Greg
New Member
Hello,
I have been collecting old computers for almost 10 years. My father bought his first computer in the mid 60's (Proton 712 with 1k of core memory). He sometimes had me wind punch tape instead of hiring a baby sitter. I have written a half dozen real-time kernels so far in my career. I am new to this type of forum and I could use advice in how to become part of a larger community.
In my collection I have the usual: 5 slot IBM PC, Kaypro, Apple II, Osborne, TRS-80 Model 1, Altair, IMSIA, etc… I also have some odd stuff:
Road Runner – CPM Laptop with Removable Cartridge Memory
Picker Necular DAC-512 – “PC” with 512 bytes of core memory, Nixie Display
Mechanical Integrator of Unknown Origin – Implements 2nd order Diff Equ
Bombsite Computer from B-29 – Functions as Autopilot on Bombing Run
Marchant ACR8D – Performs Long Division
Intel ICE-8051 – Replaces Microprocessor to Debug Hardware
NCR Tabulator – Seems to be a secure mechanical data base of some sort
I also tend to focus on the small stuff like punch tape and magnetic card editing equipment, ratcheting relays, test and measurement equipment, Software debugging tools, etc…
I also have piles of schematics and manuals for things like an ESS Number 1 Phone Switch (First Transistorized Phone Switch) and a full set of engineering drawings for the Marchant ACR8D. My goal is to scan in this stuff and post pictures people can use without restrictions. I also am willing to disassemble and photograph stuff on request. This is partially because most of the stuff was given to me for free so I feel obligated to make my collection available to others. It also attracts more contributions when I do presentations and distributes the information I have acquired.
Anyone interested in posting pictures can contact me and I will photograph the stuff to order. If you can tell me how to address the copyright issues, I will scan in manuals. In fact I could use some help in this regard. I have the software to generate the scanned documents but I don’t yet have the facilities to convert them to a searchable form.
Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in helping me get started in this forum. Also if you need advice on how to get old stuff running I might be able to help but I get just as frustrated as anyone else. The only difference is that I like being frustrated.
Greg
gboria@snet.net
I have been collecting old computers for almost 10 years. My father bought his first computer in the mid 60's (Proton 712 with 1k of core memory). He sometimes had me wind punch tape instead of hiring a baby sitter. I have written a half dozen real-time kernels so far in my career. I am new to this type of forum and I could use advice in how to become part of a larger community.
In my collection I have the usual: 5 slot IBM PC, Kaypro, Apple II, Osborne, TRS-80 Model 1, Altair, IMSIA, etc… I also have some odd stuff:
Road Runner – CPM Laptop with Removable Cartridge Memory
Picker Necular DAC-512 – “PC” with 512 bytes of core memory, Nixie Display
Mechanical Integrator of Unknown Origin – Implements 2nd order Diff Equ
Bombsite Computer from B-29 – Functions as Autopilot on Bombing Run
Marchant ACR8D – Performs Long Division
Intel ICE-8051 – Replaces Microprocessor to Debug Hardware
NCR Tabulator – Seems to be a secure mechanical data base of some sort
I also tend to focus on the small stuff like punch tape and magnetic card editing equipment, ratcheting relays, test and measurement equipment, Software debugging tools, etc…
I also have piles of schematics and manuals for things like an ESS Number 1 Phone Switch (First Transistorized Phone Switch) and a full set of engineering drawings for the Marchant ACR8D. My goal is to scan in this stuff and post pictures people can use without restrictions. I also am willing to disassemble and photograph stuff on request. This is partially because most of the stuff was given to me for free so I feel obligated to make my collection available to others. It also attracts more contributions when I do presentations and distributes the information I have acquired.
Anyone interested in posting pictures can contact me and I will photograph the stuff to order. If you can tell me how to address the copyright issues, I will scan in manuals. In fact I could use some help in this regard. I have the software to generate the scanned documents but I don’t yet have the facilities to convert them to a searchable form.
Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in helping me get started in this forum. Also if you need advice on how to get old stuff running I might be able to help but I get just as frustrated as anyone else. The only difference is that I like being frustrated.
Greg
gboria@snet.net