Register your VCF East exhibits soon

[Evan Koblentz via cctalk]

Don't procrastinate.

http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/vcf-east-exhibits/

Re: PDP8/e programmers consoles

[Charles Dickman via cctalk]

On Fri, Mar 16, 2018 at 10:31 PM, Kyle Owen via cctalk
 wrote:

> The bulbs are still available on Mouser. I've ordered a bunch for my 8/e
> and have been very happy with them.
>
> http://so-much-stuff.com/pdp8/repair/bulbs.php
>

I assume you mean the CM7371 not quite but almost the same bulb? That
is what I have used as replacement also.

>> > Another console question...
>> >
>> > Has anyone ever seen a PDP8/i style console for the PDP8/e? Looking at
>> > the way the PDP8/e console functions, it should be possible to time
>> > multiplex all the register to the data bus so they are all visible at
>> > once when the machine is halted.
>> No and can't!   The 8i (nor the 8L) was not omnibus.
>>
>
> I think he's aware (hence "style").

Yep.

> Kyle
>
>>

Re: PDP8/e programmers consoles

[Charles Dickman via cctalk]

On Fri, Mar 16, 2018 at 9:59 PM, allison via cctalk
 wrote:
> On 03/16/2018 08:28 PM, Charles Dickman via cctalk wrote:
>> So the PDP8/e used the KC8-EA programmers console which has
>> incandescent indicator lamps and the PDP8/f used the KC8-FL
>> programmers console which has LED indicator lamps.
> Wrong.  The 8f uses the same as the 8e.  It was the 8m that had the
> LED console.  If memory serves it was date of design that influenced it.

My information was based on the maintenance manual. I dug a little
deeper and see that the KC8-M is the operator panel that had only one
switch and the KC8-ML is a programmers panel and has the same PCB as
the KC8-FL that I referenced.

Clearly the panels were not rigidly associated with a machine model.

> Allison
>
>
>> -chuck
>

-chuck

Re: PDP8/e programmers consoles

[Charles Dickman via cctalk]

On Fri, Mar 16, 2018 at 9:59 PM, allison via cctalk
 wrote:

>> Has anyone ever seen a PDP8/i style console for the PDP8/e? Looking at
>> the way the PDP8/e console functions, it should be possible to time
>> multiplex all the register to the data bus so they are all visible at
>> once when the machine is halted.
> No and can't!   The 8i (nor the 8L) was not omnibus.  The boards to make

I know the 8/I panel won't work with an 8/e. My question was if there
was a special seen in the wild that had all the register values like
the 8/i did since the panel interface clearly supports it.

> Allison
>
>
>> -chuck
>

Re: AlphaServers

[Pete Lancashire via cctalk]

Ran across these

https://photos.app.goo.gl/716Mr3cCL7g4uTs62



On Mon, Mar 19, 2018 at 3:13 PM, Mark Wickens via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> In the Alpha stable I have a 1000A fully loaded with SSB and an external
> SSB enclosure running VMS 7.3. I also have the desktop 3000/600 which was
> bought for my PhD work with 2GB external DAT and 24 bit graphics. I have
> two rackmount 3000/600s and a 3000/800.
>
> I've been planning on downsizing for a while, I'll keep the desktop
> 3000/600 but will be looking to shift the rest. I had a buyer for the 1000A
> a while back but couldn't get it shipped - he was going to give me £250 for
> it. I am willing to give away the 3000/800 but it can't be shipped. The
> developer of the TB-USB card was earmarked for that one but he is in
> Germany and it's just very difficult to get a machine with that weight
> shipped.
>
> Regards, Mark.
> Windermere, UK.
>
>
> On 19 March 2018 at 16:22, Rob Jarratt via cctalk 
> wrote:
>
> > > -Original Message-
> > > From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of
> Douglas
> > > Taylor via cctalk
> > > Sent: 19 March 2018 15:39
> > > To: Benjamin Huntsman via cctalk 
> > > Subject: Re: AlphaServers
> > >
> > > Anyone out there do Alphas anymore?
> > >
> >
> > I suppose it depends on what you mean by "do". Do you mean is anyone
> > selling them, using them for real work or just using them as a hobbyist?
> I
> > do the last of these (occasionally).
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > Rob
> >
> >
> > > I have a running;
> > >
> > > 1000A 4/266 with 384MB Ram an full compliment of Storage Works disks
> (has
> > > redundant power supplies and a nice roll around cabinet)
> > >
> > > 3000-300 booting from a SCSI2SD disk, (this is nice since it is kind of
> > light and
> > > can be picked up and moved easily)
> > >
> > > 3000-400 booting from a SCSI2SD disk.  (this thing is quite heavy,
> built
> > with
> > > heavy think metal to support a equally heavy monitor placed on top)
> > >
> > > All running hobbyist OpenVMS 8.4, an one VRC16 DEC color monitor.
> > >
> > > The only part that failed was in the 3000-400, the I/O module (runs
> > network,
> > > serial, SCSI, video, etc) was faulty and kept the power supply from
> > starting up.
> > >
> > > These 64 bit machines are an interesting compliment to the 32 bit
> VAXes I
> > > have, 4000/400, 3100/M76, MVII, 4VLC and the 16 bit PDP-11's.
> > >
> > > Doug
> >
> >
>
>

Re: AlphaServers

[Mark Wickens via cctalk]

In the Alpha stable I have a 1000A fully loaded with SSB and an external
SSB enclosure running VMS 7.3. I also have the desktop 3000/600 which was
bought for my PhD work with 2GB external DAT and 24 bit graphics. I have
two rackmount 3000/600s and a 3000/800.

I've been planning on downsizing for a while, I'll keep the desktop
3000/600 but will be looking to shift the rest. I had a buyer for the 1000A
a while back but couldn't get it shipped - he was going to give me £250 for
it. I am willing to give away the 3000/800 but it can't be shipped. The
developer of the TB-USB card was earmarked for that one but he is in
Germany and it's just very difficult to get a machine with that weight
shipped.

Regards, Mark.
Windermere, UK.


On 19 March 2018 at 16:22, Rob Jarratt via cctalk 
wrote:

> > -Original Message-
> > From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Douglas
> > Taylor via cctalk
> > Sent: 19 March 2018 15:39
> > To: Benjamin Huntsman via cctalk 
> > Subject: Re: AlphaServers
> >
> > Anyone out there do Alphas anymore?
> >
>
> I suppose it depends on what you mean by "do". Do you mean is anyone
> selling them, using them for real work or just using them as a hobbyist? I
> do the last of these (occasionally).
>
> Regards
>
> Rob
>
>
> > I have a running;
> >
> > 1000A 4/266 with 384MB Ram an full compliment of Storage Works disks (has
> > redundant power supplies and a nice roll around cabinet)
> >
> > 3000-300 booting from a SCSI2SD disk, (this is nice since it is kind of
> light and
> > can be picked up and moved easily)
> >
> > 3000-400 booting from a SCSI2SD disk.  (this thing is quite heavy, built
> with
> > heavy think metal to support a equally heavy monitor placed on top)
> >
> > All running hobbyist OpenVMS 8.4, an one VRC16 DEC color monitor.
> >
> > The only part that failed was in the 3000-400, the I/O module (runs
> network,
> > serial, SCSI, video, etc) was faulty and kept the power supply from
> starting up.
> >
> > These 64 bit machines are an interesting compliment to the 32 bit VAXes I
> > have, 4000/400, 3100/M76, MVII, 4VLC and the 16 bit PDP-11's.
> >
> > Doug
>
>

Re: Four Unibus boards from radiation dose measurement system.

[Al Kossow via cctalk]

another similar paper
http://www.iaea.org/inis/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/17/082/17082861.pdf


https://books.google.com/books?id=wMbBL8L33Y8C=PA45=PA45=%22Computer+Design+and+Applications%22+pdp-11=bl=xXydOl-pic=Sg9AFZT7z5lxtp_qZsvupEeeJdo=en=X=0ahUKEwib0pDHpPnZAhXsYN8KHVfpAHUQ6AEIKzAB#v=onepage=%22Computer%20Design%20and%20Applications%22%20pdp-11=false

annoucement of the arrary processor

http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a173957.pdf

mdp-3 resolution 256x256


> http://www.iaea.org/inis/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/19/045/19045468.pdf
> 
> "After reconstruction, the images are displayed on a colour graphics screen
> using a CUA MDP-3B graphics processor. Images can be photographed off the
> screen for further study and can be archived in digital form on disk or
> magnetic tape."

Compaq Storageworks V5.4 kit for SUN Solaris

[Alan Frisbie via cctalk]

I'm cleaning out my accumulation of "stuff" and there are several
things that aren't worth the effort of putting on ebay.   If
anyone on this list wants them, they are yours for the cost of
shipping.   The first item is:

QB-5JCAG-SA
Compaq Storageworks
RAID Array 450 V5.4A Platform Software Kit for SUN Solaris

Contains:

AG-R20SE-BE Software CD "RAID Array 450 V5.4A for SUN Solaris"
AE-RBDYB-TE Software Product Description SPD 64.64.05
AA-R20TD-TE Release Notes
AA-R20RD-TE RAID Array 450 V5.4 for Solaris 2.x Installation Guide
AA-R24LA-TE StorageWorks Command Console (v1.1) User's Guide
EK-HSZ50-CG HSZ50 HSOD v5.1 Array Controller Configuration Manual
EK-HSZ50-SV HSZ50 HSOD v5.1 Array Controller Service Manual
EK-HSCLI-RM HSZ50 HSOD v5.1 Array Controller CLI Reference Manual

It weighs just under 5 pounds, so I estimate the shipping cost
would be $10 to $20.

Send me an email if you want it.  If I don't hear from anyone
in a few days, it goes into the dumpster.

Alan Frisbie

Re: ounting screw threads for VR201?

[Paul Koning via cctalk]

> On Mar 19, 2018, at 3:05 PM, Warner Losh via cctalk  
> wrote:
> 
> ...
> For the Rainbow (and I think the Pro to), there's a DC coupling that's not
> normal that needs to be removed with a series capacitor:
> 
> From 3.5.3 Keyboard/Monitor Connector (J3) Signals of The Rainbow 100
> Technical Manual (EK-PC100-TM):
> 
> 
> Video signals - Similar to EIA RS-170
> 
> 
> *NOTE*
> 
> *The composite video (Mono Video) signal on pin 12 is dc coupled and
> therefore not in strict agreement with RS-170. To agree with RS-170, the
> composite video signal would require a 10 microfarad capacitor in series
> with the output. *
> 
> I have all the parts needed to drive a modern LCD monitor using the Video
> Camera to VGA adapter things, but haven't yet had the time to try it out.

Yes, the Pro manual also mentions that it's DC coupled.

That probably makes sense, given that computer graphics are likely to have long 
stretches of constant output, unlike TV type video.  Unless the DC coupling 
causes problems it would make sense to leave it alone.

paul

Re: Four Unibus boards from radiation dose measurement system.

[Mattis Lind via cctalk]

måndag 19 mars 2018 skrev Al Kossow via cctalk :

>
>
> On 3/19/18 8:57 AM, Lyle Bickley via cctalk wrote:
>
> >> 2914 chips. One board has some kind of dedicated memory one board has
> >> 4 TRW chips which I think are AD converters.
> >>
>
> It's a frame buffer, you can see the 10422 lookup tables behind the TRW
> video DACs
>
>
>
Interesting. A framebuffer. But why four DACs?  The framebuffer itself is
the 72 16kbit DRAM chips. Slightly more than one megabit. Not much being a
color framebuffer. I wonder what the colordepth and resolution was on this
one. 256 x 192 and 8 bits per colour perhaps?

Anything else known about it except for what Lyle dug out?

Re: ounting screw threads for VR201?

[Warner Losh via cctalk]

On Mon, Mar 19, 2018 at 12:39 PM, Ethan Dicks via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> On Mon, Mar 19, 2018 at 2:18 PM, Alan Frisbie 
> wrote:
> > Ethan Dicks  wrote:
> >
> >> I don't happen to have a VR201 here right now to measure directly (or
> >> I would just do that), but IIRC, there's a threaded mounting insert on
> >> the bottom...
> >
> > There are four brass inserts in a trapezoidal pattern, each threaded
> > 1/4-20 (National Coarse).   The trapezoid is 7.0" center-to-center
> > for the two nearest the screen, and the rear ones are 5.0"
> center-to-center.
> > It is 5.0" between the front (screen) pair and the rear pair.
>
> Perfect.  Thanks, Alan!
>
> > Now, could someone please tell me the pinouts for the 15-pin connector?
> > I would like to use it to view RS-170 video, if possible.
>
> From the Rainbow pinout...
>
> http://www.larosse.net/pc100/dec100-vr201-cable.html
>
> ... I think the VR201 certainly matches the subset of that.  I don't
> know if the color pins are N.C. on thje VR201 (but I would hope so),
> but I have wired up a DA15 cable to tap +12V from an Amiga 2000 and
> display mono video from its mono composite output...
>
> 4| Mono shield ground| Shield ground for composite video
> coaxial cable
> 5,6 | Ground  | Video, data, and power ground
> 7,8 | +12 V| + 12 V power to monitor and
> keyboard
> 12  | Mono video| Composite B/W video from the
> video processor on the system module
> 13  | No Connection   | Not used
> 14  | Keyboard received data  | KBD RXD Serial data transmitted
> (output) to keyboard
> 15  | Keyboard transmitted |  KBD TXD Serial data received data
> (input) from keyboard
>

For the Rainbow (and I think the Pro to), there's a DC coupling that's not
normal that needs to be removed with a series capacitor:

>From 3.5.3 Keyboard/Monitor Connector (J3) Signals of The Rainbow 100
Technical Manual (EK-PC100-TM):


Video signals - Similar to EIA RS-170


*NOTE*

*The composite video (Mono Video) signal on pin 12 is dc coupled and
therefore not in strict agreement with RS-170. To agree with RS-170, the
composite video signal would require a 10 microfarad capacitor in series
with the output. *

I have all the parts needed to drive a modern LCD monitor using the Video
Camera to VGA adapter things, but haven't yet had the time to try it out.

Warner

Re: Four Unibus boards from radiation dose measurement system.

[dwight via cctalk]

There is two different kinds of test. One is to give them a fixed dose and then 
check to see if they are still operational. The other is to zap them until they 
fail, and then diagnose the failure/s.

Dwight



From: cctalk  on behalf of Al Kossow via cctalk 

Sent: Monday, March 19, 2018 10:35:47 AM
To: cctalk@classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: Four Unibus boards from radiation dose measurement system.



On 3/19/18 8:57 AM, Lyle Bickley via cctalk wrote:

>> 2914 chips. One board has some kind of dedicated memory one board has
>> 4 TRW chips which I think are AD converters.
>>

It's a frame buffer, you can see the 10422 lookup tables behind the TRW video 
DACs

Re: ounting screw threads for VR201?

[Ethan Dicks via cctalk]

On Mon, Mar 19, 2018 at 2:18 PM, Alan Frisbie  wrote:
> Ethan Dicks  wrote:
>
>> I don't happen to have a VR201 here right now to measure directly (or
>> I would just do that), but IIRC, there's a threaded mounting insert on
>> the bottom...
>
> There are four brass inserts in a trapezoidal pattern, each threaded
> 1/4-20 (National Coarse).   The trapezoid is 7.0" center-to-center
> for the two nearest the screen, and the rear ones are 5.0" center-to-center.
> It is 5.0" between the front (screen) pair and the rear pair.

Perfect.  Thanks, Alan!

> Now, could someone please tell me the pinouts for the 15-pin connector?
> I would like to use it to view RS-170 video, if possible.

>From the Rainbow pinout...

http://www.larosse.net/pc100/dec100-vr201-cable.html

... I think the VR201 certainly matches the subset of that.  I don't
know if the color pins are N.C. on thje VR201 (but I would hope so),
but I have wired up a DA15 cable to tap +12V from an Amiga 2000 and
display mono video from its mono composite output...

4| Mono shield ground| Shield ground for composite video
coaxial cable
5,6 | Ground  | Video, data, and power ground
7,8 | +12 V| + 12 V power to monitor and keyboard
12  | Mono video| Composite B/W video from the
video processor on the system module
13  | No Connection   | Not used
14  | Keyboard received data  | KBD RXD Serial data transmitted
(output) to keyboard
15  | Keyboard transmitted |  KBD TXD Serial data received data
(input) from keyboard

-ethan

Re: ounting screw threads for VR201?

[Paul Koning via cctalk]

> On Mar 19, 2018, at 2:18 PM, Alan Frisbie via cctalk  
> wrote:
> 
> ...
> Now, could someone please tell me the pinouts for the 15-pin connector?
> I would like to use it to view RS-170 video, if possible.

It's spelled out in fair detail in the Pro 300 Technical Manual, on Bitsavers.  
Look at volume 1, page 383 (8-5).  There are also VT201 engineering drawings on 
Bitsavers.

One complication is that you have to supply +12v power; the VT201 is powered 
from the system box.  The video is standard monochrome composite video 
"compatible with EIA RS170 standards".  So yes, that should work for what you 
want to do.

paul

Re: ounting screw threads for VR201?

[Alan Frisbie via cctalk]

Ethan Dicks  wrote:


I don't happen to have a VR201 here right now to measure directly (or
I would just do that), but IIRC, there's a threaded mounting insert on
the bottom (for the "E.T. Stand", if nothing else),  I want to
fabricate a shelf clip for a VR201 and am seeking the diameter/thread
pitch for the insert.  Does anyone have that info handy?  It's likely
larger than 1/4-20 from what I remember.


There are four brass inserts in a trapezoidal pattern, each threaded
1/4-20 (National Coarse).   The trapezoid is 7.0" center-to-center
for the two nearest the screen, and the rear ones are 5.0" center-to-center.
It is 5.0" between the front (screen) pair and the rear pair.

This is for a VR201-B -- other dash-variants may be different.
If there is a base with a single large threaded insert, it may be
an adapter that goes between the VR201 and the stand.

Now, could someone please tell me the pinouts for the 15-pin connector?
I would like to use it to view RS-170 video, if possible.

Alan Frisbie

Re: Four Unibus boards from radiation dose measurement system.

[Al Kossow via cctalk]

On 3/19/18 8:57 AM, Lyle Bickley via cctalk wrote:

>> 2914 chips. One board has some kind of dedicated memory one board has
>> 4 TRW chips which I think are AD converters.
>>

It's a frame buffer, you can see the 10422 lookup tables behind the TRW video 
DACs

Re: FS: Early Revision Commodore 64 computers

[Eric Smith via cctalk]

On Mon, Mar 19, 2018 at 12:55 AM, Sellam Ismail via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> In the continuing saga of sorting through a big batch of Commodore stuff
> from my collection, I've listed 6 different early revision Commodore 64
> computers for sale.
>

What?!

Don't tell me you've given up on making supercomputing cluster out of C64s?

Re: Mounting screw threads for VR201?

[Ethan Dicks via cctalk]

On Mon, Mar 19, 2018 at 12:51 AM, dwight  wrote:
> 10-32 is the most common rack mount screw. Is it a standard rack rail?

No.  The VR201 is the small monochrome monitor found on DEC
Professional machines (Pro325, Pro350, Pro380), the DEC Rainbow, and
later DECmates (II, III, and III+), as well as the monochrome version
of the VT240.  It is similar in shape to a VT220 but smaller.  There
are either 1 or 3 metal threaded inserts on the bottom of the case (I
don't have one here and I couldn't find a photo of the bottom) as best
I can remember.  They should be larger than a #10 machine screw, and
possibly larger than 1/4".

-ethan

RE: AlphaServers

[Rob Jarratt via cctalk]

> -Original Message-
> From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Douglas
> Taylor via cctalk
> Sent: 19 March 2018 15:39
> To: Benjamin Huntsman via cctalk 
> Subject: Re: AlphaServers
> 
> Anyone out there do Alphas anymore?
> 

I suppose it depends on what you mean by "do". Do you mean is anyone selling 
them, using them for real work or just using them as a hobbyist? I do the last 
of these (occasionally).

Regards

Rob


> I have a running;
> 
> 1000A 4/266 with 384MB Ram an full compliment of Storage Works disks (has
> redundant power supplies and a nice roll around cabinet)
> 
> 3000-300 booting from a SCSI2SD disk, (this is nice since it is kind of light 
> and
> can be picked up and moved easily)
> 
> 3000-400 booting from a SCSI2SD disk.  (this thing is quite heavy, built with
> heavy think metal to support a equally heavy monitor placed on top)
> 
> All running hobbyist OpenVMS 8.4, an one VRC16 DEC color monitor.
> 
> The only part that failed was in the 3000-400, the I/O module (runs network,
> serial, SCSI, video, etc) was faulty and kept the power supply from starting 
> up.
> 
> These 64 bit machines are an interesting compliment to the 32 bit VAXes I
> have, 4000/400, 3100/M76, MVII, 4VLC and the 16 bit PDP-11's.
> 
> Doug

Re: PDP8/e programmers consoles

[Doug Ingraham via cctalk]

The circuit board material of the straight 8 front panel is fragile.  The
resin
used melts at soldering temperatures.  As a consequence my front panel
was munged up before I got it.  Foils lifted kind of thing.  I decided when
I
next took it apart I would replace with LED's.  Around 1995 I had some
super bright white LED's and I worked out an appropriate current limiting
resister value and replaced three bulbs with LEDs.  They work but the
color temp was far too blue.  Also they activate at far too low of current
and will trigger from cross talk in the wiring when the cpu is running.
They also turn on and off too quickly.  The thermal inertia of a filament is
missing.

If you were a bit crazy you could use a CPU with an 8 bit A/D and drive a
color LED to accurately emulate a bulb.  Simpler is something like this.

  Bulb lead
|
++---+
  +---+  \   |
  |LED|  /  ---
  +---+  \  ---
|/   |
++---+
\
/
\
/
  -
   ---
-

Parts list is LED, two resistors, and a cap.  The resistor on the bottom is
to limit the brightness.  The resistor in parallel with the LED is to
control
the LAMP off brightness and cross talk illumination.  The cap is used to
slow down the on/off time and make it look more like it has some thermal
mass.

The minimum needed to make this work is the LED and the series resistor.
With modern super bright LEDs I would sand off the dome making a flat
face which diffuses the output making it unfocused.  I am also betting
that 1 ma will be too bright but lets shoot for that.  In the case of the
8/e
with an 8 volt lamp driver (assumption) if you want 1 ma of current and
the LED is ~3 volts for the white ones.  (8 volts - 3 volts)/0.001 amps
gives
a resistance of 5000 ohms.  I have seen white LEDs with a voltage of 2.7
and up to 3.2 and this gives a range of 4.8 k to 5.3 k for a 1 ma current.

Depending on what you get for LED's will determine the value of the
resistors needed.

My 8/e variant is a DECSet 8000 and the front panel has a red filter so it
would look pretty much the same with lamps or period correct red LEDs.

Best Wishes!

-- 
Doug Ingraham
PDP-8 SN 1175

Re: Four Unibus boards from radiation dose measurement system.

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Mon, 19 Mar 2018 09:15:23 +0100
Mattis Lind via cctalk  wrote:

> Hello!
> 
> I have four unibus boards that came in a 11/34 which was used for
> radiation dose measurement at a hospital.
> 
> Three of them are made by Computer Design & Application inc and is a
> three board set interconnected with over the top flat cables. It has
> some kind of AMD 29xx based bitslice processor with 2903,2910 and
> 2914 chips. One board has some kind of dedicated memory one board has
> 4 TRW chips which I think are AD converters.
> 
> https://i.imgur.com/lMvhxOp.jpg?1
> https://i.imgur.com/LEVN5Qp.jpg
> https://i.imgur.com/kcSnDRy.jpg
> https://i.imgur.com/ZfFrq3j.jpg
> 
> Then there is some kind of serial com board with four UARTs on it.
> 
> https://i.imgur.com/YvnTlxq.jpg
> 
> Is there any interest in these boards? Trade for something
> interesting DEC stuff maybe? Or something else?

Here's a little more information on where this board set was used (see
page 6):

http://www.iaea.org/inis/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/19/045/19045468.pdf

"After reconstruction, the images are displayed on a colour graphics screen
using a CUA MDP-3B graphics processor. Images can be photographed off the
screen for further study and can be archived in digital form on disk or
magnetic tape."

Cheers,
Lyle
-- 
73  AF6WS
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
http://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: AlphaServers

[Douglas Taylor via cctalk]

Anyone out there do Alphas anymore?

I have a running;

1000A 4/266 with 384MB Ram an full compliment of Storage Works disks 
(has redundant power supplies and a nice roll around cabinet)


3000-300 booting from a SCSI2SD disk, (this is nice since it is kind of 
light and can be picked up and moved easily)


3000-400 booting from a SCSI2SD disk.  (this thing is quite heavy, built 
with heavy think metal to support a equally heavy monitor placed on top)


All running hobbyist OpenVMS 8.4, an one VRC16 DEC color monitor.

The only part that failed was in the 3000-400, the I/O module (runs 
network, serial, SCSI, video, etc) was faulty and kept the power supply 
from starting up.


These 64 bit machines are an interesting compliment to the 32 bit VAXes 
I have, 4000/400, 3100/M76, MVII, 4VLC and the 16 bit PDP-11's.


Doug

Re: PDP-11 DIV instruction lossage

[Noel Chiappa via cctalk]

> I'll have to redo my kludgy fix to gmtime() ... I guess I'll have to fix
> it for real, instead of my kludgy fix (which extended it to work for
> 16-bit results). :-)
> ...
> And on the -11/23:
> Note that the returned 'quotient' is simply the high part of the dividend.

Heh. I had decided that the easiest clean and long-lived fix was to just to do
it right, using the long division routine used in the V7 C compiler runtime:

  http://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V7/usr/src/libc/crt/ldiv.s

and I vaguely recalled reading a DMR story that talked about that, so just for
amusement I decided to re-read it, and looked it up:

  https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/odd.html

(the section "Comments I do feel guilty about"), and it's lucky I did, because
I found this:

  Addendum 18 Oct 1998

  Amos Shapir of nSOF (and of long memory!) just blackened (or widened) the
  spot a bit more in a mail message, to wit:
 
  'I gather the "almost" here is because this trick almost worked... It has a
  nasty bug which I had to find the hard way!

  The "clever part" relies on the fact that if the "bvc 1f" is not taken, it
  means that the result could not fit in 16 bits; in that case the long value
  in r0,r1 is left unchanged. The bug is that this behavior is not documented;
  in later models (I found this on an 11/34) when the result does fit in 16
  bits but not in 15 bits ... which makes this routine provide very strange
  results!'

So this code won't work on an 11/23 either (which bashes the low register of
the pair; above). I'd have been groveling in buggy math, again...

Caveat Haquur (if you're trying to run stock V7 on a /23 or /34)!

   Noel

Re: PDP8/e programmers consoles

[Noel Chiappa via cctalk]

> From: Allison

>> What about warm white LEDs, though? ... maybe they are available in
>> bulb replacement form?

> I used a supply of dead bulbs to make mine. a little heat and the glass
> goes, a resistor and a 3mm led and good to go. 

Urr, I'm not up to making them! I was really hoping for the plug-in
replacement ones in white... They used to make replacements in red (we
replaced the bulbs in our -11/45 with them, BITD), so I was hoping.

Anyone know of a contemporary source for LED replacements for front panel
bulbs? (Of any colour!)

Noel

Re: Four Unibus boards from radiation dose measurement system.

[Christian Corti via cctalk]

On Mon, 19 Mar 2018, Mattis Lind wrote:

Then there is some kind of serial com board with four UARTs on it.

https://i.imgur.com/YvnTlxq.jpg


That one is easy to name: That's an Able Quadrasync/E, I have that board, 
too.


Christian

FS: Early Revision Commodore 64 computers

[Sellam Ismail via cctalk]

Hello Folks.

In the continuing saga of sorting through a big batch of Commodore stuff
from my collection, I've listed 6 different early revision Commodore 64
computers for sale.  Complete details and links to photographs are on the
VCFed forums here:

http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?62641-Sellam-s-Commodore-Sales-Thread=506526#post506526

Please do inquire directly to me by private e-mail for fastest response.

Thanks!

Sellam

Four Unibus boards from radiation dose measurement system.

[Mattis Lind via cctalk]

Hello!

I have four unibus boards that came in a 11/34 which was used for radiation
dose measurement at a hospital.

Three of them are made by Computer Design & Application inc and is a three
board set interconnected with over the top flat cables. It has some kind of
AMD 29xx based bitslice processor with 2903,2910 and 2914 chips. One board
has some kind of dedicated memory one board has 4 TRW chips which I think
are AD converters.

https://i.imgur.com/lMvhxOp.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/LEVN5Qp.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/kcSnDRy.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ZfFrq3j.jpg

Then there is some kind of serial com board with four UARTs on it.

https://i.imgur.com/YvnTlxq.jpg

Is there any interest in these boards? Trade for something interesting DEC
stuff maybe? Or something else?

/Mattis