> Message: 33
> Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 08:40:32 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Ethan Dicks <erd_6502_at_yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: Perkin Elmer 7300 Pro System Museum Quality!
> To: cctalk_at_classiccmp.org
> Reply-To: cctalk_at_classiccmp.org
>
> --- Mail List <mail.list_at_analog-and-digital-solutions.com> wrote:
> > Here's one some of you might like.
> >
> > Perkin Elmer 7300 Pro System Museum Quality!
> >
> > http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2738081449
>
> I tried to sell one of those years ago at a hamfest. No takers at $15.
>
> We used it as a cross-development environment for COMBOARD and follow-
> on products - mostly as a departmental C compiler that would emit
> 68000 assembler (we were using Whitesmith's C on the VAX for the
> system and VMS application code).
>
> Nice little box, System III. Got mine in storage, along with all
> the diskettes and manuals.
>
> -ethan
>
>
>
System III or MicroXelos (UniPlus System V)...
There were a number of misfeatures including a very slow video card
and a bus that couldn't handle faster chips than the 68k that was in it.
I dumped a pickup truck full of 'em (7350's) in the trash after rescuing a
bunch out of Concurrent in '89 or so. Couldn't give 'em away at Trenton.
I had all the distribution software including RM/Cobol, Idris, and
stuff. Later I wanted to get my hands on a Masscomp 5550 or so to
replace it. Concurrent bought up Masscomp but getting the boxes was
nearly impossible at the time and FreeBSD and Linux made the 68010/020/030
Masscomps less than attractive in a price/performance/size kind of way.
They also needed heavy hot tubes like the early Suns did.
There was an attempt to get Concurrent to build a 68020 version of the
7350 for Perkin-Elmer (since they split into two companies) and the 68000
would barely take a 68010... but the Versabus backplane had noise and
timing issues when you tried to push it.
There was even an XF/200? version -- with 16 (IIRC serial ports).
I ran a news feed to the box at home with 2 80 meg MFM ST506 drives...
Slow but it worked. Fed it with a Trailblazer Plus and later a T2500.
Amazing, but I think the modem had more processing power.
Now the video cards have more power than the CPU's did back then.
Bill
--
d|i|g|i|t|a|l had it THEN. Don't you wish you could still buy it now!
bpechter_at_shell.monmouth.com|pechter_at_ureach.com
Received on Sun Jun 29 2003 - 17:55:01 BST