- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Capacitor list for Mac 128/512/plus Analog board (US Version)
by Matt Patoray 30 Jun '16

30 Jun '16

I thought this might be of help to some trying to do a bulk replacement of capacitors on the Analog boards form the early macs. Where possible i went with 105 degree rated capacitors and with a 25% higher voltage rating. The part numbers are from Mouser. -- Matt Patoray KD8AMG

4 8

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Need a couple AUI cables - building 10base-5 LAN
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 30 Jun '16

30 Jun '16

Jim Scheef via vcf-midatlantic writes: >Brian, As I'm sure you are aware, brand new Belden 9880 (genuine >etherhose) is available if not exactly cheap. Nevertheless, I'm willing >to donate 100 feet of the stuff to make the museum project work whenever >that might be. Jim I might have some AUI cables here but I'm rather busy with some *paying* me work to go rummaging through the cable cache looking for them.

1 0

PDP 11/40 finally got it working better-er
by william degnan 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

For many years I have been working off and on to get my pdp 11/40 running. I was having trouble getting past "chase the lights" and simple tests. I was even able to load in a papertape. It was in memory ok but never ran .I got a lot of good advice but nothing seemed to work. I made sure everything was correct on the backplane and RAM was ok. Some important diagnostics simply would not run however. I was stuck. After a lot of spinning my wheels finally I discovered the CPU was wired for a KJ11 module (stack limit register) but I did not have one installed. I was having problems with code that included the stack so there you go makes sense now....but it took a while. Part of the problem is that I always thought the KJ11 and KW11-L (line time clock) were always paired up. This was not a logical reasoning, it was only because I always saw them paired that way and I assumed they were a set. I even had in the past tested the system with both installed but it froze things so I abandoned, never thought to try just one or the other alone. But apparently that would have been the ticket, my system CPU was wired for the KJ11 only. I tried just the M7237 and poing it worked. I finally was able to run complex diagnostics and I even downloaded BASIC from papertape and ran it (much faster than 11/05 btw) Here is the page with more info http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=635 Next I can try to boot an RT11 RL02 pack from an RL11 controller (M7762). If anyone is going through the same thing how to troubleshoot a lot of the UNIBUS stuff let me know happy to try to help. Bill -- @ BillDeg: Web: vintagecomputer.net Twitter: @billdeg <https://twitter.com/billdeg> Youtube: @billdeg <https://www.youtube.com/user/billdeg> Unauthorized Bio <http://www.vintagecomputer.net/readme.cfm>

1 0

Museum Report 6/29/16
by Jeffrey Brace 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

Gave a tour to campers age 6-11 today. Two groups of 10 each. It was a quick 10 minute tour because their time was limited. They were seeing all the museums. Later I gave general tours to about 20 people. Most were interested and loved everything there. I finally managed uninterrupted time to getting the Commodore 64 robotics kit working. Also took the Univac parts to the warehouse.

1 0

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Need a couple AUI cables - building 10base-5 LAN
by Steven Michelsen 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

Jim, I believe I have a sack full of that stuff somewhere. I am unable to look for it until Sunday. If you don't hear from me by Tuesday or so write me direct at stevenm(a)optonline.net Steve Sent on the new Sprint Network from my Samsung Galaxy S®4 -------- Original message -------- From: Duane via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> Date: 06/29/2016 1:52 PM (GMT-07:00) To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> Cc: Duane <DBC1964(a)cox.net> Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Need a couple AUI cables - building 10base-5 LAN -----Original Message----- From: Jim Scheef via vcf-midatlantic Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2016 4:30 PM To: 'vcf-midatlantic' Cc: Jim Scheef Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] Need a couple AUI cables - building 10base-5 LAN Hello all, Please forgive my infrequent lurking. For those who do not know me (most of you) I'm the guy who helps Kelly in the consignment room at VCF-E each year. I've decided to build a 10base-5 LAN segment in my basement. Right now I'm in the collecting the parts stage and need 2 or 3 AUI cables no more than 2 meters long. They must have that arcane DB-15 connector with the sliding clip. I also need two N-connector terminators (50 ohm, of course). So far I have a three short lengths of real ether hose with N-connectors and three Cabletron ST-500 transceivers (2 more would be nice). Unfortunately these have a BNC connector where the vampire tap should be, so I'm working on that. In the meantime, some short, good AUI cables would be a big boost. I will be happy to pay reasonable price plus shipping. Anyone? Longer term, would it not be cool if our museum had a working 10base-5 LAN hanging from the rafters providing connectivity between the Vaxen, PDPs and other period machines? Maybe even to the inter-tubes! Thanks, Jim

1 0

Need a couple AUI cables - building 10base-5 LAN
by Jim Scheef 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

Hello all, Please forgive my infrequent lurking. For those who do not know me (most of you) I'm the guy who helps Kelly in the consignment room at VCF-E each year. I've decided to build a 10base-5 LAN segment in my basement. Right now I'm in the collecting the parts stage and need 2 or 3 AUI cables no more than 2 meters long. They must have that arcane DB-15 connector with the sliding clip. I also need two N-connector terminators (50 ohm, of course). So far I have a three short lengths of real ether hose with N-connectors and three Cabletron ST-500 transceivers (2 more would be nice). Unfortunately these have a BNC connector where the vampire tap should be, so I'm working on that. In the meantime, some short, good AUI cables would be a big boost. I will be happy to pay reasonable price plus shipping. Anyone? Longer term, would it not be cool if our museum had a working 10base-5 LAN hanging from the rafters providing connectivity between the Vaxen, PDPs and other period machines? Maybe even to the inter-tubes! Thanks, Jim

2 1

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] vcf-midatlantic Digest, Vol 8, Issue 28
by mark＠markesystems.com 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

>>I am in the SF Bay Area, until Thursday, for a conference, so I figured >>that I should check out the Computer History Museum, which I have never >>seen, >>to my shame. But then I found out that it is closed on Mondays and >>Tuesdays, which pretty much makes it impossible for me, as I have customer >>meetings all day Wednesday and Thursday. >> >>Does anyone else have suggestions of things worth doing, other than the >>standard Weird Stuff/Halted visits? Sorry I didn't see this earlier - hopefully you still have time for a couple more stops, both in Sunnyvale: First is Weird Stuff Warehouse - sort of a last stop before recycling for corporate cast-offs. You never know what you'll find there, and a lot of it is stuff at the bottom of the market (48-port managed Ethernet switches, etc.), but I saw an HP-2000 Access system go through there a few years ago, and there's frequently a least some bits and pieces from that era. Another fun place is Halted Specialties. Vintage test equipment, odd laboratory equipment, tons of components (new, surplus, and reclaimed) - and again, you'll never know what you'll find. I'm a lucky man in that my wife likes this place almost as much as I, so we've spent a lot of hours (and a bit of money, too) there over the years. They moved recently, after a gazillion years in the same location, and I'm not sure the new location has quite the _cachet_ of the old, but still a fun place. > FYI - My old band is playing at Slim's in San Fran the Thurs night before > VCF West, I will be there, but I have not played with the band in many > years, I will not know any of their songs to sit in unless they do some of > the oldies from my days with the band. It will be fun to pop in though, a > surprise. > > http://spindriftwest.com/wp/shows/ I'll definitely make a plan to see them - and you, if our paths cross. It would be great to meet you in person. ~~ Mark Moulding

3 2

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Bendix G-15 was Re: Univac, our first real work!
by Brian L. Stuart 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

On Sun, 6/26/16, David Riley <fraveydank(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Agreed on all points. I'd be highly interested in working on that, if > only I had more time... a drum emulator should be extremely simple > to make in principle, the interface will probably be the hardest > part. I've done a little thinking about that in a different context, and I think the best way to conceptualize the interface is to think in terms of two separate power domains with the interfacing being done with optoisolators. The timing aspects of the interface won't be as difficult as one might guess. The main clocking for the machine comes from the drum, so the whole machine is slaved to the drum for timing. As a result, we wouldn't have to worry about getting the data rates exact as long as simultaneity is preserved. _If_ such a restoration were to ever be attempted, I'd suggest approaching it as four tasks: 1) Develop a full emulation of the machine in such a way that the drum emulation and the rest of the machine are connected through the same interface used on the real machine. For example, using one Raspberry Pi to emulate the machine's logic and another to emulate the drum. That way the drum emulator can be developed against an emulation of the machine and the major functionality of it can be developed before attempting to tie to the real machine. 2) Restore the power supplies. Of course, we're mostly all familiar with that by now from other projects. The good news is that tube electronics of that era generally had relatively simple power supplies when compared with the complex switchers we've been using the last 40 years. 3) Set up a test bench with fixtures for testing all the tubes and all the plug-in modules. Then one-by-one go through every module in the machine, replacing tubes and repairing modules as needed. 4) Restore the original drum. Once Tasks 1, 2, and 3 are completed, we could integrate the drum emulator and would have a running G-15. I'd recommend doing Task 1 first as a proof of feasibility and competence. Then if the machine's owner were amenable, Tasks 2 and 3 could be undertaken concurrently with relatively little risk. Finally, only if it were decided to be worth the risk would any attempt be made to touch the drum. Of course, we'd want to carry out any such effort using the same level of preservation as the CHM PDP-1 project, documenting every step, preserving and labeling replaced components, etc. But I know what you mean about available time. I've been meaning to do an emulator anyway for some time, but other projects keep getting priority. What I should do is force myself to spend a Christmas break doing an emulator. Then if a restoration project were ever approved, I could try to spend most of a summer when I'm not teaching on it. Of course, the same thing applies to restoring George. BLS

2 1

[OT] In the Bay Area...On the Wrong Day
by J. Alexander Jacocks 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

I am in the SF Bay Area, until Thursday, for a conference, so I figured that I should check out the Computer History Museum, which I have never seen, to my shame. But then I found out that it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, which pretty much makes it impossible for me, as I have customer meetings all day Wednesday and Thursday. Does anyone else have suggestions of things worth doing, other than the standard Weird Stuff/Halted visits? - Alex

7 7

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] [OT] In the Bay Area...On the Wrong Day
by Erik Klein 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

> > Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2016 13:34:52 -0400 > From: "J. Alexander Jacocks" <jjacocks(a)gmail.com> > To: vcf-midatlantic > <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> > Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] [OT] In the Bay Area...On the Wrong Day > Message-ID: > <CAF-r0Y0v3Ufh2FN1A8pke85FCL_=_BhBkrBvsgUk+5CNy4GG= > g(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > I am in the SF Bay Area, until Thursday, for a conference, so I figured > that I should check out the Computer History Museum, which I have never > seen, to my shame. But then I found out that it is closed on Mondays and > Tuesdays, which pretty much makes it impossible for me, as I have customer > meetings all day Wednesday and Thursday. > > Does anyone else have suggestions of things worth doing, other than the > standard Weird Stuff/Halted visits? > > - Alex > The CHM has hours (10-5) on Tuesday's all summer long. You can get in and tour the place today. Enjoy! -- ----- Erik Klein www.vintage-computer.com - My personal collection www.vcfed.org - The Vintage Computer Federation www.vcfed.org/forum <http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum> - The Vintage Computer Forums marketplace.vintage-computer.com - The Vintage Computer and Gaming Marketplace

1 0