Some new disk images in my github

J McNeely

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Feb 25, 2021, 9:51:43 AM2/25/21

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Hello everyone - Wow, how much do I love this machine? A lot, that's how much. Thanks to everyone involved, and all of you talking here, I've picked up a ton of great info and had a great time doing it.

I case anyone wants them, I put together a repo with some new hard disks as well as my scripts and notes for creating them. So far, I have a big basic hd, cobol, dbase, and turbo pascal. These were my favorites back when I ran a Vector Graphics multi-user system ( a long time ago). The disk contents are copied from the contents of the simh altairz80 disks, and seem to run ok.

Here's github: https://github.com/jpmcneely/AltairDuino-Disks

Here's altairz80: https://schorn.ch/altair.html

Thanks again to everyone involved.

J McNeely

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Feb 25, 2021, 10:01:39 AM2/25/21

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Well, I take that back about pascal. That one is not working. Bummer.

John Kennedy

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Feb 28, 2021, 10:02:33 PM2/28/21

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It might be working - the terminal setup for the editor is extremely picky.

J McNeely

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Feb 28, 2021, 10:35:46 PM2/28/21

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Thanks, John - Actually, I think I might have it sorted from another post here. Seems turbo was z80 only, and I tested it in 8080 mode. I plan to give it another try when I have a few minutes, This weekend was a big postgresql upgrade at work, so time was not available. I'll keep the terminal setup in mind. Good to know. Thanks!

Gwen Patton

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Feb 28, 2021, 11:19:55 PM2/28/21

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That makes sense about the Z80 mode. I've been running Turbo on my SC131, with the Z180 in it. Works like a champ. It's a solid little machine -- I leave it on all the time in a terminal window, and it's normal for me to see uptimes in the hundreds of hours. I think the longest without a shutdown was around 400 hours. It's at 131 hours presently. Best $75 I ever spent on a retro computer!

My latest projects have been more educational than anything else. I've been setting myself up to do videos. On what subject, I'm not sure yet, but I'm all set up to create them. We've got a pile of cameras of various kinds around here, including a couple of GoPros. I also have a Sony 8mm tape Handicam around here that also saves to Sony Memory Sticks, I think. Might be SD cards, but I got it back when the memory sticks were popular, so it probably supports those. It's a bit old though...it has a Firewire port for uploading videos, and I don't think I have a machine that supports it anymore.

I've got my audio (Voicemeeter Potato), capture (OBS), and video editing (DaVinci Resolve 17) all set up. I made sure the mixer works with my ham radio setup, which uses my Zoom H4n Handy Recorder as a USB interfaced microphone.

If anyone is doing videos, check out Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve. You can start with the free version and do a LOT with it. Then, if you determine it's useful to you, get the $295 studio version with the high-end bells and whistles. If things really do well for me, I might get one of Blackmagic's pro-grade cameras. They make small ones that are truly excellent for their size, up to full TV and film studio grade cameras.

I'll probably be taping some of my kit building in the future. We'll see! I haven't been in front of the camera much in years, so I need to get my performance chops back!

Oh...and I've started disassembling the wire rack I use for my radios and computer, my "shack stack", because one of the legs on the rack is bending. I have a new rack to build it back onto that's a lot sturdier. The one it's on currently is a cheap rack inspired by the high-end "bread racks" we usually get. I think it was a sudden Walmart purchase. Won't make that mistake again -- especially when Amazon has a good one for $31, with Prime shipping.

--- Gwen

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J McNeely

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Mar 1, 2021, 9:17:22 PM3/1/21

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Thanks, Gwen. Good to know that it works on z80. That almost has to be what I missed before. I've been looking at the sc131 kit, and it looks like a great little rig. I see soldering in my future.

Please post back when you start your build videos! Probably 90% of my TV time is old tech, ham radio, kit builds, etc. Looking forward to seeing what you put together.