Proposed Epson QX-10 Day on 10th of each month
Doug
I have a Epson QX-10 and am proposing that once a month on the 10th (to
corespond with the 10 in QX-10) we turn on our trusty old machines and
given them some exercise and to refresh ourselves at the elegant design
of this early computing system.
If you have an Epson QX-10 then post back to this thread and tell us
what you did and if you can still run Valdocs.
You will probably find the time clock/battery is dead and needs
replacement :)
I assume comp.os.cpm is an acceptable newgroup to use for this posting
even though the Epson QX-10 uses TPM-III operating system (a variation
of CP/M ??)
Here is a quote from my VALDOCS+III System Environment Reference Manual:
"The operating system which Valdocs+ uses on the QX-10 is called
TPM-III. TPM-III stands for Transient Program Manager. A transient
program is one which moves in and out of the system, while the operating
system stays in place.
TPM-III was written in Z80 assembly language for maximum speed and
efficency. It wsa first introduced in the mid-1970s, only a few months
after the introduction of CP/M. CP/M was written in 8080 code, and thus
failed to take full advantage of the then-new Z80 processor. This
difference explains why, in similar system configurations, TPM-III is
somewhat faster than CP/M."
Doug
Rick Campbell
In fact I prefered it over the TPM-III os as I was/am a fan of ZCPR3 and it
won't run on a TPM system.
I still have my QX-10 w/Comrex ComFiler 20mb hard drive and QXPC-3 board
with bootrom, but alas it is in storage and I haven't had it booted up in
about 8 years (don't have the room to even THINK about setting it up right
now).
Anyone interested in purchasing this system? My wife wants me to dump it
and I can't bring myself to throw it away!
Rick
E-Mail: rick...@speakeasy.DOT.org
*** Remove the uppercase AT and .DOT to email me
"Doug" <ycn...@ycn.ca> wrote in message news:3B237B...@ycn.ca...
arobase, Salle multimédia
this newsgroup because I am the only one still
using a CP/M computer as my main system...
and it is an Epson QX-10!
Several times, I have asked if someone else was
still using an Epson QX-10. No replies...
By the way, as far as I know (since I have no
correspondants), the QX-10 had about 8
different operating systems...
Basically, there were 4 hardwares, depending
upon the place where it was sold: Japan,
Australia, USA, and Europe. In each case,
it appears that 2 (or 3) versions of CP/M
were implemented for it.
Example: Epson Europe released it with
MFCP/M. Programmers of the time were
so happy with the QX-10 that they produced
a version of CP/M Plus for it. This is the one
that I use (with 4 drives).
I am still looking for someone to scan my
technical documentation and put it online...
Yours Sincerely,
"French Luser"
John Thompson
<arobase1....@wanadoo.fr> wrote regarding Re: Proposed Epson QX-10
Day on 10th of each month:
> I am still looking for someone to scan my
> technical documentation and put it online...
Which technical documentation? I have some (QX-16 tech manual and QX-10
interface card tech manuals on line already and will soon be adding the
VALDOCS gdriver.sys programming manual.
Http://www.classic-computing.net/8bit
--
-John (John.T...@attglobal.net)
Doug
Thanks for your comments.
Rick Campbell wrote:
> The Epson QX-10 Computer ALSO ran CP/M.
Yes it did only it took me until now to fully realize that. I had
thought TPM-III and CP/M were application programs; now I see they were
separate Operating Systems.
> In fact I prefered it over the TPM-III os as I was/am
> a fan of ZCPR3 and it
> won't run on a TPM system.
I didn't use the CP/M part too much except for an accounting program.
What is ZCPR3?
>
> I still have my QX-10 w/Comrex ComFiler 20mb hard drive and QXPC-3 board with bootrom, but alas it is in storage and I haven't had it booted up in about 8 years (don't have the room to even THINK about setting it up right now).
I still have my QX-10 set up on my library desk. I use it primarily for
word processing. I have a ÑFASTDISKâ hard drive for it but that crashed
when I replaced the battery and now I am back to floppy disks.
> Anyone interested in purchasing this system?
> My wife wants me to dump it
> and I can't bring myself to throw it away!
>
> Rick
>
Oh no, don't even consider throwing it away. I have a second QX-10
upstairs I got for parts and want to rebuild it if I can learn how to
clean the floppy drives. They are real sticky.
Doug
hyubso
a few in her garage.. one of the last qx-10 users i know of.. someday i might
revive her machines.. if i only had room. I saved my software disks as they
take up little room.
hyubso
Doug
Happy QX-10 day!
Thanks for your comments. I am very pleased you are still
using your QX-10! I only just found your reply by searching
dejanews.com which jumped to google.com?? I did not see it
on the comp.os.cpm newgroup postings on my server.
"arobase, Salle multim?ia" <arobase1....@wanadoo.fr>
wrote in message news:<9g54c9$i89$1...@wanadoo.fr>...
> Very funny message, Doug, since I no longer lurk
> this newsgroup because I am the only one still
> using a CP/M computer as my main system...
> and it is an Epson QX-10!
I think this is great. Do you use the QX-10 to send messages
to the newsgroup? I tried once but the server here said
I needed a VT100 emulator?? Do you use Valdocs mail or a
CP/M email program?
> Several times, I have asked if someone else was
> still using an Epson QX-10. No replies...
Sorry I missed your enquiries. YES I still use my QX-10 every few days
although it still needs a new battery.
> By the way, as far as I know (since I have no
> correspondants), the QX-10 had about 8
> different operating systems...
I only use TPM-III and CP/M-80
What are the other operating systems?
Is there a Lynx OS that runs on the QX-10?
> Basically, there were 4 hardwares, depending
> upon the place where it was sold: Japan,
> Australia, USA, and Europe. In each case,
> it appears that 2 (or 3) versions of CP/M
> were implemented for it.
Do you have any idea about how many QX-10s were manufactured and
numbers remaining? Someone told me once they thought the number was
50,000??
> Example: Epson Europe released it with
> MFCP/M. Programmers of the time were
> so happy with the QX-10 that they produced
> a version of CP/M Plus for it. This is the one
> that I use (with 4 drives).
Do you mean you have 2 connected hard drives in addition to
the two 5&1/4" diskette drives that are built into the machine?
> I am still looking for someone to scan my
> technical documentation and put it online...
>
> Yours Sincerely,
> "French Luser"
What technical documentation do you have?
Is it for your version of CP/M Plus ?
Did you find anything interesting in John's reference:
Http://www.classic-computing.net/8bit ?
Doug
arobase, Salle multimédia
It is a pity that you answer so long after.
I will try to answer your questions.
1) No, I don't use my QX-10 to send messages
to the Newsgroup. I go to a cybercafe using
IBM Clowns under Win ME and write my
messages with their MS IE.
"Valdocs Mail" was, of course, a Valdocs
program and was sold only in the USA.
I have never heard about a "CP/M email
program". All I know is MODEM programs.
TCP/IP and e-mail were born on Unix machines.
There were lots of talk a few years ago about
a CP/M implementation of TCP/IP, but nobody
seem to have managed to do it.
2) "I only use TPM-III and CP/M-80.
What are the other operating systems?"
Well, since you are an American, you should
know it better than me... Epson America was
distributing several versions of CP/M 2.2.
The first were done the old way (copied on
system tracks), the last one was booted from
a SYS file (like CP/M Plus).
"Is there a Lynx OS that runs on the QX-10?"
As far as I know, Lynx (that I have never used) is
a text-based browser, not an OS.
3) No, I have no idea how many QX-10s were
manufactured. Since you are American, you could
ask Epson America (if they care about their own
history). (But remember that the QX-10 was sold
1) in Japan, 2) in Australia, 3) in the USA, 4) in
Europe. Unless you find the exact number in Japan,
you will have only one part of the total.)
"Do you have any idea about the number of QX-10s
remaining?" Remaining where? In the USA? How
could I know? (The only thing that I know is that
there were 50 QX-10 User Groups in the USA
(one per state).) Now, if you consider how few
responses I got after talking about the QX-10 on
the comp.os.cpm Newsgroup, you can only conclude
that they were not great fans of their computers.
(Another factor which could have contributed to
that sorry state is that (if I have well understood)
most people using a QX-10 in the USA were
using something called Valdocs, a kind of integrated
software written in STOIC, the esoteric Forth-like
programming language created by Jonathan Sachs
circa 1976 (for the Americans, he is best remembered
for Lotus 1-2-3 that he wrote later), not the standard
CP/M softwares: WordStar, dBase II, Multiplan, etc.
As far as I know, no 16 bit versions of Valdocs were
ever made (despite the fact that Valdocs was written
in a high-level language (by the way, this could have
been another problem, since ALL CP/M software
(without any single) exception is written in assembly
language). When the 16 bitters arrived, most people
(not having the knowledge of CP/M users) probably
simply jumped on the IBM Clown bandwagon.
Maybe if the source code of Valdocs has been
given to each user, right from the start, some of
them would have ported it to the 16 bit. Who knows?
On the Web, there is a site by a former employee
of Rising Star (http://www.dxcc.com/about.html/
but he has never answer my messages.
Conclusion: the QX-10, which was one of the
best non S-100 Bus CP/M-compatible computer
ever made is dead in the USA, where it was mostly
sold without CP/M!
4) My 4 drives are simply 4 floppy disk drives.
(MFCP/M and CP/M Plus provide a small RAMDISK, too.)
I never found a competent enough electronician to build a
IDE hard disk. (In the USA, at least 2 persons did that.
One is named John D. Baker. See his Web pages relating
some of the story: http://www.blkbox.com/~jdbaker/ )
5) The technical doc that I have is the one which was
available in Europe (I have no idea what was available
in the USA: ask Roger Amidon).
John Thompson has put online one of the 3 that I have:
the Option card manual.
I wrote twice to John offering him to loan him my
"Hardware Reference Manual" and
"Troubleshootiong Guide" if he would agree to scan them.
No answer.
Conclusion: As far as I can know, the QX-10 is dead in the USA.
Yours Sincerely,
"French Luser"
Axel Berger
ASM>There were lots of talk a few years ago about a CP/M implementation
ASM>of TCP/IP, but nobody seem to have managed to do it.
According to comp.sys.amstrad.8bit and my flaky memory, somebody has.
ASM>Now, if you consider how few responses I got after talking about the
ASM>QX-10 on the comp.os.cpm Newsgroup, you can only conclude that they
ASM>were not great fans of their computers.
Before Compu$erve got rid of their ASCII (i.e. terminal) frontend and
went pointee-clickee-only, thus replacing loyal longtime customers
prepared to pay good money for acceptable service by masses of
cheapskates who don't mind the heap of shit they are fed as long as its
free and going broke soon after, there were a lot of nice forums. Quite
possibly many of the oldtimers declined to buy a new Gatesbox every
second year and were lost to our virtual community.
ASM>but he has never answer my messages.
How can you know how often he tried? I can name half a dozen free email
services you could use from your cafe, but you have so far ignored
everone else, so why should you listen to me now?
--
Tschö wa
Axel
Shawn Sijnstra
>
> *arobase, Salle multimédia* wrote on Tue, 01-07-10 15:35:
> ASM>There were lots of talk a few years ago about a CP/M implementation
> ASM>of TCP/IP, but nobody seem to have managed to do it.
> According to comp.sys.amstrad.8bit and my flaky memory, somebody has.
>
There is a working TCP/IP stack in 8 bit for the MSX and the CPC,
but neither will run as-is under a generic CP/M. In fact, the MSX
one runs under an uzi variant (uzix).
There is a commercial one available for the z80. It is fairly
expensive but comes with commercial license and source code.
There was some guy who said he wrote a TCP/IP stack for the z80 and
would port it to CP/M if there was enough interest. Never heard from
him again.
I don't believe anyone has found the time to unleash a generic stack
with source code that works under CP/M.
Cheers,
Shawn
--
/"\
\ /
X ASCII RIBBON CAMPAIGN AGAINST HTML MAIL
/ \
Doug
Thank you for your prompt and long response about the QX-10.
arobase, Salle multimédia wrote:
>
> Doug,
>
> It is a pity that you answer so long after.
Perhaps I am a slow typer. Even this is a week after QX-10 day.
This is long so I will break my reply into 2 parts.
This is part 1 of 2.
> I will try to answer your questions.
>
> 1) No, I don't use my QX-10 to send messages
> to the Newsgroup.
Can you if you wanted to?
>I go to a cybercafe using
> IBM Clowns under Win ME and write my
> messages with their MS IE.
Going to a cybercafe sounds very exotic. I imagine warm summer
afternoons and lettuce blowing off the salad plate and a glass of wine.
Sorry, but I have never been to France so only can imagine from my
French language studies in highschool and
they only had IBM mainframes back then.
> "Valdocs Mail" was, of course, a Valdocs
> program and was sold only in the USA.
Well, Canada too. I still have a "VALDOCS 2" poster up on the wall of my
"library/office" since 1986.
> I have never heard about a "CP/M email
> program".
The CP/M email program I was refering to is called MTERM
When I first turn on the QX-10 computer it asks to "INSERT DISKETTE"
After inserting a 5&1/4" MTERM diskette it loads a CP/M operating
system.
The CP/M program I have produces the banner:
CP/M-80 R2.2 FOR THE EPSON QX-10
COPYRIGHT (c) 1983, EPSON AMERICA, INC.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
256K - VERSION B2.20
by selecting MTERM from the directory and loading that I get the banner:
MTERM - Epson QX-10 Smart Terminal Communications
(c) Copyright 1984, Micro-Systems Software Inc.
version 1.40, EPSON QX-10 Release 1.00
From there one can select a variety of options.
> All I know is MODEM programs.
> TCP/IP and e-mail were born on Unix machines.
> There were lots of talk a few years ago about
> a CP/M implementation of TCP/IP, but nobody
> seem to have managed to do it.
I am presently using "Open Transport" on a Macintosh LC III
I also have TCP/IP and Eudora email.
If a version of TCP/IP were able to run on CP/M does that mean that one
could then connect to an internet server from a CP/M computer??
Perhaps I can now by using MTERM and setting Baud,Word,Stop and Prty
switches to the correct settings. I tried it once a few years ago
but maybe used the wrong settings??
> 2) "I only use TPM-III and CP/M-80.
> What are the other operating systems?"
> Well, since you are an American, you should
> know it better than me...
Well, yes I live in North America but in fact I am a Canadian living in
Canada.
One hint is from my email address which ends in ".ca" meaning "Canada".
> Epson America was
> distributing several versions of CP/M 2.2.
I must have one of these.
> The first were done the old way (copied on
> system tracks), the last one was booted from
> a SYS file (like CP/M Plus).
I don't understand what this means. I assume you mean the CP/M operating
syatem is stored on a sector of the floppy disk reserved for system
programs
as apposed to data sectors.
> "Is there a Lynx OS that runs on the QX-10?"
> As far as I know, Lynx (that I have never used) is
> a text-based browser, not an OS.
You are correct. I think "Linex" is the UNIX type operating system my
server uses.
i.e. Linux 2.0.30 Operating System
It then uses PINE for email and Lynx for accessing the www.
{PINE is an Email program developed by the University of Washington.}
{PINE is an acronym for "Program for Internet News and Email".}
Yes Lynx is a text based browser. I am presently trying to learn how to
use
MacLynx b1 - (Lynx 2.7.1 port) on a Macintosh using a 680x0 processor
(I think it is a 68040 ) and Open Transport.
End of part 1 of 2.
More later,
Doug
Doug
Thank you for your prompt and long response about the QX-10. This is
part 2 of 2 of my reply.
arobase, Salle multimédia wrote:
> 3) No, I have no idea how many QX-10s were
> manufactured.
Thank you for your referral to the web site:
http://www.dxcc.com/about.html
Here it states that:
(The Epson QX-10) "was first
introduced to the public at the end of
1982. It was a success for over two years
and sold close to 100,000 units."
> Since you are American, you could
> ask Epson America (if they care about their own
> history).
I am a Canadian but I will plan to ask Epson America as you suggest.
> (But remember that the QX-10 was sold
> 1) in Japan, 2) in Australia, 3) in the USA, 4) in
> Europe. Unless you find the exact number in Japan,
> you will have only one part of the total.)
Good point. The 100,000 units probably were to the USA & Canada.
> "Do you have any idea about the number of QX-10s
> remaining?" Remaining where?
Remaining in use in the world is what I meant.
> In the USA? How
> could I know? (The only thing that I know is that
> there were 50 QX-10 User Groups in the USA
> (one per state).) Now, if you consider how few
> responses I got after talking about the QX-10 on
> the comp.os.cpm Newsgroup, you can only conclude
> that they were not great fans of their computers.
Well perhaps not active fans now but I understood that those with a
QX-10 were great fans, atleast until Epson stopped supporting them. Then
it seems like rats deserting a ship they were gone chasing IBM clones. I
was able to attend a QX-10 user group meeting in Toronto in 1985 before
the group stopped holding meetings.
I found the Epson QX-10 was years ahead of its time having the basic
features later found in Lotus 1-2-3 as your following note explains.
> (Another factor which could have contributed to
> that sorry state is that (if I have well understood)
> most people using a QX-10 in the USA were
> using something called Valdocs, a kind of integrated
> software written in STOIC, the esoteric Forth-like
> programming language created by Jonathan Sachs
> circa 1976 (for the Americans, he is best remembered
> for Lotus 1-2-3 that he wrote later), not the standard
> CP/M softwares: WordStar, dBase II, Multiplan, etc.
Yes, the QX-10 did primarily use Valdocs.
Valdocs is short for "valuable documents"
Version 1 of Valdocs was introduced in 1983.
I have the Valdocs+III version with 1986 documentation.
I still use the word processor module.
> As far as I know, no 16 bit versions of Valdocs were
> ever made (despite the fact that Valdocs was written
> in a high-level language (by the way, this could have
> been another problem, since ALL CP/M software
> (without any single) exception is written in assembly
> language). When the 16 bitters arrived, most people
> (not having the knowledge of CP/M users) probably
> simply jumped on the IBM Clown bandwagon.
There was an Epson QX-16 produced for a short while so I would assume
that a 16 bit version of Valdocs was made to run on it.
> Maybe if the source code of Valdocs has been
> given to each user, right from the start, some of
> them would have ported it to the 16 bit. Who knows?
Do you know if the source code for Valdocs is available?
> On the Web, there is a site by a former employee
> of Rising Star (http://www.dxcc.com/about.html/
> but he has never answer my messages.
I tried this site but for some reason it wouldn't load with the "/"
after the .html/
When I changed it to http://www.dxcc.com/about.html then I was able to
view the site.
Thanks for pointing out this important QX-10 site to me; I hadn't found
it before. It hasn't been updated in a few years (1998) so the site
owner may be busy with other things. I'll try to email him. Maybe I'll
catch him on shortwave as I note he is a ham radio operator also as I
am.
> Conclusion: the QX-10, which was one of the
> best non S-100 Bus CP/M-compatible computer
> ever made is dead in the USA, where it was mostly
> sold without CP/M!
I did not realize the Epson was a non S-100 Bus; now I know. Thanks for
pointing that out.
> 4) My 4 drives are simply 4 floppy disk drives.
> (MFCP/M and CP/M Plus provide a small RAMDISK, too.)
> I never found a competent enough electronician to build a
> IDE hard disk. (In the USA, at least 2 persons did that.
> One is named John D. Baker. See his Web pages relating
> some of the story: http://www.blkbox.com/~jdbaker/ )
Thanks for the www address. I had seen his site a few years ago and then
the last time I tried it, it didn't work so it must have been
temporarily down.
By the way, I also have a hard disk for my QX-10. It is called a
"FASTDISK" and was obtained from Quality Computerware in Toronto. It
uses a SEAGATE ST251 hard disk with a total storage space of 41
Megabytes.(Only 20 available for TPM or 20 available to CP/M so only 1/2
used at any one time.)
> 5) The technical doc that I have is the one which was
> available in Europe (I have no idea what was available
> in the USA: ask Roger Amidon).
OK I will plan to. I have the VALDOCS+III 1986 technical documentation
which may be the lastest version.
> John Thompson has put online one of the 3 that I have:
> the Option card manual.
> I wrote twice to John offering him to loan him my
> "Hardware Reference Manual" and
> "Troubleshootiong Guide" if he would agree to scan them.
> No answer.
I have tried John's web site Http://www.classic-computing.net/8bit but I
can't read the files because they are in .pdf format and I can't load
Acrobat Reader onto my Macintosh LC III.
> Conclusion: As far as I can know, the QX-10 is dead in the USA.
>
> Yours Sincerely,
> "French Luser"
Well does one active QX-10 computer user in Canada mean the QX-10 is not
dead in Canada?
Doug
Doug
reformat and use on my QX-10 and did some reading in my CP/M manual.
Rick Campbell wrote on 2001-06-12:
> The Epson QX-10 Computer ALSO ran CP/M.
Yes, I found that in March of 1984 Epson published a Manual for using
CP/M-80 with the QX-10. I found this in the same 3 ring binder that the
manual by Epson for using MTERM with the Epson QX-10 was in.
Is CP/M-80 the latest version suitable for running on the Epson QX-10?
Doug
Bill Marcum
Doug wrote in message <3B75D6...@ycn.ca>...
as opposed to CP/M-86 or CP/M-68k. If it was published in
1984, it probably is the latest version. The version number would
probably be 2.2 or 3.0. I don't know which version the QX-10 used.
arobase, Salle multimédia
>
> Doug
As far as I remember, Epson America made 3 or 4 versions of CP/M 2.2
for the QX-10. The first ones were booting from system tracks, the last
one was booting from a SYS file, like CP/M Plus.
If I remember well, they were called "CP/M 2.2 B2.2x", where "x" was
the revision number. I think that I remember 5 and 7.
In Europe, CP/M fans understood how good the hardware of the QX-10 was,
and made a version of CP/M Plus for the QX-10 (also able to boot on
a QX-16, which is a bi-processor version of the QX-10).
My system is a QX-10 (with French ASCII keyboard) with two 5 1/4"
80 tracks (IBM PC 1.2MB) drives in addition to the original two drives,
running CP/M Plus, with an Epson FX-850 printer.
(I don't remember if the configuration program allows to use HASCI or
JIS keyboards, however. Since this was made in Europe, it allows
to select one of the 9 European keyboards supported.)
I was hoping to fit a Tilmann Reh's GIDE board over the Z-80, but
never found a competent electronicien in my area (I have published
a small ad in the only French computer magazine catering to old
computers for 9 months: not one single response. When I am
absolutely obliged to have some hardware job done, I am obliged
to send it to a friend living 500 kilometers away, who is another
old-timer. Fortunately, I have the technical doc.)
So, I am not sure what I must tell you, Doug.
Yes, the QX-10 is the best non-S-100 Bus Z-80 microcomputer
ever made (if you have never seen some high-resolution graphics
on a CP/M computer, be prepared for something eye poping!
Several times, I invited newbies with Atari 520ST. After seeing
the speed and resolution of drawing images on the QX-10, they
were leaving very, very silently...). (I also have the rare colour
versions: 640 x 480 x 8 colors, which was 4 times the resolution
of the 520ST... despite the "power" of its 16-24 bit processor...)
But you need above average knowledges in software (that I have)
and hardware (that I don't have) to continue using it, since nobody
else will help you (the teacher of a local electronics school told me
that his students are simply unable to repair a Z-80 computer, and
the local computer shop simply and purely refuses to repair things
that he did not sold... Since he is a Newbie, he has no old stuff.)
So, I suggest that you start searching locally. You will probably
find lots of ValDocs computers and manuals.
If you are familiar with CP/M 2.2, then there are the several versions
made by Epson America, that you will have to find in your area.
If you are familiar with CP/M Plus, I could send you a copy of
the disks, but no manuals (of course...).
Yours Sincerely,
"French Luser"
Doug
> >Is CP/M-80 the latest version suitable for running on the Epson QX-10?
> >
> CP/M-80 is a general term for CP/M versions that run on 8080/Z80 processors,
> as opposed to CP/M-86 or CP/M-68k.
> If it was published in
> 1984, it probably is the latest version. The version number would
> probably be 2.2 or 3.0. I don't know which version the QX-10 used.
The CP/M program I have produces the banner:
CP/M-80 R2.2 FOR THE EPSON QX-10
COPYRIGHT (c) 1983, EPSON AMERICA, INC.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
256K - VERSION B2.20
so I must have the 2.2. version.
Doug
Doug
> As far as I remember, Epson America made 3 or 4 versions of CP/M 2.2
> for the QX-10. The first ones were booting from system tracks, the last
> one was booting from a SYS file, like CP/M Plus.
>
> If I remember well, they were called "CP/M 2.2 B2.2x", where "x" was
> the revision number. I think that I remember 5 and 7.
>
Does this mean it was the origional 2.2 version?
The 5 & 7 you refer to is that the 5th and 7th revision?
> If you are familiar with CP/M 2.2, then there are the several versions
> made by Epson America, that you will have to find in your area.
more later,
Doug
Ross
"arobase, Salle multimédia" <arobase1....@wanadoo.fr> wrote in message
news:9lb4vv$s3j$1...@wanadoo.fr...
<snip!>
> Yes, the QX-10 is the best non-S-100 Bus Z-80 microcomputer
> ever made (if you have never seen some high-resolution graphics
> on a CP/M computer, be prepared for something eye poping!
> Several times, I invited newbies with Atari 520ST. After seeing
> the speed and resolution of drawing images on the QX-10, they
> were leaving very, very silently...). (I also have the rare colour
> versions: 640 x 480 x 8 colors, which was 4 times the resolution
> of the 520ST... despite the "power" of its 16-24 bit processor...)
>
Yes, I'll just say I've never seen a QX-10 (nor used one!), but on paper it
looks
like an impressive machine (especally for it's time!).
I'm shocked to know that Epson scraped that idea & went on to deal
with 16 Bit computers. Don't really know how well it was marketed in
Australia, every-one seemed to be taking about C64's (which drove me mad!
- not literally).
<snip!>
Ross.
@robase, Salle multimédia
I found the following:
Epson first tried its hand at manufacturing PCs with the the CP/M based
Epson QX-10. A promising machine, but sorry for Epson, 8 bit CP/M machines
are already outdated.
The first prototypes reaching USA in mid 1982. It bore a close resemblance
to an American computer, the General, which was designed in 1978 by
Technical Design Labs. TDL couldn't raise the finance needed for production
and eventually went out of business. Two of TDL's founders, Chris Rutkowski
and Roger Amidon, joined Shinshu Seiki (for father of Epson) and worked on
the preliminary QX-10 design.
Software for the QX-10 was developed by Rising Star Industries. This company
was incorporated at the end of 1982 (by Epson?), drawing its name from the
Rising Sun of Japan and the Stars and Stripes of USA
However where many integrated DOS packages failed, the VALDOCS package that
was sold in combination with the Epson QX-10 was a big success. VALDOCS
included a word processor (with keyboard macro's and multiple screen
formats), spreadsheet, database and communication modules. On top of that a
desktop manager with an address book, mailing list manager, notepad,
calculator and more. You can switch from one program to the other by just
pressing a button.
EOF
@robase, Salle multimédia
but Epson has recently put online a
"Epson QX-10 Operations Manual"
(a 580 KB PDF file)
This 40 pages Manual talks about Valdocs, so it is
probably the American manual.
The address is:
http://support.epson.com/hardware/computer/desktop/qx10_/documentation.html/
I hope that the trend will continue...
Yours Sincerely,
"French Luser"
Skylar Thompson
> However where many integrated DOS packages failed, the VALDOCS package that
> was sold in combination with the Epson QX-10 was a big success. VALDOCS
> included a word processor (with keyboard macro's and multiple screen
> formats), spreadsheet, database and communication modules. On top of that a
> desktop manager with an address book, mailing list manager, notepad,
> calculator and more. You can switch from one program to the other by just
> pressing a button.
I was still using Valdocs up to a few years ago, albeit on a QX-16, not a
QX-10. I just loved the integration and functionality of the separate
modules, and its graphing program I found superior to anything in use
today. It also allowed the display of extended ASCII characters, which DOS
on that machine couldn't do, and used my FX-85 dot-matrix to the full
extent of its functionality, which is still something I am trying to do in
Linux. Too bad it's been eclipsed by such crocks as DOS and Windows....
--
-- Skylar Thompson (sky...@attglobal.net)
P(4.2.2) + "Skylar DXLIX" DMPo L:36 DL:2500' A++ R+++ Sp w:Stormbringer
A(JLE)*/P*/Z/J64/Ad L/O H+ D+ c f-/f PV+ s TT- d++/d+ P++ M/M+
C- S++ I+/I++ So B+ ac GHB++ SQ++ RQ+ V+ F:JLE F: Possessors strong again
Michael J. Mahon
So do I. Unfortunately, this manual explains how to unpack
and plug in a QX-10--not much technical content. Now, if the
Valdocs manual were available, that would really be something.
-michael
Email: mjm...@aol.com
Home page: http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/
Skylar Thompson
> I can't believe it,
> but Epson has recently put online a
> "Epson QX-10 Operations Manual"
> (a 580 KB PDF file)
>
> This 40 pages Manual talks about Valdocs, so it is
> probably the American manual.
>
> The address is:
> http://support.epson.com/hardware/computer/desktop/qx10_/documentation.html/
That's odd. The server doesn't claim to have it. Did they take it down
recently?
Michael J. Mahon
>On Sat, 25 Aug 2001, @robase, Salle multimédia wrote:
>
>> I can't believe it,
>> but Epson has recently put online a
>> "Epson QX-10 Operations Manual"
>> (a 580 KB PDF file)
>>
>> This 40 pages Manual talks about Valdocs, so it is
>> probably the American manual.
>>
>> The address is:
>>
>http://support.epson.com/hardware/computer/desktop/qx10_/documentation.html/
>
>That's odd. The server doesn't claim to have it. Did they take it down
>recently?
The URL has a typo--there should be _two_ underscores after qx10:
http://support.epson.com/hardware/computer/desktop/qx10__/documentation.html
@robase, Salle multimédia
>
> So do I. Unfortunately, this manual explains how to unpack
> and plug in a QX-10--not much technical content. Now, if the
> Valdocs manual were available, that would really be something.
>
> -michael
Well, speaking of Valdocs, I found the following on the Internet:
Resume of Garold L. Johnson
Managed 20-25 people in multiple development teams in a distributed, virtual
environment where all team members telecommuted. Developed innovative
management procedures to deal with this unique environment. Designed
architecture for communication between a word processor, spreadsheet,
database, extended directory/filing system and other components of the
VALDOCS (VALuable DOCuments) integrated software package for the Epson
QX-10. (Rising Star, 1981-1984)
Well, I hope that this man would know something technical about Valdocs...
If someone in America with a strong interest in Valdocs want to ask him...
Yours Sincerely,
"French Luser"
@robase, Salle multimédia
Yours Sincerely,
"French Luser"
yes. shame about VALDOCS really. it seems to have killed forth's
reputation for all time. it was reputedly an integrated package written
in forth - unfortunately, it seems, the people who wrote it were less
than competent. for some reason it has an awful reputation, as slow,
buggy, etc.
Doug
> In Europe, CP/M fans understood how good the hardware of the QX-10 was,
> and made a version of CP/M Plus for the QX-10 (also able to boot on
> a QX-16, which is a bi-processor version of the QX-10).
>
> My system is a QX-10 (with French ASCII keyboard) with two 5 1/4"
> 80 tracks (IBM PC 1.2MB) drives in addition to the original two drives,
> running CP/M Plus, with an Epson FX-850 printer.
>
> (I don't remember if the configuration program allows to use HASCI or
> JIS keyboards, however. Since this was made in Europe, it allows
> to select one of the 9 European keyboards supported.)
>
Great news on your recent searching for more info on the QX-10! Got your
email. This is the "more later" from my 01Aug 14 post. Does this mean
your QX-10 was manufactured in Europe or manufactured somewhere else for
use in Europe - e.g. with an European power supply? Is it 200 Volts 50
Hertz?
Doug
John Thompson
Day on 10th of each month:
> yes. shame about VALDOCS really. it seems to have killed forth's
> reputation for all time. it was reputedly an integrated package written
> in forth - unfortunately, it seems, the people who wrote it were less
> than competent. for some reason it has an awful reputation, as slow,
> buggy, etc.
I don't think the programmers were incompetent; they were just really
pushing the envelope on what an 8-bit computer could do. Think about it
-- an integrated package of WYSIWYG word processor, spreadsheet,
communications, database, vector drawing, bitmap painting, etc with
transparent integration and sharing of data between modules all running
on an 8-bit, 4mhz machine with 256k of bank-switched RAM. It was a hugely
complex project that should have been undertaken on better hardware, but
at the time it was begun the IBM PC had only just been introduced and
it's future was uncertain. CP/M was the industry standard platform at
the time and Epson was reluctant to invest in a project that couldn't at
least run CP/M software (the TPM operating system underlying Valdocs was
CP/M compatible).
--
-John (John.T...@attglobal.net)
@robase, Salle multimédia
I am a fan of WS4, and keep finding Valdocs stuff!!!
(While searching for a copy of WS4 for CP/M-86...)
I have never seen or used Valdocs. As far as I have
understood, it was running under a "proprietary" version
of CP/M named "TP/M".
So, imagine my surprise when I saw a CP/M file named
"VALDOCPX.ARC"... Could it be possible that two
different persons would have used the same name?
This archive contains the following files:
EDIT.COM a huge program (36 KB...)
VALDOCS.TXT (a WordStar file, despite its filetype)
VAL2WS.COM and WS2VAL.COM: 2 Turbo Pascal programs
obviously used to convert VALdoc files to WordStar,
and vice-versa, under CP/M.
I dumped EDIT.COM. There are several references to a "STACK".
As it is well-known that Valdocs was written in STOIC, a
Forth-like programming language, I can only conclude that
someone named "SnyderScope" had the source code of Valdocs
and made a CP/M version in 12/25/84.
The WS2VAL.COM author is:
Ted Jerome
New Wave Research
3/04/85
RR#1, Box 380-A,
Waitsfieldn VT 05673
Following this, you will find an ASCII version of the
VALDOCS.TXT file. Of course, that's all I known about it.
Now, some questions are raised:
1) Could a Valdocs user checks the doc to see if it
describes the QX-10 Valdocs editor ?
2) Could some Forth fan confirms that this is really
some zero address code?
3) Could some fan of the Epson PX-8 says where the
escape codes of the PX-8 can be found on the Internet?
4) Could someone patch EDIT.COM, so that it would run
with some more common escape codes, like Kaypro,
ASM 3A, and Osborne (the escape codes recognized
by 22NICE, for example...)
5) Is it difficult to "disassemble" a Forth program?
If EDIT.COM is really a CP/M version of the Valdocs
editor, it should (logically) be written in STOIC...
(Note that EDIT.COM is 36 KB, and the ASM86.COM that
I have disassembled uses 40 KB of the TPA. So it is
possible to disassemble it, but it would be simpler
to ask STOIC to disassemble it...)
6) If so, it would be possible to port it to MS-DOS...
(and to the latest +1 GHz computers)
7) Finally: Who cares?
Yours Sincerely,
"French Luser"
PX-8 VALDOCS REFERENCE
Version 1A
By Bill Stoebig
Note: Valdocs for the PX-8 is a test program that has been
released for general use. It is highly unlikely that it will be
developed or refined further. It contains some bugs, two of which
can result in the loss of a document in memory. Deleting a
carriage return at the end of a line is fatal--the PX-8 will
"freeze up", requiring a reset of the computer. The current
document in memory will be lost. There are two ways of invoking
this bug: 1) Depressing CTRL + Y together when the cursor is on
text and 2) Deleting ALL characters on a line (including the
carriage return) using the CLR/DEL dey. DO NOT depress CTRL + Y
for any purpose and be careful when using the CLR/DEL key that
you do not delete beyond the number of characters on a line. If
you must delete characters, be sure to save the document in
memory first so that you will be covered in the event disaster
strikes. The second fatal bug, also resulting in a freeze-up,
occurs when one selects <S>pace available on data disk from the
CTRL + K Menu when there is no space left on the drive.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Valdocs for the PX-8 is a 36K size file; it is too large to run
from the internal configured ramdisk. It can be run from the
microcassette but this would be extremely slow due to loading and
storage time required. For practical use, either an external
Ramdisk (60K, 120K, or MFU) or a disk drive is required. It is
possible to burn the program into ROM for those equipped to do
so.
FUNCTION KEY ASSIGNMENTS
PX-8 KEY VALDOCS FUNCTION
STOP Suspends scrolling through a document.
ESC UNDO (Back Out of Menu's)
PAUSE STORE document menu appears:
..................................................
Enter name to store document under ________.VAL
,
is automatically added. The document will store on the
currently logged drive. If a document already exists
with the same filename, Valdocs will ask if you want to
delete it and replace it with the current file.
HELP Retrieve/Insert document menu appears:
..................................................
Enter name of document to insert ______ .VAL
.........< UNDO to resume editing >...............
Enter the document name you want to retrieve for
editing. If you have forgotten the name, press PF2 and
select <I>ndex of Documents for a listing of files on
the currently logged drive. Also, use this menu to
merge a document into one that is currently in memory.
Place the cursor in the current document where you want
the merge to occur and select the document to be
merged.
PF1 Apparently non-functional UNTIL text is in the editor;
then accesses the PRINT menu:
.......................................................
Select a function by its letter or moving the cursor
then press return
<P>rint current document <M>ultiple copies (1-99)
<S>tart at page number <W>ait aftereach page (Y/N)
<E>nding page number[orEND]<C>orrespondence quality(Y/N
<L>ine spacing (1 to 3) <N>umber pages starting at
.............< UNDO to resume editing >................
This is the printer support for Valdocs. A document
must be active, or in memory, to be printed. You can
designate sections of a document to print, e.g.,
<S>tart at page 5 and <E>nd at page 7. If you want the
document spaced, choose the desired spacing as well as
the number of copies required. If you are using single
sheet paper, select "Y" for <W>ait after each page;
select "N" for continuous paper. <C>orrespondence
quality gives a NLQ appearance. If you do want page
numbering to start on other than the first page, enter
the # at <N>umber pages starting at ___. If you do not
want any page numbering, enter a "0". I have tested
these options successfully with an Epson P-80X printer.
.pa
PF2 INDEX menu:
.......................................................
Select a function by its letter or moving the cursor
then press return
<I>ndex of Documents <A> Ramdisk
<D>elete Document <F> Floppy disk
<R>ename Document <T>ape storage
<C>hange disk/tape <M>ake new data tape
...........< UNDO to resume editing >..................
The <I>ndex of Documents lists all documents that are
stored on the currently logged drive. You can <D>elete
and <R>ename documents on the currently logged drive.
The <A>, <F>, and <T> options allow one to log onto
another storage device. For example, if you start
Valdocs from the Ramdisk (A drive) and store a file, it
will store on the Ramdisk. However, if you select
<F>loppy disk (if one is connected) or <T>ape storage
before you store the file, it will be stored on the
device you selected. Accordingly, one could run the
Valdocs editor from the Ramdisk and store all data
files on the disk drive or the microcassette. If you
are logged onto the disk or tape drive, selecting
<C>hange disk/tape will close the directory and prompt
you to insert a new disk or tape. <M>ake a new data
tape will close the current tape, prompt you to insert
a new tape, and initialize it for use.
PF3 Exit to CP/M - the following menu appears:
..................................................
Abandon text now in memory (Y/N) ?
..............< UNDO to resume editing >..........
Note: If no document is in the editor, depressing PF3
will exit directly to CP/M without the menu appearing.
.pa
PF4 Exit to system - the following menu appears:
..................................................
Exit to system
Abandon text now in memory (Y/N) ?
............< UNDO to resume editing >............
Note: If no document is in the editor, depressing PF3
will exit directly to the PX-8's MENU screen, if
enabled, without the above menu appearing.
PF5 CALCULATOR menu:
.......................................................
CALCULATOR: 0 Use the numerical keypad & cursor keys
<C>LEAR all <I>NSERT number in document
<M>EMORY plus <0> <T>OTAL a column
<G>ET from memory <R>OW total
<Z>ERO memory
..............< UNDO to resume editing >...............
Either the number keys in the top row or the numerical
keypad may be used to input numbers. <C>lear all resets
the calculator to 0 but leaves any value in memory; use
<Z>ero memory to clear all memory to 0. <T>otal a
column totals a column of numbers in the editor. Put
the cursor in the last number and select <T>otal and
hit RETURN. The total will show in the calculator at
the cursor. To <I>nsert the total in the editor,
position the cursor where you want the total placed and
select <I>nsert and RETURN. <R>ow works in the same
manner. Note: Some of the sub-menu information flashes
by so fast that it's unreadable; experiment with the
calculator and you will catch on quickly.
.pa
CONTROL + KEY ASIGNMENTS
(Depress the CTRL key, and while it is down, depress the second
key.)
KEYS VALDOCS FUNCTION
CTRL + Q The "Quirks" Menu:
.......................................................
Select a function by its letter or moving the cursor
then press RETURN
<D>irectory of disk <R>etrieve non-indexed file
<L>og in different disk drive <S>tore as non-indexed
<F>ormat entire document <C>ursor locked in center
<Q>uick Display
.................< UNDO to resume editing >............
<D>irectory of disk lists a directory of the currently
logged drive. Selecting <L>og in different disk drive
accesses the INDEX menu, which is also invoked by
pressing PF2. In Valdocs 1.19 for the Epson QX-10,
<Q>uick Display increased the speed of the cursor
across the display; I have been unable to ascertain any
speed difference on the PX-8. <R>etrieve and <S>tore
non-indexed store and retrieve files exactly the same
as under the PAUSE and HELP keys, described. Both also
assign a .VAL extention. <C>ursor locked in center is a
toggle between "locking" the cursor in the middle of
the screen and having text scrolling over it versus
having a "moving" cursor. Try both methods and see
which one you like. <F>ormat entire document is used
after inserting or deleting characters. It "formats"
the document reinserting spaces, etc. This option
should also be used to format the document after
justifying previously right ragged text.
.pa
CTRL + O The "On Screen" Menu:
.......................................................
Select a function by its letter or moving the cursor
then press RETURN
<C>enter line on/off <R>ight margin setting
<N>on-break space <T>op of page margin
<L>eft margin setting <B>ottom of page margin
..............< UNDO to resume editing >...............
Select <C>enter line to center a line; however, there
must be a carriage return at the end of the line before
it will be centered. Position the cursor in the line to
be centered and select this option. <N>on-break spaces
"ties" two words together so they aren't separated by
more than one space while in the right justified mode.
To tie two words together, type the first, invoke this
menu option, and then type the second word. The four
margin setting selections are straightforward. You can
set multiple right and left margin settings in the
document. As indentations are not supported, use margin
changes instead.
CTRL + P The "Page" Menu:
.......................................................
Select a function by its letter or moving the cursor
then press RETURN
<G>oto specific page number
<N>ew page (go to top of new page)
<I>f within 'N' lines of end, new page
<S>et length of paper to 'N' lines
..............< UNDO to resume editing >...............
<G>oto specific page moves the cursor and screen
display to the selected page. <N>ew page moves the
cursor to the top of the next page; it is handy for
starting a new chapter or topic. <S>et length of paper
allows for the differences in paper length for printing
purposes. For example, standard paper is 66 lines long
whereas legal paper is 84 lines long.
.pa
CTRL + K The "Miscellaneous" Menu:
.......................................................
Select a function by its letter or moving the cursor
then press RETURN
<C>hange data disk <D>elete to end of doc
<S>pace available on data disk <J>ustify on/off
<E>rase scrn, refile orig. doc <P>oint char for Dec.
(./,)
.............< UNDO to redume editing >................
Note: Depressing SHIFT + HOME also invokes this menu.
<C>hange data disk should be used anytime one wants to
change tapes or disks. <S>pace available on data disk
does not appear to be functional and LOCKS UP THE
SYSTEM when the drive has no storage space remaining.
<E>rase screen clears the current document from memory
without storing it. <D>elete to end of document deletes
all text from the cursor location to the end of the
document. <J>ustify on/off is a toggle between right
justified or right ragged edge. Position the cursor in
the document where you want justification to begin (or
end) and select this option. Then, access the Quirks
Menu (CTRL + Q) and select <F>ormat entire document.
<P>oint char allows one to designate the decimal as a
"." or a ",". I don't know the purpose for this option.
CTRL + S STORES the document:
..................................................
Enter name to store document under _______.VAL
...........< UNDO to resume editing >.............
EOF
John Thompson
Day on 10th of each month:
> How funny life is!
> I am a fan of WS4, and keep finding Valdocs stuff!!!
> (While searching for a copy of WS4 for CP/M-86...)
> I have never seen or used Valdocs. As far as I have
> understood, it was running under a "proprietary" version
> of CP/M named "TP/M".
> So, imagine my surprise when I saw a CP/M file named
> "VALDOCPX.ARC"... Could it be possible that two
> different persons would have used the same name?
> This archive contains the following files:
> EDIT.COM a huge program (36 KB...)
> VALDOCS.TXT (a WordStar file, despite its filetype)
> VAL2WS.COM and WS2VAL.COM: 2 Turbo Pascal programs
> obviously used to convert VALdoc files to WordStar,
> and vice-versa, under CP/M.
> I dumped EDIT.COM. There are several references to a "STACK".
> As it is well-known that Valdocs was written in STOIC, a
> Forth-like programming language, I can only conclude that
> someone named "SnyderScope" had the source code of Valdocs
> and made a CP/M version in 12/25/84.
> Now, some questions are raised:
> 1) Could a Valdocs user checks the doc to see if it
> describes the QX-10 Valdocs editor ?
VALDOCPX was an alpha version of VALDOCS for the PX-8 computer. To my
knowledge, only the editor component was started and even that never made
to to a point where it could be considered stable. I tried it on my PX-8
and it did present a VALDOCS-like interface but was too flaky for serious
work. I know some people actually burned it onto ROMs for their PX-8's.
SnyderScope started distributing it "as is" after Rising Star threw in
the towel on VALDOCS development.
Portable WordStar was a much better editor on the PX-8, in any case.
> 3) Could some fan of the Epson PX-8 says where the
> escape codes of the PX-8 can be found on the Internet?
For the PX-8 terminal? I should have that around here someplace, unless
it's on that "PX-8 Operating System Reference" I lent to Allison Parent.
--
-John (John.T...@attglobal.net)
@robase, Salle multimédia
If there are more fans of Valdocs out there,
maybe we could try to port Valdocs under
CP/M-86 (the source code of STOIC is
in the CP/M User Group disk (volume 23
if I remember well).).
Yours Sincerely,
"French Luser"
Doug
> If there are more fans of Valdocs out there,
> maybe we could try to port Valdocs under
> CP/M-86
Valdocs would/could be run on a newer/faster computer. For example, I
believe that the CALC spreadsheet program in Valdocs is limited by the
size of memory available not by a fixed row or column limitation. A
spreadsheet of unlimited size might have some interesting applications.
Meanwhile, still using my QX-10. I switched connections on my floppy
drives so "A" becomes "B" and "B" becomes "A" because the "B" drive has
been used so much it doesn't always read and gives read error messages.
That way, if it boots up on the "B now A" drive then data disks work
more consistently on the previously less used "A now B" drive.
Does anyone know how to maintain, clean or adjust 5&1/4" floppy disk
drives in the QX-10?
Doug
Doug
> Well, speaking of Valdocs, I found the following on the Internet:
>
> Resume of Garold L. Johnson
>
> Managed 20-25 people in multiple development teams in a distributed, virtual
> environment where all team members telecommuted. Developed innovative
> management procedures to deal with this unique environment. Designed
> architecture for communication between a word processor, spreadsheet,
> database, extended directory/filing system and other components of the
> VALDOCS (VALuable DOCuments) integrated software package for the Epson
> QX-10. (Rising Star, 1981-1984)
>
In 1986 Valdocs got its last upgrade and according to the
acknowledgements in my copy of the VALDOCS+III WORD PROCESSING MANUAL,
the manual was the work of several writers. "Those who have contributed
material include: Bill Amidon, Melody Elwell, Bob Georgius, Derek Kelly,
Chris Rutkowski, Joan Rutkowski, Dr. John Rutkowski, and Rozanne
Skoller."
This gives us a few more names to track down in reconstructing VALDOCS
history.
Doug
Roy Miller
Hmmm. Just two weeks ago I read a column in Byte from the mid 80s by Pournelle
where he gave a pretty full history of Valdocs up to that point. Guess I should
dig it out again....
Roy
>
> Doug
Doug
> Hmmm. Just two weeks ago I read a column in Byte from the mid 80s
> by Pournelle where he gave a pretty full history of Valdocs up to
> that point. Guess I should dig it out again....
Well, speaking of digging up history, for QX-10 day I dug out an
original QX-10 battery. Thus I made a bit of progress on getting a new
battery for my QX-10 to the extent that I now know what equivalent I
should be looking for. I opened up my spare QX-10 and found an
original (and very dead) battery. It was labeled SANYO CADNICA BACKUP
N-SB3 MKP 3.6 V/90 mAh standard charge 3.3 mA Made by Sanyo
Electric Co.Ltd. Japan It is 14mm diameter and 56mm long.
I wonder if CADNICA means cadmium nickel cadmium ? I would have
thought it would have been just NiCad for Nickel Cadmium?
I charged the dead battery up but it only seems to hold a charge for a
few hours.
Doug
Michael J. Mahon
>Well, speaking of digging up history, for QX-10 day I dug out an
>original QX-10 battery. Thus I made a bit of progress on getting a new
>battery for my QX-10 to the extent that I now know what equivalent I
>should be looking for. I opened up my spare QX-10 and found an
>original (and very dead) battery. It was labeled SANYO CADNICA BACKUP
>N-SB3 MKP 3.6 V/90 mAh standard charge 3.3 mA Made by Sanyo
>Electric Co.Ltd. Japan It is 14mm diameter and 56mm long.
Should be pretty easy to find a close-enough replacement, since 3.6
volts (3 cells) is a very common small NiCad configuration. (And it
is a NiCad battery, with a flowery name.)
Varta makes a bunch of configurations in this approximate size and
capacity. You might also check out replacement batteries for wireless
phones.
The only real constraints are size (it has to fit) and capacity (the
replacement should be at least 90 mAh).
charleshi...@gmail.com
Was wondering if you could help.
I have a QX-10 but I can't get it to load any disks. Any pointers?
Chuck
David Schmidt
The drives on the QX-10 are a little wonky. Have you mastered the eject
mechanism? And have you run a cleaning disk through them recently, in
case the heads got gunky?
I'm able to get mine to boot, but I don't have any video showing on my
monitors (I have two), but my monitor cable might be sketchy since I
wired it up myself.