Re: German Translation, Serial Port?

2018-08-09 Thread Rico Pajarola via cctalk
Sperrschritt is the stop bit, for the rest Google translate did quite well
;)

Operations mode: Asynchronous 16
Character length: 7 bit (with stop bit)
Parity: even
stop bit length: 1 bit

I have no idea what Asynchronous 16 could be, maybe a hint at the higher
level protocol?


On Thu, Aug 9, 2018 at 8:39 PM, W2HX via cctalk 
wrote:

> Hello friends. I need a translation from a German manual describing serial
> port parameters. I used google translate but it  doesn't quite give me the
> warm and fuzzy. Anyone here speak German? Here is what it says:
>
> Betriebsart:  Asynchron 16
> Zeichenlänge:  7 bit (mit Sperrschritt)
> Parity: gerade
> Länge Sperrschritt: 1 bit
>
> Google says:
> Operating mode: Asynchronous 16
> Character length: 7 bit (with blocking step)
> Parity: straight
> Length of blocking step: 1 bit
>
> First, anyone have any idea what Asynchronous 16 means? (async I get, but
> "16"?)
> 7 bit with blocking step. Could this mean 7 bit with stop bit?
> Parity: straight. Could this mean odd or even?
> Length of blocking step. Could this be number of stop bits?
>
> I am attempting to translate some pages in this manual and would like to
> get this right (for others who may find this info useful).
>
> Thank you!!! (or should I say Danke?!)
>
>
> 73 Eugene W2HX
> PS. This is for an HF antenna coupler that can be controlled over a serial
> port.
>
>


Re: German Translation, Serial Port?

2018-08-09 Thread Bill Gunshannon via cctalk


On 08/09/2018 09:39 PM, W2HX via cctalk wrote:
> Hello friends. I need a translation from a German manual describing serial 
> port parameters. I used google translate but it  doesn't quite give me the 
> warm and fuzzy. Anyone here speak German? Here is what it says:
>
> Betriebsart:  Asynchron 16
> Zeichenlänge:  7 bit (mit Sperrschritt)
> Parity: gerade
> Länge Sperrschritt: 1 bit
>
> Google says:
> Operating mode: Asynchronous 16
> Character length: 7 bit (with blocking step)
> Parity: straight
> Length of blocking step: 1 bit
>
> First, anyone have any idea what Asynchronous 16 means? (async I get, but 
> "16"?)
> 7 bit with blocking step. Could this mean 7 bit with stop bit?
> Parity: straight. Could this mean odd or even?
> Length of blocking step. Could this be number of stop bits?
>
>

I don't know what they mean by Asynchron 16 but the rest ins quite normal.

For Parity "gerade" means even.
"Sperrschritt" is Stop Bits.

So you have:
   7 bit
   even parity
   one stop bit.

It's possible that the 16 refers to baud rate.  Is there a table of any 
kind in
the manual?  Is it big?  Could you provide a scan?

bill  KB3YV (formerly DA1WO)



German Translation, Serial Port?

2018-08-09 Thread W2HX via cctalk
Hello friends. I need a translation from a German manual describing serial port 
parameters. I used google translate but it  doesn't quite give me the warm and 
fuzzy. Anyone here speak German? Here is what it says:

Betriebsart:  Asynchron 16
Zeichenlänge:  7 bit (mit Sperrschritt)
Parity: gerade
Länge Sperrschritt: 1 bit

Google says:
Operating mode: Asynchronous 16
Character length: 7 bit (with blocking step)
Parity: straight
Length of blocking step: 1 bit

First, anyone have any idea what Asynchronous 16 means? (async I get, but "16"?)
7 bit with blocking step. Could this mean 7 bit with stop bit?
Parity: straight. Could this mean odd or even?
Length of blocking step. Could this be number of stop bits?

I am attempting to translate some pages in this manual and would like to get 
this right (for others who may find this info useful).

Thank you!!! (or should I say Danke?!)


73 Eugene W2HX
PS. This is for an HF antenna coupler that can be controlled over a serial port.



ssh to tweenex.org

2018-08-09 Thread Stéphane Tsacas via cctalk
Hi,

Did anyone manage to connect to tweenex,org through ssh now that telnet
port is closed ?
I received an mail that says :
TELNET access to twenex.org has been changed to only support SSH via the
SSH passthru user twe...@sdf.org.

without saying which password should be used ...

Thanks

-- 
stéphane tsacas


Re: Fairly Extensive Singer/Friden "System Ten" Computer System for Rescue

2018-08-09 Thread Jerry Weiss via cctalk

On 8/8/18 11:39 PM, Jason T via cctalk wrote:

While I'm not claiming the system, I've let Rick know that I'm close
to it and willing to help facilitate a rescue of at least some of the
lot.

Hi,

I don't have a personal interest in the system, but if you need another 
hand to help with the hauling drop me a line..


Regards,
Jerry

j...@ieee.org


Re: Clock batteries...

2018-08-09 Thread Grant Taylor via cctalk
Thank you for the very detailed reply Greg.  I greatly appreciate it and 
will be re-reading it to assimilate the information you shared.




--
Grant. . . .
unix || die


Re: Fairly Extensive Singer/Friden "System Ten" Computer System for Rescue

2018-08-09 Thread Shoppa, Tim via cctalk
I had been told for decades that there was a flight simulator that used a 
Singer System Ten and that United Airlines operated it outside Chicago for some 
unreasonably long time.

This was "Urban Legend you wouldn't believe it but that's what the bosses 
wanted" stuff back in the 1990's. Using a business computer (especially one 
that looked like an overgrown Frieden calculators from the 1960's) to run a 
flight simulator always seemed odd to me, to the point of making the story not 
quite believable.

Other Singer-Link flight simulators that I knew of, used GP4's or Sigma-5's and 
then the Sigma-5 clones.

Tim N3QE


Re: Fairly Extensive Singer/Friden "System Ten" Computer System for Rescue

2018-08-09 Thread Paul Anderson via cctalk
Hi Rick,

I'm 2 or 3 hours from there, have have had too mary back surgeries and
replacement parts to help a lot, but depending on timing i might be able to
help some. It's possible I could even drive a truckload out east. We are
thinking of going out in Oct if you find a home out there. Keep me in the
loop.

Who knows, if someone picks up the expenses, we could go earlier or maybe
out west.

Thanks, Paul

On Wed, Aug 8, 2018 at 9:13 PM, Rick Bensene via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> Through my Old Calculator Museum website, I have been contacted by a
> gentleman that has a fairly substantial Singer/Friden
> System 10 that is located in a building that the business wants to clear
> out.
>
> The computer system is slated to end up in a dumpster if it isn't
> rescued.
>
> The place the machine was stored is indoors, in an office-like space in
> a larger warehouse style building.  The space was not temperature
> controlled, but there are no signs of water damage or serious corrosion.
> Some critters (probably mice) have been inside the cabinets of the
> system, but the contact said that there were no obvious signs that they
> chewed anything up.  The system is very dusty (it was not covered), and
> it appears that some panels on the cabinets may have been removed, but
> are probably with the system.
> Some stuff appears to be partly disassembled.  There also might be some
> spare parts, e.g., circuit boards.
>
> The system consists of a CPU, probably a Model 20, two Model 80 Display
> Terminals, a line printer of some sort, and two Mode 40 disk-pack (aka
> dishwasher-sized) disk drives.   There are quite a few Model 41 disk
> packs there..   There also appears to be some documentation.  There may
> also be some kind of magtape drive with the system, as there is a rack
> full of 7 or 9-track tapes hanging in it.  Not sure if these are
> included with the system, though.
>
> Here is a link to some photos of the system:
>
> http://pail.bensene.com/Singer10
>
> Beware that the web host does not have much upstream bandwidth, and the
> photos are pretty high resolution, so downloading them may take some
> time.  Most of the photos are between 1.8 and 2.5 megabytes in size.
>
> there is some documentation on the Singer System Ten up on Bitsavers at
> http://bitsavers.org/pdf/singer/systemTen .  Some of the documentation
> there is for the equipment that is available.
>
> These systems aren't very common, and there likely aren't all that many
> of them left in existence.  Singer sold a lot of these systems into
> retail outlets as part of one of the first online Point-of-Sale systems.
> One notable account was Sears and Roebuck, who installed a huge
> networked (via Modem) environment using System Ten machines in stores to
> run Point-of-Sale systems, with modem links to larger systems that
> collected the information, and usually fed it to even larger systems
> (e.g., IBM mainframe) for inventory management, bookkeeping, and other
> large corporate-level reporting/management systems.  However, the
> system aged quickly, as other competitors came onto the Point-of-Sale
> scene very quickly, with systems that were less expensive, more
> reliable, and more easily maintained.  Many of the Singer systems in
> large retailers were replaced within a few years of being put into
> service.  There was little market for "used" systems, so most all of
> them taken out of service went for scrap.
>
> The System 10 CPU was pretty unique in that it had "hardware"-based
> timesharing.   The system managed time-slicing between "partitions" in
> main memory (magnetic core) with hardware that provided a fixed
> timeslice to each partition, switching to the next either when the
> time-slice  ran out, or certain instructions (e.g., I/O) were executed
> that would trigger an immediate context switch. The system had hardware
> protection for the partitions to isolate the partitions from each other,
> allowing them to run independently.  There was a shared and a read-only
> system partition which could facilitate inter-partition communications
> and management functions.
> Pretty cool for a design done in the late '60's.
>
> It'd be a real shame for this system to end up in the trash, which is
> exactly where it will go if a home can't be found for it relatively soon
> (e.g., next couple of weeks).
>
> The system is located in West Chicago, IL.
>
> It's all pretty sizable, so, you'd probably need a small
> commercial-style moving van with a lift-gate (the stuff is likely quite
> heavy, especially the disk drives) to haul it.  You would also probably
> need a heavy-duty hand-truck or two, and some strong straps.   You'd
> need some muscle, too.  I suspect it'd be more than a 1-man job.
>
> My  contact wants it out of there.  You just have to come get it and
> haul it away.
>
> If you have any serious interest in rescuing this system, drop me an
> Email, and I'll put you in touch with my contact.
>
> Hopefully someone out 

Re: Fairly Extensive Singer/Friden "System Ten" Computer System for Rescue

2018-08-09 Thread Pontus Pihlgren via cctalk
I've made a temporary mirror here:

http://www.update.uu.se/~pontus/slask/Singer10/

I even tried to rotate some of the photos.

I believe this is the system that Singer sued DEC over the name 
DECsystem-10.

Perhaps LCM wants it for that reason :)

/P

On Wed, Aug 08, 2018 at 07:13:31PM -0700, Rick Bensene via cctalk wrote:
> Through my Old Calculator Museum website, I have been contacted by a
> gentleman that has a fairly substantial Singer/Friden
> System 10 that is located in a building that the business wants to clear
> out.
> 
> The computer system is slated to end up in a dumpster if it isn't
> rescued.
> 
> The place the machine was stored is indoors, in an office-like space in
> a larger warehouse style building.  The space was not temperature
> controlled, but there are no signs of water damage or serious corrosion.
> Some critters (probably mice) have been inside the cabinets of the
> system, but the contact said that there were no obvious signs that they
> chewed anything up.  The system is very dusty (it was not covered), and
> it appears that some panels on the cabinets may have been removed, but
> are probably with the system.
> Some stuff appears to be partly disassembled.  There also might be some
> spare parts, e.g., circuit boards.
> 
> The system consists of a CPU, probably a Model 20, two Model 80 Display
> Terminals, a line printer of some sort, and two Mode 40 disk-pack (aka
> dishwasher-sized) disk drives.   There are quite a few Model 41 disk
> packs there..   There also appears to be some documentation.  There may
> also be some kind of magtape drive with the system, as there is a rack
> full of 7 or 9-track tapes hanging in it.  Not sure if these are
> included with the system, though. 
> 
> Here is a link to some photos of the system:
> 
> http://pail.bensene.com/Singer10
> 
> Beware that the web host does not have much upstream bandwidth, and the
> photos are pretty high resolution, so downloading them may take some
> time.  Most of the photos are between 1.8 and 2.5 megabytes in size.
> 
> there is some documentation on the Singer System Ten up on Bitsavers at
> http://bitsavers.org/pdf/singer/systemTen .  Some of the documentation
> there is for the equipment that is available.
> 
> These systems aren't very common, and there likely aren't all that many
> of them left in existence.  Singer sold a lot of these systems into
> retail outlets as part of one of the first online Point-of-Sale systems.
> One notable account was Sears and Roebuck, who installed a huge
> networked (via Modem) environment using System Ten machines in stores to
> run Point-of-Sale systems, with modem links to larger systems that
> collected the information, and usually fed it to even larger systems
> (e.g., IBM mainframe) for inventory management, bookkeeping, and other
> large corporate-level reporting/management systems.  However, the
> system aged quickly, as other competitors came onto the Point-of-Sale
> scene very quickly, with systems that were less expensive, more
> reliable, and more easily maintained.  Many of the Singer systems in
> large retailers were replaced within a few years of being put into
> service.  There was little market for "used" systems, so most all of
> them taken out of service went for scrap.
> 
> The System 10 CPU was pretty unique in that it had "hardware"-based
> timesharing.   The system managed time-slicing between "partitions" in
> main memory (magnetic core) with hardware that provided a fixed
> timeslice to each partition, switching to the next either when the
> time-slice  ran out, or certain instructions (e.g., I/O) were executed
> that would trigger an immediate context switch. The system had hardware
> protection for the partitions to isolate the partitions from each other,
> allowing them to run independently.  There was a shared and a read-only
> system partition which could facilitate inter-partition communications
> and management functions.
> Pretty cool for a design done in the late '60's.   
> 
> It'd be a real shame for this system to end up in the trash, which is
> exactly where it will go if a home can't be found for it relatively soon
> (e.g., next couple of weeks).
> 
> The system is located in West Chicago, IL.   
> 
> It's all pretty sizable, so, you'd probably need a small
> commercial-style moving van with a lift-gate (the stuff is likely quite
> heavy, especially the disk drives) to haul it.  You would also probably
> need a heavy-duty hand-truck or two, and some strong straps.   You'd
> need some muscle, too.  I suspect it'd be more than a 1-man job.
> 
> My  contact wants it out of there.  You just have to come get it and
> haul it away.   
> 
> If you have any serious interest in rescuing this system, drop me an
> Email, and I'll put you in touch with my contact.
> 
> Hopefully someone out there can give this machine a new home.
> Email:  rickb .at. bensene .dot. com
> 
> 
> Rick Bensene
> The Old Calculator Museum
>