Re: QBUS/UNIBUS card handles
vince has some onhis site https://so-much-stuff.com/pdp8/cad/3d.php On Mon, May 10, 2021 at 1:09 AM Dennis Boone via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > Folks, > > Does anyone have a design for printing card handles for QBUS / UNIBUS > cards? It seems a natural application. > > Some grepping of the list logs, a brief plonk through the gadawful > thingiverse search, and various googling have produced no existing > designs. > > Thanks, > > De >
Re: Looking for VAXSET Software Engineering Tools for VMS 4.x
On Sun, May 09, 2021 at 10:23:19PM +0100, Antonio Carlini via cctalk wrote: > I've now uploaded: ag-mn36e-re.tar.xz, ag-nh37b-re.tar.xz and > el-cdrom-01-rev-L.tar.xz. > > The full set now available are: > > AG-MN36E-RE - VMS Consolidated Software Distribution 1989-07 Disc 1 of 1 > AG-NC67C-RE - VMS Online Documentation Library 1989-07 Disc 1 of 1 > AG-NH36B-RE - VMS AD Software Consolidation 1989-07 Disc 1 of 2 > AG-NH37B-RE - VMS AD Software Consolidation 1989-07 Disc 2 of 2 > AG-MN36G-RE - VMS Consolidated Software Distribution 1989-11 Disc 1 of 2 > AG-PASMA-RE - VMS Consolidated Software Distribution 1989-11 Disc 2 of 2 > EL-CDROM-01 - Digital Standards and Related Documents 1993-03-19 Rev L Thanks a lot, Antonio, these are very valuable to have! > If anyone wants to offer them a permanent home, that's fine by my (I > don't need the space on the google drive just yet, but I will have to > remove some images if I start to image a lot more (and I do seem to > have a fair few more). I think uploading them to archive.org would be a good long-term solution. I can take care of it if you don't have an account. Cheers, Malte -- Malte Dehling
Re: Looking for VAXSET Software Engineering Tools for VMS 4.x
On 10/05/2021 10:05, Malte Dehling wrote: Thanks a lot, Antonio, these are very valuable to have! I've only checked a couple of them under SIMH, so it would be helpful to know if I need to check my workflow or not. I think uploading them to archive.org would be a good long-term solution. I can take care of it if you don't have an account. Please do. Thanks. In other news, I polished the MAR-1989 CONOLD, which looked very bad, to start with. Amazingly it buffed up quite nicely and then read surprisingly well: [ $ ddrescue -r5 -v /dev/sr1 CDROM-AG-NC67A-RE-1989-03-VMS-CONOLD.iso CDROM-AG-NC67A-RE-1989-03-VMS-CONOLD.map GNU ddrescue 1.23 About to copy 205199 kBytes from '/dev/sr1' to 'CDROM-AG-NC67A-RE-1989-03-VMS-CONOLD.iso' Starting positions: infile = 0 B, outfile = 0 B Copy block size: 128 sectors Initial skip size: 128 sectors Sector size: 512 Bytes Press Ctrl-C to interrupt ipos: 205198 kB, non-trimmed: 0 B, current rate: 0 B/s opos: 205198 kB, non-scraped: 0 B, average rate: 637 kB/s non-tried: 0 B, bad-sector: 2048 B, error rate: 170 B/s rescued: 205197 kB, bad areas: 1, run time: 5m 22s pct rescued: 99.99%, read errors: 25, remaining time: n/a time since last successful read: 2m 1s Finished ] So I went ahead and tried the CONDIST from MAY-1989. That too now can be read, although it is proving a somewhat tougher nut to crack: [ $ ddrescue -r5 -v /dev/sr1 CDROM-AG-MN36D-RE-1989-05-VMS-CONDIST.iso CDROM-AG-MN36D-RE-1989-05-VMS-CONDIST.map GNU ddrescue 1.23 About to copy 623247 kBytes from '/dev/sr1' to 'CDROM-AG-MN36D-RE-1989-05-VMS-CONDIST.iso' Starting positions: infile = 0 B, outfile = 0 B Copy block size: 128 sectors Initial skip size: 128 sectors Sector size: 512 Bytes Press Ctrl-C to interrupt ipos: 5919 kB, non-trimmed: 0 B, current rate: 0 B/s opos: 5919 kB, non-scraped: 11127 kB, average rate: 14694 B/s non-tried: 0 B, bad-sector: 2843 kB, error rate: 85 B/s rescued: 609276 kB, bad areas: 445, run time: 11h 31m 2s pct rescued: 97.75%, read errors: 5884, remaining time: 5d 23h 43m time since last successful read: 2m 45s Scraping failed blocks... (forwards) ] On the plus side, that's 97.75% more data than I had before :-) but the "remaining time" looks like it could be the rest of the week (it varies quite a bit). I think, from reading the manual, that I can use CTRL-C and restart this again later and it will pick up where it left off using the map file. Is this right? Are there any other options I should consider trying? Another thought is that perhaps a shade more polishing might help. If I polish the CDROM a little more and then resume the ddrescue, I think I won't be any worse off than I am now, i.e. all existing data will still be there and all I'll be risking is data that maybe would have eventually read before but now may not read at all. Is that right? Successful reads are now ~20m apart, so I suspect that the remaining data will be quite difficult to recover. Antonio -- Antonio Carlini anto...@acarlini.com
Re: QBUS/UNIBUS card handles
Just don't expect it to be as tough as the original. On Mon, May 10, 2021 at 3:20 PM Adrian Stoness via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > vince has some onhis site https://so-much-stuff.com/pdp8/cad/3d.php > > On Mon, May 10, 2021 at 1:09 AM Dennis Boone via cctalk < > cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > > > Folks, > > > > Does anyone have a design for printing card handles for QBUS / UNIBUS > > cards? It seems a natural application. > > > > Some grepping of the list logs, a brief plonk through the gadawful > > thingiverse search, and various googling have produced no existing > > designs. > > > > Thanks, > > > > De > > >
Re: QBUS/UNIBUS card handles
That would depend on which material/printer you use. paul > On May 10, 2021, at 8:48 AM, Tom Hunter via cctalk > wrote: > > Just don't expect it to be as tough as the original. > > > On Mon, May 10, 2021 at 3:20 PM Adrian Stoness via cctalk < > cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > >> vince has some onhis site https://so-much-stuff.com/pdp8/cad/3d.php >> >> On Mon, May 10, 2021 at 1:09 AM Dennis Boone via cctalk < >> cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: >> >>> Folks, >>> >>> Does anyone have a design for printing card handles for QBUS / UNIBUS >>> cards? It seems a natural application. >>> >>> Some grepping of the list logs, a brief plonk through the gadawful >>> thingiverse search, and various googling have produced no existing >>> designs. >>> >>> Thanks, >>> >>> De >>> >>
Re: QBUS/UNIBUS card handles
On May 10, 2021, at 8:48 AM, Tom Hunter via cctalk wrote: Just don't expect it to be as tough as the original. I would assume it would be trivial to do an injection-moulded run of these handles, if 3D print schematics are available. They were definitely well-copied in the hey-day of the PDP-11, with most 3rd-party cards using identical handles, minus DEC branding. I think the real question would be if doing a production run would be worth it. To make it economical, you'd need to do a run of a few thousand, but i can't imagine the market demand would be there for so many handles. The other question is, why replicate the originals? Surely, there's got to be a drop-in replacement that would be stronger, even if it's a length of bent steel rod with the ends flattened and drilled through. (I'm sure i've seen someone do this somewhere, but i may have just dreamed it) Josh Rice
Re: QBUS/UNIBUS card handles
> On May 10, 2021, at 7:14 AM, Joshua Rice via cctalk > wrote: > I would assume it would be trivial to do an injection-moulded run of these > handles... They might also be ideal for silicone mold / resin cast, for smaller/home production runs?
Re: QBUS/UNIBUS card handles
On 5/9/21 11:09 PM, Dennis Boone via cctalk wrote: Folks, Does anyone have a design for printing card handles for QBUS / UNIBUS cards? how about https://www.essentracomponents.com/en-us/p/pcb-card-pullers
Re: QBUS/UNIBUS card handles
On 5/10/2021 9:25 AM, Fritz Mueller via cctalk wrote: On May 10, 2021, at 7:14 AM, Joshua Rice via cctalk wrote: I would assume it would be trivial to do an injection-moulded run of these handles... They might also be ideal for silicone mold / resin cast, for smaller/home production runs? Resin casting will work, but it's messy, etc. I haven't had any trouble with the toughness of 3D printed handles. Honestly, I often attach them with a pair of small zip-ties instead of rivets, and they are still plenty strong. The usual caveats about 3D printing apply -- just don't print it so that the layers will be torn apart when you pull on it! Maybe you PDP-11 guys are more used to hex cards, or something? I did have some PCB made where the card fingers tended to bind, but that's best addressed with some careful filing and a tweak of the CAD files for the next run :-). (The CAD files on so-much-stuff have long been tweaked for a good fit to the connector blocks.) Vince
Re: QBUS/UNIBUS card handles
> how about https://www.essentracomponents.com/en-us/p/pcb-card-pullers Two thoughts - * Not sure the mounting hole spacing is correct; the one from Vince's site looks to be about 2" between centers; the Essentra says 1.25". It's entirely possible I don't know diddly about DEC card handles though. * Minimum order 500, and 1000 before a price break. De
RE: QBUS/UNIBUS card handles
> -Original Message- > From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Vincent > Slyngstad via cctalk > Sent: Monday, May 10, 2021 1:16 PM > To: cctalk@classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: QBUS/UNIBUS card handles > > On 5/10/2021 9:25 AM, Fritz Mueller via cctalk wrote: > > > >> On May 10, 2021, at 7:14 AM, Joshua Rice via cctalk > >> wrote: > >> I would assume it would be trivial to do an injection-moulded run of these > >> handles... > > > > They might also be ideal for silicone mold / resin cast, for smaller/home > > production runs? > > Resin casting will work, but it's messy, etc. I haven't had any trouble > with the toughness of 3D printed handles. Honestly, I often attach them > with a pair of small zip-ties instead of rivets, and they are still > plenty strong. The usual caveats about 3D printing apply -- just don't > print it so that the layers will be torn apart when you pull on it! Douglas Electronics used to stock these as Miscellaneous items alongside their DEC compatible PCBs. http://www.douglas.com/index.php/off-the-shelf-solutions/bread-boards/de-11-dec-compatible.html However I don't see them listed anymore; nor am I able to find them using the search function . Possibly they simply sold out of their existing stock, and that was that. You could inquire on the off chance that they just aren't listing any remainders. paul
Re: QBUS/UNIBUS card handles
I don’t know about the spacing of the holes, but BIVAR has one and two-hole card pull handles. https://www.bivar.com/product/cp-pcb-handles/ Datasheet: http://www.bivar.com/parts_content/Datasheets/CP-1and2.pdf -- Ron Pool
PDP-11 SPACEWAR running again!
Today I finally got the SPACEWAR version for PDP-11/10 running again on my PDP-11/05 with AR11 board. I played a couple of rounds together with my daughter. She was better than me. Quite hard game IMHO. https://youtu.be/fTiHRAKjyho Bill Seiler and Larry Bryant wrote this version in 1974 and submitted it to DECUS. It was believed to have been lost to history. But Bill had saved the printouts from the PAL11 assembler. He sent me scans of these printouts as pdf files. I then transcribed it into source files and iterated several times in SimH to get a clean build and link. I got some help from people here doing OCR on some files. But the lines mostly confused the OCR process so a lot of errors was introduced. It turned out that it was easier to just transcribe the whole lot by hand than finding and correcting errors. The AR11 is somewhat different to the AD01 and AA11 that Bill and Larry used. AA11 has a 12 bit 2’s complement D/A while the AR11 is only 10 bits and not 2’s complement. I did some patches and eventually got everything right. I also connected a couple of analogue joysticks. The fire button is just short ciruiting the viper of the potentiometer to the 5V supply lead. The screen is a HP1332A vector screen. All the transcribed code, AR11 patches and build instructions are available on github. https://github.com/MattisLind/SPACEWAR It should be possible to adapt it to orher types of A/D and D/A hardware if anyone wishes to do so. However the gameplay might be harder when running on a faster PDP-11? Have fun! /Mattis
Re: PDP-11 SPACEWAR running again!
Mattis Lind wrote: > Today I finally got the SPACEWAR version for PDP-11/10 running again > on my PDP-11/05 with AR11 board. Congratulations! It's great to watch your video. > But the lines mostly confused the OCR process so a lot of errors was > introduced. It turned out that it was easier to just transcribe the > whole lot by hand than finding and correcting errors. That is also my experience after doing a few of these transcription jobs.
Re: Intel iPSC/860 restoration
On 5/9/21 10:46 AM, Al Kossow via cctalk wrote: > re. using plastibands for QIC recovery > > Chuck sent me a note about these, thought you'd be interested. > I just got a package in to try. > > https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08536J6Y5?language=en_US I've been using them for a couple of weeks now. Easy to apply (compared to plastiands) runs perfectly in DC300-600 sized cartridges. Just done a bunch of SLR3 Magnus carts--no problems, even in an SLR5 drive (higher speed). The 145mm size is about perfect for the job and the 5mm width is also just right. It helps to stretch them a bit before applying, but then I do that with Plastibands. --Chuck
Re: Intel iPSC/860 restoration
> I've been using them for a couple of weeks now. Easy to apply > (compared to plastiands) runs perfectly in DC300-600 sized > cartridges. Is there a size that works for the minicarts? De
Re: Apple II+ Video questions
On 2021-05-09 16:53, Brent Hilpert via cctalk wrote: It sounds like the vertical sync pulse may be missing, or 'weak', in the composite video output signal. You 'get it close' with the V-Hold as your adjusting effort brings the monitor frame rate (V frequency) to match the frame rate the Apple II is generating. Pull out the schematic and look at how V sync is generated. Probably easiest to start at the video output and work backwards, to where the combined V&H sync are added to the pixel video to form the final composite signal, then back to where V sync & H sync are combined, and so on. Someone suggested bad ram and as I tried to boot DOS 3.3 it would drop into the monitor and display some memory. Since it loads into high mem I pulled the language card and the top 16K of ram leaving me 32K in the system. Now it turns on and the vertical sync is fine but have other issues. Namely it wouldn't give me a beep and prompt, just the standard screen of @ and ? which is normal for boot up but wouldn't respond otherwise. So pulled the next bank of ram and it would boot and give me a prompt but was still randomly failing in various ways. So I am guessing some bad ram is possible cause of the sync issue at least, though there appears to still be other issues with the board somewhere else. As the sync made it hard to follow stuff on the screen I wanted that fixed first. I need to work on the keyboard next as having a bunch of keys not responding makes it difficult to find issues. For example the "3" doesn't work so can't get into BASIC from the monitor even. At least I feel like I'm making progress. David Williams www.trailingedge.com
Re: Intel iPSC/860 restoration
On 5/10/21 12:11 PM, Dennis Boone via cctalk wrote: > > I've been using them for a couple of weeks now. Easy to apply > > (compared to plastiands) runs perfectly in DC300-600 sized > > cartridges. > > Is there a size that works for the minicarts? Haven't found one yet. --chuck
Apple II PSU
Anyone have any idea on how to open this particular Apple II PSU? It is a Astec AA 11040B and has like a rivet on each side in the middle. All the other supplies I've messed with just had screws along the bottom. Trying to remove the bottom of the casing so I can work on the supply itself. Link to a pic of it. Thanks for any help. http://www.trailingedge.com/images/A2PSU.jpg David Williams www.trailingedge.com
Re: Apple II PSU
In a search on eBay for that Astec p/n seems the power supplies made in Hong Kong have the two rivets you shared in the image. Those manufactured in Malaysia have screws all around. Seems to be an tampering deterrent and or warranty void indicator to me. If they are aluminum pop rivets, they should drill out easily. Don Resor Sent from someone's iPhone > On May 10, 2021, at 3:07 PM, David Williams via cctalk > wrote: > > Anyone have any idea on how to open this particular Apple II PSU? It is a > Astec AA 11040B and has like a rivet on each side in the middle. All the > other supplies I've messed with just had screws along the bottom. Trying to > remove the bottom of the casing so I can work on the supply itself. Link to a > pic of it. > > Thanks for any help. > > http://www.trailingedge.com/images/A2PSU.jpg > > David Williams > www.trailingedge.com >
Re: Apple II PSU
Just me that reaches for a 2mm drill then? I realise people may react in horror at this, but your chances of getting swarf in the PSU are slim to negative. Oh and while you’re in there, please remove the 0.47uF RIFA before it explodes, assuming it hasn’t already of course in which case it’d be best to clean up the mess it left when it did. -- Adrian Graham Owner of Binary Dinosaurs, the UK's biggest private home computer collection? t: @binarydinosaursf: facebook.com/binarydinosaurs w: www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk > On 10 May 2021, at 23:06, David Williams via cctalk > wrote: > > Anyone have any idea on how to open this particular Apple II PSU? It is a > Astec AA 11040B and has like a rivet on each side in the middle. All the > other supplies I've messed with just had screws along the bottom. Trying to > remove the bottom of the casing so I can work on the supply itself. Link to a > pic of it. > > Thanks for any help. > > http://www.trailingedge.com/images/A2PSU.jpg > > David Williams > www.trailingedge.com
Re: Apple II PSU
On 2021-05-10 17:31, Adrian Graham via cctalk wrote: Just me that reaches for a 2mm drill then? I realise people may react in horror at this, but your chances of getting swarf in the PSU are slim to negative. Oh and while you’re in there, please remove the 0.47uF RIFA before it explodes, assuming it hasn’t already of course in which case it’d be best to clean up the mess it left when it did. Well given I've never had to drill anything out before, the idea hadn't occurred to me. As far as replacing anything inside, this unit is completely dead and I suspect a good bit of it will have to be replaced. Just need to get inside first. David Williams www.trailingedge.com
Re: Apple II PSU
On Mon, 10 May 2021, Adrian Graham via cctalk wrote: Just me that reaches for a 2mm drill then? I realise people may react in horror at this, but your chances of getting swarf in the PSU are slim to negative. Oh and while you’re in there, please remove the 0.47uF RIFA before it explodes, assuming it hasn’t already of course in which case it’d be best to clean up the mess it left when it did. This area is so backward, that metric drill bits are considered esoteric! 1/8" works OK, and will chuck in a Dremel. If it were a damaged screw, rather than a rivet, I would use a left-handed drill bit. -- Grumpy Ol' Fred ci...@xenosoft.com
Re: Apple II PSU
On 10/05/2021 23:31, Adrian Graham via cctalk wrote: Just me that reaches for a 2mm drill then? Probably. I usually use 3mm or 1/8". I've taken more than one Apple PSU apart that way, long ago. -- Pete Pete Turnbull
Re: Apple II PSU
On 2021-05-10 18:18, Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote: This area is so backward, that metric drill bits are considered esoteric! 1/8" works OK, and will chuck in a Dremel. If it were a damaged screw, rather than a rivet, I would use a left-handed drill bit. Which is pretty much what I ended up with. Surprised that this unit looks in such good shape inside, I expected to see it already exploded. Well time to get to work on it now and see if I can't get a working unit out of it. David Williams www.trailingedge.com
DEC PDP-8/e Omnibus backplane lubrication
What is the best type of lubricant for Omnibus backplanes? It can be a struggle to insert and remove PDP-8/e boards into the Omnibus. There is a risk of damage to the brittle bakelite connector housings on the Omnibus PCB. Traditional contact sprays should work but have two problems: 1) they remain wet and over time will attract and retain dust 2) the solvent and lubricant *may* weaken or attack the bakelite There are some PTFE (Teflon) based lubricant sprays which create a dry film. Would this type of spray work? Any suggestions on what I could use that reduces the strain on the Omnibus and the PCBs during insertion/removal without creating new problems? Thanks and best regards Tom Hunter
Re: PDP-11 SPACEWAR running again!
Nice! Marc > On May 10, 2021, at 11:26 AM, Mattis Lind via cctalk > wrote: > > Today I finally got the SPACEWAR version for PDP-11/10 running again on my > PDP-11/05 with AR11 board. I played a couple of rounds together with my > daughter. She was better than me. Quite hard game IMHO. > > https://youtu.be/fTiHRAKjyho > > Bill Seiler and Larry Bryant wrote this version in 1974 and submitted it to > DECUS. It was believed to have been lost to history. But Bill had saved the > printouts from the PAL11 assembler. He sent me scans of these printouts as > pdf files. I then transcribed it into source files and iterated several > times in SimH to get a clean build and link. I got some help from people > here doing OCR on some files. But the lines mostly confused the OCR process > so a lot of errors was introduced. It turned out that it was easier to just > transcribe the whole lot by hand than finding and correcting errors. > > The AR11 is somewhat different to the AD01 and AA11 that Bill and Larry > used. AA11 has a 12 bit 2’s complement D/A while the AR11 is only 10 bits > and not 2’s complement. I did some patches and eventually got everything > right. > > I also connected a couple of analogue joysticks. The fire button is just > short ciruiting the viper of the potentiometer to the 5V supply lead. The > screen is a HP1332A vector screen. > > All the transcribed code, AR11 patches and build instructions are available > on github. https://github.com/MattisLind/SPACEWAR > > It should be possible to adapt it to orher types of A/D and D/A hardware if > anyone wishes to do so. However the gameplay might be harder when running > on a faster PDP-11? > > Have fun! > > /Mattis
Re: PDP-11 SPACEWAR running again!
That is very cool! George > On May 10, 2021, at 11:26 AM, Mattis Lind via cctalk > wrote: > > Today I finally got the SPACEWAR version for PDP-11/10 running again on my > PDP-11/05 with AR11 board. I played a couple of rounds together with my > daughter. She was better than me. Quite hard game IMHO. > > https://youtu.be/fTiHRAKjyho > > Bill Seiler and Larry Bryant wrote this version in 1974 and submitted it to > DECUS. It was believed to have been lost to history. But Bill had saved the > printouts from the PAL11 assembler. He sent me scans of these printouts as > pdf files. I then transcribed it into source files and iterated several > times in SimH to get a clean build and link. I got some help from people > here doing OCR on some files. But the lines mostly confused the OCR process > so a lot of errors was introduced. It turned out that it was easier to just > transcribe the whole lot by hand than finding and correcting errors. > > The AR11 is somewhat different to the AD01 and AA11 that Bill and Larry > used. AA11 has a 12 bit 2’s complement D/A while the AR11 is only 10 bits > and not 2’s complement. I did some patches and eventually got everything > right. > > I also connected a couple of analogue joysticks. The fire button is just > short ciruiting the viper of the potentiometer to the 5V supply lead. The > screen is a HP1332A vector screen. > > All the transcribed code, AR11 patches and build instructions are available > on github. https://github.com/MattisLind/SPACEWAR > > It should be possible to adapt it to orher types of A/D and D/A hardware if > anyone wishes to do so. However the gameplay might be harder when running > on a faster PDP-11? > > Have fun! > > /Mattis
Re: Terminals wiki
This may help: https://web.archive.org/web/20181103180649/http://terminals-wiki.org/wiki/index.php/User:Legalize On Sun, May 9, 2021 at 7:51 PM s shumaker via cctech wrote: > On 5/9/2021 8:05 AM, Dave via cctech wrote: > > Does anyone have a mirror of the terminals wiki at > https://terminals-wiki.org? It seems to have gone dark over a year ago, > and it would be a shame to lose the resource. > > > > If there is no mirror, does anyone know of a way to contact the > owner/maintainer? I'd like to see if there's anything I can do to help get > it back online. > > Thanks, > > Dave > > > the last scrape by waybackmachine.org was in 2020 and showed it as > "offline for maintenance" > > > steve >
Re: PDP-11 SPACEWAR running again!
Thanks Mattis - watching an AR11 making that oscilloscope display brings back a lot of memories from my PDP-11 programming days. Had heard of spacewar in 1980, but was more interested in playing around displaying data on screen of a scope. One of my jobs was to clean up electrophysiology data for publication and that meant removing noise in signal so had a joystick system which could move and click on point on screen I wanted deleted. 11/34 was fast enough that we had an EE summer student create a dot matrix character set so we could put captions on our oscilloscope images. Of course, only way of getting hard copies of those was with an oscilloscope Polaroid camera. Looking at the printouts that you're dealing with, I had a hard time making out some of the characters. Can see individual dots in a number of the characters and haven't found any OCR in past that works well on them. Had my MSc thesis printed on and IBM lineprinter and looks good from afar but couldn't get any OCR program to digitize it properly. At least the spacewar code is relatively short! Boris Gimbarzevsky Today I finally got the SPACEWAR version for PDP-11/10 running again on my PDP-11/05 with AR11 board. I played a couple of rounds together with my daughter. She was better than me. Quite hard game IMHO. https://youtu.be/fTiHRAKjyho Bill Seiler and Larry Bryant wrote this version in 1974 and submitted it to DECUS. It was believed to have been lost to history. But Bill had saved the printouts from the PAL11 assembler. He sent me scans of these printouts as pdf files. I then transcribed it into source files and iterated several times in SimH to get a clean build and link. I got some help from people here doing OCR on some files. But the lines mostly confused the OCR process so a lot of errors was introduced. It turned out that it was easier to just transcribe the whole lot by hand than finding and correcting errors. The AR11 is somewhat different to the AD01 and AA11 that Bill and Larry used. AA11 has a 12 bit 2âs complement D/A while the AR11 is only 10 bits and not 2âs complement. I did some patches and eventually got everything right. I also connected a couple of analogue joysticks. The fire button is just short ciruiting the viper of the potentiometer to the 5V supply lead. The screen is a HP1332A vector screen. All the transcribed code, AR11 patches and build instructions are available on github. https://github.com/MattisLind/SPACEWAR It should be possible to adapt it to orher types of A/D and D/A hardware if anyone wishes to do so. However the gameplay might be harder when running on a faster PDP-11? Have fun! /Mattis
