May 2020 - vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Paper Tape readers from CNC machines
by Duane Craps 18 May '20

18 May '20

Jeff, The Fanuc unit I have is an old pinch roller unit with a 50 pin connector. It Uses +24 V0lts and +5 for logic 24 volts seems to be standard for machine tool servos. Pins 23-24 are +24 Volts 22-21 are +5 Volts Pins 1-8 are Bits 0-7 Pin 9 is the Data strobe I think pin 10 is the run/stop but It had a manual switch on the unit and used that I have pin 12 written as ground but am not sure as I jumpered to a capacitor on the board The control signal is high-active so it should take off running with the supplies energizes The other UNIT is an sanyo demki 2702 in an OKUMA case that had a round connector to plug into the machine tool. I put in power supplies and aTeency Arduino clont to convert it to USB It has a standard 44 pin edge connector on the logic board. It was on EBAY and I noticed that no one was bidding so I got it for $4.50 I have some pictures but I dont think the list allows. If you want the signals on the 2702 board let me know. Good luck. On 5/18/2020 12:44 PM, Jeff G via vcf-midatlantic wrote: -- Duane Craps sdɐɹɔ ǝuɐnp On 5/18/2020 12:44 PM, Jeff G via vcf-midatlantic wrote: -- DuaneCraps sdɐɹɔ ǝuɐnp

1 0

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Paper Tape readers from CNC machines
by Bill Degnan 18 May '20

18 May '20

Jeff, I have one coming to me in the mail today...FANUC A860 with a A20B-0004-0270 controller, so I am right there with you. I have found that what you need to dump tapes from one of these is a "behind the tape reader" (BTR) that attaches to the punch / OUT port of the reader. You can buy a used BTR compatible with the reader or create your own with an arduino. In my case the DOSTEK-440A appears to be the ticket, but there are others out there. New ones are pricey so I can see why people make them with Arduino's. Reader --> punch port--> BTR --> PC RS232 port. There are a few vendors out there but they're not too helpful to the vintage computing enthusiast IMHO....so I learned everything I needed to through a few hours of Google. DOSTEK is a program that runs on the PC that can manipulate tape images, but I am sure TeraTerm and a HEX editor would also work. Bill On Mon, May 18, 2020 at 12:45 PM Jeff G via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Hey all, some of you may have grabbed one (or more) of the paper tape > readers readily available on ebay that likely have come from CNC machines. > I was just wondering if anyone has actually made these work? > > It seems many of these have a standard pinout/spec depending on what CNC > controller they were connected to.I had one I bought some time ago, a > Sanyo-Denki 2401 model, and it seems this was often used on a Yasnac 2000G > controller, and has a 40pin ribbon cable connection, whereas others use a > 50pin ribbon cable (on Fanuc controllers). > > Just wondering if anyone has ever gotten one of these running, or perhaps > knows anything about them? I spent a couple hours with mine yesterday and > determined most of the pinout, but I don't know what voltages the power > input should be. > > I have a bunch of notes and the data side is relatively simple, its the > control side I'm struggling to sort out. > > Jeff aka Bags >

1 2

Paper Tape readers from CNC machines
by Jeff G 18 May '20

18 May '20

Hey all, some of you may have grabbed one (or more) of the paper tape readers readily available on ebay that likely have come from CNC machines. I was just wondering if anyone has actually made these work? It seems many of these have a standard pinout/spec depending on what CNC controller they were connected to.I had one I bought some time ago, a Sanyo-Denki 2401 model, and it seems this was often used on a Yasnac 2000G controller, and has a 40pin ribbon cable connection, whereas others use a 50pin ribbon cable (on Fanuc controllers). Just wondering if anyone has ever gotten one of these running, or perhaps knows anything about them? I spent a couple hours with mine yesterday and determined most of the pinout, but I don't know what voltages the power input should be. I have a bunch of notes and the data side is relatively simple, its the control side I'm struggling to sort out. Jeff aka Bags

1 0

OSI Floppy diagnostics
by David Gesswein 17 May '20

17 May '20

At the last workshop my machine was having problems with B drive and two other OSI machines people brought the floppy drives weren't working at all. I didn't find any floppy diagnostics for the OSI so I wrote on. http://www.pdp8online.com/osi/osi-floppy-test.shtml With some floppy testing info here http://www.pdp8online.com/osi/floppy-repair.shtml If you try it let me know how it goes. Bill got his machine working before I finished this. Jeff, hows your machine doing?

2 2

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] LINC-EIGHT pictures
by Michael Thompson 17 May '20

17 May '20

> > > From: David Gesswein <djg(a)pdp8online.com> > Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] LINC-EIGHT pictures > Some pictures are here. > > http://www.pdp8online.com/linc-eight/linc-eight.shtml > > Nothing I have seen looks too bad but will still take a lot of time to > go through and get working. > The foam between the FlipChip handles keeps the air from the cooling fans flowing between the FlipChips. Our PDP-9 has the same. We had one flexprint cable to the front panel of the PDP-9 that looked like your flexprint cables. I replaced the cable with modern ribbon cable and it works fine. -- Michael Thompson

1 0

OSI floppy diagnostics
by Crawford Griffith 17 May '20

17 May '20

David, First, congrats on the Linc-8, I look forward to helping you load it for VCFE if you ever decide to do that. Second, thanks for the OSI disk diagnostics. My 8” drives are giving me issues, and Bill Dromgoole has been coaching me via email on them. We both want to get our 8” drives working with a data separator (Klyball D-13). Bill got his working with a Gotek/Flashfloppy emulator also. Hope all is well with everyone, and you stay safe! -Cr

1 0

LINC-EIGHT pictures
by David Gesswein 16 May '20

16 May '20

Some pictures are here. http://www.pdp8online.com/linc-eight/linc-eight.shtml Nothing I have seen looks too bad but will still take a lot of time to go through and get working.

2 1

FREE DISCs
by Christian Liendo 15 May '20

15 May '20

Not my add figured someone may be interested https://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/zip/d/brooklyn-free-floppy-discs-for-old…

2 1

My new toy
by David Gesswein 13 May '20

13 May '20

Now that I have possession of it might as well end the wondering about who got the first LINC-EIGHT. I was the lucky one. This one was the machine Charles Lasner used in his home office though not any time recent. Charles was well known to the PDP-8 community and passed beginning of April.

8 9

VE 75th anniversary: a piece of the puzzle
by Jeffrey Jonas 12 May '20

12 May '20

Honoring those in the crypto section who pioneered traffic analysis: https://www.gchq.gov.uk/information/the-brown-network The BROWN Story To mark 75 years since VE Day, GCHQ Historian Tony Comer tells the story of the final messages of a German communications network at the very end of the war in Europe

3 2