Found that VS-85..

From: Jim Donoghue <jim_at_smithy.com>
Date: Tue Apr 8 07:58:00 2003

Finally found a Wang VS-85. Had to take it apart to get it in the house!
I'll be putting up some information and pictures on my web site soon.
The power supply had been removed, so I hacked together some cables and
used a power supply from something else. It has 1MB main memory, an I/O
controller for 16 serial (Wang coax-connected devices), four SMD disk
ports, a tape drive controller, and a couple of other unknown I/O
controllers.

The most interesting part:
A CE manual, describing the CPU architecture, theory, and lots of other
useful stuff, along with complete schematics for the whole system, and
most of the I/O controllers.

This machine is 32-bit, with an instruction set similar to the IBM 370.
The CPU consists of a ton of TTL chips, an ALU made of 74181's, and an
8KB writable control store. The microcode for the CPU resides on a 5
1/4" floppy disk. The floppy disk drive in the CPU cabinet can only load
microcode, you can't use it to store data.
Each I/O controller has its own CPU (or several). The old ones have a
couple of 74181's and EPROMS with a control program, the newer ones use
Z80's, and have RAM only, the control program gets loaded to them when
you IPL the system.

It's about the size of a clothes dryer. The standard power is 120vac,
but the hacked-in power supply is 220vac. Draws about 4 amps _at_ 220vac.

-- 
Jim Donoghue
Smithy Co.
(734) 913-6700
Received on Tue Apr 08 2003 - 07:58:00 BST

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