Re: Dec Stuff available in Sunnyvale CA

[Marc Howard via cctalk]

Kirk,

I'd love to get a 11/34.  Sorry, don't have a RL02 lying around.  And I'm
local (Los Gatos / Milpitas).

Marc Howard

On Thu, Apr 6, 2017 at 12:23 PM, Kirk Davis via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> I’m moving and need to downsize a bit. I have 2 of the DEC short racks.
> One has a 11/34 and the other is a uVax 3600 with a RA82 on top.
>
> I haven’t tried to power up the 34. The uVax works but the RA82 on top
> doesn’t. However I have several RA90’s that work with it. I saw a version of
> 4.3 BSD Quasijarus booted and running on it when I picked it up.
>
> Local pickup only. Preference given to some one that has a RL02 drive for
> trade. Otherwise a good home. Worst case - money (to quote Salam “I don’t
> want eBay prices but I’ll take them).
>
> Kirk
>
>

Re: SimH PDP-8 simulator plays music

[Al Kossow via cctalk]

https://www.media.mit.edu/events/EMS/bv-interview.html

I had a summer gig in the early 80's at EMS helping Steve Haflich
with some 68K hardware.

I may have Unix MUSIC-11 on a pack somewhere.


On 4/6/17 6:17 PM, Al Kossow via cctalk wrote:
> 
> 
> On 4/5/17 11:12 PM, Randy Dawson via cctalk wrote:
> 
>> Have you had a look at Max B. Mathews MUSIC4BF?
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUSIC-N
> 
> 
> 
> 

Re: SimH PDP-8 simulator plays music

[Al Kossow via cctalk]

On 4/5/17 11:12 PM, Randy Dawson via cctalk wrote:

> Have you had a look at Max B. Mathews MUSIC4BF?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUSIC-N

Re: SimH PDP-8 simulator plays music

[Kyle Owen via cctalk]

Glad you guys have enjoyed it. I made SimH keep track of elapsed
microseconds based on the instruction, which means I'm no longer having to
use an average instruction time. This has improved the quality by a huge
factor!

Here's the new version of the Maple Leaf Rag for your listening pleasure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGeycH7qUTU=26s

The rest of the code has been uploaded to Github as before.

I'm going to try to work out outputting real-time audio next; I think I can
do it with libsamplerate and Pulse or the like; I'll have to see.

Randy, I haven't looked at MUSIC4BF or much of Max's other programs, mainly
because I don't have much experience with S/360 or FORTRAN. I did play with
CSound very briefly a while back, which apparently was heavily based on his
work. Got something to read the deck? My Documation card reader no longer
powers up after moving, so I'll have to track that down. Hopefully it's
just a bad breaker.

Thanks,

Kyle

Dec Stuff available in Sunnyvale CA

[Kirk Davis via cctalk]

I’m moving and need to downsize a bit. I have 2 of the DEC short racks. One has 
a 11/34 and the other is a uVax 3600 with a RA82 on top.

I haven’t tried to power up the 34. The uVax works but the RA82 on top doesn’t. 
However I have several RA90’s that work with it. I saw a version of 
4.3 BSD Quasijarus booted and running on it when I picked it up.

Local pickup only. Preference given to some one that has a RL02 drive for 
trade. Otherwise a good home. Worst case - money (to quote Salam “I don’t want 
eBay prices but I’ll take them).

Kirk

Re: How to refurbish plotter pens?

[Paul Koning via cctalk]

> On Apr 6, 2017, at 1:59 PM, Mattis Lind via cctalk  
> wrote:
> 
> A late follow up on this topic.
> 
> I got my IBM 1627 running. ...

Nice work!

I remember a plotter (possibly a 1627 -- it was attached to a 360 model 44 in 
college) that by default used ballpoint pens but had an adapter to use 
Rapidograph (india ink) pens.  Those are nice because they produce high quality 
plots and of course are readily refillable.  

paul

Re: DOS-11/BATCH-11 manuals on Ebay

[Mattis Lind via cctalk]

2017-04-06 19:23 GMT+02:00 devin davison :

> Did my reply not get through? I have a good scanner and placed the bid
> with the intent to put it on bitsavets.
>
Sorry. I read it quickly on the commuter train and read it as that you
asked me to bid on it and have it sent to you. My bad.

Thanks for placing a bid and scanning it! I'll hope you get it!

/Mattis


> On Apr 6, 2017 1:05 PM, "Mattis Lind"  wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> 2017-04-06 14:43 GMT+02:00 devin davison :
>>
>>> Placed a bid, i have access. To a good scanner, will scan and upload
>>> once it arrives .
>>>
>>
>> A bid has been placed. I hope that this is from someone here so that it
>> might end up at bitsavers. I am not intending to start a bidding war.
>>
>> /Mattis
>>
>>
>>> On Apr 6, 2017 8:28 AM, "Mattis Lind via cctalk" 
>>> wrote:
>>>
 http://www.ebay.com/itm/361940854169

 One of them does not seems to be at bitsavers.

 The shipping is way to high to have them shipped to Sweden and scanned.
 Maybe someone in the US would care to buy and scan it?

 /Mattis

>>>
>>

Re: How to refurbish plotter pens?

[Mattis Lind via cctalk]

A late follow up on this topic.

I got my IBM 1627 running. Actually it is not mine, it belong to my father
that got it used for his home built computer somewhere around 1977. It
became a project that never was finished... There are still some simple
drawings he did on how to interface it.

http://i.imgur.com/8JK8wwO.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/8YJA0Qb.jpg

First thing I recognized was that the Mallory FP type capacitors in this
one both measured below 1nF capacitance. A quite serious problem. It turned
out that when I pulled them apart the positive electrode was subject to
severe corrosion. It was simply cut off..

http://i.imgur.com/XUaQtPn.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/nMLoFbN.jpg

One of the stud mount 1N2547 rectifiers diodes was broken at off from its
studmount in the middle of the insulating ceramic material. Since this type
of rectifier was hard to find I replaced it with a modern part.

Then on I replaced other electrolytics that all measured marginal (after
all this machine is from 1967, 50 years old!). The two Mallory AC
capacitors which are the run capacitors for the paper feed system were
replaced as well. Not that they measure bad but I simply don't like oil
filled caps from the sixties. They might contain PCB oil. And I didn't find
a list that certified that Mallory RP-3301 is PCB free.

Then the PSU was fine and all voltages measured well.

On to the mechanics. The drum was working fine in both directions, but the
carriage was not moving in either direction. Checking the electronics
revealed that it tried to drive the stepper motor but nothing happened. It
was stuck.

The motor was removed and disassembled. There was a small gearbox on top of
the stepper motor and it turned out that the motor axis was completely
stuck.

http://i.imgur.com/O043J9J.jpg

By removing the last six screws it was possible to get the axis out by
knocking on the axis with a screwdriver handle. It turned out that there
was quite some rust in there. Cleaning, re-lubricating and new grease and
it worked quite well.

One note for others who repair these. Do not remove the big wheel that is
driven by the stepper motor and drives the carriage. It is not necessary
unless you plan to put some new grease in the gearbox. It is a small hell
to get the carriage cable back into position again..

After this the plotter moved nicely in all directions and then it was time
for serious testing with pens which bring us back to the topic of the
thread.

This plotter was supplied with non-pressurized pens. As far as I understand
there are pen holders for both varieties of pens as well as felt pens. Mine
are definitely non-pressurized.

http://i.imgur.com/ZquhQMT.jpg

As per Randys suggestion I put them into an ultrasonic cleaner and they
become much cleaner. Then onto filling them which turned out to be a
complex and a messy business..

>From what I understand there are different types of ink. The type of ink
that are used for reservoir pens or Harry Potter feathers which is more
liquid and then a thicker ink which is used in ballpoint pens. The former
is sold in small bottles the latter is not sold except for in ballpoint
refills.

The next step is to try to extract ink from the ballpoint refill and use a
ink refill syringe to push it into one of the cleaned pens. We'll see how
that works out.

The other option is to find new pens with the same diameter which can be
cut into the correct length and tip dimensions. Maybe even plastic ones
will work if they are stiff enough.

In parallell I am working on the interfacing part. As far as the
description in the manual interfacing is quite simple. Either negative
going or positive going pulses, at least 10V amplitude and more the 4us
long with less than 10us rise time. Source impedance less than 500 ohms.

A ULN2004 or similar together with some simple AVR microcontroller will
probably do it.

/Mattis

2017-02-23 8:27 GMT+01:00 Randy Dawson :

> Suggestion: drop them in an ultrasonic cleaner with solvent...
>
>
> 
> From: cctech  on behalf of David Gesswein <
> d...@pdp8online.com>
> Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2017 10:34 AM
> To: cct...@classiccmp.org
> Subject: Re: How to refurbish plotter pens?
>
> On Sat, Jan 28, 2017 at 03:51:49PM +0100, Mattis Lind wrote:
> > I am about to get our IBM1627 (rebranded Calcomp 565) going but the pens
> in
> > the case is quite dry. What is the best method to refurbish those? What
> is
> > the best solvent to get the old ink out? What ink to refill with?
> >
> > https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-rp4vyPPYu1ZjVRbnlyczV4czQ
> >
> That looks like the unpressurized ballpoint. I never tried to refill mine.
> Another option is making replacements. I found current ballpoint
> refills and cut them down. I used a dremmel with cutoff disk. Watch for
> splatters. I then stuck something in to remove 1/4" or so of the ink from
> the end. Otherwise it will come out in the pen holder and make a 

New Jonathan Coulton text adventure/classic terminal music video

[Shoppa, Tim via cctalk]

Yes, I know the video was made by using “retro-terminal” software 
http://www.secretgeometry.com/apps/cathode/
 on modern hardware, but the spirit of the Infocom games is still there :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvVNxqosZ7s

The spot halfway through where the screen matches the lyrics is really cool.

I seem to recall the Infocom games could “pace” with realtime delays in the 
text scrolling but that may be mis-remembering things.

Tim.

Re: DOS-11/BATCH-11 manuals on Ebay

[devin davison via cctalk]

Did my reply not get through? I have a good scanner and placed the bid with
the intent to put it on bitsavets.
On Apr 6, 2017 1:05 PM, "Mattis Lind"  wrote:

>
>
> 2017-04-06 14:43 GMT+02:00 devin davison :
>
>> Placed a bid, i have access. To a good scanner, will scan and upload once
>> it arrives .
>>
>
> A bid has been placed. I hope that this is from someone here so that it
> might end up at bitsavers. I am not intending to start a bidding war.
>
> /Mattis
>
>
>> On Apr 6, 2017 8:28 AM, "Mattis Lind via cctalk" 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> http://www.ebay.com/itm/361940854169
>>>
>>> One of them does not seems to be at bitsavers.
>>>
>>> The shipping is way to high to have them shipped to Sweden and scanned.
>>> Maybe someone in the US would care to buy and scan it?
>>>
>>> /Mattis
>>>
>>
>

Re: DOS-11/BATCH-11 manuals on Ebay

[Noel Chiappa via cctalk]

> From: Mattis Lind

> One of them does not seems to be at bitsavers.

That's on my list of items to get.

I have a page-feed scanner, so will easily be able to scan this (although
I'll have to get some instruction on exactly what incantation to use to
Acrobat to turn the TIFF's into a PDF; apparently "PDF/A", supposedly for
archival purposes, is apparently not in fact desirable for that).

Noel

Re: DOS-11/BATCH-11 manuals on Ebay

[Mattis Lind via cctalk]

2017-04-06 14:43 GMT+02:00 devin davison :

> Placed a bid, i have access. To a good scanner, will scan and upload once
> it arrives .
>

A bid has been placed. I hope that this is from someone here so that it
might end up at bitsavers. I am not intending to start a bidding war.

/Mattis


> On Apr 6, 2017 8:28 AM, "Mattis Lind via cctalk" 
> wrote:
>
>> http://www.ebay.com/itm/361940854169
>>
>> One of them does not seems to be at bitsavers.
>>
>> The shipping is way to high to have them shipped to Sweden and scanned.
>> Maybe someone in the US would care to buy and scan it?
>>
>> /Mattis
>>
>

Re: DOS-11/BATCH-11 manuals on Ebay

[devin davison via cctalk]

Placed a bid, i have access. To a good scanner, will scan and upload once
it arrives .
On Apr 6, 2017 8:28 AM, "Mattis Lind via cctalk" 
wrote:

> http://www.ebay.com/itm/361940854169
>
> One of them does not seems to be at bitsavers.
>
> The shipping is way to high to have them shipped to Sweden and scanned.
> Maybe someone in the US would care to buy and scan it?
>
> /Mattis
>

DOS-11/BATCH-11 manuals on Ebay

[Mattis Lind via cctalk]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/361940854169

One of them does not seems to be at bitsavers.

The shipping is way to high to have them shipped to Sweden and scanned.
Maybe someone in the US would care to buy and scan it?

/Mattis

Re: SimH PDP-8 simulator plays music

[Randy Dawson via cctalk]

Kudos!


That is awesome Kyle, and sounds great.


Have you had a look at Max B. Mathews MUSIC4BF?


Old FORTRAN dusty deck I want to bring up, it is not realtime like yours, but 
calcs wavetable (or DAC) output for later processes.


Anybody found the source for this?


Randy



From: cctalk  on behalf of Kyle Owen via cctalk 

Sent: Wednesday, April 5, 2017 7:43 AM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: SimH PDP-8 simulator plays music

I suspected that I could somehow get some music out of the SimH PDP-8
simulator for a while now, if I could only make it run real time and toggle
a GPIO pin fast enough say, on a Raspberry Pi. That may still be doable in
the future, but I also had a suspicion that I could generate music not in
real time.

I finally got around to trying out my idea last night. A few lines were
added to pdp8_cpu.c to spit out the elapsed instruction cycles every time a
CAF instruction is executed, the default "noise" instruction in the MUSIC.PA
program.

That's all I did to the simulator. I then ran MUSIC with a given .MU file
and watched as many integers are spit out onto the screen. These were
copied and pasted into a new text file and saved.

The rest of it is in a single C program that I cobbled together. It reads
in this new text file and generates a series of pulses as an array of
floats. Each interval is about 1.93 microseconds, which I calculated to be
the average number of pulses for the music program to be "in tune" with
A=440 Hz, plus or minus. This value is subject to change, particularly as
the notes get higher in frequency, but only by perhaps 6% or so from my
experiments. One detail to note is that per the recommendation of the
MUSIC.PA manual, these pulses are extended to roughly 6 microseconds, or
three time intervals in my program.

This array of floats is then downsampled use libsamplerate to 44.1 kHz
(from 1/1.93 microseconds, or roughly 520 kHz) and output to a canonical
WAV file, 16-bit single channel.

What do you know, it worked! Here's a sample:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_urDcyluX9c
[https://www.bing.com/th?id=OVF.X4rar%2fthDhiKS0hGfDpAGA=Api]

Maple Leaf Rag - SimH PDP-8
www.youtube.com
I made a hacked version of SimH's PDP-8 simulator which outputs timestamps 
every time a certain instruction is executed. When used with the music program, 
MU...



My code can be found here, for those interested:
https://github.com/drovak/music

Presumably, this technique could be used to generate music from any given
computer simulator.

Thanks,

Kyle