H19 & H89 Service Manuals and Z-89-37 Operation Manual

[Mark Garlanger]

I now have the three manuals that Jack scanned up on a temporary page on my site: http://heathkit.garlanger.com/documentation/manuals/ 

• H19 Service Data Manual
• H88 & H/WH89 Service Data Manual
• 595-2674-01 - Double Density Disk Controller - Model Z-89-37 - Operation Manual
  

This page is not linked from any of the site's other pages, so you'll need to use that link. Once I have some time to organize some things, the manuals will move to a permanent page. I have a lot of ideas on how I should use a database and PHP, but I haven't had time work on it.

Mark

[Bill Wilkinson]

Just as a historical note (or perhaps hysterical), the H19 Service
Manual was the first one I'd written for Heath Company. I hope my
writing abilities have improved since then.

I also wrote up that Tech Exchange Bulletin that you included ahead of
the Table of Contents. T. Hogben in Factory Service submitted the
corrections, I confirmed it and added some clarifications. You can
see my initials (ww) in parentheses on the second page. "TSI-25" was
a code that indicated the type of submission. "TS" would be Tech
Services, "I-25" could be a typo for "1-25," the date it was first
submitted. From what I remember, we didn't have a formal document
stating what went in that area--it was there mostly for our own
reference.

I'd co-authored the H88/H89 manual with Don Gohr--who was our computer
consultant for the field service technicians. I wrote the sections on
the CPU board, he did the peripheral boards.

That was back in the days of Selectric typewriters. No word
processors; "cut and paste" meant exactly that. It wasn't until a
year or so later that we got our first word processing software,
AutoScribe. The application loaded directly from the floppy with a
modified version of HDOS. It probably did so using a primitive
equivalent to AUTOEXEC.BAT.

The Z-89-37 manual was done by a different department. I don't know
who wrote it.

On Mar 27, 10:28 pm, Mark Garlanger <garlan...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I now have the three manuals that Jack scanned up on a temporary page on my
> site:http://heathkit.garlanger.com/documentation/manuals/
>

>    - H19 Service Data Manual
>    - H88 & H/WH89 Service Data Manual
>    - 595-2674-01 - Double Density Disk Controller - Model Z-89-37 -

[Les Bird]

Bill,

Heath had some of the best, nigh - the best!, hardware documentation writers
in the industry. I'm a programmer by trade but when I'm called upon to write
a technical document, I hate it! Somehow, I manage to complete the task but
I don't enjoy it - I would much rather be programming. I've always wondered
who wrote all the documentation for the Heath hardware. It seemed to me that
the hardware engineers wrote them because they were so detailed and thorough
and I sometimes wondered if they enjoyed it, or hated it.

So if no one else has mentioned this I would like to say "thanks!" for
taking the time and writing these excellent manuals with such detail and
precision.

What about the schematics? How did Heath make them? I would imagine back
then that software for doing this stuff was scarce.

- Les

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Bill Wilkinson" <eggs....@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, March 28, 2010 8:11 AM
To: "SEBHC" <se...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [sebhc] Re: H19 & H89 Service Manuals and Z-89-37 Operation Manual

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "SEBHC" group.
> To post to this group, send email to se...@googlegroups.com.
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> sebhc+un...@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit this group at
> http://groups.google.com/group/sebhc?hl=en.
>

[Bill Wilkinson]

Les,

Thanks!

Actually, our department--Service Publications and Training--wasn't
part of the Manual Department (the group you're probably thinking
of). We were part of Customer Service and wrote in-house service
manuals for the Heath factory and field technicians. We'd take the
existing Heath manuals and beef them up with information that the
techs might find useful: Normal operating characteristics, more-
detailed circuit descriptions, and more voltages and waveforms on the
schematics. Among others.

To ensure that the service manuals were useful, SP&T had a policy of
hiring technicians who had a few years experience servicing Heath
kits. So we tended to put in information that we would have liked to
have seen when we were on the bench.

For the most part, the engineers did write the initial circuit
descriptions. The Manual Department would get a copy and tighten up
the writing so that it was consistent with other manuals that went to
the customer. And, as I mentioned earlier, we'd take it and "techify"
it.

I'm not sure who initially drew the schematics. They had their start
in Engineering, but there was also a drafting/illustration department
in the company. Also, some hardware design work was done on a
minicomputer or mainframe, so it might have been used for some
schematics. Gregg Chandler or Steven Parker might know more about
that.

Same thing with the illustrations. For the disassembly section, we'd
take the appropriate pictures from the assembly manual and show them
in reverse order--with modifications as needed to show how to get at a
difficult part.

BTW, it wasn't a one-way flow of information. We provided both the
Manual Department and Engineering with service-related information
that they found useful. There wasn't any interdepartmental rivalry
that I knew of.

--Bill

On Mar 28, 7:58 am, "Les Bird" <lesb...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
> Bill,
>
> Heath had some of the best, nigh - the best!, hardware documentation writers
> in the industry. I'm a programmer by trade but when I'm called upon to write
> a technical document, I hate it! Somehow,  I manage to complete the task but
> I don't enjoy it - I would much rather be programming. I've always wondered
> who wrote all the documentation for the Heath hardware. It seemed to me that
> the hardware engineers wrote them because they were so detailed and thorough
> and I sometimes wondered if they enjoyed it, or hated it.
>
> So if no one else has mentioned this I would like to say "thanks!" for
> taking the time and writing these excellent manuals with such detail and
> precision.
>
> What about the schematics? How did Heath make them? I would imagine back
> then that software for doing this stuff was scarce.
>
> - Les
>
> --------------------------------------------------

> From: "Bill Wilkinson" <eggs.ack...@gmail.com>

[Norberto Collado]

I'm planning to bid on this H-8 computer to restore it using Les boards.

Thanks,

Norberto

[John Evans]

I may as well, but only if it doesn't get too pricey.

John

[John Evans]

AND, there is a second H8 on ebay now as well.

John

["Rudolf Brandstötter"]

well.. and as I always wanted a H-8 I also like to bid.. I hear your discussions for a long time now and I'm searching for a nice H-8 for 2-3 years now..
Rudi

-------- Original-Nachricht --------
> Datum: Thu, 1 Apr 2010 16:19:04 -0600
> Von: John Evans <john.ev...@gmail.com>
> An: se...@googlegroups.com
> Betreff: Re: [sebhc] 220582577626 - VINTAGE HEATHKIT COMPUTER MODEL H8-1 H8-3

> I may as well, but only if it doesn't get too pricey.
>
> John
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 1, 2010 at 3:08 PM, Norberto Collado <
> norberto...@koyado.com> wrote:
>
> > I'm planning to bid on this H-8 computer to restore it using Les boards.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Norberto
> >
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups
> > "SEBHC" group.
> > To post to this group, send email to se...@googlegroups.com.
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> > sebhc+un...@googlegroups.com

> <sebhc%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>.

[Norberto Collado]

Make the best man win!

:)

[Mark Garlanger]

Is anyone going to put a serious bid on the second H8 (230457129103 - the one with all the software on tape) ?  I'm not particularly interested in the H8, but I'm very interested in the software and documentation on the tapes. It would be nice to have copies of the tapes and manuals in the library - we could probably just use .WAV files to store the copies of the tapes.
  Does anyone on the list happen to have any of the software on tapes? And could make recordings on them?

Mark

[Frank Madis]

Mark, I think I have the original tapes (cassettes).  I'll have a look this week and let you know. Regards, Frank Madison --- On Sun, 4/4/10, Mark Garlanger <garl...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Joseph E McGlone]

At one time there was a utility to convert the tape information to files that could be stored on a floppy.  Of course nowadays these could be put on a disk image for the SVD as well.

 

It's been a long time and I don't remember the particulars.  But, I think that the audio tape was loaded into H8 memory with a real casette tape player via the H8's casette tape interface and that the utility simply saved the information as a disk file from there.

 

I never tried converting the tapes to .WAV files; but, certainly this should work too.  The .WAV file would have to be "played" as audio to the H8 cassette interface.  Audio levels were just a little touchy to get right with the original tape interface.  So, a good quality audio file might be necesary.  It was also customary to make two copies of the tape data file just in case.  But, with a .WAV file one would only need one copy that worked.

 

Joe

[Les Bird]

I thought HDOS had a utility that would copy tapes to disk. I believe it was included with the OS for those that upgraded from tape to the H17. I've been wanting to setup an H8 tape system over here so I can convert my tapes over to disk files, it's on my when-I-have-time list along with a bunch of other stuff.

 

I wasn't planning on putting a bid on the H8 system though.

 

- Les

[West, Ronald S.]

I initially used tapes when I first got my H8 working. It didn't take me long to realize how much of a pain in the azimuth those things were so I ordered the floppy controller (hard sector) and got the H17 disk setup and went that way. Think I still have the one BHBasic tape I purchased for the computer.

 

Didn't think about making a .wav file and playing that back instead of the tape. Hmmm... I think I still have that cassette drive in the closet somewhere...

 

Ron

---

From: se...@googlegroups.com [mailto:se...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Les Bird
Sent: Monday, April 05, 2010 8:36 AM

[Jack Rubin]

I recorded all my KIM-1 tapes to .WAV and used them for input. Very convenient to have terminal program and program data on the same laptop. I was also able to generate audio output from the computer and save it directly as a .WAV file. No reason why this wouldn't work on any other system. Nice too because once converted/saved the program can be reloaded successfully many times, not always the case with tapes.

 

Dave Dunfield used tapes for his H8 emulator - I think there may be some audio files in the SEBHC archives.

 

Jack

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 9.0.800 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2791 - Release Date: 04/05/10 01:32:00

[C Waddell]

A few years ago, I had a way of putting the tapes on my PC. I found
those old copies of the tapes. They are simply a binary file containing
the data from the tapes. I have used this data image (quite some time
ago) to create new audio tapes. I think I put these images into the
archive. They had a .TAP file extension.

It's been a while, but as well as I remember, i had a switch mounted on
my H8-5 cassette interface board to switch the 2 ports on the board. I
loaded the .TAP image into the H8, then flipped the switch and wrote it
back to a physical tape. I played around with what you are talking about
(WAV files) and as well as I remember, I had good results with it.

I'll try to look up the program that I used on the PC to transfer the
files to the H8.

Carroll

Mark Garlanger wrote:
> Is anyone going to put a serious bid on the second H8 (230457129103 -
> the one with all the software on tape) ? I'm not particularly
> interested in the H8, but I'm very interested in the software and
> documentation on the tapes. It would be nice to have copies of the
> tapes and manuals in the library - we could probably just use .WAV
> files to store the copies of the tapes.
> Does anyone on the list happen to have any of the software on tapes?
> And could make recordings on them?
>
> Mark
>
>
> On Fri, Apr 2, 2010 at 1:34 AM, Norberto Collado
> <norberto...@koyado.com <mailto:norberto...@koyado.com>> wrote:
>
> Make the best man win!
>
> :)
>

> On Apr 1, 2010, at 10:31 PM, Rudolf Brandst�tter wrote:
>
> > well.. and as I always wanted a H-8 I also like to bid.. I hear
> your discussions for a long time now and I'm searching for a nice
> H-8 for 2-3 years now..
> > Rudi
> >
> >
> >
> > -------- Original-Nachricht --------
> >> Datum: Thu, 1 Apr 2010 16:19:04 -0600
> >> Von: John Evans <john.ev...@gmail.com

> <mailto:john.ev...@gmail.com>>
> >> An: se...@googlegroups.com <mailto:se...@googlegroups.com>

> >> Betreff: Re: [sebhc] 220582577626 - VINTAGE HEATHKIT COMPUTER
> MODEL H8-1 H8-3
> >
> >> I may as well, but only if it doesn't get too pricey.
> >>
> >> John
> >>
> >>
> >> On Thu, Apr 1, 2010 at 3:08 PM, Norberto Collado <
> >> norberto...@koyado.com

> <mailto:norberto...@koyado.com>> wrote:
> >>
> >>> I'm planning to bid on this H-8 computer to restore it using
> Les boards.
> >>>
> >>> Thanks,
> >>>
> >>> Norberto
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> >> Groups
> >>> "SEBHC" group.
> >>> To post to this group, send email to se...@googlegroups.com

> <mailto:se...@googlegroups.com>.

> >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> >>> sebhc+un...@googlegroups.com

> <mailto:sebhc%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>
> >> <sebhc%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:sebhc%252Buns...@googlegroups.com>>.

> >>> For more options, visit this group at
> >>> http://groups.google.com/group/sebhc?hl=en.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >> --
> >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the
> Google Groups
> >> "SEBHC" group.
> >> To post to this group, send email to se...@googlegroups.com

> <mailto:se...@googlegroups.com>.

> >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> >> sebhc+un...@googlegroups.com

> <mailto:sebhc%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>.

> >> For more options, visit this group at
> >> http://groups.google.com/group/sebhc?hl=en.
> >>
> >
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the
> Google Groups "SEBHC" group.
> > To post to this group, send email to se...@googlegroups.com

> <mailto:se...@googlegroups.com>.

> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> sebhc+un...@googlegroups.com

> <mailto:sebhc%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>.

> > For more options, visit this group at
> http://groups.google.com/group/sebhc?hl=en.
> >
> >
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "SEBHC" group.
> To post to this group, send email to se...@googlegroups.com

> <mailto:se...@googlegroups.com>.

> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> sebhc+un...@googlegroups.com

> <mailto:sebhc%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>.

[Mark Garlanger]

My plan was to be able to use a computer like you did with the KIM-1, or to even record the files back to audio tape and use a real tape player/cassettes to use them.

  I recently picked up a second H8 that has the H8-5 Serial/Cassette interface and 24K  of RAM. Along with the H9, I also bought from the same guy, I would have one setup with the H8, H9 and cassette recorder. It'll be just like it was back in 1977... ;-)

I thought Dave's emulator didn't use actual audio files, but I'll double check tonight if I have a chance.

Mark

[Norberto Collado]

The H8 is selling strong in ebay, so I wonder if the buyer is aware of this group or if the buyer is within this group. My recommendation is to ask the seller to make the buyer aware of this group once the item is sold. This provides this group with the capability of acquiring copies of documentation and software that is needed for the archive; if feasible.

Norberto :)

[Mark Garlanger]

I've tried that in the past, without much luck. I'm not sure if the seller never passed on the info, or if the buyer didn't care to respond. It was easier when members could contact other members directly. But feel free to try to  contact the buyer.

Mark

[Jack Rubin]

This is how I recruited many early members of SEBHC - not just the winner but also other people bidding on the item. Unfortunately, this is no longer possible for anyone except the seller. Unless s/he is already a vintage computer fan, it's not too likely that they will forward info on to the buyer. The net gets a little less friendly every day.

 

Jack

Version: 9.0.800 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2794 - Release Date: 04/06/10 01:32:00

[John Evans]

Well, this item closed at $261.00 - a bit pricey for my tastes.  Did anyone here get it?

John

[Les Bird]

That's cheap for an H8. I don't think I've seen one go for less than $350 on eBay.

 

- Les

 

From: John Evans

Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2010 4:04 PM

To: se...@googlegroups.com

Subject: Re: [sebhc] 220582577626 - VINTAGE HEATHKIT COMPUTER MODEL H8-1 H8-3

[West, Ronald S.]

It was kind of cool. I watched the last 5 mins of that auction. It was sitting at $176 or so and then in the last 15 seconds jumped up to that $261 value. I thought it would go higher too.

 

Ron

---

From: se...@googlegroups.com [mailto:se...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Les Bird

Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2010 9:31 PM

To: se...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [sebhc] 220582577626 - VINTAGE HEATHKIT COMPUTER MODEL H8-1 H8-3

[Glenn Roberts]

Right. I was thinking the same thing.  A bargain!