Homebrew Computer Systems from Bob the donor
Thanks for the back story about "Bernie S paid a visit" and the computer brought to the repair workshop "for Dmitry". So now that Dmitry has the back story, what's his/her plan for the remains? It would be nice from my view, if the computer remains could at least be physically reassembled to preserve some kind of history of that kind of construction. I don't think they can be made to work again, nor need they be in my opinion. (The Apple II clone is in another, later category but of the same kind.) But if Dmitry plans to just use the parts - which is of course up to them - then it's good to have preserved the narrative and technical history at least. I have a Web site for the stories and tech I preserve. For those who think this looks awful, well, this is how we built microprocessor computers at home. In the earliest days, there just weren't' any "computers" to build, just micro processors or at best $1000 development systems or $300 development boards. In the mid-1970's, you could buy a *new car* for a few thousand dollars; $300 was an apartment's monthly rent. And, there weren't many single-chip functions - like "a floppy controller chip". So one board equaled one function. And floppy drives were expensive too. Most early computers used either paper-tape, or cassettes. And that worked fine for the small programs in use. These weren't built for looks, they were built for function. Many of the builders were learning as they went. Some were designing as they went, and as new chips became available. Getting them to work was an achievement. So, in my experience from the era: the 6502 computer when built, was an example of the time, early and certainly not common. The Apple II add-ons, was a thing that some people did, building on an available computer board. Using an 8-track drive for data is kinda scary, but it's a plausible extension of cassette data drives. But, once microcomputers got relatively affordable or were "cloned" cheaply, these hand-wired computers got shelved. When the technology advanced, these became less and less "functionally useful". So most were parted out or dumped. Since they were all unique, and didn't have that mass-produced designer look; they became cryptic, unfamiliar. That's why you don't see them much today, 40 years later. And time passed, is why work like this needs an explanation. Regards, Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT comcast DOT net
I have a soft spot for the older homebrew and dev kits. I have a few of them and I treasure them
For those who think this looks awful, well, this is how we built microprocessor computers at home. In the earliest days, there just weren't' any "computers" to build, just micro processors or at best $1000 development systems or $300 development boards. In the mid-1970's, you could buy a *new car* for a few thousand dollars; $300 was an apartment's monthly rent.
On 6/24/21 12:58 PM, Herb Johnson via vcf-midatlantic wrote: Herb do you have any articles, notes, pointers on ttl/cmos uarts and modems? I really think we/VCF should have examples of those and the KC Tape interface for a system of the same period. -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry@linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies
On 6/24/2021 5:08 PM, Neil Cherry wrote:
On 6/24/21 12:58 PM, Herb Johnson via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Herb do you have any articles, notes, pointers on ttl/cmos uarts and modems?
I really think we/VCF should have examples of those and the KC Tape interface for a system of the same period.
I think a nice hand built computer with a few ads from the time period. Maybe a Trans Am and the price in the ad. It give folks an idea. Also something common like a Wonder Bread add and the cost of a loaf of bread.
https://www.retrotechnology.com/restore/cass_data.html covers audio-cassette technologies and some related tape tech. Every microcomputer that supported cassette tape, documented the format they used. I haven't matched brand and model to particular formats like Kansas City Standard or other standards. There was also a *digital* Phillips cassette standard, with digital heads and digital media. It was of higher density. Some terminals used those schemes, TI for instance. About modems: I don't cover that so much. I have some real old modems I could write up someday. I have some S-100 modem boards, and of course all the 80's and 90's computers had modem cards or used external modems. I have two boxes of Haynes-class modems to 56K models.And lots of Apple Macintosh CS slot modems. Nobody wants them anymore. About serial and UARTs. (Shrug) Too far down in the weeds, I'm not a find-a-chip Web site. Every I/O card with a UART, every computer with a UART, is documented somewhere. I do have a document about the radio amateurs and their serial networking TCP/IP "packet radio" activities: https://www.retrotechnology.com/dri/cpm_tcpip.html I show a progression from ham digital networking through to SLIP and PPP, which personal computers used in the 1990's to dial up Unix systems to get onto the early Internet. With the advent of WiFi little Arduino class boards, all this became of zero interest. (The page is a decade old from last update). There's some "let's BBS" interest today for the modem experience. I"ve not kept up with it. ---------------------------- As to the VCFed museum showing this kind of tech, well, they have a number of early single-boards and small board-set microcomputer systems. Chances are some of them used cassettes. I'm not aware of any "home brewed" systems at the chip/board level on display. Some people would say that a S-100 system is "homebrew" which isn't quite at the level of recent discussion. I'm sure such an early system is somewhere in the Warehouse because I can't *imagine* MARCH or VCFed turning down one that early. That doesn't mean I'm right. (The 8008 Mark-8 might qualify but that is a based on a particular design and may not be on exhibit, it was a long term loan). Makes me want to consider, exhibiting just such a system. Not *working*, that's a nightmare to restore and boring to operate and observe. One can get enough out of it, by reading the specs and docs and looking at the hardware. Regards, Herb the Builder "can you build it?" "yes, we can!" -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT comcast DOT net -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT comcast DOT net
On 6/24/21 12:58 PM, Herb Johnson via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
For those who think this looks awful, well, this is how we built microprocessor computers at home. In the earliest days, there just weren't' any "computers" to build, just micro processors or at best $1000 development systems or $300 development boards. In the mid-1970's, you could buy a *new car* for a few thousand dollars; $300 was an apartment's monthly rent.
I think a nice hand built computer with a few ads from the time period. Maybe a Trans Am and the price in the ad. It give folks an idea. Also something common like a Wonder Bread add and the cost of a loaf of bread. -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry@linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies
participants (3)
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Christian Liendo -
Herb Johnson -
Neil Cherry