The Shop > Electronics & IC Programing
Adventures in old 80s computers.
AdeV:
--- Quote from: S. Heslop on August 01, 2014, 01:05:16 PM ---When I was programming in Microsoft's visual studio it even had something like a spell check that told me if i'd made any typos, and an auto-complete to help me remember variable names. Although I've heard some more serious programmers complain that that kind of stuff stops you from actually 'thinking' about the code and how it works.
--- End quote ---
I still program in VS (2010 now, but I still prefer 2008); and yes, the autocomplete can be quite invasive (a bit like the so-called auto-complete on my phone, which makes more mistakes than I do). It doesn't, to my mind, stop you thinking about the code & how it works - if anything, freeing one from the drudge of having to remember exact variable names (and how they're cased if you're working in C#), frees one up to think more about the code, its structure & what its doing...
What it DOES hide from you, completely and utterly, is how inefficient the end result is. I was a lucky lad, having a Sinclair QL to play with - a cavernous 128K of ram, and a "blisteringly fast" MC68008 CPU (which was severely hobbled by it's 8-bit data bus - if only Sir Clive had stumped a few extra pounds up and used the MC68000 and got that 16 bit data bus that the Atari ST & Amiga made such good use of). Even so, one had to write tight efficient code to have it run at any kind of sensible speed. Not these days, most CPUs are idling most of the time, there's so much power in your average computer that utter garbage code still runs like a greased rat up a drainpipe.
AdeV:
--- Quote from: S. Heslop on July 31, 2014, 03:29:35 PM ---
--- Quote from: AdeV on July 31, 2014, 12:21:49 PM ---Don't start me on old computers...... I have a room full of Sharp MZ80K, A and Bs, with disks & printers, a handful of Sinclair QLs, an old Amiga kicking around somewhere, an Osborne OCC-1, a MicroVAX-3100, plus a load more...
I plan to hook some of the Sharps up to Arduinos & use them for data capture - just for a laugh really, and because they look cool compared to the <s>beige</s> black box/laptop.
--- End quote ---
That's an impressive collection. Especially the Osborne!
--- End quote ---
I dug the Osborne out last night... it "almost" works (the screen is exhibiting some kind of horizontal hold/echo/blurring problem), and neither of the disks in the case would boot, although I have a feeling that's because neither of them are boot disks. I think the problem is a dry solder joint, or possibly some dead caps, so I need to get inside it & have a furkle... Time will tell.
I missed a couple of machines out... I have a CBM 8032 with disk drives & printer (the 8032 being one of the last PET style computers). I used to have the holy grail - a fully working CBM PET 2001 with chiclet keyboard & "built in" tape deck (Actually a bog standard CBM cassette unit, held in a bracket & sticking out of a hole in the PET casing), but it is no longer with me unfortunately. Also I have, of course, a BBC B, a Tatung Einstein, a couple of Commodore SX-64's (the "portable" CBM64, with built-in screen & disk drive), a ZX81, no Spectrum oddly enough. Oh, I think there's a Commodore C128 lurking in a box somewhere...
Of course, I never USE any of the damn things, I probably ought to move most of them on... the QLs and Sharps I'll keep for sure, and the Ozzy... and the CBM, er, bugger.
dawesy:
--- Quote from: vtsteam on August 01, 2014, 12:07:30 PM ---I think any old casette player will work, you just have to add a connector to suit.
Most old tape players suffer from hardening/deterioration of the rubber pinch wheel. Sometimes a cleaning or even a light sanding with very fine paper will give the rubber enough grip. Speed variation can sometimes prevent the proper data playback. Often players used a rubber ring drive belt that goes bad and can be replaced.
I wouldn't be surprised if someone hasn't worked out a way to do a fake playback sound from a modern computer's headphone jack to load programs into an old 8 bit machine that had no other means of transfer. Though a homemade serial null modem might be another way of loading files if the comp was capable of using a modem.
Maybe you could also make a cart. I used to program eproms through a homemade parallel port eprom programmer, and erased them with a sunlamp.
--- End quote ---
Cheers for that I'll have a look into it. Be good to get it up and running again :)
John Swift:
I remember building a Sinclair ZX81 from a kit - it worked first time !
there is still a number of ZX fans building their own ZX 80 and ZX 81 from scratch
http://searle.hostei.com/grant/zx80/zx80.html#ROM
last night I wished my PC had the same linear power supply
I switched on and bang , the lights went out :doh:
a capacitor in the mains filter had failed - the power supply works OK without it :D
John
PS
any one want to build a NASA guidance computer ?
http://www.galaxiki.org/web/main/_blog/all/build-your-own-nasa-apollo-landing-computer-no-kidding.shtml
S. Heslop:
--- Quote from: AdeV on August 02, 2014, 06:36:19 AM ---
--- Quote from: S. Heslop on July 31, 2014, 03:29:35 PM ---
--- Quote from: AdeV on July 31, 2014, 12:21:49 PM ---Don't start me on old computers...... I have a room full of Sharp MZ80K, A and Bs, with disks & printers, a handful of Sinclair QLs, an old Amiga kicking around somewhere, an Osborne OCC-1, a MicroVAX-3100, plus a load more...
I plan to hook some of the Sharps up to Arduinos & use them for data capture - just for a laugh really, and because they look cool compared to the <s>beige</s> black box/laptop.
--- End quote ---
That's an impressive collection. Especially the Osborne!
--- End quote ---
I dug the Osborne out last night... it "almost" works (the screen is exhibiting some kind of horizontal hold/echo/blurring problem), and neither of the disks in the case would boot, although I have a feeling that's because neither of them are boot disks. I think the problem is a dry solder joint, or possibly some dead caps, so I need to get inside it & have a furkle... Time will tell.
I missed a couple of machines out... I have a CBM 8032 with disk drives & printer (the 8032 being one of the last PET style computers). I used to have the holy grail - a fully working CBM PET 2001 with chiclet keyboard & "built in" tape deck (Actually a bog standard CBM cassette unit, held in a bracket & sticking out of a hole in the PET casing), but it is no longer with me unfortunately. Also I have, of course, a BBC B, a Tatung Einstein, a couple of Commodore SX-64's (the "portable" CBM64, with built-in screen & disk drive), a ZX81, no Spectrum oddly enough. Oh, I think there's a Commodore C128 lurking in a box somewhere...
Of course, I never USE any of the damn things, I probably ought to move most of them on... the QLs and Sharps I'll keep for sure, and the Ozzy... and the CBM, er, bugger.
--- End quote ---
How did you come into possession of such a collection? Two SX-64s is insane!
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version