[cctalk] Re: Great Vintage Computer Heist of 2012

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

I remember that Sellam and I remember visiting your facility on a trip my wife 
and I did to the US. It was very impressive collection and that’s an 
understatement. 

It’s a shame all that was lost ☹ It served to reinforce my approach to this s 
tuff, grab first ask questions later otherwise it becomes landfill.

Apologies if this is not appropriate for this list but your landlord was a flog.


Kevin Parker

-Original Message-
From: Sellam Abraham via cctalk  
Sent: Monday, 17 October 2022 19:55
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts 
Cc: Sellam Abraham 
Subject: [cctalk] Re: Great Vintage Computer Heist of 2012

Long story very short:

Landlords evicted me from their warehouse where my collection was stored and 
wouldn't let me back in.  Had to go to court.  Regained access and was able to 
pull out 20% of the collection before they locked me out again for good.  Then 
sold the rest to computer recyclers, who proceeded to scatter it to the wind.

Sellam

On Mon, Oct 17, 2022 at 1:43 AM Ali via cctalk 
wrote:

> You had to ask..I was there 3000 years ago (or about 10 years ago 
> in non Tolkien meme terms) and it wasn't pretty
>  Original message From: Tom Hunter via cctalk < 
> cctalk@classiccmp.org> Date: 10/17/22  1:31 AM  (GMT-08:00) To: 
> "General
> Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"  Cc: 
> Tom Hunter  Subject: [cctalk] Great Vintage 
> Computer Heist of 2012 Sellam Abraham referred to a "Great 
> VintageComputer Heist of 2012". What was that about? Who stole what and where 
> andwhy?

[cctalk] Re: 8" floppy diskettes themselves (was: 8" floppy diskette storage cases)

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

I had a mixture of DS and SS and had to ship to Australia so it worked out 
about $8 a disk in the end but I have three machines that use 8" floppies so I 
stocked up while I could.

Don't quote me but I think he bought all the inventory of a company that was 
(past tense) making them so there is a limited supply so as the supply dwindles 
I expect the price will rise - again don't quote me on this.

Recommend you check out their web site but the service I got from Tom was 
excellent - he was very helpful.


Kevin Parker
0418 815 527

-Original Message-
From: Mike Stein via cctalk  
Sent: Saturday, 15 October 2022 06:48
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts 
Cc: Mike Stein 
Subject: [cctalk] Re: 8" floppy diskettes themselves (was: 8" floppy diskette 
storage cases)

How much?

On Wed, Oct 12, 2022 at 11:38 PM Kevin Parker via cctalk < 
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> A little while ago I bought some new ones from 
> https://www.floppydisk.com/
>
> I have no relationship to floppydisk.com
>
>
> Kevin Parker
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Mike Begley via cctalk 
> Sent: Thursday, 13 October 2022 14:12
> To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts < 
> cctalk@classiccmp.org>
> Cc: Mike Begley 
> Subject: [cctalk] 8" floppy diskettes themselves (was: 8" floppy 
> diskette storage cases)
>
> With all the talk about 8" floppy diskette storage cases, I was 
> wondering if anyone had any 8" floppy disks themselves they would be 
> willing to sell?
>
> This winter I am hoping to start restoring an IMSAI 8080 I recently 
> acquired, and while it came with one external 5.25" drive, it would be 
> desirable to connect a "proper" 8" disk system to it as well.  
> However, the complete lack of the disks themselves makes that project 
> more or less impractical even once I get hardware set up.  So before I 
> even start that project, I'd love to pick up a collection of 8" media.  
> Years back I had an impressive collection of CP/M software on 8" 
> floppies, but unfortunately, they were accidentally left behind in a 
> move.  :-/
>
> -mike
>
>

[cctalk] Re: 8" floppy diskettes themselves (was: 8" floppy diskette storage cases)

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

A little while ago I bought some new ones from https://www.floppydisk.com/

I have no relationship to floppydisk.com


Kevin Parker

-Original Message-
From: Mike Begley via cctalk  
Sent: Thursday, 13 October 2022 14:12
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts 
Cc: Mike Begley 
Subject: [cctalk] 8" floppy diskettes themselves (was: 8" floppy diskette
storage cases)

With all the talk about 8" floppy diskette storage cases, I was wondering if
anyone had any 8" floppy disks themselves they would be willing to sell?

This winter I am hoping to start restoring an IMSAI 8080 I recently
acquired, and while it came with one external 5.25" drive, it would be
desirable to connect a "proper" 8" disk system to it as well.  However, the
complete lack of the disks themselves makes that project more or less
impractical even once I get hardware set up.  So before I even start that
project, I'd love to pick up a collection of 8" media.  Years back I had an
impressive collection of CP/M software on 8" floppies, but unfortunately,
they were accidentally left behind in a move.  :-/

-mike

[cctalk] Re: Apple G5 Rebuild

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Thank you for all the responses to my query - they're really helpful.

I'm usually pretty handy with Google but must have lost the plot this day -
I was trying "pmg5 build" - doh.


Kevin Parker

-Original Message-----
From: Kevin Parker via cctalk  
Sent: Monday, 10 October 2022 17:15
To: cctalk@classiccmp.org
Cc: Kevin Parker 
Subject: [cctalk] Apple G5 Rebuild

Hoping there's an Apple enthusiast out there somewhere please.

A friend gave me a PM G5 which I'd love to add to the Apple corner of my
collection. Must admit I love the G5 case. Problem is the internals are in a
million pieces but everything seems to be there. Its not a basket case, more
like a bucket case because I took the side off and basically poured it all
out.

My options are.

> Toss it
> Use the case for an ATX conversion
> Use it for a letter box
> Have a crack at fixing it.

I like having a crack at fixing things first. I'm a preservationist first.

Problem is my GoogleFoo can't find any diagrams, illustrations etc on how
the internals are put together and I'm hoping some Apple person out there
might have something or be able to point me somewhere. (I did find some
photos at https://www.overclock.net/threads/power-mac-g5-build.1452312/ for
a twin CPU model but I need more detail for a single chip 2.0 GHz PowerPC
970MP (G5) model.)

Thank you.



Kevin Parker

[cctalk] Apple G5 Rebuild

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Hoping there's an Apple enthusiast out there somewhere please.

A friend gave me a PM G5 which I'd love to add to the Apple corner of my
collection. Must admit I love the G5 case. Problem is the internals are in a
million pieces but everything seems to be there. Its not a basket case, more
like a bucket case because I took the side off and basically poured it all
out.

My options are.

> Toss it
> Use the case for an ATX conversion
> Use it for a letter box
> Have a crack at fixing it.

I like having a crack at fixing things first. I'm a preservationist first.

Problem is my GoogleFoo can't find any diagrams, illustrations etc on how
the internals are put together and I'm hoping some Apple person out there
might have something or be able to point me somewhere. (I did find some
photos at https://www.overclock.net/threads/power-mac-g5-build.1452312/ for
a twin CPU model but I need more detail for a single chip 2.0 GHz PowerPC
970MP (G5) model.)

Thank you.



Kevin Parker

RE: How to reproduce the DEC cabinets' grey colour paint?

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Assuming you have a portable piece of it you should be able to take it your 
hardware store and their paint dept can scan it for a colour match. 


Kevin Parker

-Original Message-
From: P Gebhardt via cctalk  
Sent: Wednesday, 13 July 2022 16:12
To: cctalk 
Cc: P Gebhardt 
Subject: How to reproduce the DEC cabinets' grey colour paint?

Hello list, 

does anybody of you know colour codes or the mixture to obtain the grey paint 
that DEC used for their early H960 cabinet side panels as well as for their 
later cabinet from the 80s and 90s like the H9A10 or H9A15? 
Some of my cabinets have scratches and I would like to cosmetically fix this. 
I thought I remember some discussions about DEC paint some years ago but I 
couldn't find anything helpful in my archives except for discussions about 
colours for DEC's classic front panels. 
Any pointers are very much appreciated.
Thanks, 
Pierre


-
http://www.digitalheritage.de

The Vertical Plane

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

This may be of interest to some list members, particularly those who have an
interest in the BBC computer or just like Twilight Zone type stories.

Apart from being extremely interested in classic computers I also like the
old stories that surround these old machines. A while ago I stumbled across
a story about a BBC computer (this is the short version) that had been lent
out from a school l think (as they did in those days due to the cost of
machines back then) and this BBC, despite apparently not being connected to
anything, started displaying messages from the past (a previous land owner)
and someone in the future. As I said this is the short version of the story
- it's also referred to as the Dodleston Messages or even the Dodleston
Files if anyone wants to Google it. One of the claims was that this BBC
proved the existence of time travel - WOW, a big claim. 

So the story eventually found its way into a book, The Vertical Plane by Ken
Webster (1989). I believe the book gets its title from the way scientists
describe time.

So being interested in the stories I started my world-wide hunt for a copy.
That was tough. A new copy unobtainable, an electronic copy not to my liking
- I like the real thing, used copies were monumentally expensive (apparently
the first edition was highly collectable). So I resigned myself to maybe one
day I would stumble across a copy in a used book shop or an Op Shop (aka
Thrift Shop) or a second hand shop. I visit these regularly because its
amazing what pops up in them. 

Much to my surprise in February this year a Second Edition of The Vertical
Plane was published and of course obtained for me by my local bookshop.

My take - a good yarn - yes, do I believe the story - no.

Please note, I have no connection with the editor or the publisher.


Kevin Parker

WTB IBM Keyboard

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Hi folks - I'm looking for a keyboard for my IBM 3197 Model D Twinax
terminal.

(My location - Victoria Australia)

Thank you!!


Kevin Parker

RE: Linearizing PDF scans

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Hi Dave - I think it used to be called Byte Range Serving i.e. it would only
serve up the page requested so URL's like somewebsite.com/myfile.pdf#page=4
would only send page 4 to the browser - I think this is what you are talking
about

Back in my earlier PDF days and the web we were quite a**l about setting
PDF's up for this due to much tighter bandwidth constraints but on my
limited understanding it required support from the web server to actually
give effect to this.

I don't know if PDF's are optimised out of the box these days for this but
if you optimise a PDF for web delivery it should have the markers in it for
byte range serving. While the markers may add a bit to the file size, which
I suspect would be negligible, the action of optimising it for web delivery
should reduce file size quite noticeably anyway.

If you have an option for optimising for web delivery in your PDF tool then
try pumping out a PDF file both ways and compare file size.

Is it useful these days - probably not so much because of better bandwidth
in my view (although directing a browser to open to a specific page can
still be useful) but that is conditional on having well prepared PDF files.
I'm not aware of any local benefit in having files prepared this way other
than having good quality PDF's that are well presented and therefore easier
to use.


Kevin Parker
0418 815 527

-Original Message-
From: cctech  On Behalf Of J. David Bryan via
cctech
Sent: Saturday, 14 August 2021 6:21 AM
To: Classic Computing List 
Subject: Linearizing PDF scans

Is it still useful to linearize PDFs?

I've been scanning and PDFing manuals for 16 years, and I've been
linearizing them regularly.  My understanding is that this made them
accessible on a page-by-page basis in Web browsers without requiring a
complete file download first.  But given the increase in typical bandwidth
in 16 years, I wonder if this is still useful.  It is an extra step, and it
does make the files somewhat larger.

Recommendations?  Does linearizing confer any advantage locally once the
entire file is downloaded?

Thanks.

  -- Dave

SOT: Scanning old computer docs

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

If there is anyone on the list familiar with scanners I'd be most grateful
for some advice please.

Some time ago I bought a HP 8270 sheet feed (full duplex) scanner NOS. I
wanted to digitise a whole heap of old computer documentation and for a
little while I've been working through the big heap of stuff. But for quite
some time I've had an issue with scans that go through the sheet feeder
(irrespective of whether I do them double sided or not). Basically the
problem is that anything that goes via the sheet feeder has issues with
"streaks" in the document whereas anything done on the flat bed is perfect
(I have some links to some examples below).

By way of clarity, anything done on the flatbed the lamp traverses the flat
bed to do the scan. For sheet fed items the lamp is moved to specific slot
on the scanner and the sheet feeder takes over wrapping the document past
the lamp. Given that flat bed scans are OK I don't think its an issue with
the lamp.

I've done the following things to try to resolve the issue with no joy:

* Checked for any specific settings
* Tried doing scans in grayscale
* Tried increasing the resolution (default is 300dpi) to slow the speed that
the document is fed through the feeder.

According to HP the issue is a cleanliness one i.e. dirt on the glass can
cause reflections. I've followed their instructions for cleaning the glass
but still no joy.

Flatbed  example.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jYiFzERiZiaq7-WoTiQ2eIzITn6giviR/view?usp=s
haring

Sheet feed example.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WF4SHbwV3bVET_bzwIUiULywbCGZBf_V/view?usp=s
haring

Thank you!!!



Kevin Parker

RE: FW: List your old computer

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Thanks Stan - no it wasn’t anything to do with uptime. It was like a museum but 
people registered/listed their machines with some info about them and some 
pictures. 


Kevin Parker

-Original Message-
From: cctalk  On Behalf Of stan via cctalk
Sent: Thursday, 25 February 2021 10:02 AM
To: cctalk@classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: FW: List your old computer

By any chance, are you thinking of uptimes.net?
Some years ago (early 2000's?) it was tracking systems uptimes. I had an Alpha  
system talking to it at one time.

IIRC, the record at one time was a VAX cluster, with an uptime of 1200+ days. 
Windows NT systems fared a lot worse, average of about 40 some days

Stan


On 2021-02-24 2:02 a.m., Kevin Parker via cctalk wrote:
> My apologies for the tracker embedded in my original post. I use it 
> for my business and forgot to remove it before posting to this list.
> 
> 
> Kevin Parker
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: cctalk  On Behalf Of Kevin Parker 
> via cctalk
> Sent: Wednesday, 24 February 2021 6:00 PM
> To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'
> 
> Subject: List your old computer
> 
> Hi folks - there used to be a web site where you could register and 
> list your "classic/old computer(s)". I'm not looking to do that but am  
> trying to find something from years gone by that I think was on that site.
> 
> I thought it was https://www.old-computers.com/ or 
> http://oldcomputers.net/ but it's neither of those.
> 
> My googlefoo has been unable to track it down assuming it still 
> exists. I know at one stage the owner was thinking of closing it down 
> because of hacks or spamming of forms or something like that.
> 
> Does this ring a bell with anyone?
> 
> Thank you!!
> 
> Kevin Parker
> 
> 
> 
>   
> <https://t.sidekickopen08.com/s2t/o/5/f18dQhb0S7n28cFFdQW752kH81jkhdLW
> 1_k-L- 
> 1qZM43W3s0v_y2M0f8BF4c2NfHml5Hf6Bq4h603?si=84908274=cece28e
> b-2dfe
> -4230-a422-38cd80fce8ae>
> 
> 

FW: List your old computer

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

My apologies for the tracker embedded in my original post. I use it for my
business and forgot to remove it before posting to this list.


Kevin Parker

-Original Message-
From: cctalk  On Behalf Of Kevin Parker via
cctalk
Sent: Wednesday, 24 February 2021 6:00 PM
To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'

Subject: List your old computer

Hi folks - there used to be a web site where you could register and list
your "classic/old computer(s)". I'm not looking to do that but am  trying to
find something from years gone by that I think was on that site.

I thought it was https://www.old-computers.com/ or http://oldcomputers.net/
but it's neither of those.

My googlefoo has been unable to track it down assuming it still exists. I
know at one stage the owner was thinking of closing it down because of hacks
or spamming of forms or something like that.

Does this ring a bell with anyone?

Thank you!!

Kevin Parker



 
<https://t.sidekickopen08.com/s2t/o/5/f18dQhb0S7n28cFFdQW752kH81jkhdLW1_k-L-
1qZM43W3s0v_y2M0f8BF4c2NfHml5Hf6Bq4h603?si=84908274=cece28eb-2dfe
-4230-a422-38cd80fce8ae> 

List your old computer

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Hi folks - there used to be a web site where you could register and list
your "classic/old computer(s)". I'm not looking to do that but am  trying to
find something from years gone by that I think was on that site.

I thought it was https://www.old-computers.com/ or http://oldcomputers.net/
but it's neither of those.

My googlefoo has been unable to track it down assuming it still exists. I
know at one stage the owner was thinking of closing it down because of hacks
or spamming of forms or something like that.

Does this ring a bell with anyone?

Thank you!!

Kevin Parker



 
 

RE: LCD screen repair

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Thank you - the idea of replacing the actual screen did not occur to me but
it's interesting that you might be able to do that.

By repair I meant repair the surface as the underlying pixels appear to be
OK. I have read a few articles on different methods and some crowds even
tout a kit to do it - is this snake oil or does it really work. I'd
certainly be grateful for any advice from anyone who may have effected a
surface repair.

Thank you again!!!


Kevin Parker

-Original Message-
From: cctalk  On Behalf Of rice43 via cctalk
Sent: Wednesday, 18 November 2020 8:53 PM
To: cctech 
Subject: Re: LCD screen repair


Whilst i have no experience replacing Apple G4 displays, LCD replacement in
general is fairly easy. For starters, you're 100% going to need a new panel,
preferably a like-for-like, though it's entirely possible you could stick in
a different model if it's using LVDS connections inside.
It's just a case of disassembling, swapping the screen, and reassembling in
the reverse order.
To be honest, it's probably cheaper just to buy a complete display, instead
of replacing the LCD screen. There won't be much price difference between
the LCD panel and a complete display.

 
 

LCD screen repair

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Hi folks - be grateful for a little advice please.

Some time I rescued an Apple Power Mac G4 (it's a beautiful machine, not
that I'm a big Mac person, and I can't believe someone was going to toss it)
- powers up OK but looks like it just needs a new battery as its not holding
date and time.

Anyway the other day I was cleaning up in my collection facility and dropped
the monitor - I wasn't quick enough to save it from hitting a metal object
just under the bench and as chance would have it of course this happened
screen side. Its put a gouge in the surface of the screen - link to photos
below.

http://koken.advancedimaging.com.au/index.php?/albums/apple-screen/

Now I believe it is possibly repairable but the are many kits and methods
out the all claiming some success. I figure I'm only going to get one shot
at this so would appreciate any advice from anyone who may have effected
such a repair before.

Thank you.


Kevin Parker



 
 

Looking for suggestions for this

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Hi folks - quite some time ago I picked up this little beauty (well I'm sure
some may agree or disagree with me) off of ePAY. I happen to like black IBMs
of any type.

Of course I got gouged at the checkout paying the princely sum of $1.04 AUD
- some might say I got robbed. In the photo with the other machines it's the
big one. Included was the machine of course, the tape drive, the monitor
(the keyboard is somewhere) and a heap of connectors and cables - and I did
get the key with it too. What was missing were the HDDs (which they trashed
to  get rid of the data) and all the documentation (which they tossed before
they realised that they could flog it on ePAY and get someone else to take
it away).

http://koken.advancedimaging.com.au/index.php?/albums/as400/

But as I rationalise space in my increasingly small collection facility I
need to make some decisions about things so I'm looking for some suggestions
as to what I can do with this machine. At the risk of being applauded for
some ideas and being flamed for others some suggestions are:

1. Do nothing - it's a very interesting conversation piece and its worth
preserving.
2. Someone is looking for one of these for parts and will pay me a fortune.
3. Dump it.
4. Donate it to a museum - they'll need a truck and four big guys.
5. Trade it for scrap value.
6. Get it running - now there's a big leap I suspect!! I did manage to
procure some HDDs from another AS/400 but as to whether they are suitable or
this would even work is not even remotely my bailiwick. 
7. Gut it and build a cluster inside it so at least it looks and runs like a
big computer so I can get some WOW factor from those who don't know any
different.
8. Gut it and turn it into a bar fridge.
9. Anything else...

Thank you


Kevin Parker

BYTE Magazines

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

I know the response to this might be quite subjective and depends on 
your particular interests.


Do BYTE magazines have any collectability (maybe even from a historical 
perspective or something else)?


I have to make some decisions about space (the perennial problem for a 
collector of course) and I have quite a few of these taking up a few 
shelves.


Thank you.


Kevin Parker

FTGH - Decstation 5000 plus many extras

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Lets have another go (but this time I have some pictures)

Decstation 5000/125 – also houses a CD drive.
Two expansion storage boxes – one has a tape drive and the other one has 
a floppy drive.
Two very large and heavy RGB Digital monitors – one has both Digital and 
Sony branding on the back of it. I haven’t dug the other one out as its 
in a corner and is dam heavy but it looks the same as the other one.

Box of spares (RAM, CPU's, HDDs etc.)

I’ve never powered it up – it was a rescue – I believe it was a server 
in a TAFE college in Adelaide. This is all I got from the rescue bar the 
box of spares. The original owner had tossed all the documentation and 
software.


Please note that the stand is not included in my offer and its located 
in south western Victoria (Australia).


Photos:

http://koken.advancedimaging.com.au/index.php?/albums/decstation/


Kevin Parker

Old tape data retrieval

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

(Just reposting this as it did not appear to appear on the list - there 
was about a two week period when I didn't see any CCMP emails for some 
reason - apologies if it has already appeared for others).


I apologize if this is OT but I'm hoping someone on the list can help me 
fill a gap in my knowledge.


Quick back story - in 1995 my wife and I published a book on her family 
history. For anyone interested in genealogy, details are here 
https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2416803


I think we may have done the whole job end-to-end on a 486 before 
sending a file to the book printers (we published 500 copies) but my 
memory is vague on that point.


Of course the last job I did on the book I backed up the whole thing 
(database files, image files, record and document scans etc) to a DC2120 
tape. I've even found the tape:


http://koken.advancedimaging.com.au/index.php?/albums/interesting-finds/content/20200202-160623/

The wife says that its time for an update to the book so that means drop 
all other projects and see if you can get it back off the tape (with an 
implied now).


I know that I used a software app called ResQ120 to run the tape drive. 
I can't find it (or any info) on-line other than the software came from 
Alloy but I suspect I have it here somewhere on a floppy disk so its 
only matter of time before I find that assuming the disk is still 
readable. Of course over time I have acquired other tape drives from 
various salvage/rescue sources but I believe this is the one I used:


http://koken.advancedimaging.com.au/index.php?/albums/interesting-finds/content/20200202-160540/

What I'm missing is this - I recall that despite the PC having a floppy 
controller I added a separate floppy (or similar or other) controller 
(card) for the tape drive (it might have even run on the same interrupt 
- I can't remember). As with most stuff, being a prolific rescuer I have 
acquired many ISA based cards over the years that appear to be floppy 
controllers but I have no idea what I'm looking for to run this tape 
drive.


Any clues, info etc would greatly appreciated because I don't want to 
have to tell her that it can't be done and you wouldn't want to be 
around if she had to hear that :-)


Thank you!!


Kevin Parker

OT - FTGH - U-Matic Tapes

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

(Apologies if this ends up appearing twice - I think I mucked up the 
address on the first one)


A we're all aware members on this list often dabble with other 
technologies. In my very aggressive cleanup of my hobby space I came 
across a number of U-Matic Video Tapes. If anyone is into this older 
video technology and would like these 8 tapes please contact me off 
list. (They are physically located in the south west of Victoria, 
Australia)


http://koken.advancedimaging.com.au/index.php?/albums/interesting-finds/content/u-matic-tapes-1/

http://koken.advancedimaging.com.au/index.php?/albums/interesting-finds/content/u-matic-tapes/

Kevin Parker

Re: FTGH - S100

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

This is now spoken for.


Kevin Parker


-- Original Message --
From: "Kevin Parker via cctech" 
To: "cctalk@classiccmp.org" 
Sent: 30/12/2019 12:09:44 PM
Subject: FTGH - S100


FTGH - S100

This was a rescue (so its neither tested or power up) and some docs came with 
it so I assume they belong to this machine (see pics).

http://koken.advancedimaging.com.au/index.php?/albums/s100-rescue-1/

The machine is located in Mortlake in the south west of Victoria (Australia) 
and will need to be collected from there. Alternatively I will be in Melbourne 
(Australia), more precisely Tullamarine, at various times during January 2020 
and it could be collected from there.

http://koken.advancedimaging.com.au/index.php?/albums/s100-rescue-1/

Kevin Parker

FTGH - S100

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

FTGH - S100

This was a rescue (so its neither tested or power up) and some docs came 
with it so I assume they belong to this machine (see pics).


http://koken.advancedimaging.com.au/index.php?/albums/s100-rescue-1/

The machine is located in Mortlake in the south west of Victoria 
(Australia) and will need to be collected from there. Alternatively I 
will be in Melbourne (Australia), more precisely Tullamarine, at various 
times during January 2020 and it could be collected from there.


http://koken.advancedimaging.com.au/index.php?/albums/s100-rescue-1/

Kevin Parker

FTGH - SORD Keyboard

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Was going through a box of stuff someone gave me ages ago in keeping 
with my philosophy of grab first ask questions later.


At the bottom found a SORD keyboard (regrettably not the whole thing) - 
looks like it comes from a M68. Photo:


http://koken.advancedimaging.com.au/index.php?/albums/interesting-finds/content/sord-m68-keyboard/

As this is all I have of a SORD (so I am unable to test it) I figure it 
may be of use to someone else on this list.


(Would appreciate coverage of package and postage from Mortlake Victoria 
Australia 3272 please. Please note that its the size of a keyboard and 
is a little weighty so you'll need to factor that in. Alternatively I 
will be in Melbourne in January 2020 if someone more "local" wants it).


Thank you.


Kevin Parker

SOT - Grab first and ask questions later

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

I suspect a number of members are like me - when there's salvage or rescue
stuff on the radar you grab first and ask question later otherwise tomorrow
it might not be there.

 

I quite like those picker shows and subscribe to their philosophy "buy (or
grab) it when you see it". I'm still ruing the day I let a TRS-80 Model II
with a full set of floppy drives go by procrastinating as I haven't seen one
since.

 

Anyway a little while ago someone I know was quitting their business and
gave me all their office salvage - laptops, PC's, printers, KVMs, routers,
monitors etc etc. As before I did not ask any questions and did not look the
gift horse in the mouth.

 

The other day I needed a CD drive for a little project and went through the
stuff , found something promising and opened it up.  Anyway they'd been
doing all their "business" in there (number ones and twos amongst many other
things I suspect) and the machine was a write off. I suspect finds by other
list members have been even more "interesting"

 

http://koken.advancedimaging.com.au/index.php?/albums/interesting-finds/

 

 

Kevin Parker

 

 

TI994/A Power Supply

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

I may be stating the obvious here but looking for a little advice and
reassurance from anyone on the list who may have had experience with these
machines. 

I have a couple of TI99/4A's that I was given quite a long time ago along
with about 50 software cartridges (if I understand things correctly the
cartridges on their own a quite a bonus). What I am missing are power
supplies. On my research the inputs are 12 and/or 5 volt depending on the
number of power pins on the back (mine have 2). 

These voltages appear to neatly align with most PC power supplies so I
should be able to tap into an old AT power supply of which I have quite a
few. 

Thank you.

Kevin Parker

FTGH Decstation 5000

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

FTGH Decstation 5000

* Decstation 5000/125 - also houses a CD drive
* 2 Expansion storage boxes - one has a tape drive and the other one has a
floppy drive.
* 2 very large and heavy RGB Digital monitors - one has both Digital and
Sony branding on the back of it. I haven't dug the other one out as it's in
a corner and is dam heavy but it looks the same as the other one.
* A box of spares including a keyboard, two mice, a CD drive, some cables, a
couple of CPU's, three genuine HDDs and a big bag of RAM

I've never powered it up - it was a rescue - I believe it was a server at a
TAFE college in Adelaide, South Australia. 

I am located in south western Victoria (Australia)

Kevin Parker
0418 815 527

Cleaning an old keyboard

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

I resurrected an old keyboard and mouse I like. Not wishing to gross anyone
out but it looks like over time there was a build-up of oil etc from my
hands etc and over time being stored away its turned to a really almost hard
paste like stuff on both the mouse and keyboard.

I've tried number of agents to clean it off but limited success.

Any tips please.

Kevin Parker

RE: TRS-80 Fireworks

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Quite normal - the capacitors dry out after about 30 or  40 years - there's 
lots of info around on replacing them with a polymer capacitor. I have over 20 
TRS-80's with a large contingent of Model 3, 4, 4Ps, 12 and 16s - all had the 
same issue so if I acquire one now I do a pre-emptive strike before powering up.


Kevin Parker
0418 815 527

-Original Message-
From: cctalk  On Behalf Of Marvin Johnston via 
cctalk
Sent: Wednesday, 28 August 2019 6:16 PM
To: ClassicCmp 
Subject: TRS-80 Fireworks

I'm just curious how many people have powered up their TRS-80 computers, and 
ended up with a bang and a room filled with smoke?

So far, I've gotten the fireworks in two out of two TRS-80s (model 3 and
4) when they were powered up. In both cases, the problem was with the main line 
filter capacitor mounted on one of the power supplies. The computers continued 
to work which was my first clue the problem was not serious :).

Is this a normal problem with these older computers? I'm used to seeing the 
electrolytics give problems, but this is the first time I've seen one of the X 
type line filter caps blow.

New face of the Bank of England's £50 note is revealed as Alan Turing

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

May be of interest to some list members

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48962557

 

 

Kevin Parker

0418 815 527

 

RSS Feeds

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

I'm looking for some reliable RSS feeds (I appreciate they seem to be coming
rare these days) to do with classic computers, preferably with a TRS-80
flavour but I'm not going to be precious about it.

Google didn't seem to produce too many and those it did were either not
there anymore or broken or monumentally out of date.

If anyone can point me any where I'd be most grateful.

Thank you




Kevin Parker
0418 815 527

The Retro Search is back up

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

This will mostly interest TRS-80 enthusiasts on this list.

Being a TRS-80 enthusiast myself it has been a long-time dream of mine to
create a specialised TRS-80 search engine but creating a web facing search
engine to crawl numerous sites, index and categorise was quite difficult on
a low budget. For some time I used Google's Custom Search, the ad free paid
version, but Google withdrew that product so it took be back to my starting
point. I could have continued with the ad version but somehow I didn't want
a page full of ads for users of this site. In any case doing it in my own
right gave me a lot more granularity and control.

So after much experimenting and trialling I finally produced the site in its
own right and have just relaunched it. It is, in fact will always be, work
in progress and I'm always on the lookout for more TRS-80 resources to add
to the site and for any advice on omissions, corrections, additions etc. If
you know any sites that I haven't included please use the contact form on
the site to let me know.

Check it out at theretrosearch.com

Thank you!!

Kevin Parker

RE: Matching paint on DEC monitors, cases and cabinets

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Try hardware stores - I believe Bunnings here (in Australia - may not exist 
where you are) can colour match from a part of a thing and then prepared an 
aerosol can of that colour.


Kevin Parker
0418 815 527

-Original Message-
From: cctalk  On Behalf Of Brian Roth via cctalk
Sent: Friday, 22 March 2019 11:26 PM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts 
Subject: Matching paint on DEC monitors, cases and cabinets

Has anyone ever found a source for aerosol spray cans that are a close matchto 
the colors that DEC used on their cases and such? I remember seeing touch up 
colors mentioned in the past. Specifically the ivory/almond colorof VT100's, 
DECservers, etc.
Brian

RE: OCR old software listing

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

I've had a lot of success using Adobe's Clearscan for OCR'ing old stuff.
Admittedly it's not perfect but it can improve the quality of an old
document a lot.


Kevin Parker
0418 815 527

-Original Message-
From: cctalk  On Behalf Of Paul Koning via
cctalk
Sent: Tuesday, 1 January 2019 12:18 PM
To: dwight ; General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic
Posts 
Subject: Re: OCR old software listing



> On Dec 31, 2018, at 7:13 PM, dwight via cctalk 
wrote:
> 
> Fred is right, OCR is only worth it if the document is in perfect
condition. I just finish getting an old 4004 listing working. I made only
two mistakes on the 4K of code that were not the fault of the poorness of
the listing. Twice I put LDM instead of LD. LDM was the most commonly used.

I wouldn't put it quite so strongly.  OCR even if not perfect can help a
lot.  You can often OCR + test assembly + proofread faster than retyping,
especially since that requires fixing typos and proofreading also.  Many OCR
errors are caught by the assembler, though not all of them of course.  I've
done both in an ongoing software preservation project; my conclusion still
is to use OCR when it works "well enough".  A couple of errors per page is
definitely "well enough".

The program used matters.  I looked at Tesseract a bit but its quality was
vastly inferior to commercial products in the examples I tried.  I now use
Abbyy FineReader, which handles a lot of line printer and typewriter
material quite well.

paul

RE: VT320 Fonts

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Try doing a search on google for "fonts terminal" (without the quotes) and you 
may find something suitable amongst the results.




Kevin Parker



-Original Message-
From: cctech  On Behalf Of Kyle Owen via cctech
Sent: Friday, 12 October 2018 09:02
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts 
Subject: VT320 Fonts

Does anyone know of any more downloadable VT320 fonts and glyphs? This is about 
all I could find at the moment.

https://vt100.net/dec/vt320/fonts

Trying to find some Cyrillic fonts so that Tetris looks right. I suppose I can 
try to write my own, but that would take a good bit of effort to get it looking 
right.

Also, is there a way to dump the existing font on a VT320 in the DRCS format?

Thanks,

Kyle

Does anyone recognise these boards please

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Be most grateful if anyone can advise here please. Rescued a TRS-80 MC10 from 
deceased estate recently - it was headed for the bin
but got saved. 

The original owner was a bit of an electronics hobbyist and his brother-in-law 
tossed these boards in with the bundle I grabbed.

http://koken.advancedimaging.com.au/index.php?/albums/boards/



Kevin Parker

SOT: OCR errors PDF

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Hi guys - wonder if any OCR aficionado can help me out please.

I'm trying to clean up some old computer docs.

One of things I'm doing is running OCR over them, in particular Adobe's 
ClearScan which I really like for document clarity and small
file sizes.

A few of them are producing the error:

Acrobat could not perform recognition (ocr) on this page because:
ENU

Most OCR errors relate to renderable text but I can't find an explanation for 
"ENU"

Has anyone encountered this OCR error and can tell me what it means please. 

Thank you.



Kevin Parker

RE: Is This A Shill?

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

 Or do you use third-party software?

I use Hammersnipe - I set the maximum I'm prepared to pay and walk away. If I 
win it good, if I don’t then that's OK too.

Kevin Parker

-Original Message-
From: cctalk  On Behalf Of Eric Christopherson 
via cctalk
Sent: Thursday, 3 May 2018 01:06
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts 
Subject: Re: Is This A Shill?

On Tue, May 1, 2018 at 5:20 PM, Hagstrom, Paul via cctalk < 
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

>
> > On May 1, 2018, at 6:06 PM, Bill Gunshannon via cctalk <
> cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:
> >
> > Personally, I find all of this hilarious.  ebay has been shady for 
> > as
> long
> >
> > as I have watched it.  I gave up seriously bidding on "auctions" 
> > years
> ago.
> >
> > Seems every time I bid and ended out the top bidder it would stay 
> > that
> >
> > way till the auction ended and then suddenly someone beat me by a
> >
> > dollar.
>
> That's just the way eBay works.  You'll win anyway if your bid is 
> higher than the other person's snipe.  eBay auto-bids only whatever it 
> takes to beat you, so one increment higher.  You'll notice that if you 
> bid $1000 on something with a $10 opening bid, eBay displays this as a 
> bid of $10, and the time runs out with no other bids, you pay $10.  
> And if someone else bids $20, they lose to your new automatically placed bid 
> of $21.
>
> I don't think there's any advantage to not sniping, since bidding 
> calls attention to a thing and does encourage people to bid it up even 
> if your top snipe bid would beat them.  But this is just basically how 
> the eBay game is played.  I used to snipe by hand, now I usually let a bot do 
> it.
> It bids in the last couple of seconds, so it can look just like what 
> you describe.  Sniping wouldn't work if auctions didn't have a hard 
> end time, but since they do, that's how it works and they state it all 
> quite clearly.  Maybe sometime something shady happens though I've yet 
> to see any convincing evidence of it myself (only people claiming it 
> happens all the time, all the time), but sniping is not itself shady.
>
>  -Paul
>

When you say you snipe with a bot, do you mean you use eBay's highest-bid 
functionality to do it? Or do you use third-party software?

I've never been clear on how the built-in highest-bid functionality works.
I often see things where the same person has several consecutive bids, which 
doesn't make any sense to me in the absence of other people's bids in between 
them.

-- 
Eric Christopherson

Last of the TRS-80's

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Hi folks - hope there's a history buff out there that can help me please.

Google has not been my friend or I'm just searching wrong.

I am trying to ascertain what the last computer released by Tandy/Radio Shack 
was that had the TRS-80 name on it (as opposed to
later machines that used the name Tandy).

I think it was the CoCo 3 in 1986 but I'm trying to nail down the (official) 
day and month of release (assuming that I'm right and
it was the CoCo 3).

Thank you!!

Kevin Parker 

RE: Amust Executive up for auction

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Sorry - omitted to include that I don’t know who the seller is and I have no 
connection with Kerleys Auctions 

Kevin Parker
P: 0418 815 527



-Original Message-
From: cctalk <cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org> On Behalf Of Kevin Parker via 
cctalk
Sent: Monday, 9 April 2018 15:49
To: cctalk@classiccmp.org
Subject: Amust Executive up for auction

Not sure if anyone in the Melbourne (Victoria, Australia) might be interested 
in this. I only just found about it from a friend of mine in Melbourne.

 

The very famous (well famous here anyway) Kerleys Auction 
(http://www.kerleys.net.au) in Geelong have listed an Amust Executive computer 
in tomorrows (10 April) auction.

 

http://www.kerleys.net.au/current-auction

 

Its Lot 177 in the tomorrow's catalogue: 

 

http://www.kerleys.net.au/images/auctions/10-04-2018/CAT10-04-2018.PDF

 

>From the only photo it looks in reasonably good condition.

 

http://www.kerleys.net.au/images/auctions/10-04-2018/1-280/DSCN3459.JPG

 

I believe Kerleys will take bids before the auction but not sure of terms - 
number is (03) 5223 1533

 

It's not something I'd like in my collection but may interest another 
Australian collector.

 

 

 

 

Kevin Parker

P: 0418 815 527

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amust Executive up for auction

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Not sure if anyone in the Melbourne (Victoria, Australia) might be interested 
in this. I only just found about it from a friend of
mine in Melbourne.

 

The very famous (well famous here anyway) Kerleys Auction 
(http://www.kerleys.net.au) in Geelong have listed an Amust Executive
computer in tomorrows (10 April) auction.

 

http://www.kerleys.net.au/current-auction

 

Its Lot 177 in the tomorrow's catalogue: 

 

http://www.kerleys.net.au/images/auctions/10-04-2018/CAT10-04-2018.PDF

 

>From the only photo it looks in reasonably good condition.

 

http://www.kerleys.net.au/images/auctions/10-04-2018/1-280/DSCN3459.JPG

 

I believe Kerleys will take bids before the auction but not sure of terms - 
number is (03) 5223 1533

 

It's not something I'd like in my collection but may interest another 
Australian collector.

 

 

 

 

Kevin Parker

P: 0418 815 527

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RE: Looking for opinions...

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

I previously worked for an insurance company and a very old issue reared its 
ugly head. Trouble was all the claim and policy info was on literally a 
truckload of microfiche and to find anything took three days (seriously) so ICT 
had them all scanned to PDF and OCR'd - it worked a treat but of course an 
expensive option depending on volume of course.


Kevin Parker



-Original Message-
From: cctech  On Behalf Of Paul Anderson via 
cctech
Sent: Wednesday, 28 March 2018 19:00
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts 
Subject: Looking for opinions...

There are probably no perfect answers to this problem. I am looking for 
opinions, not criticism. I do not want to start arguments, nor get anyone here, 
especially Jay, pissed off.

I found a stack of DEC microfiche  a few nights ago. It's probably about 12 
inches tall, and contains PM Procedures, IPBs, Manuals, Tech Info, and several 
type of Logistics, BOMs, vendors, etc which I will deal with later.  Most of it 
is "company confidential", not that it matters anymore.  The bulk of my 
microfiche is still missing.

Several months ago there was a discussion here about breaking up sets. this is 
not a "set". It is made up of bunches found in different places at different 
times.  I'm guessing a "set" of this would be an inch or two thick.

My short list of options for disposal are as follows in order of current 
preference are:


1  Sort to get several sizable sets, sell the rest as partials.  A LOT of 
sorting

2  Take requests to cherry pick, and sell as few smaller sets. Still a LOT of 
sorting.

3  Call Al.  Oh, he gets a crack at whatever he needs anyway.

4   Sell it as a lot

5   Sell on e-pay.

6   Put it back where I found it.

The first 3 are going to take a lot of time.

Thanks in advance, Paul

RE: Apollo Software

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Definitely interested here Bill - I've got 3 Apollos from a rescue  - have the 
machines and  all the token ring gear but no manuals
or software - as yet have to fire them up but anything Aegis related is of 
interest to me.




Kevin Parker
P: 0418 815 527





-Original Message-
From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Bill 
Gunshannon via cctalk
Sent: Monday, 22 January 2018 02:23
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts 
Subject: Apollo Software

Is there any interest or value in copies of SR7.0  "Aegis"
or should I just scratch them and add them to my other 8"
disks?  (Yes, I used to have an Apollo in my house!!  Made a great heater 
during those long cold winters.)

bill

RE: Livingston Portmaster 2e

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

I was curious as to what this was so I Googled it.

A couple appear on epay - 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Livingston-PortMaster-2E-Communications-Server-/400327660103

Wow - not sure of that’s a realistic expectation of what they're worth or not.




Kevin Parker
P: 0418 815 527



-Original Message-
From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Kevin Bowling 
via cctalk
Sent: Tuesday, 16 January 2018 02:42
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts 
Subject: FS: Livingston Portmaster 2e

This one is fully upgraded to 30 serial ports.  Just shoot me an offer, I'll 
probably say yes

Regards,
Kevin

SOT - Ultimate Classic Computing Geekdom

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

 

Hi folks - the family surprised me for Christmas by all contributing to some 
custom plates for my new car.

 

This might tell you how well they know me.

 

http://koken.advancedimaging.com.au/index.php?/albums/274143f7eae640a16c276e89b953503d/

 

 

 

 

Kevin Parker

P: 0418 815 527

 

 

C64's still managing building systems

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

I spotted this article in one of my tech news feeds - it makes a couple of 
references to C64's still managing building systems.
Rationale "it isn't broken".

 

May be of interest to some list members.

 

https://www.commercialrealestate.com.au/news/many-commercial-property-companies-still-underestimate-the-impact-of-technology-study/

 

There's also a link in the above article to an older article (and a video) 
about a Commodore Amiga running the heating system for 19
schools for 30 years which may also be of interest.

 

http://woodtv.com/2015/06/11/1980s-computer-controls-grps-heat-and-ac/

 

 

 

Kevin Parker

P: 0418 815 527

 

 

RE: Tubbs fire consumed the collected archives of William Hewlett and David Packard

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Sorry wasn't aware of the operational aspects of bitsavers or how stuff finds 
it's a way in there (although I just had a good read of it all).

But having said that, it looks like this collection perished without finding 
its way to bitsavers so it’s not so much where its stored  - it’s the act of 
collecting the paper and scanning it in. 

If I scan stuff can I add it or get it added to BitSavers  - I'm not sure 
because there's a notice on their web site (and I'm certainly not decrying 
their efforts - its highly valued resource intensive work):

"Due to the current several year backlog of documents to process, we are not 
actively soliciting additional paper or scans to add to the collection"

(Not sure if I can do anything but I might send them an offer of help.)


Kevin Parker



-Original Message-
From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Al Kossow via 
cctalk
Sent: Monday, 30 October 2017 11:14
To: cctalk@classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: Tubbs fire consumed the collected archives of William Hewlett and 
David Packard



On 10/29/17 4:59 PM, Kevin Parker via cctalk wrote:
> Maybe we (that's us on this list) need to apply this concept to the scanning 
> and archiving and retention of any paper based repositories that still exist.

What a brilliant idea. We could call it "bitsavers"!

RE: Tubbs fire consumed the collected archives of William Hewlett and David Packard

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Very sad when I hear stories like this and I'm not precluding the people who 
were directly affected by this - I'm located in Australia and while bushfires 
are a fact of life here, they're still devastating.

Just going to toss an idea out there - have no idea how this might work but 
thought I'd toss it out there.

It seems with the internet that crowd-sourcing is way of resourcing things. 
Maybe we (that's us on this list) need to apply this concept to the scanning 
and archiving and retention of any paper based repositories that still exist. 
I'll call it crowd-scanning for the time being.


Kevin Parker


-Original Message-
From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Ed via cctalk
Sent: Monday, 30 October 2017 08:44
To: cctalk@classiccmp.org
Subject: Tubbs fire consumed the collected archives of William Hewlett and 
David Packard

 
The Tubbs fire  consumed the collected archives of William Hewlett and David 
Packard, the tech  pioneers who in 1938 formed an electronics company in a Palo 
Alto garage with  $538 in cash. 
More  than 100 boxes of the two men’s writings, correspondence, speeches and 
other  items were contained in one of two modular buildings that burned to the 
ground  at the Fountaingrove headquarters of Keysight Technologies. 
Keysight, the  world’s largest electronics measurement company, traces its 
roots to HP and  acquired the archives in 2014 when its business was split from 
Agilent  Technologies — itself an HP spinoff. 

http://bit.ly/2yd6Z2G 
(My added note)   And this is  why I continue to stress  multiple 
caches of  copies/scans of historical material... and sad... as in this  case 
here is  someone that  could have footed the bill and not missed the  money to 
do it.  
Ed#  Archivist  for SMECC

RE: Picked up tandy 1000 TX

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Where are you located

Kevin Parker

-Original Message-
From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of devin davison 
via cctalk
Sent: Sunday, 29 October 2017 10:37
To: General Discussion: On-Topic Posts 
Subject: Picked up tandy 1000 TX

I picked up a tandy 1000 TX with a color CM 11 monitor. Both are in the 
original boxes with keyboard,monitor and the printer cable. It powers on but i 
can not seem to get it to boot from the floppy drive.
Ive tried writing 720K boot disks from my windows computer but it is still not 
booting. Some better pictures to follow soon.

I do not particularly need such a machine, and am open to trade or offers. If 
no one wants it perhaps it can be put to use as a BBS or something packet radio 
related over here. Also, the boxes both had us goverment stickers on them, 
kinda intersting.

https://s20.postimg.org/fr7iox7kt/image3.jpg

--Devin

C64 to a good home

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Hi guys – quick story… 

Have a good friend who is building a new house.
Includes a games room.
Trying to think of a house warming present.
He makes up and displays of old and new stuff and is talking about having a C64 
and a PC together.
I take a hint and figure I’ll refurbish a C64 (of which I have a few just lying 
around - seriously) for his games room as a house
warming present.
It will be going to a good home.
I think I’ve got a big box of C64 software on 5 ¼” but it turn out to be 
TI99/4A software.
Ooops!

There are some online repositories of C64 software. Having only a little 
knowledge when it comes to C64’s how do I get a C64 disk
image onto a 5 1/4” floppy?

Thanks guys

Kevin Parker

FTGH Decstation 5000

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

FTGH Decstation 5000

 

*   Decstation 5000/125 - also houses a CD drive
*   2 Expansion storage boxes - one has a tape drive and the other one has 
a floppy drive.
*   2 very large and heavy RGB Digital monitors - one has both Digital and 
Sony branding on the back of it. I haven't dug the
other one out as it's in a corner and is dam heavy but it looks the same as the 
other one.
*   A box of spares including a keyboard, two mice, a CD drive, some 
cables, a couple of CPU's, three genuine HDDs and a big bag
of RAM

 

I've never powered it up - it was a rescue - I believe it was a server in a 
TAFE college in Adelaide, South Australia. 

 

I am located in south wester nVictoria (Australia)

 

 

 

 

Kevin Parker

P: 0418 815 527

 

 

 

Does anyone recognise this please

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

Found this in a box of stuff I was given. Looks brand new. It's obviously a RF 
Modulator of some type but I can't tell exactly what
it's for or designed for. One end has a number 251083-03 and the other end has 
a switch for CH0 and CH1. The DIN plug is 5 pin.

 

I Googled the number and found some reference on 
http://www.yesterdaystechnology.com/ which confirms it's a RF Modulator but 
nothing
else.

 

Photos are here.

 

http://koken.advancedimaging.com.au/index.php?/albums/f54fbe61f7978530b1dbd08eca0bc80f/content/e3ceacd632dcac82255081e611941fc0/

 

Thank you!!

 

 

 

 

Kevin Parker

P: 0418 815 527

 

 

 

C64 to VGA

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

HI guys - not really a C64 person (I've been given a couple over the years and 
kept them rather than see them go to landfill).

Trying to fix one up for a very good friend for a house warming present for his 
games room (he said something the other day that
gave me the hint).

I have a genuine Commodore monitor but don't want to give him that but I have 
bucket loads of VGA (LCD) monitors I've scored over
time as well so thought I'd use one of those.

I've googled het subject a lot but there seems to be lots of options and views 
on what works and what doesn't and even how well.

I'd be most grateful if anyone on the list has any advice, suggestions, 
recommendations etc about this.

Thank you


Kevin Parker

Why women were the first computer programmers

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

This most interesting article appeared in The Age (Melbourne) today.

 

Thought it might be of interest to other list members.

 

http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/careers-and-money/women-were-the-first-computer-programmers-then-men-crowd
ed-them-out-20170822-gy1e8r.html

 

 

 

Kevin Parker

 

TRS-80 file extensions

[Kevin Parker via cctalk]

I've been trying to put together a list of file extensions (and a one liner 
about that file extension) used by TRS-80's (including
all the XZ-80 machines, CoCo's, the 8" machines, pocket computers, the 100's. 
MC-10's etc).

 

Google has been my friend but has only turned up a few answers.

 

I was wondering if anyone has seen something more comprehensive or even has 
something more comprehensive.

 

Thank you!!

 

 

 

Kevin Parker

P: 0418 815 527