Re: So what the heck did I just pick up?

[dwight via cctalk]

How about some pictures of what was inside. A picture that is atleast good 
enough to see what is there.
Dwight


From: cctalk  on behalf of Brent Hilpert via 
cctalk 
Sent: Saturday, August 31, 2019 1:25 PM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts 
Subject: Re: So what the heck did I just pick up?

On 2019-Aug-30, at 7:24 PM, John Ames via cctalk wrote:
> Ran into this at the electronics-surplus store just down the way from
> my workplace and grabbed it on the cheap. I don't actually know what
> it *is,* but the labels on the switches make it look a *hell* of a lot
> like a 16-bit general-purpose computer of some kind. Despite the
> claims of being "microprocessor-controlled," I looked at every board
> inside the thing and couldn't spot anything that looked like a 16-bit
> or even 8-bit CPU. Genuinely curious what this is, but I can't find
> much on it online - the name pops up in a few archived documents, but
> Bitsavers doesn't have anything for the company. Though the design is
> attributed to Stanley Kubota and Edward Corby - looks like Mr. Kubota
> still has an online presence at https://www.exsellsales.com/about-us/
> so I'll have to drop them a line...
>
> Anybody heard of or encountered one of these before?
>
> http://www.commodorejohn.com/whatsit-front.jpg
> http://www.commodorejohn.com/whatsit-back.jpg


"couldn't spot anything that ... looked like a CPU"

By what criteria? Were you just looking for 'large' chips?
Might you have overlooked an 8008 or 4004? - they were in 'small' 18 & 16 pin 
DIPs.
Given the mid-70's appearance (confirmed by Chuck's 1976 ref) those would have 
been possibilities for the task.

If there's no single-chip microproc in there, there might be a minimal CPU 
built out of multiple chips.
"Microprocessor" in that era was sometimes used in a wider sense than just 
single-chip-processor.
ROMs or EPROMs for firmware could be another hint as to architecture.

Re: So what the heck did I just pick up?

[John Ames via cctalk]

On 8/31/19, Gregory Beat  wrote:
> Beautiful front panel (1970s design).
> It would make a nice front panel for a DIY Computer.
Yeah, that's definitely a thought that's crossed my mind (I've been
meaning to get around to a TMS-99105 project for ages...) Though I'd
like to find out more about this before I go cannibalizing what
appears to be a working piece of equipment (fires up with no smoke,
front-panel controls respond as one might expect - but without
documentation, it's rather hard to hack up a test program!)

Re: So what the heck did I just pick up?

[Brent Hilpert via cctalk]

On 2019-Aug-30, at 7:24 PM, John Ames via cctalk wrote:
> Ran into this at the electronics-surplus store just down the way from
> my workplace and grabbed it on the cheap. I don't actually know what
> it *is,* but the labels on the switches make it look a *hell* of a lot
> like a 16-bit general-purpose computer of some kind. Despite the
> claims of being "microprocessor-controlled," I looked at every board
> inside the thing and couldn't spot anything that looked like a 16-bit
> or even 8-bit CPU. Genuinely curious what this is, but I can't find
> much on it online - the name pops up in a few archived documents, but
> Bitsavers doesn't have anything for the company. Though the design is
> attributed to Stanley Kubota and Edward Corby - looks like Mr. Kubota
> still has an online presence at https://www.exsellsales.com/about-us/
> so I'll have to drop them a line...
> 
> Anybody heard of or encountered one of these before?
> 
> http://www.commodorejohn.com/whatsit-front.jpg
> http://www.commodorejohn.com/whatsit-back.jpg


"couldn't spot anything that ... looked like a CPU"

By what criteria? Were you just looking for 'large' chips?
Might you have overlooked an 8008 or 4004? - they were in 'small' 18 & 16 pin 
DIPs.
Given the mid-70's appearance (confirmed by Chuck's 1976 ref) those would have 
been possibilities for the task.

If there's no single-chip microproc in there, there might be a minimal CPU 
built out of multiple chips.
"Microprocessor" in that era was sometimes used in a wider sense than just 
single-chip-processor.
ROMs or EPROMs for firmware could be another hint as to architecture.

Re: So what the heck did I just pick up?

[Al Kossow via cctalk]

On 8/31/19 10:16 AM, 'someone' via cctalk wrote:

> It would make a nice front panel for a DIY Computer.

Yes, chop of its head. That's always the first thing to do with
a piece of 'unknown' test equipment

Re: So what the heck did I just pick up?

[Gregory Beat via cctalk]

Beautiful front panel (1970s design).  
It would make a nice front panel for a DIY Computer.
—
It is an RS-423 control/switch panel.  
RS-423 is an EIA/TIA serial communications standard, BUT there is no common 
pinout (standard) for RS-423. 
==
RS-232 was defined in 1962 by the Electronics Industry Association (now the 
Electronics Industry Alliance). Control of the standards definition was passed 
over to the Telecommunications Industry Association in 1988. Since then, 
standards documents relating to RS-232 are referenced by the code “TIA.” The 
standard is currently known as TIA-232-F. 
RS-432 was a faster version of RS-232 — BUT it was not widely adopted.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RS-423

The BBC Micro computer used a 5-pin DIN connector.  DEC used it with their 
Modified Modular Jack (MMJ) connector. This was sometimes called "DEC-423".
RS-432 was implemented in Apple Mac computers and the Enterprise 64 and 128 
models. All other hardware manufacturers stuck with RS-232. 

g. beat
elmhurst, is

Midwest VCF : September 14-15, 2019
http://vcfmw.org/

Sent from iPad Air

Re: DecNet / Linux

[John Forecast via cctalk]

I finally got around to getting DECnet running on the latest release of 
Raspbian for the Raspberry Pi (the 2019-7-10 Buster release). I’ve also done 
some (very) limited testing on Debian Buster (both 32- and 64-bit  x86 
kernels). For anyone who is interested the code is available at:

>

  John.

Re: So what the heck did I just pick up?

[Aaron Taylor via cctalk]

I have something from the same company that sounds like it might be the same
type of device. It is an

RS-670 40 MHz Digital Word Generator.

Mine is obviously a decade or two newer. It includes a small CRT plus
keypad/keyboard and is a general purpose computer. It includes 32 output lines
(plus some misc) and the user can enter a program, either via floppy or by
manual entry on the front panel. That program is played back over the output
lines like a digital function generator.

If you find any caches of manuals for Interface Technologies equipment, let me
know. I don't have a manual for mine.

Aaron


On Fri, Aug 30, 2019 at 07:24:24PM -0700, John Ames via cctech wrote:
> Ran into this at the electronics-surplus store just down the way from
> my workplace and grabbed it on the cheap. I don't actually know what
> it *is,* but the labels on the switches make it look a *hell* of a lot
> like a 16-bit general-purpose computer of some kind. Despite the
> claims of being "microprocessor-controlled," I looked at every board
> inside the thing and couldn't spot anything that looked like a 16-bit
> or even 8-bit CPU. Genuinely curious what this is, but I can't find
> much on it online - the name pops up in a few archived documents, but
> Bitsavers doesn't have anything for the company. Though the design is
> attributed to Stanley Kubota and Edward Corby - looks like Mr. Kubota
> still has an online presence at https://www.exsellsales.com/about-us/
> so I'll have to drop them a line...
> 
> Anybody heard of or encountered one of these before?
> 
> http://www.commodorejohn.com/whatsit-front.jpg
> http://www.commodorejohn.com/whatsit-back.jpg

Re: So what the heck did I just pick up?

[dwight via cctalk]

One wonders what the micro instructions were? It looks like a lot of circuit 
tracing ahead.
Dwight


From: cctech  on behalf of Chuck Guzis via 
cctech 
Sent: Friday, August 30, 2019 7:57 PM
To: John Ames via cctech 
Subject: Re: So what the heck did I just pick up?

On 8/30/19 7:24 PM, John Ames via cctech wrote:
> Ran into this at the electronics-surplus store just down the way from
> my workplace and grabbed it on the cheap. I don't actually know what
> it *is,* but the labels on the switches make it look a *hell* of a lot
> like a 16-bit general-purpose computer of some kind. Despite the
> claims of being "microprocessor-controlled," I looked at every board
> inside the thing and couldn't spot anything that looked like a 16-bit
> or even 8-bit CPU. Genuinely curious what this is, but I can't find
> much on it online - the name pops up in a few archived documents, but
> Bitsavers doesn't have anything for the company. Though the design is
> attributed to Stanley Kubota and Edward Corby - looks like Mr. Kubota
> still has an online presence at https://www.exsellsales.com/about-us/
> so I'll have to drop them a line...
>
> Anybody heard of or encountered one of these before?
>
> http://www.commodorejohn.com/whatsit-front.jpg
> http://www.commodorejohn.com/whatsit-back.jpg

Not surprisingly, the answer's on Bitsavers:

http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/microcomputerAssociates/Microcomputer_Digest_v02n08_Feb76.pdf

PDF page 7.

--Chuck

Re: So what the heck did I just pick up?

[Bob Rosenbloom via cctalk]

On 8/30/2019 7:24 PM, John Ames via cctech wrote:

Ran into this at the electronics-surplus store just down the way from
my workplace and grabbed it on the cheap. I don't actually know what
it *is,* but the labels on the switches make it look a *hell* of a lot
like a 16-bit general-purpose computer of some kind. Despite the
claims of being "microprocessor-controlled," I looked at every board
inside the thing and couldn't spot anything that looked like a 16-bit
or even 8-bit CPU. Genuinely curious what this is, but I can't find
much on it online - the name pops up in a few archived documents, but
Bitsavers doesn't have anything for the company. Though the design is
attributed to Stanley Kubota and Edward Corby - looks like Mr. Kubota
still has an online presence at https://www.exsellsales.com/about-us/
so I'll have to drop them a line...

Anybody heard of or encountered one of these before?

http://www.commodorejohn.com/whatsit-front.jpg
http://www.commodorejohn.com/whatsit-back.jpg



It's a piece of test equipment that generates bit patterns. The 
connectors on the back go to pods that
output different logic levels like TTL or ECL. I used one to generate 
test patterns for testing parallel

loaded video DAC's.

It could be programmed to loop through sections of data loaded into it's 
internal memory and

respond to input bits to change what it's outputting.

It's main use was for testing IEEE 488 interfaces, but could be used as 
a general purpose data

and timing generator.

Bob

--
Vintage computers and electronics
www.dvq.com
www.tekmuseum.com
www.decmuseum.org

So what the heck did I just pick up?

[John Ames via cctalk]

Ran into this at the electronics-surplus store just down the way from
my workplace and grabbed it on the cheap. I don't actually know what
it *is,* but the labels on the switches make it look a *hell* of a lot
like a 16-bit general-purpose computer of some kind. Despite the
claims of being "microprocessor-controlled," I looked at every board
inside the thing and couldn't spot anything that looked like a 16-bit
or even 8-bit CPU. Genuinely curious what this is, but I can't find
much on it online - the name pops up in a few archived documents, but
Bitsavers doesn't have anything for the company. Though the design is
attributed to Stanley Kubota and Edward Corby - looks like Mr. Kubota
still has an online presence at https://www.exsellsales.com/about-us/
so I'll have to drop them a line...

Anybody heard of or encountered one of these before?

http://www.commodorejohn.com/whatsit-front.jpg
http://www.commodorejohn.com/whatsit-back.jpg

Re: So what the heck did I just pick up?

[Chuck Guzis via cctalk]

On 8/30/19 7:24 PM, John Ames via cctech wrote:
> Ran into this at the electronics-surplus store just down the way from
> my workplace and grabbed it on the cheap. I don't actually know what
> it *is,* but the labels on the switches make it look a *hell* of a lot
> like a 16-bit general-purpose computer of some kind. Despite the
> claims of being "microprocessor-controlled," I looked at every board
> inside the thing and couldn't spot anything that looked like a 16-bit
> or even 8-bit CPU. Genuinely curious what this is, but I can't find
> much on it online - the name pops up in a few archived documents, but
> Bitsavers doesn't have anything for the company. Though the design is
> attributed to Stanley Kubota and Edward Corby - looks like Mr. Kubota
> still has an online presence at https://www.exsellsales.com/about-us/
> so I'll have to drop them a line...
> 
> Anybody heard of or encountered one of these before?
> 
> http://www.commodorejohn.com/whatsit-front.jpg
> http://www.commodorejohn.com/whatsit-back.jpg

Not surprisingly, the answer's on Bitsavers:

http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/microcomputerAssociates/Microcomputer_Digest_v02n08_Feb76.pdf

PDF page 7.

--Chuck