• Recent finds?

    From aLPHA@21:4/158.1 to All on Mon Jan 31 15:57:19 2022
    Anyone score any good retro hardware recently? I'm in the market for an
    Amiga a1200, but eBay's getting too rich for my blood. Hoping to run into
    some C= hardware at my local thrift stores -- we have one in Berkeley
    called "Urban Ore" that has a pretty big computer section... Fingers
    crossed!


    |04a|12LPHA
    |03Alpha Complex |15- |11alphacomplex.us:2323

    --- Talisman v0.35-dev (Linux/x86_64)
    * Origin: aLPHA cOMPLEX: You are in Error. No one is screaming. (21:4/158.1)
  • From Jeff@21:1/180 to aLPHA on Mon Jan 31 10:44:37 2022
    On 31 Jan 2022, aLPHA said the following...
    Anyone score any good retro hardware recently? I'm in the market for an Amiga a1200, but eBay's getting too rich for my blood. Hoping to run into some C= hardware at my local thrift stores -- we have one in Berkeley called "Urban Ore" that has a pretty big computer section... Fingers crossed!

    I bought some RCA 1802 "COSMAC" chips off of Ebay and have been playing
    around with those with the help of an Arduino. It's a weird chip, but from a time when Intel/Motorola (and by extension MOS/Zilog) hadn't yet become the standard.

    Perhaps the strangest thing about it is that it's an 8-bit MPU with 16 16-bit registers. It proceeds sequentially by default through its instructions, but has no dedicated Program Counter. It has instructions to manipulate a stack, but has no dedicated Stack Pointer. Instead, any of those 16 registers can be the Program Counter or Stack Pointer. Jumps are accomplished by loading the address to be jumped to into one (any) of those registers and then setting
    that register to be the Program Counter. Changing the Program Counter to be whichever register was previously the Program Counter effectively executes a return.

    Jeff.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: Cold War Computing BBS (21:1/180)
  • From Jeff@21:1/180 to aLPHA on Mon Jan 31 15:07:22 2022
    On 31 Jan 2022, aLPHA said the following...
    Anyone score any good retro hardware recently? I'm in the market for an Amiga a1200, but eBay's getting too rich for my blood. Hoping to run into some C= hardware at my local thrift stores -- we have one in Berkeley called "Urban Ore" that has a pretty big computer section... Fingers crossed!

    Just today I got a KP1801BM1 from the Russian Federation. It's a 16-bit CPU
    of Soviet design that also happens to be binary-compatible with the DEC
    PDP-11. Other than that, I don't know very much about it at all, but it
    should be fun to try and make it do something, either with an Arduino Mega or
    a small FPGA.

    Jeff.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: Cold War Computing BBS (21:1/180)
  • From aLPHA@21:4/158.1 to Jeff on Tue Feb 1 02:15:19 2022
    Just today I got a KP1801BM1 from the Russian Federation. It's a
    16-bit CPU
    of Soviet design that also happens to be binary-compatible with the
    DEC
    PDP-11. Other than that, I don't know very much about it at all, but
    it
    should be fun to try and make it do something, either with an Arduino
    Mega or
    a small FPGA.

    Whoah, that sounds pretty cool -- that's like early 1980m yeah? I find Soviet-era technology pretty intersting, especially some of the out-there industrial design... Congrats :)

    |04a|12LPHA
    |03Alpha Complex |15- |11alphacomplex.us:2323

    --- Talisman v0.35-dev (Linux/x86_64)
    * Origin: aLPHA cOMPLEX: You are in Error. No one is screaming. (21:4/158.1)
  • From Jeff@21:1/180 to aLPHA on Mon Jan 31 21:23:01 2022
    On 01 Feb 2022, aLPHA said the following...
    Whoah, that sounds pretty cool -- that's like early 1980m yeah? I find Soviet-era technology pretty intersting, especially some of the out-there industrial design... Congrats :)

    Yes, apparently it was designed in 1979, entered production in 1980, and
    ended production in 1993. It was the CPU for several of the "official" Soviet home computers. As shipped, it looks a little unusual: it's a 40-pin IC, but the pins are more closely spaced than a standard DIP package. The pins also extend out to the sides rather than being bent downwards, so that it is flat.

    I've not been able to find a pinout yet, but there's gotta be one out there somewhere.

    Jeff.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: Cold War Computing BBS (21:1/180)
  • From Sporathan@21:1/162 to Jeff on Tue Feb 1 12:38:19 2022
    Just today I got a KP1801BM1 from the Russian Federation. It's a 16-bit CPU of Soviet design that also happens to be binary-compatible with the DEC PDP-11. Other than that, I don't know very much about it at all, but it should be fun to try and make it do something, either with an Arduino Mega or a small FPGA.

    Run a BBS on it!

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Cheshire Underground (21:1/162)
  • From Dr. What@21:1/126 to aLPHA on Wed Feb 2 02:53:35 2022
    aLPHA wrote to All <=-

    Anyone score any good retro hardware recently?

    I lucked out and was able to get a TRS-80 Model I with working monitor.
    No power supply for the computer part, though. Parts on order.
    But the reset button cover was intact! (These usually get lost over time.)

    I have the transformers and I should have the power supply board with cables on Friday. So hopefully I'll have a working TRS-80 Model I this weekend.
    Keeping my fingers crossed.


    ... When choosing between two evils, select the newer one.
    ___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52

    --- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Al's Geek Lab -=- bbs.alsgeeklab.com:2323 (21:1/126)
  • From Jeff@21:1/180 to Sporathan on Tue Feb 1 08:59:57 2022
    On 01 Feb 2022, Sporathan said the following...
    Just today I got a KP1801BM1 from the Russian Federation. It's a 16-b CPU of Soviet design that also happens to be binary-compatible with t DEC PDP-11. Other than that, I don't know very much about it at all, it should be fun to try and make it do something, either with an Ardu Mega or a small FPGA.
    Run a BBS on it!

    The thought has crossed my mind...

    Jeff.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: Cold War Computing BBS (21:1/180)
  • From aLPHA@21:4/158.1 to Dr. What on Tue Feb 1 14:50:13 2022
    I lucked out and was able to get a TRS-80 Model I with working
    monitor.

    Oh, that's nice. How much memory on that badboy?


    |04a|12LPHA
    |03Alpha Complex |15- |11alphacomplex.us:2323

    --- Talisman v0.35-dev (Linux/x86_64)
    * Origin: aLPHA cOMPLEX: You are in Error. No one is screaming. (21:4/158.1)
  • From Dr. What@21:1/126 to aLPHA on Thu Feb 3 02:55:33 2022
    aLPHA wrote to Dr. What <=-

    I lucked out and was able to get a TRS-80 Model I with working
    monitor.

    Oh, that's nice. How much memory on that badboy?

    The official sticker on the bottom says 16K, but I haven't had it open to see if someone did any mods to it.


    ... Sigmund's wife wore Freudian slips.
    ___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52

    --- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Al's Geek Lab -=- bbs.alsgeeklab.com:2323 (21:1/126)
  • From paulie420@21:2/150 to aLPHA on Wed Feb 2 18:29:12 2022
    Anyone score any good retro hardware recently? I'm in the market for an Amiga a1200, but eBay's getting too rich for my blood. Hoping to run into some C= hardware at my local thrift stores -- we have one in Berkeley called "Urban Ore" that has a pretty big computer section... Fingers crossed!

    I am *thinking* of grabbing three PET machines - a seller in PDX has finally went down to the $900 that I was asking... two are working, and one just stopped - so should be something the community can help get rocking again.

    I hear they are worth around $400 each; one community member said they'd pay $400 for the BROKEN one, so...

    I also want an a1200 - but as I was telling you the other day, I think my next purchase (if I can find the dang hardware!!) is a MiSTeR... for ME, an fpga is 'close enough' and way better than software emulation... while it ain't cheap, I think it will be my next 'retro machine'.

    What you think about my PET find? Should I pop? I don't particularly LIKE PETs; and don't need 3(!*) but... good deals are harder to find these days. I might pop.



    |07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
    |08.........

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)
  • From paulie420@21:2/150 to aLPHA on Wed Feb 2 18:33:17 2022
    Whoah, that sounds pretty cool -- that's like early 1980m yeah? I find Soviet-era technology pretty intersting, especially some of the out-there industrial design... Congrats :)

    First, YES - Jeffs KP1801BM1 sounds rad... I'm a little green to use an Arduino to make retro chips do things, but... I'm interested in hearing what beeps and boops he makes it do!!

    While this isn't retro COMPUTING, I collect some Russian antiques. Lighters, a couple neat watches, some WWII era bomb fuzes (I have a large fuze collection... very cool.) and a few phones - I love seeing how DIFFERENT their tech was that ours, and most of it is built really well. Very industrial, as you say, too.



    |07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
    |08.........

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)
  • From Sporathan@21:1/162 to paulie420 on Thu Feb 3 12:32:29 2022
    While this isn't retro COMPUTING, I collect some Russian antiques. Lighters, a couple neat watches, some WWII era bomb fuzes (I have a
    large fuze collection... very cool.) and a few phones - I love seeing
    how DIFFERENT their tech was that ours, and most of it is built really well. Very industrial, as you say, too.

    That is really cool. I recently started collecting Russian space race memorabilia, especially space dogs stuff (Laika!). I never thought about lighters or phones. Now I am. :)

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Cheshire Underground (21:1/162)
  • From Dr. What@21:1/126 to paulie420 on Fri Feb 4 03:09:47 2022
    paulie420 wrote to aLPHA <=-

    What you think about my PET find? Should I pop? I don't particularly
    LIKE PETs; and don't need 3(!*) but... good deals are harder to find
    these days. I might pop.

    $900 for 2 working and 1 not? Sounds like a good deal to me.

    Worst case: Clean them up, fix the one that's broken and put them up on eBay for $900 each.


    ... We're all sitting in the same boat: I fish, you row.
    ___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52

    --- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Al's Geek Lab -=- bbs.alsgeeklab.com:2323 (21:1/126)
  • From aLPHA@21:4/158.1 to paulie420 on Thu Feb 3 14:58:14 2022
    I am *thinking* of grabbing three PET machines - a seller in PDX has
    finally went down to the $900 that I was asking... two are working,
    and one just stopped - so should be something the community can help
    get rocking again.

    GRAB THEM!

    I also want an a1200 - but as I was telling you the other day, I think
    my next purchase (if I can find the dang hardware!!) is a MiSTeR...
    for ME, an fpga is 'close enough' and way better than software
    emulation... while it ain't cheap, I think it will be my next 'retro machine'.

    I love my MiSTer. Def. comes with some of its own challenges, but like we chatted about, I use mine more for computer emulation than gaming. So fun
    to just flick a switch and dive into a non-software emulated OS. Was even thinking about picking up some C64 perifs, maybe disk drive, as you can
    hook those right up to the FPGA as well...


    |04a|12LPHA
    |03Alpha Complex |15- |11alphacomplex.us:2323

    --- Talisman v0.35-dev (Linux/x86_64)
    * Origin: aLPHA cOMPLEX: You are in Error. No one is screaming. (21:4/158.1)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to paulie420 on Thu Feb 3 08:27:00 2022
    paulie420 wrote to aLPHA <=-

    While this isn't retro COMPUTING, I collect some Russian antiques. Lighters, a couple neat watches, some WWII era bomb fuzes (I have a
    large fuze collection... very cool.) and a few phones - I love seeing
    how DIFFERENT their tech was that ours, and most of it is built really well. Very industrial, as you say, too.

    I'm a fan of soviet-era 35mm cameras. As you'd mentioned, their tech is different, simple, foolproof, and genius in many ways.

    I shot hundreds of rolls of film through a LOMO LC-A, a little compact
    camera that, like many Soviet era cameras, was a copy of a Japanese camera that itself was a copy of another.

    They put an amazing little triplet lens on it, and in keeping with the
    "simple yet genius" description, had an amazing shutter. A spring opened the shutter, and a solar cell charged a capacitor. When the capacitor charged,
    it powered an electromagnet which closed the shutter. That meant you could
    do 2 minute exposures without draining the battery. In order to adjust for different film speeds/sensitivities, a rotating disk with different sized holes was fitted over the solar cell. Slower speed film meant a smaller
    hole, and a longer exposure.

    Other cameras were blatant copies of other cameras - Zorki cameras, for example, were made in a Contax factory that was taken over in WWII and moved to the Soviet Union.


    ... Emphasize the flaws
    --- MultiMail/DOS v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From paulie420@21:2/150 to aLPHA on Thu Feb 3 14:20:11 2022
    Was even thinking about picking up some C64 perifs, maybe disk drive, as aL> you can hook those right up to the FPGA as well...

    Wow, I didn't realize that part - makes sense now that I think about it, tho. Furthermore, I bet the newer solutions can be used to create very usable MiSTeR setups - i.e. SD-Card readers, Pi disk drives and the whole collection of stuff.

    I wonder how to implement other things that might normally be on a ROM - like, say, JiffyDOS for C= machines... I bet you just load it as files; I can't wait to jump in the game.

    :P



    |07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
    |08.........

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)
  • From Jeff@21:1/180 to aLPHA on Thu Feb 3 19:42:55 2022
    Just today I got a KP1801BM1 from the Russian Federation.
    Whoah, that sounds pretty cool -- that's like early 1980m yeah? I find Soviet-era technology pretty intersting, especially some of the out-there industrial design... Congrats :)

    Today, with significant help from a Russian Facebook friend, I was able to
    get ahold of the technical documentation for the BP1801BM1 (pinouts, timing diagrams, etc.), in Russian, of course. It's a very interesting chip, and now
    I want three more! It turns out that two of the pins are used to encode the "CPU number" of the processor, 0-3, and they have built-in circuitry to arbitrate access to the system bus based in this number.

    Jeff.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: Cold War Computing BBS (21:1/180)
  • From Oli@21:3/102 to Jeff on Fri Feb 4 19:17:20 2022
    Jeff wrote (2022-02-03):

    aL> > Just today I got a KP1801BM1 from the Russian Federation.

    Today, with significant help from a Russian Facebook friend, I was able to get ahold of the technical documentation for the BP1801BM1 (pinouts,
    timing diagrams, etc.), in Russian, of course. It's a very interesting
    chip, and now I want three more! It turns out that two of the pins are
    used to encode the "CPU number" of the processor, 0-3, and they have
    built-in circuitry to arbitrate access to the system bus based in this number.

    multi-processor? :-]

    ---
    * Origin: DAEMON_ARGS (21:3/102)
  • From Jeff@21:1/180 to Oli on Fri Feb 4 13:15:34 2022
    On 04 Feb 2022, Oli said the following...
    aL> > Just today I got a KP1801BM1 from the Russian Federation. Today, with significant help from a Russian Facebook friend, I was able get ahold of the technical documentation for the BP1801BM1 (pinouts, timing diagrams, etc.), in Russian, of course. It's a very interesting chip, and now I want three more! It turns out that two of the pins are used to encode the "CPU number" of the processor, 0-3, and they have built-in circuitry to arbitrate access to the system bus based in this number.
    multi-processor? :-]

    It certainly appears so!

    Jeff.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: Cold War Computing BBS (21:1/180)
  • From Daniel Path@21:4/148 to paulie420 on Fri Feb 4 21:28:22 2022
    Hello paulie420.

    02 Feb 22 18:33, you wrote to aLPHA:

    Whoah, that sounds pretty cool -- that's like early 1980m yeah? I
    find Soviet-era technology pretty intersting, especially some of
    the out-there industrial design... Congrats :)

    First, YES - Jeffs KP1801BM1 sounds rad... I'm a little green to use
    an Arduino to make retro chips do things, but... I'm interested in
    hearing what beeps and boops he makes it do!!

    While this isn't retro COMPUTING, I collect some Russian antiques. Lighters, a couple neat watches, some WWII era bomb fuzes (I have a
    large fuze collection... very cool.) and a few phones - I love seeing
    how DIFFERENT their tech was that ours, and most of it is built really well. Very industrial, as you say, too.

    robust and heavy, ugly and foolproof (in the meaning of if you are a fool and can't use it, it will kill you instantly)

    :)

    --
    Daniel from the ex-Warsaw-Pact ;)

    ... 11:07pm up 22 days, 10:04:12, load: 77 processes, 284 threads.
    --- GoldED+/EMX 1.1.4.7
    * Origin: Roon's BBS - Budapest, HUNGARY (21:4/148)
  • From Daniel Path@21:4/148 to poindexter FORTRAN on Fri Feb 4 21:34:33 2022
    Hello poindexter.

    03 Feb 22 08:27, you wrote to paulie420:

    paulie420 wrote to aLPHA <=-

    While this isn't retro COMPUTING, I collect some Russian
    antiques. Lighters, a couple neat watches, some WWII era bomb
    fuzes (I have a large fuze collection... very cool.) and a few
    phones - I love seeing how DIFFERENT their tech was that ours,
    and most of it is built really well. Very industrial, as you say,
    too.

    I'm a fan of soviet-era 35mm cameras. As you'd mentioned, their tech
    is different, simple, foolproof, and genius in many ways.

    I shot hundreds of rolls of film through a LOMO LC-A, a little compact camera that, like many Soviet era cameras, was a copy of a Japanese
    camera that itself was a copy of another.

    They put an amazing little triplet lens on it, and in keeping with the "simple yet genius" description, had an amazing shutter. A spring
    opened the shutter, and a solar cell charged a capacitor. When the capacitor charged, it powered an electromagnet which closed the
    shutter. That meant you could do 2 minute exposures without draining
    the battery. In order to adjust for different film
    speeds/sensitivities, a rotating disk with different sized holes was fitted over the solar cell. Slower speed film meant a smaller hole,
    and a longer exposure.

    Other cameras were blatant copies of other cameras - Zorki cameras,
    for example, were made in a Contax factory that was taken over in WWII
    and moved to the Soviet Union.

    i still have my grandpa's SMENA. :)

    Daniel

    ... 11:07pm up 22 days, 10:04:12, load: 77 processes, 284 threads.
    --- GoldED+/EMX 1.1.4.7
    * Origin: Roon's BBS - Budapest, HUNGARY (21:4/148)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Daniel Path on Sat Feb 5 12:18:00 2022
    Daniel Path wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

    i still have my grandpa's SMENA. :)

    I had a Smena 35, wonderful lens, flimsy little piece of plastic. Spring loaded shutter, no meter. No rangefinder.

    It was a wonderful object lesson in that all photography requires is an eye for composition and a way to focus light onto film. Shoot "Sunny 16", and
    you could eyeball your exposures. Understand depth of field and you could
    set the focus to a middle distance and forget it.


    ... Abandon desire
    --- MultiMail/DOS v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From Jeff@21:1/180 to aLPHA on Sat Feb 19 15:50:03 2022
    On 01 Feb 2022, aLPHA said the following...
    Just today I got a KP1801BM1 from the Russian Federation. It's a
    16-bit CPU
    of Soviet design that also happens to be binary-compatible with the
    DEC
    PDP-11. Other than that, I don't know very much about it at all, but
    it
    should be fun to try and make it do something, either with an Arduino Mega or
    a small FPGA.

    Whoah, that sounds pretty cool -- that's like early 1980m yeah? I find Soviet-era technology pretty intersting, especially some of the out-there industrial design... Congrats :)

    A little bit of an update on this:
    The KP1801BM1 has an interesting pin spacing that's made it a little
    difficult to work with. However, I found a KP1801BM2 which has a few improvements over the BM1 *and* is in a DIP-40 package -- much easier to work with.

    Jeff.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: Cold War Computing BBS (21:1/180)