Microcomputer and misc for sale

[devin davison via cctalk]

Looking to make some space so i can work on some of the bigger gear i have
sitting around here. All this stuff was stored in a climate controlled
environment. I pick up interesting things whenever i can, be it at the
scrapyard, flea markets, etc, that is where most of this came from. I
worked in a computer shop for a while, a lot came from customers too, You
would be supersized what people would drag in.Fix it up... interest fades,
and then it starts looking like a museum.

3-4 commodore 64's. many 1541 disk drives, documentation, software.
Datassete in tattered box.

trs 80 coco -  bent corner, works

Vic20  1525 graphics plotter / printer.

apple IIc - works -  keyboard sticks sometimes

commodore 64  1702 monitor

zenith portable / luggable, complete, second drive sticks/ jams. Boots to
dos.

Boxed copy of ms dos 6.22 upgrade

boxed borland C++

boxed masm

like new in box tandy 1400 FD computer. excellent shape. Will not power on
from wall jack, tapped into the 6v battery lead and it works fine, some
kind of power jack issue. charging jack works intermittantly.

Atari portfolio

commmodore amiga 500 with keyboard. Never bothered with it. Has scsi
controller, no hard drive. Ordered a floppy to boot it to workbench, it did
so. God knows where that floppy is now though...

Hp 9000 desktop with related peripherals. boots to hp basic.
External enclosure, hard drive and floppy drive
External enclosure, dual floppy drive.
keyboard
Tiny inkjet printer

(all the above gear is uses HPIB connection. Plan was to get this all wired
into my logic analyzer and other bench instruments, never bothered)


This list may be updated in the next week or so as i find more, feel free
to ask questions or inquire on pricing.  Not looking to strike it rich, but
not just giving it away either.

Im shifting my focus to mainly DEC and SGI gear. I love picking up the
microcomputer stuff, but i just do not need that many machines. I have a
nice commodore 64, that should be enough for now.

That all being said, if anyone has a vax 780 for sale in florida.


--Devin

Re: Bernie Appel, ‘Mr. RadioShack, ’ Dies ushered in TRS 80

[allison via cctalk]

On 04/04/2017 05:32 PM, Richard Cini via cctalk wrote:
> I worked for Radio Shack from about 1982 to 1989 and I remember him from the 
> internal RS publication "Intercom". 
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Apr 4, 2017, at 4:55 PM, Ed via cctalk  wrote:
>>
>> Bernie Appel, ‘Mr. RadioShack,’ Dies 
>>   http://www.twice.com/news/people/bernie-appel-mr-radioshack-dies-85/64710
>>
>> Ed#  _www.smecc.org_ (http://www.smecc.org)  
>
I got to know Bernie during the many trips to FT Worth in the very
earliest days of TRS-80.
He will be missed.


Allison

Re: Need help with a rescue need Chico / Paradise, California (can someone pick-up and hold?)

[Pete Lancashire via cctalk]

One though, if no one can help, see what it would cost to rent the locker,
or find out what the cheapest/smallest one is and have this guy move it,
and you rent it.

I've done that before.

On Tue, Apr 4, 2017 at 2:43 PM, Ian Finder via cctalk  wrote:

> If anyone would be willing to rescue and hold a small-ish (large desktop)
> machine near there for later pickup by me this summer, it would be much
> appreciated. I can pay you a small fee either in beer or American currency.
>
> Please let me know if you're willing to help coordinate a rescue.
>
> --
>Ian Finder
>(206) 395-MIPS
>ian.fin...@gmail.com
>
>

Re: DEC PDP-14 Programmable Controller simulator

[Charles Dickman via cctalk]

On Tue, Apr 4, 2017 at 8:35 PM, Paul Koning  wrote:
>
>> On Apr 4, 2017, at 8:21 PM, Charles Dickman via cctalk 
>>  wrote:
>>
>> ...
>> In the course of research, I saw that there was an option to replace
>> the braided core ROM that was standard,  ...
>
> Charles,
>
> I've been studying core ROM for a while now, and there doesn't seem to be a 
> whole lot of information.  One interesting tidbit is that it appears -- but 
> it's hard to confirm completely -- that it was invented by Ken Olsen (while 
> at MIT Lincoln Labs).
>
> Do you have pointers to the PDP-14 rope memory documentation?

http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp14/DEC-14-HGZB-D_PDP-14_Maint_Man_1972.pdf

Forgive me if I have used "braided core ROM" incorrectly, but how I
understand the PDP-14 ROM, it was a network of wires threaded
(braided) through ferrite pulse transformer cores in a way such that
it was possible to address and read data. The current sources and
sense amplifiers were similar to that used with core memory.

>From what I can gather, never having seen one, the cores in the PDP-14
were actually quite large and fragile. There is information in the
field service handbook (Bitsavers) that indicates that a ROM could be
destroyed when the board was pulled from the chassis and there was a
manufacturer change made to prevent the problem.

-chuck

Re: DEC PDP-14 Programmable Controller simulator

[Paul Koning via cctalk]

> On Apr 4, 2017, at 8:21 PM, Charles Dickman via cctalk 
>  wrote:
> 
> ...
> In the course of research, I saw that there was an option to replace
> the braided core ROM that was standard,  ...

Charles,

I've been studying core ROM for a while now, and there doesn't seem to be a 
whole lot of information.  One interesting tidbit is that it appears -- but 
it's hard to confirm completely -- that it was invented by Ken Olsen (while at 
MIT Lincoln Labs).

Do you have pointers to the PDP-14 rope memory documentation?

paul

DEC PDP-14 Programmable Controller simulator

[Charles Dickman via cctalk]

I have written a PDP-14 simulator using the simh framework. Paired
with a PDP-8 simulator as a front end it passes all the DEC
diagnostics. A pointless effort, perhaps, because there isn't much
that can be done with it without connecting it to something to
control.

In the course of research, I saw that there was an option to replace
the braided core ROM that was standard, with a R/W core memory. It
used a 4k memory module from the PDP-11 (MM11-E) with a special
interface module in the PDP-14. I can find no documentation for the
interface other than the wire-wrap list for the slot in the PDP-14
that it went into. From the signals available I have not been able to
reverse engineer the instructions used to write the core or any detail
really on how it might have been used.

The option was MM14-A consisting of an interface (M7407), memory
(MM11-E), chassis, and power supply.

If anybody is still reading, I would be very interested in ANY
information about it.

-chuck

RE: KDJ11-B PDP 11/73 getting stuck in Exit standalone mode diag #56

[Bill Gunshannon via cctalk]

Can you post a description of this box again?  I had already deleted the earlier
parts of the conversation.  But it stuck in my mind.  I hmay have the book on 
this box as I think it is the same as the couple I have.

If so,  there were two versions of  the quad wide backplane.  One is A-B-A-B 
all the
way down.  And one is A-B-A-B except for slots 6-7 which have C-D for use with 
the
two board RL controller.

Please post brand name and any  model numbers yo have and I will dig thru my
library.

bill


From: cctalk [cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] on behalf of Noel Chiappa via 
cctalk [cctalk@classiccmp.org]
Sent: Tuesday, April 4, 2017 6:35 PM
To: cctalk@classiccmp.org
Cc: j...@mercury.lcs.mit.edu
Subject: Re: KDJ11-B PDP 11/73 getting stuck in Exit standalone mode diag #56

> From: Glen Slick

> the Q22/Q22 backplane is not good for an 11/83 CPU ... M8190 boards and
> both have PMI signals on the CD half of the CPU board.

So I seem to recall hearing tales of PMI cards emitting smoke when plugged
into a Q/Q/ backplane. That doesn't seem to have happened here:

 >> I confirmed the KDJ11-B works fine in a BA23, getting past test 56.

So I wondered if his off-brand backplane didn't have +12V or -12V wired up -
whatever it is that causes the damage. So I compared a list of PMI pins with
a QBUS pinout, trying to see if it was the +12V or 12V that would be the
problem.

However, I don't see any PMI pins that conflict? (Well, some of them are
ground, or +5V, but will that harm bus driver TTL?) Here's my list of PMI
pins:

  CB1   PSSEL
  CD1   PUBMEM
  CE1   PBCYC
  CF1   PUBSYS
  CH1   PHBPAR
  CJ1   PSBFUL
  CK1   PLBPAR
  CM1   PRDSTB
  CP1   PBLKM
  CR1   PBSY
  CV1   PUBTMO

  DB1   PWTSTB
  DC1   PBYT
  DD1   PMAPE

Anyone have any idea which pin(s) is the issue, when plugging a PMI card into
a Q/Q slot?

Noel

Re: KDJ11-B PDP 11/73 getting stuck in Exit standalone mode diag #56

[Noel Chiappa via cctalk]

> From: Glen Slick

> the Q22/Q22 backplane is not good for an 11/83 CPU ... M8190 boards and
> both have PMI signals on the CD half of the CPU board.

So I seem to recall hearing tales of PMI cards emitting smoke when plugged
into a Q/Q/ backplane. That doesn't seem to have happened here:

 >> I confirmed the KDJ11-B works fine in a BA23, getting past test 56.

So I wondered if his off-brand backplane didn't have +12V or -12V wired up -
whatever it is that causes the damage. So I compared a list of PMI pins with
a QBUS pinout, trying to see if it was the +12V or 12V that would be the
problem.

However, I don't see any PMI pins that conflict? (Well, some of them are
ground, or +5V, but will that harm bus driver TTL?) Here's my list of PMI
pins:

  CB1   PSSEL
  CD1   PUBMEM
  CE1   PBCYC
  CF1   PUBSYS
  CH1   PHBPAR
  CJ1   PSBFUL
  CK1   PLBPAR
  CM1   PRDSTB
  CP1   PBLKM
  CR1   PBSY
  CV1   PUBTMO
  
  DB1   PWTSTB
  DC1   PBYT
  DD1   PMAPE
  
Anyone have any idea which pin(s) is the issue, when plugging a PMI card into
a Q/Q slot?

Noel

Re: from reddit

[Ian Finder via cctalk]

I had worked out a deal with him for the Apollo, but I'm travelling so
pick-up will be hard (but doable as a last resort), and he won't ship.
If someone else plans to go up there, would you be willing to hold the
Apollo for me for a couple months so I can drive down and grab it this
summer?

It will be among a few other systems of it's kind here, and I can netboot
it over Apollo Token Ring. :^)

On Tue, Apr 4, 2017 at 8:36 AM, Pete Lancashire via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> List of stuff in this post
>
> https://www.reddit.com/r/computercollecting/comments/
> 6395pt/so_i_bought_an_abandoned_storage_unit_in_paradise/
>
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 4, 2017 at 8:35 AM, Pete Lancashire 
> wrote:
>
> > https://www.reddit.com/r/retrobattlestations/comments/
> > 63b8bm/so_i_bought_an_abandoned_storage_unit_in_paradise/
> >
> > No association etc with the person
> >
> > -pete
> >
>



-- 
   Ian Finder
   (206) 395-MIPS
   ian.fin...@gmail.com

Need help with a rescue need Chico / Paradise, California (can someone pick-up and hold?)

[Ian Finder via cctalk]

If anyone would be willing to rescue and hold a small-ish (large desktop)
machine near there for later pickup by me this summer, it would be much
appreciated. I can pay you a small fee either in beer or American currency.

Please let me know if you're willing to help coordinate a rescue.

-- 
   Ian Finder
   (206) 395-MIPS
   ian.fin...@gmail.com

Re: Bernie Appel, ‘Mr. RadioShack, ’ Dies ushered in TRS 80

[Richard Cini via cctalk]

I worked for Radio Shack from about 1982 to 1989 and I remember him from the 
internal RS publication "Intercom". 


Sent from my iPhone

> On Apr 4, 2017, at 4:55 PM, Ed via cctalk  wrote:
> 
> Bernie Appel, ‘Mr. RadioShack,’ Dies 
>   http://www.twice.com/news/people/bernie-appel-mr-radioshack-dies-85/64710
> 
> Ed#  _www.smecc.org_ (http://www.smecc.org)  

Re: Old manuals (Univac, IBM, Burroughs, Teletype)

[Randy Dawson via cctalk]

Hi Todd,


I have a Model 33, what do you want for those manuals?


Thanks,


Randy



From: cctech  on behalf of Todd Pisek via cctech 

Sent: Tuesday, April 4, 2017 2:00 PM
To: cct...@classiccmp.org
Subject: Old manuals (Univac, IBM, Burroughs, Teletype)

Spring cleaning has unearthed manuals I no longer need (not clear if I ever 
needed them ... ).

Here's the list:

Univac an/uyk-7 theory & diagrams
Univac federal systems Technical Bulletins (1973)

IBM 1620&1622 CE manuals & complete system diagrams (vol 1,2, & 3)
IBM 3031 theory of ops diagrams (vol 1-5)
IBM 129 card punch CE & ald diagrams
IBM 3275 ald diagrams (2 vols)

Burroughs Global Memory schematics & flow diagrams

Teletype 33 teletypewriter (ksr & asr) technical manuals and parts list

--- Todd

Old manuals (Univac, IBM, Burroughs, Teletype)

[Todd Pisek via cctalk]

Spring cleaning has unearthed manuals I no longer need (not clear if I ever 
needed them ... ).

Here's the list:

Univac an/uyk-7 theory & diagrams
Univac federal systems Technical Bulletins (1973)

IBM 1620&1622 CE manuals & complete system diagrams (vol 1,2, & 3)
IBM 3031 theory of ops diagrams (vol 1-5)
IBM 129 card punch CE & ald diagrams 
IBM 3275 ald diagrams (2 vols)

Burroughs Global Memory schematics & flow diagrams 

Teletype 33 teletypewriter (ksr & asr) technical manuals and parts list

--- Todd

Re: from reddit

[Pete Lancashire via cctalk]

List of stuff in this post

https://www.reddit.com/r/computercollecting/comments/6395pt/so_i_bought_an_abandoned_storage_unit_in_paradise/



On Tue, Apr 4, 2017 at 8:35 AM, Pete Lancashire 
wrote:

> https://www.reddit.com/r/retrobattlestations/comments/
> 63b8bm/so_i_bought_an_abandoned_storage_unit_in_paradise/
>
> No association etc with the person
>
> -pete
>

Bernie Appel, ‘Mr. RadioShack, ’ Dies ushered in TRS 80

[Ed via cctalk]

Bernie Appel, ‘Mr. RadioShack,’ Dies 
   http://www.twice.com/news/people/bernie-appel-mr-radioshack-dies-85/64710
 
Ed#  _www.smecc.org_ (http://www.smecc.org)  

Re: DCC-116 E / DATA GENERAL NOVA 2/10 / Nixdorf 620 - Restoring and restarting

[Christian Kennedy via cctalk]

> On 4/4/2017 7:09 AM, Dominique Carlier via cctalk wrote:

>> Concerning the memory, I analyzed more in detail, I think finally that
>> all the memory is core type, 1 X 16KW (it is marked on it) and 2 X 8KW
>> (according to the size of the core package in comparison with the 16KW
>> board). Thus a total of 32KW.

Yes, that would be a reasonable maximum configuration for this machine.

I yanked the CPU board out of my DCC 116 literally for the
first time, ever, which sent me down a rabbit hole.

Yes, it's a 1200 clone, which surprised me -- but the 1980 date on
the etch of your CPU is quite interesting.  Turns out DCC literally
stole the prints for the 1200 and used it as the basis of the D-116 (the
also apparently ripped off the PDP-8 and PDP-11).  At least in the case
of the D-116 it was literally a case of building to DG's prints, so much
so that the judge in the infringement case told DCC that had they
actually reverse engineered the 1200 they would have prevailed, but that
it was so obvious that they'd just done a punch of the machine that they
had to hand the injunction to DG.

Where this gets interesting is the timing.  DG won the injunction in
September 1975, and it so crippled DCC that DG ended up acquiring DCC
and their product line in 1977 and eventually putting a stake in the
heart of the product line at the end of the 70s.

Does your CPU board have a DCC or DG copyright on it?

Making it stranger is the prohibition on putting anything in slot two
(mine has the same restriction).  I'd have to look closely, but that
suggests that while the design ripped off the 1200 CPU it ripped off the
800 backplane (the 800 CPU takes two slots, the 1200 only one, and
thanks to the way the backplane is wired it's possible to run a 1200 CPU
in an 800 chassis).

Finding a basic I/O board shouldn't be difficult; you only need TTY (not
reader or punch controls), and while it would be nice you probably don't
need the RTC, either.  Still, given the date of your machine the TTY
functionality /may/ be on the CPU card itself.

Is there a DB-9 connector somewhere on the rear bulkhead of the machine?

-- 
Christian Kennedy, Ph.D.
ch...@mainecoon.com AF6AP | DB0692 | PG00029419
http://www.mainecoon.comPGP KeyID 108DAB97
PGP fingerprint: 4E99 10B6 7253 B048 6685 6CBC 55E1 20A3 108D AB97
"Mr. McKittrick, after careful consideration…"

Re: DCC-116 E / DATA GENERAL NOVA 2/10 / Nixdorf 620 - Restoring and restarting

[jim stephens via cctalk]

On 4/4/2017 7:09 AM, Dominique Carlier via cctalk wrote:



Concerning the PSU I will analyze your suggestions.

Concerning the memory, I analyzed more in detail, I think finally that 
all the memory is core type, 1 X 16KW (it is marked on it) and 2 X 8KW 
(according to the size of the core package in comparison with the 16KW 
board). Thus a total of 32KW.


For transmission via serial port, unfortunately I do not have this 
"basic board" in slot 3 (TTY), it's empty. Can we still find board 
like this? 
The design is 4 x 74181, which is potentially a 16 bit processor. The 
74181 is a common ALU for systems, can the number of bits of 74181 
adders are frequently an indicator of the width of the CPU.


The Serial port may be elsewhere.  I'd look for RS232 level shifters 
(probably 1488 and 1489s) and a UART on other boards.  You may be out of 
luck, but sometimes the serial may be in another area in systems.


Another sign to follow are the silver cans with oscillators, as they can 
be for the system themselves, or for serial I/O.

thanks
Jim

Re: interesting... hp-9000 in the news! - russian-hackers-used-backdoor-two-decades

[Cameron Kaiser via cctalk]

> Try opening the following link in Chrome (not IE). 
> 
> https://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/DSC_0794.jpg
> 
> That opened the full image for me. 

That link does come up in TenFourFox and you are right, it's an E55.
Mystery solved.

(please don't cc me on cctalk replies)

-- 
 personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ --
  Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com
-- MOVIE IDEA: E-mailsignaturebusters -

Re: DCC-116 E / DATA GENERAL NOVA 2/10 / Nixdorf 620 - Restoring and restarting

[Dominique Carlier via cctalk]

Many thanks for these detailed answers ! :)


Indeed, I finally do not know exactly what Nova my DCC is the clone. 
Another specialist suggested that it was rather a clone of NOVA 1200?


Note that in Nixdorf contracts for the 600 series, these machines were 
sometimes updated with a new CPU over the years of service.

In the doubt here are pictures of the board in slot 01 dedicated to the CPU:

http://www.actingmachines.com/classiccmp_forum/cpu01.jpg

http://www.actingmachines.com/classiccmp_forum/cpu02.jpg

http://www.actingmachines.com/classiccmp_forum/cpu03.jpg

Do you have any idea what that is?

Concerning the PSU I will analyze your suggestions.

Concerning the memory, I analyzed more in detail, I think finally that 
all the memory is core type, 1 X 16KW (it is marked on it) and 2 X 8KW 
(according to the size of the core package in comparison with the 16KW 
board). Thus a total of 32KW.


For transmission via serial port, unfortunately I do not have this 
"basic board" in slot 3 (TTY), it's empty. Can we still find board like 
this?


Dominique


Er.  My DCC-116 is more a clone of the mapped Nova 840 than the Nova 2,
with the DCC/Keronix "64Kword" hack that gives up more than one level of
indirect memory reference in exchange for having 16, rather than 15,
bits of logical memory reference.

IIRC the functionality of the basic I/O board normally found in slot
three is subsumed into the CPU card of the DCC116, so you should be fine
as long as you can find the signals on the back of the machine.

It's a word oriented machine, so memory is sized in KW, not KB. You can
probably tell how big the boards are by looking at the physical address
jumpers; core boards were typically 8KW, MOS boards were typically 16 or
32KW, depending on vintage. Hint:  The more jumpers, the smaller the board.

I have no idea how this machine packages things, but in jumbo-chassis
Novas the lower PS generates five and 15 volt supplies, the top PS
generates only five.  The reason for this is that the 15 volt supply is
only used by core memory boards and the memory bus is only available in
the lower chassis.

Sounds like one of the +5V switchers is having issues.
+/-5V and +15V but not -15V should be regulated.  In the original DG
power supply both five and 15 volt supplies were derived from a common
+30V unregulated supply, but it's not clear that DCC followed that
model.  It may be helpful to know that the +15V supply is not regulated
to 15V but temperature compensated downward with increasing temperature,
such that at 55C it's closer to 14.4V; this is done to maintain margins
on the core planes. The consequence is that you're probably looking at
something having drifted in the voltage divider that feeds the voltage
comparator or something having drifted in the temperature compensation
stuff (if it's actually there) rather than a simple zener gone bad.

/POWER FAIL is asserted by the power supply itself, as is MEM OK.
It's a switcher; look at the caps in the LC filter (downstream of the
series pass transistor) that, together with the inductor, form the
energy storage mechanism of the power supply; check the source supply as
well.  The fact that it eventually comes back suggests that the
reference, comparator and pass device are probably functioning.


Should be, as long as the machine isn't running in extended logical
address mode (my DCC has a front panel switch to enable/disable this
feature).

Nice job on getting the machine to boot!
Cheers,
Chris

Re: interesting... hp-9000 in the news! - russian-hackers-used-backdoor-two-decades

[David Collins via cctalk]

Try opening the following link in Chrome (not IE). 

https://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/DSC_0794.jpg

That opened the full image for me. 

David Collins

On 4 Apr 2017, at 2:47 pm, Cameron Kaiser via cctalk  
wrote:

>> It's an HP9000 E55. The HP Computer Museum even has one in our collection!
> 
> Interesting. I guess it could be any of the E-class, though: OpenPA has a
> picture of an E35 that looks like a slightly closer match. I'm surprised
> it's recent enough to have a PA-7100; I would have agreed with Zane that it
> was an earlier type system.
> 
> http://www.openpa.net/systems/hp-9000_e25_e35_e45_e55.html
> 
> -- 
>  personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ 
> --
>  Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com
> -- Use [Microsoft] IE and Passport and you can browse like it's 1984. -- /. 
> ---