All this old computer reminiscing reminds me of my ole "Digital Group" Z80 machine. I built it from a kit. I could not afford a floppy drive. I had the ole audio tape FSK system and then graduated to a set of twin "Phi Decks". These were small cassette drives that attempted to run like the big digital drives. What a nightmare to keep running! I remember how high tech I was when I got 16K of memory (Two big boards with 8K each) I was humbled when the Commodore 64 came out. It put the Digital Group machine to shame and was only the size of the DG's keyboard.
Anybody out there ever build one of the "digital group" systems? (Mid 70's I think?) Mark NU8Z -----Original Message----- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Sanger, Joseph Sent: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 3:34 PM To: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz; Flex Radio Subject: Re: [Flexradio] OT I purchased the first 8" floppy drive system available for the Altair-8800 running CP/M ... Probably back in 1976 or 1977 ... Was a dual drive system made by ... Digital Research I believe ... Could be wrong .... Cost me $3,200. And those were REAL dollars back then! -----Original Message----- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Dr. Howard S. White Sent: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 3:33 PM To: Geep Howell; flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz; Flex Radio Subject: Re: [Flexradio] OT I built my first computer in1958 from an article in Popular Electronics. It was a total of 4 bits. Used 17 tubes. Hooked it to a home brew Xmter and sent counts from 0 to 15 on 40M to a second one I built to receive them. You guys make me feel ancient and I really am not that old! BTW had to get my ham license so I could legally enter the project into a high school science fair. __________________________________________________________ Howard S. White Ph.D. P. Eng., KY6LA Website: www.ky6la.com "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" "Ham Antennas Save Lives - Katrina, 2003 & 2007 San Diego Fires, 911" Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile -----Original Message----- From: Geep Howell <g...@wa4rts.net> Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:08:40 To: Flex Radio<FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz> Subject: Re: [Flexradio] OT Any of you youngsters remember the Ferguson Big Board? Z80 CPU and 64k memory. My first real computer, built with my own two hands and it actually worked first time. Two (count 'em at $450 each) 8" Seagate floppies. CP/M forever! geep On Jun 23, 2009, at 1:06 PM, N4PY2 wrote: > I remember back in 1976, we were developing a store controller system > that used an 8 inch floppy drive as its main storage device. The > diskette drive used a geneva mechanism for moving the head. It took 5 > full seconds for the head to move from one end of the floppy to the > other! > > Carl Moreschi N4PY > 121 Little Bell Drive > Bell Mountain > Hays, NC 28635 > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tim Ellison" <telli...@itsco.com> > To: "N4PY2" <n4...@earthlink.net>; "Ross Stenberg" > <ross.stenb...@charter.net > >; "Flex Radio" <FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz> > Sent: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 12:44 PM > Subject: RE: [SPAM] Re: [Flexradio] OT > > > It is tough getting old. I recently threw away an original IBM XT 10 > MB hard drive (I am sure the seek times were I the seconds). Oh the > bygone days of the 16-bit 8088 4.77 MHz personal computer. My toaster > has more processing power than the old XT. We have come so far.... > > -Tim > > -----Original Message----- > From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz > [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz > ] On Behalf Of N4PY2 > Sent: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 12:33 PM > To: Ross Stenberg; Flex Radio > Subject: [SPAM] Re: [Flexradio] OT > > I have a bunch of them myself that I should throw away. But I don't > have anymore 8 inch floppies! > > Carl Moreschi N4PY > 121 Little Bell Drive > Bell Mountain > Hays, NC 28635 > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Ross Stenberg" <ross.stenb...@charter.net> > To: "Flex Radio" <FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz> > Sent: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 12:28 PM > Subject: [Flexradio] OT > > >> Nothing relevant but just wanted to mention that I just found an old >> box full of 5 1/4 floppy disks. Throwing away originals of MS-DOS >> 5.0, Windows >> 3.0, ProComm Plus, Norton 6.01, AfterDark screensaver, and Orchid >> video >> drivers. It's tough to get old. >> >> 73 Ross K9COX _______________________________________________ >> FlexRadio Systems Mailing List >> FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz >> http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz >> Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ >> Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: >> http://www.flex-radio.com/ > > > _______________________________________________ > FlexRadio Systems Mailing List > FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz > Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ > Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: > http://www.flex-radio.com/ > > _______________________________________________ > FlexRadio Systems Mailing List > FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz > Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ > Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: > http://www.flex-radio.com/ > _______________________________________________ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ _______________________________________________ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ This email message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain information that is proprietary, confidential, and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. 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