[cctalk] Re: Typing class in high school

[Brian Marstella via cctalk]

Speaking of good keyboards, my typing class used IBM Selectrics for the
lucky people but we also had some older Underwoods and Royals in the class.
You got those when you irritated the teacher. I took Typing I & II and it's
worked out great as every job I've had since required lots of typing.

On Fri, Jan 27, 2023 at 2:41 PM ben via cctalk 
wrote:

> On 2023-01-27 10:48 a.m., Norman Jaffe via cctalk wrote:
> > In high school I had signed up for an electronics class and then my
> family transferred to another city.
> > In the high school that I then enrolled in, there was no electronics
> class so I was given the option of another class - I chose typing, which
> turned out to be a great choice.
> > Since I had started the class mid-semester I wasn't required to pass any
> proficiency test, so it didn't matter how fast I was.
> > At the same time, I learned to touch-type which was perfect when I
> became involved with computers, as all the other programmers were doing
> hunt-and-peck!
> >
> PECK PECK HUNT PECK HUNT
> Still am, but I like a good key board.Ben.
>
>
>

Re: Programming Bipolar PROMs

[Brian Marstella via cctalk]

I recently picked up an EPROM+ programming unit (
https://www.arlabs.com/eprom_plus.html) from eBay used in order to program
a couple of PROMs. Unfortunately, I haven't actually tried it yet but the
82S23 and others are supported. The owner of the company seems to be
extremely responsive to any and all questions and has a lot of
documentation on the web site.

On Mon, Sep 27, 2021 at 11:48 AM jwest--- via cctalk 
wrote:

> Jon wrote...
> I can do them with the Data I/O 29B and UniPak 2B. Some of the other
> UniPaks can handle them too. They are one of those devices that most of the
> newer commercial programmers can't do. I wouldn't call the Data I/O really
> affordable, though.
> --
> Same, I use a data i/o 29B for these. Jon is right, the 29B seems to have
> held significant value $-wise still on ebay. But you can find a reasonable
> deal once in a while.
>
> And
> Watch out buying blanks on eBay, they're often pulls and are actually
> already programmed. Also the yield was not 100% even back in the day,
> apparently, so buy several to ensure you do get a good one.
> --
> I gave up trying to find any quantities of the 3 or 4 different bipolar
> proms used for the HP 2100/21MX line on ebay. I had significant luck
> contacting arcade game repair houses, and got a reasonable quantity of most
> all the flavors I needed. I checked back a couple years ago and all the
> usual arcade places no longer had them ☹
>
> I do believe I saw a writeup on the web somewhere where someone took a
> different chip and programmed it to act like a (now) rare bipolar prom. I
> don't recall how successful it was - I'd imagine the speed of the bipolars
> would be an issue, plus ISTR height was an issue too (new chip was on a
> carrier of sorts, creating headroom issues on some systems).
>
> J
>
>
>

Re: Apple ][+ Keyboard

[Brian Marstella via cctalk]

Just ran across this a few days ago on different search...

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.sys.apple2/kJ4SosdZTb4

May have some helpful info.

On Wed, May 22, 2019 at 11:56 AM John Many Jars via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> I feel like I'm falling down a rabbit hole with this old ][ europlus I've
> had for years.
>
> The smoke came out of the power supply, so I replaced it with one from
> ReactiveMicro.  Now it boots, and was working okay, until this morning.
> Now, no keyboard  if you hit ctrl-reset.  All other keys are
> ignored.
>
> Anyone have any ideas? (:
>
> Thanks,
>
> John (aka Mark)
>

Re: FTGH: Unknown extender card

[Brian Marstella via cctalk]

I have a CPU board with similar format that I bought thinking I'd
eventually figure it out. Same boat, though, I haven't run across the
system it goes with. It does look very similar to many S-100 designs,
though.

On Sat, Mar 3, 2018 at 9:39 PM, Jon Elson via cctalk 
wrote:

> On 03/03/2018 04:48 PM, Noel Chiappa via cctalk wrote:
>
>> Hi, I'm not sure what kind of system this extender card:
>>
>>http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/jpg/tmp/SmallExtender.jpg
>>
>> is for, but if anyone has a use for it, FTGH. It has 2x43=86
>> contacts.
>>
>> Noel
>>
>> 43 is a rather unusual pin count.  Multibus I used one 43x2 connector for
> the bus and one smaller connector with a different (finer) pin pitch to
> connect to peripherals.  But, that extender would not fit a Multibus I card
> cage, the blank area of the board sticks out too far.
>
> Jon
>

Re: Looking for a home

[Brian Marstella via cctalk]

Have you determined a price for the HP?

Regards, Brian

On Feb 4, 2018 19:46, "Pete Lancashire via cctalk" 
wrote:

> Need to start cleaning aut, will have more/better pictures soon
>
> The Alphas have full True64 feature certificates, at least one ran
> before going into storage and has 2 72 GBs and at least 3 new 300 GB
> drives.
>
> One of the Suns is a Sun1 pre-production
>
> https://photos.app.goo.gl/c8dHa89KUaUGVn9n1
>
> The IBM RS6000 has been spoken for
>
> -pete
>

SOL-20 and Helios-II in Louisville

[Brian Marstella via cctalk]

Hope this isn't too far off topic, but noticed a SOL-20, Helios-II, and
several disks available in Louisville via Craigslist. Can't afford more
stuff this year myself but price doesn't seem too bad. i don't know the
person that has it, just found it as I was searching.

https://louisville.craigslist.org/sys/d/processor-technology-sol-20/6391107432.html

Regards, Brian.

Re: formatting MFM drives on a IBM PC

[Brian Marstella via cctalk]

IIRC, the first time I had problems with the low level format was with one
of the early IDE controllers and a 230MB Maxtor. Crapped out the entire
firmware, was never able to get it to admit who it was again. Seemed to
work okay with earlier MFM/RLL 40 MB and 80 MB Conner drives (I think, it's
been a while).

On Tue, Sep 26, 2017 at 7:58 PM, Warner Losh via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> On Tue, Sep 26, 2017 at 5:53 PM, Fred Cisin via cctalk <
> cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:
>
> > > I remember at least one manufacturer >recommending it for their >
> >> drive(s) if they were ever tilted through 90 degrees - >presumably >
> there
> >> were tiny effects on the head positioning and so not >doing a > LLF
> would
> >> result in problems.
> >>
> >
> > On Tue, 26 Sep 2017, Ali via cctalk wrote:
> >
> >> This was pretty common wisdom back in the day. Not quote sure how wise
> it
> >> was but it was generally recommended in the magazines of the time. I
> >> remember reading an article about it in PC Magazine.
> >>
> >
> > There were some interesting discussions of that when companies, such as
> > Compaq, first started to put hard drives in portables!
> >
>
> A lot of the conventional wisdom of the time has turned out to be not so
> wise...
>
> Warner
>

Re: Does anyone here know Siemens STL?

[Brian Marstella via cctalk]

I worked with STL some but am much more familiar with structured text as
used by Rockwell/Allen-Bradley. However, my first exposure to PLCs after
getting out of the Navy back in 1991 was the Mitsubishi A series with a GPP
for a programmer. I found that one interesting because you could program in
ladder mode or switch to the other mode (which I can't remember the name
of) that looked exactly like assembly. The two modes were interchangeable
as far as I could tell.

On Tue, Apr 11, 2017 at 10:32 PM, Chuck Guzis via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> On 04/11/2017 07:03 PM, Charles Dickman via cctalk wrote:
> > The Balkanized nature of programming is interesting.
> >
> > I make a comment about C and get a flurry of responses, but ask a
> > question about a programming language that is also very common for
> > machine control and get no response at all. Not even a recognition
> > of its existence.
>
>
> I don't think that you're being quite fair.  There are boatloads of
> specialized application programming languages--I rarely pay attention to
> any of them, figuring that after your first dozen or so, it's easy
> enough to add another one.
>
> Heck,  I may even have some STL stashed away in my collection of Siemens
> PG-685 floppies.   I never was interested in looking.
>
> --Chuck
>
>

Re: Macintosh Portable

[Brian Marstella]

Chris,

I remembered seeing this post from a couple of years ago when I was looking
at a Mac Portable. I ended up not buying it so I can't speak for whether
this will work, but it might point in the right direction. See especially
the links around the 4th post in the thread as it shows a 34 pin converter
method.

Regards, Brian.

On Sat, Nov 26, 2016 at 5:16 AM, Alexandre Souza <
alexandre.tabaj...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Chris, is it a 40 pin cable?
>
> Enviado do meu Tele-Movel
>
> Em 26/11/2016 04:26, "Chris Pye"  escreveu:
>
> > Does anyone know off hand what polarity that Mac Portable requires? I
> know
> > that the original was 7.5V @ 1.5A, but not sure of the polarity.
> >
> > I did have have a PB100 power supply that I used with mine, but
> > (unfortunately) no longer have it.
> >
> > Also (if it still works) what is the easiest way to image the old Conner
> > SCSI drive? It doesn’t appear to have a standard connector.
> >
> > I have googled this, but didn’t come up with anything useful.
> >
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Chris...
> >
> >
> >
> >
>

Re: Looking for info on a CAMAC module - Kinetic 3912 Unibus Crate Controller

[Brian Marstella]

Pete,

I think I might have a few Kinetic CAMAC brochures and user manuals. I'll
have to dig around but if you don't have another source, maybe I can scan
them. We had a 2 large crates in our testing lab that I kick myself for not
taking. I had no use for them but it's still some interesting hardware. We
had a couple of old IBM XTs interfaced to them.

Regards, Brian.

On Mon, Oct 31, 2016 at 2:04 PM, Pete Lancashire 
wrote:

> Over the years I've played around with a few old CAMAC (*) modules, by
> today's standard they pretty much have zero value, anyway that's another
> story. Recently
> I've been offered a CAMAC to Unibus board. A Kinetic 3912 Unibus Crate
> Controller .
> A Crate in CAMAC speak is just a chassis with a backplane.
>
> The problem with CAMAC is there is almost no information out there,
>
> Since I don't YET have a Unibus system, it more of a curiosity then
> anything.
>
> So .. anyone have the manual ?
>
> (*) -
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Automated_Measurement_and_Control
>

Re: the value of old test and repair equipment

[Brian Marstella]

I enjoy using vintage test equipment as well, but I'm not usually willing
to pay more than $5 or $10 for a piece unless I know it works. Generally,
the only time I'll pay more without testing is when it's an automated piece
of equipment that included some computer interface capability as part of
assembly line testing.

On Thu, Jul 28, 2016 at 3:57 PM, Jay West  wrote:

> Cindy wrote...
> -
>  does as-is old test and repair equip that won't be particularly cheap have
> interest to you guys?
> -
>
> Speaking just for me personally... yes it has interest. I use period gear
> to
> work on the computers and enjoy that combination. Not as in "I'm collecting
> old test gear" but "I like using old test gear with the gear I'm
> collecting".
>
> J
>
>
>

Re: Resurrecting the DB-19

[Brian Marstella]

You might check iec.net; I recently purchased several DB19M and DB19F
connectors from them at a reasonable price. They were out of the male DB19
solder-tail type connectors but substituted the pin-insert type instead.
For my purposes, either would work. They also had a 25 pin to 19 pin cable
for the Apple Dual Disk drives that seems to be working perfectly and quite
a bit cheaper than several alternatives I looked at. Melinda was very
helpful in processing the order.

Regards, Brian.

On Sun, Jun 5, 2016 at 5:02 PM, Alexandre Souza <
alexandre.tabaj...@gmail.com> wrote:

>
> http://tabajara-labs.blogspot.com.br/2015/05/fazendo-o-expletiva-cabo-da-duodisk.html
>
> Better than nothing :)
>
> 2016-06-05 14:34 GMT-03:00 Ali :
>
> > Sweet. No where can I order 10 or so at a reasonable price? There is a
> guy
> > one ebay selling one with hood at $22 a piece
> >
> >  Original message 
> > From: Liam Proven 
> > Date: 6/5/2016  1:55 AM  (GMT-08:00)
> > To: "Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" 
> > Subject: Resurrecting the DB-19
> >
> > June 4, 2016 ↔ 10 comments
> >
> > *DB-19: Resurrecting an Obsolete Connector*
> >
> > Oh man, this is good! You’re looking at the first DB-19 connector to be
> > made in the 21st century...
> >
> >
> >
> http://www.bigmessowires.com/2016/06/04/db-19-resurrecting-an-obsolete-connector/
> >
> > --
> > Sent from my phone - please pardon brevity & typos.
> >
>

Re: The list seems very quiet today

[Brian Marstella]

I saw a couple of posts; thought it seemed a little slow today as well. I
did see Liam's post regarding Fortran, which I did have a semester of back
in '93. Probably a little rusty as there just isn't a lot of need for it...

On Fri, Oct 30, 2015 at 10:55 AM, Fred Cisin  wrote:

> On 30 October 2015 at 12:02, rod  wrote:
>
>> The list seems very quiet to-day.
>> I have had only one post this morning.
>> Anybody know why?
>>
>
> Is everybody off at the top-secret VCF-Paris?
>
> On Fri, 30 Oct 2015, Liam Proven wrote:
>
>> No replies to my message about NASA wanting Fortran programmers...
>>
>
> extinct?  or just too shameful?
>
>
>