Re: Anyone need an M7389 card (for an LA30)?

[Mattis Lind via cctalk]

lördag 19 augusti 2017 skrev Fritz Mueller via cctalk :

> On 08/17/2017 12:54 PM, Noel Chiappa via cctalk wrote:
>
>> Anyone out there have an LA30? :-)
>>
>
> For future reference, I am also working on an LA30 at the moment.  I think
> Mattis has restored one as well?


Yes. That's right. Have a LA30P with a LC11. BTW. I have LC11 manual and
drawings. But they are for the older M791. At least a bit helpful. Not
scanned yet.

>
> Mine is a P, and I have the matching M7910 to go with it, so no need for
> an M7389 here (sounds like Henk really wanted it anyway!


Henk got my second LA30. But one need a M7731 board as well to make it
serial. The M7389 alone is not enough unfortunately.


>
>   --FritzM.
>
>
> /Mattis

Re: This Is Such An Exciting Listing!

[Pete Lancashire via cctalk]

A few years ago I got fed up with someone who kept telling how valuable his
stuff was based on eBay (asking) prices.

So I put a new US penny up for sale and has a buy it now price of $100 USD.
Next time I saw him I asked why he had
not bought it.

-pete

On Sat, Aug 19, 2017 at 6:44 PM, Mike Stein via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> Yeah, but I bet it's relatively quiet...
>
> m
> - Original Message -
> From: "Chuck Guzis via cctalk" 
> To: "Ed via cctalk" 
> Sent: Saturday, August 19, 2017 6:10 PM
> Subject: Re: This Is Such An Exciting Listing!
>
>
> > Also, there's the prizewinner in the "slowest hard drive" category:
> >
> > http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-MAP3367NC-33P3373-36GB-1000-
> RPM-3-5-Ultra-320-SCSI-HDD-Hard-Drive/201908724683
> >
> > --Chuck
>
>

Re: This Is Such An Exciting Listing!

[Mike Stein via cctalk]

Yeah, but I bet it's relatively quiet...

m
- Original Message - 
From: "Chuck Guzis via cctalk" 
To: "Ed via cctalk" 
Sent: Saturday, August 19, 2017 6:10 PM
Subject: Re: This Is Such An Exciting Listing!


> Also, there's the prizewinner in the "slowest hard drive" category:
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-MAP3367NC-33P3373-36GB-1000-RPM-3-5-Ultra-320-SCSI-HDD-Hard-Drive/201908724683
> 
> --Chuck

RE: DECstation 220. Another Impasse

[Rob Jarratt via cctalk]

> -Original Message-
> From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Noel
> Chiappa via cctalk
> Sent: 19 August 2017 23:26
> To: cctalk@classiccmp.org
> Cc: j...@mercury.lcs.mit.edu
> Subject: Re: DECstation 220. Another Impasse
> 
> > From: Rob Jarratt
> 
> > I have just written a new blog post
> 
> > the comparators are not producing valid output, the input signals
are
> > varying abave and below the reference voltage, but the outputs never
> change.
> 
> Don't forget that when the output of chip A is wrong, that might be caused
by
> chip B which it is driving... ('All digital circuits are made out of
analog
> components', and all that...)
> 


Good reminder, thanks! I will add some chip Bs to the order as well as a
precaution (74LS244D although I can only find DW, hopefully no difference).

Regards

Rob

RE: DEC VT125 on Schpock in Birmingham, UK

[Rob Jarratt via cctalk]

Never heard of that site before, always wanted a VT125 and certainly reachable 
from here. Will investigate!

Regards

Rob

> -Original Message-
> From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Paul
> Anderson via cctalk
> Sent: 19 August 2017 22:40
> To: Pete Hollobon ; General Discussion: On-Topic and
> Off-Topic Posts 
> Subject: Re: DEC VT125 on Schpock in Birmingham, UK
> 
> Easy to fix...
> 
> On Sat, Aug 19, 2017 at 2:42 PM, Pete Hollobon via cctalk <
> cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:
> 
> > Just spotted this Digital VT125 if anyone's interested. Sounds like it
> > isn't working and is collection only, but £20 and open to offers...
> >
> > https://en.shpock.com/i/WZVkFoclWkj6QObu/
> >
> > cheers,
> > Pete.
> >

Re: DECstation 220. Another Impasse

[Noel Chiappa via cctalk]

> From: Rob Jarratt

> I have just written a new blog post

> the comparators are not producing valid output, the input signals are
> varying abave and below the reference voltage, but the outputs never 
change. 

Don't forget that when the output of chip A is wrong, that might be caused by 
chip
B which it is driving... ('All digital circuits are made out of analog 
components',
and all that...)

Noel

Re: This Is Such An Exciting Listing!

[Chuck Guzis via cctalk]

Also, there's the prizewinner in the "slowest hard drive" category:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-MAP3367NC-33P3373-36GB-1000-RPM-3-5-Ultra-320-SCSI-HDD-Hard-Drive/201908724683

--Chuck

Re: R: Olivetti Programma 101 on EBay

[jim stephens via cctalk]

On 8/19/2017 12:03 PM, Mazzini Alessandro via cctalk wrote:

We could debate about wang having a precedence. Various consider the 
Programma101 the real first personal computer

It was my first in 4th grade, FWIW.

I realized by playing with one for 2 years+ that it was programmable, 
and what that meant.


The other thing it did that was unique (and to my learning curve) was 
that you could build instructions in a register and execute them.


Stored programs, stored data, and dynamic synthesis of instructions is a 
pretty cool capability in a calculator.


thanks
Jim

Re: DEC VT125 on Schpock in Birmingham, UK

[Paul Anderson via cctalk]

Easy to fix...

On Sat, Aug 19, 2017 at 2:42 PM, Pete Hollobon via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> Just spotted this Digital VT125 if anyone's interested. Sounds like it
> isn't working and is collection only, but £20 and open to offers...
>
> https://en.shpock.com/i/WZVkFoclWkj6QObu/
>
> cheers,
> Pete.
>

Re: Olivetti Programma 101 on EBay

[Pete Lancashire via cctalk]

I miss the two Wang 360s+heads I had, more so now that I've seen on eBay a
Teletype interface.

Some day will have one again

-pete

On Sat, Aug 19, 2017 at 12:03 PM, Mazzini Alessandro via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> We could debate about wang having a precedence. Various consider the
> Programma101 the real first personal computer
>
> -Messaggio originale-
> Da: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] Per conto di Chuck
> Guzis via cctalk
> Inviato: sabato 19 agosto 2017 20:55
> A: Rick Bensene via cctalk
> Oggetto: Re: Olivetti Programma 101 on EBay
>
> On 08/19/2017 11:00 AM, Rick Bensene via cctalk wrote:
>
> > The Programma 101 is indeed a benchmark machine in electronic calculator
> history.   While not the first programmable electronic calculator as many
> claim, it definitely set the standard for a long time (especially during
> this particularly frenetic period of electronics development), until the HP
> 9100A came out in '68.  I don't want to diminish its place in history
> in any way.  But...
>
> It's interesting that there appear to be relatively few listing for old
> Wang calculators.   Surely they hold precedence over the Olivetti boxes
> and the HP ones.
>
> I can vaguely remember sitting in front of a LOCI-2 and giving up trying
> to figure it out.
>
> --Chuck
>
>
>
>
>

DEC VT125 on Schpock in Birmingham, UK

[Pete Hollobon via cctalk]

Just spotted this Digital VT125 if anyone's interested. Sounds like it
isn't working and is collection only, but £20 and open to offers...

https://en.shpock.com/i/WZVkFoclWkj6QObu/

cheers,
Pete.

Looking for PDP-11 DECUS software 110590 MINC-11 Data Acquisition Package for RSX-11M

[Mark Matlock via cctalk]

   I’m looking for information on MINC-11 systems, particularly documentation 
on the CSR bit functions for
the MNCKW and MNCAD modules. Recently, Fred Jan Kraan added a great deal of 
information to his excellent 
web site on MINC-11 including the 8 MINC user manuals which to date did not 
exist on the internet. 


 http://electrickery.xs4all.nl/comp/minc/doc/

Thanks Fred Jan Kraan and Kees Stravers!

  One thing I am looking for now is a DECUS package 110590 A description of it 
is below taken from
a page that Tim Shoppa put on bitsavers. I have found some mostly RT-11 DEUS 
packages and of
course all of the RSX-11M & M+ semi-annual SIG Tapes are available, but I can’t 
find quite a number
of these DECUS packages that never made it to a SIG tape.

Does any one have this?

Thanks!
Mark Matlock

110590 MINC-11 Data Acquisition Package for RSX-11M  Version: July
1983
Submitted by: Walter E. Wahnsiedler, Aluminum Company of America,
Alcoa Center, PA
Operating System: MINC, RSX-11M V4.0  Source Language: FORTRAN-77
Memory Required: 54KB  Hardware Required: In submitted form, MINC
analog-digital modules (MNCAD MNCAM). Can be readily modified to other
A-D's.  Keywords: Conversions - Analog/Digital, Graphics, MINC/RSX-11
Software
Abstract: This package consists of three FORTRAN programs and related files 
which implement a flexible data
acquisition algorithm for RSX-11M based systems. The analog-to-digital 
converter handling is set up to use
MINC-series modules (MNCAD, MNCAM), but the code dealing with actual 
analog-to-digital conversion is collected in
one subroutine to make modifications to other hardware easy. During the data 
acquisition process, the user is
provided with a live terminal keyboard which can be used to modify any of the 
following data collection
parameters. Accessible parameters are the disk storage file name, assigned A-D 
channel numbers, preamplifier
settings (MNCAG), collection rate, total time to collect, scale factors, and 
storage suppression
threshold. The user can also start and stop data collection sequences from his 
terminal and force the
collection of one or more individual data points at any time.
While data is being collected, the user may also "disconnect" his terminal from 
the data collection
process, allowing it to be used for other purposes. Data may be written out 
numerically on the user's terminal as
it is taken, or returned via system messages to a customized program for 
graphic display. An example of
such a customized graphic program is included for VT105 and VT125 terminals. Up 
to three user terminals may be
simultaneously "connected" to the data acquisition process, and each may 
display the data numerically,
graphically, or both, and each may be used to modify the data collection 
process in any way. A "profile" of
default parameters is kept for each user, to alleviate the necessity of 
entering repetitive information each
time the programs are run.

Media (Service Charge Code): One RX01 Diskette (KA)  Format: FILES-11,
600' Magnetic Tape (MA)  Format: FILES-11

Re: Anyone need an M7389 card (for an LA30)?

[Fritz Mueller via cctalk]

On 08/17/2017 12:54 PM, Noel Chiappa via cctalk wrote:

Anyone out there have an LA30? :-)


For future reference, I am also working on an LA30 at the moment.  I 
think Mattis has restored one as well?


Mine is a P, and I have the matching M7910 to go with it, so no need for 
an M7389 here (sounds like Henk really wanted it anyway!)


  --FritzM.

Re: halt and catch fire show 2 hr tonite?

[Ed via cctalk]

always  fun to participle in a  production Neat Congrats!  Bill!
 
Ed#
 
 
In a message dated 8/19/2017 1:53:18 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time,  
billdeg...@gmail.com writes:



On Sat, Aug 19, 2017 at 2:41 PM, Ed Sharpe via cctalk  
 wrote:

halt  and catch fire show 2 hr tonite?
the story  continues..
ed#

Sent from AOL Mobile  Mail






not that it matters much, but if you look on the tables  and such during 
the show, the magazines you see have cover overlays I scanned  for them.
b

Re: halt and catch fire show 2 hr tonite?

[william degnan via cctalk]

On Sat, Aug 19, 2017 at 2:41 PM, Ed Sharpe via cctalk  wrote:

> halt and catch fire show 2 hr tonite?
> the story continues..
> ed#
>
> Sent from AOL Mobile Mail
>


not that it matters much, but if you look on the tables and such during the
show, the magazines you see have cover overlays I scanned for them.
b

Re: DCC-116 E / DATA GENERAL NOVA 2/10 / Nixdorf 620 - Restoring and restarting

[Jon Elson via cctalk]

On 08/19/2017 11:29 AM, Rod Smallwood via cctalk wrote:
> Leaky Crowbar SCR?
>
Never heard of such a thing. SCRs are usually all the way
on, or all the way off. Why would it be sensitive to load on
the power supply?

Jon

Re: DCC-116 E / DATA GENERAL NOVA 2/10 / Nixdorf 620 - Restoring and restarting

[Curious Marc via cctalk]

A straightforward linear supply. We should be able to get that puppy working. 
Looks like you have two of the same thing on G2, two +5V supplies. You could 
take advantage of that and compare voltages of one against the other at several 
points. You coukd also monitor the voltage on the non regulated side of the 
power transistors, if that crashes too, it's more likely it's a problem in the 
caps or the rectifier diodes. If it crashes after, transistors or regulation 
circuit could be suspect. Maybe we can do a Skype "en Francais"  and debug it 
together.
Marc


On Aug 19, 2017, at 12:10 PM, Dominique Carlier via cctalk 
 wrote:

Maybe it's better to give us all the useful information these power supplies, 
moreover it might be useful to other people with the same computer.

An overall bloc diagram of the D-116 power supply including G1 and G2.
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/psu_overall_bloc_diagram.jpg

The complete schematics of the part of the power supply named G2.
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/g2_schematics.jpg

A drawing of the regulation board of the power supply G2 with the physical 
locations of the components.
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/g2_regulator_board.jpg

The schematics of this regulation board.
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/g2_regulator_board_schematics.jpg

And a bit of literature concerning the principle of operation about the 
regulation with this PSU (you will understand better why I am a little bit lost 
;-) This principle of regulation with a panoply of verification and Protection 
systems everywhere is unusual for me)
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/psu_regulation_principe.jpg

I have already tried without the CPU board: same symptoms. Next step, try to 
check the capacitors in operation.

And because all this is a little bit boring, here is, as a small gift, a photo 
gallery of the machine under different angles ;-)

Ensemble

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/ensemble_01.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/ensemble_02.jpg 


D-116 Front panel

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/d116_front_panel_01.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/d116_front_panel_02.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/d116_front_panel_03.jpg

D-116 open rack

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/d116_open_01.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/d116_open_02.jpg

G2 regulator board

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/g2_regulator_board.jpg

Disk Pack drive Diablo Model 40

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/diskpack_drive_01.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/diskpack_drive_02.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/diskpack_drive_03.jpg

Mag-tape Pertec 8840A

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/pertec_close.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/pertec_open_01.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/pertec_open_02.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/pertec_open_03.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/pertec_open_04.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/pertec_open_05.jpg

Drum printer Data Products model 2230

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/printer_01.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/printer_02.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/printer_03.jpg

Terminal Entrex

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/terminal.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/terminal_nacked.jpg

Rear panel / connectors

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/rear_panel.jpg

From inside

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/flat_cables.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/from_inside.jpg 


Haa I can't wait to operate this heavy machine! ;-)

Dominique

RE: DECstation 220. Another Impasse

[Rob Jarratt via cctalk]

> 
> How many connections does it have? If just 2 then it could well be a fuse. Not
> really to protect the machine in the event of flashover in a monitor putting 
> high
> voltages on the lines, but rather to meet the legal requirements in some
> countries that any device linked to a modem needs such protection (the UK had
> such rules at one point, there were boxes containing 24 fuses and 48 zener
> diodes to connect between the DB25 connectors on termnal and modem).
> 
> The other possibility would be some kind of interference filter, but (a) those
> would normally have more than 2 connections and (b) filtering a high speed
> video signal is not generally a good idea.
> 
> Are any of these fuses (let's suppose they are that for a moment) testing as
> open-circuit? If not, I think we can ignore them for the moment.
> 


Hello Tony,

They have 2 connections only as far as I can tell. There is a track passing 
underneath them, but I can't see any solder around the track, so unless there 
is a small connection underneath then I think there really are only 2 
connections. They all test for closed circuit across the 2 connections I can 
see. I have since discovered that the comparator being used on the outputs of 
the G176 to drive the monitor sense input to the VGA chip is faulty (I have 
just written a new blog post in the last few minutes: 
https://robs-old-computers.com/2017/08/19/decstation-220-faulty-parts-found/).

Regards

Rob

Re: DCC-116 E / DATA GENERAL NOVA 2/10 / Nixdorf 620 - Restoring and restarting

[Dominique Carlier via cctalk]

Maybe it's better to give us all the useful information these power 
supplies, moreover it might be useful to other people with the same 
computer.


An overall bloc diagram of the D-116 power supply including G1 and G2.
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/psu_overall_bloc_diagram.jpg

The complete schematics of the part of the power supply named G2.
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/g2_schematics.jpg

A drawing of the regulation board of the power supply G2 with the 
physical locations of the components.

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/g2_regulator_board.jpg

The schematics of this regulation board.
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/g2_regulator_board_schematics.jpg

And a bit of literature concerning the principle of operation about the 
regulation with this PSU (you will understand better why I am a little 
bit lost ;-) This principle of regulation with a panoply of verification 
and Protection systems everywhere is unusual for me)

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/psu_regulation_principe.jpg

I have already tried without the CPU board: same symptoms. Next step, 
try to check the capacitors in operation.


And because all this is a little bit boring, here is, as a small gift, a 
photo gallery of the machine under different angles ;-)


Ensemble

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/ensemble_01.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/ensemble_02.jpg 



D-116 Front panel

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/d116_front_panel_01.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/d116_front_panel_02.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/d116_front_panel_03.jpg

D-116 open rack

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/d116_open_01.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/d116_open_02.jpg

G2 regulator board

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/g2_regulator_board.jpg

Disk Pack drive Diablo Model 40

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/diskpack_drive_01.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/diskpack_drive_02.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/diskpack_drive_03.jpg

Mag-tape Pertec 8840A

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/pertec_close.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/pertec_open_01.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/pertec_open_02.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/pertec_open_03.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/pertec_open_04.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/pertec_open_05.jpg

Drum printer Data Products model 2230

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/printer_01.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/printer_02.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/printer_03.jpg

Terminal Entrex

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/terminal.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/terminal_nacked.jpg

Rear panel / connectors

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/rear_panel.jpg

From inside

http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/flat_cables.jpg
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/serie01/from_inside.jpg 



Haa I can't wait to operate this heavy machine! ;-)

Dominique

R: Olivetti Programma 101 on EBay

[Mazzini Alessandro via cctalk]

We could debate about wang having a precedence. Various consider the 
Programma101 the real first personal computer

-Messaggio originale-
Da: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] Per conto di Chuck Guzis via 
cctalk
Inviato: sabato 19 agosto 2017 20:55
A: Rick Bensene via cctalk
Oggetto: Re: Olivetti Programma 101 on EBay

On 08/19/2017 11:00 AM, Rick Bensene via cctalk wrote:

> The Programma 101 is indeed a benchmark machine in electronic calculator 
> history.   While not the first programmable electronic calculator as many 
> claim, it definitely set the standard for a long time (especially during this 
> particularly frenetic period of electronics development), until the HP 9100A 
> came out in '68.  I don't want to diminish its place in history in any 
> way.  But...

It's interesting that there appear to be relatively few listing for old
Wang calculators.   Surely they hold precedence over the Olivetti boxes
and the HP ones.

I can vaguely remember sitting in front of a LOCI-2 and giving up trying to 
figure it out.

--Chuck

Re: Olivetti Programma 101 on EBay

[Chuck Guzis via cctalk]

On 08/19/2017 11:00 AM, Rick Bensene via cctalk wrote:

> The Programma 101 is indeed a benchmark machine in electronic calculator 
> history.   While not the first programmable electronic calculator as many 
> claim, it definitely set the standard for a long time (especially during this 
> particularly frenetic period of electronics development), until the HP 9100A 
> came out in '68.  I don't want to diminish its place in history in any 
> way.  But...

It's interesting that there appear to be relatively few listing for old
Wang calculators.   Surely they hold precedence over the Olivetti boxes
and the HP ones.

I can vaguely remember sitting in front of a LOCI-2 and giving up trying
to figure it out.

--Chuck

halt and catch fire show 2 hr tonite?

[Ed Sharpe via cctalk]

halt and catch fire show 2 hr tonite?
the story continues..
ed#

Sent from AOL Mobile Mail

Re: Champaign, IL to Iowa City, Iowa and back trip

[Noel Chiappa via cctalk]

> On Aug 19, 2017, at 11:08 AM, Jon Elson wrote:

> Currently $676, but I suspect will go higher.

_Much_ higher. The TU56 alone is worth several US$K. I'd look for
the whole thing to go for _at least_ US$3K.

Noel

RE: Olivetti Programma 101 on EBay

[Rick Bensene via cctalk]

This eBay listing makes me really happy that I bought a beautifully kept, 
spotlessly clean Programma 101 with original dust cover, power cord, and 
original sales receipt from Portland Typewriter & Office Machine Co. (Portland, 
Oregon) for $300 in early 2013 from the original owner.The original owner 
claimed that this machine was the first Programma 101 sold in the Pacific 
Northwest.

The calculator was lovingly cared for during its tenure as a critical component 
of the owner's engineering business until it was replaced by an IBM PC.  This 
particular calculator was used extensively in the engineering calculations for 
the design of the Glenn Jackson bridge over the Columbia River between 
Portland, OR, and Vancouver WA.   After it was retired in 1984, it was kept in 
the owner's home office, as a cherished possession.  The machine literally 
looks like it could have been trapped in a time vortex for all these years, it 
is so clean inside and out.   There is only one tiny chip in the paint, and no 
scratches anywhere to be found.   It appears essentially unused, with virtually 
no signs of wear and tear.

The machine is in significantly better condition than the one listed, and has 
all belts intact and in usable condition.   It  is non-operational due to a 
broken nylon gear in the print drum drivetrain, but I am working on getting a 
replacement gear manufactured, and once it is in place, I am quite sure that it 
will be fully  operational.All of the rubber parts (printer platen and 
rollers, mag-card drive rollers) are in pristine condition.

It is interesting that the seller of the machine listed on eBay claims that an 
operational Programma 101 /sold/ for $36K, when in fact, the listing was 
"ENDED", because the "item was no longer available".  This does not imply in 
any way that the machine sold for $36K.  Also, the claim that only five 
operational Programma 101s are in existence is bunk -- I know of twelve that 
are in operational condition, and surely there are others out there that I am 
not aware of.  

The Programma 101 is indeed a benchmark machine in electronic calculator 
history.   While not the first programmable electronic calculator as many 
claim, it definitely set the standard for a long time (especially during this 
particularly frenetic period of electronics development), until the HP 9100A 
came out in '68.  I don't want to diminish its place in history in any way. 
 But...

...Maybe I should put it up on eBay, as-is, for let's say, oh, $30K?

Sheesh.

-Rick
---
Rick Bensene
The Old Calculator Museum
http://oldcalculatormuseum.com

Re: Champaign, IL to Iowa City, Iowa and back trip

[Jerry Weiss via cctalk]

> On Aug 19, 2017, at 11:08 AM, Jon Elson via cctalk  
> wrote:
> 
> On 08/19/2017 10:03 AM, Tony Aiuto via cctalk wrote:
>> A well priced PDP8 just went on sale in Iowa. I can't get it back from
>> Champaign to NYC, but someone else might be able to snatch it.
>> http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-Equipment-Corporation-DEC-PDP-lab8-e-Vintage-1970s-computer/15297190?_trkparms=aid%3D888007%26algo%3DDISC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D41376%26meid%3D9253420ebdf64d829d68079589c3d04a%26pid%3D19%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26sd%3D152665094101&_trksid=p2047675.c19.m1982
>> 
>> 
> That must be a LAB-8, seriously cool!  Currently $676, but I suspect will go 
> higher.
> 
> Jon


I won’t dream about this seriously until the last day.   I treat these just 
like the NBA playoffs rounds. 


Jerry
j...@ieee.org

Re: DECstation 220. Another Impasse

[Tony Duell via cctalk]

On Sat, Aug 19, 2017 at 6:14 PM, Rob Jarratt via cctalk
 wrote:

> For the time being I have decided to take a look at the other spare board,
> which works less well in that it does not produce any kind of video output
> at all, but on the basis that the 82C206 seems to be OK, it might be easier
> to repair, and I can compare it to the other board before I try replacing
> the 82C206. I have noticed on this spare that there is something wrong with
> the monitor sensing circuit, which feeds the PVGA1A. On the spare there is
> no activity on this pin, while on the partially working board there is
> activity. I traced it back to the inputs to a comparator (LM339). This
> comparator is comparing the RGB outputs of an Inmos G176 to a reference
> voltage. The behaviour is different for the two boards. I noticed however

I wonder if this is used to detect termination resistors in the
monitor, which would
pull the voltage down. That could distinguish between no monitor, a mono
monitor (only pulls one signal down) and a colour one.

> that these RGB pins are also connected through an SMT component (x3, one per
> colour) to the RGB pins of the VGA connector. The SMT component has no
> markings and when tested with a multimeter appears to be shorted across the
> terminals. It is labelled "FEn" (n=1,2,3). Is this just some kind of fuse?
> If not what could it be?

How many connections does it have? If just 2 then it could well be a fuse. Not
really to protect the machine in the event of flashover in a monitor putting
high voltages on the lines, but rather to meet the legal requirements in some
countries that any device linked to a modem needs such protection (the UK
had such rules at one point, there were boxes containing 24 fuses and 48 zener
diodes to connect between the DB25 connectors on termnal and modem).

The other possibility would be some kind of interference filter, but (a) those
would normally have more than 2 connections and (b) filtering a high speed
video signal is not generally a good idea.

Are any of these fuses (let's suppose they are that for a moment) testing as
open-circuit? If not, I think we can ignore them for the moment.

-tony

RE: DECstation 220. Another Impasse

[Rob Jarratt via cctalk]

> 
> I have made an interesting, but sad, discovery. I traced both the two
apparently
> shorted pins on the gate array to two pins on the Chips & Technologies
82C206
> Integrated Peripherals Controller. Checking the 82C206, I found lots of
pins on
> that chip appear shorted to ground. I fear the
> 82C206 has failed badly.
> 
> I suppose that, happily, it looks possible to procure replacements for
this chip. I
> am slightly puzzled by the packaging of this chip though. It is surface
mounted
> on my CPU board, but the packages available for this chip are PLCC which I
> assumed required a PLCC socket. Can PLCC chips be surface mounted, or is
it a
> subtly different packaging that I would need?
> 
> There is no obvious damage from battery leakage near this chip, it was
close-
> ish to the damage area but the leak didn't reach it, so I think the
failure is
> either due to other damaged bits causing it to fail, or just plain old
age. Is there
> anything I could have missed that might make me think it is faulty when it
isn't?
> 

For the time being I have decided to take a look at the other spare board,
which works less well in that it does not produce any kind of video output
at all, but on the basis that the 82C206 seems to be OK, it might be easier
to repair, and I can compare it to the other board before I try replacing
the 82C206. I have noticed on this spare that there is something wrong with
the monitor sensing circuit, which feeds the PVGA1A. On the spare there is
no activity on this pin, while on the partially working board there is
activity. I traced it back to the inputs to a comparator (LM339). This
comparator is comparing the RGB outputs of an Inmos G176 to a reference
voltage. The behaviour is different for the two boards. I noticed however
that these RGB pins are also connected through an SMT component (x3, one per
colour) to the RGB pins of the VGA connector. The SMT component has no
markings and when tested with a multimeter appears to be shorted across the
terminals. It is labelled "FEn" (n=1,2,3). Is this just some kind of fuse?
If not what could it be?

Regards

Rob

Re: DCC-116 E / DATA GENERAL NOVA 2/10 / Nixdorf 620 - Restoring and restarting

[Rod Smallwood via cctalk]

Leaky Crowbar SCR?



On 19/08/2017 17:06, Jon Elson via cctalk wrote:

On 08/19/2017 03:17 AM, Dominique Carlier via cctalk wrote:

Hello Marc,

In fact no, i am not really sure, I checked twice all the
big filtering caps but as you with a low voltage tester.
These caps comes apparently from a new old stock and some
doubts persists now.
I admit, I don't know how to test these caps at rated
voltage with my tools or in situ with the caps inside the
working (and thus closed/packed/connected) PSUs


It could also be an open rectifier diode. The caps might
store enough charge to keep the regulator from dropping out
at light load, but the DC input sags under more load. You
could check for AC on the DC output when it starts to fail.
It could also be a fuse socket that has developed some
resistance, although when that gets bad, the heat causes the
fuse to fail. We had a Versatec printer that this would
happen to every 5 years or so. The fix was to clean the fuse
clip with the finest sandpaper available and put in a new
fuse (even if you caught it before the fuse blew.)

Jon


--
Wanted one pdp-8/i rocker switch leaver to copy.

Re: Champaign, IL to Iowa City, Iowa and back trip

[Jon Elson via cctalk]

On 08/19/2017 10:03 AM, Tony Aiuto via cctalk wrote:

A well priced PDP8 just went on sale in Iowa. I can't get it back from
Champaign to NYC, but someone else might be able to snatch it.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-Equipment-Corporation-DEC-PDP-lab8-e-Vintage-1970s-computer/15297190?_trkparms=aid%3D888007%26algo%3DDISC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D41376%26meid%3D9253420ebdf64d829d68079589c3d04a%26pid%3D19%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26sd%3D152665094101&_trksid=p2047675.c19.m1982


That must be a LAB-8, seriously cool!  Currently $676, but I 
suspect will go higher.


Jon

Re: This Is Such An Exciting Listing!

[Jon Elson via cctalk]

On 08/19/2017 09:36 AM, systems_glitch via cctalk wrote:

Indeed, I often do custom listings for people who need items shipped
overseas but for whom eBay will not correctly combine shipping. I usually
put up a listing with a stupid description and a picture completely
unrelated to what I'm selling, just to try and keep other people from
buying it.


If you have a PayPal account, you can just have them send 
the required amount that way.  You can even have PayPal 
generate an invoice to them.


Jon

Re: DCC-116 E / DATA GENERAL NOVA 2/10 / Nixdorf 620 - Restoring and restarting

[Jon Elson via cctalk]

On 08/19/2017 03:17 AM, Dominique Carlier via cctalk wrote:
> Hello Marc,
>
> In fact no, i am not really sure, I checked twice all the
> big filtering caps but as you with a low voltage tester.
> These caps comes apparently from a new old stock and some
> doubts persists now.
> I admit, I don't know how to test these caps at rated
> voltage with my tools or in situ with the caps inside the
> working (and thus closed/packed/connected) PSUs
>
It could also be an open rectifier diode. The caps might
store enough charge to keep the regulator from dropping out
at light load, but the DC input sags under more load. You
could check for AC on the DC output when it starts to fail.
It could also be a fuse socket that has developed some
resistance, although when that gets bad, the heat causes the
fuse to fail. We had a Versatec printer that this would
happen to every 5 years or so. The fix was to clean the fuse
clip with the finest sandpaper available and put in a new
fuse (even if you caught it before the fuse blew.)

Jon

Re: Olivetti Programma 101 on EBay

[jim stephens via cctalk]

On 8/19/2017 8:17 AM, william degnan via cctalk wrote:

On Sat, Aug 19, 2017 at 11:07 AM, Tony Aiuto via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:


http://www.ebay.com/itm/152665094101?ul_noapp=true

In good visual condition. Very expensive. Purposefully not powered up. I
used one of these in high school, so it has always had a special place in
my heart. But not a $34K place.


Well, if anyone here buys this for me, they would always have a special
place in my heart :-)

b


I have talked to the group in Ivrea who restores them about rebuilding 
mine to as new condition.  it will be expensive, but would still not 
justify either price the poster cites after restoration, since neither 
his or the other are working.


The group includes one of the designers of the system.

I've managed to collect quite a bit of documentation and media cards as 
well.


Thanks
Jim

Re: Olivetti Programma 101 on EBay

[william degnan via cctalk]

On Sat, Aug 19, 2017 at 11:07 AM, Tony Aiuto via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> http://www.ebay.com/itm/152665094101?ul_noapp=true
>
> In good visual condition. Very expensive. Purposefully not powered up. I
> used one of these in high school, so it has always had a special place in
> my heart. But not a $34K place.
>

Well, if anyone here buys this for me, they would always have a special
place in my heart :-)

b

Olivetti Programma 101 on EBay

[Tony Aiuto via cctalk]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/152665094101?ul_noapp=true

In good visual condition. Very expensive. Purposefully not powered up. I
used one of these in high school, so it has always had a special place in
my heart. But not a $34K place.

Re: Champaign, IL to Iowa City, Iowa and back trip

[Tony Aiuto via cctalk]

A well priced PDP8 just went on sale in Iowa. I can't get it back from
Champaign to NYC, but someone else might be able to snatch it.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-Equipment-Corporation-DEC-PDP-lab8-e-Vintage-1970s-computer/15297190?_trkparms=aid%3D888007%26algo%3DDISC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D41376%26meid%3D9253420ebdf64d829d68079589c3d04a%26pid%3D19%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26sd%3D152665094101&_trksid=p2047675.c19.m1982

On Fri, Aug 18, 2017 at 2:18 AM, Paul Anderson via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> I'll be going to Iowa City, Iowa on Tuesday, 29 AUG and returning to
> Champaign, IL on late Wednesday, 30 AUG.
>
> If anyone needs anything moved feel free to contact me. If it is along the
> interstate and not too big, there is no charge. I might have less space on
> the return trip. I can possible store items for a while.
>
> Paul
>

Re: This Is Such An Exciting Listing!

[systems_glitch via cctalk]

Indeed, I often do custom listings for people who need items shipped
overseas but for whom eBay will not correctly combine shipping. I usually
put up a listing with a stupid description and a picture completely
unrelated to what I'm selling, just to try and keep other people from
buying it.

Thanks,
Jonathan

On Sat, Aug 19, 2017 at 2:17 AM, jim stephens via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

>
>
> On 8/18/2017 4:13 PM, Rob Jarratt via cctalk wrote:
>
>> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/182707649701
>>
>>
>>
> Two valid reasons to do this, though this is a silly way to do it and
> breaks rules in one case.  My cousin who has a sale rating in the tens of
> thousands selling dime (litterally yes, dime) novels sometimes forgets to
> send a book along to someone.  To get postage, they will put up a 2 cent
> auction and close it.  Ebay's discount they have for their account applies
> to shipping a 2 cent item as well as for shipping anything else.
>
> Way cheaper than post office.
>
> I have a sale open right now and the seller is digging on things he owes
> me, and i bought a small item to allow shipping and also getting around
> ebay's stupid blocking of identity exchanges (which I've done anyway).
> Some high feedback sellers are afraid of the 500# gorilla and won't do that.
>
> And of course could be stupid, but the seller has a 987 feedback so I am
> doubting that.
> thanks
> Jim
>

RE: DCC-116 E / DATA GENERAL NOVA 2/10 / Nixdorf 620 - Restoring and restarting

[David Collins via cctalk]

An easy way to check the caps is to see what the voltage across them is like
when you put the system under load and the 'regulated' voltage drops.  If
the cap voltage drops substantially, or if you get a high ripple under load,
that's a good sign the caps are bad.

You mention that the +5V holds up with just the CPU and 3 memory boards and
then drops as you add more.  The CPU and memory boards should pull a fair
amount of power on their own so it seems strange the 5V isn't off to some
degree with just those boards.  Have you tried just those additional boards
without the CPU and memory boards to see if they may have bad components on
them that are loading the 5V rail?  Bad decoupling capacitors on boards can
short out/load up the supply rails and cause the problem you are seeing.  

David Collins

-Original Message-
From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Dominique
Carlier via cctalk
Sent: Saturday, 19 August 2017 6:17 PM
To: Curious Marc ; General Discussion: On-Topic and
Off-Topic Posts 
Subject: Re: DCC-116 E / DATA GENERAL NOVA 2/10 / Nixdorf 620 - Restoring
and restarting

Hello Marc,

In fact no, i am not really sure, I checked twice all the big filtering caps
but as you with a low voltage tester. These caps comes apparently from a new
old stock and some doubts persists now.
I admit, I don't know how to test these caps at rated voltage with my tools
or in situ with the caps inside the working (and thus
closed/packed/connected) PSUs

Dominique

On 19/08/2017 07:11, Curious Marc wrote:
> Great work, you have isolated the supply fault. Looks like it's not
regulating, but the fact that it starts at 5V tells me it actually is, at
low current drain. Are you *really really* sure the filtering caps are good
*at rated voltage* (we had a recent case of caps that tested perfect with my
low voltage tester but were duds at their rated voltage)? Bad caps would
cause something like this. If not I'd usually start to check the regulating
power transistors. Could be anything else of course, having the schematics
would allow for a much more intelligent conversation instead of blind
speculation.
> Marc
>
> On Aug 18, 2017, at 10:25 AM, Dominique Carlier via cctalk
 wrote:
>
> Some news !
>
> Following a risky way (but I did not see how to do otherwise), I
deactivated the Power Fail by hiding the contact number 23 of the two power
supplies.
> The idea was to avoid automatic protection by lowering the regulated
voltages (+5V and 15V) and see first which unit was involved (G1 or G2), and
also which voltages became weak, at what level it is lowered, and according
to which board (model or number of connected boards).
>
> Results of the observations:
> - This is definitely the regulated +5V of the G2 power supply. More I add
boards more the + 5v level goes down. +5v, +4.8v, +3.6v, +2.9v. It remains
stable however with just the CPU and the three core memory boards, it
becomes difficult for the power supply when I add boards in addition to
these.
> - This is definitely not a problem at the level of the Power Fail circuit.
> - The big capacitors are not in fault (I rechecked twice).
> - So this maybe a problem at the level of the regulation itself, the +5V
balancing system ?
>
> Question: a faulty voltage regulator can behave in this way? I always
thought it worked or it did not work, but not between the two states
depending on the charge.
>
> Anyway, suggestions are always welcome ;-)
>
> PS : I'm starting to want to put another power supply for that regulated
+5V, and bypass the +5V regulated of G2, but it would be a shame and not in
the spirit of a restoration in my opinion.
>
>
>
>
>  Forwarded Message 
> Subject:Re: DCC-116 E / DATA GENERAL NOVA 2/10 / Nixdorf 620 -
Restoring and restarting
> Date:Wed, 16 Aug 2017 23:33:31 +0200
> From:Dominique Carlier 
> To:Christian Kennedy via cctalk 
>
>
>
> Hi !
>
> I finally find some time to work again on my D-116, try to find the 
> problem(s), thus principally at the level of PSUs.
> As you suggested, I inspected particularly the large capacitors of 
> both power supplies. I replaced those that appeared suspicious 
> according to the results via my ESR meter, but note that this one is 
> not supposed to be able to verify the capacitors of more than 22000μF. 
> I have also some doubt about the results (capacitor working with a real
charge or not).
>
> Anyway, unfortunately the problem is still there. I don't know where 
> to search now. If I understand well, the two power supplies can cause 
> a Power Fail if one of the regulated voltages were out of range. At 
> this point I do not know which of the two is in fault, because when 
> the Power Fail is active the + 5V is automatically dropped around 1.5V.
> Following the schematics I have focused my attention on the value of 
> some resistors with an important role in triggering this state (eg R18).
> I found nothing abnormal, I checked all the capacitors, a large 
> pa

Re: DCC-116 E / DATA GENERAL NOVA 2/10 / Nixdorf 620 - Restoring and restarting

[Dominique Carlier via cctalk]

Hello Marc,

In fact no, i am not really sure, I checked twice all the big filtering  
caps but as you with a low voltage tester. These caps comes apparently  
from a new old stock and some doubts persists now.
I admit, I don't know how to test these caps at rated voltage with my  
tools or in situ with the caps inside the working (and thus  
closed/packed/connected) PSUs


Dominique

On 19/08/2017 07:11, Curious Marc wrote:

Great work, you have isolated the supply fault. Looks like it's not regulating, 
but the fact that it starts at 5V tells me it actually is, at low current 
drain. Are you *really really* sure the filtering caps are good *at rated 
voltage* (we had a recent case of caps that tested perfect with my low voltage 
tester but were duds at their rated voltage)? Bad caps would cause something 
like this. If not I'd usually start to check the regulating power transistors. 
Could be anything else of course, having the schematics would allow for a much 
more intelligent conversation instead of blind speculation.
Marc

On Aug 18, 2017, at 10:25 AM, Dominique Carlier via cctalk 
 wrote:

Some news !

Following a risky way (but I did not see how to do otherwise), I deactivated 
the Power Fail by hiding the contact number 23 of the two power supplies.
The idea was to avoid automatic protection by lowering the regulated voltages 
(+5V and 15V) and see first which unit was involved (G1 or G2), and also which 
voltages became weak, at what level it is lowered, and according to which board 
(model or number of connected boards).

Results of the observations:
- This is definitely the regulated +5V of the G2 power supply. More I add 
boards more the + 5v level goes down. +5v, +4.8v, +3.6v, +2.9v. It remains 
stable however with just the CPU and the three core memory boards, it becomes 
difficult for the power supply when I add boards in addition to these.
- This is definitely not a problem at the level of the Power Fail circuit.
- The big capacitors are not in fault (I rechecked twice).
- So this maybe a problem at the level of the regulation itself, the +5V 
balancing system ?

Question: a faulty voltage regulator can behave in this way? I always thought 
it worked or it did not work, but not between the two states depending on the 
charge.

Anyway, suggestions are always welcome ;-)

PS : I'm starting to want to put another power supply for that regulated +5V, 
and bypass the +5V regulated of G2, but it would be a shame and not in the 
spirit of a restoration in my opinion.




 Forwarded Message 
Subject:Re: DCC-116 E / DATA GENERAL NOVA 2/10 / Nixdorf 620 - Restoring 
and restarting
Date:Wed, 16 Aug 2017 23:33:31 +0200
From:Dominique Carlier 
To:Christian Kennedy via cctalk 



Hi !

I finally find some time to work again on my D-116, try to find the
problem(s), thus principally at the level of PSUs.
As you suggested, I inspected particularly the large capacitors of both
power supplies. I replaced those that appeared suspicious according to
the results via my ESR meter, but note that this one is not supposed to
be able to verify the capacitors of more than 22000μF. I have also some
doubt about the results (capacitor working with a real charge or not).

Anyway, unfortunately the problem is still there. I don't know where to
search now. If I understand well, the two power supplies can cause a
Power Fail if one of the regulated voltages were out of range. At this
point I do not know which of the two is in fault, because when the Power
Fail is active the + 5V is automatically dropped around 1.5V.
Following the schematics I have focused my attention on the value of
some resistors with an important role in triggering this state (eg R18).
I found nothing abnormal, I checked all the capacitors, a large package
of resistances.

At this point what I know is that I can simultaneously connect the CPU
board and the three core memory boards without problem. If I add the
controller board for the removable hard disk drive or for the tape ->
Power Fail.
Interesting thing: if I connect only the CPU board and the disk
controller: Power Fail too. Maybe the PSU in default is the one that
supply the + 5V for the boards in the upper part of the rack? (slot 1
for the CPU, solt 4, 5 and 7 for the mem, slot 10 and 12 for tape and hdd)

I can provide pictures, schematics, ...

Regardless of this failure, I try to find information about what I could
install as an operating system on that big beast. If you have too any
ideas about that?

I would like to be able to do simple tasks such as managing files
(copying files from disk to tape and vice versa), being able to create
directories and sub directories, writing text, print on my drum printer,
programming in a simple language such as BASIC, and also, if I find a
communication board (on the CPU-board I don't found any trace of
components that evoke me an RS-232 interface), communicate with another
machine, print on a teletype ... Does this seem pos