test-drb June 2007

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

224 participants
486 discussions

by wacarder＠earthlink.net

>> Are there any former DEC employees (or anyone else) here who have ever >> seen or heard of anything like this? > >A friend of mine who is a former DEC employee once told me a war story >about being given a "prototype" terminal to take home. He said the PCBs >were thin, and kind of flexible, like the cardboard sheets in the back of a >tablet of paper, and the thing was very tempermental -- even after you got >it working again the MTBF was in hours. He said he eventually threw the >accursed thing away. > >I wonder if this is one of those? > > Vince It looks like some kind of prototype. I'll open it up tonight or tomorrow to see what it looks like on the inside. I'll try to get some more pictures. Here's what the previous owner told me when I asked him about it. It sounds like it worked for him for 6 years. "I worked for DEC in the late 70's early 80's as a software engineer on the PDP10/PDP20 mainframe computers. I was given this terminal so I could work from home. When I left DEC they did not want the terminal back. So I've had it all these years. We plan to sell our house so I am doing some major house cleaning, selling on Ebay, garage sale, etc. I would say the last time it was used was around 1984. I used it frequently for about 6 years, so 1978->1984. Has not been plugged in since 1984!" Ashley http://www.woffordwitch.com

18 years, 1 month

PDP11/10 looking for a home

by ed＠ed-thelen.org

I have received request/permission from Richard Krasnow to post the following request ----------------------------- Hello, I have a PDP11/10 that was working fine the last time it was turned on, back in 1984 or so. It's been in my basement since. Can you advise where I might look to see if there is a museum that would like to inherit the beast? I'm in the Washington, DC area, so something nearby would save on the shipping. Thanks, Richard 301-652-6110, ext. 145 Richard Krasnow, Ph.D., Operating Director Salamandra, LLC Technical and Strategic Consulting to the Pharmaceutical Industry (c) fax 301-652-6739 ... ...

18 years, 1 month

Strange VT50 Decscope

by wacarder＠earthlink.net

A couple of months ago I acquired a strange looking terminal that was said to be a VT50 Decscope. A picture of it can be found on my web site at: http://www.woffordwitch.com/VT50.asp The case looks like it was cast in pieces from a rough mold of a standard VT50. Many of the key caps are not the usual color, and look more like the key caps on the earlier VT05. I have not opened it up and studied the inside yet to see if it has the proper "guts" of a VT50. The previous owner said that he worked for DEC back in the 1970s, and they gave this "VT50" to him to use at home so that he could remotely connect to a system at work. Are there any former DEC employees (or anyone else) here who have ever seen or heard of anything like this? Thanks, Ashley Carder http://www.woffordwitch.com

18 years, 1 month

My sale or swap list (Update)

by RodSmallwood＠mail.ediconsulting.co.uk

Hi We have friends in the mid west (Mason City). They also seem to cover vast distances to get anywhere at all. From their description of the weather, the favored modes of transport are stagecoach in the summer and dog team in the winter. Railroads are apparently ok so long as there are no Indian raids! (sorry about that!). I think the lake ports shut in winter. My rule of thumb used to be if I can't lift it its not airfreight! Its not like the old days at DEC. If you wanted to send something (anything) to DEC Maynard say. You put it in the car took it down to the DEC shipping section at London Heathrow. They would find a box, pack it, label it up and that would be that until next morning when they would ring you to say your package had arrived at Logan and would be by the addresses desk when he got into work. (Around midday UK time). The same thing worked in reverse. One day I asked the shipping manager how things did not get held up in customs. He said "Digital is the largest employer in Massachusetts and a major contributor to the state economy" That reminds me of another story. One day they ran out of parking space at the Mill. So they decided to fill in part of the mill pond to make more space. The Maynard town council said "Heritage site no you can't" Ken Olsen said "don't worry guys I'll call the Mayor". The Mayor said "Heritage site no you can't" Ken said "ok Mr Mayor if you look out of your window in about two hours you will see the first of the moving trucks relocating every DEC site in the town elsewhere. The Mayor said "OK if you look out of your window in one hours time you will see a fleet of council trucks loaded with dirt coming to fill the pond in for you!" -----Original Message----- From: cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Ethan Dicks Sent: 12 June 2007 13:33 To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: My sale or swap list (Update) On 6/12/07, Rod Smallwood <RodSmallwood at mail.ediconsulting.co.uk> wrote: > > 'has 1 cubic meter of volume and the first 1000 kilos' > That seems to be a lot of weight in a small space. Last time I checked, water was 1000 kilos per cubic meter, so the base charge seems to be centered around the density of water. > Port to port is less of a problem for me as the UK is that much > smaller than the US. > I can get to most of the UK ports in an hour or two. Indeed. Being in the mid-west, we don't think about ports much. I can drive to NYC in under 14 hours. Boston is farther. I think the closest Atlantic port, drive time, would be Baltimore at around, IIRC, 9 hours. Lake Erie ports are close (2ish hours), but would almost certainly require a shifting of the load to another vessel at an Atlantic port somewhere. -ethan

18 years, 1 month

Rough batch of 2007 VCFE Pictures...

by wh.sudbrink＠verizon.net

No captions, no thumbnails, no bad shots removed... http://wsudbrink.dyndns.org:8080/vcfe2007/ Use the bandwidth at your own risk. Bill No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.13/844 - Release Date: 6/11/2007 5:10 PM

18 years, 1 month

Update - S-100 Proto board design available online - pcb image and cad image

by ragooman＠comcast.net

I've been working on a S-100 proto board design recently. I like to say thanks for all the suggestions that everyone sent. I updated the page to include images of the pcb design and the cad design(3D) Anyone else that might be interested in this, I can add your name to the list on there. You can see the current work on my homepage. http://ragooman.home.comcast.net/rog.html =Dan -- [ beauty is in the eye of the beer holder ] [ http://ragooman.home.comcast.net/ ]

18 years, 1 month

DEC CD Drives

by RodSmallwood＠mail.ediconsulting.co.uk

Hi I managed to locate an RRD42-AA (ie real Dec for 14 Pounds UK (27 Dollars US)) I aready have a Yamaha SCSI drive in an external powered case. I also managed to locate the correct cable. (50 Way Centronics male to 50 way D type male double density pins and clip type) This fits the SCSI connector on the back of the external box and the other (big) end goes into the KZQSA So... When the cable arrives try the Yamaha drive. If its no good. Then remove the Yamaha drive from its box and replace with the RRD42. This way I end up with one or maybe two working SCSI drives. Regards Rod -----Original Message----- From: cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Scott Quinn Sent: 12 June 2007 01:08 To: cctalk at classiccmp.org Subject: Re: DEC CD Drives > Hi > Before I go to a dealer and maybe get ripped off. Has anybody in > the UK got any DEC RRD4x series CD Drives. (Must work with a KZQSA) > > Rod Why not just get one of the plentiful early Toshibas? I have a XM-3101 (same as the Sun SL-CD) that boots my VAX4k2 (KZQSA) VAXstation 3176 (int. SCSI), SPARCstation IPX, IRIS Indigo, etc. etc.

18 years, 1 month

PDP/Cray swap?

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

Is anyone in the US interested in possibly swapping some PDP gear (lights-n-switches PDP-11, or non-E/non-A PDP-8) for some (functional/ complete/runnable) Cray hardware? My income is limited at the moment, so shipping/driving would be difficult, but am willing to negotiate otherwise. Interested? Contact me off list. -Dave -- Dave McGuire Port Charlotte, FL

18 years, 1 month

Dry Air Purging on IBM Computers

by marvin＠west.net

I was reading an application note about a Puregas heatless dryer, and one of the applications mentioned that some IBM computers require a dry air purge. Does anyone know which computer(s) this is referring to? The URL of the booklet is http://puregas.com/industrial/pdf/Drying_Compressed_Air_Booklet.pdf These things look like they could be useful when small CFM ratings of dry air are required.

18 years, 1 month

DDC Fixed Head Disks

by jam＠magic.com

> I do recall some computer equipment that had helium in the enclosure. At least > that's what the labels said. I have a DDC 7301 drive (same manufacturer as Guy's, but different model), and it is definitely filled with helium. Well, it was filled with helium 30 years ago ... The DDC maintenance manual says it requires oil-free 99.995% pure helium. The preventive maintenance procedure indicates that the helium tank is good for about 6 months (dropping from 2200psi to 300psi). James Markevitch

18 years, 1 month

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test-drb June 2007