[vcf-midatlantic] C64 workhorse survivor

[Dave McGuire]

  Oh my, those are some very nice displays, perhaps I spoke too soon.

  As a frequent developer of systems for mission-critical applications,
though, I find the idea of a simple 8-bit system with code in ROM a
whole lot more appealing than anything with a huge OS and an active
filesystem volume.  And anything Windows-related would be right out from
the get-go.

  But wow, those displays are very nicely done!

            -Dave

On 09/28/2016 02:07 PM, Jason Perkins via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
> Sure, we're still running it today.... it's hosted on an AMD Pentium
> class machine running Windows NT4 Embedded, and a Java based
> enviroment called Tridium. The problems we run into now are with
> everything around the sytem... the configuration software only works
> with Microsoft's Java VM, so that means XP with no service packs
> installed. The system runs a network called LONWorks. The controller
> boards in the air handlers and roof top units were designed by the
> company, who has since discontinued them, so spares of those are very
> hard to come by.
> 
> Our main unit is the JACE NP, we also have two JACE-5 devices,
> controlling one wing of the building and the irrigation system.
> 
> http://198.65.3.172/moreniagara.htm
> 
> The system has some nice displays:
> 
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/okmztauso1f1nez/BAS_Main.JPG?dl=0
> 
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/8fy6u8o4a8m10be/BAS_ZoneB_AHU.JPG?dl=0
> 
> -J
> 
> On Wed, Sep 28, 2016 at 1:51 PM, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic
> <vcf-midatlantic at lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote:
>> On 09/28/2016 01:46 PM, Jason Perkins via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
>>> My boss used to work for a building automation company. Their original
>>> product was based around the C64. They had them installed in buildings
>>> for years and years... the program was on a cartridge so with no
>>> moving parts there was little to go wrong. It took a lot of convincing
>>> to get their customers to update to something newer in the early
>>> 2000s.
>>
>>   It's certainly understanding that they'd take some convincing.  Why
>> would they want to change?  Don't fix it if it ain't broke.  The
>> industrial landscape is littered with stories about how a
>> fully-functioning, simple, easily-maintainable system is replaced by
>> something "new" which is supposed to be "better" (but they can rarely
>> tell you how), is inevitably PC-based, and turns out to be an utter pile
>> of crap.
>>
>>   Care to place some bets on the longevity of the "newer" system as
>> compared to the system it replaced?
>>
>>                -Dave
>>
>> --
>> Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
>> New Kensington, PA
> 
> 
> 


-- 
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA