[cctalk] Walter Shawlee of Sphere, RIP

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

I purchased several items from Walter at Sphere over the years. I suspect many
others of you Tek and HP fans on this list have, too. He was always helpful and
kind. Walter has been ill for some time and passed away yesterday.

It's good that his wife, Susan, will continue to run the business (I got an
email from Susan before Walter passed so stating).

Here is a link to Walter's obituary: https://bit.ly/3qZ2lBX

Regards,
Lyle

-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

[cctalk] Re: VCF West?

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

Yes, there very much is a VCF West!!!

https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-west/vcf-west-exhibits/

Cheers,
Lyle
--
On Tue, 26 Jul 2022 14:19:32 -0700 (PDT)
Fred Cisin via cctalk  wrote:

> Is there going to be one this year?
> 
> 
> Is there a reason why it never gets mentioned here?
> (are there some personal issues that I shouldn't even ask about?)
> 



-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: List migration

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Mon, 11 Jul 2022 01:38:36 -0400
Dennis Boone via cctalk  wrote:

> Friends,
> 
> The process of migrating the cctalk and cctech mailing lists to a new
> host in Chicago is underway.  This evening, I've moved the list mail
> handling to the new server, and this message will be the first live
> test.  Assuming this works, you shouldn't have to change anything to
> post to the list.
> 
> The green web pages, the old "pipermail" list archives, and web access
> to archives of new postings from this point still require a little work,
> which I hope to complete in the next day or two.  I will eventually
> import the old pipermail archives into the new posting archive, but that
> may take a little longer.
> 
> The new hosting is provided by the Chicago Classic Computing group.
> 
> Many thanks to Jay West for hosting the lists for 20 years!
> 
> /Dennis Boone

Indeed many thanks to Jay!!!

Thanks to Dennis, too, for migrating cctalk and cctech to a new host :)

Cheers,
Lyle
-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: I can't sent to gmail either with my domains

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

Exactly what I found. Setting up correct SPF (I had done that a long while
ago) and then several months ago correct correct DKIM DNS records. This action
helped get my email domain "approved" per Google's "Postmaster Tools"
https://postmaster.google.com/managedomains

Google is doing their best to eliminate SPAM - in my experience, I receive an
extremely small quantity of SPAM via gmail. I have email accounts with several
other services (yahoo, sbcglobal (ATT), comcast, etc.) and I experience much
more SPAM from each of them in spite of a well "tuned" spamassassin filter.

Cheers,
Lyle
--
On Wed, 22 Jun 2022 17:18:10 -0500
Frank via cctalk  wrote:

> Email sent from my personal domain to friends’ gmail accounts started going
> to their spam folders several months ago.  Adding SPF and DKIM DNS records
> for my domain allowed my emails to get delivered to their inboxes.
> 
> Frank
> 
> > On Jun 22, 2022, at 16:55, Grant Taylor via cctalk 
> > wrote:
> > 
> > On 6/20/22 5:58 PM, jim stephens via cctalk wrote:  
> >> I can't sent to gmail either with my domains  
> > 
> > What errors are you getting?
> > 
> > Are you talking about trying to email people at Gmail directly or are you
> > seeing problems with Gmail recipients not getting messages you send via a
> > mailing list (cctalk or otherwise)? 
> >> not sure what needs to be done either.  Maybe Jay's having problems with
> >> that.t  
> > 
> > It depends what the actual problem is that you're reporting.
> >   
> >> Sending this along to see if my non google related post goes thru. google
> >> folks apparently won't get it.  
> > 
> > Maybe, maybe not.  It depends what the underlying problem is.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > -- 
> > Grant. . . .
> > unix || die  



-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Short PDP-8 Memory Test...

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

Hi Mike,

I consider myself fortunate. I have a PDP-8/E, PDP-8/E with a PDP-8/M Front
Panel and a PDP-8/M. My PDP-8/E has an RK05 HDD, RX02 dual FDD and VC8E XY
with HP1311 XY Display, Extended Math, 32KW core, etc. 

I used to have a huge running PDP-12 with Dual TU56, TC08 w/TU55, Dual disk
RF08, 9-Trk tape, PTR/PTP which I donated to the CHM. It'll probably never see
the light of day :(

Best,
Lyle
--

On Wed, 6 Apr 2022 20:31:41 -0500
Mike Katz  wrote:

> Another PDP-8E?  You are very lucky :)
> 
> On 4/6/2022 1:06 PM, Lyle Bickley via cctalk wrote:
> > I recently acquired another PDP-8/E and wanted to test basic CPU functions
> > and memory before I added peripherals. There are some available short
> > "memory tests" online, but most don't have have the flexibility to test
> > multiple data patterns by design.
> >
> > The test below does a classic checkerboard type test - and permits easy
> > modification of the data pattern used in testing.
> > ---
> > # Easy to enter, short memory test for PDP-8 systems
> > # prior to adding peripheral equipment.
> > # by Lyle Bickley
> > #
> > # Location 21 initially contains a zero. Therefore the
> > # memory test is  and  in alternate locations.
> > # Changing this location to 7070 will test 7070 and
> > # 0707 in alternate locations. Changing it to 5252 will
> > # test 5252 and 2525, etc.
> >
> >  7300 CLA CLL
> > 0001 1022 TAD 22
> > 0002 3023 DCA 23
> > 0003 7300 CLA CLL
> > 0004 1021 TAD 21
> > 0005 7040 CMA
> > 0006 3021 DCA 21
> > 0007 1021 TAD 21
> > 0010 3423 DCA I 23
> > 0011 1021 TAD 21
> > 0012 7041 CMA IAC
> > 0013 1423 TAD I 23
> > 0014 7440 SZA
> > 0015 7402 HLT (ERROR - AC SHOWS FAIL)
> > 0016 2023 ISZ 23
> > 0017 5003 JMP 3 (INC LOCATION AND LOOP)
> > 0020 5000 JMP 0 (START OVER)
> > 0021  (0=ALT  AND )
> > 0022 0025 (LOCATION TO START TEST - MAKE ODD)
> > 0023  (LOCATION BEING TESTED)
> > ---
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Lyle  
> 



-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Short PDP-8 Memory Address Test..

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

Continuing the debugging of my recently acquired PDP-8/E, I wrote an address
test that's easy to enter from the front panel:

---
# PDP8 Quick Address Test
# Pass 1: Loads locations 23- with their own address.
# Pass 2: Tests each location for the correct address. If
# it fails (address does not equal it's own address) then
# the diagnostic halts with the error location in 22. 
# The contents of that location displays the error.
# By Lyle Bickley
#
 7600 CLA
0001 1021 TAD 21
0002 3022 DCA 22
0003 1022 TAD 22
0004 3422 DCA I 22
0005 2022 ISZ 22
0006 5003 JMP 3
0007 1021 TAD 21
0010 3022 DCA 22
0011 1022 TAD 22
0012 7041 CMA IAC
0013 1422 TAD I 22
0014 7440 SZA
0015 7402 HLT (ERROR!)
0016 2022 ISZ 22
0017 5011 JMP 11
0020 5000 JMP 0 (START OVER)
0021 0023
0022 
---

Cheers,
Lyle
-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Short PDP-8 Memory Test...

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

I recently acquired another PDP-8/E and wanted to test basic CPU functions and
memory before I added peripherals. There are some available short "memory
tests" online, but most don't have have the flexibility to test multiple data
patterns by design.

The test below does a classic checkerboard type test - and permits easy
modification of the data pattern used in testing.
---
# Easy to enter, short memory test for PDP-8 systems
# prior to adding peripheral equipment.
# by Lyle Bickley
#
# Location 21 initially contains a zero. Therefore the
# memory test is  and  in alternate locations.
# Changing this location to 7070 will test 7070 and
# 0707 in alternate locations. Changing it to 5252 will
# test 5252 and 2525, etc.

 7300 CLA CLL
0001 1022 TAD 22
0002 3023 DCA 23
0003 7300 CLA CLL
0004 1021 TAD 21
0005 7040 CMA
0006 3021 DCA 21
0007 1021 TAD 21
0010 3423 DCA I 23
0011 1021 TAD 21
0012 7041 CMA IAC
0013 1423 TAD I 23
0014 7440 SZA
0015 7402 HLT (ERROR - AC SHOWS FAIL)
0016 2023 ISZ 23
0017 5003 JMP 3 (INC LOCATION AND LOOP)
0020 5000 JMP 0 (START OVER)
0021  (0=ALT  AND )
0022 0025 (LOCATION TO START TEST - MAKE ODD)
0023  (LOCATION BEING TESTED)
---

Cheers,
Lyle
-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: HP1000 A series servers, interface card, cables, and accessories.

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Sun, 17 Oct 2021 14:52:33 -0400
Jesse Dougherty via cctalk  wrote:

> I have A series servers, parts, interface cards, and probably any 
> accessory that you might need. If anyone is looking for any HP 1000 A 
> series hardware, let me know. I still have a few of these loaded A990 
> boxes that I can do $1,700.00 each
> 
> www.ebay.com/itm/384211227987

As a satisfied customer, I can vouch for Jesse's offer. I bought one of these
systems over a year ago and it has performed flawlessly ever since. I've used
it with multiple SCSI disks and GPIB disks (including HPDrive).

Cheers,
Lyle
-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: HP1000 A series servers, interface card, cables, and accessories.

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Sun, 17 Oct 2021 14:52:33 -0400
Jesse Dougherty via cctalk  wrote:

> I have A series servers, parts, interface cards, and probably any 
> accessory that you might need. If anyone is looking for any HP 1000 A 
> series hardware, let me know. I still have a few of these loaded A990 
> boxes that I can do $1,700.00 each
> 
> www.ebay.com/itm/384211227987  

As a satisfied customer, I can vouch for Jesse's offer. I bought one of these
systems over a year ago and it has performed flawlessly ever since. I've used
it with multiple SCSI disks and GPIB disks (including HPDrive).

Cheers,
Lyle

-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: scanning a ton of documentation

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

AFAIK, I have an entire library of MODCOMP documentation - consisting of over
one thousand manuals as PDF's. I will check with the person who had the
original manuals scanned and check to see if it is O.K. to zip them up and give
them to AL to post on bitsavers. (I expect them to say "O.K.").

Cheers,
Lyle
--
On Wed, 22 Sep 2021 15:14:02 -0400
Bill Degnan via cctalk  wrote:

> Where are you located?  We have a small amount of Modcomp docs here and
> could take on a box more of the most useful paper docs for posterity-sake,
> to round out what's already here.
> Thanks
> Bill Degnan
> kennettclassic.com
> Kennett Square, PA
> 
> On Wed, Sep 22, 2021 at 3:05 PM devin davison via cctalk <
> cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:  
> 
> > Hello,
> >
> > The person that refered me to my present job  at a datacenter passed away
> > this past monday. He was a hardware / software engineer for modcomp
> > computers. He left me all of the computers and documents. there are too
> > many books to keep, stuff concerning the modcomp computers that is not
> > saved anywhere else that i can tell.
> >
> > I have picked up storage containers for all the books, and i can scan it
> > all. after that, its all probally going in the recycle bin, as i dont know
> > where or how i would keep such a large pile of paper manuals on hand.
> >
> > what is the prefered format to upload things to bitsavers in? is pdf
> > acceptable?
> >
> > How can i create a pdf that is not too big on file size? Can the text be
> > recognized  and be made searchable within the scanned pdf?
> >
> > any input would be appreciated, Thanks.
> >
> > --Devin D.
> >  



-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: IBM PC Network

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Sat, 22 May 2021 23:00:31 -0600
Grant Taylor via cctalk  wrote:

> On 5/22/21 6:50 PM, Lyle Bickley via cctalk wrote:
> > Wow, never heard of "Tokenray" ;)  
> 
> Nor have I.
> 
> > BTW: 16 Mbit Token Ring was much more reliable (especially in "noisy" 
> > environments) and considerably faster with more consistent performance 
> > than 10 Mbit Ethernet.  
> 
> I've heard tell that Token Ring worked MUCH better on extremely busy 
> networks.  Purportedly Ethernet starts having problems when there are 
> more and more systems and / or a higher and higher percentage of 
> utilization is happening.  I seem to remember that Ethernet had problems 
> starting about 80% utilization while Token Ring could easily handle 95% 
> utilization or higher.
> 
> > plus IBM never upgraded Token Ring past 16 Mbit.  
> 
> Sure they did.
> 
> You can find commercial Token Ring cards that support, 4 Mbps, 16 Mbps, 
> /and/ *100* Mbps.  I see them on eBay monthly.
> 
> I heard that IBM developed 1,000 Mbps / 1 Gbps Token Ring in the lab. 
> But that no commercial products were ever made.

Here's IBM's "Redbook" on Token Ring:

"IBM does not view high-speed Token Ring as a requirement for the majority of
its customers, and therefore the decision has been made not to provide 100
Mbps high-speed Token Ring uplinks on its products..."

Also:

"Note: IBM Statement of Direction, effective October 2001: For z900 server,
this feature is called the OSA-2 Token Ring feature, and can only be
configured as two 4/16 Mbps Token Ring ports. Note: Effective October 2001:
OSA-2 Token Ring feature (feature code 5201) is superseded by the OSA-Express
Fast Ethernet feature (feature code 2366), and OSA-Express Token Ring feature
(feature code 2367), as required. OSA-2 Token Ring feature (feature code 5201)
is not carried forward on G5/G6 server to z900 server upgrades."

To download the Redbook: http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks/pdfs/sg245975.pdf

Interestingly, in spite of their statement of direction, for a time, IBM did
make a "High-Speed 100/16/4 Token- Ring PCI Management Adapter" (Token Ring
PDF attached...). It was NOT popular - and not many were sold.

Ethernet had "won" the hearts and minds of IT folks (plus Ethernet by that time
was full duplex - at both 100Mbps and 1000Mbps, potentially doubling it's
capabilities). Ethernet also could be implemented for a fraction of the price
of Token Ring. When IBM began to support Ethernet on mainframes, Token Ring
"died" ;)

As a networking company we never installed any 100Mbps Token Ring networks -
and weren't aware of any implemented by our competitors.

Cheers,
Lyle
-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: IBM PC Network

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Sat, 22 May 2021 23:00:31 -0600
Grant Taylor via cctalk  wrote:

> On 5/22/21 6:50 PM, Lyle Bickley via cctalk wrote:
> > Wow, never heard of "Tokenray" ;)  
> 
> Nor have I.
> 
> > BTW: 16 Mbit Token Ring was much more reliable (especially in "noisy" 
> > environments) and considerably faster with more consistent performance 
> > than 10 Mbit Ethernet.  
> 
> I've heard tell that Token Ring worked MUCH better on extremely busy 
> networks.  Purportedly Ethernet starts having problems when there are 
> more and more systems and / or a higher and higher percentage of 
> utilization is happening.  I seem to remember that Ethernet had problems 
> starting about 80% utilization while Token Ring could easily handle 95% 
> utilization or higher.
> 
> > plus IBM never upgraded Token Ring past 16 Mbit.  
> 
> Sure they did.
> 
> You can find commercial Token Ring cards that support, 4 Mbps, 16 Mbps, 
> /and/ *100* Mbps.  I see them on eBay monthly.
> 
> I heard that IBM developed 1,000 Mbps / 1 Gbps Token Ring in the lab. 
> But that no commercial products were ever made.

Here's IBM's "Redbook" on Token Ring:

"IBM does not view high-speed Token Ring as a requirement for the majority of
its customers, and therefore the decision has been made not to provide 100
Mbps high-speed Token Ring uplinks on its products..."

Also:

"Note: IBM Statement of Direction, effective October 2001: For z900 server,
this feature is called the OSA-2 Token Ring feature, and can only be
configured as two 4/16 Mbps Token Ring ports. Note: Effective October 2001:
OSA-2 Token Ring feature (feature code 5201) is superseded by the OSA-Express
Fast Ethernet feature (feature code 2366), and OSA-Express Token Ring feature
(feature code 2367), as required. OSA-2 Token Ring feature (feature code 5201)
is not carried forward on G5/G6 server to z900 server upgrades."

To download the Redbook: http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks/pdfs/sg245975.pdf

Interestingly, in spite of their statement of direction, for a time, IBM did
for a period make a "High-Speed 100/16/4 Token- Ring PCI Management Adapter" It
was NOT popular - and not many were sold. (For more detail, see:
ftp://ps-2.kev009.com/incoming/timc/PDFS/IBM/Networking/IBM_C_TR.pdf)

Ethernet had "won" the hearts and minds of IT folks (plus Ethernet by that time
was full duplex - at both 100Mbps and 1000Mbps, potentially doubling it's
capabilities). Ethernet also could be implemented for a fraction of the price
of Token Ring. When IBM began to support Ethernet on mainframes, that was
the "death knell" of Token Ring ;)

As a networking company we never installed any 100Mbps Token Ring networks -
and weren't aware of any implemented by our competitors.

Cheers,
Lyle
-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: IBM PC Network

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

Bill,

On Sat, 22 May 2021 17:43:44 -0400
Bill Degnan  wrote:

> You mean a Tokenray network?

Wow, never heard of "Tokenray" ;)

BTW: 16 Mbit Token Ring was much more reliable (especially in "noisy"
environments) and considerably faster with more consistent performance than 10
Mbit Ethernet. We won a number of large contracts when other network companies
used twisted pair 10 Mbit Ethernet in "noisy" environments and their networks
failed miserably.

When Ethernet finally went to 100 Mbit, it also had better noise margins
and nearly everyone moved to that (except folks with mainframe computers).
Ultimately, IBM supported Ethernet on mainframes, so that "ended" Token Ring
networks (plus IBM never upgraded Token Ring past 16 Mbit).

Regularly upgrading networks was one of the things that made the
networking/systems-integration business so terrific.

Oh yes, that and we used to charge about $250-$350 a node for network cards
with a 40% margin. Ah, those were the days ;)

Cheers,
Lyle
--
> On Sat, May 22, 2021, 4:34 PM Lyle Bickley via cctalk 
> wrote:
> 
> > Hi Grant,
> >
> > On Sat, 22 May 2021 13:34:05 -0600
> > Grant Taylor via cctalk  wrote:
> >
> > > Q:  Does anyone have any IBM PC Network hardware and / or software that
> > > they would be willing to part with?
> >
> > My company installed a several hundred IBM PC Network equipped workstations
> > "back in the day" ;)
> >
> > It was a very stable network and had the advantage that one could use
> > existing
> > 75 ohm cable that could be simultaneously used for video (although, most of
> > our installations were network only).
> >
> > IBM's NETBIOS was integrated into the IBM PC Network board. I wrote a
> > network utility program to analyze NETBIOS networks (which was advertised
> > in
> > "Byte Magazine"). My largest software clients were TRW and the U.S. Navy. I
> > tried to get the U.S. Navy as a client (unsuccessfully) - as they had
> > bought
> > my utility software and complained to me that it didn't support their
> > 10,000+
> > workstations!
> >
> > Unfortunately, I long ago got rid of all my IBM PC Network cards and
> > related
> > hardware. (I still have some IBM Token Ring stuff, though).
> >
> > We also had several clients who "picked" Arcnet. We never recommended it -
> > but
> > IT folks had their own opinions - and we were a network/system-integration
> > firm
> > and would do whatever the the client asked for. (We later got to convert
> > all
> > of our Arcnet clients to IBM Token Ring or Ethernet. Kinda like "double
> > dipping" ;)
> >
> > By the late 1980's I had converted all of our clients to Token Ring
> > (especially those with IBM Mainframes) or Ethernet.
> >
> > All the PC Network hardware was ultimately scrapped...
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Lyle
> > --
> >
> > > The recent "COMPAQ ISA PC to ethernet" thread got me thinking about IBM
> > > PC Network (and ARCnet) again.
> > >
> > > Sadly, Wikipedia's IBM PC Network article [1] is about the most concise
> > > / complete source of information that I've seen in the past.  I'd like
> > > to learn more.  I knew about the F connectors on coax cable, but was not
> > > aware of centralized device needed to do frequency translation.
> > >
> > > [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PC_Network
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > 73   NM6Y
> > Bickley Consulting West
> > https://bickleywest.com
> >
> > "Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"
> >



-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: IBM PC Network

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

Hi Grant,

On Sat, 22 May 2021 13:34:05 -0600
Grant Taylor via cctalk  wrote:

> Q:  Does anyone have any IBM PC Network hardware and / or software that 
> they would be willing to part with?

My company installed a several hundred IBM PC Network equipped workstations
"back in the day" ;)

It was a very stable network and had the advantage that one could use existing
75 ohm cable that could be simultaneously used for video (although, most of
our installations were network only).

IBM's NETBIOS was integrated into the IBM PC Network board. I wrote a
network utility program to analyze NETBIOS networks (which was advertised in
"Byte Magazine"). My largest software clients were TRW and the U.S. Navy. I
tried to get the U.S. Navy as a client (unsuccessfully) - as they had bought
my utility software and complained to me that it didn't support their 10,000+
workstations!

Unfortunately, I long ago got rid of all my IBM PC Network cards and related
hardware. (I still have some IBM Token Ring stuff, though).

We also had several clients who "picked" Arcnet. We never recommended it - but
IT folks had their own opinions - and we were a network/system-integration firm
and would do whatever the the client asked for. (We later got to convert all
of our Arcnet clients to IBM Token Ring or Ethernet. Kinda like "double
dipping" ;)

By the late 1980's I had converted all of our clients to Token Ring
(especially those with IBM Mainframes) or Ethernet.

All the PC Network hardware was ultimately scrapped...

Cheers,
Lyle
--

> The recent "COMPAQ ISA PC to ethernet" thread got me thinking about IBM 
> PC Network (and ARCnet) again.
> 
> Sadly, Wikipedia's IBM PC Network article [1] is about the most concise 
> / complete source of information that I've seen in the past.  I'd like 
> to learn more.  I knew about the F connectors on coax cable, but was not 
> aware of centralized device needed to do frequency translation.
> 
> [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PC_Network
> 
> 
> 



-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Restorations...

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

Jim,

I sent you an email to your jwsm...@jwsss.com mail account and haven't heard
back from you, so thought I'd better try to reach you on cctalk!

It's about potential restoration work needed in the LA area. Please get back
to me privately.

Sorry for the interruption of posting this to the cctalk list...

Best, Lyle
-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: DEC PDP-8/e Omnibus backplane lubrication

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

I've been successfully using Deoxit and related products for many years,
after I learned of them from government projects where I was a consultant.

In a specific case: My PDP-8/E has 32K of core memory in four banks (original
DEC). Several years ago, it developed random memory errors. I did all the
usual things - made sure the OTT connectors and edge connectors were clean,
that there was no observable "dirt" in the back-plane, etc. I reinstalled the
memory - and it worked - for a while. Then the random error returned. Not
often - but often enough to be irritating.

I then used (sparingly) "ProGold" (now Deoxit Gold) on all the edge
connectors. After re-installation, the memory was "perfect" (no diagnostic
errors). Now some ten years later, I've never once experienced another memory
error on my PDP-8/E.

That was enough to convince me empirically that the product worked as
advertised.

Ever since that experience I've used Deoxit Gold on many pieces of test
equipment and vintage computer gear and have never experienced anything but
good results.

Cheers,
Lyle
--

On Tue, 11 May 2021 18:23:53 +
W2HX via cctalk  wrote:

> Very interesting. In probably 30 years I've been repairing equipment and
> among the dozen or so electronics forums I belong to, you may be the first
> person I've run across to throw some shade on that product. I've never heard
> any concerns or warnings about it. And there are some rather reputable
> companies using it. Including HP, GE, Honeywell, Tektronix, etc. I feel I'm
> in good enough company with those folks to continue using it.
> 
> https://caig.com/all-testimonials/
> 
> But please share your experience with it so others can form their opinions.
> Eugene
> 
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: cctalk  On Behalf Of Al Kossow via
> cctalk Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2021 1:12 PM
> To: cctalk@classiccmp.org
> Subject: Re: DEC PDP-8/e Omnibus backplane lubrication
> 
> 
> > I would suggest Caig  
> 
> I would suggest researching and understanding what their snake oil does
> before using any Caig product.
> 
> 



-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Lisa Source Code

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

Al is right. AFAIK, the CHM has never made an official announcement regarding
the release of the LISA OS. Perhaps the confusion comes from this email from
Al to the LisaList:
--
Al Kossow
Dec 24, 2017, 7:49:23 AM
to lisa...@googlegroups.com

Just wanted to let everyone know the sources to the OS and applications were
recovered, I converted them to Unix end of line conventions and spaces for
Pascal tabs after recovering the files using Disk Image Chef, and they are
with Apple for review. After that's done, CHM will do an @CHM blog post about
the historical significance of the software and the code that is cleared for
release by Apple will be made available in 2018. The only thing I saw that
probably won't be able to be released is the American Heritage dictionary for
the spell checker in LisaWrite
--

I have no idea of "why" by this date the CHM hasn't released the code. Al
probably has a better handle on that than anyone. But be aware that the CHM can
be somewhat "opaque" at times, with no evil intended.

(I can say that, I'm one of the "Founding Members" of the CHM ;)

Cheers,
Lyle




On Tue, 6 Apr 2021 17:28:45 -0700
Al Kossow via cctalk  wrote:

> On 4/6/21 5:14 PM, Michael Kerpan wrote:
> > So what happened to cancel the release?   
> 
> It hasn't been canceled, it just hasn't occurred.
> Also, there was never an official announcement about this from CHM.
> 



-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Systems Concepts SC-4 computer

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

This was getting long - so I decided to "top post". Sorry ;)

Here's Peter Samson's comments after I sent him a copy of the proposal:

"Well how about that! (It was never built and the hardware was never
designed.) So many ideas and proposals never saw the light of day. I utterly
forgot about the SC-4, whatever it was supposed to be."

Cheers,
Lyle
--
On Wed, 17 Feb 2021 07:13:26 +
Lars Brinkhoff  wrote:

> Phil Budne wrote:
> > From: Lyle Bickley via cctalk   
> >>
> >> I contacted Peter Samson regarding a "SC-4" and this was his response:
> >> "There was an SC-40 (made after my time there) which was a fast
> >> PDP-10-compatible system. I don’t know of any SC-4 though."  
> >
> > The document that raised the question has his name and signature (or
> > the name and signature of *A* Peter R Samson) on it?
> >
> > I suppose one could say that SC-4 might be a marketing term that an
> > engineer might have forgotten, or chosen to have forgotten, but Peter
> > Samson's title in the document is Director of Marketing!
> >
> > The URL again:
> > http://people.csail.mit.edu/saltzer/Multics/MHP-Saltzer-060508/filedrawers/141.graphics-system/Scan%203.PDF
> >  
> 
> I heard back from Fred Wright:
> 
>  "Although I wasn't at SC in 1972, I'm pretty sure I would have heard of
>   the SC-4 if it had ever existed.  The document you linked was just a
>   proposal, and I imagine that that's as far as it ever got.  AFAIK, SC
>   didn't create any full-fledged computers between the SC-15 (1970) and
>   the SC-30 (1983)."



-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Systems Concepts SC-4 computer

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Mon, 15 Feb 2021 12:03:47 -0500 (EST)
Noel Chiappa via cctalk  wrote:

> > From: Lars Brinkhoff  
> 
> > Anyone ever heard of the Systems Concepts SC-4 computer?  
> 
> Given the SF address, and Peter Samson's signature, this is the _the_ Systems
> Concepts. Never heard of the SC-4, though.
> 
> One oddity: the cover letter is dated 1972, but it talks of "the main G.E.
> computer". GE's computer business was sold to Honeywell in 1970, though?

I contacted Peter Samson regarding a "SC-4" and this was his response:

"There was an SC-40 (made after my time there) which was a fast
PDP-10-compatible system. I don’t know of any SC-4 though."

Cheers,
Lyle
-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: The best hard drives??

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Mon, 16 Nov 2020 21:27:45 -0600
Richard Pope via cctalk  wrote:

> Hello all,
>  In the opinions of you experts out there considering reliability 
> being number one on the list with speed be number two on the list what 
> would you folks consider to be the best SATA drives on the market?
> GOD Bless and Thanks,
> rich!

I find the drive stats of a major cloud vendor to be very helpful. AFAIK,
Backblaze is the only vendor that publishes their results quarterly:

https://www.backblaze.com/blog/backblaze-hard-drive-stats-q3-2020/

Cheers!
Lyle
-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Computer stores

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Sat, 22 Aug 2020 11:52:19 -0400
Murray McCullough via cctalk  wrote:

> 45 yrs. ago last month, mid-July, Dick Heiser started a new industry, the
> retail computer store. It opened in West L.A. under the name Arrow Head
> COmputer Company. aka, The Computer Store. This began the direct marketing
> of microcomputers to hobbyists, later to the masses of the middle class,
> albeit a small market 45 yrs. ago.
> 
> Happy computing.

Claiming "First" in computer "anything" is just about always a dangerous thing
;)

But for sure, several personal computer stores existed 45 years ago!

Personal Computer Corporation (whom Stan Veit wrote created the term "Personal
Computer") was formed by Everett Holland on Jan 4, 1976 as an "S" Corp. The
business started with a store in Frazier, PA in March of 1976. The first
employee (and "tech") was Dave Hilton. I became an "angel" investor about 1977
and ultimately became Ch. of the Bd. of PCC.

At our opening we sold Imsai and Digital Group Computers - plus S-100 boards
from a number of manufacturers.

At the time we opened, there were approximately 15 computer stores in the
U.S., mostly in California.

In the same year we started (1976), Stan Veit opened the Computer Mart of New
York.

Cheers,
Lyle
-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: BYTE Magazines

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Wed, 3 Jun 2020 11:04:33 -0700
Donald via cctalk  wrote:

> Computer Museum of America might be interested.  They have a Byte wall.
> 
> http://www.myimagecollection.com/webpics/cmoabyte.jpg

Almost all of my vintage computer collection went to the CMoA (Computer
Museum of America - two 26' trucks worth). I offered them a complete set of
Byte - but they were not interested. There are a LOT of complete sets in the
hands of collectors and libraries.

Best,
Lyle

-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Charles Lasner [Was: Re: LINC-8]

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:58:59 -0400
Chris Zach via cctalk  wrote:

>   NL7776  /SETUP -2
>   TAD (-7776) /COMPARE TO EXPECTED VALUE
>   SZA CLA /SKIP IF OK
>   JMP IMA8S   /JUMP IF RETARDED BROTHER
> 
> / IF WE GET HERE, WE'RE NOT A PDP-8/S.
> 
> Ok, that made me laugh.

Charles and I have many emails over the years going back and forth regarding
OS/8 vs. P?S/8.

He was one of those folks that when you sent him a five line email, you would
often get a five page response. Charles was definitely opinionated - but often
proven to be right.

Both Charles and Merrill (author of FOCAL) teased me when I got my PDP-8/S
running. It was definitely SLOW (8/S where S=Slow). Merrill told me that DEC
management was furious when FOCAL displayed which kind of 8 it was running on.
Management wanted folks to think all 8's were totally compatible.

Charles designed P?S/8 to run in a 4K PDP-8 - making it feasible to run on a
basic 8/S (OS/8 requires a minimum of 8K). I hope it gets "released" someday :)

I'll miss Charles and his passion for P?S/8.

Lyle

--
> On 4/27/2020 10:40 AM, Pontus Pihlgren via cctalk wrote:
> > On Mon, Apr 27, 2020 at 09:08:24AM -0500, John H. Reinhardt via cctalk
> > wrote:  
> >> Charles Lasner.  He passed the weekend of April 3rd due to
> >> complications from the COVID-19 virus.  I'm fuzzy on his exact
> >> biography, but he was big in the development of OS/8 for the PDP-8 at
> >> DEC.  His current project was an update of OS/8 which he called
> >> P?S/8.  Apparently he owned multiple LINC-8's according to comments on
> >> the Facebook group.  
> > 
> > He also worked onKermit-12, for instance the code that identifies which
> > PDP-8 machine it is running on. It is quite fun to follow that code. It
> > can, impressively, separate between a PDP-5, LINC-8, PDP-12, Straight-8,
> > 8/S, 8/I, 8/L, 8/E, 8/A, 6100 and 6120.
> > 
> > Here, search for "MACHINE,.-."
> > http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/ftp/d/k12mit.pal
> > 
> > A lot of PDP-8 know-how and trivia went with him, sorry to see him go.
> > 
> > /P
> >   



-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist license program is closing

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

To see if HP is still issuing VAX hobby licenses, a few days ago I applied for
same directly online. Today I received the following in a similar manner as
others have described:


Hello dear OpenVMS Hobbyist,
 
Please see attached for PAKs to use on your VAX or Alpha.
The attached file is a DCL command file; to load your PAKs simply execute it
 
$ @Hobbyist-USE-FINALVA.txt
 
Please read the following special notification.
 
  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
  Dear HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist,

--snip--

The HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist licenses we are issuing in 2020 will be the
last set. Subsequently, HPE will not issue new HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist licenses.
Attached is the final set of the HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist licenses. These final
licenses are valid through December 31st, 2021. We hope that this additional
validity period will enable users to plan for the future.
--

I received the above from: OpenVMS Customer Lab .

I intend to contact them about a permanent hobbyist license - and as others
have said, it would make sense for all of us to do so. May I suggest the
following format for that contact:

1. Thank them for the hobbyist program!
2. Explain how it has made you appreciate HP more because of their willingness
to offer such a program.
3. State how you have helped spread the word about the goodness of HP because
of the program.
4. Express disappointment that the program is ending - and how it will affect
your hobby.
5. Ask if HP would be willing to consider offering a permanent hobbyist
license.
6. Suggest that there would be no downside to HP and would enhance the
goodwill that the program brings to HPE - especially since many hobbyists
also work with/for major purchasers of IT equipment.

Regards,
Lyle
--
On Sat, 7 Mar 2020 11:48:20 -0700 (MST)
Richard Loken via cctalk  wrote:

> On Sat, 7 Mar 2020, John H. Reinhardt via cctalk wrote:
> 
> > For those interested, HPE has finally, formally announced the end of their 
> > participation in the OpenVMS Hobbyist Program.  A number of people have 
> > received the below message from HPE, probably everyone they have on record 
> > as having current Hobbyist licenses.  
> 
> I humbly suggest that HPE might issue VAX hobbyist licenses that don't 
> expire since they and VSI don't have a significant financial interest in it. 
> Removing the expiration date does not remove any obligation from the licence 
> holder and does not remove HPE's rights as the owner of the software.
> 
> Alpha and Itanium licenses are a differant matter, there is still a market
> for them and development continuues to some degree.
> 
> I only run an Alpha hobby machine so I have nothing to gain from a lifetime
> VAX license.  I have both PMDF and Multinet licenses that don't expire and
> I paid honest money for them but I doubt I can afford the price of a VMS
> license.



-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: IBM Type 31 Alphabetical Duplicating Keypunch available, Seattle area

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

I forwarded your email to the 1401 Restoration Team at the Computer History
Museum...

Cheers,
Lyle
--
On Mon, 10 Feb 2020 15:34:36 -0800
Josh Dersch via cctalk  wrote:

> (resending as this appears to have gotten eaten last time...)
> 
> Hi all --
> 
> As the subject line says I've got an IBM Type 31 Alphabetical Duplicating
> Keypunch sitting in my basement, in the Seattle area.
> 
> It's in well-loved but decent physical condition and appears to be
> completely original.  I have not powered it on (still has the original
> selenium rectifiers in it, for one thing) but mechanically it seems fine.
> No rust or obviously damaged parts, but it's clearly gotten a decent amount
> of use since the 1930s.
> 
> It's really cool but it's not really something I'm interested in keeping --
> if any of you are interested or know someone who is interested, please feel
> free to make an offer.  Due to the size and fragility of the item I don't
> want to ship this thing.
> 
> 
> Pictures are available here:
> https://1drv.ms/u/s!Aqb36sqnCIfMo9BhHMhAok3F4cAInQ?e=EhXDPP
> 
> Thanks!
> Josh



-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Vintage HP test gear and other stuff at Anchor Electronics...

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

Hi Dan,

I sent the same message to the Bay Area Classic list and CCTALK. Folks from
the Bay Area got photos. Don't know what happened to CCTALK...

Lyle
--
On Wed, 29 Jan 2020 13:51:06 -0500
Dan Veeneman  wrote:

> Hi Lyle,
> 
> At least on the message I received from the list there were no attached
> photographs.
> 
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Dan
> 
> 
> On 1/28/2020 7:02 PM, Lyle Bickley via cctalk wrote:
> > I was browsing around in the back of Anchor Electronics a couple of days
> > ago and came across some clean (but dusty) vintage HP test gear - and
> > several very cool large variable resistors. I've attached some pictures of
> > both.
> >
> > BTW: Those of us in Silicon Valley are fans of Anchor - because they carry
> > lots of IC's, parts, connectors, etc. Their catalog can be downloaded here:
> > https://anchor-electronics.com/
> >
> > If you're interested in the HP test gear or large variable resistors
> > contact Alicia - for parts, contact any staff member.
> >
> > Note: I receive NO financial benefit from this email and my only
> > relationship with Anchor is as a long time customer. Phone: (408)727-3693
> >
> > Best,
> > Lyle  



-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Vintage HP test gear and other stuff at Anchor Electronics...

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

I was browsing around in the back of Anchor Electronics a couple of days ago
and came across some clean (but dusty) vintage HP test gear - and several very
cool large variable resistors. I've attached some pictures of both.

BTW: Those of us in Silicon Valley are fans of Anchor - because they carry
lots of IC's, parts, connectors, etc. Their catalog can be downloaded here:
https://anchor-electronics.com/

If you're interested in the HP test gear or large variable resistors contact
Alicia - for parts, contact any staff member.

Note: I receive NO financial benefit from this email and my only relationship
with Anchor is as a long time customer. Phone: (408)727-3693

Best,
Lyle
-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Portlock Storage Manager?

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Thu, 2 Jan 2020 18:15:33 +
Benjamin Huntsman via cctalk  wrote:

> Anyone on here remember NetWare? :P

I started and ran a network VAR company which was both Novell (Netware)
Certified and IBM Business Partners. We sold a LOT of Netware, associated
network cards, cabling and services. Both Novell and IBM were a terrific
partners - and provided us with outstanding products for our customers. They
also helped make us very profitable. It was the best of all worlds ;)

IMHO, in the late 80's and early 90's Novell servers, and then Netware, were
the best networking game in town!

--snip--

Cheers,
Lyle
-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: TSS/8 on RK05

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

Josh,

THANK YOU (!) for the conversion of TSS from RF08 to RK05! I have a PDP-8/E
with and RK05 and it will be fun to get TSS/8 running again.

I had TSS/8 running years ago - on my PDP-12 and RF08 (w/2-disks!).
Unfortunately, I donated both to the CHM in the mid-90's - and they've been
sitting in their archives ever since :( 

Cheers,
Lyle
--

On Mon, 25 Nov 2019 22:03:47 -0800
Josh Dersch via cctalk  wrote:

> Hi all --
> 
> We've wanted to run TSS/8 on one of our PDP-8 systems at LCM+L for a long
> time now, and while we contemplated either (a) restoring our RF08 or (b)
> building an RF08 emulator, I decided it might be fun to investigate a third
> option: (c) modify TSS/8 to run off hardware we already have running,
> namely an RK05 drive.
> 
> And it /was/ fun!  And seems to have been successful, as we now have TSS/8
> running on our PDP-8/e.  Performance is acceptable, and it seems to be
> stable so far.  The changes I made are here:
> 
> https://github.com/livingcomputermuseum/cpus-pdp8
> 
> This is a fork of a codebase that Brad Parker put together a number of
> years back in which he did some serious work to get TSS/8 to build (amongst
> other things).  I made use of this effort, which saved a lot of time and
> made building/testing my changes quite straightforward.
> 
> I also modified the disk image:  It's extended to 1MW (the maximum possible
> without modifying the filesystem code) and I ported a couple of extra
> programs to TSS/8 (CHEKMO and LISP).
> 
> I figured some people here might also be able to take advantage of being
> able to run TSS/8 from RK05.  I know RK8E's are pretty rare, but I'm also
> guessing more people have them than have working fixed-head disks :).  If
> you do give it a try, let me know if you run into any issues or if you have
> any feature requests.
> 
> Thanks,
> Josh



-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Discord

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

Hi Jay,

What game are you working on? There are SO many WWII FPS games of that
period ;)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_video_games

Cheers,
Lyle
--

On Fri, 15 Nov 2019 11:25:41 -0600
jwest--- via cctalk  wrote:

> Greetings folks
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_video_games
>  
> 
> The past few years I’ve become fairly focused on a particular old
> 1999/2000 ww2 fps computer game. Of course playing it but I’m also on
> the development team for the game (EA has given up on it, but we
> still put out new releases, maps, patches, etc.). As a result of
> that, I pretty much live on Discord text/audio chat these days. If
> you send me an email I will eventually see it and may even respond
> heh. But if you send me anything on Discord I’m going to see it
> immediately. If any of you are on discord, I am “Todesengel#9624”.
> Feel free to add me as a friend and that way you can get me usually
> immediately. I am not leaving the hobby, nor am I saying not to email
> me at the usual address. But a lot of you do talk to me
> semi-frequently and I’m just saying discord will get to me far
> quicker.
> 
>  
> 
> In addition, mostly as an exercise to see how to do it, I set up a
> ClassicCMP discord server. That Discord server is NOT meant to
> replace this list, nor should it be taken to signal any less
> commitment on my part to keeping this list running. They
> arehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_video_games
> fundamentally different things; Discord is great for real time text
> chat back and forth. There are also audio and video channels if
> people want to use that to talk verbally or via video. To get on that
> server, here is a semi-permanent invite: https://discord.gg/U8Skw5g
> Joining the server gets you to all the other folks who may join the
> classiccmp discord, not just me. Of course, that could be zero 
> Like I said, I just did it as an exercise, and discord is how some of
> my family and friends stay in touch. But it is there if peeps want to
> use it.
> 
>  
> 
> I’d rather not turn this into a long debate of whether discord is
> good or bad or anything like that. I’m just saying it’s there, and
> it’s quicker to get ahold of me that way at times.
> 
>  
> 
> Best,
> 
>  
> 
> J
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 



-- 
Lyle Bickley
NM6Y '73
http://bickeywest.com
"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: swtpc.com expired???

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Wed, 6 Nov 2019 17:15:01 -0500
William Sudbrink via cctalk  wrote:

> Domain has been down for 7 days now.  No reply to emails.  Does anyone know
> anything?

I looked it up and got this from "GoDaddy":

---
NOTICE: This domain name expired on 10/30/2019 and is pending renewal or
deletion.
---

Best,
Lyle

--
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: William Sudbrink [mailto:wh.sudbr...@verizon.net] 
> Sent: Monday, November 04, 2019 12:29 PM
> To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'
> Subject: swtpc.com expired???
> 
> Anybody know if Mike Holley is OK?
> 
> Bill S.
> 
> 
> 



-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Modcomp Minicomputers Related - Preservation and Repair

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

I have what I believe to be an entire set of Modcomp manuals, sales brochures,
etc. I obtained them from a firm that supported Modcomps at the Kennedy Space
Center in Florida and other firms throughout the world for years. They have all
been scanned into PDF's.

I recently asked them for permission to make the manuals available online -
and they (ultimately) agreed.

Al and I can workout how best to make them available.

Best,
Lyle
--
On Wed, 6 Nov 2019 09:07:20 -0800
Al Kossow via cctalk  wrote:

> You should also check with Lyle Bickley about what has already been
> archived.
> 
> On 11/6/19 9:06 AM, Al Kossow via cctalk wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > On 11/5/19 8:47 PM, devin davison via cctalk wrote:
> >   
> >> Any help or suggestions on how to best preserve the documentation and
> >> software is most appreciated.  
> > 
> > I can volunteer to attempt tape recovery, but won't be able to get to it
> > for a few months.
> > 
> > 
> >   
> 



-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: General Automation SPC 16 on eBay

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

Bob,

It went for $130 on eBay...

Somebody got a very good deal ;)

Was it you???

Lyle
--

On Sat, 12 Oct 2019 09:28:12 -0700
Bob Rosenbloom via cctalk  wrote:

> There's a cheap General Automation SPC 16/45 on eBay that someone needs 
> to get. It's for pickup only
> in Royal Oak, MI otherwise I would go for it. Includes a disk drive. 
> Looks like it needs to be gone in a week.
> See:
> 
> https://www.ebay.com/itm/General-Automation-1972-SPH-45-16-Minicomputer-Console/323932770200?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
> 
> Bob
> 



-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Ferroresonant transformer supply repair

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

Hi Kyle,

On Sun, 8 Sep 2019 18:42:06 -0500
Kyle Owen via cctalk  wrote:

> Has anyone replaced the capacitor in a ferroresonant power supply with much
> success? My current understanding is that the capacitor and transformer are
> mated as a pair, so replacing just one of them would require careful
> consideration.
> 
> The PDP-8/I I'm working on has a 704A in it, with a GE 8uF 660V capacitor.
> It measures a couple of nF on my capacitor meter, and I was told by the
> previous owner that it's dead.

We recently replaced the ferroresonant capacitor in a power supply on the CHM's
PDP-1. They do fail (thankfully, not often) - and they are not super-critical
as to value. If the one you're replacing has the same marked value, you should
be fine.

Cheers,
Lyle
PDP-1 Restoration Team, CHM

-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: DEC MS630/M7609 Question

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Tue, 9 Jul 2019 23:43:17 +
W2HX  wrote:

> Thanks, Lyle. I was reading this. I guess its wrong?
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroVAX
> 
> The MS630 memory expansion module was used for expanding memory capacity.
> Four variants of the MS630 existed: the 1 MB MS630-AA, 2 MB MS630-BA, 4 MB
> MS630-BB and the 16MB MS630-CA. 

The use of suffix's to identify the amount of memory was common with DEC - and
the line I copied only referenced the "AA" version of the MS630.

> Wouldn't be the first time wikipedia was wrong...

Their probably right (in this case ;)

Lyle
______
> From: Lyle Bickley 
> Sent: Tuesday, July 9, 2019 6:08 PM
> To: cct...@classiccmp.org
> Cc: W2HX
> Subject: Re: DEC MS630/M7609 Question
> 
> On Tue, 9 Jul 2019 21:11:39 +
> W2HX via cctech  wrote:
> 
> > Hi there.
> >
> >
> > I just acquired a board with the number M7609. It was advertised as an
> > M630-CA which my research tells me is supposed to be 16MB. How do I tell on
> > the board if this is 8MB or 16MB? There does not seem to be a suffix on the
> > board that I can see.
> >
> >
> > What to look for?  
> 
> M7609-AAMS630-CAQ   8-Mbyte parity 36-bit RAM for KA630 (MicroVAX II)
> 
> Lyle
> --
> 73   NM6Y
> Bickley Consulting West Inc.
> https://bickleywest.com
> 
> "Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"



-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: DEC MS630/M7609 Question

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Tue, 9 Jul 2019 21:11:39 +
W2HX via cctech  wrote:

> Hi there.
> 
> 
> I just acquired a board with the number M7609. It was advertised as an
> M630-CA which my research tells me is supposed to be 16MB. How do I tell on
> the board if this is 8MB or 16MB? There does not seem to be a suffix on the
> board that I can see.
> 
> 
> What to look for?

M7609-AAMS630-CAQ   8-Mbyte parity 36-bit RAM for KA630 (MicroVAX II)

Lyle
-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Looking for a Intel multibus 88/30...

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Tue, 18 Jun 2019 05:24:04 +
dwight  wrote:

> Hi Lyle
>  What is a 88/45? I look up the 310 systems on the web but none
> mention 88/45.

Good catch, Dwight! It was a typo. I have two 88/45 boards and don't
need more. FYI, here's a link describing the 88/45:
http://bit.ly/2N6zKGe

Here's the description of the iSBC 88/30 that I NEED in the maintenance
manual for the System 310:
http://bit.ly/2MWMij5

> Is the PAL for address decoding or something more complicated?

Not sure. Likely for address decoding but I haven't tracked down
what else it might do. Another System 310 restorer had the identical
symptoms and issues with his 310. To be more specific: The system
begins startup and then halts (run light off) after about a second of
running. The hardware manuals says that error is either an iSBC error
or DMA hanging the system. I pulled all the DMA I/O cards from the
system to make sure it wasn't DMA...

Repeating the CORRECTION: I NEED AN iSBC 88/30!!!

Thanks again, Dwight!!!

Cheers,
Lyle
__
> From: cctalk  on behalf of Lyle
> Bickley via cctalk  Sent: Monday, June 17,
> 2019 1:39 PM To: cctalk@classiccmp.org
> Subject: Looking for a Intel multibus 88/45... (minor corrections...)
> 
> I'm in the process of restoring an Intel 310 system. I had it working
> to the point where it was trying to boot - when the 88/45 processor
> began to fail intermittently and then solidly. My debugging seems to
> indicate that the problem is in a PLD - which is a serious bummer.
> 
> I have preserved the ROMS (which have built-in diagnostics/debugging
> and boot capability for both floppy and Winchester hard disks) as
> files. I will make these ROM files available to Al for posting on
> bitsavers.
> 
> If someone on this list has an Intel 88/45 (or Intel 310) who would be
> willing to part with it, please contact me off list. I can to either
> do a trade or cash purchase...
> 
> Cheers,
> Lyle
> 
> --
> 73   NM6Y
> Bickley Consulting West Inc.
> https://bickleywest.com
> 
> "Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"



-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Looking for a Intel multibus 88/45... (minor corrections...)

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

I'm in the process of restoring an Intel 310 system. I had it working to
the point where it was trying to boot - when the 88/45 processor
began to fail intermittently and then solidly. My debugging seems to
indicate that the problem is in a PLD - which is a serious bummer.

I have preserved the ROMS (which have built-in diagnostics/debugging
and boot capability for both floppy and Winchester hard disks) as files.
I will make these ROM files available to Al for posting on bitsavers.

If someone on this list has an Intel 88/45 (or Intel 310) who would be
willing to part with it, please contact me off list. I can to either do
a trade or cash purchase...

Cheers,
Lyle

-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

looking for a Intel multibus 88/45...

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

I'm in the process of restoring an Intel 310 system. I had it working to
the point where it was trying to boot - when the 88/45 processor
began to fail intermittently and then solidly. My debugging seems to
indicate that the problem is in a PLA - which is a serious bummer.

I have preserved the ROMS (which have built-in diagnostics/debugging
and boot capability for both floppy and Winchester hard disks). I will
make the ROM images available to Al for posting on bitsavers.

If someone on this list has an Intel 88/45 that would be willing to
part with it, please contact me off list. Either a trade or cash
purchase work for me...

Cheers,
Lyle
-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
https://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: PDP-11 disk image question

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

Bill,

On Sat, 16 Feb 2019 13:55:10 +
Bill Gunshannon via cctalk  wrote:

> So, I used SIMH to do an install of a complete OS on
> an RA81 disk.  I would like to  move this to a real disk
> and try it on a real PDP-11.  Is there a way to do this
> using dd on a BSD machine?  I tried but it created a
> non bootable system.  Well, actually, it starts to boot
> but then fails very early in the startup process.  I used
> "dd if=filename of=raw-device bs=1024".  Could it be that
> the block size needs to be something else?
> 
> I know that VTServer and PDPGUI can move disk images but
> it would take a week at 9600 baud and I think very little
> likelihood of it ever completing successfully.
> 
> bill

In order to do this easily, I have SCSI controllers (and disks) on my
two primary PDP-11 systems (11/34 and 11/83).

1. I copy the image file I want on a "native" drive using a PC w/SCSI
and Linux to a SCSI disk (or removable media) using "dd".

2. I move that drive/media to the SCSI "chain" on a PDP-11.

3. I use RT-11 to move the image from the SCSI drive/media to the
"native" HDD.

Its a bit cumbersome, but I used this method for years and it hasn't
failed me yet ;)

Cheers,
Lyle
-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
http://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: sun 88780 on ebay

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Mon, 28 Jan 2019 14:04:42 -0800
Al Kossow via cctalk  wrote:

> https://www.ebay.com/itm/132933407806
> 
> this is interesting because of the price and that all of the Sun
> drives I've ever come across had the 800bpi option in them

That's been my experience, too. The 88780 I use is a Sun drive with
800/1600/6250.

What I love about these drives is that each track is adjustable
electronically for skew - which means one can adjust it to read
incorrectly skewed tapes without having to adjust/move the tape head!
(Of course, you have to re-adjust it "back" to normal - which makes it
something you want to do only when absolutely necessary).

I only wish the 88780's tape handling was a bit more "gentle"...

Cheers,
Lyle
-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
http://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: DECUS PDP-11 SPACE WAR?

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Fri, 7 Dec 2018 14:04:52 -0800
Al Kossow via cctalk  wrote:

> On 12/7/18 1:25 PM, Mattis Lind via cctalk wrote:
> > Anyone has old DECUS distributions?  
> 
> For all intents and purposes, no
> 
> DECUS threw them out.

Not true for PDP-8 and PDP-12 DECUS. I was the last PDP-12 Coordinator
for DECUS - which included all the PDP-8 DECUS as well as the specific
PDP-12 DECUS software. I kept it all - and donated it in it's entirety
to the Computer History Museum (CHM) years ago. The collection also
included the MASTER source code for the DIAL operating system for the
PDP-12 - as DEC wanted "someone" to have it rather than throw it out
when they were closing out their archives.

The only thing I retained from my DECUS activities is the DECUS "money"
that we (DECUS) gave out for "change" when someone overpaid for an
item ;)

The DECUS "money" could only be spent for future software purchases
from DECUS. BTW: The fees were copying fees which included media costs,
etc. One didn't pay for the DECUS software itself.

I hope that the CHM will make the libraries available to the public -
which was my intent in donating them to the CHM in the first place.

Lyle
-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
http://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Battery warning in Falco terminals

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Wed, 21 Nov 2018 10:22:16 -0500
Mike Stein via cctalk  wrote:

> - Original Message - 
> From: "Al Kossow via cctalk" 
> To: 
> Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2018 7:44 PM
> Subject: Re: Battery warning in Falco terminals
> 
> 
> > 
> > 
> > On 11/20/18 12:33 PM, Mike Stein via cctalk wrote:
> >   
> >> BTW, what's the story on Richard in SLC; is there a new address
> >> for the Terminal Wiki? 
> > 
> > https://terminals-wiki.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
> > 
> >  
> 
> That address consistently returns "This site can't be reached."

I have no problems getting to the site...

--snip--

Lyle
-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
http://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: A very sad PDP-8/S

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Sat, 03 Nov 2018 15:13:16 +1100
Guy Dunphy via cctalk  wrote:

> This is rather sad.
> I've received a PDP-8/S. It turns out to be missing so much, that
> it's probably beyond restoration. Anyone who can think of potential
> ways to find the missing parts, please speak up.
> 
> http://everist.org/pics/PDP-8S/
> 
> Missing:
> 
>  - Front panel PCB, 
>  - Case top AND bottom, 
>  - Power supply.
>  - Some flip-chip slots are empty. Not sure if supposed to be.

I have a restored and running PDP-8/S.

It looks to me that you're not missing modules - the open slots are
for the I/O cables.

The P/S is a standard DEC linear P/S and can be easily substituted until
you come across the real thing.

You need to get the schematics for the version of the PDP-8/S you have
and check the modules in your system against the module chart.

When you say the front panel PCB is missing - do you mean that there
is not a large circuit board with incandescent lamps in the system?
That would seem unusual to me - given that all the switches are on the
front panel.

> Also there's no sign of any I/O circuitry.

There is NO I/O on a PDP-8/S. The I/O cables connected to any I/O that
existed.

Please get a PDP-8/S service manual and schematics...

> A curse on slack people who remove stuff from a machine for servicing
> or whatever, then never got around to putting it back. Resulting in
> this kind of tragedy.

I may not be as you think...

Lyle

-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
http://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Anyone have a HALstation 300 install CD?

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Mon, 9 Jul 2018 09:21:28 -0700
Al Kossow via cctalk  wrote:

> I'm evaluating two that came in as a donation, and the donor didn't
> have any passwords

They are crackable (I did it for my two HAL's - a 350 and a 375). Hint:
Use Solaris running on SPARC.

I also created a forensic copy of the VIRGIN Halstation System Image for
the standard Micropolis 4221W system drive. I wouldn't feel comfortable
making this pubic domain w/o permission from whomever currently owns the
rights to HAL (Fujitsu, IIRC).

However, I would be willing make a copy of the forensic image available
to the CHM on the condition that it not be made public.

Lyle
-- 
73   NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
http://bickleywest.com

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Lot of DEC QBus gear available...

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

With the demise of Weirdstuff, I decided to visit Outback Equipment in
Gilroy this week. Jim Schuetz, formerly a partner at Weirdstuff is now
the Business Development Manager at Outback.

While there, I looked over the following DEC gear (includes several 
non-DEC QBus cards that I'm not listing - as I have no idea what they
are). Here's the DEC gear available:

PDP 11/23 Plus (BC)
PDP 11/73A (BC)
PDP 11/23 Plus (BE) marked "Bad"
(3) QBus Zip Drive controllers
(1) M8043 DLVJ1-M (formerly DLV11-J)
(2) M8190 (AB) KDJ11
(1) M9081 (LF?)
(1) M7551 (AH?) MSV11-QA
(1) M8029 RXV21

There's more "stuff" that you can see from the pictures below. All the
PDP-11 "boxes" and boards look to be good cosmetically.

Photos here:
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMAvVBdhz20-z7l6W9JXhBB0k3ggw0HWveHctEup826NNIWPAxUlk1lbW-RY76zUQ?key=dkh2MFhieTVZQTlqeTZQelI2WU1OYXVpRFNweTN3

Jim would like to sell the above as a lot.

His contact info is:
j...@outbackequipment.com
Phone: 408-886-3733

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: SGI stuff in the UK

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

Totally legit and Ian (the owner) knows more about SGI gear than
anyone I know. My company's server is the U.S. mirror for his tech site:

http://www.vintagecomputers.info/sgi.html

Cheers,
Lyle

On Thu, 3 May 2018 13:51:48 -0500
Electronics Plus via cctalk  wrote:

>  
> http://www.sgidepot.co.uk/sgidepot/kybdsmice.html
> 
>  
> 
> Hopefully this one is legit? Not affiliated with seller, etc.
> 
>  
> 
> Cindy Croxton
> 
> Electronics Plus
> 
> 1613 Water Street
> 
> Kerrville, TX 78028
> 
> 830-370-3239 cell
> 
> sa...@elecplus.com
> 
> AOL IM elcpls
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
> ---
> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
> https://www.avast.com/antivirus



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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: WeirdStuff going out of business

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Fri, 6 Apr 2018 20:35:28 -0400
Douglas Taylor via cctalk  wrote:

> On 4/5/2018 8:21 PM, Al Kossow via cctalk wrote:
> > Last Day is this Sunday
> >
> > http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?63045-WeirdStuff-is-going-out-of-buisiness-(
> >
> > since I can't attach a picture here
> >  
> What's going to happen to all the weird stuff?

Here's the newsletter Weirdstuff sent to all their subscribers:
---
WeirdStuff Warehouse Newsletter

April 6, 2018

To Weirdstuff Customers,

Sadly, after 32 years in business, Weirdstuff Warehouse will be closing
its doors as of April 9, 2018. If you have been following the real
estate news for Sunnyvale you know that Google purchased a large amount
of real estate in the area including the building we have been leasing
for the past 22 years. We have been asked to vacate the building as
soon as possible, and in order to accomplish that task we are selling
our inventory and many of our assets to Outback Equipment of Morgan
Hill. The transfer of inventory and assets will take place on April 9,
2018; at that time Weirdstuff Warehouse will cease to do business.

Even though Weirdstuff is closing we will retain ownership of the
Corporation, trademark, and domain names. We hope to handle these
entities and wind down the corporation before year end.

Many of you have been loyal customers for many years, and we have
enjoyed working with you. We thank you for your loyalty and business.

For more information, check out our website after Monday, April 9, 2018.
---

I spent most of yesterday (Friday) hanging out at Weirdstuff. NBC News
interviewed WS management and myself about the closing. NBC showed up
because of the "trend" of Bay Area tweets about the closure. Needless
to say, the WS store was packed with sad faces about the closing. Not
one good word about Google, who is buying up all the land they can and
wiping out small businesses with disregard.

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: R.I.P. Robert T. "Doc" Suding

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Fri, 23 Mar 2018 08:27:35 +
Eric Smith via cctalk  wrote:

> I just learned from the April 2018 issue of QST that Robert T. "Doc"
> Suding, W0LMD, has died. Suding cofounded and was chief design
> engineer of The Digital Group, an early microcomputer company in
> Denver (1974-1979).

Back in the mid-seventies, when I was COB of "Personal Computer
Corporation", The Digital Group product line was our best seller for a
couple of years. Our staff often had one-on-one contact with Doc.
Suding. Those of us who knew him will miss him for sure...

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: UCSD p-system manuals and disks?

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Tue, 20 Mar 2018 12:50:12 +0100
Mattis Lind via cctalk  wrote:

> So I have imaged the three disks I found using ImageDisk:
> http://storage.datormuseum.se/u/96935524/Datormusuem/TEXAS.zip
> 
> Then I scanned one of the manuals. UCSD Pascal :
> http://storage.datormuseum.se/u/96935524/Datormusuem/UCSD-Pascal.pdf
> 
> The problem is that manual has text in red/brown and black. I scanned
> it in colour. However the actual colour of the scan varies a bit
> between pages. (Maybe because there are two sensors, one for top side
> and one for bottom side.)
> And the scan get very big.
> 
> Is there a way to create filter this pdf to use three colours and
> possibly compress it better? What is the best way to deal with scans
> of documents with coloured text. I know many DEC manuals that has
> coloured text as well.
> 
> /Mattis
> 
--snip--

I use Acrobat Professional to both scan, OCR and optimize PDF's. It
works very well. I do this for many vintage manuals that had been
previously scanned that I've downloaded that have not been OCRed or
optimized. BTW: OCR works best when the manuals are scanned for color
or grey scale at 600bpi or better.

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Four Unibus boards from radiation dose measurement system.

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: who is in this picture? (VCF 199x)

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Tue, 30 Jan 2018 16:55:47 -0500
Bill Degnan via cctech  wrote:

> https://retropopplanet.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/vintage-computer.jpg
> 
> I was not at this particular VCF out in California in the later 90's
> when this photo of a DEC exhibit was taken; the original picture from
> vintage.org is no longer hosted.
> 
> Does anyone have a copy of the old vintage.org exhibit/photo archive?

I don't have a copy of the archive - but I was at that VCF. The person
in the picture is Pavl Zachary.

Pavl has a nice collection of vintage computers (and tanks ;)

Cheers,
Lyle

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: non-PC Floppy imaging

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

Hi Guy,

I just copied several IBM 8" Maintenance Device (MD) Diskettes - and
verified that the copies work on the IBM MD. They seem to be in an IBM
3x0 format (with a standard IBM VTOC).

Track 0 on the diskettes is 128 byte sectors,
Tracks 1 through 76 are 256 byte sectors.
The diskettes are DSSD.

(So you need a Shugart 850/851 (or equivalent) to make the copies).

I used both Teledisk and IMD - and both successfully captured and
re-created the diskettes correctly.

More in editing IBM images later...

Cheers,
Lyle


On Fri, 5 Jan 2018 11:52:56 -0800
Guy Sotomayor via cctalk  wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I now have a number of uCode diskettes for my IBM 4331.  I would
> somehow like to image them so: a) I have backups in case the floppies
> themselves go bad b) be able to investigate their contents in case I
> have to “merge” the contents of multiple floppies to make a single
> good one
> 
> These are all 8” diskettes.
> 
> The complicating factors in all of this are:
> a) any text (e.g. strings) are going to be in EBCDIC rather than ASCII
> b) each uCode diskette was presumably serialized to the CPU it was for
> c) not sure what the “on-disk” structure looks like
> d) the only 8” diskette drives that I have are in IBM (non-PC)
> equipment
> 
> Any ideas/comments would be welcome.
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> TTFN - Guy
> 



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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Sync on Green RGB video

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Sat, 18 Nov 2017 18:44:07 -0500
william degnan via cctech <cct...@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> On Nov 18, 2017 4:09 PM, "Douglas Taylor via cctech"
> <cct...@classiccmp.org> wrote:
> >
> > I have a couple of vaxes that output 'unique' video, Alpha 3000
> > 300,  
> Alpha 3000 400, Vax 4000 VLC, and Vax Station 3100 M76.
> >
> > The Alpha and VLC each have a 3W3 type of connector and the 3100
> > has a 15  
> pin DEC designed connector.
> >
> > What does it take to connect these to inexpensive, modern VGA
> > light  
> weight monitors?
> >
> > Doug
> >  
> 
> I have played around with that problem.  If you have a converter to
> get into a VGA port a newer high-end vga display will be able to
> adjust, but not a cheap one.  Because I use my vice vga/digital
> display for mode stuff, I use a huge SGI color display for all of my
> 3w3 outputting systems and I just switch the cable around.  If you
> could imagine 5 or 6 systems clustered around the one display.
> 
> I am sure someone here has a technical explanation, but in a nutshell
> the 3W3 world signal isn't the same as a standard vga and cheap vga
> displays can't handle the refresh rate.  Someone will prob. refine my
> answer but that's why you can't just stick an adapter on there.
> 
> Bill Degnan
> twitter: billdeg
> vintagecomputer.net

The "issue" is "Sync-on-Green". Many *NIX and DEC systems that have RGB
output do NOT use a Hsync signal - but rather sync is placed on the
"Green" channel.

If you use any monitor capable of "sync-on-green", and it should work.

Best,
Lyle


-- 
Lyle Bickley
AF6WS'73
http://bickleywest.com
"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: PDP8.org

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

WHOIS on pdp8.org yields:
...
Admin Name: Aaron Nabil
Admin Organization: Aaron Nabil
Admin Street: PO BOX 87250
Admin City: Vancouver
Admin State/Province: Washington
Admin Postal Code: 98687
Admin Country: US
Admin Phone: +1.36
Admin Phone
Ext: Admin Fax:
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: krell...@gmail.com
Registry Tech ID: C73226545-LROR
Tech Name: Aaron Nabil
Tech Organization: Aaron Nabil
Tech Street: PO BOX 87250
Tech City: Vancouver
Tech State/Province: Washington
Tech Postal Code: 98687
Tech Country: US
Tech Phone: +1.36
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax:
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email: krell...@gmail.com
Name Server: NS2.SPIRITONE.COM
Name Server: NS.SPIRITONE.COM
DNSSEC: unsigned

Checking SPIRITONE DNS Servers yields:

lpb@honcho:~> nslookup pdp8.org NS.SPIRITONE.COM
nslookup: couldn't get address for 'NS.SPIRITONE.COM': not found
lpb@honcho:~> nslookup ns.spiritone.com
Server: 75.75.75.75
Address:75.75.75.75#53

** server can't find ns.spiritone.com: NXDOMAIN

lpb@honcho:~> nslookup ns2.spiritone.com
Server:
75.75.75.75 Address:75.75.75.75#53

** server can't find ns2.spiritone.com: NXDOMAIN

So the Domain is still owned by Aaron, but the domain DNS record points
to DNS Servers that are no longer in service or whose name has been
changed.

Lyle
---

On Sat, 28 Oct 2017 10:38:39 -0700
Lyle Bickley via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> pdp8.org is NOT in:
> 
> Comcast DNS:
> nslookup pdp8.org
> ;; Got SERVFAIL reply from 75.75.75.75, trying next server
> Server: 75.75.76.76
> Address:75.75.76.76#53
> 
> ** server can't find pdp8.org: SERVFAIL
> 
> Google DNS:
> nslookup pdp8.org 8.8.8.8
> Server: 8.8.8.8
> Address:8.8.8.8#53
> 
> ** server can't find pdp8.org: SERVFAIL
> 
> 
> Lyle
> ---
> On Sat, 28 Oct 2017 19:21:13 +0200
> Liam Proven via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:
> 
> > On 28 October 2017 at 13:04, Torfinn Ingolfsen via cctalk
> > <cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:  
> > >
> > > Why?
> > > It works from here (Oslo, Norway) now.
> > 
> > Not from Prague...
> > 
> > «
> > This site can’t be reached
> > 
> > pdp8.org’s server DNS address could not be found.
> > 
> > Did you mean http://www.pdp8.net/?
> > Search Google for pdp 8 org
> > 
> > ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED
> > »
> >   
> 
> 
> 



-- 
Lyle Bickley
AF6WS'73
http://bickleywest.com
"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: PDP8.org

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

pdp8.org is NOT in:

Comcast DNS:
nslookup pdp8.org
;; Got SERVFAIL reply from 75.75.75.75, trying next server
Server: 75.75.76.76
Address:75.75.76.76#53

** server can't find pdp8.org: SERVFAIL

Google DNS:
nslookup pdp8.org 8.8.8.8
Server: 8.8.8.8
Address:8.8.8.8#53

** server can't find pdp8.org: SERVFAIL


Lyle
---
On Sat, 28 Oct 2017 19:21:13 +0200
Liam Proven via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> On 28 October 2017 at 13:04, Torfinn Ingolfsen via cctalk
> <cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:
> >
> > Why?
> > It works from here (Oslo, Norway) now.  
> 
> Not from Prague...
> 
> «
> This site can’t be reached
> 
> pdp8.org’s server DNS address could not be found.
> 
> Did you mean http://www.pdp8.net/?
> Search Google for pdp 8 org
> 
> ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED
> »
> 



-- 
Lyle Bickley
AF6WS'73
http://bickleywest.com
"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: tandem computers cartridge tapes

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Sat, 14 Oct 2017 13:00:30 -0700
steve shumaker via cctalk  wrote:

> On 10/14/2017 12:39 PM, Jon Elson wrote:
> > On 10/14/2017 12:22 PM, steve shumaker via cctalk wrote:  
> >> found as part of the stack saved from an engineers estate: Tandem 
> >> Computers cartridge tapes and docs
> >>
> >> Cartridges are appox 4x4x1 and the tape appears to be half inch.
> >> Some are in boxes marked "Cartridge Tape CT-130"  All have labels 
> >> indicated they are Tandem Computers "Site Update Tapes" with 1988, 
> >> 89, and 90 dates.  Cursory google produced nothing. Secondary
> >> label on one cartridge would seem to indicate they are used for
> >> software distribution.
> >>
> >> I have seven of the cartridges along with several Tandem Non-Stop 
> >> manuals.  Manuals have been scanned.
> >>
> >> Anyone interested?  Free for shipping from 95006 (call it 5lbs wt)
> >>
> >> Steve
> >>
> >>
> >>  
> > Hmmm, they just has a Tandem Computers reunion in the Bay area last 
> > month, with over 400 attendees!
> > If you aren't in touch with anybody from Tandem, I could mention
> > this to my friend who used to work for them.
> > He used to have a Non-Stop I in his basement.  He built it from 
> > cast-off boards, some of them blank so he had to stuff them with
> > chips.
> >
> > Jon
> >  
> feel free to inquire for me!

I'm a former Tandem Product Manager (of Operating Systems). BTW: Went
to the Re-union ;)

Pictures of the tapes would be helpful. When I get them (or a link to
them) - I'll post it to the Tandem Alumni group to see if anyone can
identify and/or use them.

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: More videos of VCF's Univac

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Tue, 10 Oct 2017 01:00:34 -0400
Evan Koblentz via cctalk  wrote:

> Here it is loading/running memory tests and Wumpus. :)
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_e5fSxflvrzeovlnioDfQR86zJOLPQ-D

Terrific!!! Passing this on the the PDP-1 and 1401 Restoration  and
Demo Teams at the CHM.

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Univac

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Tue, 3 Oct 2017 01:20:40 -0400
Evan Koblentz via cctalk  wrote:

> Here's a phone video from a recent repair workshop at the VCFed
> museum in New Jersey. Bill Dromgoole is demonstrating progress on one
> of the tape drives for our Sperry-Rand Univac 1219B mainframe (circa
> mid-1960s).
> 
> https://www.instagram.com/p/BZxg7e7DJ3r/

Terrific!

It's really amazing that you have a complete 1219-B!!! Wishing you the
best in your restoration. We need more 18-bit systems from that era up
and running :)

Lyle

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Why women were the first computer programmers

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Wed, 23 Aug 2017 21:45:12 -0700
Lyndon Nerenberg via cctalk  wrote:

> > On Aug 23, 2017, at 9:27 PM, Josh Dersch via cctalk
> >  wrote:
> > 
> > Well, this is the stupidest thing I've read today.  
> 
> "Do Not Feed The Troll" should go without saying.  Really.

If this list becomes another partisan political list - I'm out of
here...

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: RX01 and RL01 on same UNIBUS system

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Thu, 17 Aug 2017 16:48:47 -0400
william degnan via cctech  wrote:

> Just curious,
> Is there anyone out there with a combo RX01 and RL01 on the same
> UNIBUS system, today?  Are there any known issues?

I have an 11/34C (cache and floating point options) with (1) RX02, (2)
RL02, (1) SCSI, (1) TK50 and (1) DZ11 running RT, TSX, RSX and BSD 2.9
with no problems.

> I found a large box of RX01 disks, lucky me.  Working to get the RX01
> drive running, experimenting.  My particular PDP 11 does not like it
> (11/40) but I think the drive is faulty, at least so far.  Much work
> to do.

Your 11/40 should ultimately be "happy" with your RX01 ;)

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: DEC archives

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Thu, 15 Jun 2017 23:45:37 -0500
Sam O'nella via cctalk  wrote:

> Ok revising my overly simple thought of vounteers showing up.  What
> about a class on document archival at VCFw (or other) and then an
> archive party? Not trying to push a non-issue, but if that gets past
> any legal requirements id still absolutely help out any of the local
> museums if in their area for travel. Im surely not the only one. Plus
> it would be valid for those of us with documents at home to scan for
> the hobby to get them acceptable quality to upload, etc. null

It's not that simple. The CHM has 70 full time employees (most of
whom are museum professionals) and 150 active, qualified volunteers.

Volunteers participate as docents, gallery interpreters, demonstrators,
restoration team members, collections helpers (artifact classifying,
cataloging), etc. Each job has training requirements which can take
several weeks of one or more sessions per week. Most of the volunteer
jobs have formal testing requirements upon course completion.

Having volunteered with Collections (cataloging, etc.), I know that one
session at VCF would be insufficient to qualify someone to properly
handle and copy documents to museum standards. In addition, as Rich
said, there would have to be full time CHM collections staff present to
manage and oversee the operation.

Be aware that the CHM not only has the DEC collection, but huge
collections of Cisco, Google and other company and individual
histories, manuals, etc. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. The CHM
has ten's of thousands of artifacts - both hardware and software.

The reality is that there are limited resources and what gets
done is a matter of establishing goals and priorities for exhibits,
collections, education, events, etc., etc.

The CHM certainly hasn't "shortchanged" the DEC collection. The CHM
spent 14 months and over 5,000 man hours cataloging it!!!

BTW: If it took that long to catalog it - take a guess at how long it
will take to scan it ;)

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: DEC Archives

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Tue, 13 Jun 2017 11:42:18 -0700
Lyle Bickley <lbick...@bickleywest.com> wrote:

Note: This is a re-post - as my last post didn't seem to make it to
cctalk...

--snip--

> I have personally reviewed several boxes of the DEC archives - and
> they are a terrific asset in understanding both DEC's business
> successes and failures, engineering prowess and bad decisions, etc.  

Al and others have discussed on cctalk the implications and
cost of publishing the CHM's massive DEC archives. It would be a huge
undertaking - but if the funding were available, it could be done.

In the past, I personally funded the CHM scanning of all of the "Amateur
Computer Society's" newsletters. I did so because it was the "first"
hobby-centered computer publication*. (It was published from 1966-1976).

You can see the results (and download it) here:

http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102654910


My suggestion would be that if we want the DEC archives available, we
should prioritize what we find most valuable, pool our resources ($$$)
and fund the scanning of the documents incrementally based on priority.

One of the reasons I've personally been reviewing the DEC material is to
determine what, if any, scanning I might be willing to fund.

Regards,
Lyle

* And I was a member of the "Amateur Computer Society" :)


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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

"What the DEC?!? Records of Minicomputer Giant Digital Equipment Corporation Open for Research at CHM"

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

The CHM has posted this on their blog:
I thought you all (especially DEC buffs) would appreciate this:

https://goo.gl/BV6MXH

I have personally reviewed several boxes of the DEC archives - and they
are a terrific asset in understanding both DEC's business successes
and failures, engineering prowess and bad decisions, etc.

"The Digital Equipment Corporation records are 1,239 linear feet of
material in 1,343 boxes. The records represent the largest and most
complete set of DEC records in existence, dating from 1947 through
2002, with the bulk from the company’s years of operation from 1957
through 1998, when they were bought by Compaq Computer. The collection
is a comprehensive technical history of every major computing
innovation at DEC, as well as its nontraditional business culture,
which still serves as an industry model — nearly every contemporary
company strives for a “culture of innovation.”

For a Guide to the DEC records (pdf) click the link below:

https://goo.gl/cWMK6F

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Directory of old computer collectors

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Mon, 22 May 2017 16:29:22 -0400
william degnan via cctalk  wrote:

> can you send a link to the people who are on the list so they can see
> their listing?  I personally don't mind as long as any record that
> includes me personally does not include my email address or phone
> number.I much prefer to send people to my web page contact form.

Folks who are on the list should have the opportunity to approve what
will and will not be posted about them. That's not only a legal
requirement in many States, but also common courtesy.

Regards,
Lyle

> On Mon, May 22, 2017 at 4:19 PM, steven stengel via cctalk <
> cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:  
> 
> > Hi,
> > In the past, I requested the email address and home city of old
> > computer collectors to a compile a list for my own purposes.
> > Over 120 people had responded, which is great! Now I want to make
> > this list PUBLIC with a Google map showing everyones location,
> > email, and collecting preferences.
> > Since I don't have anyone's explicit permission to publish their
> > information, I am now asking.
> > Please let me know if I may, or may not, place your information on
> > the public webpage.
> > Thanks-
> > Steven Stengelhttp://oldcomputers.net/
> >
> >  



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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: BBS software for the PDP 11

[Lyle Bickley via cctalk]

On Thu, 18 May 2017 09:14:24 -0400
Systems Glitch via cctalk  wrote:

> > BSD 2.11 should run fine on a 34 or 23  
> 
> You need split I for 2.11BSD, that rules out the 11/23 and IIRC the
> 11/34 as well. I want to say 2.9BSD will run though.
> 
> Thanks,
> Jonathan

I run BSD 2.9 on my 11/34C (w/max. mem.) & DZ using (2) RL02s with up to
three TTY sessions. It's a bit "sluggish" (by today's standards). TSX
Plus with three TTY sessions runs much faster on the same hardware.

Cheers,
Lyle

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: What's the rarest or most unusual computer-related item do you own?

[Lyle Bickley]

On Wed, 11 Jan 2017 17:34:51 -0800
Al Kossow  wrote:

> On 1/11/17 4:45 PM, Brad H wrote:
> > I wasn't even aware of the LCM until this thread  
> 
> You mean "Living Computer: Museum + Labs" ?
> http://www.livingcomputers.org/
> 
> They just changed their name.

Thanks - didn't know that...

Good for them!!! Their website has really improved as well.

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: GMAIL accounts suspended.

[Lyle Bickley]

On Mon, 9 Jan 2017 14:43:51 +0100
Tor Arntsen  wrote:

> On 9 January 2017 at 14:37, william degnan 
> wrote:
> > On Mon, Jan 9, 2017 at 8:09 AM, Liam Proven 
> > wrote: 
> >> On 9 January 2017 at 10:06, Dave Wade 
> >> wrote:  
> >> >  Why does this keep on happening? What is google doing to cause
> >> > this to happen?  
> >>
> >>
> >> Damned if I know, but it's happening to me frequently, too. >:-(
> >>
> >> --
> >>  
> >
> > My first thought is that gmail is huge, they load balance email
> > servers and they may bounce on a timing schedule that conflicts
> > with the schedule used by the mail server cctech uses.[..]  
> 
> I initially thought that as well, even though I found it unlikely
> (I've never observed delays when I email from somewhere to a gmail
> account, and never any bouncing due to load).
> 
> What I think happens, because it's so frequent, is that some list
> members use addresses that fail gmail's verification. We already know
> that yahoo and aol emails suffer from this, their address come through
> in the mailing list but the sender is not yahoo or aol (it's the
> mailing list server), and there are some hoops to go through to avoid
> those problems (I had to set an option to not automatically have those
> emails go to spam).
> 
> So, in short, I think the problem is caused by posts from some
> particular subscribers getting bounced by some servers (among them,
> gmail), not that the receving servers (e.g. gmail) are overloaded or
> otherwise failing.

This is absolutely correct. As an admin that manages a CHM list on
Google, I agree that the problem is NOT with Google Gmail per se.
They are merely enforcing what they promised to do months ago.
Enforce the DMARC policy. Here's a typical response from Google when a
mail server does not follow practices initiated to reduce SPAM (actual
domain hidden by me with xx.xxx):
---
host gmail-smtp-in.l.google.com [173.194.203.27]
SMTP error from remote mail server after end of data:
550-5.7.1 Unauthenticated email from xx.xxx is not accepted due
to domain's 550-5.7.1 DMARC policy. Please contact the administrator of
xx.xxx domain 550-5.7.1 if this was a legitimate mail. Please visit
550-5.7.1  https://support.google.com/mail/answer/2451690 to learn
about the 550 5.7.1 DMARC initiative. q12si89233361pgc.52 - gsmtp
---

BTW, this typically happens when an email is posted to an email server
which is then redirected to Gmail via another server.

More and more mail systems will be enforcing DMARC policies - so it
would be good to make sure your ISP is setup correctly.

FYI - I use MANY email vendors (yahoo, comcast, arrl, acm, any my own
bickleywest.com, cerfnet.net, cerfnet.org, etc.) and ALL conform to the
DMARC policy and have no issues sending to or receiving mail from gmail.

Cheers,
Lyle






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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Cleaning RK05 packs (Was: LGP-30 Memory Drum Update)

[Lyle Bickley]

On Thu,  5 Jan 2017 08:22:05 -0500 (EST)
j...@mercury.lcs.mit.edu (Noel Chiappa) wrote:

> > From: Klemens Krause  
> 
> > We clean our RK05 disks in a very robust way: with cheap
> > burning spirit and paper towels. ... We rubbed away thick black
> > traces from occasional head crashes and we never removed the
> > oxide coating with this torture.  
> 
> I am about to get a large batch of RK05 packs, so I am interested in
> the details of this.
> 
> First, what is 'burning spirit'? (I assume this is a straight
> translation into English of some German term, but not knowing
> German... :-) After poking around with Google for a while (hampered
> no little by the fact that it's the name of a band, and also a term
> in World of Warcraft :-), it seems like it might be acetone?

I'm sure I've discussed cleaning packs on this list before, but here
goes again :)

I've cleaned a LOT of RL02 and RK05 packs. Both are relatively easy to
clean, but patience is definitely a virtue.

1) I clean the external surface of the pack with a damp cloth to
eliminate dirt and dust. Then I dry off any dampness with a clean, dry
cloth.

2) I open (unscrew or unclip depending on the model) the pack and
carefully set the screws (if any) in a clean (dust free) plastic box.

3) I examine the pack surface for crashes - and if there are visible
"hits" or "groves" in the pack, I discard it immediately.

4) Assuming the surface is good, I then use Lint Free Professional
Swabs saturated with Pure Anhydrous Isopropyl Alcohol (99.953% pure) to
clean the entire surface of the disk.

5) If there are any dirt buildup spots (NOT the result of a crash), I
use Lint Free Professional Chamois Swabs, saturated with the above
Alcohol, to gently clean up the spot. BTW, in my experience, this step
is rarely required.

6) After cleaning, I use a Lint Free Texwipe to GENTLY clean the entire
surface of any dust or other particulate.

6) I then clean all of the internal casing using Texwipe and the
above alcohol.

7) I re-assemble the disk and examine it for any dust particles with a
bright LED flashlight. If there are any visible dust particles, I use a
filtered air supply to blow away the dust.

NOTE: When replacing screws in packs, be super careful not to tighten
the screws too hard. Tightening too much can strip the plastic threads
and introduce plastic particulate on to the disk.

I've cleaned over 40 RL0x and RK05 packs using this method - and all
have subsequently worked perfectly.

NOTE: All of the above products are available online or at any
electronic supply house. The Pure Anhydrous Isopropyl Alcohol on the
container says: "For cleaning fiber optics, semi-conductors, contacts,
magnetic tape, medical equipment and other electronic devices. Zero
residue". Cost here in Silicon Valley is about $8 for 1 Litre.

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

AS400 9406-170 available.

[Lyle Bickley]

Weirdstuff Warehouse has recently acquired a clean AS400 9406-170. It
was taken out of service where it was running. The lot includes
manuals, terminals, printers, cables, etc. I took a bunch of pictures
of the unit which are available via the link below:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B7RetVDiFv-qS0FtVzdSNmZxV0k?usp=sharing

If you are interested in acquiring the lot, contact "Jim" at Weirdstuff.

DISCLAIMER: I am posting this as a client of Weirdstuff Warehouse and
have no monetary interest in any transaction related to this unit.

Cheers,
Lyle

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Supercomputers, fishing for information

[Lyle Bickley]

On Tue, 8 Nov 2016 09:33:37 -0800
Guy Sotomayor Jr  wrote:

> > On Nov 8, 2016, at 9:22 AM, Paul Koning 
> > wrote:
> > 
> >   
> >> On Nov 8, 2016, at 12:08 PM, Guy Sotomayor Jr 
> >> wrote:
> >> 
> >>   
> >>> On Nov 8, 2016, at 8:47 AM, Jon Elson 
> >>> wrote:
> >>> 
> >>> On 11/07/2016 10:31 PM, Jon Elson wrote:  
>  On 11/07/2016 07:59 PM, Mark Linimon wrote:  
> > On Mon, Nov 07, 2016 at 11:23:58AM -0800, Chuck Guzis wrote:  
> >> But if you're a suburban resident living on Mulberry Street,
> >> anything but single-phase is pretty much out of the question.  
> > Oh, you can get it -- but be prepared for a large hassle.
> > 
> > A former neighbor had a 440V 3-phase Italian lathe in his
> > backyard shop, among other toys.  After he was laid off from
> > his aerospace job doing machining it was how he made his
> > living.  He was a very handy person to know :-)
> > 
> > mcl
> >   
>  I have two 3-phase machines in my shop (Bridgeport mill and
>  Sheldon lathe) and run them each off a properly-sized VFD.
>  2-phase in, 3-phase out, plus variable speed and dynamic braking.
>  
>  Jon
>    
> >>> And, of course, that is really SINGLE-PHASE power on 2 wires,
> >>> just to save anybody the trouble of correcting my error. 
> >> 
> >> I’m looking to have to do something to get 3-phase for the IBM
> >> 4331 gear.  I haven’t quite added up the power requirements yet
> >> but I’m guessing its going to be in the 10-15kVA range.  Since the
> >> power to all of the gear is really split between 3 loads (string
> >> of 4 3340 drives, 3803 control unit + 2 3420 tape drives and 2821
> >> control uint + 1403 printer + 2540 card reader/punch) I need to
> >> figure out if it’s best to have one big converter or 3 smaller
> >> ones.  It’s unlikely that I’d be running all of the peripherals at
> >> once.  The 4331 itself runs off of single phase 220v.  
> > 
> > A VFD is a good option and may be quite economical if you get one
> > of the low cost simple ones.  I have one (3 hp model for my lathe)
> > that cost only a bit over $100, though the price has gone up
> > since.  (Westinghouse TECO brand.)  VFDs specified for single phase
> > input tend to stop around 3 hp, as far as I have seen.  Rumor has
> > it that higher power units will also work (possibly with some
> > derating) even though they claim to be 3 phase input, when you feed
> > them just one phase on 2 of the 3 wires.  I haven't tried that (but
> > it matches how my VFD is connected).
> > 
> > The other option is a "rotary converter".  Basically that's a 3
> > phase motor connected to one phase power (with a start and run
> > capacitor); it generates the missing phase roughtly in dynamotor
> > fashion.  Those can be built (articles on the web) or bought from
> > machinery supply companies such as Enco; they show models up to 20
> > hp, i.e., about 15 kW.  When I was looking into converters, I found
> > VFDs to be the less expensive option.  The instant reverse and
> > variable frequency features were also attractive for lathe use; for
> > powering computers that would not apply.  Well, not unless you need
> > 400 Hz for your Cyber 6600 -- in which case you'd need to check the
> > VFD will go that high, not all do.
> > 
> > Given that you have a number of smaller devices and that not all
> > might need to run, several smaller converters sounds like a good
> > option, especially if that gets you into the "economy VFD" range.  
> 
> Yea, that’s what I’m struggling with.  The issue is that the control
> units power the devices that are connected to them (from what I can
> tell), so I have to power the entire string as one unit.  The same
> goes for the 3340’s - the entire string is powered as a unit.  The
> string of 3340’s need ~5kVA (I don’t know how that translates to
> HP).  I’m still trying to figure out the requirements for the other
> strings.

Here's a "conversion" website:
http://ncalculators.com/electrical/kva-conversion.htm

Cheers,
Lyle

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Y Combinator is restoring one of Alan Kay's Xerox Alto machines

[Lyle Bickley]

On Mon, 26 Sep 2016 23:07:34 -0700
curiousma...@gmail.com wrote:

> And it finally boots on session 8!
> https://youtu.be/9OQMhvArI9g

Excellent :)

Lyle

> > On Sep 10, 2016, at 7:46 PM, CuriousMarc 
> > wrote:
> > 
> > Video of session 6 is up:
> > https://youtu.be/b7yVhMT7tr4
> > Found our first bad IC. Probably not our last one.
> >  
> >  
> > On 9/3/16 11:08 PM, curiousma...@gmail.com wrote:
> > Episode 5, still does not boot, but we are starting to follow long
> > why: https://youtu.be/Wr7vDZpniNIr
> >  
> > Marc
> >  
> >  
> > On Jul 31, 2016, at 6:12 PM, CuriousMarc 
> > wrote: 
> > Next Episode:
> > https://youtu.be/EDw8U1a6s78
> > http://www.righto.com/2016/07/restoring-y-combinators-xerox-alto-day_31.html
> > Marc
> >  
> > From: Curious Marc [mailto:curiousma...@gmail.com] 
> > Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2016 2:01 AM
> > To: Curious Marc; cctalk@classiccmp.org
> > Subject: Re: Y Combinator is restoring one of Alan Kay's Xerox Alto
> > machines 
> > Ken's in-depth blog post to go with the previous video
> > http://www.righto.com/2016/07/restoring-y-combinators-xerox-alto-day_11.html
> >  
> > On Jul 5, 2016, at 2:46 PM, Curious Marc 
> > wrote: 
> > Video from yesterday’s work on the Diablo cartridge disc:
> > https://youtu.be/PR5LkQugBE0
> > Should be up in a few minutes.
> > We were tickled pink to have official representation from PARC
> > (former Xerox Parc) at the session. Marc
> >  
> > Ken’s new post on the monitor repair to go with my previous video.
> > http://www.righto.com/2016/07/restoring-y-combinators-xerox-alto-day.html
> > Al Kossow got us a new CRT tube, so we are probably going to try
> > that this week-end. Marc
> >  
> >  
> > Latest entry from Ken Shirriff, trying out BCPL (ancestor of C). On
> > the emulator, not yet on the real machine:
> > http://www.righto.com/2016/06/hello-world-in-bcpl-language-on-xerox.html 
> > Marc
> >  
> > There are only two entries right now:
> > http://www.righto.com/2016/06/y-combinators-xerox-alto-restoring.html
> > http://www.righto.com/2016/06/restoring-y-combinators-xerox-alto-day.html
> > Marc
> >  
> >  
> >



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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Free manuals...

[Lyle Bickley]

I'm cleaning out my library of manuals and books I no longer need and
before I recycle these particular IBM manuals, I thought someone on
cctalk might find them useful. They are free for the shipping and
packaging cost - local pickup gets priority ;)

1) "RS/6000 Diagnostic Information for Multiple Bus Systems" (Version
5.100)

2) "RS/6000 Adapters, Devices and Cable Information for Multiple Bus
Systems"

3) Large 8.5" X 11" "Systems Network Architecture, Reference Summary"
(Updated to 2/4/86). Includes "IBM Synchronous Data Link Control General
Information" manual.

4) 8.5" X 11: "Systems Network Architecture, Transaction Programmer's
Reference Manual for LU Type 6.2"

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Meaning of "architecture width" - Re: 68K Macs with MacOS 7.5 still in production use...

[Lyle Bickley]

On Sat, 17 Sep 2016 11:38:13 -0700
Guy Sotomayor Jr  wrote:

> > On Sep 17, 2016, at 10:10 AM, Chuck Guzis  wrote:
> > 
> > On 09/17/2016 09:23 AM, Eric Smith wrote:
> >   
> >> I don't know what the width of the TMS9900 ALU is, but I'm pretty
> >> sure it's not bit-serial, as an add instruction only takes 14 clock
> >> cycles, including four memory cycles. I'd be very surprised if the
> >> ALU isn't either 8 or 16 bits, though 4 might be possible.
> >> 
> >> Possibly someone is confused by the bit-serial "CRU' I/O space,
> >> but that is unrelated to the ALU width.  
> > 
> > Could very well be--I'm just going by other's appraisals of the
> > architecture.
> > 
> > But there were some "8 bit" MPUs with bit-serial ALUs, so the
> > question is still valid.
> >   
> 
> Why?  What does the width of the ALU have to do with the “bitness” of
> the architecture?  If the programmer’s view is 8-bits (or 16 or 23,
> or ??), what does it matter (other than performance) what the width
> of the internal data paths or ALU are?
> 
> It’s interesting from an implementation point of view but not really
> anything else.
> 
> In a previous email, I mentioned the IBM 360 as an example of a
> 32-bit machine (architecture) that had 8, 16 and 32 bit internal data
> paths and I don’t think anyone would suggest that the 360 models that
> did not have 32-bit data paths wasn’t a 32-bit “machine”.
> 
> The same could be said for the PDP-8/s.  That’s a bit serial machine
> but it is a member of the PDP-8 family.  Would you call it a 1-bit
> machine or a 12-bit machine?
> 
> That’s why (in my previous email) I made the distinction between
> architecture and implementation.  The reference “machine” (which I’ve
> intentionally used here) is somewhat ambiguous and I tend to use
> architecture or implementation when I want to be specific.
> 
> TTFN - Guy

Since I have a running PDP-8/S as an example, I want to back up what Guy
has said.

The User Manual for the PDP-8/S says: "The PDP-8/S is a one-address,
fixed word length, serial computer using a word length of 12-bits plus
parity and two's complement arithmetic."

So the architecture is 12-bits and the implementation is serial.

However, just to muck things up - it is really implemented both as a
serial and parallel machine! The logic is one-bit serial - and the
memory is 12-bit parallel. The serial logic runs on one clock - and the
memory on another clock. It's one of the things that makes debugging a
PDP-8/S and "interesting" experience ;)

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Need info on obscure Flip Chip

[Lyle Bickley]

On Sun, 11 Sep 2016 17:41:16 -0400 (EDT)
j...@mercury.lcs.mit.edu (Noel Chiappa) wrote:

> Hi, I'm looking for information on a semi-obscure Flip Chip; an M826
> (sort sort of combination clock/counter). I can't find out anything
> about it. Apparently the M8xx Flip Chips were generally custom
> modules intended for a specific device, which is probably why I can't
> find anything on it.
--snip--

From "Options and Modules List (197406)
M826 for PDP-11 5 to 250 NS CLOCK WITH SR, (8 PHASE CLOCK), SINGLE X 8,9

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

AS400 Model 170 potentially available...

[Lyle Bickley]

Weirdstuff has been offered an AS400 Model 170 located in a data center.
If anyone is interested in purchasing it, let me know off list - please
include the approximate price you'd be willing to pay for the critter.

I'll pass your info on to Weirdstuff so they can decide whether to make
a bid on it or not.

Note: I am not affiliated with Weirdstuff other than as a paying
client. They don't like to see vintage gear scrapped anymore than I do.

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Components available

[Lyle Bickley]

On Tue, 6 Sep 2016 22:43:05 -0700
Bob Rosenbloom  wrote:

> .
> 
> > On Sep 6, 2016, at 6:16 PM, Al Kossow  wrote:
> > 
> > 
> >   
> >> On 9/6/16 4:18 PM, Tom Gardner wrote:
> >> 
> >> A friend of mine died recently; he was amongst many things an
> >> electronics tinkerer and has a closet full of small parts in bin
> >> cabinets (resistors, capacitors, ICs, transistors, hardware,
> >> etc.).  
> > 
> > 
> > There is also a Unicomp 18 bit minicomputer, paper tape reader, and
> > FFT processor circa 1972 in the garage (6ft rack) with full
> > documentation.
> > 
> > I walked out of the donations meeting with the other curators today
> > who thought it was a piece of s**t and didn't want to take it,
> > calling it a 'dumpster fire'
> > 
> > Art was a friend of mine.
> > 
> > Hopefully it can go someplace where it can be appreciated.
> > Talk to Tom about it, unfortunately, time is short.
> >   
> 
> I have room for it. I emailed and called Tom so at least it should
> not get scrapped. Wish it had a real front panel though.

I called and talked to Tom as well. So have other Bay Area folks. I
suspect that very little, if any, will be scrapped.

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Data Genera MPT/100

[Lyle Bickley]

I have a nice, clean DG MPT/100 I'm in the process of restoring. As you
might expect, I contacted Bruce at "Wild Hare" to see what
documentation and software he had for the critter.

He was able provide some helpful PDF documentation - but NO schematic or
software.

Without software, the MPT/100 is essentially useless. If anyone has the
5.25" floppy system and/or diagnostic diskette sets for this
workstation I'd really appreciate images of same.

If you have the floppies, but no images, and you lend me your floppies,
I'll make images and make them publicly available and return your
floppies (assuming you want them back).

If by some stroke of luck you have the schematics for the MPT/100 (DG
part numbers: Mainboard 001-002963 and Keyboard 001-002688) I could
really use them :)

The MPT/100 contains the DG microNOVA mN602 CPU and 64K of system RAM
plus video memory. Software for the MPT/100 includes a set of Diagnostic
diskettes and the MP/OS system diskettes.

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: RX02 Debugging

[Lyle Bickley]

On Tue, 02 Aug 2016 21:43:03 -0700
Kirk Davis  wrote:

> Thanks for the suggestions. I’m in Sunnyvale, CA.
> 
> I actually got the rx02 from another hobbyist that
> used it with the 44 in 2008 so I suspect it is configured correctly.
> The other drive doesn’t have a belt so I’m unable to test with it.
> I’ve verified the cable direction. It’s a sweet 44 - super clean,
> runs great and is like a tank.
> 
> One of the problems is I don’t know normal behavior of the drive. The
> motor is aways spinning for unit 0. When I try booting I don’t hear
> the heads load or seek. I’m new to the 44 monitor commands & boot
> process etc so I’m learning as I go.

The motors always spin. The heads should engage whenever selected.
You;ll hear a serious "clunk" when they load.

If you're coming to the VCF this coming weekend, Bob Rosenblum and I
will have a running RX02 attached to a PDP-8/M. You can hear all of
it's "sounds" there. You'll also be able to play "Spacewar!" with our
VC8/E and XY monitor, etc.

BTW: Make sure you have the correct switch settings on the RX02
mainboard for your PDP-11...

> I’m also making one of these to help isolate if it’s a
> drive/cable/controller problem:
> 
> http://www.torok.info/computing/pdp11/rx02/index.htm

That looks like a cool project. Would like to see it when you've got it
running!!!

Lyle

> > On Aug 2, 2016, at 3:24 PM, Paul Anderson  wrote:
> > 
> > Hi KIrk,
> > 
> > The H771 is a rock solid power supply. I never saw one go bad while
> > in field service, but they are getting old. Checking the output
> > voltage and ripple is not a bad idea.
> > 
> > forgive me for asking, but where are you located?  The RX02 had 4
> > different power hanesses for i20, 220, 50 hz and 60 hz. Also
> > different belts amd pulleys.  if any of this is wrong you cn see
> > weird problems. A lot of RX02s and replacement drives were soul
> > through brokers who never asked or were never told where the unit
> > was going.  if you aren'y useing 120/60 that would be my first
> > thought.
> > 
> > Is the problem the same when booting off either drive?  Also check
> > the switches and the resistors on the head cables.
> > 
> > Good luck, Paul  
> 
> > Jerry Weiss wrote:
> >
> >If you haven’t already, check the cable seating, orientation and for
> >bent pins.   
> > On the RX211 board J1 - TT is the location of the AC LO - Active
> > Low signal.
> > 
> > On Tue, Aug 2, 2016 at 4:06 PM, Kirk Davis 
> > wrote: 
> >> I’m a noob using RX02’s but thought I’d run this past people that
> >> may have debugged them in the past and see if they agree with what
> >> I’m finding:
> >> 
> >> I’m trying to get a RX02 + RX211 + 11/44 going. The RX02 appears
> >> to power up OK (fan and motor spinning). I verified I have the DY
> >> boot rom in the 44. Attempt booting from the console:
> >>   
> > b dy  
> >> 
> >> S
> >>  1707 173436
> >> 
> >> Which halts in the DY boot rom. I look at the base RX211 register:
> >>   
> > e 1170  
> >> 1170 104040
> >> 
> >> From the manual this like the controller is present but the high
> >> order bit is set indicating an error
> >> 
> >> Looking at the status register;
> >>   
> > e 1172  
> >> 1172 10
> >> 
> >> Bit 3 == RX AC LO - This bit is set by the interface to indicate a
> >> power failure in the RX02 sub- system.
> >> 
> >> So start looking at the RX02 power supply?
> >> 
> >> 
> >>   
> 



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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: HP 2100A Restoration

[Lyle Bickley]

On Tue, 2 Aug 2016 21:44:48 -0700
Curious Marc <curiousma...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Lyle, 
> I didn't know you had such a collection of 2100's and 21MX and E's
> and F's! I need to come and visit! Marc

I have way too much of a lot of stuff ;)

Lyle

> > On Aug 1, 2016, at 7:12 PM, Lyle Bickley <lbick...@bickleywest.com>
> > wrote:
> > 
> > Hi Hayden,
> > 
> > On Mon, 1 Aug 2016 19:29:05 -0600
> > Hayden Kroepfl <perlpow...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > 
> > --snip--
> >   
> >> With regards to the power supply, I'm thinking my best bet would be
> >> to do a power on with no cards in the system. Though I'm not sure
> >> if all the power rails would even come up without a load on it,
> >> since it sounds like it may do some power sequencing from what
> >> I've read. I was wondering if anyone has some experience with
> >> testing a similar power supply that hasn't been run in at least 10
> >> years?  
> > 
> > Those of us who have brought up HP2100s that have been stored (even
> > in military packaging) know the power supplies can be a "bear". The
> > PS is a "fold out" deal - and never used to be repaired in the
> > field by FEs. They were swapped with new units - and the failing
> > supply sent back to HP for refurbishing. The process was detailed
> > to me by a person who sold 2100's as an OEM for many years.
> > 
> > That being said, they are a early design switching supply - and
> > should have a load when powering them on.
> >   
> >> I'm not sure if using a variac to slowly warm up the supply and the
> >> caps would be wise on one of these power supplies. I'm not sure how
> >> the switching supplies would handle the low voltage at the start.  
> > 
> > I would definitely NOT use a variac on them. It's best to check the
> > caps (and reform if necessary) and then power it up with a load.
> > You may have to "gently" (as in slowly) turn the PS on and off a
> > number of times to work out the years of "dormancy" (reforming the
> > capacitors that you can't get to ;)
> >   
> >> The only I/O card that was installed in both machines, besides a
> >> terminator board in only one of them, is a serial interface made by
> >> some company with the logo CMC. It uses a COM2502 UART which I was
> >> surprised to find a datasheet for, however I haven't found any
> >> information on the card itself. I have a photo of the card in the
> >> album linked below if anyone has any information on it.  
> > 
> > The 2100 has a weird I/O addressing scheme - so check the manual
> > carefully. Moving a card from one location to another in the
> > mainframe changes its address! That's very different from DEC (and
> > many others) who had switches or jumpers on boards to change
> > addresses. interrupts, etc.
> >   
> >> I know this email is getting a bit long, but with regards to the
> >> memory both machines have a ID(16K) driver board, and two core
> >> modules. However one machine has both core modules marked
> >> 02100-60052 on the bridge, and the other has one marked
> >> 02100-60052 and the other 02100-60054. Is there any difference
> >> between these modules? I'd assume by the 16K driver in both, that
> >> all of the core modules are 8KW modules. Would that just be a
> >> later revision or is one a different size?  
> > 
> > Look on bitsavers: http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/hp/21xx/
> > and start reading manuals (particularly the Maintenance and
> > Drawings). There a wealth of information to be found there - and
> > it's what I used to get my 2100S running.
> > 
> > --snip--
> >   
> >> I'd very much appreciate any help or suggestions that peopleh ave.
> >> I really want to get at least one of these machines back into full
> >> working order to have some fun programming with.  
> > 
> > HP2100 restoration is very doable.
> > 
> > And the 2100 has one of the best front panels going :)
> > Like how can you not like buttons that light up when you push them!?
> > 
> > Most of my problems with my 2100S were related to the power supply -
> > and a few related to memory.
> > 
> > Wishing you the best!!!
> > 
> > Cheers,
> > Lyle
> > -- 
> > 73  AF6WS
> > Bickley Consulting West Inc.
> > http://bickleywest.com
> > 
> > "Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"  



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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: HP 2100A Restoration

[Lyle Bickley]

On Mon, 1 Aug 2016 22:11:17 -0700
Bob Rosenbloom  wrote:

--snip--

> There's a bunch of small electrolytic capacitors on the Inhibit
> Driver Load Card, A106, that needed to be reformed before my memory
> would work reliably.

> They reformed themselves in one of my units. I had memory errors for
> an hour or so then they went away. On other units, I reformed the
> caps (took the board

> out and slowly brought it up on a bench supply), and had no memory 
> errors at first power up of the system.
> 
> Bob

I had exactly the same problem with the capacitors on a spare Inhibit
Driver Load Card. Most would not reform so I just replaced them with
modern caps. The board (and memory) worked perfectly after that.

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: HP 2100A Restoration

[Lyle Bickley]

Hi Hayden,

On Mon, 1 Aug 2016 19:29:05 -0600
Hayden Kroepfl  wrote:

--snip--

> With regards to the power supply, I'm thinking my best bet would be
> to do a power on with no cards in the system. Though I'm not sure if
> all the power rails would even come up without a load on it, since it
> sounds like it may do some power sequencing from what I've read. I
> was wondering if anyone has some experience with testing a similar
> power supply that hasn't been run in at least 10 years?

Those of us who have brought up HP2100s that have been stored (even in
military packaging) know the power supplies can be a "bear". The PS is
a "fold out" deal - and never used to be repaired in the field by FEs.
They were swapped with new units - and the failing supply sent back to
HP for refurbishing. The process was detailed to me by a person who sold
2100's as an OEM for many years.

That being said, they are a early design switching supply - and should
have a load when powering them on.

> I'm not sure if using a variac to slowly warm up the supply and the
> caps would be wise on one of these power supplies. I'm not sure how
> the switching supplies would handle the low voltage at the start.

I would definitely NOT use a variac on them. It's best to check the
caps (and reform if necessary) and then power it up with a load. You may
have to "gently" (as in slowly) turn the PS on and off a number of times
to work out the years of "dormancy" (reforming the capacitors that you
can't get to ;)

> The only I/O card that was installed in both machines, besides a
> terminator board in only one of them, is a serial interface made by
> some company with the logo CMC. It uses a COM2502 UART which I was
> surprised to find a datasheet for, however I haven't found any
> information on the card itself. I have a photo of the card in the
> album linked below if anyone has any information on it.

The 2100 has a weird I/O addressing scheme - so check the manual
carefully. Moving a card from one location to another in the mainframe
changes its address! That's very different from DEC (and many
others) who had switches or jumpers on boards to change addresses.
interrupts, etc.

> I know this email is getting a bit long, but with regards to the
> memory both machines have a ID(16K) driver board, and two core
> modules. However one machine has both core modules marked 02100-60052
> on the bridge, and the other has one marked 02100-60052 and the other
> 02100-60054. Is there any difference between these modules? I'd
> assume by the 16K driver in both, that all of the core modules are
> 8KW modules. Would that just be a later revision or is one a
> different size?

Look on bitsavers: http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/hp/21xx/
and start reading manuals (particularly the Maintenance and Drawings).
There a wealth of information to be found there - and it's what I used
to get my 2100S running.

--snip--

> I'd very much appreciate any help or suggestions that peopleh ave. I
> really want to get at least one of these machines back into full
> working order to have some fun programming with.

HP2100 restoration is very doable.

And the 2100 has one of the best front panels going :)
Like how can you not like buttons that light up when you push them!?

Most of my problems with my 2100S were related to the power supply -
and a few related to memory.

Wishing you the best!!!

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: kryoflux

[Lyle Bickley]

On Sat, 2 Jul 2016 20:04:17 +0100
Austin Pass <austinp...@gmail.com> wrote:

--snip--

> People use one of these http://www.dbit.com/fdadap.html to convert 50
> pin to a PC-type 34 pin Shugart pinout that the Kryoflux needs, but
> it can control the drives and will dump the stream file.

That's exactly what I've used...

Lyle

-- 
Lyle Bickley
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
http://bickleywest.com
"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: kryoflux

[Lyle Bickley]

On Sat, 2 Jul 2016 13:54:47 -0500
"Jay West" <jw...@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> Does anyone have experience with reading in then writing out flux
> transitions with a Kryoflux on an 8” floppy drive as well? If that is
> known to work reliably… I’m buying one :)

Yes, I've used it with both 5.25" and 8" floppies. I have not (yet)
been able to correctly write RX02 floppies - but it's my understanding
that others have. I have successfully copied RX01 diskettes (via
capture/write).

> Kryoflux’s next project should be the same thing but for ½ mag tape.
> I think Al did something like that years ago, but an off the shelf
> product for ½ tape would be spiffy.

That would be terrific :)

Cheers,
Lyle

-- 
Lyle Bickley
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
http://bickleywest.com
"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Release Notes for version 6.5 of TSX-Plus...

[Lyle Bickley]

I just received from S a PDF copy of the TSX 6.50 Release Notes - and
Jay has posted it to the http://tsxplus.classiccmp.org website.

Lots of interesting/helpful information for all you TSX-Plus buffs...

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Lyle scores a WIN for our hobby!

[Lyle Bickley]

Hi All,

Hopefully you all read in the "Notes" (and Jay's and my comments) that
TSX-Plus requires RT-11 as a prerequisite.

RT-11 is readily available all over the Internet.

It is also available at on the classiccmp server at
http://www.classiccmp.org/PDP-11/

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Lyle scores a WIN for our hobby!

[Lyle Bickley]

On Thu, 28 Apr 2016 12:22:11 -0500
"Jay West" <jw...@classiccmp.org> wrote:

--snip--

> We all owe a big "Thanks!" to Harry Sanders at S Computer Systems
> and his Board of Directors for making this release a reality for all
> vintage computer folks! Also, the hobby owes huge thanks to Lyle
> Bickley for tirelessly pursuing this for us all! I've always been a
> huge fan of TSX-Plus and I'm thrilled there's now a personal
> (hobbyist) license thanks to Lyle.
> 
> The distribution is at http://tsxplus.classiccmp.org

And a big "THANKS!" to Jay for creating the website and hosting the
TSX-Plus distribution on classiccmp.org!!!

Cheers,
Lyle

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: KY11-LB prints, and versions

[Lyle Bickley]

On Wed,  6 Apr 2016 09:08:55 -0400 (EDT)
j...@mercury.lcs.mit.edu (Noel Chiappa) wrote:

--snip--

> Anyway, the version in the -11/34A prints didn't include the actual
> front console, plus to which the prints there had been heavily marked
> up by someone at some point. So I have produced a new set of prints:
> 
> http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/pdp11/MP00015_KY11-LB_Jan78.pdf
> 
> which includes the front console pages from the earlier set, and a
> cleaned up version of the pages from the -11/34A set for the M7859;
> hope this is useful to someone!

Thanks!

Lyle

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: PDP-8/E-F-M OEM price list on eBay

[Lyle Bickley]

On Sat, 26 Mar 2016 12:50:02 -0400 (EDT)
j...@mercury.lcs.mit.edu (Noel Chiappa) wrote:

> Hey, all you PDP-8 people: there's a PDP-8/E-F-M OEM price list going
> on eBay, not very much:
> 
>   http://www.ebay.com/itm/272187153709
> 
> I saw it go past once before, figured someone would notice and grab
> it, but I guess not...
> 
>   Noel

Thanks, I bought it :)

Lyle
-- 
Lyle Bickley
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
http://bickleywest.com
"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Floppy recovery

[Lyle Bickley]

On Tue, 5 Jan 2016 12:27:31 -0800
jwsmobile  wrote:

> I wonder how it could take them three months to figure something out.  
> Maybe Chuck can comment.
> 
> But over a year after they spent the 3 months.  Hmmm.  It will be 
> interesting to hear what was recovered, though from what has been 
> written and passed down about Roddenberry, I'm not expecting much.
> 
> On a tangent, from a lecture 35 years ago by Harlan Ellison, I hope all 
> of his papers are preserved and transcribed.  He had about 15 4 drawer 
> cabinets of work notes at that time, probably double or triple that 
> now.  I think at the time he worked manually as well.
> 
> https://www.yahoo.com/tech/floppy-disks-star-trek-creator-182855583.html

I'm very familiar with DriveSavers. They are a professional forensically
qualified firm (you can review all their certifications on their website).

Many three letter government agencies, law firms and Hollywood studios,
etc. use them to forensically retrieve information from FDD, HDD, Arrays
of hundreds of drives (cloud), SSD, Smart Phones, etc. This includes those
that have been purposely or accidentally erased and/or physically
damaged.

I have visited their facilities in Novato, California - and they are
truly amazing. I've seldom seen such a capable, quality operation.

I'm somewhat familiar with the Roddenberry floppies. They were not in a
standard format - so it was not just a matter of reading the floppies,
but developing software to read the specially formatted and encoded
floppies (understanding directories, files, etc.) and converting them
to files in a format their client could use.

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: new message

[Lyle Bickley]

On Thu, 12 Nov 2015 21:25:58 -0600
"Jay West"  wrote:

> Apologies, not sure how that got through.
> 
> Maybe a listmember got address-book-malware. Will see if the headers reveal
> anything that is easy to spot.

I'm a member of spamcop and submitted all of the spam posts to spamcop (since 
becoming a member, I've submitted over 15,000 spams to them). At any rate, 
here's the detail of who posted it - and the ISP who got the spam post:


Here are the results of your submission:

   Processing spam:

   From: kateli...@trouts.org
   Subject: Fw: new message
   
   0: Received: from huey.classiccmp.org ([199.188.211.196]:24115) by 
biz170.inmotionhosting.com with esmtp (Exim 4.85) (envelope-from 
) id 1Zx1HS-002Mnq-NF for 
lbick...@bickleywest.com; Thu, 12 Nov 2015 15:27:51 -0800
   Hostname verified: huey.classiccmp.org
   inmotionhosting.com received mail from sending system 199.188.211.196
   
   1: Received: from huey.classiccmp.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by 
huey.classiccmp.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 51C3C2073F99; Thu, 12 Nov 2015 
17:27:41 -0600 (CST)
   Internal handoff or trivial forgery
   
   2: Received: from mx2.ezwind.net (unknown [172.20.1.95]) by 
huey.classiccmp.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id CB3BD2073F8F; Thu, 12 Nov 2015 
17:27:38 -0600 (CST)
   Internal handoff or trivial forgery
   
   3: Received: from mx2.ezwind.net (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mx2.ezwind.net 
(Postfix) with ESMTP id B14D74E6AA; Thu, 12 Nov 2015 17:27:38 -0600 (CST)
   Internal handoff or trivial forgery
   
   4: Received: from mailout.ish.de (mailout.ish.de [80.69.98.247]) by 
mx2.ezwind.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5855C4E6B4; Thu, 12 Nov 2015 17:27:37 
-0600 (CST)
   Hostname verified: mailout.ish.de
   warning:Possible forgery.  Supposed receiving system not associated with any 
of your mailhosts
   Will not trust this Received line.
   Tracking message source:199.188.211.196:

   Cached whois for 199.188.211.196 : n...@xiolink.com
   Using abuse net on n...@xiolink.com
   abuse net xiolink.com = ab...@xiolink.com
   Using best contacts ab...@xiolink.com
   warning:Yum, this spam is fresh!
   Message is  0 hours old
   199.188.211.196 not listed in cbl.abuseat.org
   199.188.211.196 not listed in dnsbl.sorbs.net
Spam report id 6380971842 sent to: ab...@xiolink.com
May be saved for future reference:
http://www.spamcop.net/sc?id=z6193526037z09bcbf8ca61934833a230d5cac9df43dz


   Processing spam:

   From: kateli...@trouts.org
   Subject: Fw: new message
   
   0: Received: from huey.classiccmp.org ([199.188.211.196]:34299) by 
biz170.inmotionhosting.com with esmtp (Exim 4.85) (envelope-from 
) id 1Zx1J4-002O8P-9m for 
lbick...@bickleywest.com; Thu, 12 Nov 2015 15:29:30 -0800
   Hostname verified: huey.classiccmp.org
   inmotionhosting.com received mail from sending system 199.188.211.196
   
   1: Received: from huey.classiccmp.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by 
huey.classiccmp.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6C13E2073F84; Thu, 12 Nov 2015 
17:29:29 -0600 (CST)
   Internal handoff or trivial forgery
   
   2: Received: from mx1.ezwind.net (unknown [172.20.1.26]) by 
huey.classiccmp.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E9D542073F6B for 
; Thu, 12 Nov 2015 17:29:27 -0600 (CST)
   Internal handoff or trivial forgery
   
   3: Received: from mx1.ezwind.net (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mx1.ezwind.net 
(Postfix) with ESMTP id 974C34E743 for ; Thu, 12 Nov 
2015 17:29:28 -0600 (CST)
   Internal handoff or trivial forgery
   
   4: Received: from eu1.nethat.com (eu1.nethat.com [81.223.254.166]) by 
mx1.ezwind.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 247FF4E718 for ; 
Thu, 12 Nov 2015 17:29:27 -0600 (CST)
   Hostname verified: eu1.nethat.com
   warning:Possible forgery.  Supposed receiving system not associated with any 
of your mailhosts
   Will not trust this Received line.
   Tracking message source:199.188.211.196:

   Cached whois for 199.188.211.196 : n...@xiolink.com
   Using abuse net on n...@xiolink.com
   abuse net xiolink.com = ab...@xiolink.com
   Using best contacts ab...@xiolink.com
   warning:Yum, this spam is fresh!
   Message is  0 hours old
   199.188.211.196 not listed in cbl.abuseat.org
   199.188.211.196 not listed in dnsbl.sorbs.net
Spam report id 6380971843 sent to: ab...@xiolink.com
--

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: WTB: Unix/Solaris Adobe FrameMaker 8

[Lyle Bickley]

Kevin,

On Sat, 7 Nov 2015 17:38:23 -0800
Al Kossow  wrote:

> On 11/7/15 4:45 PM, Kevin Parker wrote:
> 
> > Try contacting Weird Stuff  
> 
> Most of the boxed software goes out on the floor or in the 'free' box outside
> the store.
> 
> Lyle might see it when it comes in, though generally they don't sort
> used software or books, they just give it to retail.

Solaris and related software is located in two places. In "As Is" to the far 
right as you enter that area and also in a "stash" located in the employee only 
area. If you are looking for a specific Solaris software package (including 
version, etc.) contact me off list. I go to WS about once a week and have 
access to all areas...

Lyle



> 
> 
> 



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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Nice blog post on fixing a 1401 memory bug...

[Lyle Bickley]

I'm forwarding a blog post written by a member of the CHM 1401 Restoration Team.
Excellent description (with pictures) of how 1401 memory is addressed, etc.:

http://www.righto.com/2015/10/repairing-50-year-old-mainframe-inside.html

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: Z system pics

[Lyle Bickley]

On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 14:34:50 -0500
"Cindy Croxton" <sa...@elecplus.com> wrote:

> More pictures have been uploaded.
> 
>  
> 
> https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxqLDyoLYuCKZmNsZlo1U0JyVkE

pictures work for me...

Lyle

-- 
Lyle Bickley
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
http://bickleywest.com
"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: This is sad...

[Lyle Bickley]

On Sat, 3 Oct 2015 20:31:53 +0200
Mattis Lind  wrote:

> http://www.ebay.com/itm/111410385883
> 
> 10 left 27 sold.
> 
> Once they could have been used by someone. Now they can only be used as a
> conversation piece hanged on the wall.

I know the seller. He is very knowledgeable about vintage HP systems - and all 
of these have bad (as in unrepairable) cores.

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Re: internet blocking problem ?

[Lyle Bickley]

On Thu, 10 Sep 2015 20:32:11 -0500
Jon Elson  wrote:

> Hello, all,
> 
> I am a member of the Homebuilt CPU web-ring, and a really 
> weird problem has turned up.  The guy who administers the 
> ring, David Brooks, is in Australia, and uses iinet.net.au 
> as his ISP.  All members of the web ring link to his 
> personal web pages at iinet. Apparently, due to government 
> censorship or a private war between iinet and US content 
> providers, iinet or Australia are blocking access from at 
> least some sites in the US.  So, from my work or home 
> (totally different IPs) I cannot access ANY personal pages 
> at iinet, but a few general help pages there can be 
> accessed.  As far as I can tell, nobody else in the world is 
> being affected.
> 
> Some webring members are now using classiccmp mirrors to 
> host the affected files to get around this problem.
> 
> So, I wonder if I can ask classiccmp members, especially in 
> the US, to check if they can view this page:
> http://members.iinet.net.au/~daveb/simplex/simplex.html

Works from Silicon Valley (Mountain View)

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

"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Sales of unearthed Atari games total more than $100,000

[Lyle Bickley]

I was surprised to see the average cart price to be over $120!

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/08/29/sales-unearthed-atari-games-total-more-than-10/?intcmp=hpbt4

Lyle
-- 
Lyle Bickley
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
http://bickleywest.com
Black holes are where God is dividing by zero

Re: IBM 1620

[Lyle Bickley]

On Fri, 28 Aug 2015 20:31:16 -0500 (CDT)
Tothwolf tothw...@concentric.net wrote:

 On Fri, 28 Aug 2015, Chuck Guzis wrote:
  On 08/28/2015 07:42 AM, Tothwolf wrote:
 
  With all the different solder alloys I work with regularly, I have
  to ask...what type of solder caused that sort of damage? Was it
  the alloy itself, or did IBM use a flux which was too active and
  then failed to clean away all the residue? If they used a
  rosin-based flux, was it due to the specific activator used in the
  flux?
 
  That's actually a little puzzling.  1401 core frames have survived
  well (got one in my desk drawer).  You'd expect that the same
  process would be used for equipment that's pretty close to
  contemporary.
 
 I think I've answered my own question today while looking at a
 datasheet for another type of solder. My guess is that the solder
 they used did not contain any copper, and the tin in the solder IBM
 used dissolved small amounts of the already very tiny copper wires,
 creating a weak point where the wires were soldered to the terminals.
 
 Lyle, was there any discussion of possibly laser welding replacement
 stubs of wire before the breaks that could then be re-soldered to the
 terminals? That would seem to be a viable repair option, although it
 would require special equipment.

I was not on the Team that did the memory analysis and the ultimate
modern replacement memory. However, when I joined the Team, I asked
similar questions and was told that the core memory was literally
falling apart and was not repairable. 

Lyle
-- 
Lyle Bickley
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
http://bickleywest.com
Black holes are where God is dividing by zero

Re: IBM 1620

[Lyle Bickley]

On Thu, 27 Aug 2015 14:28:30 -0500
Ben Sinclair b...@bensinclair.com wrote:

 The CHM has a bit of information, and links to three other 1620's that
 they know about:
 http://www.computerhistory.org/projects/ibm_1620/ibm1620/
 
 From what I've been reading, there may be only one operational 1620
 right now, but the CHM is also trying to restore one.

The IBM 1620 at the CHM is a running computer. There were two teams that worked 
on the 1620 at the CHM. The first Team got it running. Unfortunately, IBM used 
the wrong kind of solder on the core memory and so the wires of the core memory 
literally dissolved.

Modern memory was used to replace the original core memory and an interface to 
a PC was created and used to emulate peripheral devices. It ran as a demo 
system for several years when the CHM was in its public Visible Storage 
phase. 

A second Team - of which I was a member - worked to enhance the 1620's 
peripheral device interfaces and ultimately create new controllers for such 
devices as an IBM plotter. We also were trying to come up with demos that would 
make the IBM 1620 interesting to the general public (and not just techies or 
folks who had an emotional connection with the 1620).

At the same time, the CHM was also working to complete its IBM-1401 restoration 
(including many pieces of Unit Record gear) - and IBM 1401, DEC PDP-1 and 
Babbage public demos 

Many of us on the 1620 Team were also on other restoration Teams - and As time 
progressed, it became clear that the IBM 1620, while a running computer, was 
not as demonstrable as the other systems. That - and many of us simply ran out 
of time working on it. So our running IBM 1620 ended up in our storage facility 
rather than as a public CHM demo system.

It is entirely possible that at a future date it will again become a public 
demonstration system..

Cheers,
Lyle

 On Thu, Aug 27, 2015 at 2:07 PM, Dave G4UGM dave.g4...@gmail.com wrote:
 
   
  -Original Message-
  From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of william
  degnan
  Sent: 27 August 2015 20:00
  To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
  cctalk@classiccmp.org
  Subject: Re: IBM 1620
 
  How many exist on Earth at this point?  
 
 
  Three or four perhaps? Rare and Valuable perhaps
   
 
  On Thu, Aug 27, 2015 at 1:56 PM, ben bfranc...@jetnet.ab.ca wrote:  
   On 8/27/2015 2:46 AM, Kevin Tikker wrote:  
  
   Looking for an IBM 1620 to purchase. Any leads greatly appreciate.
  
   Kevin Tikker
  
  
   Sent from my iPhone  
  
  
   Sending from a Telephone, would have worked when they were shiny and
   new. Good luck Digging for one.
  

 
 
 
  --
  Bill
  vintagecomputer.net  
   
 
 
 



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

Black holes are where God is dividing by zero

MIPS systems available...

[Lyle Bickley]

Weirdstuff recently received the following:

(2) Magnum 4000SC-50 mips systems
(2) RS 2030 mips systems

Look clean (from the outside)...

Contact Jim if you're interested in them.

Usual disclaimer: I have no relationship with Weirdstuff other than as a 
client. I receive no remuneration for posting this. I do a weekly tour of 
their facilities to find vintage gear.

Cheers,
Lyle

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

Black holes are where God is dividing by zero