It's good to see H8 activity. I have one but it's sitting quiet these days: https://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/h8.html It is also "native" pretty much. I'd not mind a floppy controller upgrade, but not too modern a board. I also have some early SEBHC H8 boards unbuilt, from quite awhile ago. Thanks for the reminder! 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
If there are any Heathkit aficionados in the VCF group that aren't aware of "SEBHC" it's the so-called Society of Eight-Bit Heathkit Computerists, which currently collaborates via a google group: https://groups.google.com/g/sebhc pretty strong signal-to-noise ratio on this list, with typically a handful of messages a day. Mostly 8-bit platforms, mainly H8 and H89 but the occasional discussion of Z100, H11 (LSI-11), ET-3400 or HERO. Many former employees of Heathkit or associated small companies are on the list; also a lot of previous DEC folks. The group maintains several archival repositories of software and documentation and is active in producing modern updates and enhancements to these classic systems (see especially http://koyado.com/Heathkit/Welcome.html). New SEBHCers welcome... - Glenn
-----Original Message----- From: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic-bounces@lists.vcfed.org> On Behalf Of Herb Johnson via vcf-midatlantic Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2021 6:42 PM To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> Cc: Herb Johnson <hjohnson@retrotechnology.info> Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Heathkit H8
It's good to see H8 activity. I have one but it's sitting quiet these days:
https://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/h8.html
It is also "native" pretty much. I'd not mind a floppy controller upgrade, but not too modern a board. I also have some early SEBHC H8 boards unbuilt, from quite awhile ago. Thanks for the reminder!
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 am interested in buying (or borrowing) an H8 at some point if the price is right to explore the model and its workings. I remember talking to Alex Bodnar about them, and I told him then I had always "avoided" this model but it must be a past life or something that has always caused me to avoid getting involved with the H8's. Are they reliable? BIll On Fri, Feb 5, 2021 at 9:12 AM Glenn Roberts via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
If there are any Heathkit aficionados in the VCF group that aren't aware of "SEBHC" it's the so-called Society of Eight-Bit Heathkit Computerists, which currently collaborates via a google group:
https://groups.google.com/g/sebhc
pretty strong signal-to-noise ratio on this list, with typically a handful of messages a day. Mostly 8-bit platforms, mainly H8 and H89 but the occasional discussion of Z100, H11 (LSI-11), ET-3400 or HERO. Many former employees of Heathkit or associated small companies are on the list; also a lot of previous DEC folks. The group maintains several archival repositories of software and documentation and is active in producing modern updates and enhancements to these classic systems (see especially http://koyado.com/Heathkit/Welcome.html).
New SEBHCers welcome...
- Glenn
-----Original Message----- From: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic-bounces@lists.vcfed.org> On Behalf Of Herb Johnson via vcf-midatlantic Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2021 6:42 PM To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> Cc: Herb Johnson <hjohnson@retrotechnology.info> Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Heathkit H8
It's good to see H8 activity. I have one but it's sitting quiet these days:
https://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/h8.html
It is also "native" pretty much. I'd not mind a floppy controller upgrade, but not too modern a board. I also have some early SEBHC H8 boards unbuilt, from quite awhile ago. Thanks for the reminder!
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
To manage my sanity (and spousal relations) I whittled my collection down some time ago to only Heathkit, primarily H8, because that was where I started with microcomputers back in 1981. Mine are fast (10Mhz) and highly reliable and I use these actual systems (rather than emulators) to develop and test various software enhancements. The early models had tinned connectors on the buss/backplane which caused some reliability issues - Heath later went to gold plated, so if you have an early model it's best to replace those pins. Another source of reliability issues is old memory cards - I pretty much use modern RAM cards on any system I plan to use day to day. I’m told the first generation serial I/O card (H-8-5) sometimes had trouble at 9600 BAUD but the second generation board (H-8-4) and modern replicas are solid performers. Relying on the H17 floppy disks is also an issue - these are 10-hard-sectored media. But most of us have moved to soft-sectored/MFM drives and/or emulators like GoTek <http://www.gotekemulator.com/> or SVD <http://thesvd.com/> . For the rare occasion where we need an actual H17 diskette we have punches that can convert soft-sectored disks into 10-hard format. The H8 had a unique passive cooling design (no fans) which can be problematic for a fully loaded chassis. Many of us have replaced the regulators on these boards with switching buck converters, which run much cooler. A popular early hobbyist enhancement to the H8 was to cut a hole in the side of the cabinet and add a boxer fan but the “purists” among us eschew such mutations! 😊 We have developed modern solid-state drives and USB/flash drive interfaces so floppy drives are essentially only needed only for reading archival disks from the occasional rescue mission. The H8 has a unique and powerful front panel monitor that lets you monitor and change, in real time, any address or register. A very elegant design. The design was clearly influenced by “DEC think” – octal LED with an unusual “split octal” format, but subsequent updates to the front panel ROM added Hex support. We also have full commented source code for Heath’s operating system (HDOS) and a full range of CP/M options including CP/M3 and some CP/Net capability. * Glenn
-----Original Message-----
From: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic-bounces@lists.vcfed.org> On Behalf
Of Bill Degnan via vcf-midatlantic
Sent: Friday, February 05, 2021 9:54 AM
To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>
Cc: Bill Degnan <billdegnan@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Heathkit H8
I am interested in buying (or borrowing) an H8 at some point if the price is
right to explore the model and its workings. I remember talking to Alex
Bodnar about them, and I told him then I had always "avoided" this model
but it must be a past life or something that has always caused me to avoid
getting involved with the H8's. Are they reliable?
BIll
On Fri, Feb 5, 2021 at 9:12 AM Glenn Roberts via vcf-midatlantic < <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> vcf-
<mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> > midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
If there are any Heathkit aficionados in the VCF group that aren't
aware of "SEBHC" it's the so-called Society of Eight-Bit Heathkit
Computerists, which currently collaborates via a google group:
<https://groups.google.com/g/sebhc> https://groups.google.com/g/sebhc
pretty strong signal-to-noise ratio on this list, with typically a
handful of messages a day. Mostly 8-bit platforms, mainly H8 and H89
but the occasional discussion of Z100, H11 (LSI-11), ET-3400 or HERO.
Many former employees of Heathkit or associated small companies are on
the list; also a lot of previous DEC folks. The group maintains
several archival repositories of software and documentation and is
active in producing modern updates and enhancements to these classic
systems (see especially <http://koyado.com/Heathkit/Welcome.html> http://koyado.com/Heathkit/Welcome.html).
New SEBHCers welcome...
- Glenn
-----Original Message-----
From: vcf-midatlantic < <mailto:vcf-midatlantic-bounces@lists.vcfed.org> vcf-midatlantic-bounces@lists.vcfed.org> On
Behalf
Of Herb Johnson via vcf-midatlantic
Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2021 6:42 PM
To: vcf-midatlantic < <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>
Cc: Herb Johnson < <mailto:hjohnson@retrotechnology.info> hjohnson@retrotechnology.info>
Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Heathkit H8
It's good to see H8 activity. I have one but it's sitting quiet
these
days:
<https://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/h8.html> https://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/h8.html
It is also "native" pretty much. I'd not mind a floppy controller
upgrade, but
not too modern a board. I also have some early SEBHC H8 boards
unbuilt, from quite awhile ago. Thanks for the reminder!
regards, Herb
--
Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA
<http://www.retrotechnology.com> 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 2/5/21 9:54 AM, Bill Degnan via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
I am interested in buying (or borrowing) an H8 at some point if the price is right to explore the model and its workings. I remember talking to Alex Bodnar about them, and I told him then I had always "avoided" this model but it must be a past life or something that has always caused me to avoid getting involved with the H8's. Are they reliable?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Any that were built from kits will have been at the mercy of the soldering skills of the builder. I've seen some very good soldering on the insides of Heathkits, but also some abysmal soldering...it's a crap shoot. The other issue with H8s is the backplane connectors. Earlier ones used cheaper pins which were not gold-plated. These are enough of a problem that many people end up desoldering them (which is quite a job, especially without proper tools) and replacing them with gold-plated connectors. Other than that, the machines have a lot of personality and are a lot of fun to run. The front panel user interface is very good. They can run HDOS or (if properly equipped) CP/M. HDOS is a highly advanced OS for its day. Overall I'd say these machines are worthwhile. You'll find that they tend to fetch quite a bit of money on the used market, though. I recently restored both my personal H8 and one at LSSM, both with H17 floppy subsystems. I very much enjoyed doing that work, and the resultant running systems are great too. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
participants (4)
-
Bill Degnan -
Dave McGuire -
Glenn Roberts -
Herb Johnson