July 2016 - vcf-midatlantic

found some 8212's with strange markings
by Dan Roganti 04 Jul '16

04 Jul '16

anyone come across some 8212's with a strange markings. I bought these a long time ago, so I can't which parts supplier had them. the part# is 8212P but it has no vendor symbol or prefix and the datecode has TSL9445 I didn't think they were still made 20yrs later And the prefix on the datecode is rather odd I just might have to add this profile to my chip tester to see if these are really genuine Dan

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OT: Likely failure mode of LCD of early portable PCs, T6600C
by Douglas Crawford 04 Jul '16

04 Jul '16

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Prometheus Promodem 1200 commands
by Mike Loewen 02 Jul '16

02 Jul '16

Does anyone have a list of AT commands for the Prometheus Promodem 1200? Mike Loewen mloewen(a)cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/

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Looking for Windows/286; vintage windows setup question
by Richard Cini 02 Jul '16

02 Jul '16

All – Lots of fun on a Saturday…I’m working on an AT/286 project and wondered if anyone had a copy of Windows/286. I have various versions from 1.00 to 3.11 (including 2.03) but not that version. Please let me know off-list if you have it. Thanks. As an aside, I was able to get Windows 2.03 running with the normal EGA driver but NOT Windows 1.04 even though I selected the same video driver. It bombs out on the splash screen while printing the copyright info (random characters and beeping). Not sure what to make of it…guessing video driver issue but not 100% sure because the same setting works in 2.03. My 2.03 disks also have a bad sector on the fonts disk so I’m missing the Times font. The video card is a Quadram EGA+. Thanks! Rich -- Rich Cini http://www.classiccmp.org/cini http://www.classiccmp.org/altair32

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Looking for Windows/286; vintage windows setup question
by Richard Cini 02 Jul '16

02 Jul '16

One other thing to note…I just reinstalled 1.04 and ran it. Although the splash screen is somehow corrupted, it eventually gets to the Windows desktop. Not sure why it happens in 1.04 and not 2.03. Same source files are used to build working installation in a virtual machine so I know the disks are good. Rich -- Rich Cini http://www.classiccmp.org/cini http://www.classiccmp.org/altair32 On 7/2/16, 2:37 PM, "vcf-midatlantic on behalf of Richard Cini via vcf-midatlantic" <vcf-midatlantic-bounces(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org on behalf of vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: All – Lots of fun on a Saturday…I’m working on an AT/286 project and wondered if anyone had a copy of Windows/286. I have various versions from 1.00 to 3.11 (including 2.03) but not that version. Please let me know off-list if you have it. Thanks. As an aside, I was able to get Windows 2.03 running with the normal EGA driver but NOT Windows 1.04 even though I selected the same video driver. It bombs out on the splash screen while printing the copyright info (random characters and beeping). Not sure what to make of it…guessing video driver issue but not 100% sure because the same setting works in 2.03. My 2.03 disks also have a bad sector on the fonts disk so I’m missing the Times font. The video card is a Quadram EGA+. Thanks! Rich -- Rich Cini http://www.classiccmp.org/cini http://www.classiccmp.org/altair32

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Vintage (yes really) Cisco router/TS
by Herb Johnson 02 Jul '16

02 Jul '16

Neil Cherry initiated this discussion thread, about his Cisco router. At some point he posted: > Sorry about the trip down memory lane, those were some fun times. Neil, do not apologize for describing your experiences with now-vintage computing equipment. You've provided a valuable service. By your posting this item, and the discussions of it, there is now a year 2016 trail of what it was, how it was used, how it led to other products, and something of its content. When "multibus" was mentioned, that caught my attention - Multibus is an interest of mine, any Google search of my Web site will show my interests. Others of course were/are interested in "Ethernet" or "Sun Microsystems", and so on. Many people look to decades-old Usenet discussions of even older equipment and still-fresh memories, as posted at that time. Those discussions were preserved and made available much later and today. They have been resources I and others have used to restore and support that vintage equipment. Some number of those posters, are not active, or not around, today. "Sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander". (Please, this is not a punch line, I'm making a point not a joke.) Thank you and your respondents, for preserving your knowledge of this part of early Multibus, Ethernet, and related technologies. Herb Johnson retrotechnology.com -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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OT: InMoov Robot Project
by Joseph Oprysko 02 Jul '16

02 Jul '16

I know this is WAY off topic for vintage computers, but I'd like to build an InMoov Robot. I think it would be an AWESOME "Guide" for the museum. Does anyone with a 3D Printer have any interest in building one? -- Normal Person: Hey, it seems that you know a lot. Geek: To be honest, it's due to all the surfing I do. Normal Person: So you go surfing? Normal Person: But I don't think that has anything to do with knowing a lot... Geek: I think that's wrong on a fundamental level. Normal Person: Huh? Huh? What?

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Capsela Commodore 64 Robotics parts wanted
by Jeffrey Brace 02 Jul '16

02 Jul '16

I'm doing the Commodore 64 robotics exhibit for HOPE and MakervFaire. The Commodore 64 robotics kit uses Capsela parts, but some parts are missing. Two of the three motors and worm drive are missing. Anyone have any that I can borrow? See attached photos. Thanks! Jeff Brace

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My HOPE project - update
by Evan Koblentz 01 Jul '16

01 Jul '16

Here's an update on my project for our HOPE exhibit next month. Ben G. loaned us his mid-1980s Lego robotics/Logo kit. I'm saving the Logo part (paired with an Apple II) for World Maker Faire in September. I am using the bare robot components (motors, light sensors) with the IBM PC card for HOPE. I started experimenting with this at our repair workshop a couple of weekends ago. Jon C. loaned me a Compaq (386, I think) lunchbox-style computer, since I'm stuck home while recovering from leg surgery. I set up a big table in my living room because I can't sit comfortably at my workbench. What I'm building, tailored for the HOPE audience, is a Lego game called that I'm calling "Smush the 'Softie". The premise: Microsoft employees are invading HOPE to install Windows 10 on your computer! Thus you must run them over with a New York City taxi cab before then enter the hotel. :) A cab (Lego car) is in a garage. You press a key in the software to aim the driveway side-to-side. Then press another key to release the car. The car travels down a track. There are two Microsoft employees crossing the road. The employees (Lego figures, of course) have holes in the ground behind them. If you hit one, then s/he falls into the hole, which blocks the light sensor, which increases the score by 1. One employee is closer and one is farther away. Hitting the second employee gives you two points. You get five cars. If you reach eight points then you win. The score will be displayed on a binary counter of Lego lights. If you lose the lights will all flash, a beeper will go crazy, and the compurer screen changes to resemble a Windows 10 logo. The game isn't finished but I am making good progress. Programmed in simple BASIC, just as it was meant to be 30 years ago. I am not using any non-Lego parts (but I did take two non-valuable pieces from my childhood huge box of Legos and drill holes in them because I needed a part that doesn't exist!) The game won't be hard. Its point is to demonstrate what could be done back then. Thinking ahead to Maker Faire: I'm going to make a robot arm that you use to pick up a ping-pong ball, drop it into a hole, and out pops a (previously hidden) Wiffle ball. I will tell children it's a ping-pong ball enlarging machine. :) Jeff B., how goes your own mad science experimenting with the C-64 robotics kit?

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Unknown Sperry Univac Display Boards
by Systems Glitch 01 Jul '16

01 Jul '16

I picked up three Sperry Univac boards in a lot of scrap the other day: http://imgur.com/a/9BBQ0 The first image is representative of two of the boards. They are heavily built, conformally coated, and the one in the second picture has an aerospace type connector in one place. The displays are HP LED hex displays (or a second source). The aluminum frame around the board appears to be a heatsink for the displays and a few of the ICs. Does anyone know what these are? I was going to remove the displays from the boards for use in other projects, but I don't want to destroy them if they're useful to someone else. Thanks, Jonathan

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