote:
> > I got a red pen and made up some 'Danger Implosives' signs which I stuch
> > to the sides of the VR201.  This was before the current panic over
> > terrorism, of course. Thus labelled, I carried the machine onto the
train
> > and to London. I got some very odd looks ;-)
>
> When I was a bit younger I read PC/Computing.  Penn Jillette used to write
> the back page, which I loved to read.  In one issue, he recommended that
> people put commands in their AUTOEXEC.BAT file such that their computer
> would count down from 10 upon bootup, as if preparing to detonate.  He
> suggested that this be done to have fun with the security people at
airports
> who ask you to turn on your laptop.  I wouldn't try this today! :-)
>
> I loved the back page of PC/C.  As my special homage to it, at every job
> I've had, I have introduced the term 'Thurman unit' into the corporate
> vocabulary.  Anybody else here remember what a Thurman unit is?
>
> --
> Jeffrey Sharp

--__--__--

Message: 12
Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 03:04:06 -0400 (EDT)
From: [email-masked] (Joseph Ballantyne)
To: [email-masked]
Subject: wanted: documentation for IBM 3164 terminal
Reply-To: [email-masked]

I want these IBM publications (especially A18-2317):
GA18-2317  3164 ASCII Color Display Station Description
GA18-2319  3164 ASCII Color Display Station Setup Instructions
SY18-2118  3164 ASCII Color Display Station Repair Center Maintenance Info
SY18-2120  3164 ASCII Display Station Repair Center Maintenance Information
GA18-2563  ALA User's Guide for 3163/3164
GA18-2720  3163 and 3164 Emulating IBM Terminals and DEC VT100/52 Terminals
GA18-2736  3163/3164 Enhanced Emulation of TeleVideo 950

I have A18-2318 so don't want more of that, but if you know of other 3164
publications that I don't know about, do please tell.

I'm in Ottawa ON Canada.  As far as I know, international shipping into
Canada is not practical, so I'm interested in antiques that happen to be
already in Canada.

--__--__--

Message: 13
From: "Witchy" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>
Subject: RE: More DEC Stuff Coming
Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 09:51:22 +0100
Reply-To: [email-masked]

> > something home for me (TRS80 MIII) some baggage 'handlers'
> forgot that glass
> > breaks when its dropped :(
>
> I beleive the original packing box for the M3/M4 had the following
> printed on it : 'Do not drop, or CRT may implode' ... Mind you , I once

Oddly enough that's exactly what happened......grrrr.....

> had a CRT sent by Royal Mail (who are good at wrecking things!) in a
> cardboard box with _no_ packing -- just rattling around in the box, and
> it arrived in onve piece. How, I will never know...

Strange, the only time I've ever received a CRT (black Microvitec to match
the Sinclair QL) it was nicely packed and it STILL arrived broken. Well, not
*just* broken, smashed completely in fact. Bless parcelforce's cotton socks.

cheers

--
adrian/witchy
www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the online computer museum
www.snakebiteandblack.co.uk - monthly gothic shenanigans

--__--__--

Message: 14
Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 07:37:33 -0400
From: "David de Gruyl" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Subject: VAXStation 4000/90 Manuals
Reply-To: [email-masked]

I was looking around on the internet (mainly decdocs.org and linked
sites, as well as google) and I was unable to locate scanned manuals for
the Vaxstation 4000/90.  If anyone has a link to such documents, I would
appreciate it.

My problems revolve around a newly aquired machine which does not appear
to be giving me console access over the MMJ port in the rear of the box.
As I said, this is a newly aquired machine, and I have not really taken
it apart yet, but the manuals would be helpful in any event.

David

--
David de Gruyl <[email-masked]>

--__--__--

Message: 15
Date: Fri, 02 May 2003 08:23:22 -0400
To: [email-masked]
From: John Boffemmyer IV <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Inquiry about Classic Computers Collectors List
Reply-To: [email-masked]

Ooh, Seagate, very helpful definitely one to keep in the address book =)
-John

At 11:51 AM 4/30/2003, you wrote:
>On Monday, April 28, 2003, [email-masked] wrote:
> > From 1977 to 1991, I worked for General Electric, Honeywell, Magnetic
> > Peripherals, Control Data, Imprimis, and Seagate. I am interested in
> > staying in touch with people/computers of that era. Is your list for me?
> >
> > Richard Oklahoma City, OK  73118 Email    [email-masked]
>
>I'm not exactly of that era (I'm 24), but I love machines that are.  I'm
>also located in the OKC Metro.  I live in Norman and work for a large
>company near Classen and Western.  I have a medium-sized collection of
>mostly DEC PDP-11s, VAXen, and old Suns.  I also help administrate this
>list.
>
>I think you would have an enjoyable time as a list member.  There are two
>ways to subscribe.  The first is cctalk, which is unmoderated and delivered
>immediately.  The second is cctech, which is moderated for topic and
>delivered after an average delay of 12 hours.  Please be aware that both
>share the same on-topic messages, so you should only subscribe to one of
the
>two.  Subscribing to both will get you nothing but duplicate messages.
>
>See our web site at: http://www.classiccmp.org/
>
>It would be great to have someone else from my area on the list.  AFAIK the
>closest existing subscriber is in Fort Worth.
>
>--
>Jeffrey Sharp

----------------------------------------
Founder, Lead Writer, Tech Analyst
and Web Designer Boff-Net Technologies
http://boff-net.dhs.org/index.html
---------------------------------------

--__--__--

Message: 16
Date: Fri, 02 May 2003 15:17:03 +0100
From: Paul Williams <[email-masked]>
Organization: http://vt100.net/
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: VAXStation 4000/90 Manuals
Reply-To: [email-masked]

David de Gruyl wrote:
>
> I was looking around on the internet (mainly decdocs.org and linked
> sites, as well as google) and I was unable to locate scanned manuals for
> the Vaxstation 4000/90.  If anyone has a link to such documents, I would
> appreciate it.

Manx shows that the Owner's Guide and Service Information are online:

http://vt100.net/manx/search?cp=1;q=vaxstation+4000;num=20;on=0

- Paul

--__--__--

Message: 17
Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 11:09:37 -0400
From: "David de Gruyl" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: VAXStation 4000/90 Manuals
Reply-To: [email-masked]

* on [03-05-02 10:27] Paul Williams wrote:
>David de Gruyl wrote:
>>
>> I was looking around on the internet (mainly decdocs.org and linked
>> sites, as well as google) and I was unable to locate scanned manuals for
>> the Vaxstation 4000/90.  If anyone has a link to such documents, I would
>> appreciate it.

>Manx shows that the Owner's Guide and Service Information are online:

>http://vt100.net/manx/search?cp=1;q=vaxstation+4000;num=20;on=0

I was not aware of manx, thank you.

David

--
David de Gruyl <[email-masked]>

--__--__--

Message: 18
Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 08:35:05 -0700 (PDT)
From: James Willing <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Subject: More items from the 'Garage'...
Reply-To: [email-masked]

Finding myself (yet again) in the unenviable position of needing to
free up both some space and a fair chunk of money in a (very) short
amount of time, it is time to release a few more items from the 'Garage'
to new homes...

As I'm still having problems with getting (large) things shipped out, I'll
be making one run out to the 'big city' to seek a shipping place for
packing and shipping, so everything will go out at once...

Items up for purchase:

--------------------------------------

Heath H-11a / H27 system
	H-11a Chassis
	M7270 LSI 11/2 CPU
	WHA-11-16 16x16 RAM (2)
	H11-5 Serial card (2)
	WH11-5 Serial card
	H11-2 Parallel card
	H27 Floppy Interface
	H27 Dual Drive unit

Untested, no docs or disk based software.
Includes Heath paper tape based software.

$600 plus shipping

--------------------------------------

Heath H-10 paper tape reader/punch
	includes manual

Runs but needs cleaning/alignment

$150 plus shipping
(or $100 if purchased w/H-11 system)

--------------------------------------

Heath H-8 / H17 / H37 system
	H8 Chassis
	HA8-6 Z80 CPU
	WH8-64 RAM
	Multi Port Serial Card
	H17 Floppy Interface
	H37 Floppy Interface
	H17 Dual Drive unit
	H37 Dual Drive unit

Runs, but has issues with formatting floppys...
Includes hardware manual set, some software.

$400 plus shipping

--------------------------------------

Heath 8 inch drive chassis

Not real sure of the ID on this one, but someone has
suggested that it is H207-40

Drive chassis with one half-height 8 inch floppy drive
installed.  Blank panel suggests room for a second drive.

Untested... no docs.

$40 plus shipping

--------------------------------------

Polymorphics Systems 8813/2 System

Unopened, in original factory packaging!

This unit is a twin of the 'amazing smoking computer'
seen in the 'This Old Computer' presentation at VCF IV

Dual drive, 64k RAM, original manuals and software.
	System 88 User's Guide
	System 88 Software
	Wordmaster

This unit has not been out of it's box since it left the
Polymorphics factory probably 20 years ago!

Untested... (at least by me) obviously...

$300 plus shipping

--------------------------------------

All items are first come, first served...
If you are in the area (SE Kansas) and can pick up then
all the better.

-jim
---
[email-masked]
The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw

--__--__--

Message: 19
Date: Fri, 02 May 2003 12:18:46 -0400 (EDT)
From: [email-masked]
To: Patrick Finnegan <[email-masked]>
Subject: RE: FS/FT Items
Cc: [email-masked]
Reply-To: [email-masked]

On 30-Apr-2003 Patrick Finnegan wrote:
> On Wed, 30 Apr 2003 [email-masked] wrote:
>
>>
>> On 29-Apr-2003 Patrick Finnegan wrote:
>> > I'm looking for either QBUS parts, or $5 + shipping for each of the
>> > following.. Trying to clean out my room before I have to move in a
>> > few
>> > months.
>> >
>> > - SparcStation 20, 32MB ram, 1x50MHz proc, floppy, 2GB HDD.
>> >   I have 2 of these to get rid of.
>>
>> I'd be interested in one of these.  Or have they be claimed already.
>> Could you give me an estimate on shipping to Québec (J0B 2C0) ?
>
> All of the sparcstation 20's have been taken.

Ah well.

-Philip

--__--__--

Message: 20
Date: Fri, 02 May 2003 12:48:35
To: [email-masked]
From: Joe <[email-masked]>
Subject: FA: HP computer manuals; Pascal, Fortran, IPC
Reply-To: [email-masked]

  I've just finished listing a bunch of HP computer and software manuals on
E-bay. A lot of the manuals cover HP-UX and are likly to be applicable to
the IPC. Don't just go by the titles, look through the HP-UX manuals to see
which one you think are applicable. Also listed HP pascal and Fortran
manuals and a DATA I?O Setsite module for the Unisite programmer. see
<http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&userid=rigdonj>
if interested.

    Joe

--__--__--

Message: 21
From: "Patrick Rigney" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Subject: RE: H89 disk formats?
Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 10:27:26 -0700
Reply-To: [email-masked]

Dwight,

I was going through a stack of HUG diskettes last night just taking stock of
what I have, and lo and behold, I have a utilities disk with a HUG-modified
H-17 driver that supports two-sided 40- and 80-track drives (hard sector
still, of course).  Judging from the instructions, it seems that basically
replacing SY.DVD on a disk with this new driver (and of course, having the
right drive in the machine) would get it working.  It seems plausible that
the disk could have been made on a system with this driver. It comes with
assembly source as well, and even versions for machines upgraded to 3- and
4-Mhz operation.  No mods to the controller itself appear to be necessary.
Let you know if you'd like a copy.

Patrick

> >From: "Don Maslin" <[email-masked]>
> >
> >Dwight, I would assume that they were done on a 96tpi
> >floppy drive.
> >						- don
> >
>
> Hi Don
>  That is what I figured. I've been working on my serial
> bootstrap and transfer program. I'm able to read and
> write an image to the H89 but I'm still having issues
> getting the formatting to work. I copied some old
> code that I have in the Fig-Forth that I did but it
> is still missing something. I even went back and ran
> the Forth FORMAT and it works fine. I suspect there is
> some other initialization that I'm missing. I looked at
> one stretch of code and there is an operation that should
> always hang. Can't figure why the original works. It
> may be something connected to the timer interrupt that
> isn't normally there. I wish I'd made good notes when
> I did the original but this was one of my first computer
> projects, after working on my Poly88, and brain rot
> is now catching up with me.
>  Once I get the format working, I can work on cleaning
> up the user interface. Looking at the 96 stuff is a
> little later on the list.
> Dwight

--__--__--

Message: 22
Date: Fri, 02 May 2003 11:17:12 -0700
From: Doug Coward <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: Heathkit EC-1
Reply-To: [email-masked]

   The Design Fort DTP wrote:
>  I would be interested to learn more about the Heathkit EC-1
> analog computer. So far I only found pictures and specifications
> on the net. Is there a website that actually explained how
> this machine worked and/or what it could/can do.
> Even more are there informations about "programs" that this
> machine could run?

  Most computer applications are simulations of one
kind or another, word processors, spreadsheets, drawing
programs, even a desktop GUI. Analog computers are the
masters of the art of simulation, but they are not used
for mundane simulations like these.
  Analog Computers run mathematical simulation of physical
systems. Everything from the decay of subatomic particles
to the interaction of two colliding galaxies.
  Do you want to:
 * See the results of a chemical reaction?
 * Test the design of an automobile tire?
 * Study the effects of pollution on a fish population?
 * Model blood flow through an organ?
 * Understand the effects of lowering the interest rate?
 * Fine tune the design of the Space Shuttle main engine?
 * Control flooding on a major river?
 * Explore new types of music?

 All of these are physical systems governed by mathematical
equations.
 Analog computers are PURELY parallel and can run programs
slower than real time, real time or faster than real time.
Simulations can be halted at any point and all aspects of
the simulation can be examined. Changes can then be made
and the simulation can then be continued from the point it
was halted or restart from the beginning. So, analog computers
can not only simulate a fixed systems, but can also test
'what if' cases very easily.
 Analog computers can be a hardwired special purpose type or
flexible general purpose type.
 The EC-1 with only nine amplifiers can be limiting in the
size of simulations it will handle. But analog computers
don't have the compatibility and the connectivity problem
of digital computers. Ten EC-1s could be connected together
to form an EC-1 with 90 amplifiers. The only problem would
be if more than 9 integrators were used then a slight
modification would have to be made to each EC-1 using an
integrator to allow one EC-1 to control the mode.
 An EC-1 can also be directly connected to another brand
of analog computer. No problem other than the mode control
of integrators.
 The lure of the EC-1 is that it a inexpensive and compact
example of vacuum tube computing.

 The world is analog. The human mind is analog.
Digital computers make a nice hobby, and work just fine for
tasks composed of sequential steps, but they are just an
over hyped fad.
  --Doug
=========================================
Doug Coward
@ home in Poulsbo, WA

Analog Computer Online Museum and History Center
http://dcoward.best.vwh.net/analog
=========================================

--__--__--

Message: 23
Date: Fri, 02 May 2003 11:59:27 -0700
From: Doug Coward <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: Heathkit EC-1
Reply-To: [email-masked]

  Ethan wrote:
> How does a resistive sheet computer work?

  Just a quick note for now.
 Resistive sheets belong to a category of analog
computing called network analyzers.

> In the same vein (pun intended)... how would fluidic computers
> stack up?  Digital?  Analog?  Mixed?

 Fluidics (or fluid logic) can have both analog
and digital processes. You can perform boolean
operations, but you also can have fluid amplifers.
  --Doug
=========================================
Doug Coward
@ home in Poulsbo, WA

Analog Computer Online Museum and History Center
http://dcoward.best.vwh.net/analog
=========================================

--__--__--

Message: 24
Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 11:48:37 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Dwight K. Elvey" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Heathkit EC-1
To: [email-masked]
Reply-To: [email-masked]

>X-Server-Uuid: 262C4BA7-64EE-471D-8B02-117625D613AB
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cctalk-admin using -f
>From: "Doug Coward" <[email-masked]>
>X-Accept-Language: en
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>To: [email-masked]
>Subject: Re: Heathkit EC-1
>X-BeenThere: [email-masked]
>X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.10
>List-Unsubscribe: <http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctalk>,
<mailto:[email-masked]?subject=unsubscribe>
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<cctalk.classiccmp.org>
>List-Post: <mailto:[email-masked]>
>List-Help: <mailto:[email-masked]?subject=help>
>List-Subscribe: <http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctalk>,
<mailto:[email-masked]?subject=subscribe>
>List-Archive: <http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/>
>X-Original-Date: Fri, 02 May 2003 11:59:27 -0700
>Date: Fri, 02 May 2003 11:59:27 -0700
>X-WSS-ID: 12AC63976885576-01-01
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>
>  Ethan wrote:
>> How does a resistive sheet computer work?
>
>  Just a quick note for now.
> Resistive sheets belong to a category of analog
>computing called network analyzers.
>
>> In the same vein (pun intended)... how would fluidic computers
>> stack up?  Digital?  Analog?  Mixed?
>
> Fluidics (or fluid logic) can have both analog
>and digital processes. You can perform boolean
>operations, but you also can have fluid amplifers.

Hi
 An interesting side note. The power steering of your
auto is an example of an analog fluid amplifier.
Dwight

>  --Doug
>=========================================
>Doug Coward
>@ home in Poulsbo, WA
>
>Analog Computer Online Museum and History Center
>http://dcoward.best.vwh.net/analog
>=========================================

--__--__--

Message: 25
Date: Fri, 02 May 2003 13:07:02 -0600
From: emanuel stiebler <[email-masked]>
To: "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Looking for a 11/44 in denver area / colorado
Reply-To: [email-masked]

Hi,
Anybody out in colorado with a "spare" 11/44 ?
Or even just a power supply for a 11/44 ?

cheers & thanks

--__--__--

Message: 26
Date: Fri, 02 May 2003 13:41:54 -0700
To: [email-masked]
From: Geoff Reed <[email-masked]>
Subject: RE:256x4 80NS or faster
Reply-To: [email-masked]

the ones I'm trying to match are TMS44C256-80

At 07:54 AM 5/1/03 -0700, you wrote:
>I have a fair quantity of the following:
>
>P21256-12
>MCM6256BP12
>Lh21256-12
>MTC4c1024-8
>KM41C1000BP-8
>
>thanks Norm
>snip:
>
> >Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2003 11:37:28 -0700
> >To: [email-masked]
> >From: Geoff Reed <[email-masked]>
> >Subject: 256x4 80NS or faster
> >Reply-To: [email-masked]
>
> >anyone have any of these floating around?  I can't believe I gave 'em all
> >away and now I need to populate a laserjet IIID memory board :(

--__--__--

Message: 27
Date: Fri, 02 May 2003 17:12:52
To: [email-masked]
From: Joe <[email-masked]>
Subject: RE:256x4 80NS or faster
Reply-To: [email-masked]

At 01:41 PM 5/2/03 -0700, you wrote:
>the ones I'm trying to match are TMS44C256-80

   These are 4 x 256k RAMs. See my previous post about where to find them.

   Joe

>
>At 07:54 AM 5/1/03 -0700, you wrote:
>>I have a fair quantity of the following:
>>
>>P21256-12
>>MCM6256BP12
>>Lh21256-12
>>MTC4c1024-8
>>KM41C1000BP-8
>>
>>thanks Norm
>>snip:
>>
>> >Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2003 11:37:28 -0700
>> >To: [email-masked]
>> >From: Geoff Reed <[email-masked]>
>> >Subject: 256x4 80NS or faster
>> >Reply-To: [email-masked]
>>
>> >anyone have any of these floating around?  I can't believe I gave 'em
all
>> >away and now I need to populate a laserjet IIID memory board :(

--__--__--

Message: 28
Date: Fri, 02 May 2003 17:24:58
To: [email-masked]
From: Joe <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: HP Amigo command set and HFS disk format
Reply-To: [email-masked]

Hi Peter,

At 08:44 PM 5/2/03 +0000, you wrote:
>Hi All,
>
>Looks as though the CS80 / LIF part of my HPIB disk reader/writer is
working
>OK now - thanks to those who gave me pointers.
>
>I've come across another HPIB hard disk that that uses the Amigo command
set
>(- I think) and contains data in HFS format.

     I'd be surprised if it is Amigo and uses HFS.  What kind of drive is
it? I can tell you for certain what kind of command set it uses.

>
>Does anyone have full documentation for these two standards in .pdf format?

    You asked me about this a few days ago but I've been busy and forgot to
reply. I have a document called "HP Flexible Disk Drive Command Set" that
I'm pretty sure contains a description of the Amigo command set. It's an
appendix to the HP 9114 disk drive service manual. It's 36 pages long. I can
send you a copy or I'll send it to Al K. or anyone else that wants to scan
it and post it on the web somewhere.

    Joe

>
>Cheers
>
>Peter Brown
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>On the move? Get Hotmail on your mobile phone http://www.msn.co.uk/mobile

--__--__--

Message: 29
Date: Fri, 02 May 2003 15:36:10 -0700
From: Doug Coward <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: Heathkit EC-1
Reply-To: [email-masked]

  Ethan wrote:
> How does a resistive sheet computer work?

   I wrote:
>  Resistive sheets belong to a category of analog
> computing called network analyzers.

  Oops, I need to correct this.
  Resistive sheets belong to a category of analog
computing called passive element computers in which
network analyzers are probably the biggest and most
well known examples. But it also includes
* conductive sheets
* electrolytic tanks - create 3 dimensional simulations
* resistor networks
* pin and rod systems
* resistor and capacitor network

 Passive element computers normally models a
physical system using only passive R-L-C components,
and solve equations in which dimensions in space
are the independent variables, rather than time.

 Applications for passive element computers include
things like the simulation of
 * reception patterns of a receiving antenna
 * temperture, and pressure flow in a nozzle
 * diffusion of material at a transistor junction

 Here is an example:
  You solder together a large two dimensional matrix
of resistors (all the same value). At each node where
the resistors are soldered together you solder a capacitor
connected to ground.
  You then apply a voltage to one corner of this
resistor and capacitor network. As the current flows
through the network it begins to charge the capacitors.
  You now have a computer that simulates the heat flow
across a metal plate the size of your matrix, both
over distance and over time. Without the capacitors
you are simulating only over distance.

 A resistive sheet is a resistor matrix with a very
fine mesh. The finer the mesh, the better the simulation.

 "Rubber-sheet computers have been used extensively
  to study the trajectories of electrons and gas ions
  in vacuum and gas tubes"

  -Doug
=========================================
Doug Coward
@ home in Poulsbo, WA

Analog Computer Online Museum and History Center
http://dcoward.best.vwh.net/analog
=========================================

--__--__--

Message: 30
Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 15:47:20 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ethan Dicks <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Heathkit EC-1
To: [email-masked]
Reply-To: [email-masked]

--- "Dwight K. Elvey" <[email-masked]> wrote:
> Hi
>  An interesting side note. The power steering of your
> auto is an example of an analog fluid amplifier.
> Dwight

I don't think _my_ auto (1968 Beetle) is an example of that.  :-)

-ethan
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com

--__--__--

Message: 31
Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 16:10:32 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ethan Dicks <[email-masked]>
Subject: Neat find (in my own junk bin!)  - NS 8073
To: [email-masked]
Reply-To: [email-masked]

I was collecting all of my hex LED displays into one place so I can
test them before embarking on a new 1802 project.  I even dug into
my old box of spare Elf parts and pulled out a small board with four
TIL311 displays attached to a small microcontroller board - some kind
of monitor/indicator given to me by the brother of the guy that got
me into the 1802 as a kid.

He had given it to me to harvest the TIL displays.  I finally *looked*
at the attached board to see what was on it - an NS 8073!  I used to
have access to an RB5X robot when I was a volunteer at the local science
museum in High School - same chip - the hot-item-for-a-brief-moment
microcontroller with embedded Tiny Basic.  Now, rather than harvest
the parts, I'm very tempted to reverse-engineer the schematic of the
little board to see what it does.  Looks like there's a small bipolar
PROM, a 6116 SRAM, one or two TTL chips, and the TIL311s driven by
the output pins of the 8073.  The whole thing is only a few square
inches.

The funny thing is that I'd recently picked up a few 8073s from ePay
to play with.  I was planning on hooking them up to some 8031-based
8-line LCD displays I got for a few bucks each (originally out of
some flavor of AT&T office phone, IIRC).  Sort of the Classic
Attraction principle in reverse - new toys attracting alike items
from the recesses of the junk box rather than the normal way 'round.

Has anyone else played with the 8073 (in an RB5X or not)?  If
they hadn't been so pricey 20 years ago, I might have gotten one
to experiment with back then.

-ethan
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com

--__--__--

Message: 32
From: [email-masked] (Tony Duell)
Subject: Re: Looking for a 11/44 in denver area / colorado
To: [email-masked]
Date: Sat, 3 May 2003 00:35:53 +0100 (BST)
Reply-To: [email-masked]

> Hi,
> Anybody out in colorado with a "spare" 11/44 ?
> Or even just a power supply for a 11/44 ?

Are you missing the PSU, or do you have one that doesn't work? Although
it's by no means my favourite PSU to work on, it is possible to repair
these supplies and live to tell the tale (!). If you're happy working on
SMPSUs (with lethal 400V DC supplies everywhere), I can probably help you
find the fualt

-tony

--__--__--

Message: 33
Subject: Northgate OmniKey Ultra
From: David Holland <[email-masked]>
To: Classic Computer Talk <[email-masked]>
Date: 02 May 2003 20:28:24 -0400
Reply-To: [email-masked]

Howdy all,

I stumbled across a Northgate Omnikey Ultra (not UltraPlus) keyboard in
the local thrift store, and picked it up for 5$.  (It had a nice feel,
kinda PS/2'ish, and no stupid windows, or various other internet/volume
controls/etc keys.)

I've had it for about a week now, and just can't get used to funky
arrangement of the arrow keys in the middle, and the F keys on the left
just throws my Unreal Tournament gaming off.

(See http://www.northgate-keyboard-repair.com for some piccy's)

Anyways, I gather these things were something of a 'gotta have it'
keyboard at one time, and were bloody expensive.

Thought I'd offer it up here, for 5$ + shipping before it goes
downstairs in the basement to collect dust.

One thing to note, is its got one of the AT style connectors in back, so
you'll need an adapter if your going to plug it into a PS/2 style
connector. (No, you can't have the one I was using)

Visually, its pretty clean, there's a little green stuff on the bottom
where I attacked (mostly ineffectively) some sticky stuff w/ a scrubbing
sponge, but the top is (imho) nice and clean.

I think all the keys work, however, there might be a few F keys I didn't
hit the week I was using it.

I gather it might of came with some extra keycaps when it was new, so
you could move around control/shift.  I do not have those.

Anyways, enough disclaimers,

Anyone want it? (I think this is at least on-topic)

David

--__--__--

Message: 34
Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 18:11:48 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Dwight K. Elvey" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Heathkit EC-1
To: [email-masked]
Reply-To: [email-masked]

>From: "Doug Coward" <[email-masked]>
>
>  Ethan wrote:
>> How does a resistive sheet computer work?
>
>   I wrote:
>>  Resistive sheets belong to a category of analog
>> computing called network analyzers.
>
>  Oops, I need to correct this.
>  Resistive sheets belong to a category of analog

Hi
 This is the place to describe my method of finding
shorts on power planes. This is very much like the
resistive sheet methods.
 You place a power supply across one of the two planes
that has shorts between them, such that about one or
two amps is flowing in current limit. You place one lead
of a volt meter on the opposite plane and then probe
with the other lead on the plane with the current flowing
across it. You find a line where the meter reads zero.
Now, move the power leads to an orthogonal corners.
Again fine the line of zero volts. Where the two lines
cross, you'll find the short.
 There are variations of this method for finding shorts
between traces and even multiple shorts.
Dwight

--__--__--

Message: 35
Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 18:45:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: Vintage Computer Festival <[email-masked]>
To: Classic Computers Mailing List <[email-masked]>,
   <[email-masked]>
Subject: VCF Europa 4.0
Reply-To: [email-masked]

This weekend is VCF Europa 4.0 in Muenchen, Deustchland!

Complete information is on the VCF Europa website:

http://www.vcfe.de

I look forward to reports from those that make it since I won't be present
this year :(

--

Sellam Ismail                                        Vintage Computer
Festival
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
International Man of Intrigue and Danger
http://www.vintage.org

 * Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com
*

--__--__--

Message: 36
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: Northgate OmniKey Ultra
From: Frank McConnell <[email-masked]>
Date: 02 May 2003 18:33:14 -0700
Reply-To: [email-masked]

David Holland <[email-masked]> wrote:
> I've had it for about a week now, and just can't get used to funky
> arrangement of the arrow keys in the middle, and the F keys on the left
> just throws my Unreal Tournament gaming off.

So we know it's one of the sort with the Omni key instead of an
inverted-T layout.

If it's an Ultra, it should also have the function keys across the
top.

> Anyways, I gather these things were something of a 'gotta have it'
> keyboard at one time, and were bloody expensive.

Not that bad.  In the mid-1990s you could get them for about $70,
which seems expensive for a keyboard, but for those of us who really
wanted the control key to be to the left of A and didn't want to have
to fuss with driver software to make it happen, it was well worth it.

If you want expensive, go check out the Avant Stellar!  That is
reportedly the modern Northgate OmniKey, and it sells for about $150.

> I gather it might of came with some extra keycaps when it was new, so
> you could move around control/shift.  I do not have those.

So, some questions to help folks ID what you've got.

Is the control key to the left of A?

Where are the switches?  Poking out the back, or hidden under the
"OmniKey" flip-top lid, or not present at all (flip the lid up, see
nothing)?

Not present at all means it is a late-model programmable keyboard.
They had firmware bugs, and the "fix" was "remove the EEPROM that
holds the key remappings".

> Anyone want it? (I think this is at least on-topic)

Somebody better!

-Frank McConnell

--__--__--

Message: 37
From: "Greg Elkin" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Sat, 03 May 2003 10:30:30 +0100
Subject: MicroVAX4000/5050A drive sleds
Reply-To: [email-masked]

Just acquired a VAX 4000/505A (thanks Paul!) with no disks installed -
 anyone got the details for adding a raw DSSI disk to one of these
things ; the chasis has a drive drive backplane at the top with 4
edge connectors, into which a drive sled of some form slots in.
I need to knock up whatever is on the sleds, drive LEDs & switches.
Unless anyone has some excess sleds that I could liberate?...

Ohhh, wonder if the MDS pils of docs has any details on this - off to
look now :)

ta
greg

--__--__--

Message: 38
Date: Sat, 3 May 2003 22:52:02 +1200
Subject: TRS-80 / System 80
From: Alan Greenstreet <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Reply-To: [email-masked]

Hi All

I have just acquired a System 80 MkII (distributed in Australasia by
Dick Smith Electronics).

On power up I get the LED power light ok but a screen full of random
characters, the reset switch does nothing. I've had it apart and there
are no loose connections or chips on the two main boards and no sign of
any burnt or expired components.

Has anyone had similar problems and / or knows what the problem is?

Thanks

Alan

--__--__--

Message: 39
From: "Robert F. Schaefer" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MicroVAX4000/505A drive sleds
Date: Sat, 3 May 2003 07:15:32 -0400
Reply-To: [email-masked]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Greg Elkin" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2003 6:40 AM
Subject: MicroVAX4000/505A drive sleds

> Just acquired a VAX 4000/505A (thanks Paul!) with no disks installed -
>  anyone got the details for adding a raw DSSI disk to one of these
> things ; the chasis has a drive backplane at the top with 4 edge
> connectors, into which a drive sled of some form slots in. I need to
> knock up whatever is on the sleds, drive LEDs & switches. Unless
> anyone has some excess sleds that I could liberate?..

Cant help with the sleds, but it is possible to run DSSI drives without the
ID plug, see http://www.mcmanis.com/chuck/computers/vaxen/dssi-plug.html.
Short answer: logon to the console of the drives' embedded processor and
tell it it's new address!  Can your peasea do that?  ^_^

> ta
> greg

Bob

--__--__--

Message: 40
From: "Bob Clark" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Subject: Gnomes
Date: Sat, 3 May 2003 15:19:40 +0100
Reply-To: [email-masked]

Yes I remember Bob Clark
(http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2003-January/014196.html)
because
I am he, and I remember Peter Turnbull too. This is getting silly, because
this week I have relocated Bill Olivier (CommunITel) and Lindsay Reid
(Viewfax
258), mostly by accident.

Best regards,
Bob

--__--__--

Message: 41
Date: Sat, 03 May 2003 11:00:47
To: [email-masked]
From: Joe <[email-masked]>
Subject: HP's Amigo Protocall & HP IPC
Reply-To: [email-masked]

   Yesterday I was cleaning out and putting some excess HP manuals on E-bay.
One of the books that I found, HP-UX Concepts and Tutorials - Device I/O and
User Interfacing, looked interesting but was still sealed so I listed it
without opening it to see exactly what it covered. (I'm not real big on
HP-UX).  Today I found another copy of the same manual. It was alreadu
opened so I've been reading through it. First, it DOES cover the HP IPC
(Intergral Personal Computer) along with the HP 9000 Series 200/300, Series
500 and Series 800 computers. Each function that only applies to certain
systems is flagged and there are appendices for the IPC and each of the
other series that list and describe any peculiarities of that
implementation. BUT what was even more surprising is that it states that
many of the HP printers use the Amigo protocall! For the ones of you that
aren't familiar with HPs that protocall is used for low end disk drives.
This is the first time that I've heard that !
 was also used for printers. Besides that statement it also has a
"non-trivel" programming example of an "HP-IB driver that uses the Device
I/O Library subroutines to drive various models of the HP Amigo protocall
HP-IB printers". This might be a good starting point for anyone that wants
to write and Amigo driver to talk to disk drives. Are you listening, Sergio
and Peter?

   This book is definitely a keeper! It describes the HP-IB and GPIO
interfaces for the various systems in detail including their status and
control registers. It then describes how to use the DIL (Device I/O Library)
included with HP-UX to set, read and control the interfaces and how to link
calls to the DIL from Fortran, Pascal and Assembly language programs. It
looks like a great source of info for anyone that wants to write their own
device drivers or wants low level control of HP-IB and GPIO interfaces under
HP-UX.

   I'm keeping this copy but I have another one that's already on E-bay. I
know this sounds like a shameless plug but it's not. I'm just really
impressed with this book.

    Joe

--__--__--

Message: 42
From: "Bob Clark" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Subject: Fw: Viewfax 258
Date: Sat, 3 May 2003 16:07:24 +0100
Reply-To: [email-masked]

----- Original Message -----
From: Bob Clark
To: [email-masked] ; [email-masked] ; Glyn Philips ; Lindsay Reid
Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2003 3:35 PM
Subject: Viewfax 258

My god what a week this has been for finding old friends. First Bill
Olivier,
then Sue wakes me up this morning (or afternoon possibly) - there's a
Lindsay
Reid on the phone, would I like to talk to him? What, talk to Lindsay for
the
first time in 15 years, yawn oh ok then if I must.

This three days after we had complained that Lindsay had gone completely
unfindable on the web, and was obviously dead. What we didn't do of course
was
try www.viewfax.com.

Lindsay was ringing to ask if anyone remembers or better still knows a man
from the olden pirate radio days called Richard Fox-Davies, aka Dick. This
name rings strong bells with me, but I can't remember why. Anyone?

(My extensive researches this afternoon reveal that his books for kids are
still popular in Western Australia, assuming this is the same guy:
http://henrietta.liswa.wa.gov.au:90/search/aFox-Davies/afox+davies/1,3,25,B/
e
xact&FF=afox+davies+dick&1,2 )

This may be a justified cause for an NTK (http://www.ntk.net/) appeal Dan,
because...

... the good news is that Lindsay still has Viewfax 258 backed up on 5.25"
floppy disks. There's quite a few disks, and we'd have to sort through them
somewhat to find the Gnomey bits. But Lindsay is happy to loan his disks to
Glyn the man with the archaic hardware, all he needs is his address. Then
he'd
like his disks back. I figure we could probably blow the lot onto the first
quarter inch of a CD for him.

So our dream may come true and we'll have both the Gnome on Prestel and the
Gnome at Home splurged all over our shiny new web site.

Meanwhile, please admire my wonderfully wonky first-stab character set one
more time...

Bob

PS Late-breaking news, Peter Turnbull rediscovered too:
http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2003-January/014196.html

[demime 1.01a removed an attachment of type application/octet-stream which
had a name of viewfax7.jpg]

--__--__--

Message: 43
Date: Sat, 3 May 2003 08:11:43 -0700 (PDT)
From: Vintage Computer Festival <[email-masked]>
To: Classic Computers Mailing List <[email-masked]>,
   <[email-masked]>
Subject: VCF Europa Live
Reply-To: [email-masked]

I fixed the VCF Europa Live pages from the vintage.org server.  To see
live pictures from VCF Europa 4.0, go here:

http://www.vintage.org/2003/europa/

...and click on "VCF Life".

Look for the guy in the Blue Shirt and that will be Hans (Hansi Smurf).

--

Sellam Ismail                                        Vintage Computer
Festival
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
International Man of Intrigue and Danger
http://www.vintage.org

 * Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com
*

--__--__--

Message: 44
Date: Sat, 03 May 2003 15:16:30
To: [email-masked]
From: Joe <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: HP's Amigo Protocol, HFS
Reply-To: [email-masked]

At 05:53 PM 5/3/03 +0000, you wrote:
>Hi Joe,
>The drive is a 9134XV -

  It's definitely an Amigo drive then.

serial number begins with 23 so I guess that it
>would be from around 1983.

   Correct.

 If I look at the drive with an HP 9000 332 it
>sees an HFS partition - with basic 6.0 binaries :).

   My initial thought was the Amigo wouldn't suppport HFS but after some
thought I don't see any reason that it wouldn't.

>
>When I ask the drive to identify itself it returns a pair of bytes that I
>don't recognise (1 and 15 from memory but I could be wrong).  This pair of
>bytes is not the same as the pair that would be returned by a CS80 drive.

    I don't know much about the internals of the drives so I don't know what
those might mean. I looked at the docs that I have on the 9133XV and I don't
see anything with those numbers. Check them and let me know if that's the
right numbers. If it's not, tell me the correct numbers and I'll see if they
match anything in the specs.

>
>I managed to check the reader software with a pair of 9133 drives, a 9134
>drive (which fails)

   That's odd. Is the drive bad? Most systems identify a 9134 as a 9133 with
no floppy drive.

    What kind of HP system are you checking these on and what BootROM does
it have? Does the HP system show the 9134? What letter model is the 9134?

 and a 7907 drive (this identifies itself correctly but
>appears to have been wiped of data at some time).
>
>I have some other software recorded on 7906 removable cartridges - does
>anyone know if an HPIB version of this drive was made? - I think that the
>model number may be 7906H but I have no further information.  Does anyone
>have a 7906H tht they don't need?

   I'm not sure of the model numbers but it appears that HP made both HP-IB
and MAC versions of the 7906.  I believe that they used an adapter (pn
12745C/D) to convert from MAC to HP-IB interface. The two models that I have
listed in my HP 9000 Configurator manual are 7906M and 7906MR. The docs also
list 7906C/D and I THINK those are M/MR models with Option 102 installed. No
idea what option 102 is. Reading further I found, "There is no HP 9000
interface for the 13037 controller <I>without</I> an HP-IB adapter. The
7906H/HR ICD disks sare known <I>not</I> to work. The usability of the
7906S(slave) 7906A/B  and 7905A disk is not known." Italics <I> are HPs. I
hope that confuses you as much as it did me!   BTW the 13037 is some kind of
MAC interface. I had one but gave it to Eric.

   BTW HP says that these drives are not supported under BASIC, HP-UX or
Pascal! (at least at that time) It also says that no support is planned for
any HP 9000 system.  Also they state that these drives are obselete and
recommend that people use the newer and more economical 7907A drives. I
looked under the 7907 description to see if it would read the 7906 media but
it doesn't say. However the 7907 tape media was 20.5 Mb vs 9.8Mb so it is
different. The 7908 drive is described as 16.6 Mb fixed disk and a "1/4 inch
"88140" shared controller tape drive". Most (all?) of the newer drives that
incorporate tape drives are also described as 88180 tape drives so the drive
and media used in the earlier 7906 and 7907 are different from the later
stuff.

   Joe

--__--__--

Message: 45
Subject: Re: Northgate OmniKey Ultra
From: David Holland <[email-masked]>
To: Classic Computer Talk <[email-masked]>
Date: 03 May 2003 15:48:02 -0400
Reply-To: [email-masked]

On Fri, 2003-05-02 at 21:33, Frank McConnell wrote:
> David Holland <[email-masked]> wrote:
> > I've had it for about a week now, and just can't get used to funky
> > arrangement of the arrow keys in the middle, and the F keys on the left
> > just throws my Unreal Tournament gaming off.
>
> So we know it's one of the sort with the Omni key instead of an
> inverted-T layout.
>
> If it's an Ultra, it should also have the function keys across the
> top.

It does. Across the top, and on the left.

>
> > Anyways, I gather these things were something of a 'gotta have it'
> > keyboard at one time, and were bloody expensive.
>
> Not that bad.  In the mid-1990s you could get them for about $70,
> which seems expensive for a keyboard, but for those of us who really
> wanted the control key to be to the left of A and didn't want to have
> to fuss with driver software to make it happen, it was well worth it.
>
> If you want expensive, go check out the Avant Stellar!  That is
> reportedly the modern Northgate OmniKey, and it sells for about $150.

Saw'm for as much as 198$ a couple of places.. (ouch)

>
> > I gather it might of came with some extra keycaps when it was new, so
> > you could move around control/shift.  I do not have those.
>
> So, some questions to help folks ID what you've got.
>
> Is the control key to the left of A?

No, control-key is in the bottom left hand corner. (I guess its not
quite identical to the picture on northgate-keyboard-repair.com - My
bad.)

The bottom corner keys are laid out something like so:

Capslock
Shift
Control  [Grey < & > key]  Alt

>
> Where are the switches?  Poking out the back, or hidden under the
> "OmniKey" flip-top lid, or not present at all (flip the lid up, see
> nothing)?

Under the lid are a set of dip switches and what looks to be a orange
reset switch.    It claims to be Rev 7.03 on the back of the keyboard.

>
> Not present at all means it is a late-model programmable keyboard.
> They had firmware bugs, and the "fix" was "remove the EEPROM that
> holds the key remappings".
>
> > Anyone want it? (I think this is at least on-topic)
>
> Somebody better!

I've got a couple of follow up's already.  (Hopefully they're paying
attention when I say:  I'll find out what shipping/postage is to their
respective zip code(s) on Monday, once I can figure out what kinda box I
can find)

David

> -Frank McConnell

--__--__--

Message: 46
Date: Sat, 03 May 2003 13:09:08 -0700
From: Marvin Johnston <[email-masked]>
To: ClassicCmp <[email-masked]>
Subject: Soroc IQ120 Chip Problem
Reply-To: [email-masked]

I finally started digging in to find out what was wrong with a couple
Soroc IQ120s. The first one was easy; just a memory chip (2102) that
went bad. The second one is a bit tougher. I *think* I have the problem
narrowed down to a Signetics 82S201 PLA, and therein lies the problem.
Is there a replacement chip available, and is the coding of the chip
available? If the coding is not availble, can I just go through a
counter on the input and record the output states to come up with the
chip programming? Needless to say, I am not real familiar with these
devices :).

There are two of these devices in parallel, and when I pull out the
supected bad one (one makes no difference, pulling the other one starts
the screen display again), the screen starts to work again. My suspicion
is that the two are in parallel to increase the drive to the other
chips. There are probably more problems since I don't hear the beep when
the unit is turned on. The keyboard unit has already been checked out on
the working Soroc. Any thoughts or comments?

--__--__--

Message: 47
From: [email-masked] (Tony Duell)
Subject: HP9915
To: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 4 May 2003 00:48:32 +0100 (BST)
Reply-To: [email-masked]

I've recently had an HP9915 on the bench. This, as many of you are aware,
is related to the HP85, but it's in a metal case with no printer,
keyboard (although there is a keyboard connector on the back) or monitor
(again, there's a composite video output on the back).

Some details of the insides :

Almost all the HP ICs are the same as those in the HP85 (CPU, CRT
controller, RAM controller, Keyboard controller, ROMs, I/O buffer, even
the printer controller is there). Much of the rest of the circuitry is
similar to that in the HP85 (PSU, etc).

There's an extra 8048 microcontroller that handles the power-on reset,
self-test and autostart keys, and the front panel LEDs. It connects to
the HP CPU via an I/O Translator IC, which is the same as the one used in
the HP85 interface modules. Also linked to this microcontroller is a PCB
that can contain up to 8 2716 (or 2732 if you rearrange the links)
EPROMs. I have no idea (yet) how to format data to put in said EPROMs.

The large board in the bottom of the case contains the PSU, and much of
the logic circuitry. There are 6 'option ROM' spaces at the back of this
board, identical to those in an HP85 ROM drawer.

The PSU provides the same voltages, in much the same way, as the HP85 CPU.
The output of the transformer is rectified and fed t oa switching
converter (U30, 3524 is the controller IC) to provide +12V, -5V and -12V.
This poweres a second switching converter to provide +5V. The +6V is
obtained by a linear regulator. There is a crowbar (Q4) which will short
out the input to the first PSU if the +12V line rises too high. This will
then blow the mains fuse (something to check if the mains fuse blows at
switch-on -- maybe Q5, PIC645, the first chopper is shorted).

Another PCB plugged into the left edge of the main PCB contains the video
RAM, printer chip (used here for the timers, I suspect), buffers/clamp
networks for the keyboard and control connectors, a state machine to
generate the video sync signals, and the composite video mixer. It has
been suggested this is the 'operator interface' mentioned on the options
box on the back, but I think not. I think this must be a standard part of
the machine, and that the 'operator interface' is the keypad on the front.

Talking of the keypad, the top 4 keys are connected as the k1-k4 keys of
the HP85 keyboard. The blue key is connected as the shift key.

On the back of the machine (actually on the vertically-mounted PCB that I
mentioned a couple of paragraphs back) are 2 D connectors. The pinouts
seem to be :

Keyboard (DB25)
1 : chassis ground
2 : R0X (this is Row 0 output, buffered)
3 : R1X
4 : R2X
5 : R3X
6 : R4X
7 : Logic ground
8 : Logic Ground
9 : R5X
10 : R6X
11 : R7X
12 : R8X
13 : R9X
14 : C0X (Column 0 input, buffered)
15 : C1X
16 : C2X
17 : C3X
18 : C4X
19 : C5X
20 : C6X
21 : C7X
22 : KSX/ (Shift key, connect to logic ground to shift)
23 : KCX/ (Control key, ditto)
24 : KCLX/ (Caps lock key, ditto)
25 : SpkrX (Speaker output, return to logic ground)

Control connector, DA15
1 : LED0X (High if top LED on frontpanel is on)
2 : LED1X
3 : LED2X
4 : LED3X
5 : LED4X
6 : LED5X
7 : LED6X
8 : LED7X
9 : RunX/ (RUN LED output)
10 : TestX (selftest LED output)
11 ; PWOX (Power OK output)
12 : Logic ground
13 : KeyStartX/ (ground for autostart key)
14 : KeyStX/ (ground for self test key)
15 : Chassis ground.

The keyboard matrix would appear to be the same as that in the HP85

OK< a couple of questions

1) What is the impedance of the speaker in the keyboard (presumably
between SpkrX and logic ground? 80 ohms?

2) What is the OD of the tape drive roller? Mine has decayed (what a
suprise), and I need to rebuild it. It should be the same as the roller
in the HP85, the HP9825, HP9815, etc....

-tony

--__--__--

Message: 48
Date: 3 May 2003 23:53:08 -0400
Date: Sat, 3 May 2003 23:53:07 -0400
From: "R. D. Davis" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: Another rubber capstan turns to mush
Organization: why?
Reply-To: [email-masked]

Quothe [email-masked], from writings of Sat, May 03, 2003 at
08:58:49PM -0400:

> Hello All - bah, was just playing with my QIC drive, a WangTek
> 5150ES (Using dos tar!) and halfway thru the first listing
> tape stops. Turns out the rubber what drives the tape has gotten
> very soft. Anybody have a box full of cheap replacements?

Oops... it appears that you didn't use the /LCV (lowest capstan
viscosity) flag ;-) to prevent the tar command from attempting to turn
the rubber capstan into a tarry substance.  :-(

--
Copyright (C) 2003 R. D. Davis The difference between humans & other
animals:
All Rights Reserved            an unnatural belief that we're above Nature &
[email-masked]  410-744-4900  her other creatures, using dogma to justify
such
http://www.rddavis.org         beliefs and to justify much human cruelty.

--__--__--

Message: 49
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: HP Amigo command set and HFS disk format
From: Frank McConnell <[email-masked]>
Date: 03 May 2003 22:10:23 -0700
Reply-To: [email-masked]

Joe <[email-masked]> wrote:
>     You asked me about this a few days ago but I've been busy and
> forgot to reply. I have a document called "HP Flexible Disk Drive
> Command Set" that I'm pretty sure contains a description of the
> Amigo command set. It's an appendix to the HP 9114 disk drive
> service manual. It's 36 pages long. I can send you a copy or I'll
> send it to Al K. or anyone else that wants to scan it and post it on
> the web somewhere.

I think Joe sent me a copy of this a while back.  Anyway, I fished it
out of the pile in the living room and fed it to the scanner, with the
result being at <http://www.reanimators.org/tmp/hpfddcs.pdf> (1183KB)
for the time being.

Joe, are you sure this was in the 9114 service manual?  Not the 9121
or 9133?  I'm just thinking it wouldn't make much sense being in an
HP-IL drive manual.

-Frank McConnell

End of cctech Digest