Posts by fvzappa@mastodon.sdf.org
(DIR) Post #AXyuazMVEtsbDZNAFU by fvzappa@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-07-23T05:35:13Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
(And no, I didn't run it for more than a few seconds like this, without vertical deflection that line's extra bright and can damage the phosphor...)
(DIR) Post #AYDZGfrIP187gwWPQm by fvzappa@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-07-30T07:13:15Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
Picked up yet another project this week, a Heathkit GR-295 color TV, c. 1967 or so. Came with the original assembly manual used by the person who built it back in the day. CRT tests good! Love me some Heathkit, and this'll make a fun TV to play Atari on once I get it going again.
(DIR) Post #AZ79ushPqN2z4KePWS by fvzappa@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-08-26T04:20:06Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
The Berzerk cab I got earlier this year has made it home, I plan to get it all back together and get it working in the next few weeks. Monitor is missing (CRT got necked by a previous owner and tossed out) but I have a replacement. One of my favorite arcade games of all time.
(DIR) Post #AZBLXAi3Crri3iFSTY by fvzappa@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-08-28T05:51:01Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
It's the right thing to do.
(DIR) Post #AZjQSDDbK8yjfq1jvc by fvzappa@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-09-13T17:43:13Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
Getting in on this whole "suntember" thing -- from a Sun-2 Technical Overview brochure I scanned years ago. #suntember #sunmicrosystems
(DIR) Post #AaFnmZFT8YEIFiMOvY by fvzappa@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-09-29T06:27:48Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
I have a soft-spot for janky old 90s laptops, so I picked this one up cheap. It works! Some battery damage inside that I've done my best to clean up, but nothing serious. 386SX-16, 1mb of memory, and VGA graphics on a 640x480 plasma screen. Has two ISA slots, one of which is used by the VGA controller, the other of which can maybe fit a half-length card.
(DIR) Post #AaL2Hw44j7xf8pgMKm by fvzappa@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-10-01T21:10:03Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
Got a new PDP-11 for the collection. Of sorts. This is an Elektronika MK-90 which uses the soviet 588 processor, a clone of the DEC LSI-11. This one needs a new LCD panel but it's still really cool, and I believe it may have the worst keyboard of any BASIC-programmable handheld in my collection (narrowly beating out the Casio FX-702P).
(DIR) Post #AavCT5XDBvFQoG4JP6 by fvzappa@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-10-19T06:53:32Z
2 likes, 2 repeats
A couple of months back I scored a rare "QBus Music Board" off eBay. I don't know a ton about it -- it was made at DEC but was never an official product and I don't know why it was made or for whom. But it's neat -- it has two AY-3-8912 PSGs to make fun tunes with. I've never found any documentation or software for it but it wasn't too hard to figure out the registers. So I did what any of us would do, I wrote a device driver for 2.11BSD (PDP-11) for it, and whipped up a VGM player. Enjoy!
(DIR) Post #AavCT773K9VlhhqRuK by fvzappa@mastodon.sdf.org
2023-10-19T06:54:37Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
Here's a pic of the board itself, it's not altogether that complicated and a buddy of mine has plans to clone it...
(DIR) Post #AhFt9LsqPFlvyO7r6m by fvzappa@mastodon.sdf.org
2024-04-25T01:26:42Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
Found an old IBM pamphlet I scanned nearly a decade ago; Square-D used it in 1957 to allay their employees' fears that the new RAMAC system that was being brought in to help with accounting would replace them. It's cute! The last page has the following on it, and stands in stark contrast to the use-cases that OpenAI and others are proposing for their Large Language Models.
(DIR) Post #AhFt9MhBO62QUVg3ZQ by fvzappa@mastodon.sdf.org
2024-04-25T01:28:33Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Here's a link to the scan, maybe someone can have some fun with it: https://1drv.ms/b/s!Aqb36sqnCIfMo7ESk547uWiNgaqXWg?e=z4R4Eu
(DIR) Post #AhFt9NmBMzdDqJ1Z0C by fvzappa@mastodon.sdf.org
2024-04-25T01:31:51Z
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Who doesn't?
(DIR) Post #AhsZFaEfG4kDnP6m7E by fvzappa@mastodon.sdf.org
2024-03-18T03:43:09Z
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This is a new one for me, I've seen some interesting bodge jobs but this one inside a Visual 50 terminal is maybe the goofiest way I've seen to piggyback an extra resistor. It's an odd combination of temporary (the clips) and permanent (the resistor permanently soldered to the other end).
(DIR) Post #Aj6Ha3RJWXXCYE9BGS by fvzappa@mastodon.sdf.org
2024-06-19T23:11:09Z
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Ten ancient D-cells in this 1960 Tektronix 321 'scope I picked up today, and not a single one has leaked. Gonna go buy a lottery ticket now, today's clearly my day...
(DIR) Post #Ak8wRKZJzIUcy4piJE by fvzappa@mastodon.sdf.org
2024-07-21T03:51:54Z
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@twylo I still have a set of Yggdrasil CDs I bought new right around that time. Got a ton of use out of those and saved me from having to download everything over a 14.4kbps modem connection.
(DIR) Post #AqbBv2tHo66TrTtaRk by fvzappa@mastodon.sdf.org
2025-01-30T05:58:14Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
Been slowly getting my act back together over the past couple of months; the basement is nearing what could generously be called "only a bit cluttered" and I've made space for another bench for a couple of special systems that have been in a corner for too long. I'm planning on bringing the LMI Lambda to VCF West this year if all goes well, and now I have space to work on it again!
(DIR) Post #B0OiA6MusFrL9RPZvU by fvzappa@mastodon.sdf.org
2025-11-19T06:10:01Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
I declare that today, Nov. 19, 2025 is the 50th anniversary of BitBLT, a routine so fundamental to computer graphics that we don't even think about it having an origin. A working (later optimized) implementation was devised on the Xerox Alto by members of the Smalltalk team. It made it easy to arbitrarily copy and move arbitrary rectangles of bits in a graphical bitmap. It was this routine that made Smalltalk's graphical interface possible. Below is part of a PARC-internal memo detailing it:
(DIR) Post #B0OiABLgMGqKb3sACG by fvzappa@mastodon.sdf.org
2025-11-19T06:13:53Z
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BitBLT was implemented in microcode on the Alto and exposed to the end-user as just another assembly language instruction, alongside your regular old Nova instructions -- this is how foundational it was. And since it was an integral part of the Alto, it enabled all sorts of interesting experimentation with graphics: user interfaces and human/computer interaction, font rasterization, laser printing... maybe a game or three...
(DIR) Post #B0tMFMQC03kI3frc5g by fvzappa@mastodon.sdf.org
2025-12-03T23:10:24Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
If you're gonna start an ASCII collection, it's best to keep it on a robust storage device.
(DIR) Post #B1Qw4XoJK9U8lGxpnE by fvzappa@mastodon.sdf.org
2025-12-20T06:53:39Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
Happy DEC-20 day!