> this may be old news but I just rediscovered this fellow's archive of manuals
for
> - Mark-8
> - Scelbi 8H
> - Don Lancasters TV Typewriter
>
> http://bytecollector.com/m8_docs.htm
>
> Mirror the site while you can!

Cool.

Check out the last page of the 140-page "The Computer Hobbyist" newsletter.

>> The First Trenton Computer Festival 1976 Slide Show - Sol Libes - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EPVTnao5UE

Yup -- Sol made that a while back. It's been posted before.  :)

All I have is the Popular Electronics magazine.  I'm looking for the full manual
with the final schematics.

Thanks,
Corey

--- In midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com, "Jeff Jonas"  wrote:
> Mirror the site while you can!

Does anyone know this gentleman?
I would mirror it, I just would like permission to do so.

>> Does anyone know this gentleman?

Yes, he's a VCF (Wes) veteran.

His email is listed at the bottom of the bytecollector.com homepage.

--- In midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com, evan@... wrote:
> His email is listed at the bottom of the bytecollector.com homepage.


I saw his e-mail address, but I didn't want to just cold e-mail.
I sent one.. So we will see what he says...

I already contacted him.  I grabbed the files relevant to the Scelbi
project, that I did not already have.  Most are (or were) on
vintagecomputer.net
bd

-------- Original Message --------
> From: evan@...
> Sent: Monday, January 28, 2013 12:15 PM
> To: "MARCH Yahoo Midatlanticretro" <midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: Re: [midatlanticretro] Re: manuals online
>
> >> Does anyone know this gentleman?
>
> Yes, he's a VCF (Wes) veteran.
>
> His email is listed at the bottom of the bytecollector.com homepage.
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

Corey, I donated a Pennywhistle 103 modem and the manual with schematics to the
March museum during the June workshop.
I gave them to Evan maybe he can point you to where it is now.

Billdrom

----- Original Message -----
From: "corey986" <no_reply@yahoogroups.com>
To: <midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2013 11:07 AM
Subject: [midatlanticretro] Anyone have a PDF of the Pennywhistle 103 manual


> All I have is the Popular Electronics magazine.  I'm looking for the full
> manual with the final schematics.
>
> Thanks,
> Corey
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

>> I donated a Pennywhistle 103 modem and the manual with schematics to the
March museum during the June workshop. I gave them to Evan maybe he can point
you to where it is now.

I haven't been in that room in the past few weeks, but the modem (now signed by
Lee!) is on a shelf there, and I think the documents are with it.

--- In midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com, evan@... wrote:
>
> >> I donated a Pennywhistle 103 modem and the manual with schematics to the
March museum during the June workshop. I gave them to Evan maybe he can point
you to where it is now.
>
> I haven't been in that room in the past few weeks, but the modem (now signed
by Lee!) is on a shelf there, and I think the documents are with it.
>

Is it possible to scan the documents for me?

>> Is it possible to scan the documents for me?

Maybe, but not for another week or two.

So I'm not the only one looking for the manual and schematics.  Cool.  I
couldn't find the docs and schematics anywhere using my trusty google.  Rich
Cini had the popular electronics article on his website which is a good read.

That would be awesome if Evan can scan them to PDF.

Cheers,
Corey
>
> Is it possible to scan the documents for me?
>

--- In midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com, corey986  wrote:
>
> So I'm not the only one looking for the manual and schematics.  Cool.  I
couldn't find the docs and schematics anywhere using my trusty google.  Rich
Cini had the popular electronics article on his website which is a good read.
>

Yes, I helped Rich by scanning a bunch of PE articles.  I probably scanned that
article you are reading.  I have a good collection of PE and RE magazines but
there's the rare article as you found that is incomplete.

If there are any other articles you want from PE or RE, I'd be happy to scan
them.  There's lots of cool projects and columns in these magazines, but I
limited my scans to Retro Computing to match Rich's web site.

I just managed to get my hands on an IMSAI 8080 that probably hasn't been power
up in decades. I am very interested in getting this thing up and running again.
I have a pretty good background in electronics and electronic repair, but I am
looking for any advice on power up something like this for the first time. Any
recommendations on what I should check before attempting a power up? Any advice
would be much appreciated.

On Tue, 29 Jan 2013, DanielB wrote:

> I just managed to get my hands on an IMSAI 8080 that probably hasn't
> been power up in decades. I am very interested in getting this thing up
> and running again. I have a pretty good background in electronics and
> electronic repair, but I am looking for any advice on power up something
> like this for the first time. Any recommendations on what I should check
> before attempting a power up? Any advice would be much appreciated.

     The first items to check would be the 4 large electrolytic caps in the
power supply.  Many people recommend a re-forming operation before you hit
them with working voltage.  Here are a couple of messages about it:

http://www.vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=237

     A constant current supply would make things easier.  There are many who
advise against using a Variac.

     Also, inspect any Tantalum caps on the S100 cards for burns and
exploded caps.  Likewise, check for bulging electrolytic caps.  Make sure
there is no hardware rattling around in the bottom of the case.  Pull the
S100 boards before you power it up for the first time, and check the PS
voltages.


Mike Loewen 		 mloewen@...
Old Technology       http://sturgeon.css.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/

--- In midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com, "DanielB"  wrote:
>
> I just managed to get my hands on an IMSAI 8080 that probably hasn't been
power up in decades. I am very interested in getting this thing up and running
again. Any recommendations on what I should check before attempting a power up?
Any advice would be much appreciated.
>

Hi Daniel,

Congrats on the IMSAI, very nice computer!

Step 1, check out the power supply.
Pull out all the cards, remove the front panel (CP-A) electronics (UNPLUG the
computer, there is 120VAC to the front switch at the upper right corner of the
CP-A board, it's an Orange & White wire on my system).
To Remove the CP-A board:
There are several plastic spacers that might fall out of place and get lost on
the floor. So I do the following:
   -remove the front panel switch escutcheon (the lower metal part) by removing 4
screws from the bottom.
   -unscrew the 8 allen screws but do not pull them out.  Just unscrew until you
feel the last thread skipping.
   -unplug the ribbon cable to the CPU board and the Power Connector, let these
cables fall over the front of the panel, even secure them on the front by
pressing them between a couple of the switches.
   -Carefully, wiggle the plexiglass & board straight up, mind any screws that
might still be threaded in.
    -Keep the whole assembly vertical until you can safely lay it down on your
bench.

Now, the system is strip down, Either jumper the plug for the 120V switch or
install an Amp meter here. Plug the computer into a variac and bring the voltage
up slowly, meter your caps for some voltage.  Here the choice is yours, either
apply a low voltage (say ~6VAC in) for a few hours to allow the capacitors to
reform** or skip to next step.  Next, bring the voltage slowly up to full, watch
your current.  Then start testing the capacitors, put a load on the +8V, +16V
and -16V (one at a time) and check your ripple voltage.  On my system, I had
8.2V while drawing 5Amps with 620mV ripple.  I did not record the other
voltages, but I would say they are good if they have less than 1V ripple at
1Amp.  The +16 and -16 aren't used very heavily.

Let me know when you get this far, I can offer more advice if you found this
helpful.

Cheers,
Josh

PS. There's a lot of information online about Capacitor Reforming.  I recommend
reading about it.  But, I don't think the IMSAI is old enough to warrant this
step.  I will stand down to others more experienced on this forum.

DanielB wrote:
> Any recommendations on what I should check before attempting
> a power up? Any advice would be much appreciated.

I would recommend:

1) Photograph the unit, inside and out.
2) Confirm that it still has the original unregulated, linear
    power supply.  If not, stop here and post your findings.
3) Remove all cards, including the front panel.
4) Create, if you don't already have one, a "dim bulb variac".
5) Create, if you don't already have, four "automobile bulb"
    dummy loads.
6) Attach the dummy loads to the power supply board at the
    locations where the wires run from the PS to the backplane.
7) When you removed the front panel board, you should have also
    removed the wire connecting the power switch.  Short the
    connector with a jumper made from heavy gauge wire.
8) Plug it in.  If the "variac" bulb lights brightly or you
    smell or see smoke, immediately unplug.
9) Note the condition of your dummy load lights.  If unlit,
    you could have a blown fuse or maybe you did not correctly
    connect them.  Unplug and check.
10) If the dummy bulbs are lit, check the DC voltage across each
     bulb.
11) If the DC voltages seem to be in spec, check for ripple with
     an oscilloscope.

That should get you started.  Once you get to step 11, you have a
good power supply.  Next, start testing the boards, one at a time,
in the backplane, looking for good regulated power on each board.

Bill S.

I will add one more thing to all of this....

Visually inspect the system and all the cards for anything loose....  Make sure
there aren't any broken wires before you start anything.  I can't tell you how
many times I have just looked at a system and said, well that can't be right and
sure enough a google search of some hires pictures says, hey correct that before
you move on....

Cheers,
Corey

--- In midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com, "Bill Sudbrink"  wrote:
>
> DanielB wrote:
> > Any recommendations on what I should check before attempting
> > a power up? Any advice would be much appreciated.
>
> I would recommend:
>
> 1) Photograph the unit, inside and out.
> 2) Confirm that it still has the original unregulated, linear
>    power supply.  If not, stop here and post your findings.
> 3) Remove all cards, including the front panel.
> 4) Create, if you don't already have one, a "dim bulb variac".
> 5) Create, if you don't already have, four "automobile bulb"
>    dummy loads.
> 6) Attach the dummy loads to the power supply board at the
>    locations where the wires run from the PS to the backplane.
> 7) When you removed the front panel board, you should have also
>    removed the wire connecting the power switch.  Short the
>    connector with a jumper made from heavy gauge wire.
> 8) Plug it in.  If the "variac" bulb lights brightly or you
>    smell or see smoke, immediately unplug.
> 9) Note the condition of your dummy load lights.  If unlit,
>    you could have a blown fuse or maybe you did not correctly
>    connect them.  Unplug and check.
> 10) If the dummy bulbs are lit, check the DC voltage across each
>     bulb.
> 11) If the DC voltages seem to be in spec, check for ripple with
>     an oscilloscope.
>
> That should get you started.  Once you get to step 11, you have a
> good power supply.  Next, start testing the boards, one at a time,
> in the backplane, looking for good regulated power on each board.
>
> Bill S.
>

> All I have is the Popular Electronics magazine.  I'm looking for the
full manual with the final schematics.

Hi Corey,

I still have my original manual and will scan that and have it in the
library section of my website today.

Will repost here when it's up.

Steve L.

Someone just dropped a pair with the controller into the company electronics
recycle bin.   I think they go with Atari 2600s.

regards,
Mike W.

--- In midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com, Mike Loewen  wrote:
>
>     The first items to check would be the 4 large electrolytic caps in the
> power supply.  Many people recommend a re-forming operation before you hit
> them with working voltage.  Here are a couple of messages about it:
>
> http://www.vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=237
>


I don't like the part about going 10% over the cap's rated voltage, not for
vintage stuff.  Perhaps it's ok for rough testing new circuits/caps.

And right on with the tantalum cap advise!  I found 2 of them shorted in the IBM
5150 last week (within 1 hour of each other).

> I don't like the part about going 10% over the cap's rated voltage, not
> for vintage stuff. Perhaps it's ok for rough testing new circuits/caps.

Margin testing, as this is called, is the best thing you can do to
suspect capacitors like electrolytics.

All caps fail. Would you rather caps fail under controlled conditions,
so other parts of the circuit are unharmed? Or would you rather have
them fail in circuit while you are upstairs, heating up some pizza?

--
Will

On Tue, 29 Jan 2013, William Donzelli wrote:

>> I don't like the part about going 10% over the cap's rated voltage, not
>> for vintage stuff. Perhaps it's ok for rough testing new circuits/caps.
>
> Margin testing, as this is called, is the best thing you can do to
> suspect capacitors like electrolytics.

     Marginal testing is one of the reasons the SAGE computers had a better
than 99% uptime.


Mike Loewen 		 mloewen@...
Old Technology       http://sturgeon.css.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/

--- In midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com, William Donzelli  wrote:
>
> > I don't like the part about going 10% over the cap's rated voltage, not
> > for vintage stuff. Perhaps it's ok for rough testing new circuits/caps.
>
> Margin testing, as this is called, is the best thing you can do to
> suspect capacitors like electrolytics.
>
> All caps fail. Would you rather caps fail under controlled conditions,
> so other parts of the circuit are unharmed? Or would you rather have
> them fail in circuit while you are upstairs, heating up some pizza?
>
> --
> Will

Can I have Pizza either way?

Perhaps it's best to replace all the tantalum and electrolytic caps now before
they fail?  You can't be testing them prior to every start up of a vintage
computer.  We all know it's a matter of "when" and not "if" they will fail.

> You can't be testing them prior to every start up of a
> vintage computer. We all know it's a matter of "when" and not "if" they will
> fail.

No, you do not have to margin test all the time. You can do it only
once if you want to, or you can do it once a year, or every week. it
is up toi you. When powering up an old piece of equipment that has
been off for an extended period of time, the first time will be
statistically far more effective than later times.

--
Will