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Old junk or rare and valuable hardware?

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved The Lounge
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  • Mike HankeyM Mike Hankey

    No actually this[^] was the college had it down in the basement and loaned it to me (but never asked for it back) From there I went to the C64.

    If you keep doing what you been doing you'll keep getting what you been getting http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^] [My Site]

    L Offline
    L Offline
    Lost User
    wrote on last edited by
    #31

    An Altair :) Great, they came as kits as well and had no graphics at all.

    "I have what could be described as the most wide-open sense of humor on the site, and if I don't think something is funny, then it really isn't." - JSOC, 2011 -----
    "Friar Modest never was a prior" - Italian proverb

    Mike HankeyM 1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • L Lost User

      The same fanboys who usually put up the effort to write emulators? :) But by the way, such ideas were the reason for Commodore's as well as Atari's fall. Both had too little innovation until it was too late. What a chance in hell could a pimped up 8 bit design have had in the early 1990s? Even 16 bit CPUs were on the decline and 32 bit CPUs were already taking over.

      "I have what could be described as the most wide-open sense of humor on the site, and if I don't think something is funny, then it really isn't." - JSOC, 2011 -----
      "Friar Modest never was a prior" - Italian proverb

      M Offline
      M Offline
      Mladen Jankovic
      wrote on last edited by
      #32

      CDP1802 wrote:

      The same fanboys who usually put up the effort to write emulators?

      I promise that I'll try to write one if I ever get in the possesion of working one :)

      [Genetic Algorithm Library]

      1 Reply Last reply
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      • M Mladen Jankovic

        Mike Hankey wrote:

        NOP = 0x00

        Are we still talking about 6502?

        [Genetic Algorithm Library]

        Mike HankeyM Offline
        Mike HankeyM Offline
        Mike Hankey
        wrote on last edited by
        #33

        Sorry lost my head was stuck on the ATMega328p that I've been working with. BRK = 0x00 :-O

        If you keep doing what you been doing you'll keep getting what you been getting http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^] [My Site]

        M 1 Reply Last reply
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        • L Lost User

          An Altair :) Great, they came as kits as well and had no graphics at all.

          "I have what could be described as the most wide-open sense of humor on the site, and if I don't think something is funny, then it really isn't." - JSOC, 2011 -----
          "Friar Modest never was a prior" - Italian proverb

          Mike HankeyM Offline
          Mike HankeyM Offline
          Mike Hankey
          wrote on last edited by
          #34

          CDP1802 wrote:

          An Altair Smile Great, they came as kits as well and had no graphics at all.

          Just lights and switches.

          If you keep doing what you been doing you'll keep getting what you been getting http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^] [My Site]

          L 1 Reply Last reply
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          • Mike HankeyM Mike Hankey

            Sorry lost my head was stuck on the ATMega328p that I've been working with. BRK = 0x00 :-O

            If you keep doing what you been doing you'll keep getting what you been getting http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^] [My Site]

            M Offline
            M Offline
            Mladen Jankovic
            wrote on last edited by
            #35

            :laugh:

            [Genetic Algorithm Library]

            1 Reply Last reply
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            • Mike HankeyM Mike Hankey

              CDP1802 wrote:

              Self modifying code was very common, but already then considered a sinister hack

              Agreed. I never used it always found other ways to do things but it was something to learn that day and it got us work. One of the EE's came by and saw what we were doing and got us to do a simple job based on it.

              If you keep doing what you been doing you'll keep getting what you been getting http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^] [My Site]

              L Offline
              L Offline
              Lost User
              wrote on last edited by
              #36

              On second thought - this is a good way to throw decompilers or debuggers off the track. Great for security protection, but hard to implement safely with so many different CPUs around.

              "I have what could be described as the most wide-open sense of humor on the site, and if I don't think something is funny, then it really isn't." - JSOC, 2011 -----
              "Friar Modest never was a prior" - Italian proverb

              1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • L Lost User

                No, you must be mistaken. NOP was C4, at least on my CDP1802. But I liked the SEX instruction (Sets the value of the CPU's X register, designating one of the 16 general purpose registers to be the stack pointer). That would have been EN, with N being the number of the register.

                "I have what could be described as the most wide-open sense of humor on the site, and if I don't think something is funny, then it really isn't." - JSOC, 2011 -----
                "Friar Modest never was a prior" - Italian proverb

                Mike HankeyM Offline
                Mike HankeyM Offline
                Mike Hankey
                wrote on last edited by
                #37

                It's been 30 yrs and I've been learning AVR assembler lately so that came out instead. :-O

                If you keep doing what you been doing you'll keep getting what you been getting http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^] [My Site]

                L 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • L Lost User

                  Ok, that's a way to see it. At least it's practical. Still, I see some differences to the painting. The old computer had a practical use, which has declined to almost zero in the last 32 years. The painting, if it hever had one, is just as useful as it ever was. The painting has little material value. A canvas and some paint, no more. The computer's components once cost their weight in gold, now they are worth little more than junk. Based on the reputation of the painter and by being a unicate, the painting had a high idealistic value. Does the computer have an idealistic value? Ok, it's from a time before they were built by millions and it is 'half' unique because such computers were a collection of industrially manufactured components and the owner's constructions. So your reasoning goes along the lines what I always say: It's totally unimportant what I can or cannot do. The only thing that counts is, what I can make others believe I can do. And now everything is worth what some fool may think it is. Minus the time and costs to find that fool, I might add :)

                  "I have what could be described as the most wide-open sense of humor on the site, and if I don't think something is funny, then it really isn't." - JSOC, 2011 -----
                  "Friar Modest never was a prior" - Italian proverb

                  L Offline
                  L Offline
                  Lost User
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #38

                  Too true! :thumbsup:

                  I must get a clever new signature for 2011.

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • L Lost User

                    That's an emotional value, and future generations might not share our sentiments.

                    I are Troll :suss:

                    L Offline
                    L Offline
                    Lost User
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #39

                    Exactly my point.

                    I must get a clever new signature for 2011.

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • J JimmyRopes

                      Mike Hankey wrote:

                      Yeah back then I didn't have a problem remembering things!

                      I hear you. :(( These days I am lucky if I remember what I had for lunch. Of course on the weekend it is easy, tiquilla. :-D

                      Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
                      Think inside the box! ProActive Secure Systems
                      I'm on-line therefore I am. JimmyRopes

                      Mike HankeyM Offline
                      Mike HankeyM Offline
                      Mike Hankey
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #40

                      JimmyRopes wrote:

                      Of course on the weekend it is easy, tiquilla.

                      My drink of choice...along with Mezcal, love that worm.

                      If you keep doing what you been doing you'll keep getting what you been getting http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^] [My Site]

                      J 1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • Mike HankeyM Mike Hankey

                        JimmyRopes wrote:

                        Of course on the weekend it is easy, tiquilla.

                        My drink of choice...along with Mezcal, love that worm.

                        If you keep doing what you been doing you'll keep getting what you been getting http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^] [My Site]

                        J Offline
                        J Offline
                        JimmyRopes
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #41

                        Mike Hankey wrote:

                        My drink of choice...along with Mezcal

                        Wow you are hard core. I usually back up a shot of tiquilla with a :beer:. :laugh:

                        Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
                        Think inside the box! ProActive Secure Systems
                        I'm on-line therefore I am. JimmyRopes

                        Mike HankeyM 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • J JimmyRopes

                          CDP1802 wrote:

                          Self modifying code was very common, but already then considered a sinister hack

                          It is what kept you up at night when you had to modify something you coded six months before. These days I have a rule of thumb; code like the person that is going to maintain your code is a psycopath who knows where you live.

                          Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
                          Think inside the box! ProActive Secure Systems
                          I'm on-line therefore I am. JimmyRopes

                          Mike HankeyM Offline
                          Mike HankeyM Offline
                          Mike Hankey
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #42

                          It is what kept you up at night drove you crazy when you had to modify something you coded six months before. FTFY

                          JimmyRopes wrote:

                          code like the person that is going to maintain your code is a psycopath who knows where you live.

                          He is and he does. :)

                          If you keep doing what you been doing you'll keep getting what you been getting http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^] [My Site]

                          R H 2 Replies Last reply
                          0
                          • Mike HankeyM Mike Hankey

                            CDP1802 wrote:

                            An Altair Smile Great, they came as kits as well and had no graphics at all.

                            Just lights and switches.

                            If you keep doing what you been doing you'll keep getting what you been getting http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^] [My Site]

                            L Offline
                            L Offline
                            Lost User
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #43

                            My Elf II is one step away from that. The original Elf's switches had been replaced by a hex keypad, the lights are still there, but more in the form of 7 segment LED displays, hexadecimal of course. And it had primitive and extremely simple (on the hardware side) graphics. The graphics chip (a CDP1861) simply fetches the graphics data with DMA and is hooked up directly to the bus. Additionally only a few resistors to the video signal are needed.

                            "I have what could be described as the most wide-open sense of humor on the site, and if I don't think something is funny, then it really isn't." - JSOC, 2011 -----
                            "Friar Modest never was a prior" - Italian proverb

                            Mike HankeyM 1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • J JimmyRopes

                              Mike Hankey wrote:

                              My drink of choice...along with Mezcal

                              Wow you are hard core. I usually back up a shot of tiquilla with a :beer:. :laugh:

                              Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
                              Think inside the box! ProActive Secure Systems
                              I'm on-line therefore I am. JimmyRopes

                              Mike HankeyM Offline
                              Mike HankeyM Offline
                              Mike Hankey
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #44

                              Sorry misrepresented myself I also back it up with beer. My statement should have been; My drink of choice when I can't get Mezcal.

                              If you keep doing what you been doing you'll keep getting what you been getting http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^] [My Site]

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • L Lost User

                                My Elf II is one step away from that. The original Elf's switches had been replaced by a hex keypad, the lights are still there, but more in the form of 7 segment LED displays, hexadecimal of course. And it had primitive and extremely simple (on the hardware side) graphics. The graphics chip (a CDP1861) simply fetches the graphics data with DMA and is hooked up directly to the bus. Additionally only a few resistors to the video signal are needed.

                                "I have what could be described as the most wide-open sense of humor on the site, and if I don't think something is funny, then it really isn't." - JSOC, 2011 -----
                                "Friar Modest never was a prior" - Italian proverb

                                Mike HankeyM Offline
                                Mike HankeyM Offline
                                Mike Hankey
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #45

                                That's what I like about the stuff I'm working with now, it's a lot more versatile and easy to wire up peripherals. The only problem I have is like you stated on an earlier post the circuit boards. I just got the stuff to make my own and I'm going to try it some time this week...wish me luck.

                                If you keep doing what you been doing you'll keep getting what you been getting http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^] [My Site]

                                L 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • L Lost User

                                  Ok, that's a way to see it. At least it's practical. Still, I see some differences to the painting. The old computer had a practical use, which has declined to almost zero in the last 32 years. The painting, if it hever had one, is just as useful as it ever was. The painting has little material value. A canvas and some paint, no more. The computer's components once cost their weight in gold, now they are worth little more than junk. Based on the reputation of the painter and by being a unicate, the painting had a high idealistic value. Does the computer have an idealistic value? Ok, it's from a time before they were built by millions and it is 'half' unique because such computers were a collection of industrially manufactured components and the owner's constructions. So your reasoning goes along the lines what I always say: It's totally unimportant what I can or cannot do. The only thing that counts is, what I can make others believe I can do. And now everything is worth what some fool may think it is. Minus the time and costs to find that fool, I might add :)

                                  "I have what could be described as the most wide-open sense of humor on the site, and if I don't think something is funny, then it really isn't." - JSOC, 2011 -----
                                  "Friar Modest never was a prior" - Italian proverb

                                  R Offline
                                  R Offline
                                  Rajesh R Subramanian
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #46

                                  CDP1802 wrote:

                                  And now everything is worth what some fool may think it is. Minus the time and costs to find that fool, I might add

                                  Hey, be nice. They're customers! Not fools. :)

                                  "Real men drive manual transmission" - Rajesh.

                                  L 1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • Mike HankeyM Mike Hankey

                                    That's what I like about the stuff I'm working with now, it's a lot more versatile and easy to wire up peripherals. The only problem I have is like you stated on an earlier post the circuit boards. I just got the stuff to make my own and I'm going to try it some time this week...wish me luck.

                                    If you keep doing what you been doing you'll keep getting what you been getting http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^] [My Site]

                                    L Offline
                                    L Offline
                                    Lost User
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #47

                                    Really? If it's about soldering and building, and not about performance, then I would suggest you build an Elf :) The CPU is a bit hard to get, but still in production. Other antiquities, like the RAMs, can easily be replaced by more modern parts. Most of the rest will be simple TTL or (better) CMOS logic. If you like, I can show a user group over at Yahoo for new and ancient Elves. This here is the original Elf: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:COSMAC_ELF_CHM.jpg[^] As you can see, not a too huge project. And this is a 'naked' Elf II, essentially the same with hex keyboard and bus slots: http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/accession/X1535.98[^] And finally an Elf II in its case with more IO and RAM: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wcrpaul/335035144/[^]

                                    "I have what could be described as the most wide-open sense of humor on the site, and if I don't think something is funny, then it really isn't." - JSOC, 2011 -----
                                    "Friar Modest never was a prior" - Italian proverb

                                    Mike HankeyM 1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • L Lost User

                                      Really? If it's about soldering and building, and not about performance, then I would suggest you build an Elf :) The CPU is a bit hard to get, but still in production. Other antiquities, like the RAMs, can easily be replaced by more modern parts. Most of the rest will be simple TTL or (better) CMOS logic. If you like, I can show a user group over at Yahoo for new and ancient Elves. This here is the original Elf: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:COSMAC_ELF_CHM.jpg[^] As you can see, not a too huge project. And this is a 'naked' Elf II, essentially the same with hex keyboard and bus slots: http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/accession/X1535.98[^] And finally an Elf II in its case with more IO and RAM: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wcrpaul/335035144/[^]

                                      "I have what could be described as the most wide-open sense of humor on the site, and if I don't think something is funny, then it really isn't." - JSOC, 2011 -----
                                      "Friar Modest never was a prior" - Italian proverb

                                      Mike HankeyM Offline
                                      Mike HankeyM Offline
                                      Mike Hankey
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #48

                                      You know looking back I think that is the unit I wanted to buy but couldn't afford. My ex-wife kept me poor...the more I made the poorer I got.

                                      CDP1802 wrote:

                                      Really? If it's about soldering and building, and not about performance, then I would suggest you build an Elf

                                      I really enjoy the uController I'm working with now and have had a lot of fun wiring all different kinds of peripherals to it. I'm still learning as they are a lot more powerful now but it keeps me busy since I'm semi-retired.

                                      If you keep doing what you been doing you'll keep getting what you been getting http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^] [My Site]

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • Mike HankeyM Mike Hankey

                                        It's been 30 yrs and I've been learning AVR assembler lately so that came out instead. :-O

                                        If you keep doing what you been doing you'll keep getting what you been getting http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^] [My Site]

                                        L Offline
                                        L Offline
                                        Lost User
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #49

                                        And I was talking about the instructions on my old computer's CPU. But my Atari later also had a 6502 :)

                                        "I have what could be described as the most wide-open sense of humor on the site, and if I don't think something is funny, then it really isn't." - JSOC, 2011 -----
                                        "Friar Modest never was a prior" - Italian proverb

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • R Rajesh R Subramanian

                                          CDP1802 wrote:

                                          And now everything is worth what some fool may think it is. Minus the time and costs to find that fool, I might add

                                          Hey, be nice. They're customers! Not fools. :)

                                          "Real men drive manual transmission" - Rajesh.

                                          L Offline
                                          L Offline
                                          Lost User
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #50

                                          Oh no! Not that again. That's exactly what our boss also preached a week ago :) And since then we are paying utmost attention to our customers. By making fun of them.

                                          "I have what could be described as the most wide-open sense of humor on the site, and if I don't think something is funny, then it really isn't." - JSOC, 2011 -----
                                          "Friar Modest never was a prior" - Italian proverb

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