Subj : Retro, not Vintage
To   : Akacastor
From : Abbub
Date : Sat Apr 06 2024 20:34:16

*** Quoting Akacastor to Abbub dated 04-06-24 ***
> system.  I'm curious what kind of peripherals and storage your setup 
> has?  What kind of display do you use?  Is it actually S-100 
> compatible, or is it "in the style of a S-100 system"?

This system has a Z80 processor running at 7 MHz and change, it has a 512K ROM ¨and 512K of memory. It has a dual clock board, so the system can run at one ¨clock speed, and other peripherals (if needed) can run off of a second clock. ¨(For instance, the serial port I'm 'dialing out' to tcpser with is actually ¨running at 9600 baud off of the second clock.) It also has a card that ¨provides dual serial ports, and a little digital IO card that has buttons and ¨LED that you can programmatically access.

It doesn't have a 'display' as such, but rather is accessed through a serial ¨console.  The main port (running off of the primary clock) is 115200 and I'm ¨connected to it using a terminal app that is pretending to be a VT100. Then ¨I'm dialing out through the second serial port at 9600 baud using a terminal ¨program called QTERM82.COM

It's not S-100 compatible, but more in the style of S-100 (though much ¨smaller) where you have a 'motherboard' that's just a bunch of slots that you ¨can plug cards into. I actually *do* have a real S-100 system that I'm in the ¨process of restoring. (An IMS Series 8000, which is the first computer I ever ¨wrote software decades ago.)

*** Quoting Akacastor to Abbub dated 04-06-24 ***
> Do you run vintage CP/M software?  What do you use for a terminal 
> emulator for calling BBSes?

Yeah, I'm running CP/M 2.2 on it, and I'm calling in using a program called QTERM82. I was just a kid the last time I used CP/M, so I don't have a LOT of experience with it. I liken it as being to MS-DOS as middle English is to modern English. It's familiar, yet very odd.

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 * Origin: Telnet: bbs.WalledCTTY.com:1989 - Fort Collins, CO USA (21:2/145)

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