>
>>
>>
>>
>> ah, if we're going to get on to the "what do i wish for?" list...
>
>Well, I don't recomend killing me to get your hands on my little
>collection... And I rarely sell machines.
>
>> a perq. any perq. please, PLEASE!!!...
>
>Keep looking... There are still some out there. No, my 4 (!) are not
for
>sale...
What is a perq and why is it good?
>>
>> any system based on the 32xxx (a ceres would be nice, but we doubt
>> they're available...)
>
>More practically, there are still a number of Whitechapel MG1's about.
>Repairing one is not hard - the main problem is the NiCd battery used
for
>starting it. A Technical manual does exist...
>
>>
>> an original archimedes, with the original arthur os and the gui in
basic
>
>Hmm... I still have my Arthur programmer's reference manuals, but I
doubt
>I could find a set of the ROMs, alas...
>
>>
>> a dg nova
>
>Again, keep looking. They were popular in embedded control systems at
one
>time. Mine came off an electron microscope....
Speaking of novas, I finished Soul of a New Machine. Great book!
>> a linn rekursiv (wouldn't you? ;> )
>
>Ooooh... Now that's a machine I don't have, and would like!
Is the machine as weird as the name?
>>
>> one of the two machines we know about that ever used a z8000
(olivetti
>> m20 or onyx..?)
>
>What about a Zilog 8000 ? It was/is (there's at least one still
>operational) a Z8000-based unix box. Mine has an SMD disk controller
and
>a QIC tape drive. It's built in slices about 2' square - the bottom
slice
>is empty, the next contains just the RS223 port distribution panel, the
>next contains the drives, and the top slice contains the cardcage.
>There's the CPU card, a memory card (some machines had ECC memory, I
>think), and assorted device controllers.
>
>
>>
>> a perq
>
>Does the fact that you've listed 'perq' about 4 times mean that you
want
>one from each series?
>
>>
>> an original cp/m system or three (hm systems; the minstrel always
>> appealed)
>
>What do you mean by 'original'? If you mean a machine designed to run
>CP/M, then there must still be some RML 380Z's (very solid UK CP/M
>machines used in schools) about. Ditto for DEC rainbows, Amstrads
>(although I don't like those myself), BBC Z80 second processors, Epson
>QX10's (IMHO one of the nicest CP/M machines ever built), etc.
Was CP/M made for any specific machine originally, kind of like
DOS was made for a PC (leaving Seattle Computers aside for a moment)
>MDS800, then good luck in finding one.
>
>>
>> any really weird 70s mini (small honeywell machine, perhaps? tony
duell
>> speaks highly of the philips p850...? maybe an icl thingy...?) - must
be
I believe the system/34 was a Mini. I think that's what those UPS
tractor-trailers are for :)
>of it, although as it was the machine that got me into computer
>collecting, I do have a somewhat biased love of it. Mind you, with 2K
>(max) of memory, 16 CPU registers, a strange instruction set, and a CPU
>based on a hard-wired state machine rather than microcode, it must be
>worth saving.
Isn't microcode hard-wired anyway?
>Philips P800 series machines are not at all common, alas...
>
>> nice to put forth on, though
>>
>> oh, did we mention that if someone would provide us with a perq at
>> reasonable cost and proximity to bradford, we would be quite
delighted
>> and mount a one-person campaign to get him or her canonised?
>
>Which reminds me... I must Canon-ise my PERQ again - that is, repair
the
>Canon laser printer port. The crystal oscillator lost its legs, and
while
>I was trying to repair it, the local cat stepped on the device and the
>quartz crystal plate is now in about 100 pieces... I must try to obtain
a
>29.8MHz xtal.
>
>Just out of curiousity, why aren't you looking for the following
>machines?
>
>DEC PDP8, PDP11, Vax, any other PDP's?
What does PDP mean, exactly? Is it something like the PC standard?
>AMT DAP (Distributed Array Processor)
Which is?
>Anything transputer-based
Which is?
>The Xerox D-machines (somewhat PERQ-like in many ways) - Brian Rosen
was
>involved in the design of both AFAIK. The only problem with these is
that
>low level hardware/software docs seem to be next-to-impossible to
obtain.
>The PERQ has the advantage that there are some _very_ clueful
enthusiasts
>(not me, alas) who will help you with just about any problem.
>
>Torch XXX, quadX, etc
I can just imagine "Sabrina's jungle dungeon - hosted on a Torch XXX"
>Tiger. Now there's a strange machine.. A Z80 + 64K RAM, a 6809 + 8K
RAM,
>RS232, parallel, cassette ports, 1200/75 baud modem, 7220 graphics chip
+
>96K RAM, etc, etc, etc. It was going to be sold as a home computer...
So, how much RAM total?
>
>-tony
>
>
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Received on Fri Feb 27 1998 - 19:22:26 GMT