ISO: Keyboard for Intecolor 2400 terminal
Picked up an Intecolor 2400 terminal awhile back; it's a nice VT100-compatible terminal with color enhancements. Unfortunately it's missing the detachable keyboard. Probably a longshot, but anyone have one of these lying around? Thanks, Josh
Re: analog computer - texas
theres some nice pentx 6x7 and some lens's i see also rolleiflex for dirtcheap sadly looks like local pickup blah being in northern canada sucks sometimes On Thu, Sep 19, 2019 at 4:07 PM dwight via cctech wrote: > Wow > Dwight > > > From: cctech on behalf of Dave Wade via > cctech > Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2019 12:25 AM > To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic Posts' > Subject: analog computer - texas > > Seen on the vintage forums - I hope I am not spoiling some ones bid > > > > https://swicoauctions.com/online/26/item/43886 > > > > Dave Wade > > G4UGM & EA7KAE > > > >
Re: PBXes at home
On 9/19/19 7:27 PM, Ethan O'Toole via cctalk wrote: > The 386 PC ran a unix Sys V 3.2 > It had the full, > awesome Audix Which always tells you "your call is being answered by otters"
Re: PBXes at home
On 9/19/19 7:27 PM, Ethan O'Toole via cctalk wrote: > > Where does one find a working 5ESS for home? How about a 5XB? :)
Re: PBXes at home
On 09/19/2019 09:27 PM, Ethan O'Toole via cctalk wrote: A number of years ago I picked up a Lucent Merlin Legend system. It was around 1999, and Lucent wouldn't certify the system for "y2k" so this business switched over to a Nortel in a giant middle finger to lucent. About 30 years ago, I had a KTU 1A2 phone system in my house. I was trying to add an intercom/paging system to it when I was able to buy an NEC Electra 8/16 phone system. I ran that for 25 years or so, and finally the thing just died. It did paging, intercom, and general PBX functionality for the two lines we had. I now have an Asterisk PBX system with 4 Snom 300 VOIP phones. It does way more than the NEC Electra, but it is more complicated to use. I STILL haven't gotten used to transferring a call to another extension or paging. But, it does offer distinctive ring, auto-answer with message recording, and taking FAXes. Jon
PBXes at home
A number of years ago I picked up a Lucent Merlin Legend system. It was around 1999, and Lucent wouldn't certify the system for "y2k" so this business switched over to a Nortel in a giant middle finger to lucent. The irony is the only thing that was "y2k incompatible" is you had to one time set the date on the 386 PC to 2000, otherwise it would roll back to 1970. Past that though -- it was good. The 386 PC ran a unix, and had a special interface card that presented 4 analog phone lines to the PBX. It had the full, awesome Audix (my favorite voice mail system) on it. The PBX came with an entire pickup truck bed of crap, for the price of $1200. IIRC I sold about half the phones and some line cards for $800, which made the system more affordable to me (and based on the price of the phones in those days, it made someone else's day too.) At the time I had 3 roomates, and it was very handy to be able to transfer calls around the house. In addition, there is an option to page all extensions. This was constantly used by roomates for tons of fun. And aggrivation. Some stories: We had music on hold setup, and there was a thrift store CD player in the coat closet that held all the hardware for this thing. The system had two carriers and about 6 boards. When people would call, if it was a telemarketer "track 2" was the crazy over the top rap hold music. That way when you transfer the call it sounds professional -- but not the hold music. I remember trying to go to bed, and the frigging roomates were paging my phone over and over. It was about 2AM. Given the house was a rental, the cabling to all the extensions and computers was run down the hallways -- no permanant modifications. I remember punting the phone down the hallway and slamming the door shut followed by tons of laughter. I eventually ended up with the better 486 computer that ran Audix. It came from an auction of a local ISP in Virginia Beach called Picus. I still have the hard drives and the ISA cards that interface to the PBX. One day I would like to try to convert all the voice prompts and build an asterisk setup that uses the same voice mail menu format and clean voice prompts (versus the lame ones asterisk has.) MAP 5P I think is the name of the 486 computer. My roomate always begged to upgrade to the line card that supported caller ID, but all the phone lines were in my name. I always fought it, because I knew he would never answer the phone. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I swear I would hear voices downstairs in the house. It seemed like the place was haunted or something. Finally I was in the right place at the right time the MLX-10D phones (so bad ass, look them up) had some kind of issue with the rubber components decaying in them. The phones had quick dial entries from the prior owner still stored in a lot of them. Well, in the middle of the night I guess the phones would "false trigger" and dial on speakerphone random people. So it was their voices in the middle of the night coming out of speakerphones. I also had the MLX-20L huge secretary phone with two sidecars. It was killer. The Merlin Legend was a pain in the ass to program. I think there was windows software that sort of helped. I never messed with a Magix. The MLX-10D + the Definity equivilent were my favorite phones. The rings, the look of the black set with the LCD, etc. I speculate they run on ISDN, but am not sure. The original Merlin was stylish, and I had one for a period but it was just too limited. Cool ring tone though. Where does one find a working 5ESS for home? -- : Ethan O'Toole
Re: Early Univac Commercial
There are several Univac commercials in the archive.org video library. I like the one that talks about he Univac "memory tank", which, it really was. The curious thing was that Remington Rand ran commercials not only for UNIVAC computers, but also for shavers and typewriters. --Chuck
Re: phone systems, old and less-old
On 9/19/19 6:37 PM, Kevin Monceaux via cctalk wrote: > On Thu, Sep 19, 2019 at 11:23:38AM -0700, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote: > >> What's in a name? > > Accuracy. > >> It looked gray to me. > > Me too. But enough videos that I watched featured individuals who felt > compelled to emphasize that were telco cables are concerned, the colors are > violet and slate, not purple and gray, that I'm willing to take their word > for it. The problem is that "what's the color slate look like?" Well, WikiP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slate_gray More than a bit of amiguity, so I'm going to go with "light slate gray": CMYK: (60, 43, 34, 4) or HTML #778899. WkiP also notes that there are many variations of Slate Gray in use; some are a bit more green or blue than others. But note that the color name is "Slate GRAY", so calling Ma Bell's color "gray" isn't an error. I'll bet peanuts to doughnuts that Ma Bell's official color isn't exactly any of the cited examples, either. Same for EIA 598A fiber colors. You call it "rose". I call it "pink". Now, that that's solved, we can move on to "what is the color indigo?" --Chuck
Early Univac Commercial
I was watching an early airing of "What's My Line", and they aired a commercial by Remington Rand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-DNG_bbHDE The commercial starts about 19:30 and shows the Univac being used in a weather prediction. Not much useful information, but the video is quite interesting to watch. Marvin
Re: phone systems, old and less-old
On Thu, Sep 19, 2019 at 11:23:38AM -0700, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote: > What's in a name? Accuracy. > It looked gray to me. Me too. But enough videos that I watched featured individuals who felt compelled to emphasize that were telco cables are concerned, the colors are violet and slate, not purple and gray, that I'm willing to take their word for it. It kind of reminds me of when Dr. Pulaski met commander Data, and mispronounced his name as Dat-ah, instead of Day-tah. He told her how it was pronounced. She asked, "What's the difference?" He replied, "One is my name, the other is not." Where the 25 pair telco color code is concerned, violet and slate are in the color code, purple and gray are not. -- Kevin http://www.RawFedDogs.net http://www.Lassie.xyz http://www.WacoAgilityGroup.org Bruceville, TX What's the definition of a legacy system? One that works! Errare humanum est, ignoscere caninum.
Re: KiCad pcb file
I know someone out west who makes boards for DEC systems. If you want , I'll look for his contact info this weekend. Paul On Wed, Sep 18, 2019 at 4:09 PM systems_glitch via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > We have to clean it up but we've got the pattern for a quad height > prototype board. I can share the outline and edge connectors once it's 100% > verified. > > Thanks, > Jonathan > > On Tue, Sep 17, 2019 at 7:54 PM David Bridgham via cctalk < > cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > > > On 9/17/19 15:00, Ed Groenenberg via cctalk wrote: > > > Hello. > > > > > > I'm looking for a PCB layout file / template of a 2 slot Unibus card, > > > which I want to use in KiCad. > > > > > > Can someone help me with this? > > > > > > Here's a KiCad template for a double-height QBUS card. I haven't > > verified it or cleaned it up but it ought to make a good starting point > > and deleting the QBUS bits will be easy. Eventually I'll need to do a > > quad-height Unibus card too. > > > > http://pdp10.froghouse.org/qsic/qbus-template.tar.gz > > > > If you're building your own DEC boards, this is the best dimensional > > diagram I've come across; I pulled it out of a uVAX manual. The one bug > > I've found in it is the "1.00±.010" in the corner where the edge fingers > > start. I think it's supposed to be "0.100±.010" but I'd double-check > > that against other diagrams or measure a real board. > > > > http://pdp10.froghouse.org/qsic/qbus-dimensions.pdf > > > > > > >
Re: Tektrionix VAXBI board and DC100 training tapes?
On 9/19/19 12:45 PM, Mattis Lind via cctalk wrote: > An ex DEC engineer offloaded some stuff that he had found in his attic. > > https://i.imgur.com/413NSSL.jpg?1 > > It came together with a tektronix 1241 Logic Analyzer. > > Someone that can tell more about it? > A Tek BI-Bus preprocessor for the 1241? > Then there were some DC100 tapes in a huge heap of TU58 diagnostic tapes > They were marked "BI-SYNC TRAINING TAPE" and "ASYNC TRAINING TAPE > TAP-895-103-1.0 3.04" > > > Anyone recognize what that could be? > Tek logic analyzers and protocol analyzers of the era used those tapes It may be sample data for those protocols
Re: Tektrionix VAXBI board and DC100 training tapes?
On 19/09/2019 22:06, Paul Koning via cctalk wrote: On Sep 19, 2019, at 3:45 PM, Mattis Lind via cctalk wrote: An ex DEC engineer offloaded some stuff that he had found in his attic. ... Then there were some DC100 tapes in a huge heap of TU58 diagnostic tapes for VAX-11/730 and VAX-11/750 that looked different. https://i.imgur.com/6n8yCxd.jpg?1 They were marked "BI-SYNC TRAINING TAPE" and "ASYNC TRAINING TAPE TAP-895-103-1.0 3.04" BI-SYNC is an odd spelling, but I would guess it means "BISYNC", the ancient communication protocol mostly used by IBM. With the hyphen it sounds like it's related to BI, but I suspect that's a red herring. paul It must be BISYNC - DEC had many bisync comms products over the years. VAXBI stuff on TU58 doesn't make very much sense to me ! Antonio -- Antonio Carlini anto...@acarlini.com
Re: Tektrionix VAXBI board and DC100 training tapes?
> On Sep 19, 2019, at 3:45 PM, Mattis Lind via cctalk > wrote: > > An ex DEC engineer offloaded some stuff that he had found in his attic. > ... > Then there were some DC100 tapes in a huge heap of TU58 diagnostic tapes > for VAX-11/730 and VAX-11/750 that looked different. > > https://i.imgur.com/6n8yCxd.jpg?1 > > They were marked "BI-SYNC TRAINING TAPE" and "ASYNC TRAINING TAPE > TAP-895-103-1.0 3.04" BI-SYNC is an odd spelling, but I would guess it means "BISYNC", the ancient communication protocol mostly used by IBM. With the hyphen it sounds like it's related to BI, but I suspect that's a red herring. paul
Re: analog computer - texas
Wow Dwight From: cctech on behalf of Dave Wade via cctech Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2019 12:25 AM To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic Posts' Subject: analog computer - texas Seen on the vintage forums - I hope I am not spoiling some ones bid https://swicoauctions.com/online/26/item/43886 Dave Wade G4UGM & EA7KAE
analog computer - texas
Seen on the vintage forums - I hope I am not spoiling some ones bid https://swicoauctions.com/online/26/item/43886 Dave Wade G4UGM & EA7KAE
Re: Tektrionix VAXBI board and DC100 training tapes?
> On Sep 19, 2019, at 12:45 PM, Mattis Lind via cctalk > wrote: > > An ex DEC engineer offloaded some stuff that he had found in his attic. > > https://i.imgur.com/413NSSL.jpg?1 > > It came together with a tektronix 1241 Logic Analyzer. > > Someone that can tell more about it? I don’t know anything, but I’m curious. :-) I’d recommend trying the Tek Museum, I think they’re actually now on the Tek Campus (unless I’m mistaken, Tek is down to the original site). https://vintagetek.org/ Zane
Tektrionix VAXBI board and DC100 training tapes?
An ex DEC engineer offloaded some stuff that he had found in his attic. https://i.imgur.com/413NSSL.jpg?1 It came together with a tektronix 1241 Logic Analyzer. Someone that can tell more about it? Then there were some DC100 tapes in a huge heap of TU58 diagnostic tapes for VAX-11/730 and VAX-11/750 that looked different. https://i.imgur.com/6n8yCxd.jpg?1 They were marked "BI-SYNC TRAINING TAPE" and "ASYNC TRAINING TAPE TAP-895-103-1.0 3.04" Anyone recognize what that could be? BTW. What are the status of various 11/730 and 11/750 diagnostics on TU58. Are those already dumped? It takes some time to work with TU58 so if someone already done all this I might skip dealing with them. I know of only one place that has TU58 dumps. http://iamvirtual.ca/VAX11/VAX-11-software.html Anywhere else? /Mattis
Re: phone systems, old and less-old
On 9/19/19 9:56 AM, Kevin Monceaux via cctalk wrote: > On Wed, Sep 18, 2019 at 09:05:07PM -0700, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote: > >> 25 pairs, where >> >> White Red Black Yellow Violet for each "bank" and within each bank >> Blue Orange Green Brown Gray > >>From what I've heard and read, where a 25 pair cable is concerned, it's > slate, not gray. Yes, and Ma Bell had optional colors with names like "rose". Regardless, what's the origin of the color scheme? In other words, what is the basis of the ordering? Resistor color code follows (pretty much) colors as they occur in a rainbow. Evidently, Ma Bell doesn't believe in rainbows. --Chuck
Re: phone systems, old and less-old
Please don't let anybody call the 25 pair 50-pin miniature ribbon connector (RJ21), "Centronics"! We used to call them "blue ribbon" connectors. I'm sure that that's also a misnomer. I still believe that that is the correct name. I've always assumed that that was Amphenol's name for that line of connector when they invented it. I also assumed that "blue ribbon" was a reference to the blue first-prize ribbons at county fair type contests. Although a friend claimed that that name was unintentional, since instead of pins, it uses "ribbon contacts", hence also "micro ribbon connector". and many of them had a BLUE plastic center section. On Wed, 18 Sep 2019, Jon Elson wrote: The original Amphenol connector was about 3 X the contact spacing of the micro-blue ribbon connector, but basically the same design. They used Diallyl pthalate insulators. I don't know if these are just always dyed blue, or the chemical makeup makes them blue, but it is a deep blue color. So, that's where the blue in the name comes from. The contacts are punched out of a ribbon of gold-plated beryllium copper, so that's where the ribbon in the name comes from. Thank you. I appreciate the detailed explanation. -- Grumpy Ol' Fred ci...@xenosoft.com
Re: phone systems, old and less-old
On 9/19/19 9:56 AM, Kevin Monceaux via cctalk wrote: > On Wed, Sep 18, 2019 at 09:05:07PM -0700, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote: > >> 25 pairs, where >> >> White Red Black Yellow Violet for each "bank" and within each bank >> Blue Orange Green Brown Gray > >>From what I've heard and read, where a 25 pair cable is concerned, it's > slate, not gray. What's in a name? It looked gray to me. --Chuck
Re: phone systems, old and less-old
On 9/19/19 12:56 PM, Kevin Monceaux via cctalk wrote: > On Wed, Sep 18, 2019 at 09:05:07PM -0700, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote: > >> 25 pairs, where >> >> White Red Black Yellow Violet for each "bank" and within each bank >> Blue Orange Green Brown Gray > > From what I've heard and read, where a 25 pair cable is concerned, it's > slate, not gray. > > > Grey or slate for outer jacket and the listed colors for wire pairs or groups of pairs in the cable. Allison
Re: phone systems, old and less-old
On Wed, Sep 18, 2019 at 09:05:07PM -0700, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote: > 25 pairs, where > > White Red Black Yellow Violet for each "bank" and within each bank > Blue Orange Green Brown Gray >From what I've heard and read, where a 25 pair cable is concerned, it's slate, not gray. -- Kevin http://www.RawFedDogs.net http://www.Lassie.xyz http://www.WacoAgilityGroup.org Bruceville, TX What's the definition of a legacy system? One that works! Errare humanum est, ignoscere caninum.
Re: phone systems, old and less-old
On Wed, Sep 18, 2019 at 06:34:55PM -0700, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote: > You have to be OLD to have used these? Golly, maybe I really am OLD. No. I encountered similar phones at a Service Merchandise I worked at in the early '90s. They were connected to some type of early PBX system. I wish I knew more about it. > My grandmother's was 46 (no exchange or dial; rural phone company). That reminds me of an early Lassie episode. Lassie was going blind, and Jeff took her into the city to a human eye doctor. The doctor asked Jeff for his phone number. Jeff replied, "There's no number. Just one long ring, two short ... Jenny knows." Jenny was the Calverton switchboard operator. > Anyone collect the old Rolm (IBM) PBX stuff? No, but if I ever come across any I might. Having worked in z/OS and AS/400 operations for a couple of decades I've developed a fondness for IBM gear. -- Kevin http://www.RawFedDogs.net http://www.Lassie.xyz http://www.WacoAgilityGroup.org Bruceville, TX What's the definition of a legacy system? One that works! Errare humanum est, ignoscere caninum.
