Subject: Re: More DEC Stuff Coming

From: "Jay West" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu Apr 24 11:50:22 2003

I'd be most interested in a good condition VT100, or perhaps a VT103

Jay West

---

From: "Shannon Hoskins" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri Apr 25 13:46:36 2003

We would  be very interested and could pay fair prices. Could we get a list
of the gear?
Best regards,
Shannon Hoskins
[email-masked]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Tapley" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2003 9:05 AM
Subject: More DEC Stuff Coming

> All,
> Got this from the guy in Houston who supplied the VAX VLC machines.
> Contact him (best) or me if you are interested.
>
> >Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 23:33:16 -0500 (CDT)
> >From: [email-masked] (Charles Sandmann)
> >Subject: More DEC Stuff Coming
> ...
> >
> >I was just notified today by the ChemE department head at Rice that it
> >is time to clean out one of the labs.  It has mostly PDP stuff, some
> >VAX stuff, documentation, some media.  KZ's going to make a rough list
> >so we can estimate the volume.  The VAX stuff has been used in the last
> >year, but most of the PDP stuff has been off for 8 years or more, so
> >may need some TLC when being checked out the first time (if you don't
> >know about power supply caps, you probably shouldn't ask :-)  I've made
> >some promises for some of this stuff already - but if there is something
> >you are dying for, it might be a good time to remind me.  Between the
> >Rice stash and the AspenTech stash, there should be lots of machines
> >for everyone.
> >
> >If Intel IRMX (?) means anything to anyone, bug me.  I think thats the
> >system name - and they are rare (but not DEC stuff ...)
> >
> >I think we will keep the extra RS6000/AIX IBM systems for spare parts
> >for clio - but you never know...
> >
> >I know there are some VT103s (VT100 systems with built in dual TU58s
> >and QBUS backplanes) - lots of QBUS cards, an 11/23+ rack mount system,
> >BA123 based MicroVAX II with ESDI and RQDX3/RD54 disks.  I think the
> >11/23+ has an RQDX1 with RD51 drive (don't cringe!), dual RX02s
> >(I have a requirement to be able to read some media on these first!)
> >
> >There is a requirement to take lots of pictures for our scrapbook :-)

---

From: Mark Tapley <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon Apr 28 01:19:13 2003

All,

...

---

From: "TeoZ" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon Apr 28 01:20:02 2003

Any old software getting dumped? I am a ChemE.

---

From: "Jeffrey S. Worley" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon Apr 28 01:22:32 2003

I could sure use manuals for the Vaxstation 4000/60.  Mine boots in two
stages and I KNOW there is a way to set the prom to just doggone BOOT.

Best,

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: [email-masked] [mailto:[email-masked]]
On Behalf Of Shannon Hoskins
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2003 1:16 PM
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: More DEC Stuff Coming

We would  be very interested and could pay fair prices. Could we get a
list
of the gear?
Best regards,
Shannon Hoskins
[email-masked]

---

From: Doc Shipley <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon Apr 28 01:26:23 2003

> stages and I KNOW there is a way to set the prom to just doggone BOOT.

   Ack.  I have those, in BookReader format.  *When* I get a little 
caught up, I'll dig them up, if nobody has done it.  I'd love to 
promise that now or soon, but I'm frankly over-committed to my eyeballs 
right now, and finding the files will involve some searching.

   All you HP guys - this weekend.  Last stab at translating tapes to 
CD, and then we're going with what we got.  Expect private email Monday 
or Tuesday.

   Full-height racks rock.

	Doc

---

From: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon Apr 28 02:46:45 2003

> stages and I KNOW there is a way to set the prom to just doggone BOOT.

At the triple chevron (>>>) prompt, use the following command:

SET HALT <default-recovery-action>

where <default-recovery-action> is a single digit number as follows:
1 - automatic restart (if O/S restart fails, does a reboot)
2 - automatic reboot (system halts, then reboots)
3 - automatic halt (system halts after startup, and displays >>> prompt)

To automatically boot on power on, use 2 (for non-DEC OS) or 1 for
(VAX/VMS).

Enjoy!
Christian

---

From: "Witchy" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed Apr 30 00:34:57 2003

> From: [email-masked] [mailto:[email-masked]]On
> Behalf Of Mark Tapley
> Sent: 24 April 2003 17:05

I'd love a VT103 but I guess shipping to the UK would be a bit prohibitive!
My gf's coming over to the US in August but the last time she brought
something home for me (TRS80 MIII) some baggage 'handlers' forgot that glass
breaks when its dropped :(

cheers

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

---

From: [email-masked] (Tony Duell)
Date: Fri May 2 01:20:39 2003

> 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 
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...

Is it time to repost the story of the 'Danger Implosives' sign :-)

-tony

---

From: Don Maslin <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri May 2 01:20:48 2003

> Is it time to repost the story of the 'Danger Implosives' sign :-)

A good story is always worthy of repetition!
						- don

---

From: John Honniball <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri May 2 01:21:14 2003

> Is it time to repost the story of the 'Danger Implosives' sign :-)

Yes!!

--
John Honniball
[email-masked]

---

From: [email-masked] (Tony Duell)
Date: Fri May 2 01:21:34 2003

> A good story is always worthy of repetition!

Yes, but this is not a good story :-). However, here goes.

I was taking a DEC computer (I can't remember if it was the DECmate2 or 
the Rainbow, it dowsn't matter) from Bristol to London by train. I'd 
checked that such things -- in particular, CRTs -- were allowed on 
trains, and discovered that portable TVs were certainly OK (and the VR201 
has much the same CRT as a portable TV). 

I but the LK201 keyboard on end in the inside pocket of my raincoat. The 
cables, etc, in the other inside pocket. The CPU box under one arm. And I 
carried the LK201 by its handle in my other hand.

While I was proving I could do this, somebody remarked on the similarity 
in shape between the VR201 (carried like that) and some kind of 
mine/bomb. This was too much to resist, so 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 ;-)

-tony

---

From: Jeffrey Sharp <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun May 4 01:23:04 2003

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

---

From: "TeoZ" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun May 4 01:24:11 2003

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

---

From: "Witchy" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun May 4 01:24:35 2003

> printed on it : 'Do not drop, or CRT may implode' ... Mind you , I once

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

> 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

---

From: [email-masked] (Tony Duell)
Date: Mon May 5 22:11:50 2003

> the Sinclair QL) it was nicely packed and it STILL arrived broken. Well, not

When I said 'CRT' I meant CRT, not monitor. This was just the glass 
thing, dropped in a a cardboard box (no packing at all!) and sent by 
post. I still want to know how it arrived intact!!!

> *just* broken, smashed completely in fact. Bless parcelforce's cotton socks.

Yes, Parcelfarce are good at mangling things, aren't they :-(

-tony

---

From: Jeffrey Sharp <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon May 5 22:12:25 2003

On Friday, May  2, 2003, TeoZ wrote:
> No idea, does it have somthing to do with Uma Thurman which he mentions
> alot about in those articles?

The Thurman unit is the usually imaginary computer part that is faulty when
you can't or don't want to diagnose a problem correctly.  The term is also a
useful tool for pacifying customers if your tech job has any support
component to it.  Compare to car mechanics telling you you're low on
'blinker fluid'.

-- 
Jeffrey Sharp

---

From: Ethan Dicks <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon May 5 22:12:40 2003

--- Jeffrey Sharp <[email-masked]> wrote:
> The Thurman unit is the usually imaginary computer part that is faulty
> when you can't or don't want to diagnose a problem correctly...Compare
> to car mechanics telling you you're low on 'blinker fluid'.

Or your "muffler bearings" need to be replaced.

OnTopic (ruder) phrases:

  "The problem is in the STK Interface"

  "PEBCAK"

  "ID-10T error"

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