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A delayed happy holidays and happy new-year to all...

T

Thomas Hillebrandt

Experienced Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2003
Messages
95
Location
Copenhagen, Denmark
Hi there, my fellow vintage-geeks :)

With the annual solstice-festivities being well passed, and the change to a new number in the "year" field of our calendars, I just want to send my greetings.

This is partly a celebration of the fact that after 10 wretched days, I'm finally back on-line, and party a celebration of the fact that I once again do my computing by a 21" monitor, rather than a 15"...

I hope the holidays brought you all nice, vintage items for your collections. My present came a little late this year - yesterday, but made up for that by being 3 beautiful machines: A Commodore ExecuDesk 8296-D, a Tandy Radio Shack TRS-80 model 4 (expanded to 128K RAM and 3 floppydrives) and finally a HeathKit Computer (with unknown specs)...

Thank you. That is all! :wink:
 
Re: A delayed happy holidays and happy new-year to all...

Thomas Hillebrandt said:
Hi there, my fellow vintage-geeks :)


I hope the holidays brought you all nice, vintage items for your collections. My present came a little late this year - yesterday, but made up for that by being 3 beautiful machines: A Commodore ExecuDesk 8296-D, a Tandy Radio Shack TRS-80 model 4 (expanded to 128K RAM and 3 floppydrives) and finally a HeathKit Computer (with unknown specs)...

Thank you. That is all! :wink:
Click to expand...

Lucky you...congratulations, hope you enjoy your new toyz.

--T
 
Re: A delayed happy holidays and happy new-year to all...

"Terry Yager" wrote:

>> I hope the holidays brought you all
>> nice, vintage items for your collections.
>> My present came a little late this year -
>> yesterday, but made up for that by being
>> 3 beautiful machines: A Commodore
>> ExecuDesk 8296-D, a Tandy Radio Shack
>> TRS-80 model 4 (expanded to 128K RAM
>> and 3 floppydrives) and finally a HeathKit
>> Computer (with unknown specs)...

> Lucky you...congratulations, hope you enjoy
> your new toyz.

That's quite different getting numerous
Computers for Christmas, wouldn't happen
here!

CP/M User.
 
CP/M User said:
"Terry Yager" wrote:

> Well, I did get a new cd-rw fr x-mas, but it ain't exactly
> "vintage".

It isn't exactly a computer! ;-)

Cheers,
CP/M User.
Click to expand...

Lessee...it has a cpu...has i/o...has memory...has permanent storage...
Why isn't it a computer? (Just not a very smart one.)

--T
 
"Terry Yager" wrote:

> > Well, I did get a new cd-rw fr x-mas, but it ain't exactly
> > "vintage".

> > It isn't exactly a computer! ;-)

> Lessee...it has a cpu...has i/o...has memory...has
> permanent storage...
> Why isn't it a computer? (Just not a very smart
> one.)

Have things change, or 'am I incorrect in saying that the
BASIC personal computer needed a Keyboard, Monitor &
CPU?

This is why Dumb Terminals are called Dumb Terminals,
since they look to somebody who has something they
need.

Well I guess I could be wrong, since lots of those earlier
computers didn't have the 3 basic items & everyone
nowadays just feeds the wrong info about what is a
computer? At the time, it might seem like a stupid easy
question, but can come back to haunt you.

Cheers,
CP/M User.
 
What's An OS?

What's An OS?

Which reminds me, people are starting to ask what
an OS is, is CP/M an OS?

Some say that the BIOS is the actual OS since it tells
the computer what to do. On an IBM, it simply asks
it to boot a disk (in earlier systems it might try & boot
a disk & then goto BASIC if no disk is found).

So because someone can't define what an OS is, we
now have all these programs which are called OSes,
but really ways of using the system. The BIOS seems
to be all around us on an IBM, as we can tell it what
to do (through the programs).

Cheers,
CP/M User.
 
Is the computer in your car a "real" computer, then? It doesn't have a screen or a keybd. Forgive me but, I was taught that the three basic components of a computer were: processor, memory and I/O. If it has all three, then it's a computer. (Even dumb (and smart) terminals are dedicated single-purpose computers.)

--T
 
I was taught that the three basic components of a computer were: processor, memory and I/O. If it has all three, then it's a computer.
Click to expand...

I sure am no expert, but would this definition be more specific to a digital computer?

mind you, Babbage's Analytical Engine seems to fulfill the criteria as well.

Chris
 
I think there are some differences between the generic definition of a computer and the definition of a "personal computer" etc.

That may be what folks are getting hung up on.

Erik
 
Erik said:
I think there are some differences between the generic definition of a computer and the definition of a "personal computer" etc.

That may be what folks are getting hung up on.
Click to expand...

Well spoken - umm, I mean written..


Meanwhile, it turns out the Commodore 8296-D has a dead CRT. :( It just makes a clicky sound when switched on, and that's it! Any suggestions?

And does anyone know the "Heathkit Computer"?? Or is that term descriptive of several systems?
 
And does anyone know the "Heathkit Computer"?? Or is that term descriptive of several systems?
Click to expand...

The only heathkit I have ever used, was back in high school, and it was a trainer, with an attached breadboard and all that. Came in a nice hard case. Lots of fun poking around with that thing.

I never knew that there were actual Heathkit computers with a screen and all that.

Chris
 
Thomas Hillebrandt said:
And does anyone know the "Heathkit Computer"?? Or is that term descriptive of several systems?
Click to expand...

There are a few Heath machines. If it's a flat, PC sized box with a hex pad and a small LED display then it's an H8.

If it looks like a terminal and has a drive next to the monitor then it's probably an H-88/H-89.

Both are pretty much the same, spec wise, in that they are 8080 or z-80 based and can run CP/M or HDOS (amongst others).

Erik
 
Erik said:
If it looks like a terminal and has a drive next to the monitor then it's probably an H-88/H-89.

Both are pretty much the same, spec wise, in that they are 8080 or z-80 based and can run CP/M or HDOS (amongst others).
Click to expand...

Based on this, I just inspected the case. Lo and behold, an almost completely worn-down label had an indentation that seems to read "H-89II"

I want to open the case - both the look at robot-porn (if you don't know the Fox series "Futurama", this makes no sense), but also to clean it - it's mighty filthy. But I can't seem to figure out how. The screws I've tried seem to be for mounting the inards of the thing, and this makes me a tad apprehensive about losening too many.

Do you know the disk-format for this model? I have some CP/M disks, but I know that the formats are many, and not necessarily intercompatible.
 
Thomas Hillebrandt said:
Based on this, I just inspected the case. Lo and behold, an almost completely worn-down label had an indentation that seems to read "H-89II"
Click to expand...

I didn't know they had a "II" on these. . . :)

Thomas Hillebrandt said:
I want to open the case - both the look at robot-porn (if you don't know the Fox series "Futurama", this makes no sense), but also to clean it - it's mighty filthy. But I can't seem to figure out how. The screws I've tried seem to be for mounting the inards of the thing, and this makes me a tad apprehensive about losening too many.
Click to expand...

There should be a pair of spring-loaded catches on either side of the bottom of the case about halfway back. Release both of those and you can lift the upper part of the case up and get to the guts.

Thomas Hillebrandt said:
Do you know the disk-format for this model? I have some CP/M disks, but I know that the formats are many, and not necessarily intercompatible.
Click to expand...

Most of these used a 10 hard sectored 5.25 floppy. I don't think it's compatible with the Northstar format so you'll need a Heath/Zenith boot disk.

Your other option would be to "soft boot" it. Dwight Elvey (who's a member here, albeit a quiet one) has figured out how to do that.

Hopefully he'll respond to a PM if he doesn't see this thread.

Erik
 
"Terry Yager" wrote:

> Is the computer in your car a "real" computer, then?
> It doesn't have a screen or a keybd. Forgive me
> but, I was taught that the three basic components of
> a computer were: processor, memory and I/O. If it
> has all three, then it's a computer. (Even dumb (
> and smart) terminals are dedicated single-purpose
> computers.)

Ah yes, that's the 3 I was looking for! ;-)

Cheers,
CP/M User.
 
"vic user" wrote:

>> I was taught that the three basic components
>> of a computer were: processor, memory and
>> I/O. If it has all three, then it's a computer.

> I sure am no expert, but would this definition be
> more specific to a digital computer?

> mind you, Babbage's Analytical Engine seems
> to fulfill the criteria as well.

I'm not sure how Babbage's Analytical Engine went
for memory, though it had a form of I/O, as for a
processor those sorts of machines required a
human head for the problem at hand!
 
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