[cctalk] Re: 5150 cassette (Was: DLOAD BASIC command for Color Comp
On Mon, Jan 30, 2023 at 6:47 PM Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote: > The 5150 had a cassette port! > Diagnostics were supplied on cassette tape. [...] > There was an outfit that marketed a sorta network using the 5150 cassette > port, for classroom distribution, etc. There was the Radio Shack Network 2 which worked like that. It was originally designed for use with TRS-80s (a master disk system used by the teacher and diskless machines used by the students). I've never heard of it being used with the 5150 but I suspect it would work. I did hear of people using the motor control relay on the 5150 (you could control it easily from Microsoft BASIC, for example) as a single-bit output to key a CW radio transmitter (morse code), etc. And I think I read of somebody who used a 5150 as a sales cash register and used the relay to release the cash drawer. -tony
[cctalk] Re: DLOAD BASIC command for Color Computer 1/2 heritage
On Mon, Jan 30, 2023 at 5:34 PM Jim Brain via cctalk wrote: > > On 1/30/2023 11:14 AM, Chris via cctalk wrote: > > It had a dedicated cassette port? Don't most cassette ports resemble a > > serial port, or is my wonky brain making that up? What protocols did most > > cassette ports use (c64/128?, IBM 5150, coco ...)? > > Lots of systems had dedicated cassette ports, but yes, CoCo has a > dedicated cassette port, as does all the 8 bit CBM machines, I think the > Model 1/3/4 also, and doesn't the Apple II have one as well. Yes, all those have dedicated cassette ports. > I am sure > I am forgetting a bunch. ZX80, ZX81, Spectrum, Acorn Acom, Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, etc, etc. Do you count machines like the Amstrad CPC464 which had a built-in cassette recorder? > > I think it would have been hard to have the cassette use the serial > port, because cassette needs audio tones, not RS232 levels. There was an almghty kludge in the TRS-80 Modem 1. You could flip a switch and the modem serial input changed from RS232 levels to cassette levels. The modem serial output became a keyed (by the serial data) audio tone. This meant you could link it to a Model 1 cassette port and drive it with special software. It's documented in the service manual for said modem. -tony
[cctalk] Re: 5150 cassette (Was: DLOAD BASIC command for Color Comp
By Sent from the all new AOL app for Android On Mon, Jan 30, 2023 at 6:01 PM, ben via cctalk wrote:On 2023-01-30 1:50 p.m., Paul Berger via cctalk wrote: >> On 2023-01-30 2:12 p.m., Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote: The 5150 had a >> cassette port! . . . The 5160 no longer had the cassette port. On >> Mon, 30 Jan 2023, Paul Berger via cctalk wrote:>>> The cassette port on the >> 5150 could also be used as a>>> Telecommunication Device for the Deaf (TDD) >> many years ago I made up>>> a ISA bus card with the same function as the >> cassette port for a>>> gentleman that wanted to move on from a 5150 but >> still needed the>>> cassette port for a TDD device. Interesting! Was >> that stand-alone and compatible with the ordinary TDD/TTY units?>> (and >> coupled to a modem)>> Or was that solely for communicating with other >> 5150s? Or was that to use the 5150 as a KSR terminal for a TDD/TTY >> handling>> the POT communication? -->> Grumpy Ol' Fred >> ci...@xenosoft.com>>> I don't recall all the details but I seem to recall >> that the cassette> interface was used to generate the modem tones and would >> be connected to> an acoustic coupler. I believe the software emulated a >> TDD/TTY but I> don't recall if it was Baudot or ACSII. It would not have >> been a stretch> to do it all in software as the rate is only 45 Baud and the >> tone> generation for the cassette interface was done in software.>> Paul. >RTTY software might do that.Ben. And rtth uses different tones from tdd totally differentED#
[cctalk] Re: 5150 cassette (Was: DLOAD BASIC command for Color Comp
On 2023-01-30 1:50 p.m., Paul Berger via cctalk wrote: On 2023-01-30 2:12 p.m., Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote: The 5150 had a cassette port! . . . The 5160 no longer had the cassette port. On Mon, 30 Jan 2023, Paul Berger via cctalk wrote: The cassette port on the 5150 could also be used as a Telecommunication Device for the Deaf (TDD) many years ago I made up a ISA bus card with the same function as the cassette port for a gentleman that wanted to move on from a 5150 but still needed the cassette port for a TDD device. Interesting! Was that stand-alone and compatible with the ordinary TDD/TTY units? (and coupled to a modem) Or was that solely for communicating with other 5150s? Or was that to use the 5150 as a KSR terminal for a TDD/TTY handling the POT communication? -- Grumpy Ol' Fred ci...@xenosoft.com I don't recall all the details but I seem to recall that the cassette interface was used to generate the modem tones and would be connected to an acoustic coupler. I believe the software emulated a TDD/TTY but I don't recall if it was Baudot or ACSII. It would not have been a stretch to do it all in software as the rate is only 45 Baud and the tone generation for the cassette interface was done in software. Paul. RTTY software might do that. Ben.
[cctalk] Re: 5150 cassette (Was: DLOAD BASIC command for Color Comp
For reference, my notes on the CTR/CCR tape units (and its relationship to CoCo's and the 5150): https://voidstar.blog/all-about-tandy-radio-shack-computer-cassette-recorder-trs-ccr/ (the Tandy Modem 1 from 1981 also used the cassette port, on one of the TRS-80 systems - at least per its manual) I know IBM had many NDA's when developing the 5150, and also that development was done as secretly and quickly as possible. I don't have any evidence for it, but I always assumed that IBM ended up "borrowing" the tape-cassette interface of the TRS-80, directly because of their relationship with Microsoft. Microsoft released TRSDOS Disk BASIC in 1979 - so they knew how to interface BASIC with disks. TRS-80 Model 3 release date was July 1980 CoCo release date is September 1980 I don't know exactly when the 5150 prototype started (there is an online claim about someone having "the" IBM 5150 prototype board - with a bunch of breadboard yellow wiring like they used on the 5100). There is a date on when IBM contacted Microsoft: July 21st, 1980 (Jack Sams call to Gates) -- same month as the TRS-80 Model 3 release. Then, about a week later: July 27th, 1980 is the date noted when Microsoft bought QDOS. So if Microsoft knew IBM was in a rush, and that IBM wouldn't want to R or consider any other new type of cassette-storage system (and there are QIC-based backup systems in early PC Magazine up to even '83 or '84 -- decent capacity, but still expensive as a standalone storage solution) -- Microsoft engineers probably suggested a design they were already familiar with. There was no serial port (on the 5150 mainboard). Maybe they used the tape system to bootstrap early BIOS or MS-DOS revisions? (the disk drive system hadn't been developed yet) OR, maybe use of the tape system was to distract anyone who might ask questions about the system (i.e. keep the system uninteresting). Did IBM also borrow aspects of the 5.25" disk drive system from the TRS-80 Model 3? Maybe not, if the ISA bus required something different for that. But to both Microsoft and IBM, "borrowing" the existing tape system from the TRS-80 seems like a logical decision (cheap, quick, and can test some stuff before the floppy disk solution was finished) - but it's just my speculation. -Steve > On Mon, 30 Jan 2023, Jim Brain via cctalk wrote: > > Lots of systems had dedicated cassette ports, but yes, CoCo has a > dedicated > > cassette port, as does all the 8 bit CBM machines, I think the Model > 1/3/4 > > also, and doesn't the Apple II have one as well. I am sure I am > forgetting > > a bunch. > > >
[cctalk] Re: 5150 cassette (Was: DLOAD BASIC command for Color Comp
Hi Sent from the all new AOL app for Android On Mon, Jan 30, 2023 at 12:12 PM, Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote:>> The 5150 had a cassette port!>> . . .>> The 5160 no longer had the cassette port. On Mon, 30 Jan 2023, Paul Berger via cctalk wrote:> The cassette port on the 5150 could also be used as a Telecommunication> Device for the Deaf (TDD) many years ago I made up a ISA bus card with the> same function as the cassette port for a gentleman that wanted to move on> from a 5150 but still needed the cassette port for a TDD device. Interesting! Was that stand-alone and compatible with the ordinary TDD/TTY units?(and coupled to a modem)Or was that solely for communicating with other 5150s? Or was that to use the 5150 as a KSR terminal for a TDD/TTY handling thePOT communication? --Grumpy Ol' Fred ci...@xenosoft.com Was this to actually communicate with the true Deftones for tdd work if so I'd be real interested in it we have a very large collection of items that are assistive for the deaf and hard of hearing at smecc Museum and this would qualify for that so yeah tell me some more thanks Ed
[cctalk] Re: Mechanical Selectric keyboards on video terminals (was Re: Typing class in high school)
On 1/30/23 14:11, Sellam Abraham via cctalk wrote: > > And the PDP-1. ...and let's not forget Gog! (1954) https://i.imgur.com/j8VsH0s.png That same flick shows a Bendix cmputer https://i.imgur.com/8ezAtKr.png Don't know what model, however--awfully early for Bendix. --Chuck
[cctalk] Re: Mechanical Selectric keyboards on video terminals (was Re: Typing class in high school)
On Mon, Jan 30, 2023 at 1:59 PM paul.kimpel--- via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > > The IBM Model B electric typewriter was used as a printer and keyboard > entry device on at least the Bendix G-15 (mid 1950s) and the IBM 1620 Model > 1 (1959). On the G-15 it ran at about 8cps (timing was determined by the > drum rotation). On the 1620-1 it ran at 10cps. And yeah, they probably took > quite a beating, since many sites did not have a line printer. > And the PDP-1. Sellam
[cctalk] Re: Mechanical Selectric keyboards on video terminals (was Re: Typing class in high school)
Paul Berger wrote: > On 2023-01-29 12:25 a.m., Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote: > > On 1/28/23 20:20, Paul Berger via cctalk wrote: > > > > [snip] > > believe it is the same > > as the 029. The printer in the 1052 is a keyboardless Selectric with no > > tab rack and they spaced via a cam on the OP shaft instead of taking a > > cycle. The ones I saw on a couple 360s (22 and 25) the space cam was so > > worn it wobbled when it took a cycle, but the customer would never let > > us do anything with it as long as it worked because they could not do > > anything with out the console. Was the 1052 more or less durable than the > > model B > > adapted for the 1620? > >With its movable carriage, it always seemed to be in danger of > > self-destructing--the thing would shake a bit then a carriage return was > > executed. > > > > --Chuck > > My experience is that they where pretty durable, I never saw a lot of > 1052s by the time I started in 1979 there was not a lot of 360s in our > branch. [snip] > > I don't know how they would compare to a model B that was used as an I/O > I never saw any systems that used one. I would imagine that moving the > heavy carriage back on something that is printing steady would be a > trouble spot. I would image that kind of use would also be hard on the > power roll that drives the type hammers into the paper. I don't image > they would be very fast, a Selectric could print at 15.5 characters per > second and at that speed the cycle clutch never latched it was just one > continuous cycle. Selectric I/Os that ran at full 15.5 chars/sec > suffered way more problems than ones that printed at a lower speed. The IBM Model B electric typewriter was used as a printer and keyboard entry device on at least the Bendix G-15 (mid 1950s) and the IBM 1620 Model 1 (1959). On the G-15 it ran at about 8cps (timing was determined by the drum rotation). On the 1620-1 it ran at 10cps. And yeah, they probably took quite a beating, since many sites did not have a line printer. The 1620 Model 2 (1962) used a Model 731 Selectric and drove it at 15.5cps. Paul K
[cctalk] Re: 5150 cassette (Was: DLOAD BASIC command for Color Comp
On 2023-01-30 2:12 p.m., Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote: The 5150 had a cassette port! . . . The 5160 no longer had the cassette port. On Mon, 30 Jan 2023, Paul Berger via cctalk wrote: The cassette port on the 5150 could also be used as a Telecommunication Device for the Deaf (TDD) many years ago I made up a ISA bus card with the same function as the cassette port for a gentleman that wanted to move on from a 5150 but still needed the cassette port for a TDD device. Interesting! Was that stand-alone and compatible with the ordinary TDD/TTY units? (and coupled to a modem) Or was that solely for communicating with other 5150s? Or was that to use the 5150 as a KSR terminal for a TDD/TTY handling the POT communication? -- Grumpy Ol' Fred ci...@xenosoft.com I don't recall all the details but I seem to recall that the cassette interface was used to generate the modem tones and would be connected to an acoustic coupler. I believe the software emulated a TDD/TTY but I don't recall if it was Baudot or ACSII. It would not have been a stretch to do it all in software as the rate is only 45 Baud and the tone generation for the cassette interface was done in software. Paul.
[cctalk] Re: 5150 cassette (Was: DLOAD BASIC command for Color Comp
The 5150 had a cassette port! . . . The 5160 no longer had the cassette port. On Mon, 30 Jan 2023, Paul Berger via cctalk wrote: The cassette port on the 5150 could also be used as a Telecommunication Device for the Deaf (TDD) many years ago I made up a ISA bus card with the same function as the cassette port for a gentleman that wanted to move on from a 5150 but still needed the cassette port for a TDD device. Interesting! Was that stand-alone and compatible with the ordinary TDD/TTY units? (and coupled to a modem) Or was that solely for communicating with other 5150s? Or was that to use the 5150 as a KSR terminal for a TDD/TTY handling the POT communication? -- Grumpy Ol' Fred ci...@xenosoft.com
[cctalk] Re: 5150 cassette (Was: DLOAD BASIC command for Color Comp
On 2023-01-30 1:47 p.m., Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote: The 5150 had a cassette port! Diagnostics were supplied on cassette tape. It was immediately adjacent to the keyboard port, and used the same 5 pin DIN connector, for the added convenience of being able to plug in to the wrong one. THAT mimiced the TRS80 model one, which had Power, video, and cassette in a group of three 5 pin DIN identical connectors. THAT, and the keyboards of the Jr and Coco, were to show that IBM was so big that it didn't have to learn from the misteaks of others. Since the 5150 cassette connector was the same 5 pin DIN as the TRS80, the source of cable for 5150 cassette was Radio Shack TRS80 cassette cable. There was an outfit that marketed a sorta network using the 5150 cassette port, for classroom distribution, etc. Snip The 5160 no longer had the cassette port. The 5150 cassette sorta network immediately disappeared from the market. -- Grumpy Ol' Fred ci...@xenosoft.com The cassette port on the 5150 could also be used as a Telecommunication Device for the Deaf (TDD) many years ago I made up a ISA bus card with the same function as the cassette port for a gentleman that wanted to move on from a 5150 but still needed the cassette port for a TDD device. Paul.
[cctalk] Re: the mouse vs. touch sensitive devices
Touchscreen with a 'real' stylus. On Mon, Jan 30, 2023 at 1:10 PM Kenton A. Hoover via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > I don't think that portrayal of Xerox's view on the mouse is correct. Much > of Interlisp and all of Smalltalk was mouse-based and Interlisp was never > designed for (only) use by youth. > > Trackpads are fine except for detail work. Touchscreens are bound by touch > targets needing to be finger-sized. The trackpoint works well if you never > want to take your hands off the keyboard at all. The mouse/trackball just > sit in the middle of the graph of connivence/precision. > > .. > > -- > Kenton A. Hoover > ken...@nemersonhoover.org > shib...@mail.marchordie.org > +1 415 830 5843 > On Jan 22, 2023, 05:14 -0800, Chris via cctalk , > wrote: > > Originally as I understand it the mouse as a product of Xerox was > intended not so much for general use but to aid youngins and disabled > people with their usage. And despite the never-mousers, predominantly linux > fanatics, it's an indispensable tool for nearly everyone. There was a stint > where I favored trackballs. But it's a toss up as to which is more natural > and faster. Each may excel in cwrtain applications. > > > > Then there's the touch screen (and touch pad). I find touch pads > superior, make that way superior to that horrific track point used on old > Thinkpads. But again that'a me. Touch screens, my hatred for them grows > almost daily. They have their place. And for portable devices they're > largely the only game in town. But I often wish I at least had the option > of a mouse or something close. > > > > Is this an example of where older tech beats the new tech? Or do aspects > of the newer tech just await refinement? >
[cctalk] Re: 5150 cassette (Was: DLOAD BASIC command for Color Comp
On 1/30/2023 11:14 AM, Chris via cctalk wrote: It had a dedicated cassette port? Don't most cassette ports resemble a serial port, or is my wonky brain making that up? What protocols did most cassette ports use (c64/128?, IBM 5150, coco ...)? On Mon, 30 Jan 2023, Jim Brain via cctalk wrote: Lots of systems had dedicated cassette ports, but yes, CoCo has a dedicated cassette port, as does all the 8 bit CBM machines, I think the Model 1/3/4 also, and doesn't the Apple II have one as well. I am sure I am forgetting a bunch. The 5150 had a cassette port! Diagnostics were supplied on cassette tape. It was immediately adjacent to the keyboard port, and used the same 5 pin DIN connector, for the added convenience of being able to plug in to the wrong one. THAT mimiced the TRS80 model one, which had Power, video, and cassette in a group of three 5 pin DIN identical connectors. THAT, and the keyboards of the Jr and Coco, were to show that IBM was so big that it didn't have to learn from the misteaks of others. Since the 5150 cassette connector was the same 5 pin DIN as the TRS80, the source of cable for 5150 cassette was Radio Shack TRS80 cassette cable. There was an outfit that marketed a sorta network using the 5150 cassette port, for classroom distribution, etc. Adding 160K (and/or 180K,320K,360K with DOS 1.10 and 2.00) required the floppy disk controller board for about $300, DOS, and standard SA400 interface drives (such as borrowing from your TRS80); power connectors were already built in. So, few ever used the cassette port. It was months before after-market "multi-function" boards were available, so a 5150 consisted of main unit (~$1250), FDC (~$300), video board (~$300), monitor (CGA had compoosite output, so could connect to cheap CCTV, etc. monitors, and CGA even had a dedicated 4 pin Berg for the SupRMod RF adapter), and maybe serial, and/or parallel. The 5160 no longer had the cassette port. The 5150 cassette sorta network immediately disappeared from the market. -- Grumpy Ol' Fred ci...@xenosoft.com
[cctalk] Re: DEC PDP 11/60's in need of a new home.
Jerry et al, I know they are gone, but was there any info on software or microcode development tools for the system(s)? THanks! Lee C. On Sat, Jan 28, 2023 at 1:57 PM Jerry Wright via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > I have 2 of these that are in need of a new home. These are quite > large 4 racks each. Although the 11/60 is only a double rack by itself. > Offers. Located In Kent. WA. > - Jerry253-569-6041 > -- Lee Courtney +1-650-704-3934 cell
[cctalk] Re: the mouse vs. touch sensitive devices
I don't think that portrayal of Xerox's view on the mouse is correct. Much of Interlisp and all of Smalltalk was mouse-based and Interlisp was never designed for (only) use by youth. Trackpads are fine except for detail work. Touchscreens are bound by touch targets needing to be finger-sized. The trackpoint works well if you never want to take your hands off the keyboard at all. The mouse/trackball just sit in the middle of the graph of connivence/precision. .. -- Kenton A. Hoover ken...@nemersonhoover.org shib...@mail.marchordie.org +1 415 830 5843 On Jan 22, 2023, 05:14 -0800, Chris via cctalk , wrote: > Originally as I understand it the mouse as a product of Xerox was intended > not so much for general use but to aid youngins and disabled people with > their usage. And despite the never-mousers, predominantly linux fanatics, > it's an indispensable tool for nearly everyone. There was a stint where I > favored trackballs. But it's a toss up as to which is more natural and > faster. Each may excel in cwrtain applications. > > Then there's the touch screen (and touch pad). I find touch pads superior, > make that way superior to that horrific track point used on old Thinkpads. > But again that'a me. Touch screens, my hatred for them grows almost daily. > They have their place. And for portable devices they're largely the only game > in town. But I often wish I at least had the option of a mouse or something > close. > > Is this an example of where older tech beats the new tech? Or do aspects of > the newer tech just await refinement?
[cctalk] Re: DLOAD BASIC command for Color Computer 1/2 heritage
On 1/30/2023 11:14 AM, Chris via cctalk wrote: It had a dedicated cassette port? Don't most cassette ports resemble a serial port, or is my wonky brain making that up? What protocols did most cassette ports use (c64/128?, IBM 5150, coco ...)? Lots of systems had dedicated cassette ports, but yes, CoCo has a dedicated cassette port, as does all the 8 bit CBM machines, I think the Model 1/3/4 also, and doesn't the Apple II have one as well. I am sure I am forgetting a bunch. I think it would have been hard to have the cassette use the serial port, because cassette needs audio tones, not RS232 levels. Jim -- Jim Brain br...@jbrain.com www.jbrain.com
[cctalk] Re: DLOAD BASIC command for Color Computer 1/2 heritage
The cassette port on the Coco used two audio tones to represent binary data, 1200 HZ (1) and 2400Hz (0). Each tone ran for some number of mS (I can't remember what the duration of the tones was). This was so that the cassettes could be duplicated on an audio tape duplicator and for noise immunity. The tape hardware/software had 3 bits, 1 for reading data, one for writing data and one to start and stop the tape. A simple RC circuit provided additional noise immunity. The software had to measure the the duration of the square wave for reading and make the square wave for writing. On 1/30/2023 11:14 AM, Chris via cctalk wrote: It had a dedicated cassette port? Don't most cassette ports resemble a serial port, or is my wonky brain making that up? What protocols did most cassette ports use (c64/128?, IBM 5150, coco ...)?
[cctalk] Re: QIC replacement tension band
On 1/29/23 22:06, BogDan Vatra wrote: > Hi, > > Do you have some links? This is what I use: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08536J6Y5 FWIW, Chuck
[cctalk] Re: DLOAD BASIC command for Color Computer 1/2 heritage
It had a dedicated cassette port? Don't most cassette ports resemble a serial port, or is my wonky brain making that up? What protocols did most cassette ports use (c64/128?, IBM 5150, coco ...)?
[cctalk] Re: DLOAD BASIC command for Color Computer 1/2 heritage
On 1/30/2023 6:32 AM, Chris via cctalk wrote: I cam't help you. But let me get this strait. 2 cocos connected with ... a null modem cable? can send info to one another in basic? What is the corresponding send commamd? Or was this simply intended to accept data from a cassette recorder? It still seems sending data coco to coco should't be too hard. Only DLOAD was implemented in BASIC, so two CoCos would not work. As such, it did not get used and was eventually removed from the BASIC in the CC3. Cassette load was handled another way. DLOAD specifically used the serial port. And yes, sending data to CoCo is not overly difficult, they were just wondering about the provenance and history of the DLOAD command in the BASIC. Jim
[cctalk] Re: PKBACK Floppies?
Pkunzip would automatically prompt you to insert disk 2, etc for spanned disks. I believe a workaround was copying the files to a local directory and combining them (in dos copy zip1.zip+zip2.zip full.zip). Not sure how current archive products react to spanned disks or if it was standardized. On Mon, Jan 30, 2023, 9:01 AM Sellam Abraham via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > On Sun, Jan 29, 2023, 9:37 PM Zane Healy via cctalk > > wrote: > > > Some of the floppies I’m recovering data look to be either a multi-part > > ZIP file, or something. Was this a separate product from PKZIP? Part > of the problem is every file has the same > > name, just on different floppies. > > > > I vaguely remember this feature of PKZIP. It's called disk spanning. > > > https://superuser.com/questions/260067/restoring-ancient-zip-file-spanning-floppy-disks-pkzipfix-equivalents > > Sellam > > > >
[cctalk] Re: PKBACK Floppies?
On Sun, Jan 29, 2023, 9:37 PM Zane Healy via cctalk wrote: > Some of the floppies I’m recovering data look to be either a multi-part > ZIP file, or something. Was this a separate product from PKZIP? I’m not > sure if I have a copy of PKZIP in the stuff I’ve recovered thus far. I’ve > not pulled them into DOSBOX to try and restore them, so far I’ve just tried > to use Stuffit-Expander. Part of the problem is every file has the same > name, just on different floppies. > Zane, I vaguely remember this feature of PKZIP. It's called disk spanning. https://superuser.com/questions/260067/restoring-ancient-zip-file-spanning-floppy-disks-pkzipfix-equivalents Sellam >
[cctalk] Re: DLOAD BASIC command for Color Computer 1/2 heritage
> On Monday, January 30, 2023, 01:02:16 AM EST, Jim Brain via cctalk > wrote: > > Over at the CoCo Mailing List, there's a archeological discussion about > the DLOAD BASIC command in older versions of the Color Computer BASIC. > It uses the serial port (and no doubt was designed for computer sharing > in classrooms or similar), but the questions are around how it was > designed and what inspiration is drew from. > > I infer MS wrote the code, and the protocol includes: > > P.ACK - Acknowledge - C8 hex. > P.ABRT - Abort - BC hex. > P.BLKR - Block request - 97 hex. > P.FILR - File request - 8A hex. > P.NAK - Negative Acknowledge - DE hex. > > Does that look like any protocol anyone has seen before? > > Jim According to this article: http://www.trs-80.org/network-4/ Radio Shack's Network 4 was based on Corvus Omninet. So perhaps the earlier Color Computer commands were too? Will
[cctalk] Re: DLOAD BASIC command for Color Computer 1/2 heritage
I cam't help you. But let me get this strait. 2 cocos connected with ... a null modem cable? can send info to one another in basic? What is the corresponding send commamd? Or was this simply intended to accept data from a cassette recorder? It still seems sending data coco to coco should't be too hard. On Monday, January 30, 2023, 01:02:16 AM EST, Jim Brain via cctalk wrote: Over at the CoCo Mailing List, there's a archeological discussion about the DLOAD BASIC command in older versions of the Color Computer BASIC. It uses the serial port (and no doubt was designed for computer sharing in classrooms or similar), but the questions are around how it was designed and what inspiration is drew from. I infer MS wrote the code, and the protocol includes: P.ACK - Acknowledge - C8 hex. P.ABRT - Abort - BC hex. P.BLKR - Block request - 97 hex. P.FILR - File request - 8A hex. P.NAK - Negative Acknowledge - DE hex. Does that look like any protocol anyone has seen before? Jim
[cctalk] Re: QIC tension band replacement
Many thanks! În lun., 30 ian. 2023 la 10:34, Christian Corti via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> a scris: > On Sun, 29 Jan 2023, BogDan Vatra wrote: > > Can someone recommend a place where I can buy tension bands for QIC(-150) > > tapes? I known about the boiling trick, sadly I don't have any original > > bands to boil ?. > > My boiling trick doesn't work very reliably anyways, as the belts mostly > become also brittle. They do get their original length back, but sooner or > later they will break. > > As a replacement, I have Mobilon Bands type MB-15063WA-100G for the QIC > cartridges and MB-9033TA-100G for the DC100 types. > > Christian >
[cctalk] Re: QIC tension band replacement
On Sun, 29 Jan 2023, BogDan Vatra wrote: Can someone recommend a place where I can buy tension bands for QIC(-150) tapes? I known about the boiling trick, sadly I don't have any original bands to boil ?. My boiling trick doesn't work very reliably anyways, as the belts mostly become also brittle. They do get their original length back, but sooner or later they will break. As a replacement, I have Mobilon Bands type MB-15063WA-100G for the QIC cartridges and MB-9033TA-100G for the DC100 types. Christian
