Hello, all,
In mid-June, I am planning a trip to Mountain View for two days to visit the
Computer History Museum.
I plan on flying out of Portland early AM on June 14, checking into hotel, then
heading straight to the museum for the day.
I will go back to the hotel for the evening, and return
Dwight wrote:
> The Olivetti used a piece of wire for the delay line.
The Programma 101 indeed used a delay line. Such delay lines use
magnetostrictive means to push a torque pulse into one end of the wire,
as well as detect a torque twist at the other end of the wire.
Magnetostrictive
> I was helping out someone here locally to dig thru a pile of electronics that
> he had obtained in helping out a woman clean out her house.
> Her husband passed away and she wanted the space back. Apparently the
> husband "somehow" dealt in HW repair.
> A good number of the items were known
Sorry all, this was meant to be a personal Email. Still haven't gotten used
to the new way that the list works.
My apologies.
-Rick
-Original Message-
From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Rick Bensene
via cctalk
Sent: Monday, April 17, 2017 1:11 PM
Glen S. wrote:
>QBus ESDI controllers are relatively cheap. I have several Emulex QD21, Dilog
>DQ696, and Sigma SDC-RQD11 QBus ESDI controllers. The >problem I have with
>them is that I now have more controllers than working ESDI drives. Some of the
>drives that I had which were >working have
This is a truly wonderful accomplishment, as well as a great remembrance of a
true genius in early electronic calculator design, not to mention computer
design.
Stan Frankel isn't all that well known, but those that do know of him hold him
in high regard. He was a master of minimizing
Tony D. wrote:
> Are any DEC enthusiasts here jealous of this :
>https://www.flickr.com/photos/tony_duell/33427116663/in/dateposted-public/
Interesting coincidence. I was digging through some boxes of stuff yesterday,
and I came across two sets of these in really nice condition. Haven't
Steve wrote:
>I acquired an RC11 flip chip set with the FOX 2 (PDP-11/15). Although I don't
>have a schematic for them, I do have the schematic print >set for the
>controller for the fixed-head / drum that Foxboro supplied which was a DDC
>6200.
Check this out:
Chris G. wrote:
>This reminds me of something I wanted to ask for some time:
>I've got a Tektronix 8560 where the internal hard disk is not that much
>reliable anymore. No read/write errors, but after running for >some time (btw.
>24h and 48h) it seems to reset.
>Spin-down, spin-up, etc. until
This eBay listing makes me really happy that I bought a beautifully kept,
spotlessly clean Programma 101 with original dust cover, power cord, and
original sales receipt from Portland Typewriter & Office Machine Co. (Portland,
Oregon) for $300 in early 2013 from the original owner.The
Al K. wrote:
>there are two versions. the 1981 8560 uses microp 1200, later ones have xebec
>1410 and are sasi
>070-3899-00_8560_MSDU_Installation_Guide_Nov81.pdf
>070-4759-00_8560_8561_8562_Service_Mar84.pdf
If the 8560 in question uses the 8" hard disk drive from Micropolis, then
Bitsavers
Grumpy Ol' Fred wrote:
>Yes, 1968-1973 had time-sharing for personal computing, but not
"personal computers"
We tend to forget about earlier "personal" computers...machines that
were generally designed for one individual to be able to sit down and
use interactively. That isn't to say that said
On 11/15/2017 11:59 AM, Rick Bensene via cctalk wrote:
> While the definition of the term "personal computer" varies depending
> on who is using the term, these machines, and others like them, were
> designed to be used at a much more personal level than the large-scale
&
I wrote:
>> While the definition of the term "personal computer" varies depending
>> on who is using the term, these machines, and others like them, were
>> designed to be used at a much more personal level than the
large-scale
>> mainframe machines housed in the glass-walled rooms where only
This is a wire rope ROM, but it is unpopulated, meaning that there are no wires
strung through the cores to encode anything.
The little pegs located below the cores are for routing the wire.
The diodes are all for address selection, and the circuitry above the cores is
the sense amplifiers to
Many moons ago, at Tektronix, I did a stint working in the Scientific Computer
Center's Computer-Aided Design Development group.
There was a software package, written in FORTRAN (77, I believe) on Tek's
Control Data Cyber 73 system running KRONOS, called PIRATE.
It was an automated circuit board
Paul wrote, concerning my "fireworks" show on the DD60 console of
Tektronix' Cyber 73 system:
>That's really weird. Here's why. The DD60 only has a single set of
X/Y drive chains. It's all differential, so there are four of
everything, ?>ending up at the pair of X and pair of Y plates of the
Speaking of CDC 6x00/Cyber 70-series consoles...
I had a bit of a scary but memorable experience of sitting at the console of a
Cyber 73, many years ago.
My job as a systems operator basically involved watching the console for
magtape mount/dismount requests, printer service requests (e.g.,
Ed Sharpe wrote:
>what about xenon processors??
Xenon? You mean the processor jointly developed by Microsoft & IBM based on
the PowerPC architecture, developed and used in the Xbox 360?
Or perhaps did you mean Xeon (note no N in the middle)? There is a big
difference.
Don't know if the
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
Daniel S wrote:
> Got the call yesterday. Transplant operation was a success. Still at
the hospital recovering. Will update when able.
That is fantastic and blessed news! Best to you for a quick and healthy
recovery. You've got a lot of classiccmp folks keeping you in their
thoughts and
Dan Veeneman via cctalk wrote:
>
> I recently received the following request:
>
>> I just recently found a (9 or 7 track?) tape of mine made on an
>> HP2000 (probably C, maybe F) in 1977 from a DUMP of two accounts.
>> I've had it for 40 years with nothing to process it. Now I have
>> simh to
Not knowing what the size actually is, it looks familiar. Given the bootprints
on it, it looks like it's a pretty good-sized chunk of aluminum. It reminds
me of the back panel of some of the Sun 3/2xx and 4/2xx server chassis. Large,
heavy switching power supply and backplane inside. Even
Liam Proven wrote:
>On the one hand, the cosmetics. *Every* Unix desktop out there draws
>on Win95.
I take exception to the "*Every*" in Liam's statement above.
Replacing "Unix" with "Linux" would make the statement more correct.
X-Windows-based desktop metaphor UI's existed within the Unix
Earlier, I wrote:
>> The whole desktop metaphor UI existed long before Windows 95 in non-Unix
>> implementations by Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research >>Center) with the
>> pioneering Xerox Alto, introduced in 1973, which implemented Alan Kay's
>> concepts for the desktop metaphor that >>were
Curious Marc wrote:
>Curiously, the Xerox Alto has quite advanced GUI and object oriented
>programming (including the smalltalk windowing environment), >but no desktop
>metaphor or icons that I have seen. I believe desktop metaphors appear later
>in the Alto commercial successor, the >Xerox
>Soon to be picked up and brought home. Lots of documentation with it as
>well. Christmas came early, eager to get it home and set up.
What a beauty! In amazing condition.
Modcomp have a place in my heart, as an earlier Modcomp was the front-end
communications processor for Tektronix'
Hi, everyone,
Myself and my friend Mike, representing the Old Calculator Museum,
exhibited the line of Wang Laboratories electronic calculators at the
Vintage Computer Federation's Vintage Computer Festival/Pacific
Northwest edition, at the Living Computer Museum+Labs in Seattle,
Washington this
In an earlier posting, I stated that the 4014 (with its 19" DVST tube)
was the largest DVST display that Tektronix made, to which
Paul K. responded:
> An article about those terminals also turns up the 4016 (25 inch tube
-- 4014 is 19 inches). I'm not sure any more which of the two it
> was.
I
Bill D. wrote:
>Random question
>would you prefer having, if you had to pick only one, the original PDP
>11/70 or the newer "blue cabinets" PDP 11/70, assuming both were complete
>configurations with racks of storage etc as they would have been sold, more
>or less.
>Assume space and power are not
Paul K. wrote:
> TMS-11 did support some specialized devices that could do more. There
was the classified page layout system using a Tek 4010 style display
(4015? A BIG tube).
The big-tube Tektronix DVST (Direct View Storage Terminal) terminal was
the 4014. The tube used in that terminal was
Hi, all,
I recently was given a Rockwell AIM-65 single-board computer in nice physical
condition, with the original keyboard and keyboard connector cable.
I've downloaded all of the documentation that I can find, and have been trying
to get it running.
After doing a thorough visual inspection
Ethan O'Toole wrote:
> We owe a ton of props to the Internet Archive. While they might not
have
> everything, they have a glimpse into the early days of the internet
and
> have been at it since early on.
Here here. I very much second Ethan's sentiments regarding the
Internet Archive.
It's a
Al Kossow wrote Re: Mystery 1970 core board:
>found it in this MAC-16 ad
>https://adspast.com/store/customer/product.php?productid=62927
The MAC-16 in this ad looks odd. The front panel has nothing behind
it...or at least, very little. I'm not familiar with the MAC-16, but
either the ad has
Hi, Josh,
I can't possibly think about getting this wonderful old beast from you, but
something about the photos captured my curiosity.
In the background of one of the photos (#1, IIRC) is the front panel of what
appears to be a 12-bit computer (ala PDP 8), but the panel is most decidedly
not
Sorrythis was meant to go to just Josh, but accidentally copied to the list.
My apologies.
Rick Bensene
The Old Calculator Museum
http://oldcalculatormuseum.com
-Original Message-
From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Rick Bensene
via cctalk
Sent: Tuesday
Bill D. wrote:
>
> So I thought I'd try my hand at the FANUC TAPE READER A860. I may need to
> make a serial cable (?) to connect from
> the internal connector don't know yet. Or maybe the internal 50-pin port
> from the photos is for the punch. Don't know yet, thus the need for the
> manual.
Josh R. wrote:
> I recently bought a mystery blinkenlight panel. Closer inspection reveals it
> was manufactured by Intel in the early 70’s (1973), and some people on the
> book of faces suggested it was part of a “device
> multiplexer”(?)
> I’m hoping someone here might be able to shed some
Johan Helsingius wrote:
>Anyone else getting duplicate messages from this list? I get 2 copies of
>most (but not all) messages, with the second copy often arriving
>significantly later.
I experience the same thing.
-Rick
On the Classic Computer Mailing list, you wrote:
> Anyone need more of these Sun3/4 VME boards? Need to make more space.
Hi, Chris,
I didn't see the boards...which photo(s) are they in? I have a Sun 4 server
system, and there are some boards I've been looking for. If I could see what
Just to add, interestingly, Singer also purchased General Precision from
Librascope.
Librascope/General Precision were the folks that had earlier acquired
Royal-McBee. Royal-McBee developed the wonderful (some consider the first
"personal" computer) LGP-30 vacuum-tube, magnetic drum computer
Tony wrote:
> Didn't Singer own Friden (or at least the name) at one point? I am sure I've
> seen calculators
> batched(sic) 'Singer Friden').
Yup. In July of 1963, Singer announced its intent to purchase Friden. The
deal closed in October.
It was all a part of a larger diversification
Chuck wrote:
> The terminal consisted of a leadscrew-fed printing head with a vertical
> typewheel rotating
> perpendicular to the (tractor-feed) paper. Said typewheel was in contact
> with an ink-soaked felt
> wheel. Carriage return was accomplished via a large spring. Utter
> steampunk
Mattis Lind wrote:
>There have been a number of Ebay listings for various ns32k software, QIC
>tapes and 1/2 inch tapes. >I thought I would buy them if there were no other
>bids to try to recover the contents.
...
>But there was a buyer and I didn't want to fight over something where I
Mike wrote:
...
Gawd, I still remember those numbers, some 60 years later; so why can't I
remember my thirty-year old cell phone number...
Because you rarely, if ever, call it. ;-)
Eric Moore wrote:
> Super stoked to be able to share my latest video, I hope yall like it.
This brings back memories for me.
Except the gas line control computer (it didn't run gas turbines like this
system did, but it monitored gas line pressures and would open and close
distribution
Paul wrote:
>> modify a lot of the software. Timing dependencies aside, G-15
instructions
>> didn't have addresses -- they had "timing numbers" that effectively
told the
>> hardware how long to wait before reading or writing a word on the
drum.
To which Christian replied:
> Oh really, that
>>
>> And, yes, even as a male I had typing in high school.
>>
>
> I had typing as an elective class in 7th grade in 1984. It gave me the
> ability to type in programs faster.
>
I took typing class in High School all four years.
Because I had developed an interest in typing when I was much
David Collins wrote:
>>
>> This will bring to a close my role in maintaining Jon's legacy in HP
>> computing. It's been a privilege to be responsible for the collection and
>> the website and to see the value they bring to the vintage computing
>> community.
To which Doc Shipley replied:
>
>
>> yes. a Kombi full of tapes hurtling down the highway.
>
> ...down the Autobahn.
Ben F. wrote regarding transport of data in a moving vehicle:
> the Autobahn...
> https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/artifact/331/1893
Doubtful that VW Bug was on the Autobahn at the time, and,
Earlier today, I wrote:
>> Doubtful that VW Bug was on the Autobahn at the time, and, while the
>> advertisement was very
>> novel with a full-on minicomputer in the back seat of a VW Bug, the amount
>> of data
>> potentially being transported was likely only 4K 12-bit words, or 48K bits.
>>
Tony D. wrote:
> I may be talking nonsense, but you describe the Tektronix 4054 as a
> 6800-based system. I
> thought the 4051 used that processor, but the 4052 and 4054 used a board of
> AM2900-series
> bitslice chips that implement a processor with an instruction set similar to
> the 6800
Steve Lewis wrote:
> then like the 4004, we're struggling to find evidence of actual products that
> made use of them. Wasn't the 4004 used in some cash registers, street
> lights, or > some weighing machines? (I don't have any specific references,
> just recollections > from past reading)
The F14 flight control (CADC) computer was a chipset, with different functional
aspects built into each chip. The design was done by Garrett AirResearch. The
requirements of the system were quite arduous, and thus the computer was
reasonably powerful for its time, especially considering its
Fred Cisin wrote
> In 1970 or 1971, Wang had a tiny desktop calculator that had a card
> reader! The card reader was an external peripheral, that clam-shell > closed
> on individual port-a-punch cards (perforated normal sized >
> cards using every other column)
It was actually available before
Bill wrote:
> I'll bet the source was talking about large contemporary storage >
> units that looked like drums or may have been called "drums" but
> were not actual 50's drum memory with tubes and such. There was no >
> rotating drum storage, the media rotates in the PDP era.
> Take a look
>> And still works! Built to withstand an atomic bombardment.
Except for the EMP. It'll theoretically render such devices nice looking,
well-built scrap.
The old completely vacuum-tube-based, discrete component oscilloscope from back
in the day may actually survive such an event if it's
I wrote:
>> The digits are among the nicest looking digits that I've ever seen
>> on a CRT display, including those on the CDC scopes as well as IBM >>
>> console displays.
To which Paul responded:
> I have, somewhere, a copy of a paper that describes analog circuits > for
> generating
Paul wrote:
> The DD60 and its associated controller in the mainframe (6612 or 6602) was an
> > interesting beast. The interface between controller and display is a
> hybrid, > with the positioning information delivered as 9 bits each of X and
> Y, but the > character vectors are generated in
On Fri, Apr 5, 2024 at 1:45 PM Van Snyder via cctalk
wrote:
> I have a Dell Vostro.
Sellam responded:
>Um...
...Yeah.
Unsticking stiction is different than dislodging a stuck actuator.
Stiction is where the heads resting on the disk surface resist the torque of
the spindle drive, causing the drive not to spin up. Generally it is caused by
weak driver transistors in the spindle drive such that the spindle
Just make sure when you torque the drive as mentioned that you rotate it in as
close to the same axis of rotation as the platter(s) spin as possible, as any
other direction of torque could cause the head(s) to impact the platter(s) with
more energy than desirable, especially if the head(s) are
Christian Corti wrote:
> The Anita electronic desktop calculators are a perfect example for the usage
> of
> selenium rectifiers in logic gates.
..and anyone who has restored one knows that the vast majority of the
back-to-back selenium diode packages have to be replaced with something
On 5/20/24 10:25, Bill Degnan via cctalk wrote:
>>> American Computer Museum
>>> Computer History Museum
>>> Computer Museum of America
>>> Large Scale Systems Museum
>>> Rhode Island Computer Museum
>>> System Source Computer Museum
Of course, there's the Living Computer Museum--oh, wait
While the LGP-30(vacuum tube/drum), G-15(vacuum tube/drum), and
PB-250(transistor/delay lines) predated it, the ground-breaking Olivetti
Programma 101(transistor/delay line) programmable desktop calculator was
officially called a "personal computer" in some of its advertising and sales
Carey S. writes:
> If it only manipulates numeric data, it is a calculator. It must be able to
> search,
> rearrange look up, compare, and display characters. I would have thought
> that to be
> obvious. ...if it cannot give a text description of the answer, it is
> a
> calculator.
>
Mike Katz wrote:
> I'm sorry but you are misinformed about the HP-41C Calculator.
> The HP-41 was the first calculator that had Alpha-Numerics.
That is not true.
Technically, out of the box, it was the HP 9830. Yes, it wasn't a handheld
calculator, and it didn't run on batteries(it was big
Liam Proven wrote:
> Microprocessors are what created the PC. No µP = not a PC.
So, if I get this right, the term "PC" to means something like the "personal
computer" of today (children of IBM PC or Apple Macintosh) or at least perhaps
something as old as an Apple II, a Commodore PET.
Perhaps
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