Subject: Help identifying Mostek machine

From: "Erik S. Klein" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu Jun 26 22:03:01 2003

Hello all,

I've come into possession of a Mostek computer (I'm pretty sure it's a
computer anyway) with a pair of 8" half height floppy drives (Shugart
860s) and three cards.

The cards are roughly 6x4 inches with a 56 finger edge connector on one
of the long ends and various connectors on the opposite end (I'm not
familiar with these).  They are labeled MDX-FLP2 (plugged into the
drives - obviously a floppy controller), MDX-SIO (almost certainly a
serial IO card) and MDX-CPU3.  The last card is the processor card.  The
main chip appears to be a MOSTEK Z-80 clone which is labeled MK3801N-4,
Z80-STI AND ENG. PROTO.  There are 8 4564s for 64K RAM on the card along
with what are either connectors for serial and/or parallel ports.

The whole box is about the size of a typical rack-mount machine with a
plastic case around it.  Most parts are tagged as Mostek and most date
codes are from the middle of 1982.

Of course it came without software or documentation.

Is anyone familiar with this machine?  Does anyone have a boot disk,
other software or documentation for it?

Thanks!

   Erik Klein

   www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum

   The Vintage Computer Forum

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From: Vintage Computer Festival <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu Jun 26 23:09:01 2003

> other software or documentation for it?

No, but it sounds pretty damn interesting.  Can you put up a photo of the
Z80 CPU?

-- 

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 *

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From: Ian Primus <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri Jun 27 06:56:00 2003

That sounds like an interesting machine. I have a United Technologies 
Mostek Matrix 800, but it has a 1.2meg 5 1/2 drive and an MFM hard 
drive. My machine runs CP/M and has a Z-80. I have the system disks, 
albeit on  5 1/4, and I can make copies for you if you need them, but 
you'll have to find a way to either convert them to 8" or to hook a 5 
1/4 drive to the computer, but even then I don't know if the disks 
would be compatible.

Ian Primus
[email-masked]

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From: Tom Uban <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri Jun 27 08:29:00 2003

It sounds like a bigger brother to this MDX-CPU2:

<http://ubanproductions.com/mostek.html>http://ubanproductions.com/mostek.html

https://gatekeeper.evocative.com/VCA/view.cfm?ad=16

--tom

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From: Joe <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri Jun 27 16:57:00 2003

These sound like standard Mostek STD-BUS cards.  The cards were available
separately so it may or may not be a Mostek computer. As luck would have it
(your's not mine!) I found some Mostek manuals for some of the cards today
along with some DRI CPM manuals. I haven't gone trough them yet but I'll
post a list after I do.  BTW Steve Robertson is the expert on STD-BUS
stuff. He found one of the system developers that used to work for Pro-Log
and got a TRUCK load of that stuff.

   BTW II United Technologies bought out Mostek so Ian's computer could be
considered a Mostek machine.

     Joe

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From: "John Allain" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri Jun 27 19:40:00 2003

I have an older one here, an Omron Sysmac SCY-P5R-30E with
control panel.  Someone out there know something about it?
I need to do basically one of the following.

1./ Find documentation so as to make it a useful
     member of the collection.
2./ Give it to someone that more or less needs it.
3./ Scrap it for parts.  

Your help appreciated.

John A.