I apologize for interrupting more reasonable conversations about much
more interesting machines, but I would appreciate some assistance.
I didn't plan on having any x86 systems here, save for a bench machine
to make images using Teledisk and relations.
I did acquire a Kaypro 4+88 over time, which has an x86, as part of a
larger Kaypro rescue, for which I am grateful to those on list who
helped me with repairs and getting boot disks.
However, a number of years back, someone offered me a 5150 PC with the
(unknown by me until that day) 5161 Expansion Chassis. That seemed
unique, and I wanted to mess around with the expansion chassis.
Over the years, as part of rescues and helping out the VCF consignment
space years ago, a Compaq Portable I and a Portable 386 (with the plasma
screen) have ended up here, as well as a recent Panasonic Senior Partner
(cool system, IMHO).
That said, I am sitting here looking at a pretty clean 5160 XT that has
been significantly stripped. No FDD or HDD, no HDD controller, no video
card, no KB, fully populated 256kB mobo, but only 1 card installed (AST
SixPac). Unit powers up to long beep and then short ones (video issue,
which is understandable).
If I rescue a system, no matter what it is, I try to restore to
operational condition, with some practicality (using solid state media
instead of a HDD, stuff like that). This unit is going to need a lot of
work, and I am trying to decide how important it is to have both a 5150
PC and a 5160 XT, since the XT was such a marginal update to the PC
(-cassette, bit newer BIOS, 8 slots instead of 5). The PC setup I have
already has 11 slots combined, an HDD, and full memory, video, and KB.
Still, it is an original IBM PC XT, there's some history there.
I'm struggling with how much importance to apply to this "needs a lot of
TLC" unit, and I would appreciate constructive points. VCF MW is coming
up, and if I want to get this into someone else's hands to
restore/enjoy, then would be an ideal time. If it's important to keep,
VCF MW is probably a great place to grab the pieces needed to restore it.
Jim
--
Jim Brain
brain(a)jbrain.com
www.jbrain.com
Yes, I did early development on both. At least the interface to the OS was Pascal. I still have the early documentation buried in a box somewhere.
Sent from my iPhone
> On Jun 20, 2026, at 2:02 PM, Fred Cisin via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
>
> On Sat, 20 Jun 2026, ben via cctalk wrote:
>> PL/1 and C are the only two high level languages a operating system is written in, that I can think of that are well documented, and easily found on the WEB.
>
> I heard that all of the Lisa OS, and much of Macintosh, were written in Pascal. (obviously other than some low-level drivers and performance critical routines?)
> Is that correct?
>
> http://pascal.hansotten.com/apple-lisa-pascal/
>
> When did Macintosh development switch to C?
>
> --
> Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin(a)xenosoft.com
Hello! Our office represents the family of a gentleman (Mr. Marsh) who passed away from mesothelioma, a cancer caused from breathing asbestos. Mr. Marsh spent his career working for a contractor that provided third-party installation and maintenance of DEC computer equipment at various customer locations. We are curious if any DEC equipment ever contained asbestos, possibly asbestos lined brakes, gaskets etc. I am wondering if anyone in this forum has personal knowledge or documentation of asbestos use in DEC equipment OR if any of you have a tape drive with a braking mechanism that we can test for asbestos content? I can be reached via email or on my cell phone (925) 639-8593 with your thoughts. Thank you for your time!
Regards,
Jennifer Manibusan
Legal Investigator
Maune Raichle Hartley French & Mudd, LLC
1900 Powell Street, Suite 200
Emeryville, CA 94608
(925) 639-8593 Cell
(314) 241-2003 Office
This communication may be attorney-client privileged or otherwise confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete this message and notify the sender of this error.
VCF West 2026 was a great success!
If you attended, then please fill out this survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LZN7HZD
Take care!
Jeff Brace
VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President
Hi everyone,
I keep coming back to wanting a removable physical media other than RX33
for my 11/23+. I have a SyQuest MFM drive but haven't been able to find any
media for it. While the larger disks are all around, the older 15MB disks
seem to be unobtanium.
While an RK05 or RK07 drive would be really neat, I don't really have room
for something like that.
I have a couple of SCSI ZIP-100 drives so a SCSI adapter would work, but
the eBay prices for them seem to be rather optimistic. Does anyone here
have a QBUS adapter they would be willing to part with for a reasonable
price? Something like a UC07 for example?
Alternatively, has anyone ever tried to use a parallel ZIP-100 on a PDP-11?
Oh, I am running RSX11M+ v4.6 on the machine.
- Peter
If you are attending VCFMW and would like me to bring DEC gear for you,
please email me at useddec(a)gmail.com. If you would like to talk I will send
you my phone number. Please do not reply to this message. I'm trying to
avoid looking through a long string and cannot always find some requests
and it makes things difficult and I might not be able to find you.
I'm making changes this year trying not to lose anyone.
I'm planning on leaving here Thursday afternoon or Friday morning, and
returning Sunday afternoon. If you wish to stop here before or after the
show please make arrangements ASAP. I am located about 10 miles west of
Champaign, IL and close to I-57, I-72, and I-74, which is about 2 1/2 to 3
hours from VCFMW..
I will not be available starting 27 AUG for between 3 - 5 days.
As usual, I can trade DEC items for *US and foreign coins and currency.*
*Please email me with any questions.*
*Thanks, Paul*
A couple of updates on my efforts to implement the IBM 1410 in an FPGA
using the ALDs translated into VHDL, especially 1401 mode.
The 1410, with card, print and tape I/O works and passes most diagnostics.
I have also been testing IBM 1401 I/O - card, print and tape, and the
I/O is 95+% there as well, and passes the 1410 1401 CPU diagnostics.
The I/O diagnostic M012A can be coaxed into running without errors so
long as I don't load and start the card reader until the diagnostic has
issued the first 1401 opcode "1" card read instruction. The I/O
diagnostic M014B gets most of the way through under the same
conditions. The FPGA implementation current throws away SS stacker
select controls in 1401 mode, which unlike the 1410 come after the
associated card read or card punch instruction, which will necessitate
having the C# support program hold on to a card image for a period of
time in case an SS follows.
The IBM 1410 operating system 1410-PR-108 works, and I have tested
Autocoder, COBOL and FORTRAN. For FORTRAN one cannot do much because I
don't have its relocatable library or linker. I expect RPG will work as
well, but haven't run it on the FPGA.
The IBM 1410 operating system 1410-PR-155 works, including system
generation under Autcoder, FORTRAN and COBOL.
I have not yet tried any 1401 language processors, but expect to do that
over the coming weeks. I expect they will mostly run OK, based on the
fact that the tape library we had at the U. Wisconsin School of Business
had the 1401 FORTRAN II card based compiler, and tapes for 1401
Autocoder (don't remember if that was with/without Macros or IOCS) and
FORTRAN IV and maybe even COBOL.
I have created a page with information and downloads that can be used
with my FPGA implementation, and also with my 1410 simulator (no 1401
mode there) written in Borland/Embarcadero Rad Studio C++, and also with
Rich Cornwell's Simh i7010 implementation.
*https://www.computercollection.net/index.php/ibm-1410-7010-software-and-examples/
*My FPGA project information is described at
https://www.computercollection.net/index.php/ibm-1410-fpga-implementation/
, which needs multiple project progress updates now. ;)
My Simulator project information is described at
https://www.computercollection.net/index.php/ibm-1410-simulator/
The project on GitHub are:
The FPGA project: https://github.com/cube1us/IBM1410FPGA
The C# Console for the FPGA: https://github.com/cube1us/IBM1410Console
The C# program for capturing ALD information and generating VHDL:
https://github.com/cube1us/IBM1410SMS
The Embarcadero C++ based Simulator: https://github.com/cube1us/1410
JRJ
Mike -
Boundless Technologies still perform repairs (based on available parts) on terminals they manufactured for ADDS, DEC, and others. They also sell new keyboards (6-pin mini-DIN) with different layouts.
There are other repair/service centers for Serial Terminal and Keyboards, like Jetstar in Marietta, GA.
Place CUDIG in Champaign county on your Speed Dial list.
eBay reseller CUDIG61872 is located in Salorus, IL (just south of Champaign, IL).
He sells repair parts and restored serial terminals (DEC, HP, others).
He has attended VCFMW in the past (before COVID).
Reportedly he has replacement Amber CRT for the ADDS terminal refurshment (lists on eBay).
Control System Labs
1501 Kensington Ave.
Buffalo, NY 14215
greg
==
I have an ADDS Viewpoint serial terminal that has a bad keyboard.
Does anyone have a compatible key board to spare?
Also, I'm planning to have 2 different 4 user systems up and running at VCF Midwest and I only have 2 working serial terminals (VT220 & VT330+) does anyone (preferably in the Chicago area) have a terminal or two they are looking for a good home for on the super cheap? I don't want to have to use 6 laptops if I can avoid it.
Thanks,
Mike
bitwiz(a)12bitsbest.com
I have an ADDS Viewpoint serial terminal that has a bad keyboard. Does
anyone have a compatible key board to spare?
Also, I'm planning to have 2 different 4 user systems up and running at
VCF Midwest and I only have 2 working serial terminals (VT220 & VT330+)
does anyone (preferably in the Chicago area) have a terminal or two they
are looking for a good home for on the super cheap? I don't want to
have to use 6 laptops if I can avoid it.
Thanks,
Mike
bitwiz(a)12bitsbest.com
At Sat, 1 Aug 2026 20:42:23 -0400, David Gesswein <djg(a)pdp8online.com> wrote:
>The reader is a bunch of instrument amps that amplify to levels usable by
>Saleae logic 16 pro which has analog digitization mode and way too many
>times repurposed code to decode it. Doesn't look like I have put it online
>probably because the code is embarrassing but ok with giving it away if
>someone has use for it.
Here's an alternative to consider: Years ago I wrote a program to decode
waveforms digitized from cruddy old mag tapes in various formats,
including 7-track NRZI, 9-track NRZI, PE, and GCR, and 6-track Whirlwind.
https://github.com/LenShustek/readtape
We've read hundreds of tapes, mostly digitized using a Saleae analyzer.
I never wrote a DECtape decoder, but it would be doable.
