On 01/22/2018 04:06 PM, Noel Chiappa via cctalk wrote:
So did we ever get an answer to the original question (the value of a
Sun3)? All I saw was 'you'd have to pay to recycle them'.
I've not seen an answer to that question. I have seen multiple people
raise their virtual hand in interest. But no discussions of $ other
than disposal fees.
Sorry, I don't understand the question. (I assume you're not simply asking
'what made the Dover and Altos special'.) Which context?
What makes the copies of papers printed on them special? Was there
something about the quality? Or is it simply that the documents were
printed via machines that were intriguing unto themselves.
(As in 'what's the connection between the Sun3 query, and Dovers and
Altos'? If so, I think it was just thread drift via the laser printers.)
ACK
That's the 'original' Ethernet; PARC did the 3Mbit one first, and the
10 Mbit one came along quite a few years later.
I assume this has something to do with the Digital / Intel / Xerox as in
the DIX connector.
I'm trying to remember what kind of cable it used; IIRC it was black coax,
with a woven shield (i.e. not solid like CATV), not quite as large in
diameter as the yellow 10Mbit stuff.
That sounds like typical Radio Grade cable. I just have no idea which
RG it was. I'm not quite sure what you mean by "solid like CATV". Much
of the coax that I've seen used for cable TV is RG-59, or RG-6. Both of
which ideally have a woven braid w/ 80% or greater coverage. I have
seen some that is effectively foil wrapped around the inner dielectric
insulator. I like to see solid dielectric insulators, but I have
suffered through some that were a helical coil around a center conductor
that may or may not have some sort of thin coating.
I have long found Radio Grade cable to be confusing (as in I've not
figured out any pattern) as well as some of the executions to be
extremely bad. Usually, but not always, the more expensive it is
(within reason) the better quality it is. Save for the stuff that
artificially jumps the price to catch people that shop solely based on
price = quality.
To connect up to it, one clamped on a connector thingy, which had a
threaded hole in it over the cable; one then screwed in a cylindrical
cutter which made a hole through the shield, and one then screwed in a
transceiver (which was a box about 2"x2"x4", IIRC).
That sounds like a description of what I've heard called a "Vampire
Tap". - My understanding is that's the poor way to connect to (what is
effectively) the Ethernet bus.
I've been told that it's more proper to take an outage, cut the cable,
terminate the ends properly, and connect both ends to a new AUI (DIX?)
breakout box.
Hopefully someone has a picture somewhere?
I suspect that Wikipedia's article on 10Base5 has some decent pictures:
Link - 10Base5
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10BASE5
Google's image search for thicknet has a number of things too.
I never have managed to get my hands on any Thicknet 10Base5 but I'd
like to get just enough to connect two machines.
--
Grant. . . .
unix || die
