Your Heatkkit EC-1 analog computer

2019-07-29 Thread Randy Dawson via cctalk
Hi Jeff,
I have hundreds of crystals here for you, and built a crystal tester (Jim 
Williams app note)
https://www.analog.com/media/en/technical-documentation/application-notes/an12fa.pdf
AN12 - Circuit Techniques for Clock 
Sources
Application Note 12 AN12-3 an12fa Figures 4a and 4b use another comparator 
based approach. In Figure 4a, the LT1016 comparator is set up with DC
www.analog.com
Brian and I are keen on making a new analog computer, possibly a kit.  All new 
things, like the Analog Devices multipliers, better op amps etc, and possibly a 
USB, MIDI interface.
Let us know how you come along on your bringup of the EC-1.
The Heath manuals are the best in analog computing, on actual hardware.
Randy


Re: Ill NLS MS-230

2019-07-29 Thread Jim Brain via cctalk

On 7/29/2019 9:24 PM, allison via cctalk wrote:


Since you replaced the batteries did you check the fuse?

Yep, good.

Also the 4066s

Hmm, all mine are soldered in.  Do you suggest I desolder and check?

sometimes get cranky and/or the sockets.

Only one '00 has a socket.


The tough fail would be the CRT. Check the heater pins with a multimeter
to see if its open (unplug it as there is a transformer winding across
it).

I'll check.

Mine needed one when I got it but they were available then (1977)
from NLS. Side effect of the hammer mechanic owner.  Now it would be a
hunt though old tube brokers.
Yep, I know that'd be the main issue, but I am hopeful it's something 
less problematic.


Allison



--
Jim Brain
br...@jbrain.com
www.jbrain.com



Re: Ill NLS MS-230

2019-07-29 Thread allison via cctalk
On 7/29/19 9:34 PM, Jim Brain via cctalk wrote:
> I have an ill NLS MS-230 Miniscope.  Is there anyone on list that might
> be interested in getting it running for me?  I'm willing pay for the
> privilege.  I'd like to see the unit working, but I have no experience
> with analog scopes, and I'd rather just entrust it to someone who can
> see it to success.  I did replace the batteries and let it charge for
> quite a while.  The red LED lights up on the front when on, but no sign
> of a trace, even when fed a known good 1kHz wave.  The CRT does not
> appear to be on.
> 
> Anyone a fan of these units and might be interested in taking a look?
> 
> Jim
> 
Jim,

I have a MS15 miniscope that has been my backup since '77.  Good tool
and I got that one in "not working" condition. I've worked on a few
MS-215s over the years.  Right now I'm up to my eyes with stuff to do
but but if no one answers you, maybe in the late fall (after October).

If you don't have the manual its on BAMA and a few other sites.

Since you replaced the batteries did you check the fuse?  Also the 4066s
sometimes get cranky and/or the sockets.

The tough fail would be the CRT. Check the heater pins with a multimeter
to see if its open (unplug it as there is a transformer winding across
it).  Mine needed one when I got it but they were available then (1977)
from NLS. Side effect of the hammer mechanic owner.  Now it would be a
hunt though old tube brokers.

Allison


Ill NLS MS-230

2019-07-29 Thread Jim Brain via cctalk
I have an ill NLS MS-230 Miniscope.  Is there anyone on list that might 
be interested in getting it running for me?  I'm willing pay for the 
privilege.  I'd like to see the unit working, but I have no experience 
with analog scopes, and I'd rather just entrust it to someone who can 
see it to success.  I did replace the batteries and let it charge for 
quite a while.  The red LED lights up on the front when on, but no sign 
of a trace, even when fed a known good 1kHz wave.  The CRT does not 
appear to be on.


Anyone a fan of these units and might be interested in taking a look?

Jim

--
Jim Brain
br...@jbrain.com
www.jbrain.com



Re: OT: Reflowing GPUs and the fruit company (was Re: Resurrecting integrated circuits by cooking them.)

2019-07-29 Thread Jerry Weiss via cctalk

On 7/28/19 8:33 PM, Jay Jaeger via cctalk wrote:

On 7/28/2019 4:24 PM, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote:

On 7/28/19 1:02 PM, Jerry Weiss via cctalk wrote:

This method is not limited to "vintage" components.

My MacBook Pro 2011 fails dues to its (famous) problem with the discrete
AMD GPU connections.   A reflow restores the laptop, but inevitably I
have repeat the process every few months. Depending on who you believe,
the fault is with the A) poor thermal design, b) BGA solder used or C)
bumps on the AMD GPU itself.  The reflow is easy enough to do, but
disconnecting the very fragile cables to remove the motherboard is not
for everyone. Using an inexpensive infrared thermometer improves the the
process.


And of course, the solder is Pb-free...


--Chuck



Exactly.  And machines of that era had a lot of problems (I have
reflowed two early PS/3's a total of three times, and a MacBook) as
manufacturers climbed the learning curve.  The Microsoft XBox 360 "Red
Ring of Death" was another instance.


I sometimes wonder if I  leave the MBP in alone/unused for a year, 
whether it would heal itself by growing some "tin whiskers"






Re: Searching digital copy of KD11-K (PDP-11/60) Processor Technical Manual

2019-07-29 Thread Warner Losh via cctalk
On Mon, Jul 29, 2019, 12:46 PM Henk Gooijen via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> Hi Guys,
>
> I am trying to get my PDP-11/60 up and running,
> and I very much like to read the Processor Technical Manual.
> It’s “name” is EK-KD11K-TM and I am looking for a PDF of it.
>
> I do have this manual on a microfiche, but reading a manual
> from the fiche reader screen is not much fun. Maybe I need
> to find a municipal service that allows you to copy fiche images
> one by one on A4 paper. The city of Venlo had that in the 1990ies,
> and I used it to copy the cache manual of the 11/34 from fiche
> to paper back then.
>

Maybe they can copy it to a PDF these days...

Warner

>


Re: OT^2: Marketish fever [was: Reflowing GPUs and the fruit company (was Re: Resurrecting integrated circuits by cooking them.)]

2019-07-29 Thread Tomasz Rola via cctalk
On Mon, Jul 29, 2019 at 09:21:34AM -0400, Ray Arachelian via cctalk wrote:
[...]
> Overall though I think the $40 I spent to get another 1.8 years out the
> machine was worth the trouble - not that it's performant or anything
> like that, but because it is the last of its line. Supposedly next year
> they'll make a 16" one, but I won't be buying it unless they add in DIMM
> slots, replaceable batteries, standard M2/NVME SSD drives, a headphone
> jack and multiple ports (not just two measly USB-C ports), and a
> keyboard with real travel so it doesn't feel like you're typing on a
> screen. And I know that won't happen, so that's why two years ago, I got
> a high end laptop (17" 4K display, 1070GPU, i7, 64G RAM) and put Linux
> on it - and it cost about the same as a 15" MBP with half the specs. I
> don't think I'm going back. 

Few years ago I was looking to buy some simple, inexpensive cellphones
for two. In a store, there was about dozen of cheap Nokia models, all
different in names, colors and shapes, but mostly very same for
innards: a 128x128 lcd, vga camera, java (i.e. midp) and about 500kb
of ram. Or something like this. Not a single model with just nine/or
twelve/ keys and 2x16 lcd, without half baked low-end whistles which I
never intended to use. I spent quite a bit of time browsing
javascripted shop and clickingmoreforspecs and ended a little bit
enraged. I think not many people noticed when some time later Nokia
finally flopped and I cannot say I was sorry for them. I suppose the
story of rise and gutting-in-the-air of flying cell phone giant would
make an interesting movie, but I am not holding my breath. At a time,
it appeared that their management went totally nuts.

-- 
Regards,
Tomasz Rola

--
** A C programmer asked whether computer had Buddha's nature.  **
** As the answer, master did "rm -rif" on the programmer's home**
** directory. And then the C programmer became enlightened...  **
** **
** Tomasz Rola  mailto:tomasz_r...@bigfoot.com **


Searching digital copy of KD11-K (PDP-11/60) Processor Technical Manual

2019-07-29 Thread Henk Gooijen via cctalk
Hi Guys,

I am trying to get my PDP-11/60 up and running,
and I very much like to read the Processor Technical Manual.
It’s “name” is EK-KD11K-TM and I am looking for a PDF of it.

I do have this manual on a microfiche, but reading a manual
from the fiche reader screen is not much fun. Maybe I need
to find a municipal service that allows you to copy fiche images
one by one on A4 paper. The city of Venlo had that in the 1990ies,
and I used it to copy the cache manual of the 11/34 from fiche
to paper back then.

Thanks, Henk




OT: Reflowing GPUs and the fruit company (was Re: Resurrecting integrated circuits by cooking them.)

2019-07-29 Thread Ray Arachelian via cctalk
Yup, I've had this issue too and it does come back every so often. The
first time it lasted nearly a year. The second time, it lasted about 9
months.
At some point it will fail to work, or I'll wind up actually damaging
the chip and then it won't work anymore.

Come to think of it, my very first intel macbook pro which I had back
around 2004 or 2005 when it came out also died of a GPU death - I no
longer have this, but I'd bet it would also be fixable the same way.

Shame that the last of the 17" Macbooks is so easily killed as they're
very collectible as they're the last of the 17" as well as the last of
the macbooks to have end user replaceable RAM, drives and even batteries
(though you have to open the case to do this, and no, they're not glued
in.) Hope this issue doesn't affect the 17" G4 PowerBooks as those are
really neat, but so far that one's been working great.


I used an inexpensive air reflow workstation (was ~$40 off amazon and
it's really just a very precise hair drier) and a lot of time. I started
slowly bringing the heat nozzle down from about 6 inches all the way
down to about an 1" or 2" away from the chip itself.
I think I used 220-250'C on the thing, and then I left it alone for a
few hours to slowly dissipate the heat and made sure I didn't touch the
table it was on to prevent vibrations from messing up the shape of the
solder balls, maybe I was overly protective, but it did work.
The sad thing is that even with really good thermal compound and using a
fan base on that machine, it still happens. Going above 300'C risks
melting plastic parts, delaminating the board, etc.

That laptop is poorly designed, and like many of the newer versions
today suffer from heat issues. I don't know what the point of having a
high end i7 or i9 in a laptop is if you can't use it because it will
overheat and it will start slowing itself down. I suspect it's not a
"pro" feature as much as a marketing feature. I think, before they
turned evil around 2012 or so with soldered in RAM, glued in batteries,
and on motherboard soldered in SSD, their stuff used to easily last
10-20 years. Now, they're just littering land fills...

You're right about the flex cables, you have to be really patient and
very careful. I did break one connector off the motherboard the last
time I did it, but it didn't affect operation, not sure what it was for,
likely the optical drive that I never use. That's another issue, the
plastic gets brittle and fragile and the connectors also break, not just
the flex cables. It's also hard to remember which way a plug gets
released. Some have a little hinge above them that you have to pop open
which releases the cable, others slide in, and others are press-down.
The iFixIt manuals help a bit, but they're not always clear on which
cable needs what, and it's very easy to use too much force and break
something. :(

Overall though I think the $40 I spent to get another 1.8 years out the
machine was worth the trouble - not that it's performant or anything
like that, but because it is the last of its line. Supposedly next year
they'll make a 16" one, but I won't be buying it unless they add in DIMM
slots, replaceable batteries, standard M2/NVME SSD drives, a headphone
jack and multiple ports (not just two measly USB-C ports), and a
keyboard with real travel so it doesn't feel like you're typing on a
screen. And I know that won't happen, so that's why two years ago, I got
a high end laptop (17" 4K display, 1070GPU, i7, 64G RAM) and put Linux
on it - and it cost about the same as a 15" MBP with half the specs. I
don't think I'm going back. 

Even running Gallium OS on an $300 Acer R11 Chromebook feels as
responsive as macOS on one of their $1000 lighter laptops and lasts for
about 10 hours. And even better, it can be used in tablet mode, so no
need for an iPad.

I guess what it boils down to is that I'm still a fan of "Apple
Computer, Inc." but that  I never really became a fan of "Apple, Inc."
:-)  Sad really. In a way it feels a lot like MicroSoft back in the late
90s. Hopefully, like the new Microsoft, they'll wake up and be less evil
in the future.

And I'm still waiting for them to release the Lisa OS sources. :-D


On 7/28/19 4:02 PM, Jerry Weiss via cctalk wrote:
> This method is not limited to "vintage" components.
>
> My MacBook Pro 2011 fails dues to its (famous) problem with the
> discrete AMD GPU connections.   A reflow restores the laptop, but
> inevitably I have repeat the process every few months. Depending on
> who you believe, the fault is with the A) poor thermal design, b) BGA
> solder used or C) bumps on the AMD GPU itself.  The reflow is easy
> enough to do, but disconnecting the very fragile cables to remove the
> motherboard is not for everyone. Using an inexpensive infrared
> thermometer improves the the process.
>
>     Jerry
>
> On 7/27/19 3:50 PM, Jeffrey S. Worley via cctalk wrote:
>> On Wed, 2019-07-24 at 21:24 -0400, Pete Rittwage wrote:
>> I did some lookup on the reflow