Picked up an interesting AIM-65

[dfnr2]

While browsing tables at the excellent VCF Southwest event this past weekend, I saw an AIM 65 for sale at a decent price and couldn't resist, mostly because it was in a nifty metal case. Turns out, the case housed an interface card and a 4-slot backplane which, at first glance, I suspect are RM65 compatible. The interface card also has some decoding and a 128-byte RAM (68A10). I have no idea what for.

The machine was a bit dirty inside, the normal residue you'd expect if it were kept in a dusty garage or warehouse. I took the whole thing apart and cleaned it all up and used the opportunity to take some pictures. I still have the whole thing disassembled, so I'm posting a photo of another AIM-65 with the same case, that coincidentally was on auction here in the DFW area last week, ending just before the VCF.

I'm attaching photos of the backplane and interface board. I'm wondering if anyone has seen these before, and if anyone might have any information.

My machine is missing the three switches on the front. The power supply has been disconnected (The power cord wires are cut), and a transistor on the power supply has clearly exploded, so clearly it will need some work.

However, the AIM 65 powers up and runs just fine. It has the common BASIC v1.1 installed. With 24V applied, the machine still boots up with a "Printer Down" message, but the printer does seem to work. I will have to hunt down a ROM disassembly listing to see if I can get some clues as to what is being checked to produce the "Printer Down" message. I'll also have to compare the output against my "good" AIM-65.

Interestingly, the keyboard font is completely different from my other AIM-65.

Dave

 

[ClassicHasClass]

That's a fun enclosure, and functional, too. My own AIM is just in the regular Rockwell case.

 

[nikola-wan]

While browsing tables at the excellent VCF Southwest event this past weekend, I saw an AIM 65 for sale at a decent price and couldn't resist, mostly because it was in a nifty metal case. Turns out, the case housed an interface card and a 4-slot backplane which, at first glance, I suspect are RM65 compatible. The interface card also has some decoding and a 128-byte RAM (68A10). I have no idea what for.

The machine was a bit dirty inside, the normal residue you'd expect if it were kept in a dusty garage or warehouse. I took the whole thing apart and cleaned it all up and used the opportunity to take some pictures. I still have the whole thing disassembled, so I'm posting a photo of another AIM-65 with the same case, that coincidentally was on auction here in the DFW area last week, ending just before the VCF.

I'm attaching photos of the backplane and interface board. I'm wondering if anyone has seen these before, and if anyone might have any information.

My machine is missing the three switches on the front. The power supply has been disconnected (The power cord wires are cut), and a transistor on the power supply has clearly exploded, so clearly it will need some work.

However, the AIM 65 powers up and runs just fine. It has the common BASIC v1.1 installed. With 24V applied, the machine still boots up with a "Printer Down" message, but the printer does seem to work. I will have to hunt down a ROM disassembly listing to see if I can get some clues as to what is being checked to produce the "Printer Down" message. I'll also have to compare the output against my "good" AIM-65.

Interestingly, the keyboard font is completely different from my other AIM-65.

Dave

I saw that at VCF Southwest too. Did you see my 19" vector storage Tektronix 4054A computer on the other side of the room at VCF Southwest?

 

[dfnr2]

I saw that at VCF Southwest too. Did you see my 19" vector storage Tektronix 4054A computer on the other side of the room at VCF Southwest?

I did see it. I badly wanted to play with it, but in only had a couple of hours and there was so much stuff. If you are local to DFW, I hope you bring it to the next DFW Retrocomputing meetup

 

[dfnr2]

Well, the backplane is definitely not RM65 compatible, since the connectors are 44-pin, just like the AIM-65 connectors. The backplane connects to the expansion connector, but the four 44-pin backplane slots are not compatible with either the AIM-65 expansion connector or the Application connector. For example, pins 1, A, 22, and Z are all GND. If anyone out there has any info on the backplane, I would be most interested. Because the case has the card cage, it may be worth making a new buffer PCB and backplane with four replicas of the expansion slot. Then, RM-65 cards could be added using per-card interface boards.

 

[nikola-wan]

I did see it. I badly wanted to play with it, but in only had a couple of hours and there was so much stuff. If you are local to DFW, I hope you bring it to the next DFW Retrocomputing meetup

I live near Houston - so its too far to drive for a DFW Retrocomputing meetup, and my Tektronix 4054A weighs 150 pounds. I'll try to bring it to the next VCF Southwest show.