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Morrow Wunderbuss Motherboard - Fried!by billdeg Total messages in this thread: 3 Updated: [ Morrow Wunderbuss Motherboard - Fried! ] 05/25/2007 Recently I picked up an IMSAI 8080 with a Morrow Wunderbuss Thinker Toys Motherboard. From this picture: http://www.v...ss_mb_s-100.jpg Note the fried electolytic capacitor. I am going to pick up the schematic tomorrow, and I have ordered replacement parts. More later">... [ read more ] |
MITS 8800B - Workingby billdeg Total messages in this thread: 1 Here are some updated pictures. http://www.vintagecomputer.net/MITS/8800b/">... [ read more ] |
On cleaning of PET keyboards...by Bryan Pope Total messages in this thread: 1 I recently cleaned a PET 4032 keyboard by following the directions from the bottom of this page: http://www.portcommodore.com/petoper.php On this particular keyboard keys like Return and 0 on the keypad were almost non-operative. But after the cleaning, the whole keyboard is working like new! :) I believe that the most important thing to clean is the black graphite that comes in contact with the gold fingers on the keyboard. On the most used keys I noticed it was shiny and had a type of imprint like the gold fingers it would be constantly coming in contact with. I used the eraser on these till the black graphite wasn't shiny anymore and the imprint was no longer visible. Unfortunately this same procedure cannot be done on that PET 2001 with business keyboard as the "switch" for each key is inside each key. I may be able to bring these metal fingers back to life by spraying th">... [ read more ] |
Epson DOSby ianmlong Total messages in this thread: 1 We have an industrial machine (a Wire EDM) which is about 11 years old which runs on an Epson 486 PC. We have lost our copy of Epson DOS 3.1 – the FORMAT & SYS files are what we really need – we do have COMMAND.COM. Epson’s DOS seems to use a different to MS DOS as MS DOS 6.1 will not read 3.5” floppy drives with Epson readable data on it. We would much appreciate any assistance anyone could give us. ">... [ read more ] |
Update - MITS Altair 680bby billdeg Total messages in this thread: 1 I spent a number of hours working on this system. I reviewed the documentation, tested the memory, and I picked up a ACIA monitor ROM from a kind member of the Altair Computer Club. http://groups.yahoo.com/...aircomputerclub/ All seemed to be working, but I was unable to send output through the RS232 port to a display/monitor. I brought the system to the Trenton Computer Festival to meet with other members of my computer club, the Mid Atlantic Retro Computing Hobbyists (http://www.midatlanticretro.org) Dan Roganti, Brian Applegate, and Brian Pope helped locate and fix a wiring problem (wrong pin connection in the RS232 connector) and now the system communicates with a terminal, displaying the dot prompt.">... [ read more ] |
How to make a MS IBM DOS 1 boot diskby billdeg Total messages in this thread: 2 Updated: [ IBM DOS 3.3 Disk ] 11/16/2010 How to make a DOS 1.1 boot disk for an IBM PC with 360 K 5 1/4" drive: 1) download all files including the util directory: http://www.v...bm/dos/1-1/UTIL/ You will need to (somehow) copy these files onto a blank, MS DOS formatted (any older version), but NOT bootable 360K 5 1/4" disk. 2) with blank disk in drive A, run command chkdsk /v to verify that you have no files on the disk 4) copy the files to the 360 disk 5) assuming the disk is in drive A and you copied attr.com to a dir on the diskette called "util", enter the following command: util/attr +S +H ibm*.com [enter] 6) with the newly-prepared disk in the drive, reboot. 7) assuming all goes well, at the prompt enter the "ver" command to verify that you have DOS 1.1. If you have problems, reboot using newer DOS version and try chkdsk /v with">... [ read more ] |
Commodore PET 2001 Photosby billdeg Total messages in this thread: 4 Updated: [ Commodore PET 2001 Photos ] 03/14/2007 A fellow Commodorian met me at my house today to help work on some PETs we have. In total 4 PET's were worked on today from less than functional systems 1) 2001-8 (sn 29652)- when tape loading program, some junk appears on screen see #2 below) 2) 2001-8 (sn 20343)- (bad keyboard replaced) 3) 2001-32B (bad power supply replaced, monitor fixed see #1 below) 4) 2001-16N - (not fixed: RAM (?) 5) also semi restored a CBM 8250 disk drive using a B-128. Was not able to header a disk, but could read directories in drive 0. Lessons learned: #1 If your monitor is hissing pretty loudly but there is no smoke, the suction cup connector may have come dislodged from the inner picture tube chassis - re-attach #2 If you are having issues loading programs from the tape such as garbled characters appearing on the screen, try loading the programs on an external tape drive by d">... [ read more ] |
HP 2000A Reference Guide Scans Avail.by billdeg Total messages in this thread: 1 I have posted scans for the Hewlett Packard "A quick reference to HP Time-Shared BASIC" The guide was printed in 1969 for users of the HP 2000A. http://www.vintagecomputer.net/hp/2000A/">... [ read more ] |
MITS Altair 680by billdeg Total messages in this thread: 3 Updated: [ Not IC 74L12 ] 03/05/2007 directory of MITS Altair 680 pictures: http://www.vintagecomput...tures.html top/front corner view, main board - 680 MAIN BOARD REV 1-6X same, closeup same, another closeup of board ID same, another closeup front panel of MITS Altair 680. Compare colors with Byte back cover July 1976 another front panel picture of MITS Altair 680. front panel of MITS Altair 680 (grainy pic). MITS Altair 680 Main board view. Altair 680 rear view. Apparently there once was a serial card installed in this unit. MITS Altair 680 Main board view. MITS Altair 680 serial number E11952. View of 6800 and 6850 main board chips Steve/Grant/Jack/Dan Thanks for your replies. In response to all replies... I agree that the system has been made from a kit, the pictures indicate this. I purchased a ACIA Monitor ROM from Steve today. I hope to find a KCACR card, RA">... [ read more ] |
1973 Williams Paddle Ball (PONG)by billdeg Total messages in this thread: 3 Updated: [ 1973 Williams Paddle Ball (PONG) ] 02/28/2007 Here's an interesting one. An original 1973 PONG arcade clone by Williams, the future makers of Defender, Joust, etc. in the 80's. Paddle Ball according to web sources, was their first video game. I am told that Williams desired to compete with Atari's PONG arcade game with a version of their own. Here are some pics: http://www.vintag...l/motherboard.jpg At first my system did not work, but I used a multi-meter to track down a little kink in the power cable to restore it to functional condition. There is a tilt mechanism (they borrowed from a Williams pinball game). The system is rigged to take dimes it's so old! There is">... [ read more ] |
SWTPc to Altair 680 program transferby billdeg Total messages in this thread: 3 Updated: [ SWTP 4K BASIC on 680b ] 02/16/2007 Are the programs from the SWTPc 6800 interchangeable with the Altair 680? Is there a good web reference that compares these two? I have a working SWTPc 6800 and "SWTPc/Motorola" teletapes (programs for assembler, editor, etc). My plan is to load the tapes into memory of the SWTPc, perform whatever edits I need to apply while the program is in memory and then re-save to a new teletape for the Altair 680. I would then in theory load the tape on the 680 and viola it will work and the heavens will sing. There are a number of missing pieces to my plan (my teletype has a power problem to be fixed, I have never actually used a teletype before, I need an S I/O card for the Altair 680)...minor issues, ha ha Stay tuned...">... [ read more ] |
MFM hard drive formats only 10/20 MB...wby billdeg Total messages in this thread: 1 USing an IBM XT 640K with an IBM 1816101 hard drive controller and a Rodime RO204 hard drive. I "low level" formatted the drive using the IBM XT reference disk and fdisk'd with DOS 3.3. I then ran the format command /s. There were no errors, the correct number of cylinders were counted off (320cyl, 8heads) appeared. For some reason it formatted to ~10MB not ~20MB. Do you know why that happens? More on the Rodime RO204: http://www.4driv...VESPECS/RODIME/3704.txt">... [ read more ] |
Grumman C-8573 / ASA-79 Jet Computerby billdeg Total messages in this thread: 1 I was given a Grumman C-8573 / ASA-79 Jet Computer a few months ago, and I decided to open it up to see what was inside. I was told...that this was the computer from an F14, but I was unsure exactly which generation. After a good hour I finally opened up the box to reveal mid-80's components, not late 60's early 70's. See http://microcomputerhistory.com/f14chipset.htm for what I was hoping to find. oh well. Here are the raw images: http://vintagecomputer.net/Grumman/ Note that it's an IBM card cage. The chips are from the early to mid 80's. The historical equivalent to an early pentium/late 486 ... I will come back to this. If anyone wants this unit, let me know. It's not really in my area of interest.">... [ read more ] |
Messing with External Disk Drivesby billdeg Total messages in this thread: 1 Me? I am working on some old disk drives, basically taking each one and testing on a RadioShack Coco II with a 502 FD cart/adapter. I have about 10 external (self powered) DD 5 1/4" disk drives that I nurse along. They are used for TRS 80 Model 1's with the expansion interface and a DD controller, plus anything newer from RadioShack. It's good to pull them out and test every year to keep them limber. The reason I was using the Coco II and 502 FD cart is to take advantage of the enhanced basic command set disk commands. The most prized drives of this group is a set of ancient Percom drives (drive 0 and 1). I am glad to report that I was able to revive the previously dead Percom drive 0 tonight. Ah simple pleasures. Here are some commands that I used, if anyone is interested: dskini0 (format a disk in drive 0) copy "test.bas:0" to "test.bas:1" (copy a file from drive 0 t">... [ read more ] |
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Updated: [ which is first appliance computer? ] 08/13/2008
Currently working on my VCF East 3.0 exhibit, the 30th Anniversay of the TRS 80 Model 1. I scanned some research materials for possible use. These are the earliest references that I could find to the TRS 80 Model 1. Link Regarding the so-called low-cost "appliance computers" unveiled in 1977: the Apple II (Jan) came well before the PET (June)or the TRS 80 Model 1 (Aug). The TRS 80 was first publicly displayed in August of 1977 at Computermania (Boston) and I believe also PC-77 (Atlantic City), both on the same date.">... [ read more ]