Hello All,
I'm going to repost this since this message's title was so obscure in the
"Table of Contents" of messages that is included with each mailing.
Back on June 9th of this year (Classic Tech Eletter #11), someone
thoughtfully posted the paragraph at the bottom of this message (on this
newsgroup). Coincidentally, I had already found the same S-100 computer and
I eventually ended up winning the bid (luckily [I think] I was the only
bidder). I only very recently received this machine (it was slightly
damaged in shipping, and it _really_ was filthy! (There was an long delay
in shipping it to me.) I've got the damage straightened out and I
completely disassembled it for cleaning. I just got it back together last
night and turned on the switch. I seems to power up and the led's come on
(led near the on/off switch and 3 led's on the backplane/motherboard).
I talked to one person who said that he thought that he'd had an ISC
computer before, but that it wasn't pure S-100. The reason that I bought
this machine is that I have some Seattle Computer Products S-100 cards that
I really want to get running. They drop in the ISC "S-100" computer
_perfectly_, but I have not powered it up with the SCP cards in place. If
there's something that's not "pure S-100" about the ISC, I don't want to
damage the SCP cards.
I just checked the link (below) and it still works. I think the link will
disappear in just a few more days (90 days since first posted), so I can
provide the same pictures to anyone interested after the link disappears.
The reason it's taken so long to ask this question is because it took over
2 months for me to actually receive the unit (now the darned link is ready
to vanish,
probably on Sept 10th).
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2029719366
I cannot find _any_ information about ISC Systems Corp., Spokane, WA. It's
an absolutely beautifully crafted unit and from the filthy condition that I
received it in--it appears to have been left running for, perhaps, _years_!
The seller claimed that he'd removed the existing cards to install in his
Altair, but if that's true, someone must have already substituted different
cards--in the pictures, you'll notice a bunch of twisted pair and other
small gauge wires: these all appear to hook up to what would seem to be
"non-standard" S-100 cards, through proprietary connectors. I cannot fathom
how the original ISC cards could have been of any use to anyone except the
user of another ISC system.
It appears that the "non-standard" wires go to things like: keyboard,
monitor, modem, a network, and "LP 1" and "LP 2" (LPT 1 & LPT 2??). There
is yet another connector that I've no clue as to what it might do.
_BUT_, _if_ the box itself conforms to the S-100 standard, and if I can use
the SCP cards, all the other wires don't matter, because they won't be
connected to anything. I've really taken a liking to this machine--I hope I
can use it!
Any help would be much appreciated!
>
>At 08:33 PM 6/9/02 -0400, you wrote:
>CLASSIC TECH ELETTER, Vol. 1, Issue 11
>
>It's too bad the seller gutted this ISC Systems S-100 computer. If it
>sells close to the opening bid, however, the buyer will get a good deal on
>an S-100 starter system. (The seller's right about the system needing a
>cleaning. You could knit a sweater with all the lint stuck in the fan
>vent.)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2029719366
Thank you,
Robert Greenstreet
gstreet_at_indy.net
Received on Thu Sep 05 2002 - 00:52:00 BST