~NE\vSLETTER

a publication of the
AMAT~R COMPUT&~ SOCIETY
Number 1 August 1966

l~ERSHIP AND SUBSCRIPTION have printed the letter: Control

Engineering (June, P 12); QST
Although lId hoped to be able (July, p 78); EEE (June, p 142);
to send you the ACS Newsletter EDN (July, p 7); and Computer
free, the costs of printing Design (August, p 12).
and postage are just too high,
despite several contributions, The original letter of an-
unsolicited but highly welcome. nouncement ran this way:
Therefore, a combined mem- "This is an invitation to your
bership and subscription fee readers i'\Tho are amat eUr builders
of $3.00 has been establishe~ of digital computers to join the
There will be no dues, at ne", Amateur Computer Society,
least not in the foreseeable whose main purpose is to exchange
future. The number of News- information through a newsletter.
letter issues you will receive To limit the membership to the
will depend on how many join, really serious, the ACS is open
and should be at least 8, only to those who are building or
probably more. The Newsletter operating a homemade computer
will appear about ~very 6 or that can at least perform auto-
8 weeks. matic multiplication and diVision.
I

To become a member of the liThe newsletter will contain

Amateur Computer Society and queries from members with prob-
receive the ACS Newsletter lems, answers prOVided by myself
issues that will follow this or qther readers, details of com-
one, please send $3.00 to puters built by members and by
manufacturers, and information on
Stephen B. Gray surplus computer hardware, cheap
Amateur Computer Society integrated cirCUits, and relevant
219 West 81 St publications.
New York, N.Y. 10024
"vTill qualified readers please
Those who sent contribu- send me information about their
tions are ACS members as of computers, such as word length,
nO't'V', and \,1ill have their sub- memory Size, clock speed, number
scriptions extended to the of instructions, sources of hard-
full amount of their gifts. ware and schematiCs, present prob-
lems, and details of clever solu-
tions to previous problems.
The Beginning
"If there is enough interest in a
The Amateur Computer Society was lower-level group~ it may be pos-
launched on the afternoon of May sible to form an 'Amateur Comput-
5, 1966, when letters of ann~e­ . er Logic Society, II for those who
ment were sent to ten technical want to construct logic circuits
and hobby magazines. So far, f1ve and simple com:,guters. 1I
The first ':rour magazines printed to all tuture enquirors, the AC.S
various parts of the first ,three resume, which was dated July 1,
paragraphs. Only Computer Design 1966, is reprinted here, in part:
printed the entire letter, so the
great majority of responses were "The main reason for the existence
from a rather high caliber of of the ACS is to enable amateur
amateur. computer builders to help each
other, saving time and money by
Response trading ideas. And there are many
areas where an amateur needs help:
As of today1s mail, 54 letters
al'ld telephone calls have been re- itA. Circuits
ceived, from 19 states, including
Hawaii, plus Canada and Switzer- 1. Surplus. Where can they be
land, and continue to come in at bought? Where do you get
the rate of one a day. A third the schematics? How do you
came from IEEE members; two are use circuit boards whose
Senior Members. Five gave their terminal contacts have been
ham call letters. broken off (as all surplus
IBM SNS boards I tor exam-
Most of the prospective ACS ple)?
members are in the New York area
(19), the Los Angeles area (11), 2. Construction. vlhere can you
or the Chicago area (9). Many are find schematics, with parts
engineers; several work for com- values, for not-too-compli-
puter manufacturers (IBM, Univac, cated circuits? What are
GE, Honeywell) in logic or memory the most practical and
design. Two are in highschool. cheapest ways of mounting
the components on a board?
As eA~ected, only a very few Are homemade printed-wiring
are past the half-way mark in the boards cheap enough to use?
bUilding of their computers. One
man is about two-thirds of the 3. Integrated Circuits. Who
way toward completion; the rest makes the cheapest and most
range from "Ilve been thinking reliable IC's? ~lhat are the
about building a computer for best and cheapest ways of
some time" to "I have the shift mounting them?
registers completed."
liB. Mounting of O'ircuit Boards
The most common problems are
with input/output, memory, and 1. Fixed. Is there a practical
finding overall computer schemat- way to do this?
ics. This issue of the Newsletter
will deal mainly with the problem 2. Plug-In. vJhat female con-
of the schematics, as this is the nectors are cheap enough to
main deterrent to getting started Use in quantity?
for most of us.
3. Modular Front Panels. Are
First ACS Mailing commercial panels (with
jacks) available? What
To all those who wrote to th~ types of homemade modular
ACS, a two-page resume of the (indiv1dual) panels are
plans and aims of the SOCiety was most practical and cheapest?' '
·
sent. Because this first 1ssue Of I

the ACS Newsletter w1ll be sent (Oontinued next page)

Number 1 -- August 1966 2 -.JAlQJSL NE\V'SLETTER

"C. Interconnections in one ot the following issues.
Each issue will also contain prob-
1. Fixed. Is fixed wiring lems outlined by members and solu-
practical? What are the tions turnished by myself (if I
most practical ways to use have the answer) or by other mem~
fixed Wiring? bers in later issues. There will
also be information on commercial-
2. Plugwires. Is it practical ly made computer trainers, which
to use plugwires to inter- are usually simple enough to be
connect circuits? What built by a computer amateur, if he
plugwires, commercial or can get his hands on the schemat-
homemade, are cheapest and ics.
best? 'I'lb.at cheap plug-
boards are available? Up.S. As for my own background,
I've been an editor and writer on
liD. System Design computers for ~ore than 10 years,
including five years as the com-
1. Overall. \'Jh.ere can comput- puter editor of IIElectron1cs" mag-
er schematics be obtained? aZine."
Can an amateur design his
own computer?
COMPUTER SCHEMATICS
2. Memory. 'Imat type of mem-
ory is cheapest? i1hat is 1. Flodac. The simplest computer
the overall cost of a core for which schematics are available
memory, per b1t? is the Univac Flodac, which is ac-
tually a fluid-logic demonstrator.
3. Display. \'Jh.ich is cheap est-1 However, , if you have a good kno'trTl-
neon or incandescent lamps edge of logic, you should be able
vJhat other displays are to convert the tluidics to el.ec-
economical? tronic logic. If any of you do,
please let me know; perhaps we can
4. Out'put. What output is make the electronic schematiCS
cheapest and most practi- available to others.
cal? Are there cheap tape
punches? Is a printer too Flodac has a memory (4 words of
expensive? tour bits each), arithmetic regis-
ter, tunction select, clock, four
liD. Help instructions, etc. It's a minimum
computer! but contains all the
1. What commercial companies essentia s.
are helpful in providing
information or surplus Although Univac would not pro-
parts, or both? vide the schematiCS, the patent
gives all the details. Send 50¢ to
2. What companies refuse to the Commissioner of Patents, Ttlash- .
give information, such as ington, D.C., and ask tor a copy
schematics for surplus of patent 3,190,554, "Pure Fluid
components? Comput er , II by A. J.. Gehring, Jr. et
ale
liThe plan, at present, for the
newsletter is to include the By the way, Univac recently
above listing ot the basic prob- started to· market fluidics ele-
lems in the first issue, and then ments, but the prices are rather
go into each of the 14 categories steep for an amateur, something'
~NEvISLETTER 3 Number 1 -- August 1966
over $10 for a flip-flop. ferent logic in each a!: ,:.the four
stages: NOR, NAND, DCTL and AND-
2. Pedagac. Although never built, OR-INV logic.
this Upedagogic automatic comput-
erlJ is thoroughly described 1n Digiac 3050 uses 382 IN60 di-
three chapters of IIDigital Com- odes ($23/100) and 204 transis-
puter and Control Eng1neering" tors, designated "DE01" on the
(R.S. Ledley, McGraw-Hill Book sohematics. These are made to or-
Co., 1960, 835 pages, $15.50). der for the company, but are di-
rectly replaoable by 2N404's
Pedagac has 19-bit words, 17 ($31/100) •
instructions, a magnetiC-drum
memory, serial arithmetic and a A schematio is included for
single-address scheme. There are the power supply, whioh furnishes
six types of circuit cards; the the required±lO volts, and the
basic package is an AND-OR (three -17.5 volts.
ANDs and one OR), the output of
the OR available djrect and in- , The Digiac 3050 manuals are
verted. $10 for the set of two, one on
computer description, the other
The basic Pedagac transistor on programming and applications.
is a 2N643, which may be obso- Digital'Eleotronics Inc., Ames
lete, and may be equivalent to a Court, Plainview, New York 11803.
2N395 or 2N397. The basic diode
is a DR435 ($80/100), which may (The Digiac 3080 manual,
be equivalent to a TI55, IN4009, originally planned as a $50 set
lN698, IN9l0, lN91l, IN497 or of two, has finally been publish-
IN695. The' IN911 seems the clos- ed as a single programming manual
est match, but this needs che~k­ for $8. Digiao 3080 is a $19,500
ing out. oomputer trainer, desk-size, with
25-bit words, over 100 instruo-
Pedagac requires about 5,000 tions, 4096-word magnetiC-drum
Wire connections. The book gives memory and paper tape I/O, plus
a rack layout and a partial wir-' IBM Seleotrio I/O typewriter.)
ing table.
4. Bi-Tran Six. This $5500 desk-
An associate of Dr. Ledley has top oomputer trainer weighs 98
written me that Pedagao has never pounds, has a single-address bi-
been constructed. It was not de- nary parallel scheme, and thirty
signed to be built; as its pur- instruotions. The core memory
pose was pedagogical, the plans oontains 128 6-bit words. Indioa-
were not ohecked out as thorough- tor lamps show the operation of
ly as if oonstruotion had been all registers.
~
the goal. It was noted that Peda-
gao has no real provision for in- Volume 1 of the two Technioal
put or output. Operations Manuals oovers opera-
tion;" theory and schematics of
3. Digiac 3050. A $2500 semi- individual cirouits. Complete
automatic desk-top oomputer parts desoriptions are inoluded,
trainer without memory, ·this has except for transformers and core
4-bit words, three registers, in- memor.1. The transistors used are:
put pushbuttons and output lamps, 2N1304, 2N1305, 2N1309. Diodes:
and 7 instructions. lN270.
The parallel adder, uses d1t- Volume 2 oovers maintenance

Number 1 -- August 1966 4 ~NEWSLETTER

programs, w1r1ng d1agrams and log- -registers and 64 instruot10ns.
io diagrams. However, the 422 has been "de-
standardized," accord1ng to Uni-
Pr10e tor both manuals, $29.96; vao, and the manuals are no long-
Fabr1-Tek Ino., 1019 East Exoelsi-, er available.
or Blvd., Hopkins, Minn. 66343.
5. RUssian ENC. Vaouum-tube oom- BOOKS AND BOOKLETS
puter trainer, this "Eduoational
Numerioal Computer" uses 19-b1t We Built Our Own Computers, A.B.
words, a single-address system, Bolt, editor. Cambridge Universi-
and has 11 instruotions. ty Press (New York offioe: 32
East 57 St.), 1966. 101 pages,
It also has a magnetio-drum $3.95 hardcover; $1.95 paperbaok.
memory of 1,024 words, us1ng a
"drum from a maoh1ne of the se- This book, reviewed here only
r1es Urals-l. II Photoeleotrio because several members had asked
tape-reader input, pr1nter out- about itl descr1bes very simple
put. oomputers, analog and digital,
made by 6th-form boys (12 years
Seventeen types of 01rouits old) at a British school.
are used in ENC total of 387,
inoluding 163 f i ip-flops. Main Of use only to beginners and
tube types are 6N3P, 6PIP, 6Zh2P, those work1ni with beginners.
for those of you w1th aooess to . The digital. oomputers" all use
Sov1.et tubes. relays and are quite small.
The l68-page English transla- *************
tlon of the or1ginal Russ1an
(1963) book gives a oomplete dis- Integrated Circuit Pro.lects From
oussion of ~{Cj very interesting Motorola, available from HEP,
to read how the "other s1de ll oom- Dept. ACS, Box 955, Phoenix,
putes. Send $3.00 for "Digital Arizona 85001; $1.10 ($1 ;plus 10~
Computer for Training Purposes for handling and postage). Has 96
(ENC), by V.I. Matov, et al pages, 1s the first IC projeot
JPRS: 24,498, OTS 64-31219,i1 to book for the hobbyist and experi-
Clearing House for Federal Soien- menter. Among the contents: a .
tifio and Teohnioal Information, square-wave generator with 10-
Springf1eld, Virginia 22161. nseo rise time, frequenoies from
6 Hz to 60 kHz; binary oomputer;
********** organ, etc. (Haven't seen it yet
but seems well worth the dollar.~
Negotiat10ns are under way with
4 other. manufaoturers to see if *************
they oan sell us sets of overall
sohematios, but the outlook isn't Design of Transistor &li tohing
good. If you know of other avail- Circuits for Data-prooessini
able oomputer schematios, let me EqUipment, 75 cents from RC ,
know and I'll mention them 1n the Electronio Components and De-
next issue of the ACS Newsletter. vioes, Har,r1son,' N.J. Has 44
pages on des1gn conSiderations,
It was hoped that manuals would prooedures and examples, plus
be obtainable for the Univao 422 typioal sw1tohing oirou1ts using
oomputer trainer, with magnet1o- RCA transistors. The 16 o1rouits
oore storage, 16-b1t words, n1ne use a variety of transistors and

.J.Al.QJSL NEWSLE'l'TER 6 Number l' -- August 1966

voltages; there 1s not a un1f1ed 1-6. ~~ere oan I buy low-oost inte-
set ot o1rou1ts. The booklet ends grated o1rouits?
w1th a oomputer transistor data
ohart: 6 memory-driver types, 44 The oheapest ICls I've seen are the
logio types, maximum ratings and Fa1roh11d RTL epoxy TO-5 dev1oes,
eleotr1cal oharaoter1st1cs 11mits newly reduoed to:
tor eaoh. 1-99 100-999 1 LOOO up
Buffer $.80 $.54 ,.36
Dual 2-
PROBLEMS .AND (SOME) AN SWERS input
gat e • 80 • 54 .36
l~l. \ihere can I buy computer com- JK FF 1.50 1.00 .67
ponents?
Fairoh1ld Sem1oonduotor, 313 Fa1r-
These have been ment10ned: ohild Dr1ve, Moun~a1n View, Ca11f.
John Meshna, 19 Allerton st, Lynn, The Motorola MC700P ser1es'inoludes
Mass. 25¢ for catalog. a dual JK flip-flop for $2, 1-999;
the Ph1100 E-11ne Series DTL has
ALCO, 3 Woloott Ave, Lawrence, a JK FF for $2.80, 100-999.
Mass.
1-7. How oan I des1gn a 10-~sec
C and H, Paeadena, Calif. delay line us1ng RC elements?
Salvage Depts of Autonetios and 1-8. "That are the pros and cons on
Hughes Airoraft, in California, serial versus parallel address and
Saturday mornings. assool'ated circuit requirements?
NOTE: Order by mail only as a 1-9. Where oan I looate aoheap
last resort. Word on one store is electroluminesoent output display?
that "muoh of the computer
eqUipment is pretty junky ••• the YOUR ANS\lTERS TO THESE PROBLEMS ''lILL
memory drums seemed beyond re- BE PRINTED IN THE NEXT ISSUE.
pair ...... Caveat Emptor. '
1-2. Does anyone have manuals or . THE LAST WORD
schematios for the magnet1o-drum
system bu1lt by LFE in 1955-6 for That's it for the first issue. As
the RCA 501, with a 15-million- of today's mail, we have 60 poten-
bit oapaoity, 120 heads, 100-plus tial members. And the latest word
meroury.-wettea relays and what on the poss1b11ity of being able to
appears to be two separate ampli- buy overall sohematios for a couple
f1er chassis? of standard computers is more en-
oouragingfnow. See the next issue.
1-3. ~There oan I get "wy" IBM SMS
oiro ui t oards? NEXT ISSUE will be about input-
output eqUipment. If you have
1-4. How oan I solve the problem had any experienoe w1th this, or
of high-speed, high-power drum··· thoughts to share, send details.
head-sw1toh1ng at low cost? 't'Vhat is oheap and reliable? Can
we make it? Where oan we get it?
1-5. \'lhat is a sui table connector How muoh of an interface does it
tor a 10" x 12" PC board? lid . requ1re?
like to use Wire:wrap interoon-
necttions. Copyright 1966 by Stephen B. Gray
. '
Number 1 -- August 1966 6 ~N~SLETTER
 _Jil.QJiL NEWSLETTER INPUT/OUTPUT
ISSUE
a pub1loat1on ot the
AMATEUR COMPUTER SOCIETY
Number 2 October 1966

MEMBERSHIP aeaber wlth much TeletT,Pe ezper1-

ence, Jlm Ha7Des, who has analJz~
Inqulrles about AOS membership ed the varlous models ot Telet1Pe
have beenr.oelved trom 77 men eqUipment tor us:
thus tar, In 23 state., Oanada,
Switzerland and Italr. Ot thess, Telline EqUipment
36 have sent in the 13 to become
member. (4 have .ent 1n more), Although Teletype gear 1s slow
Inc1uding the Oanadian, so the and awJtwarc1 to uae it 1s re841ly
ACS Is now an internatlonal. group. avallable and relatlvely oheap.
The on17 stutt that ls wlde1,
avallable uses the 5-1ev8l Xurr.,
INPUT/OUTPUT (often called Baudot) eode.
Although Uhere are a great manr The old Model 12 has the advan-
types ot Input/output equipment, tage, tor oomputer use, ot havlng
nearly all are beyond the f1nan- a para1lel-lnpu1i prlnter and a
cial reaoh ot the average amateur, parallel-output ke,board. !hl, ls
or the, take up too muoh spaoe. .0 014 lt Is obsol.,. even tor
Card readers and punches, magnetio amateur use, bu1i probab17 some ot
tape, e1ectrl0 typewriters, elec- 'lihe JDaoh1ne. can be obtained from
troluminescent panels, printe2s, h. .s In the New York are., whioh
crt diap1a, -- these are usuall, was It. ma1ne'.,.
too expenslve and most ot them are
too big. In the middle ground are !he more recent and more popular
such devloes as rear-proJeotlon Kadel 15 is qUite wldely avall-
display, Nixie tubes, paper tape able (tor example, eee the All-
readers and punohes, magnetlc tronlos-Hovard ads In QS! maga-
drums -- expenslve It new, otteD zlne). Thie, llke the rest at the
reasonable when used or SUrp1U8. later Teletype line haa the dis-
That leaves! at the cheap end ot ,advantage tor oomputer U8e ot re-
the scale, amps and pushbuttons. qUiring eerla1 8ignals. Thus one
must bu1ld an eleotronl0 .erlal/
With only lamps and pushbuttons parallel/serlal oonverter, or
a8 Input/output, automatl0 pro- t1nd an eleotromeohanloal one
gram loading Is not p08sib1e, nor (not too hard to tind, partloulap.
ls 'he read-ln of euemal data. 11 In New York).
Output conslst. ot rea41ng the
reglster lamps. the ourrent Kode1 28 11ne i8 U8U-
8117 available! and although ee-
Tbi. Is well and good for 'he rlal 1n operat on, !s more at-
first 8tage8 of oomputer bul1ding, tractive tor computer use becauee
but 800ner or later the amateur ot Ite hlgher ~ee4 oapabi11t,
want8 to get Into automatl0 eper- (100 wpa, 10 ohar/sec) and be-
atlon. Hls t1rst step ls otten 1n oause it 1s more readl1, reooded
the direction ot Teletype gear. to a more computer-oompatlble
004e. In tact, one who 18 amb1-
!he ACS ls fortunate to have a taus could even oonvert It to a
Model 35 whioh uses the ASCII mal11 used tor oommunioation pur-
code. But probabll it would be poses. Also! the paper tape read-
easier to keep the 5-1eve1 code er in th1s ine 1s magnet-driven,
and just rearrange the numerio whioh makes it nice it one wants
oharaoters tor a BCD code. How- to use the tape reader by -itself.
ever, once one has a program in The punoh is made to be used with
and running, he oan oonvert oode the t:yping unit and oannot prao-
to Murray in the oomputer, so tioally be used alone.
that odd-coding would be needed
only to get the initial program !hen there is the more rugged Mod-
in and running. For a serial com- el 35 l1ne, but an amateur would
puter, th1s might well be done aa not l1kel,. want anT ot this, as
in the Raytheon 2501 loading one it is quite a b1t more expensive.
b1t for eaoh oharao~er ot input. (Thls ls used in some SDS and Uni-
vac oomputers, and others.)
For 1nformation on the availabil-
1ty ot 26-line equipment, contact It one wants to be a b1t archaio,
Bert A. Prall 558 Ridge .Ave., he oould tind out all he wants to
W1nnetka, Il11n01s. It one plans know about the Teletype and mag-
to do his own rebu11ding and re-· net10-wire I/O gear used with
pa1r1ng, th1s should be speci- SBAC bT contaoting the National
tied, as the gear 1s muoh oheaper Bureau ot Standards. Thls 1s, of
that way. oourse, completely obsolete by
today' s st andards. However, one
One oan also get new Teletype might be able to do something in
gear from the factory; the Model the W8J ot working over a oheap
33 8-leve1 ASCII machine 1s qu1te tape recorder to get h1gh-s.pee4
popular w1th small oomputer mak- operation on the oomputer and
ers,and can be had for about slov-8.Peed reoording and plaTbaok
.600. Contact Mr. R.R. Bogdan, from Telet7pe gear.
Teletype Corp., 5555 Touhy Ave.,
Skokie, I11in01s. (Nat10nal Bureau ot Standards Cir-
oular 551, issued Jan. 2~1_1955,
Teletype also has punched-tape "Computer Development (S£AO and
a'pparatus capable ot higher speed DYSIAC) at the National Bureau of
(105 ohar/seo). There 1s very Standards!" was at one time avail-
11tt1e ot this on the surplus mar- able tor ,2 trom the Supt. ot Doo-
ket, but Bert Prall 1s the one to uments, Govt. Printing Otfioe.)
try.
Thls is about all exoept to men-
Some sav1ng oan be had on the tlon that 1n San Francisco one
Teletype equ1pment new from the shoUld trr Buckley's. He usually
taotor1.1 by buying the bare-bones has Teletype gear and he once
units (liyp1ng un1t, keyboard) had some old IBK Eaeotrewriter
separately and doing your own stuff, although the latter was 1n
oabinet or cover. The regular key- pretty bad condition. But the
board has to have the t1P1ng un1t Eleotrowriter is not at all want-
to make 1t work. ed by hams I whioh should hold 1t s
price dow.
One n10e feature of the 33 line is
that the keyboard 1s parallel and P.S. ~o 5-level Murray oode 1s a
there 1s an eleotrical parallel/ bit awkward to handle, but then
aer1al oonverter. Thus one oan use one could rearrange the Teletype
the parallel 1nterfaoe rather than keyboard and the type pallets to
the ser1al intertaoe that 1s nor- get his own 5-level oode baaed on
Number 2 -- Ootober 1966 2 .JiI.QJSL NEWSLETTER
SCD or exoell-3 or whatever la de- ',on Drivers
aired. But then, ln a maahine ot
any size} one oan do the oode oon- J1m Harnl. write. that a meat eoo-
version D1 programming or by mak- nomical and .atlstaetor, 41apl&1
ing an otf-line converter) so that is a neon indioator drlver bl a
the standard machine .y De used, high-au triode suoh as a 12AX7 or
thus preserving the normal ke1- 5965. !he grid ot the tube oan be
board arrangement. ~eretore, the 'driven direot trom the UIUal aort
major I/O problem is What to do of logio voltages in a tranaiator
when Teletype equipment lsn't alat... A 1001 serles re.l.tor at
fast enough. the slgnal aouroe prevents the
indie.tor-oircult wiring oapaci-
*****.....*...... tanoe trom 10a41ng the olrcult at
all •
.Another member, Fred Strother, has
turnished the names and addresses One oan get very nloe-lool1ng
ot oompanies that aell used Tele- neon lndioators enoased in plastl0
type equipmen1;: tor panel mountlng tor around 20
oent. each. Jim puts ten ot the
Where to BUl Used TeletYpe GaR 12-volt tubes across the power
11ne so that no fl1ament trans-
At1ant1c Surplus SellS Oorp. tormer ls needed. An iaolation
250 Columbia Street transtormer oapab1e ot suPp11!ns
Brookl11l, New York about 1 ma per lamp ls satistac-
(oatalog) torr tor the plate supp11. A tull-
wave brldge reotltier wlthout a
J. Thal.en W9IVP fllter is satisfaotorr.
11001 South Pulaski Road
Chioago, Il11nois 60655 This arrangement doe sn 't load the
olrcuit as a translstor-drlven
Alltron10s-Howard Co. indioator would and it 1s muoh
Box 19 oheaper than either a transistor-
Boston, Massachuaetts 02101 driven lndloator or a 8977 in41-
wator tr1ode. It gives a nloe
I1l10tt Buchanan W6VPC bright light, and allows the use
1067 Mandana Boulevard ot i80latl, reslstor. to prevent
Oakland, Cal1tornia oapaoit1ve oa41ng trom bothering
anything.
Columbia Eleotroniol (oata10g)
4365 W. Ploo Boulevard With lntegrated'clrcults and low-
Los Jngeles, Calltornia 90019 voltage translstor logio there
are probleas with thl. arrange-
R.I. Goodheart Co., Inc. ment, however, because the galn
Box 1220-.1 ot the trlodes ian' t high enough.
Beverly Hl11s, Calltornla 90213 And there il the problem ot all
~at heat trom the tubes.
rrea suggest, the Telet7Pe Model
14: repertorators and tape di.-
tributors, aval1able at a ve1'7
Beon LamPs
nominal prloe. !he.e unita print Acoording to Pete Showmaa, neon
and pertorate 9/16 1 tape trolD a lampa are oheaper and more etti-
tive-level ooded .iIDal. !hI kll- clent than inoandesoent., an HI-2
board and the tape diatributor ooat1ng lO~ and a 11919 wlth
both glnerate the a... 5-level sooket oostlng 32~. However~
oode. there doesn't .eem to be • ~2~,

Number 2 -- Ootober 1968

70-volt neon-driver translstor, pages 138 to 140. The ten number
and incandescent drl Vel'S can be ,e.erators produoe the necessary
had tor about 10¢, surplus. horlzontal and vertioal vave-
Sylvan1a·. inoandesoent display anapes by a slmple shaping ot a
lamps are much ea8ier to use, but 60-oyole input.
c08t about 6S¢ per bit, with
sockets.
COMPUTER SOHEMATIOS
••••••••••• **•••
Oontrol Data has, tor .34.50, a
Intormat10n on how to age and se- malnt enance and tra1nlng manual,
lect neon lamps is oontained 1ft oontainlng some dlagrams, on the
"Build This Eleotronio Computer,' LGP 21 and the RPC 4000, both In
in the November, 1966, issue ot the eaae pUblloatlon, Pub. No.
Electron10s Illustrated. The de- IlSl) 10600.
v1ce is actual11 an acoumulator
rather than a co.,uter. !he ODC 150-A Oompater System
Customer Eng1neering D1agr... Man-
Volce Output ual, Pub. No. 600 142 ~ ls $2.70
per oOP1.
One member has a volce output tor
his oomputer. Two stereo head8 All Inqulries and orders should
are staggered to proVide four be sent to:
tracks. Each track ls subdivided
into three sub-bands to provlde LIterature Dlstrlbutlon Oenter
ten ohannels and a control chan- Control Data Corporation
nel. 1015 South 6th Street
Mlnneapolls, Kinn. 55440
CRT Dlsplal
The LGP and RPO were prev10usly
For those amateurs lnterested ln sold bT the Llbrasoope Dlvls10n
cathode-ray-tube di8play, an in- at General Preclaloni betore that,
formative surv., artiole is oon- the :apC was aold by the Royal
tained in the January 1965 isaue McBee Oorp.
ot Electro-Teehnolog1, "Digital-
to-Visible Character Generatora,' The LaP 21 haa 450 tranSistors,
b1 Sherman H. B01d, pagea 77-'18, 375 diodes and no oores. Stll1 In
80, 84, 87-88. ~e systems most produotion, Its main trame oost.
11kely to appeal to amateurs are ·'16,000. Deek-slze, It welghs 90
dot generators and veotor genera- pounds, has a magnet10-dlsk meDl-
tors. ory with 4,096 31-blt worde, 23
Inatruotions. Slngle-address,
Pete Showman believea a crt SJstem serlal arithmet10. Paper tape and
to be considerab11 oheaper than a typewrlter Input/output.
Nixie-tube readout tor more than
one reglater, and Infinlte11 mar. The BfO 4000 oontalns 500 tran-
versatile. He thinks an alpba- slstora, 4500 d10dee, no ooree.
numer12 display could be built for Origlnal prloe, $87,900; now, out
under 1150, and a nnaeric-onlT ot produotlon, $28,000. The size
system tor about halt a. auGh. ot two desks, it welghs 900 1bs t
has a drum meDlory with 8001 WOrdS,
An interestlng twlst la tound in 32 bits eaoh. Two-address, aerlal
"For.log HandwrItten-Like Digit. arlthmet1c, 36 In.truotlons. Paper
on CRT D1aplar," by R.L. White, tape and typewrlter Input/output.
in Eleotron10., March 13, 1959,

Number 2 -- Ootober 1966

The 160-.1 contain~ 1'700 tran81l- 1-7. How oan a lo-~seo d81a, line
tori! 11,900 41ode. ADd 402 oor••• be designed using RC elements'
Orig nal coat, '90,000; nov out
of produotion, $35,000. Deak.-a1Ze1 Jim Haynes doubts that a very
it we1gh. 850 pounds, has option~ praotioal delay line oan be built
core drum, d1sk. or tape memol'1. with RC elementa. It one inSists,
singie-address, parallel arlth- perhaps an aotive oircuit wl11 do:
metic, 12-blt worda, 130 In.truo- RI R2 tV
tlons. Paper tape 170.
c,
************
Although manl .ACS members write -v
that designlng the oomputer is this ls an actlve low-pass tl1ter,
halt the tun, there are Just as ~o presumably lt produces a pure
many who are lnterested in obtain- 4ela, below the outott trequenoy.
lng sohematics. So we'll keep on However, a lot ot sectlons would
looking. be needed it a good pulse shape
1& to be preserved. 1101 should
be md.e equal to R2C2'~' and the
INTEGRATED CIRCUI'l'S IN QUAI'l'ITY aX/02 ratl0 1s a oritlcal para-
meter.
Pete Showman has volunteered to
help ACS members take adyantag. Pete Showman says delay 11nes are
ot the much lower prioes"ot 10' s easy to make l t you don't need
when bought in large quantltles. large bandwidth and a long delay
It IOU want to bur IO's in quan- together. Look ln the Radiotron
tities ot 50 or more, writ. Deslgner's Hanabook under pl-
givlng full" ,.tails
what IOU want, to:
0'
exac!ll section low-pass LO fllters for
ao~~data. Zo =~, teo = 1/
(1f'{LO), del81 PJtt stage • 1800 •
Peter S. Showman f oo , 80 '1' , tV{LO per stage. Try
403 Sohool St. W1Ilding the nduotors on long
Watertown, Mass. 02172 polystyrene rOdS! wlth spaelng
about equal to v nd1ng length (or
more). Ohoose L and a trom cutott
ANSWERS TO PREVIOUS PROBLEMS trequenc7 and impedanoe. '!'be d.e-
lay tlme determines the number ot
-1-1.Herbaok
Who sells computer parts?
and Hademan, Ino.
'stages needed. so, tor 1nstanoe,
a 300-ohm, 5-MHz, 1-)18eo line
need.,,~ 30 stages.
1204 Arch St. (oatalog)
Philadelphia, Pa. 19107 1111 Greene sals he's tound two
oompanles ln the New York area
Gadgeteers Surplus Eleotronios that can supp17 magnetostrlotlve
5300 Vine St. (catalog) delay lines tor '125 to $156, tor
Cinoinnatl, Ohio 45217 2 to 5-maeo type.:
Selectronios Seal.etro Oorp.
12 South N~a st. 139 HOlt St.
Phlladelphla, Pa. Mamaroneck, N.Y.
Leeds Radl0 Co. Dlgital Davlces
'75 Vesel St. 212 Miohael Drlve
New York, N.Y. (no catalog) Syo8set, N.Y.
JikfiL NEWSLETTER Number 2 -- Ootober 1966
The Amateur Computer Sooiet1 i. 2-1. II there a book or article on
open to all who are intereeted design1ng memor.T-core dr1vers'
in building and operating a dig-
ital oomputer that oan at least 2-2. Where can one bU1 one ot 'the
perform automatic multip1ioation new pushbutton telephone dials'
and divislon, or is of a oompar-
atlve complexlt,. Herbach and R&deman have a 16-
For membershlp 1n the ACS, and button Western Electrl0 508 puan-
a subscrlptlon of at least elght button swltch for $24.95.
issues of the Newsletter, send
$3 (or a oheok made out to me)~ See WA Pushbutton Telephone tor
St ephen B. Gr., Alphanumer1c Input," 1n the April
Amateur Oomputer Societ7 1966 lssue of Datamatlon, pages
219 West 81 at 27-30. The system descrlbed re-
New York, N.Y. 10024 quires 12 pushbuttons.
The Newsletter will appear about
every elght weeks. 2-3. Oan hams get used Teletype
gear trom Western Un10n?
l::.i. What are the pros and oons ot
serlal versus parallel operatlon Yes. Through arrangements with the
and assooiated olroult requlre- ARHL (Amerlcan Radio Re1., League)
ments' surplus te1eprlnter and related
equlpment 1s made aval1able at no
Jim Haynes feels that the pro of charge to lioensed radio amateurs.
serial operatlon is the small
hardware requirement and the oon Western Union is dlsposing ot sur-
is the slowness, whioh is wb1 plus eqUipment, including the Mod-
serlal operation bas all but dis- el 2B (same as Model 14 narrow
appeared from modern oommero1al tape prlnter), Hodel 26 and Hodel
computers. 100 page prlnters. Later WU ex-
pects to dispose of Model 14 re-
It serlal operation 1s to be used, pertorators~ as well as Model 15
Jlm strongly recommends that nega- and Model lB eqUipment.
tive numbers be represented 1n
two's complement form, whlch sim- Haas deslr1ng more lnto, write to:
pllfles thlngs enormously. A good J'rank C. Whl'te (Coord1nator-WUSP)
wrlte-up on a ser1al computer ls 2706 Harmon Road
1n the book, IAnalog and Digital S11ver Sprlng, Maryland 20902
Computer Technology,· by Soott.
:BB! ::IS801: wl1l be about comput-
Ser1al operat10n is good with drum er ciroulta mostly about bul1d-
or l1ek or de1&7-l1n8 storage, your-own ana.t where to get the
whioh is a pretty oheap form of aohematlos, aleo aome in:fb on
storage. For reglsters, one could surplus circuits and IC's. It
use short del., 11nes, drum or you have any experlenc e with
disk tracks with mu1t1ple read these, or thoughts '0 abare,
heads I or the new IC shift regls- please send detalls. Where do
ters ~hat have a lot of blts on you ge't schemat1cs tor surplus
one ohlp. These ICls are rather olroults' Are homemade printed-
expenslve ($75 or so), but t~t wiring boards oheap enough to
is cheaper tban most brand-new use' How do you use boards with
delay llnes and ls oertainl1 broken-ott terminal contaots'
cheaper than a fl1p-flop reglster.
PROBLEMS FOR THIS ISSUE Copyrlght 1966 by Stephen B. Gray

Number 2 -- October 1966 I ~ NEWSLETTER

 ~NEWSLETTER COMPUTER
CIRCUITS
a pub11oation of the ISSUE
AXATIDR COMPUTER SOCIETY
Number 3 Deoember 1966

MEMBERSHIP tors in m1nd: re11ab1lity, eoono-

my and versati11ty.
The ACS is now intercontinental.
We have a new member 1n Bologna, Most oommon ls the 2N4l4 transls-
Italy, who may be known to some tor, with a few 2N363 and 2N123
of you hams as ilLCF. types also used. The diode, a
gold-bonded type, is the only ex-
pensive item: thls DR435 oosts
COMPUTER SCHEMATICS $80 per 100. However, posslble
equ1valents are the TI55 1 lN4009,
Al though many AC8 members say they lN698, lN9l0, lN9ll, lN497, or
flnd that des1gn1ng the o1rcu1ts 1N695. The lN9ll seems the olosest
for their oomputers is the most but this needs ohecking out.
lnterest1ng part of thelr hobby,
there are just as many members who The modules lnclude a fllp-flop,
oannot design their own, and who NAND gate, one-shot, analog swito~
need help. This 1ssue tells where RCD gate, analog voltage compara-
to get var10us oirouit sohematios. tor, decimal decoder, octal-hexa-
deoimal deooder, power driver, 1n-
Government Publioations dicator driver, read oirouit (tor
drum or tape), write oircuit, and
There is a variety of government pulse generator. Printed-wiring
publioatlons about oomputers and layouts are also glven, for those
their circu1ts, usually much who wish to make their own.
cheaper than oommeroial publica-
tions. One of the best known Supply voltages are -12, +12 for
agenoies, in dlgital work, is the b1as, and a reference voltage for
National Bureau of Standards, the analog cirou1ts. The pulses
which has.published several Tech- have a propagation delay averaging
nical Notes of 1nterest to the ACS. 0.5 ~sec, and a 6-volt rise 1n not
more than one pseo. The flip-flops
NBS Teohn1cal Note 6a (76 pages) operate at a 50-kHz maximum.
This techn10al note, "Translstor- NBS Teohn1cal Note 168 (112 pages)
lzed Bullding Blooks for Data In-
strumentation," was published ln Bearing the same title as TN 68,
September 1960, and is available this teohnical note was published
tor $2.00 from the Clearinghouse in 1963, and is available for 55
tor Federal, S01entif10 and Teoh- cents from the Supt. of Doouments,
n10al Information, Sprlngf1eld, U.S. Gavt. Printing Off10e, Wash-
Virglnia 22151. 1ngton, D.C. 20402.
These dlgltal modules were devel- This TN contains several addit10nal
oped for the "many data reoording oircu1ts (gated T input, preamp11-
and prellmlnary processlng tasks fier, pulse stretoher, sampler,
encountered ln the solentifio op- BCD oounter), modif1cations of some
eratlons" of the Bureau. The mod- TN 68 circuits, and oorreot10ns of
ules were deSigned with three fao- errors appear1ng in TN 68.
The flip-flop drawings show that disorete-oomponent modules has re-
speed-up dlodes may be added a- oently been abandoned at the NBS
oross the lnput-gate resistors. ln favor of lntegrated 01rou1ts.
Although the text doesn't sar so,
these dlodes inorease the maximum *********************
fllp-flop frequenoy to 400 kHz.
Applloatlon Notes
NBS Teohnioal Note 268 (122 pages)
Although there have been marw
This teohnioal note has the same appllcations of these digltal
title as TN 68 and TN 168, was modules ln various seotlons of the
published in 1966, and ls aVail- NBS, and a variety of applicatlon
able for 50 oents from the Supt. notes, all but one are NBS lnternal
of Doouments, USGPO. publloations, and are not available
to the pub110.
This teohnloal note makes some
changes ln the prevlous clrcults, NBS Teohnlcal Note 64, "Design and
beoause of the speolal requlre- Operatlon of the Cellometer Oom-
ments of a partloular group at puter," was published in 1960, and
the :~BS. The bas10 10g10 transls- ls available from the Clearinghouse
tor here ls the 2N404j the oom- for $2.00. Thls ooncerns the design
plementary transistor is the ot AMOS, a speolal-purpose computer
2Nl:302. For higher ourrents, a for keeping traok of data relating
2N559 ls used; for even higher to oloud heights, for automatl0
currents, a 2N1039. weather statlons.
For better temperature perform- Beoause no computlng oirouits are
ance, a slllcon serles was also lnvolved, this TN is of seoondary
deslgned, uslng the 2N:3638 In- lnterest to the AOe, although it
stead Of the 2N404, and the lN270 does contained detalled sohematlos
d10de, which oosts half as much that give useful information on
as the DR435. S1l100n equlvalents varlous interconneotions.
are al sO given for the other tran-
slstors. The oomputer is more of an infor-
mation storage and retrleval devloe
In the germanlum serles of TN 268, than a oomputer. A magnetl0 drum
the change to a 2N404 has meant, stores data on varylng oloud
with respect to the modules of the heights. A few simple comparlsons
two prevlous notes, only that some are made between data groups, and
base reslstors and oapaoltors have various oloud-height data is made
different values. available, e1ther as lamp output
or through switch contaots for
Several circuits are new: reed-re- remote display or prlnting. Some
lay card, 16 x 16 matrix, ooil 145 digital modules are used.
driver, comparator gate, rlpple
shlft register, high-lmpedanoe am- Data SYstems Teohnloian :3 & 2
p11fler, and osclllator/one-anot.
Thls last 01rouit can be used in This Navy Trainlng Oourse was pub-
three ways, depending on the out- lished by the Bureau of Naval Per-
board wiring. sonnel as NAVPERS 10201. Available
for $3.00 from the Supt. of Docu-
********************** ments, USGPO.
Acoording to the author of one of Thls 468-page book, wrltten for
these technical notes, the use ot Navy men strlking for a higher

Number 3 -- Deoember 1966 2 ~NEWBLET!ER

rat1ng, is h1ghly recommended. It this book (on microfiche) at any
is an excellent source of infor- full depository of U.S. Government
mation, either for the computer pUblications! whioh is usually the
expert ·or for a novice with a largest pub1 0 library in the
good eieotronios baokground. state. Ask tor U.S. Govt. Pub1i-
oation 18658 (listed in the Nov.
After three short ohapters on in- 1965 monthly oatalog).
troduction and number systems,
there are six ohapters (122 pages) Researching computer literature is
nn basic oomputer subsystems: oon- a subject in itself, whioh will be
tro1 unit, ar1thmetic unit, memor,y covered in a future issue.
and storage units, input/output
dev~oes, programming, and A-D and Preferred Cirouits
D-C conversion.
The Handbook of Preferred Circuits,
The next five chapters (203 pages) Navy Aeronautical Eleotronic Equip-
disouss in detail, with many sche- ment, is in two volumes: the first
matios, the NTDB (Naval Taotical is on vacuum-tube circuits; the
Data System) computer (OP 642A/ second on semiconductor device cir-
UsQ,-20v), which is the Univao 1206. cuits, NAVWEPS 16-1-519-2. Price
Thjs military general-purpose com- $1.75, Supt. of Doouments, USGPO.
puter has 30-bit words, 62 inst~­ The latest date I've seen is April
tions 36,768 words of oore stor- 1962, although it may have been
age. LThe oircuits are almost all revised.
made up of inverters and indioator
drivers; flip-flops are two in- The 1962 edition contains 22 oir-
verters oross-oonneoted. Add time ouits; 11 are oomputer-type: two
is 16 pseo, including storage NOR gates, flip-flop, one-shot,
time; 9.6 psec without. There are pulse shaper, pulse power ampli-
7 index registers, an accumulator, fier, indicator, two more tlip-
and one other register that oan be flops, pulse genArator and a relay
used as an acoumu1ator. It oontains oontro1 flip-flop. The first 7
32,298 diodes and 10,702 transis- oircuits use a 2N404, and require
tors, and has a main-frame volume +6,-6 and -18 volts.
of only 58.6 cubic feet.
The other circuits in this book
As the book says, "the coverage is include five d-c regulators and
not all-inclusive," so don't ex- several video circuits.
pe ot a full set of print s. How-
ever, the 50 partial sohematios Commercial Publioations
go a long way.
There are a few commercial publi-
The remaining four chapters oover oations, and a lot ot manutactur-
other Navy computers (Control Data ers' literature, that give logio-
160-A and 1604-A, brietly), test oircuit information, other than
equipment, maintenance information computer textbooks. Here are some
and maintenanoe procedures. of the best of both:
NOTE: The Navy has informed me Computer Logic Circuit Character-
that all 2500 copies of the first istios Tabulation, issued in two
edition have been sold. However oomplete editions a year, August
a second edition should be avai i - and February. Each new edition
able in about 12 months. So make completely updated. Annual sub-
your orders next winter. In the scription $32.50, D.A.T.A., Box
meantime, you can take a look at 46B, Orange, N.J, 07050.

~NE~ISLETTER 3 Number 3 -- December 1966

Contains sohematios and major elec- East Vermont Avenue, Anaheim, Cal.
trical oharaoteristics of 3,200
off-the-shelf oommeroially avail- If still available (my oOPY is
able oircuits produced by 66 com- dated 1961), this easy-to-read
panies. Includes prioe information. booklet is well worth getting,
with 37 pages on applications.
~: No component values! nor
does the oompany sell outaated Standard Produots and Circuit
editions at lower prices. Modules, 88 pages, Systems Engi-
neering Laboratories, Inc., P.O.
D.A.T.A. has a similar service for Box 9148, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
transistor characteristics, diodes 33310.
and SCR's, and seJJioonductor de-
vice mounting hardware. My oopy is a preliminary edition,
so the final issue may have a
~facturers' Literature different title, and be longer.
Some of these cost money, others Unusual in that it gives all oom-
are free but often hard to get ponent values: 2N404 (medium-speed
without a business letterhead. series), 2N1499A or 2N962 (high-
speed series), using +6, -6, -12
Digital Logic Handbook, 328 pages, volts. lN192 diodes. 23 pages of
Digital Equipment Corp., Maynard applications.
Hass. 01754.
a-Series. Engineered Eleotronios
This handbook, wh1ch has gone thru do., 1441 East Chestnut Avenue,
several ed1tions, is given away in santa Ana, Calif. 56 pages, 5 on
huge quantities at computer shows, applioations.
and oontains muoh 'u'seful informa-
tion. The DEC system of drawing EECo has the largest seleotion of
cirouits is highly stylized and off-the-shelf digital modules, with
takes awhile to get used to. half a dozen families of modules.
The full oatalog, in the EECo loose-
Short Cuts to Sucoessful Data Pro- leaf binder, is ~ inohes thiok,
cessing SYstems, 30 pages, Magnet10 with a:quartero~ an inch of appli-
ai-stems Corp., 2000 Calumet St., oation notes. The ser.1es of most
Clearwat.er, Florida 33515. interest to amateurs are probably
the G, U and Q. There is a separate
Seotions on how to implement logio applioation-note booklet for the
w-ith NOR-NAND gates, loading, ap- Q series.
plications, and circuit ~eos.
Fairohild Microoircuits Handbook.
Digital Module A:o'Dlioation Manual, Fairchild Semioonductor, 313 Fair-
114 pages, $1.50~theon Com- ohild Drive, Mountain View, Calif.
puter, 2700 South Fairview St., 94041.
Santa Ana, Calif. 92704.
This looseleaf handbook contains
Many types of counters l shift reg- seotions on the various types of
isters, adders, with l~ pages on Fa~roh11d miorologio: ~L, MWpL,
logic design, 9 on oircuit descrip- DTpL, TTpL, CT~LJ l1near oirou1ts,
tions and symbols, and 9 on app11- plus applioat10n notes and teoh-
cation rules. nioal articles. Hard to get.
Digital Application Notes, 68 pages, IBM Customer Eng1neering Manual of
Interstate Eleotronios Corp., 707 Instruction. Transistor Component

Number 3 -- Deoember 1966 4 .JAkISLNEWSLETTER

Clroults, 223-6889-3. 171 pages. subroutine oartrldge informatlon
1n the drawings I recelved.
Glves full sohematlcs and olrouit
operation desoriptlons for six
serles of SMS oards, used ln the CURRENT PUBLICATIONS
7000 series, the 1401, etc. Not
all SMS oards are g1 van here, for Sclentitic ~erlcan, September,
some reason. A great many of these 1966. Special issue on computers.
clrcults are level converters, Covers the tield tairly well, from
coupllng networks and line termi- describlng how a NAND gate works
nators. to giVing a computer program for
playing checkers. Good blbliography
Although published in White Plains, for each of the 12 artloles.
New York, this manual, like nearly
all other IBM publications, i8 This issue sold out fast and the
available only through an IBM publiSher has no copies left, so
branch office. To get this part1o- you may have to go to the llbrary.
ular one, of course, is not easy.
Computer design series in Electron-
lc Design magaZine, by an IBM ad-
COMPUTER SCHEMATICS visorY englneer. First article in
the Sept. 27, 1966 issue, pages
DE-60 computer, by Clary Corp., e 86-91, "Dlgltal computers are no
desk-size machine, 300 pounds, 200 mystery," showlng some of the basic
transistors, 2,000 dlodes, 14 comblnations of circuit blocks.
thyratrons. Drum memo·ry of 32 Second artiole, in the Oct. 25,
words, 18 decimal digits per word. 1966 lssue, pages 72-81, gives a
Serlal arithmetiC, 37 instructions. ohecklist to help evaluate module
Keyboard input, typewrlter output. reqUirements. Three more artloles
Tape and card I/O optional. Auto- will appear in this serles, but
matlc built-in subroutines are they have not yet been scheduled.
contained in plug-in dlode car-
trldges. Origlnal prloe, $18,000. Oocupations in Eleotronlc Comput1ng
Add time, 3 mseci lncluding stor- SYstems, 72 pages, 30¢ from the
age aooess tlme, 60 msec. Time in- Supt. of Documents, USGPO. If your
cludes access to five addresses friends and nelghbors aSk. what klnd
and automatlc alignment ot deCimal of jobs there are in computers, or
pOint. Internal numbering system lf you'd like to know more about
is BCD. the subjeot, this is an excellent
booklet. It desorlbes the history
Clary is introduclng a new machine ot computing, current status, the
line that obsoletes the DE-60. d1g1tal work-flow process, and 23
Therefore Clary can make the DE-60 computer ocoupatlons in detall.
wlrlng diagrams available to us Also inoludes a glossary, a long
"In limlted quantlties, free ot and good bibliography, and sources
charge." I have a set ot these of additlonal lnformatlon, suoh as
schematiCS, and lt would be ex- ACM, BEHA and IEEE.
tremely difficult to build a Oom-
puter from them. Frankly, I don't
thlnk I'd try. If you must, wrlte: CATALOGS
Mr. Duane Langer, Servlce Mgr.
Clary Dataoomp Systems Among the current oatalogs to be
788 Bloomfleld Avenue reoommended are those ot two com-
West Caldwell, New Jersey 07007 panies that are verT uset.ul when
InCidentally, there was very little you need to order by mail:

~ NEvTSLETTER 5 Number 3 -- Deoember 1966

 The Amateur Computer Soc1ety 1s PROBLE1'I FOR THIS ISSUE
open to all who are 1nterested
1n bu1ld1ng and operat1ng a dig- ~. Instead of using a set of
1tal computer that can at least pushbuttons for manual input to
perform automatic mult1plication every register, how can one use
and division, or 1s of a compar- ~ set of pushbuttons and same
ative complexity. kind of switching system?
For membership 1n the ACS, and
a subscription of at least eight
issues of the Newsletter, send TRADING CORNER
$3 (or a check made out to me) t~
St ephen B. Gray A member Wishes to dispose of 20
Amateur Computer Society or 30 magnetostrictive delay lines;
219 West 91 St all but one is 1848 ~seo long. Ori-
New York, N.Y. 10024 g1nally made to operate above 1 Mc,
The Newsletter will appear about but few seem to operate that fast.
every two months. May work OK at lower frequencies,
or one could rewind the transducers
Allied Electronics for faster operation (tricky, but
100 N. Western Avenue has been done). Complete With drive
Chicago, Illinois 60690 and read electronios, using surface
(Get the Industrial ~atalog) barrier DGTL transistors. Designed
for ±3 volts. Asking price, $5,
Newark Electronics Corp. postpaid. James H. Haynes, 1809 11.
500 North Pulaski Road El Caminito, Phoenix, Ariz. 85021.
Chicago, Illinois 60624 Also has a few DCTL cirouit boards,
(Branches in Inglewood, Calif.; eaoh with 30 or 40 SB transistors;
Cincinattij Grand Rapids; Den- some have 7 flip-flops each, some
ver; Detroit and New York) have ??? Ask1ng $7 for these, post-
paid, w1th oonneotors. Power supply
Both catalogs list semiconductors for these boards, ±3 V & -10, $25.
in two ways: by N numbers and by
manufacturer. Us1ng the N list, Jim Haynes also says that TeletJPe
you can oompare prices. sells cirouit cards, etohed but
without components mounted, as
The 1967 Newark catalog has ten maintenance parts. Reasonable cost,
pages on lOs, made by Motorola, about 75¢ for a 2* X 4i-inoh oard
Texas Instruments, Raytheon, Gen- which goes into a l5-p~n edge oon-
eral Electric, General Instrument, nector. J1m can supply the Teletype
Sylvania and Sprague. Nearly all part numbers for various configu-
digital. Cheapest J-K flip-flop rat1ons.
listed is Motorola's Unibloc ~!RTL
dual FF for $2, 1-999, as noted in NEXT ISSUE will be about memory
the first AOS Newsletter circuits, with an artiole on how
to check out magnetic cores of
unknown origin, along with some
AN St'J'ERS TO PREVIOUS PROBLEMS general information on surplus.
If you have any experience with
2-1. Is there a book or article on computer memories, please send
designing memory-core drivers? details for the next issue. Any
'ideas on the overall cost per
Doesn't seem to be. I've asked bit for a oore memory, inoluding
several core manufacturers, but read-write electronics' '
~one has found anything. Looks
like the designers are keeping
their secrets to themselves. _ Copyright 1966 by Stephen B. a.ray
Number 3 -- Deoember 1966 6 ~NEWSLETTER
 .JAlQJSL NEvlSLETTER MEMORY
ISSUE
a publication of the
AMATEUR C'O~UTER SOCIETY
Number 4 February 1967

ME~mERSHIP is a frequent cause tor rejects.

A letter about the ACS in the Jan- Happily, however, the reJeot bin
uary IEEE Spectrum (page 129) has also gets good usable frames, from
brought a fresh flow of inquiries several causes.
about membership. The ACS now has
mecbers in 20 states, plus canada, Eecause every oomputer manufactur- .
Italy and Swit~erland. er uses a different si~e memory
with any of a number of different
oores, any event that stops a
lVHAT TO DO tvITH CORES OF large product10n run in the mid-
UNKNOWN ORIGIN, by Sal Zuccaro dle, puts good matrixes into the
sorap bin. Nobody wants anybody
(Sal has been in memory design else's design.
for 10 years, and has patents
in core-diode logic.) Cores are not going out of style;
in fact, the demand is 1ncreasing.
The used and surplus planes I've As for speed, our fast oores are
seen on the market are real an- turning over in 75 to 80 nano-
tiques. I tested one originally seoonds. Down in this region the
made by Univac and fOWld the transition time of the signai
8",i tching 'time to be about two along a wire is quite significant.
microseconds. A memory using this [In one nanosecond, a pulse trav- .
80-~il core wouldn1t be able to go els along some 9 inches of wireJ
faster than a five-microsecond
cycle time. The si~e also would be Here is an outline of a few steps
excessively large. to take with a Core of unknown
origin. You need a bidirectional
There are several possible reasons constant current souroe, so you
for core planes being in the re- can turn the core first in one di-
ject bin. One is that too many rection and then in the other.
cores in the matrix need to be re-
placed. Another is that too many The
were replaoed to pass the quality-
control requirements of some given
project. One more is trouble in
the manufacturing process where osc ..-:4=~SENSE
the magnet wires are corroding for
some reason. In like manner, a
batch of cores could be too weak
or brittle and thus subject to
breakage. The amplitude of the current is
monitored aoross the one-ohm re-
Sometimes a bunch of cores will sistor with an oscillosoope.
have a shifting loop; that is,
they have a magnetic bias. Cores Some of the simplest forms ot our-
in this category used to get well rent generators are shown at the
into produotion before someone top of the next page. Parallel the
discovered the defect. Mechanical output transistors as needed to
damage, such as lifted pads, etc., get the required ourrent.
 This oan be done even while it's
in the matrix.
OR( .... - - _....
Set one pulse around one amp, and
syno the soope to the beginning of
lN766 this pulse. Now, starting at near-
zero ourrent! advanoe the other
ourrent unti an output is just
read1 to form on the sense line.
The pulse shaper oan be just a This should be the knee. A turn-
Miller oirouit: over signal looks like:

O. s.-+ O--"VV'-+--+I
\

The value of ourrent whioh, when

For the negative, just replace inoreased, produoes an output
NPH's with PMP's, and invert vol- (first appearing at the noise po-
tages. sition), is the value of the knee.
A little simpler system is: This, diVided by 0.6, should be
equal to the maximum ourrent need-
ed to operate the oore. This cur-
rent divided by 2 is what goes
down the X and Y lines. A oore
that has a knee lower than 0.6 is
rather shaky. Some have knees much
FrOtl. O. S. hivber. In suoh a oase the seoond
& Pulse As needed
purse, oalled the write pulse, is
Shaper increased to the point where the
size of the output signal does not
inorease.
This cirouit has the advantage
that it oan pass a oonstant our- It you oompare this value with the
rent from either the positive or knee, you will get the true value
negative voltages. For positive! ot the disturb ratio.
A goes to a positive voltage and
B is the output. For negative, B *************••*••
goes to a negative and A is the
output. Any number oan be oonneot-Another member, Jon Lax, stresses
ed to the same output terminal. the need to go to 60- and 30-mil
oores. This is beoause, although
Pulse widths should be around five eO-mil oores are inexpensive, they
mioroseoonds. Rise and fall times, are more trouble than they are
around 0.2 mioroseoonds. worth, oonsidering size, heat and
drive ourrents.
To oheok out a oore, put a small
magnet·wire through it: Jon says that eO-mil oores take
about three times the spaoe, twioe
Drivers~sense~oo the ourrent and about 2i times the
'twi,!t /~'-f cooling as 50- and 30-mll oores •

Number 4 -- February 1967 e .JAl..QJSL NEWSLETTER

Also, they are about half as memory system seems to depend
fast. What with the new, very fast strongly on the physioal slze of
logio available, and trends toward the memory staok and on the thresh-
miniaturization and the least up- old current of the oores. If the
keep possible, it is possible that memory ls small, d10de deoodlng
you oan saorifioe oertain parts of wlth drivers at eaoh end ot the
the design rather than save a few line oan be used. Some useful arti-
dollars by using the oheaper oles on such systems are "Deslgning
planes. It all depends on how you a Small Core Memory ••• , " by
design your maohine. Jimerson, in Solid State DeSign,
April 1964, pages 31-34, a word-
Jon is president of a oompany, seleot system with partlal driver
made up of high-sohool seniors, sohematios; "A Versatlle ~~etio
that sells oores, planes, staoks Core Store Driving and neteotion
and magnetio-tape loops, to help System," by J.A. Borrie, Eleotronio
finanoe the oomputer they're Engineerinf (British), Jan. 1963,
building. The oores sell for $10 pages 28-3 •
to $80 p~r thousand, up to 10,000,
and for 110 to $40 per thousand \Vhen a oore staok is big enough to
over 10,000. IEM-style buffer have refleotion problems, things
planes, 160 oores eaoh, are sold get messy. Suoh memories must be
at oost, $8.50 eaoh. For details: treated as transmission lines,
whioh 1) makes bidireotional drive
Jonathan R. Lax, President harder, and 2) means large driver
The Informatlon Organlzation voltage swing: sinoe Zo is 100 ohms
121 Gill Road or so, and the half select current
Haddonfleld, New Jersey 08033 for typical SUrPlus oores is ~ ±600
ma, ±60 volts are required. Tran-
Jon figures that the oost of a , sistors that can handle that muoh
oore memory ranges from 15¢ to 90¢ power in 100 nseo are far out of
a bit, depending on the ingenulty the amateur's price range. The best
of the deslgner. The big dlfferenoe solution Pete has seen is the load-
ls whether you use transistor or sharing matrix switoh. This multi-
oore sensing. The best souroe of turn transformer arra~ allows sev-
sohematios is textbooks, suoh as eral (10, for example) smaller
1\ Solld State ll{agnetio & Dieleotrio transistors to oombine their out-
Devioes II by Katz and IIInformation puts, and to send the pulse to any
Storage and Retrieval" by Beoker of several (16, for example) out-
and Hayes, both published by Wiley. put lines. An artiole with gOOd
referenoes is "Magnetio Core Acoess
The best souroe of oores is the SWitches," 'by ldnniok and Haynes,. EC-ll
manufaoturers, says Jon. However, IRE Trans., June 1962, pp,3G~6e.
if anyone ls wllllng to forego The articles referenoed are mainly
perfeot speos, hls oompany oan mathematioal theory, not sohematios,
provide oores from their revolving but are useful it given a little
stock of rejects whlch they obtain stud1. Although the matrix switoh
fro~ varlous of the larger houses. is expensive, it oan reduoe overall
l·!any who do not need the ul timat e system oost, sinoe epoxy-cased
in uniforoity have been able to transistors like the 2N3643 can be
use them ln the past, he adds. used as drivers.
******************** Pete isn't sure where the diViding
line between "large" and "small"
Pete Showman says that the amount memories is. The only way to find
of sophistioation needed in a oore- out is to try a diode-seleot system

~ NE1'lSLETTER Number 4 -- February 1967

and see if errors occur, he says, STANDARD JUiATEUP.. CQl.~UTER KIT
adding that a wrong guess could be
expensive. AQateur computer builders are now
t1uch like the early radio amateurs.
Pete estimates the cost of the There's a lot of home-brew equip-
electronics for a 16K by l3-bit ment, much patchwork, and most com-
memory using a load-sharing matrix uercial stuff is just too expensiv~
to be about $800, or about 0.4¢
per bit. The stack is extra, of The ACS can help advance the state
course. Because cost increases of the acateur computer art by de-
slowly with the number of bits, a signing a standard ~ateur comput-
4K system would probably cost er, or at least setting up the specs
$500 or so. A very small memory for one. Although the mere idea of
gets simpler, but diodes with the a standard computer makes the true-
required rating might be fairly blue home-brelll types shudd.er, the
expensive, too. fact is that amateul" radio would
not be where it iEi today without
There are several articles on the the kits and the off-the-shelf
gory details of sense-amplifier equipment available.
deS1gni but Pete is not convinced
that a 1 the trouble 1s necessary For those ~rl10 don't believe in con-
in coincident-current systems formity, the computer kit can be a
(word-select'memories evidently jumping-off place, a basic machine
have greater noise problems). So on which to build. their ow varia-
far Pete has had good results with tions and special add-ons.
a well-balanced differential am-
plifJ.er. I propose a basic philosophy for
the standard m~chine: it should be
In a previous letter, Pete said: designed on the "bit-slice" prin-
In the real world, drum and disk Ciple, so that the basic kit can
meQories are of course the cheap- be bought with a minimum word
est, but hard to fix if damaged, length. Then, as the bu11der can
and hard to f1nd in good condi- afford, he buys bit-units, eaoh
tion. Old oore planes seem to be oontaining all the cards for adding
numerous, but about six identical one bit to the word length through-
ones is the practical minimum for out the machine. A bare minimum of
an efficient stack. I estimate registers would be used in the bit-
minimum driver oosts at $1.35 per slice stages, with further regis-
driver and sense amplifiers at ters to be added on later, one by
$3-5. Thus a 1024 by l3-bit memory one (if this is feasible).
would be $160 or an effective
8192 by 2 by i3 bits would be $42~ Possible optional add-ons might in-
both exoluding oores and decoding clude a printer, character generator,
logic. X-Y plotter, card punch, card read-
er, additional core memory, drum
memor,y, maybe even a Teletype.
COMMENT S, ANYONE?
Many problems exist; here are some:
A few comments have been received,
all saying they like the ACS ~:ews- 1. vfuat 1s the minimum number of
letter. Nice to get that kind, but registers for it? Maximum?
more helpful would be comments on 2. \'!hat should be the price for the
what you don't like about the News- baSic maohine? $500 too much?
letter. ~~at should there be more 3. \I/hat should be the maximum
of, or less of? word length? And the min1mum?

Number 4 -- February 1967 4 -§l9JSL NE\1SLETTER

4. What opt10ns Should be made 1 25 100
ava1lable for add-ons? SA-10 $35.90 28.60 24.20
5. Should the basio mach1ne have SA-ll 26.10 20.80 17.60
more than manual 1nput and
lamp output? If so, what? Not oheap, but ne1ther is the SUHL
6. Should the oontents of all reg- line, in wh10h the oheapest flip-
1sters be v1s1ble on the oon- flop oosts $5.90 for 1 to 24. How-
sole? Or Should one set of ever, that's a 20-MC J-K f11p-flop.)
lamps do for all?
7. For the stage after manual in- •••••
"Linear Pulse Transformers in Core
put and lamp output, is paper Memo~ Design," W. G. Rumble (Lock-
tape okay? Or should we go di- heed), Computer Des1gn, Feb. 1967,
reotly to tape? Or drum? pages 48 to 60.
8. How muoh assembly work should
the k1t-builder have to do? Although pulse transformers are
Could he solder in the ICs bulky and expensive, and are not
without burning them up, or amenable to IC techniques, there
should sockets be used? are some advantages. This survey
artiole disousses the major de-
It may be possible to get some kit sign problems 1n four types of
or IC manufacturer interested in memory oonfigurations, without
putting the standard amateur com- going into tne finer ~etails ot
puter kit (SACK for short) on the cirouit design; 28 figures, no
market, if there are enough pro- component values.
-.peotive kit builders so he would
not be left holding t he bag. ****•
Small Computer Handbook, 544 pages,
free from Digital Equipment Corp.,
Please g1ve SACK some thought, and 146 Main St., 1taynard, Mas s • 01754.
let me know what you think about Disousses in detail l from a user's
it. A standard amateur computer Viewpoint, the PDP-~, PDP-8/S and
w1ll probably be'on the market by the LINC-8 (PDP-8 and LINO combi-
1970, whether or not we do any- nation). Chapters on oomputer bas-
thing about it. There's no reason 1cs! programming! IIO devioes, op-
why we oan't steer the inevitable era~ion. Almost 00 pages on in-
in the direotion we think best. terfaoe and installation, a variety
of basio sohematics illustrating
programmed data transfers, data
BOOKS AND MAGAZINES break transfers and digital logio
oircuits. Comb1nes three separate,
IISense Amplifier F1ts Any Memory," larger handbooks in one small, Sf
Eleotron10s, sept. 5, 1966, pages by 8 format. DEC desoribes it as
89-94, by a Sylvan1a engineer. New a "souroebook of basic computer
general-purpose amp11f1er oan be technology for the computer user
used w1th most coincident-current and the student."
memories. Des1gned to be oompati-
ble w1th the Sylvania h1gh-level
(SURL) logio family, for use with COMPUTER SC~~TICS
Sylvan1a's MSP-24 m10roo1rou1t
oomputer (~~otronios, Oot. lS, Build-it-yourself books on the LINC
1965, page ). oomputer are available:
(There·are two models of this sense Vols. 1-11, #63. Manufaoturing
amplifier, the SA-10, with h1gh Description (wiring tables, parts
fanout, and the SA-ll, with 'a lover list for. DEC cards reqUired, etc.)
fanout. Pr10es are: Vol. 12, $12. Logic Diagrams and

.JAl.QJSL N~'1SLETTER 5 Number 4 -- February 1967

The Amateur Computer Society is ACS member has responded to his ot-
open to all who are interested fer to take oharge of buying ICs in
in building and operating a dig- quantity (Issue 2, page 5). However,
ital computer that can at least by finding another purchaser outside
perform automatic multiplication the ACS he was able to persuade
and division, or is of a compar- Fairchiid to give the quantity price
ative complexity. on 2400 pieces. Pete hopes to place
For membership in the ACS, and a second order around May.
a subscription of at least eight
issues of the Newsletter, send Anyone interested in ordering at
.3 (or a check made out ~o me): least 50 of the Fairchild ~L ICs,
at ephen B. Gray please write to
Amateur Computer Society Peter S. Showman
219 vlest 81 St 403 School st.
New York, N.Y. 10024 Watertown, Mass. 02172
The Ne'tlTsletter will appear about
every two months. Pete notes that using ICs would al-
low a 2-Mc clock, and figures th.e'
Timing Diagrams. (This alone is cost at about $2.27-2.60 per stage
not enoughi ~ou need the wiring ot an "average" arithmetic register,
tables, too., depending on purchase quantities.
Vols. 13-14. Theory of Operation. (Pete's typical register can shift
(Not yet written). two ways and load in parallel from
Vol. 15, $8. Assembly and Test another register.)
Procedures.
The set of 13 available volumes PROBLEMS FOR THI S ISSUE
weights about 35 pounds, will be
sent postage collect. Send your 4-1. A member ~10 bOUght a Skybolt
oheck to: oomputer weloomes &qrintormation
Norman Kinch available on this item, especially
Computer Research Laboratory the oore memory. Information sent
Washington University to the ACS will be forwarded.
700 S. Euolid Avenue
St. Louis, Missouri 63110 4-2. Another member could use a good
solution to hardware floating point.
LINC is a computer designed to Responses will be forwarded.
control experiments and to collect
and analyze data in biocedical and 4-3. A member is looking tor a sup-
environmental sOience researoh. A plier tor used or rebuilt electrio
single-address, fixed word length, typewriters with electrioal inputs
parallel computer, using l2-bit tor computer I/O use. Any help'
binary arithmetio, LINC contains a
crt display, an analog-to-digital YOUR ANS\'IERS TO THESE PROBLEMS WILL
converter, a relay register, and APPEAR IN THE NEXT I SSUE. Please
dual magnetic tapes (DECtapes, 3i- look through past issues for unsolved
inoh reels, transfer rate 6000 problems and send in your answers.
words a seoond). DEC combines LINC
with a PDP-8, so the two share a NEXT ISSUE will be about how and
4096-word core memory. A LINC costs where to look up articles and
about $30,000 assembled. Parts can books on computer subjeots of in-
be bought from DEC: cards, cages. terest to amateurs, inoluding
some sources you may not have
INTEGRATED CIRCUIT S IN QUANTITY heard of, such as depositories.
Pete Showman reports that only one Copyright 1967 by Stephen B. Gray
Number 4 -- February 1967 6 ~ NDTSLETTER
 .-JAl.QJSL NE'lSLETTER SACK
ISSUE
a publication of the
JU.iATEUR COMPUTER SOCIETY
Humber 6 April 1967

MEMBERSHIP 3. Power su~plies to fit within

the frame.
The ACS now has 70 members, in 23 4. Universal front panel (pre-
states, Canada, Italy, Japan and punched holes -- when using the
Switzerland. kit-builders approach).
5. Input/output (plugs should be
There are ACS members at IBM, GE, available at rear for addition-
RCA, SEL, TRt1, Bunker-Ramo, Hughes, al or special outputs).
\"estinghouse, Lockheed, Litton 1
Hitachi, Eell Labs, Hotorola, oood- I find that plug-in cards are the
year Aerospace, Brooy~aven, West- most desirable, because of uni-
ern Electric, Teletype, General formity and because they do a good
Radio, Harvard, MIT, Annapolis, job of reducing the overall space.
Arizona State, Tennessee Tech, There are plenty of cards avail-
Lehigh, and the Universities of able with and without cooponents
Illinois, Michigan and Mississippi. mounted. If the circuit boards are
purchased in Quantity (as by a
kit-builder company), they shOUld
.§!Q! not be expensive. The frame chas-
sis should have the gl1ides (or
This issue was to have told where slots) and the card receptacles
to look up articles and references mounted. All the card receptacles
about computers. Ho1torever, the com- I've seen are quite expensive,
wents received on the proposed even in quantity, but if the sup-
Standard Amateur Computer Kit are plying coopany riveted a utility-
of a more immediate value, so this grade type to the frame, I don't
issue will be about SACK instead. think the cost woule be too much,
And there are many miscellaneous and would probably work fine
items, for which there will be no (something on the order of riveted
room in the reference issue. tube sockets on those cheap AM
radiOS you buy for $5.99).
As expected, comments on the SACK
l'ITere mixed, both pro and con. Here I find that two things are the
are excerpts from several letters. mest important: (1) printed-
circuit boards and (2) frame
*********** chassis mounting hardware. ~J1th
little exception, the rest of the
From Don Fronek: machine can be expanded in bits
and pieces. The frame chassis
A standard computer should have: could come ready-made in rows, so
the builder could buy a row at a
1. Plug-in cards (can buy ready- time. And cards as needed.
made cards t or cards without
component s J. It would be desirable to have some
2. Frame construction with card sort of "standard If front for in-
receptacles (allows the builder put/output that could be prepunched
to locate his circuits as he according to the kit one Wishes to
wants them). build. I think this whole system
could be like "tinker tOYS1" with little point in building up the
the emphasis on high fidelity. The instruction execution logic. }~d
more you buy, the more things you I would really hate to see the
are able to do and build, but thing get mixed up in a formalized
everybody has his own ideas of educational setup, because then a
hlixing units, and perhaps the lot of professional education mar-
builder would use the kit idea to keters would get into the act, and
complement the equipment that he the price would go skyhigh.
already has.
***********
I would also use solderless con-
nectors in all the wiring between From Aubrey Hutchison:
receptacles. I find that I am con-
tinuously changing Cil'cui ts. Tj'iI'ith Before embarking on an effort to
close pin spacing, a soldered con- generate an amateur computer kit,
nection gets very messy even when I recommend that serious consid-
you are trying to keep things neat. eration be given to several items
The t-tires get burned, the solder which I feel are a little more
slops over onto the adjacent pin, basic:
and on and on. This means added
cost, but I'll have to vote for 1. 1V1 th the apparent talent avail-
solderless connectors. able within the ACS, a set of rec-
ommended building blocks (that
*. . ********* later could be adapted into a com-
puter kit) possibly should be de-
From Jim Haynes: veloped. Examples of building
blocks could be shift registers,
Seems to be that the essential binary to octal converters, line
problem is trying to decide what drivers, sense amplifiers and add-
you want to do with what you have. er circuits.
I guess meQory is the pacing item.
Anybody who goes in for oore, even 2. Consideration also should be
small core, is talking about money. gi ven to an amateur standard in-
Depending on the supply of delay struction repertoire that will be
lines, that is probably the way to versatile enough to allow either
go for a cheap machine. wired multiplication and division,
or programmed multiplication and
I oan see how one might build a division. Also, enough initial
sort of arithmetic unit demonstra- consideration should be given to
tor, perhaps with a oouple of reg- allow the deletion of instructions
isters and the ability to add, that an individual feels are not
subtract, shift, etc.; and this unique to his specific needs.
might use the bit-slice idea. From
this basis, one could exercise a 3. Since the software and hardware
lot of originality in the instruc- are usually related to a great de-
tion set and instruotion exeoution gree, serious consideration should
control logic -- so this sort of be given to both the hardware and
thing would be hard to standardize, software requirements before de-
unless one wanted to try to market termining the word length. In my
it for eduoational purposes and case, I have chosen a l2-bit word
build a course around it or some- and the instruction repertOire
thing like that, which probably used by Digital Electronics Corp.
wouldn't appeal to ACS members. A word length longer than 12 bits
tends to cause the hardware to in-
But without some storage, there's crease at a rather rapid rate. A

Number 5 -- April 1967 2 ..JAlQJSL NEI'JSLETTER

word length less than 12 bits tends From Dave Vednor:
to make the programming unnecessar-
ily complex. In my opini,on, word I must say that I am against the
lengths ranging between 10 and 14 idea of SACK. By p1aoing a kit ot
bits are most sUitable for the ama- this type on the market, amateur
teur. One advantage in using the oomputer builders would not have
12-bit word length and the DEC any major problems, and very few
instruction repertoire is the pos- new ideas would result. Amateur
sibility of using programs written radio is a good case in pOint. To-
for the DEC PDP-S and PDP-5 series day most of the gear in use is not
of computers. home-brew but manufaotured to
commeroia! standards. This is
4. Most people, so it appears, are great for the hams who don't know
concerned with the speed Of opera- how to bUild, but what is the pur-
tion of homemade computers, judging pose of amateur radio' The FCC
fror,l comcents in the Net-rs1etter. thinks that the U.S, hems should
It is my opinion that this is an increase radio technology. This is
invalid oonoern; sinoe with the being done, but not to the extent
order of speed allowed with Tele- that it could be. If amateur radiO
type, microsecond equipment seems gear was not produced commercially,
to be a little on the high side we would not have as many hams,
for practical purposes, Milli- but those hams would make more
seconds possibly will be 8r.lp1e in contributions than all of the hams
cost oases. Therefore, if SACK make today. I might add tha.t I am
beco~es a reality, it appears that also a radio aoateur (WB6UHM).
the most practical application
would be a four-register serial ************
machine using multi-purpose regis-
ters. For example, a bUffer- There they are, five sets of opin-
accumulator combination, ions on SACK. They're given here,
not to boost the idea of a computer
*********** kit, but for the value of their
ideas. Further comments welcome.
From Bill Pfeiffer:
The idea of the standard amateur COMPUTER SCHE}1ATICB
cocputer is excellent. I don't see
where it is incocpatib1e with the Build Your Teaching Computer 1'1ith
home-brew idea. As a starter, just ~I. E. L. Sub-Assemblies, 16 pages,
the specs would be enough. Those free from Amperex Eleotronic Corp.,
~.,rho oan sorounge the neoessary 230 Duffy Avenue J Hicksville, !1. Y.
stuff can go from there. Those who 11802.
need the works could get what they
",an t. '''i th the right kind of a be- This booklet describes a simple
ginning, all kinds of possibili~ computer that can be built in five
could develop for adding new fea- stages. The first stage performs
tures. Five hundred dollars seems addition and subtraotion on eight-
quite high as a starting pOint. bit wordS! using one register and
an accumu ator. Control and data
I favor trying to traok somewhat input are manual. Multiplication
with a machine like the PDP-SIB oan be performed by successive
with minimuc features to reduce addition, and division by suocesive
hardware and oomp1exities. subtraction, manually.
*.****.**** The stage two computer can perform

~ NElvSLttr'TER 3 Number 5 -- April 1967

automatic multiplication and divi- this:
sion, by use of comparator and
auto-restart circuits. v
The stage three computer adds ex-
tra storage to the stage two com- Here V X RC(t) = flux in webers.
puter, by incorporating two 8-bit
shift registers, along with cir- As to the remarks about 80- and
cuits for transferring data be- 50-mil cores, the EPJ~ memory in
tween these registers and the ao- the Bank of America computer uses
cumulator or the main register. SO-mil cores. The half-select cur-
rent is 180 mao This is much lower
Detailed schematics are provided than the half-select current of
for these three computers. Speeds 410 ma for a 30-mi1 lithium core.
are 20 Kc, 1 cps, and manual. Some of the fast 20-mi1 cores have
half-selects of around 500 rna.
For the stage four computer, there
is only a block diagr&l to show For myself (says Sal), I can't
how a delay line can be added for imagine anyone in the ACS needing
extra storage. The stage five to operate memory to the point
block diagram indicates how paper where heating bec ')l1es a problem.
tape mieht be used for input, and Almost any memory core will oper-
perhaps for output. ate at 200 Kc, and most high-speed
cores need special attention only
The encapsulated logic modules are above 500 Kc.
the Philips Series 2, sold by
1<1. E. L. in England and by Amperex ~le have used load-sharing switches
in t~e U.S.A. The cost of the cir- in tlle past, and nO~l they are just
cuits for stage 1 is about ~230j novelties we talk about. For driv-
for stage 2, about ~3l0; and for ing a stack of any reasonable size
stage 3, about ~600. These prices (16K, 40-bit) I would use diode
are for building the entire com- decoding and just take care as to
puter at that stage. The price of how I placed my current paths.
the M.E.!". delay line is about
$155 without U.S. duty. Incidentally, a single 4K plane
can be used as the heart of a
swell calculator. By operating one
140RE ON CORES BY ZUCCARO axis serially and the other on
diode decode, one has 64 words of
Sal writes that, in the last news- 16 decimal digits. A little logic
lotter, when he said "the size of hung on and you're in bUsiness.
the output signal," he should have
said, "the size of the signal lmen
integrated." He continues: CUP.RENT PUBLICATT ONS
Here, a sir,lple RQ integrator is Glo,,,. Lamp Manual, Second :!I:di tion,
used to sum the)i dt. Therefore, General Electric Co., Minl.ature
as a square-loop core has only a Lamp Dept., lJela Park, Cleveland,
certain amount of flux available, Ohio 44112. If you write for this
it can only charge a capacitor to neon-lamp manual on company let-
some pre-determined value, no mat- terhead, it's free. Othert.,ise it
ter 11.0"" fast or hard the core is will cost you $1.00. Probably
driven. available at GE Hin!ature Lamp
sales offices allover the country.
The integrated signal looks like Has 117 pages, including 27 on re-

Numb er 5 -- April 1967 4 ~ NE~:!SLETTER

laxation oscillators, and 24 pages Special Issue on Logic and Switch-
on logic and computer application~ ing Devices, Control Engineering
Of those 24, 16 are on the binary issue of January 1967. Of interest
system, basic logic operations, to ACS members may be: short arti-
b~sic circuits (AND, OR, NOT) and cle by Kintner on digital switch-
waveforms; the rest is on a pulse ing hardware (pages 64-67), such
generator, bistable and monostable as DTL, RTL, etc.; reed switches
multi vibrators, ring counters and for relay logic (84-88); six ways
memory circuits. The memory cir- to make logic circuits, from op-
cuit consists of only two resis- tical switching to cores (116-119);
tors, a capacitor and a neon lamp; and a round-up on relays for con-
very si rnple, but to set the mem.ory trol applications (78-83) and on
circuit requires a positive volt- digital flUidics (100-104). No
age large enough to fire the lamp; break-throughs or really nevI items t
to read it requires a positive but a good issue to browse thru.
voltage less than the firing volt- $1 from Control Engineering, Cir-
age; to· reset it requires a nega- culation Dept., 466 LeXington Ave.,
tive voltage low enough to extin- New York, N.Y. 10017.
guish the laop.
1·!1notaur. A Relay Computer. Not so
All About Teletype EqUipment, 32 new, but if you're interested 1n
pages. Free fro~ Teletype Corp., relay cocputers, this is available
5555 TouhY Ave., Skokie, Ill. from the Clearinghouse for Federal
60076. For those who know nothing Scientific and Technical Informa-
about TTY, this is a very basic tion, springfield, Va. 22151, $3
beginning: how it works and what for hard copy (55 pages), 75~ for
it consists ot. microfiche. The title is mislead-
ing, as Minotaur is not a computer,
Motorola IO Application Notes. For but a fancy relay breadboard, with
a list ot 47 Motorola IO appli- all relay pOints and coils brought
cation notes, see page 53 of the out to a large 35 X 39 fixed plug-
Jan. 9 issue of Electronics. Of board, to which are also connected
interest are (1) ~~-234, }!RTL Fam- 45 lamps, 15 pushbuttons, 35 diodes
ily of ICs, (2) &~-251, Decade and five 4PDT lever switches. Of
Counters Using !·1RTL ICs (3) AN-252, the relays t 14 are 4Pl1l', and 20
Choosing RTL Integrated Logic Cir- more are 4PDT relays combined with
ouits, (4) AN-253, An Analysis of 20 4-pole ratchet relays. The rat-
l-lRTL Integrated Logio Cll"ouits, chet wheel holds four relay swing-
(5) AN-254, Using HRTL IO Flip- ers in the make posit1on on every
Flops, (6) AN-264, ~!RTL IC Shift other pulse. This two-relay com-
Registers, (7) AN-279, Setup and binat10n is the basis of counters.
Release Times in the RTL J-K Flip- The report describes the set-up of
Flop (8) AN-285 Loading Factors logic .circuits, binary counter .. bi-
Rnd Paralleling Rules for ~mTL nary arithmetic, accumulator, and
lOs. May require a business lette~ branch functions. Rather simple,
head to get from: but of interest for relay fans.
Hotorola Secioonduotor Products Large-Scale Integration, special
Box 955 Inc. report in Electronics, Feb. 20,
Phoenix, Arizona 85001 pages 123-182. P.eprint available
at $1.50; 330 ~'est 42 at J New York,
Of the 8 Notes listed above, only N.Y. 10036. Six art1cles on LSI:
AN-285 is directly concerned with system design, memory, customizing
the MC700P series, the Unibloc by interconnection, computer design
low-cost elements. ot LSI, isolation, MOS versus bl-
~ NE~vSLET'l'ER 5 Number 5 -- April 1967
 The Amateur Computer Society is ANSi'ITER TO A PREVIOUS PROBLEM
open to all who are interested
in building and operating a dig- 4-3. A member is looking for a sup-
ital computer than can at least plier for used or rebuilt electrio
perform automntio multiplication typewriters with eleotrical inputs
and division, or is of a compar- for computer I/O use. Any help?
able complexity.
For membership in the ACS,and Bob Shostak says 4-3 should forget
a subscription of at least eight about electric typewriter I/O.
issues of the Newsletter, send "Thorough investigation reveals
)3 (or a check made out to me): that Teletype equipment is much
St ephen B. Gray easier to obtain, and much cheaper
Amateur Computer Society than typewriters with a non-
219 '.lest 81 st mechanical triggering system. Tele-
New Yorlc, N.Y. 10024 type equipment is advertised regu-
The Newsletter will appear about larly in the ham-ads at the baok of
every two months. QST for as low as $26. Also, it
isn't necessary to use the 5-bit
polar ICs. '''ell \-Torth reading, system. You can easily invent your
most of it, even if only for fa- own magnet-selector system, or
Llilia.rization. ohange the oharacter codes."
Computers Self-Taught Through Ex- PROELEM FOR THIS ISSUE.
periments, by Jack Brayton, 192
pages", $4.25, Ho",ard liT. sams & Co. 6-1. Row does one caloulate the
Uses GNl07 throughout, 2N322 for component values for an RC filter
lamp driver, 11\34 diode. There decoupler to keep pulses from cir-
are 28 projects. After building 13 culating through the power-supply
gates, procedes to adders, diode wiring and thus shm..ring up where
matrix, oounters, registers, lamp they're not wanted? Does this fil-
oirouits, ends with a 10-stage ter have to be on every circuit
adder/subtractor, with pushtutton board?
input and lamp output. Simple cir-
ouits, but well present ed.
TRADING CORNER
Fairchild Teolmioal Data l-1anuals
are no longer free. The Nicrocir- A member ltlishes to acquire either
cuit binder, plus updating for a 4K words of 13 bits of core memory,
year (12 mailings) costs $5. The or the equivalent number of core
updating alone is $2 a year, for necessary to build his own stacke.
data sheets, application notes Re has a TT4A Teletype, 60 and 100
and technical information. wpm gears; a Hewlett Packard 100D
Fairchild Semiconductor frequenoy standard that can be used
P.O. Box 1058 as a computer clock, with outputs
Mountain View, Calif. 94040 of 100 cps, 1 Kc, 10 Ko or 100 Kc;
sod a General Radio l304A BFO. He
also needs three 7- to 9-track
SURPLUS INTEGRATED CIRCUITS? tape heads. \"lri te :
Aubrey B. Hutchinson, Jr.
The June issue of Electl'onios itlorld 533 Barksdale Drive
has two ads offering ICs. On page P~leigh~ N. Carolina 27604
93, flat-packs for $1-$1.15 each, (K4ANv)
"guaranteed to work." On page 95,
TI "untested flat packs," 6 for
$1.89. Has anybodY bought these? Copyright 1967 by Stephen B. Gray

Number 5 -- April 19(;7 6 ...JAl.QJSL NEi'lSLETT ER

 .JAl.QJiL NEWSLETTER READING &I
REJ'ERENOE
apublioation ot the ISSUE
.AMATEUR OOMPUTER SOOIETY
Number 6 June 1967

READING AND REFERENOE These British technioal pub110a-

t10ns, allot whioh are available
Although there are a great many 1n the U.S., are ot 1nterest to
pub110ations deal1ng with oomput- the amateur, 1n this order:
era, tew are ot interest to the
amateur, tor whom the IEEE Trans- Cl. Electron1c Eng1neering
aot1ons on Eleotron10 Computers 02. Radio and Electron1c
are too soph1 stioat ed" and the Eng1neer
oooasional computer 1n Electronios 03. !"1reless World
World, too s1mple. ' C4. Industrial Eleotron10s
, C5. Ple..,. Commun1cat10ns
Let's look at a fev magaz1nes that Jour.uJ.
lie between these two 'extremes, 06. Control
and then at the 1ndexe s and ab-
stract journals that cons1st ot Most ot these three groups ot pub-
1tems trom these magaz1nes. The lications are known to manY' ACS .
publiShers' addresses that tollow members. However, there are indexes
are handy tor getting tearsheetsand abstract journals that aren't
or repr1nts ot reterenoed art10les. nearly as well known, but whioh oan
be very usetul to amateurs, 1n th1s
First, there are some publioat10ns order ot preferenoe:
that are worth reading to keep up
with the news ot the world of oom- 01. Information Prooessing
puters and, to some extent, the Journal
state ot the art. In order of D2. Eleotrical and Eleotronic
preference (my own, that 1s), they Abstraots
are: D3. Oomputer Abstraots
D4. IEEE Oomputer Group News
Al. Electronio News D5. Eng1neering Index
A2. EDP Weekly D6. ACM Computing Reviews
A3. Computers & Automation D? Monthly U.S. Government
A4. Data Prooessing Digest Publications
A5. Datamat10n DB. U.S. Government Research &
A6. Data Prooessing Development Reports
A7. Bus1ness Automation D9. Government-Wide Index to
AB. Automat10n Federal R&D Reports
D10. STAR-NASA.
For 01rouits and technical infor- Dll. App11ed Scienoe &
mation, these pub11cations are use- TeChnology Index
tul, in this order: D12. Un10n Serials
D13. Technical Translat10ns
Bl. EEE
B2. Eleotron1c Design For those who aren't tamiliar with
B3. Eleotronics the publications l1sted in these
B4. EDN tour groups, here's a listing ot
B5. Eleotro-Teohnology pub11shers, addresses and sub-
B6. Oontrol Engineer1ng soription 1ntormation. But f1rst,
B7. The Electronio Engineer a word about readers' servioe,
BS. Computer Design which oan be a great help.
READERS 1 aERVI CJ: Monthly, $15 a year.

t earsheet s (pages taken trom 1.-

Most technlcal magazlnes provlde
sues) or reprlnts, through a Read-
Good for new-product photos
and new-development ltem••
ers' Servlce Department. Tear- Pata Processing D1g.,t
Sheets are usually aval1able for 1140 S. Robertson Blvd.
two or three years back; repr1nt s Los Angeles, Callf.
are otten aval1able for flve or
more years baCk. Monthly, $24 a year.
Tearsheets and reprlnts are usual- Excerpts trom artlcles on
ly tree, although there ls otten data processlng.
a charge when a reprlnt conta1ns
many pages. Some magazfnes Will A5. DatAm f!;t10n
provlde Xerox coples ot articles 1830 West Olympic Blvd.
no longer available in tearaneets, Los Angeles, Callf. 90006.
tor as littl$ as 10¢ a page.
Monthly, $15 a year. Free to
A tew magazlnes that do not have a certaln qualified indivlduals
tearsheet servlce wl11 a,end you employed by companies 1nvo1ved
the entlre lssue free, l·t avail- with automatlc lnformat10n
able, or wl11 sell 1 t to you. handling equlpment.
PUBLIEBERS A.."iD PRICES Highly regarded, many good
art1cles.
Al. negtronic Newg
Fairchl1d Pub1icatlons .16. J2Ata Process1gs
7 East 12th Street lmerican Data:Processlng, Inc.
New York, N.Y. 10003 22nd Floor, Book Tower
Detroit, M10hlgan
Weekly, $3 tor 1 year, $5 tor
two years, 86 for three. Monthly, $S.50 a year.
News tablold With several A7. Bus1ness Automat1on
pages on computers. Late news, 288 Park Avenue West
some teChnlcal articles on Elmhurst, Illlnols 60126
new developments.
Konthl" $5 a,ear, Is tor two.
A2. EDP WfHlcI
Indus ryeports, Inc. AS. Aut omat 1. on
514 Tenth St., N.W. Penton Pub11Sh1ng Co.
Wash1ngton, D.C. 20004 1213 W. Thlrd St •.
Cleveland, Ohl0 44113
Weekly, $60 a year ••45 to
educat10nal and non-proflt Konthl7, $10 a year. free to
lnstltutions, Federal, State, those involved With automatlc
County and C~ty governm~ts. production equipment and
components.
Contalns a good amount of
1nside lnformatlon. B1 . . .
Mactler Publlshing Corp.
.&3. iompuferlJ~ Aut omatlon 820 Second Avenue
erke eyterpr1aes, Inc. New York, N.Y. 10017
815 WaShlngton St.
Newtonvl1le, Mass. 02160 Month1, J tree to engineers en-
Number 6 -- June 1967 I .Ji1.QJiL NEWSLETTER
 gaged in the eleotronio oir- Snap for ICs" (Feb. 1967).
ouit design engineering funo-
tion. others write for prices. BD. Electro-Technology
Conover-Mast Publicat10ns, Ino.
Circui t Design Award Program, 205 East 42 at
with 4 to 6 oirouits in eacn New York, N.Y. 10017
issue, such as "Pulse Genera-
tor with Variable Rate and Monthly, free to qualified per-
Width" (Feb. 1967). Frequent sonnel engaged 1n development
specifying guides tor devices or design of electrical/elec-
suoh as unijunction transis- tronic equipment; to others,
tors (Feb. 1967). a15 a year.
B2. Eleotron~~ D~ign Some good tutorials.
Hayden Pu li~ng Co., Inc.
850 Third Avenue Be. Control Eng1neeriAi
Nel'!/' York, N. Y. 10022· R.H. Donnelley Corp.
466 Lexington Avenue
Every two weeks, free to New York, N.Y. 10017
qualified subscribers.
Monthly. Free to qualif1 ed
Good design articles, suoh as U.S.-based indiv1duals. Non-
"10 Eidireot10nal Counters qual1fled rate, 810 a year.
Cost Less" (Jan.18, 1967).
Also good oirouits in "Ideas l·lostly about automatic control
tor Design" seotion. systems, oocaslonally items
of 1nterest, usually low-
B3. Eleotronios frequenoy circuits.
Modraw-Hili Publishing Co.
330 West 42 St B7. ~Ae Electronic ~iineer
New York, N.Y. 10036 Was Electronic ndustr1ee)
Chilton Co.
Every two treeks, $8 a year to Chestnut & 56 Ste.
those aotively engaged 1n the Philadelph1a, Fa. 19139
field ot the publication.
Monthly, $12 a year.
Four to six pages of good cir-
oui t ideas 1n the "Circlli t De- Occasionally a good article,
sign" seot10n, some good teoh- such as "Appllcat1ons of Col-
nical art1cles and tutorials. lector Logio" (Aug. 1966).
B4. IPli Be. Computer DeSig~ .
Cahners Publishing Co., Inc. Professional B dg.
3375 S. Bannock St Baker Avenue
Englewood, Colorado 80110 West Concord, Mass.
Monthly, $10 a year, tree to Monthly. Free to qualif1ed in-
electronic/electrical design- d1 v1duals, 815 a year to th.e
ers and engineers 1n the' elec- non-qualified.
tronic or~~al equipment
manufactu market, consult- Some 1nterest1ng teohnical ar-
ing f1rms, and government re- ticles, such as "~etic Drum
s.earch and development labe. Clock Traok Writer' CHar. 1966).
Lists government reports in the
Good design articles, suoh as computer fleld, has a good new-
"B1directional Counting, A products section.of interest.
~ NE~lSLETTER ;5 Number 6 -- June 1967
Cl. Elegtronlc Engln~ering C5. 1beSSey communicatl}na Jgurnal
Morgan Brothers (Pub11shers)
29 Essex street Ltd.
Strand
London, W.C. 2, England
Monthly, $8 a year in USA.
Excellent system articles,
such as "A Small Translstor-
ized Digital Computer --
Arithmetic and Control Sec-
tions" (June 1965).
C2. ~d10 and Elelironlc Englneer
nstitute ofectronic and
Radio Engineers .
8-9 Bedford Square ce. Control
London, W' • S. 1, Englan d Morgan Brothers (Publlshers)
28 Essex Street Ltd.
Monthly,
in the USA.
"20
a year to members Strand
London, 'tt1.C. 2, England
Fine system articles, such as Monthly, $6 a year in USA.
"A Technlque for the Trans-
clsslon of Digital Info~tlon Dl. Information Prooessing JOurnal
over Short Distances uslng Cambrldge Communications Corp.
Infra-Red Radiation" (June 238 1·1aln Street·· .
1965). Cambr1dge, Mass. 02142
C3. l-11reless World $60 a year, appearanoe verr
Illffe Electrlcal Publlcations irregular, often several
Dorset House Ltd. monthly 1ssues combined Into
Stamford St one.
London, S. E. 1, England
Exoellent abstracts of U;8.
Monthly, $8 a year In USA. and fore1gn (mainly U.S.
journal artIcles, patents, re-
Some good artlcles, suoh as search reports, and disser-
"Data Transmission Demon- tations.
strations" (January 1967).
D2. Elegtr1cal & Eleotronig Ib-
C4. Industrial Elegtronigl st;tagts
Illffe Electrical Publicatlons The Institute of Electr10al
Dorset House Ltd. Eng1neers
Stamtord st Savoy Place
London, S. E. 1, England London, W.O. 2, England
Monthly, $10 a year in USA. Monthly , ~ 30 a year, ~ 10 lOs
to members.
Interesting automatl0 oontrol
artlcles, such as "The Evolu- Worldwide abstracts (22,000
tlon of TTL Integrated Cir- annually), including Oommun1st-
cuits," describing Texas In- bloc publications. Look under
struments clrcuits (Feb. 1967). the head1ngs Electronic Oir-

Number 6 ~ June 1967 4 .JAkISL NEW SLEr TER

 cuits & Devices (Pulse C~ Indexes U.S. and forelgn maga-
ouits) and under Computers. zlnel and Journals. Look under
Computers, where you'll tind a
go~ter ~atraotl 11st ot other hea41ngs under
T~ica~ntorma ion Co. wh1ch to look. See alsoKemo1'1
Mart1ns Bank Chambers Devioes.
p.O. 'Box 59, St. Heller
Jerser, Brltish Channel Islands D6. M LliUPstBeVlgl
MOnthlr, $98 a rear. New York, N.Y. 10017
Exoellent abstracts, patent Twlce a month, subscription in-
digests, book revlews"oover- cluded ln $18 annual duel. To
ing a large part ot the non-members, $15.
Western world.
Reviews and abstracts ot maga-
D4. !IEE gomputr Group Neya
rder ept..
zine artioles,books, newspaper
artl01es. Excellent reviews.
345 East 47 at Mostly sottware, but has a seo-
New York, N.Y. 10017 tion on Deslgn & Construction. '
Free to members ot IEEE Com- D7. Konth1r cat~g ot U. S. Govt.
put er Group and to non-member publ_ga~10!L.
subscribers to that group's SUpt. otocuments
transactions. To non-members U.S. Gavt. Prlntlng Ottice
ot the IEEE, $12 a rear. Wash1ngton, D. C. 20402
Each issueconta1ns a dozen Konthlr, $4.10 a year.
pages of abstracts of papers
not usuall1 indexed elsewhere, Fev'1tems ot interest to ama-
and a permuted title lndex to teurs, nearly allot them pub-
. current computer llterature. lications ot the National Bu-
Copies of the abstraoted reau of Stan4ar4a and the Bu.-
papers are .available at rea- reau ot Naval Personnel.
sonable prioes trom the Com-
puter Group Repositorr, at Contains over 20,000 ltems a year,
IEEE Headquarterl. listed according to the lssuing
governmental agenoy and ln an alpha-
A permuted title 1ndex meana betic index. Host item. are tor .ale
that the ker words 1n the by the SUpt. ot Docu.entl, lome are
titles are 11ned up ln aver- for sale by the Clearinghouse. oth-
tlcal column. The March 1967 ers are tor otticial "Ie only, and
News contains a 11st1ng ot 500 not available to the public. !till
tltles trom 20 Journals and others are sent to depo.lto171i-
magazlnes pub11shed trom April braries, which are publio and unl-
to December, 1966. vers1tr libraries allover the ooun-
tr,r. Most are partial depositorles,
D5. ~Iii::il~ ~daI meaning that the, receiVe on11 se-
leoted items. ,The full depositorles
New York, N.Y. 10017 get all 1tems. jmong the full de-
positorles are: '
Monthly, $350 a rear; $250 a New York- Publl0 Librar.r, Main
year to educatlonal and non- Chicago - Publlc L1brarr
profit organizations. John Crerar Librarr '

Number 6 -- June 1967

 Boston - Publl0 Llbrarr &6 pages, AD-638-023.
State Llbrar.r
Los Angeles - Publl0 Llbrar.y Starting ln 1967, the volume num-
Eaoh Septemb.er lssue ot the Catalogber ls the same as the year. Ef-
oontains a full llst of all the feotlve 1-1-67, the Clearlnghouse
deposltory llbrarles. ohanged lts prlolng polioy for
dooument sales from a slid1ng
Many of the deposltor1 ltems, in- prioe soale based on the number of
oluding all these for offlolal use, pages, to a slngle prioe. The new
are on mioroflche oards and must price ls $3.00 for a paper copy
be vlewed with a speoial enlarging (hard copy - HC); 65¢ per dooument
vlewer, which is not "'e17 bright for microfiche (MF). The slngle
and is thereto. a strain on the price does not appll to multiple
eyes. A full depository will also oopy orders of a single dooument.
have many non-deposltory items, on 'These prices also apply to doou-
mloroflohe or in hard oopy. ments announoed before 1-1-67.
(A miorofiohe is a oard on Wb1ah
a great many pages of a book have
been prlnted in hlgbl1 reduoed D9.
GO~:~~tBl$dli;g~:: to
slze. Fiohe ls the French word Clearinghouse
for a small oard.)
Tw1ce a month, $22 a year.
If you find a government publloa-
tlon that looks interestlng ln a Produoed by oomputer from re-
oatalog, you may wish to take a oords generatedb1 four Federal
look at it before orderlng. r.ne agenoies that announoe R&D re-
deposltory fl1es are the only war ports: AEC (Atomio Ener81 Com-
of looking at maar items. mission), NASA! DDC (Defense
Dooumentation center), and
The Deoember issue of the Monthl1 CFSTI (Clearinghouse). GWI
Catalog inoludes a oomplete index indexes all the reports an-
for the whole year, so for 1966 nounoed in the U. S. Govern-
and earller you need go through men t R4cD Report s.
only one lndexper year. For oom-
puters, look under Eleotronl0 Com- Alphabetical· look under Com-
puter, Eleotronio Data Prooessing, puter, Data Prooessing, Logi-
Eleotronl0 Clrcults, Logl0, and oal Design, Memorl. Example:
Computers. ~emorl Storage Unit, Theor,
and Design Teohnlques for
D8. U.S. ~vernment Researoh & Magnetlo-Core Memories,' Vol.
Deve opment Report~ II, HC $3 XF .0.65
Clearinghouse for Fe eral
Scientifl0 an~ Teohnical DIO. ~l'AR-tlAS4 .
Information Soientifio and Technioal
Sprlngfield, Virginla 22151 Aerospaoe Report., pub-
11 shed by NASA)
Twioe a month, $30 a year. Supt. of Doouments, USGPO
I

Occaslonally contains items Twioe a.month, $33 a year.

of lnterest. Computers are
under category 9B t in the Look under Category a, Com-
ourrent volumes. An example puters. Insl4ethe'baok.oover
1s "Digital Computer User's ls a list of the 10 univer-
Hanual for EE Students and sity libraries and 35 publl0
Faoulty," $3 ln hard oOPY, librarles in 24 states, where

Number 6 -- June 1967 6

 NASA doouments ma:y be studied. as 1950-1960, ln 2 volumes.
D11. Applied Sgl19ge & Teghnologr D13. e!Mnl0g£ Translatlon.
earin ouse
Th:nft:1. Wllson 00.
950 Unlvers1t.y Avenue Twice a month, .12 a year.
Bronx, New York 10452
Mostly translations of Soviet
Monthl1 (except August), $28 and Communist Chinese publl-
a year. oationa. Very few items of
interest. Computers are under
Contains abstracts of artlole. categor,y 9B.in these abstracta.
from a great manr U.S_ publi-
cations and a tew BrltiSh
onel. Look under Oomputers, ·OURRENT PUBLICA!IONS
Eleotron1c Data Processing,
etc. HeEpLe leaChing compE'er • If 80Y
ot you ave had trou le getting
from Amperex the M.E.L. booklet
D12. ~U1~r~~~le~s~aV:~1tL. descrlbed ln ACS Newsletter 5,
page 3, write to Al Cerne in lihe
The I.~ ~lson !o. Components Divlsion of Jmperex.
910 Un1versity Avenue
Bronx, New York 10452 .............
Third Edition, 3120. a L -

Lists, b1pub11cation, the y •• heek, raj ect

~1.I:!:!a.~,
11braries 1n the USA and , at HIT. Ask for AD-631-269,
Canada that have the llsted trom the Clearlngnouse for Federal
magazine" both US and for- Sclentlfio and Teohnioal Intorma-
e1gn. The thlrd edition goe. tio~L spr1ngf1eld, Vlrginia 22151,
up to Dec. 31, 1949, 1ncludes 13.00.
9&8 cooperating libraries. Uses a 5-by-7 dot matrix raster
and a reSistor-array read-only
Handy place to flnd out where charaoter memory tor 96 symbols.
you oan look at a magazine. Drawback ls that a standard CRT
For example, the Dlgltal Oom- ls not used, as regeneration would
puter Newsletter oan be seen be neoess&r1, reqUiring a high-
at 41 libraries in the USA speed memor,y. A storage ORT is
and 3 in Canada. used; in thls oase, a Tektronix
564 Storage Oso1lloscope.
Dl2-'. New Serial Titles Parts oosts are estimated to be
<"ard Division under $200. Parts 1nolude Fair-
Library of Oongress ohild Miorologlc ICs (923 JI tllp-
WaShington 25, D.C. tloPL 914 dual NOR, 900 driver),
2R29~3 and 213569 liranslstors.
Monthly lssues and cumulative
annual volume, $75 a 1~ar. . .**•••**.........
Updating supplements to the Jim Sutherland's ECH0-4 computer
Union Llst of Serials. The 1s de.crlbed on page 36 ot the
. annual cumulat1 ve volumes March issue ot EE (The Electronl0
are in tum cumulated over Engineer). Jim's computer, 7 teet
5- or 10-year perlods, such long, 2 teet deep and 6 teet high,

--li1.2JiLNEWSLlTTlCR 7 Number 6 -- June 1967

The Amateur Oomputer Soclety' ls.· RCA's costs to be 30-35%. (From
open to all who are lnterested Datamation, Dec. 1966, page 113.)
ln bullding and operating a dig-
ital oomputer that can at least
perform automatlc multlplicatlon HOW FAR ALONG IS YOUR COMPUTER'
and divlsion, or ls ot compara-
ble oomplex1ljY. Jim Haynes notes that my mention,
For memberShlp in the !OS,and 1n the first Newsletter, about
a subscrlptlon ot at least elght some ACe members being halfwa, or
issues of the Newsletter l send two-thirds of the way toward com-
13 (or a check made out ljO me): pleting their computers is in-
St ephen B. GrIQ' correct. He sars, "I beileve it is
Amateur Computer Soclet, in the 1956 or maybe the 1955 WJCC
219 lfest 81 at . (Western Joint Computer Conferenoe)
New York N.Y. 10024 Proceedings that you will find that
The Newslet t er wl11 appear about all Oomputers whlch are not co.m-
every two months •. pleted are 80% complete." Therefore,
'he computers of all ACe members
took a ,eu to bUild and will take are offlcially 80% complete.
10 years to program.
CHW PUSHBUTTON SWITCH
LOGI C TE)!PLATE
Most pushbuttons are too expenslve
At the last IEEE Show ln New York, to be bought new. However Oentra-
the Semiconductor Dlvis10n of lab has been 11censed by f 80 stat
Sprague Electric Company (Wor- of France to produce a new line of
cester! Mass.) gave away a loglc pushbutton switches that are simple
templa~e containing MIL Standard enough to be cheap enough for the
806 logio symbols. The template amateur, it bought in quantlty.
may be availabl e from Sprague
even w1thout a letterhead. Worth A DPDT switch oosts $2.68 tor one,
a tr,y. Has 18 symbols, from AND 75¢ in quanti ties of 100. An aPM'
to readjWrite head. switch is about $4.50 for one
about $1.22 inquantlties of foe.
TAPI, ANYBODY, Write Centralab l P.O. Box 591,
Milwaukee, WisQ. 53201.
Computer t~e, made by Scotc~L_Am­
pelL: and Memorex, 250' to 3ouu'
spools, i-, 3/" and 1" w1dths, NUTZ TO HER!Z
trom Autometics and North Amerioan,
and priced at $3 and up, will be .~ of Newsletter #4 I've gone
sent to you COD by baok to Kc and tami!y, leaving Hz
Pat Killmer 1n the lurch, where he belongs.
3442 Montair Avenue
~ong Beach Calif. 90808
if you let him know your ne~ds. NEXT ISSUE wUl be about moun-
ting circuit boards and ICs, and
about interconneotions.. It you
INCIDENTAL INFORMATION have any experience with these
and haven't written in yetI
One estimate of IBK's manufacturing please send details.
oosts tor the 360: 12-l5~ of salea
price. The same source guesses Copyright 196? by Stephen B. Gray

Number 6 ~- June 1967 8 ..Jll.QJSL NEWSLETTER

 ..lilQJiL NEWSLETTER MOUNTING AND
INTEROONNECTIONS
a publloatlon ot the ISSUE
AMATEUR COMPUTER SOOIETY
Number 7 November 1967

These IBM oards are part ot ••• ••• Allan Slnolalr's oomputer.

CHAN GE OF ADDRESS The photo at lett above shows how

Allan Sinolalr mounted a number ot
The new address ot the AOS ls SMS oards. The tront panel is Bake-
lite, wlth 16 long brass eyelets
Amateur Computer Soolet1 pressed into undersize holes, and
260 Moroton Avenue with wire soldered to the rear ot
Darien, Conn. 06820 the eyelets. These eyelets will
take an AMP terminal (the eyelets
Beoause ot this move, and beoaus. I us. will also take IBM patoh
ot a new Job (and a new oomputer oords) •
to learn), there has been no News-
letter sinoe Number 6 in June. The SKS oard is held
to the panel with.
pieces of Bakellte,
MOUNTING CIRCUIT BOARDS as shown atl right.
Allan uses General Radio aerviee
Beoause it's seldom possible to oement. He says epoxy would no
buy used oirouit oards wlth matoh- doubt be better, but the oement
ing card oages mounting such seems to work, as no strain ls
oards is usually a problem. Espe- involved.
ci$1ly it they are IBH SKS cards,
with the oontaots broken ott. For larger (Univao) oards, Allan
bought similar panels, 4' by 5·,
Card oages are usually expensive, wi th 54 Jacks already installed,
as are printed-oirouit conneotors. and cut them down. These larger
So, unless you've got a lot ot oards are epoxled into either
money to spend, you'll probably blocks or oylinders ot Bakellte,
have to invent a mounting syst •• whioh are then sorewed to the
of your own. tront panel. Some ot the large
panels hold three cards, giving 12
flip-flops for a register.
Another mount for the SMS cards is
a l5-contact Amphenol plug (which
.
height of the rack is made use ot.
....................
Jim Haynes uses Amphenol 15-pin
Allan bought tor 5¢ each!), which connectors obtained from Junk. When
1s glued to the card. he runs out of Junk ones, the new
ones are only about 65; ,ach, in
Allan uses Dymo tape to put the lots of 100. Jlm says there's a
last tour digits ot the 37---- very inexpensive edge connector
IBM number on each panel, tor that 1s not very well known, made
identitication. by Cinch, and called (as he remem-
bers) the 257 series.
The photo a~ right on the tirst
page shows Allan's computer. The Bill Pfeiffer haa found that the
permanent stainless-steel front moat usable female oonnectors are
panel is off at the right. The the bifurcated-edge-type PO var1e-
computer operates on l2-bit words, ty, made by Cinoh-Jones, Amphenol
with a 100-word 2.D core memor,f. (series 143 and 133 for single and
double), and USC type UPCR. B11l
The mounting racks are made trom has be,n using the 22- and 44-
heavy-duty aluminum ~ oontact types, most~. Cost at sur-
One side is bent down
===-===--
shaped lilte this -+ ...... plus ranges fro. 25" on down.
to look like this ~
The aluminum is then MOUNTING INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
turned and mounted as
shown at right. By Mounting ICs ls an even bigger
grinding this part; _-.ltr----I--.L problem than mounting circuit
nearly oft, the cards boards. There are several 10 mount-
can be inserted and ing boards available commercially,
dropped into the but they cost several times the
groove to keep them pr10e of the ICs t_ey mount: $140
in place. By not for a Motorola 16-IC breadboard;
using screws, the t21 for a Camplon PC board that
oards can be slld along to obtain mounts e flat paoks permanently.
different arrangements.
Indiv1dual dual in-line sockets are
••••••••***.......... expensive, too. Augatls #314 oosts
from 40¢ to 90;, depending on quan-
Using sorews, a cheaper (but less tity. Texas Instruments has an
flexible) mount1ng system can be MPOleA sooket in 1'- and 16-Pln DIL
set up, w1th s1m1lar Bakelite styles, solder-tail and wire-wrap
panels that have holes drllled at types, for about .1.10 eaoh, or 52¢
top and bottom. The panels are in quantities ot 100-999.
screwed to a slmple horizontal
bar that is dr1lled and threaded Fred Strother has oome up with a
to receive the screwi. The bar has clever and very cheap method of
two lines of holea: one for the mount1ng flat-paolt ICs. He uses a
bottom holes of one row of panell; perforated board with 0.05" hole
the other for the top holes of the spaoing, and threads thin wires
other row. For raok mount1ng, the through the holes, in the desired
two horizontal bars at top and cirou1t arrangements. The tlat
bottom need have only one row of iaclts are then soldered to the wire
holes. Wlth this system, the full pads.' The In-line paclts have 0.1 1

Number 7 -- November 1967 2 ~NEWSLETTER

 pin spaclng, so the' tlt the same tor .40,
oonslstlng ot a slngle-
pertorated board, which is avail- s14.4~ULSnboard, a plug-ln slngle-
able trom Allied Radio (47R509 slded board, a double-slded plug-
Micro-Vectorbord, ee- I X4", ,2.92, ln board, an epoxy glass plaln
made by Vector) 100 N. Western board 500 terminal pins, a pin
Ave., Chicago, ,illinois 60680. The insertion tool, a spot tace cutter,
wire can be single strands trom design sheet, and an edge conneo-
regular stranded wire. Ot course, tor. The holes in these Vero boards
this system requires that the ~e on 0.1" centers, whereas the
lnter-circuit wiring be laid out holes ln the similar Micro-Circult
completely betorehand, and later Veroboard k1 t, tor $23, are punohed
changes are ditticult. Also, a with holes on 0.05" centers, tor
steady hand is needed tor solder- IC mounting.
lng, as the contacts are only 0.05
inch apart. This method could be
used tor breadboarding by con- INTERCONNECTIONS
necting the wire "pads' ot a sin-
gle IC (or group ot ICs) to eyelet There are, as most ot you have
panel jaoks. tound out, problems with either
tixed wiring or with plugwires.
The largest size ot Micro-Vector- Fixed wlring, ot course, is cheap-
bord is 17" x 6" smallest is 4" eat. But, as Don Fronek pOinted out
x 2". An 0.1" hoie-spaolng ls also ln ACS Newsletter 5 (page 2), when
available. Vector also makes a you have close pin spaclng, a sol-
"D.I.P. Plugboard,' with pads tor dered connection gets very messy
mounting 12 dual In-line types when yQ.u're trying to keep thlngs
wlth or without sockets. The piug- neat. The wires get burned, the
boards are pre-punohed', pre-etohed solder. slops over onto the adjacent
and pre-tinned, in an x-y matrix, pin, eto. Beoause Don tinds hlmselt
wlth parallel oopper lines runnlng changing olrcuits all the time, he
horlzontally on one side-and ver- preters solderless connectors.
tioally on the other. Pins are in-
serted where an x-to-y conneotlon On the other hand, plugwires are
is deslred. The oopper 11nes can expenslve. Sometlmes they can be
be broken with a pad-cutter, to bought surplus, such as the Hubbell
make a variety ot lnteroonneotlon~ plugs and plugwires I have. I
Conneotlons to the pln contacts at bought soae card cages that had a
the end ot the board are made a. numcer ot these:-'niature, auto-
deslred. Several types are aval1- matlc-loek1~, qulok-disconnect plugs
able and cost about 110 each. A and jacks attaohed. ~e plugs cost
simiiar x-y matrlx board tor DIL ,11.60 tor 500 it you buy them trom
cirouits, without pads, ls made by Hubbelll the eyelet panel jacka are
Vero, and sells tor .e
tor a 5" x
S" board; a slngle-slded 5" x S"
'2
tor &00. Jaoks are also avail-
able in terminal-post adapter and
board ls $5.31. sorew binding-post types, as are
crimp-termlnal connectors and plug
Vector Electronlos Co., Inc. splloes. The eyelet setting punch
1100 Flower St. ls 11.25, trom Harvey HUbbell, Ino.,
Glendale, Callt. 91201 Bridgeport, Conn. 06602. Crlmping
pllers are $2.40; minlm~' charge
Vero Electronios Inc.
176 Central Avenue Box 26
ia '5.00.
Farmlngdale, N.Y. i 1736 I,elets, by the way, are about the
ohe.pest way ot mountlng anything.
Vero has an IC breadboarding klt Drll1 holes in a plastl0 board,

--.f.i1QJiL NEWSLETTER Number 7 -- November 1967

press 1n eyelets and set them w1th Poly Paks, and Translstors Unllmited.
a PunCh and solder the 1te. to
the eye i ets.
BREADBOARDING ICS
IBK plugwlres (or patoh cordl If
you prefer) are plentlful anat are An lte. ln fteotronlo~ (page 103,
sometlmes _val1able oheapiy when a July 25 19 ) shOWI ow to bread-
punched-oard lnstallat10n ls belng board 161 by plugglng dual In-llne
changed over to a oomputer and 11 paokages directly lnto the type of
gettlng rld of all plugboards and oonneotor used al e~e connectors
w1res. !he plugboards oan be u.ed tor PC board.. The speoltled oon-
tor mountlng 01roults; the on17 neotor ls the Hughes EMS048DJOOQ,
drawbaok 11 that It'l otten hard whloh has oontact rows therlgbt
to solder to the large plugboard dlstanoe apart, and the 0.1" spac-
oontaots, and the oontaots are 10 lng that matohes the DIP lead spao-
olose to eaoh other that some lng. Plns lnserted ln the wlrlng
oan't be uled and are theretore slde at the connectors permlt oon-
waated. Be sure to get the type of nectlng the ICI to each other and
plugboard that has oontaots on It; to external olrcultl. The oost at
the se1t-oontaot1ng type ot plug- the Hughes oonneotor and plns tor
board has no oontaots on the board 5"1%ls ls about t120, whloh gets
1tse1t, and ls at l1tt1e or no use more expenllve than the 101, so
to the experlmenter. Plugboard. perhaps other, oheaper oonneotors
are sometlmes 101d by surplus oan be tound.
houses suoh as Ollen and Meanaa.
Jlm Haynes uses tlxed wlrlng, say. TAPEREAD AND TRANSPORT
plug wlrlng ln a projeot the sl&e
at hls would be lmpraotlcal. How- .A tapehead and transport assembly
ever, he notes, one type ot Clnch ls ottered by Denson Eleotronlcs
oonneotor has taper-t.~ terminals, Corp., P.O. Box 85, Rookvl11e,
so that one oould make up a sort Oonn. 06066. Made bl ITT, the as-
at seml-tlxed wlrlng, uSlnr plug- sembly ls ~. wlde (tlve assemb11es
wlres wlth the taper tab 0 lps. were mounte! slde by slde on a raok,
on slldes), 45 1 hlKb, 26' deep.
Bl11 Pteltter's p~ugwlres oost Lookl 11ke a tape-loop arrangement.
about 5¢ tor eaoh good double-plug The head has 22 traok., used wlth
type. Hls plugboard ls an IBK 22 a one-lnoh computer tape. Cost: '245.
34-hole type to the rear ot whlch
he solders his tlxed wlrlng. Seve- The Denson 1967 oatalog ls 90%
ral rows are used tor bunch1ng 01oled-olrou1t and amateur tv used
purposel. gear, some RTTY stutf. Alao a page
on lnstrumentatlon tape and a 20-
traok reoording head.
COMPUTER PC IW."V.AIHI
A one-page ltem on salvaging oom- IBK TO SILL SLT MODULES
puter PCs appeared ln POPulfi
,1eotrQnlil (page 66, Juneee). IBM has announoed that lt wl11 mar-
he maln tem disoussed ls the ket st.'!' module., whloh are the h7-
type at desolderlng lron wlth ." brld ICs used ln the 360 oomputers.
rubber auotlon bulb attaohed. Also,
tlve oompanles are 11sted as rltty diode-transistor types are
souroes ot PC boards: Arrow Sale., available, at 11 to 11.50 each;
ln Chlcago, Radio Shack, Meshna, min1mum order 25. The DTL

Number 7 -- November 1967

 modules lnolude a NAND, NAND/NOR, The devioe is intended tor communi-
flip-flop, exolusl~e OR, trans~ Qation with a maohine that has
mission-line reoeivers, line am- voloe answer-baok.
pllflers and lndioator drlvers.
SWltohlng speeds are from 700 to Produotion cost ls estimated "in
5 nanoseoonds. the .50 range." The dev10e contalns
a decade oounter pulser, two-blt
These modules are fallouts from analog-to-d1gitai converter, de-
the oomputer-grade types, and are ooder, two-frequenoy voltage-con-
oalled "industrial. grads.' Toler- trolled osolllator, a few logio
ances are about 3% wlder than for gates, and a res1stor enooder. The
oomputer-grade modules. transistor types are 2N1307 (2N404)
and 2N1306 (2N585); diodes are lN34.
Information is avlllable from IBM
Corp., Industrlal Produots Market- FAR-OUT MEMORY
lng Dept., 1000 Westohester Avenue,
White Plalns, N.Y. 10604. The S8me issue of IEEE Transact10ns
oonta1ns a short note (pp 370-371)
on an optioal-tiber memor.y, by
SHIFT REGISTERS ftltppazal ot'. Olly.ttlEOGE. The op-
tioal fiber is'·used as a delay line,
National Semiconduotor Corp., 2975 whiCh is much taster than most of
San Ysidro Way, Santa Clara, Calit. us will ever need, as a light pulse
95051, is selling a 50-b1t sh1tt travels through it at over 11 inches
register for $9.85 in lot. of 100, per nanoseoond. lut i~ !a simple.
and a 100-bit shift reg1ster for
$14.80 in 100 lots. Supply voltage
is -10 Volts, olook amplitudes are WIRELESS WORLD DIGITAL COMPUTER
16 volts. Kodel numbers are MM500
and ~502, respeot1vely. !he Brltlsh magaZine, Wireless
World, has had a tour-part artlcle
on building a small computer, in
PORTABLE ELECTRONIC KEYBOjRD FOR lts 1967 issues tor August (366-372),
COMPUTER INPUT BY TELEPHONE Sept. (416-423), Oct. (488-494) and
Nov. (543,548).
An lnterestlng artiole by the abme
name appeared in the June 1967 1IIl The WW oomputer will add, subtraot,
Transaotionl on Electronio Compu- multiply and divide. There are 28
ters (pp 33 -334), by Lewin of RCA. instruotlons: 7 tor ar1thmet1c, 9
Although tew if any of us are any- tor transter to store, 6 for trans-
where near be1ng able to use th1s ter trom store, and 6 varlous re-
type of input, the art1cle makes sets. Mult1p110at1on 1s by repeated
interesting read1ng. add1tion, wlthout shitt1ng. Two 8-
bl t numbers oan be added at slow
The devioe, wh10h 1s acoustically speed (4 seconds), high speed (3.2
ooupled to an ordinary telephone msec), or bit-by-bit.
handset, generates ooded tone se-
quenoes representing the full Input of instruotions is by toggle
ASCII oharacter set. The oharao- switohes; input of data is by push-
ters are 1nput, one at a time, by buttons; output is by neon lamps.
a stylus, touohing the symbols on
an eleotronio keyboard. The tone The prototype was built for about
sequenoes oorrespond to those in $160, without oabinet. The tran-
most Teletype-Dataphone terminals sistors were rejeo' germanium types
in typioal time-shar1ng systems • that oos' less than l4¢ eaoh (2G37l/

.Jil.QJiL NEWSLETTER Number 7 -- November 1967

 The Amateur Oomputer 8oo1e~1 11 BurrER MDORIE8 rOR aALl
open to all~o are lnterelte4
in buildlng and operat1ng a dig- ali-zuooarO haa 80mebutter memoriea
it~ computer that can at leali tor sal.. The1 are trom ColllDS Radi:>
pertormaautomatlc multlpllcation gear, and~ere made by General Cer-
and divilion , or is ot a cOIIPAr- amic. (now Indlana General) and by
able complen t1. . Teleme~er Magnetlos (now Ampex). Sal
Jor membership In the ACS, and hal three sizes~ trom 144 worde ot
a subsoription ot at least eigb.~ 4 bits eaoh to ~048 worde ot 8 bits
issues ot the Newsletter, senl each. The memorles are oomplete wlth
'3 (or a oheok) to: oore stacka, drlve eleotronios, pow-
Stephen B. GJ;'&1 er suppllel, lo.ic, eto., and with
Amateur Computer 800iet1 Amphenol Blue Ribbon oonneotors for
160 Noroton Avenu. input/output. The smalleat models
Darien Conn. 06820 talte up about 10' ot raok space,
the Rwwsietter wi~l appear about the largest take about 211.
every eight weeks.
Sal will provide ooples ot the In-
D1478, Texas Instruments). Dlodes struotlon manuala, which oontain
are 18130 types. The trolJ,t pan.l apeoa, sohematlcl, operating ,Re-
contains 53 neon lamps, with e .edure., and timing diagrams.
groups ot 8 lamps eaoh, tor three
arlthmetic registers and three The prloe per me*or1 is $200 to
storage reglsters. '300, depending on lile, plus the
ahipping chargel. Salta address is
Baslc olrouits are NOT, NOR, AND 14441 Ilmhurlt Clrcle, Huntington
(dlode-transistor), OR (dlode), Beaoh, Callt. 92&17.
oomparator and tlip-tlop. _
Sal ma1 allo know where to get 75-
A subroutine store is desoribed ips Potter mag tape handlers tor
brietly tor those 'hoae who wiah . 150-eO , It there are any lett by
to add it to the oomputer. It pro- the tlme you read thil.
vldea 64 word. ot data or instruc-
tions, usini wired-in diodes or
dlode 'pegs in a matrix program- ACS OOMPU'l'ER SCRVII
ming board, or in a stepping
switoh or a stepping drum. Wlth The next page il a questionnaire
thls store, serie. of Instruotionl for the ACS lurve1. Plea.e fill it
oould be oarrled out. out (Ikip the perlonal data it you'd
rather) and mall it In. Results ot
the I~vey wl1l be in the next News-
UNIVAC MEMOPI!' UNI! l.tter it enough are reoeived soon.
Gadgeteers Surplus Electroniol, N~ ISSUE wlll contaln, among
6300 Vine St., Cincinnatl, Ohio other thlng., comaentl b1 you on
452l7L-has one Univac memorT unit mounting oirouit. and interoon-
for 'TD. No information is avail-
able other than that the unit
neotlng them; lka' i8, lf 10U
send them to me al 800n as you
welgba 40 pounda, il Ihign denlitT finiah reading thil iSlue. And
stacked I has muffin tana, and .,Dd along 8n1 other Information,
OOlt .40,000 when neve A photo trom comments and photographs that
Ken Hanlon ahows two staok. mounted other .ACS mellberl mlght 11ke to
one above the oth,r, like a tigure read or look at.
8, attaChed to a pabel 2 teet hlgh.
Money ~k It not satilfled. OOP1right 1967 by Stephen B. Gra1

Number 7 -- Noveab.r 1967 ..Jil.QJiL NEWSLETTER

 .lOS SOMPU'l'ER SURVEY

Serial Parallel Number ot registers _ _

Transistor types _________________________________________________
Integrated-dircuit types ________________________________________
Oard types: IBM Univac Other ________________
Memory type Number ot words in mem01'1 _ __
Input Output _____________

Number ot instruotions Worl length Olook speed ____

Add speed Instruotlon length _ _ _ _ __
S,ecla1 teatures:

Estlmated oost when oomplete ____________ Oost so tar _______

Estlmated size when oomplete Present size ___________
How long working on it? Fixed __ or non-tixed __ wlring'
In planning __ , begun __ or oompleted ?
Souroe ot oirouit schematios: Selt-deslgned __ Other _ _ _ _ _ __
Souroe ot system sohematics: Selt-designed __ Other _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Any other intormation?

Name ______________
Positlon _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Compan1 ______________
Eduoatlon _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Interested in oomputers slnoe age _ _

 ~NEWSLETTER COMPUTER
SURVEY
a pUblioation of the RESULTS
AMATEUR OOMPUTER SOOIETY
Number I January 1988

ACS OOMPUTER SURVEY RESULTS Olook

Although not many AOS members sent Olook speeds inolude lOOK, l60K,
in the oomputer survey forms, 250X, 500K, and lMo, with one given
those who did are, not surprising- as 10-100K. The average is 500K.
ly, the furthest along with their
maohines. Two have finished. Serial or Parallel
Memory The situation is about equally di-
vided into thirds: one-third serial;
Most of those who answered the one-third paralle~; one-third oom-
survey are using oore memory, with binations suoh as eerial oharaoter,
sizes ranging from 4X to 20K words; parallel bit.
the majority are equally divided
between 4X and BX. Transistor Types
One member uses a delay line for A wide range here of oourse. One
memory, oontaining 512 words. uses only 2N404. Another, 2N2923 ,
Another uses a delay line (2K 2N3721, 2N27l1 (npn) planar. A
bytes), drum (BX bytes) and core third, 2N2923 t 2N2925 , 2N3906. A
memory (4X bytes); 4-bit bytes. fourth, MPS3640, MPS3648, and
2N364l in oore drivers.
For his small machine, one member
uses flip-flops for memory. Anoth- Integrated-Oirouit Types
er uses punohed paper tape, having
convinoed himself that "tape would (1) uses Fairohild RTL (67¢ FF, 36¢.
eliminate the memor,y limit.R dual 2-input gate, 36¢ buffer). (2)
Fairohild RT~ and OTpL. (3) Motor-
Input ola RTL (70dP series). (4) Motorola
and Fairohild RTL.
Teletype is the most oommon input
device. One member, however, uses Oard Types
a Flexowriter. Another uses punoh-
ed oards, keyboard, magnetio tape, None of those replying use surplus
paper tape, and keyboard switohes. IBM or Univao oards, although one
uses surplus Westinghouse RTL NOR
Output gates. Another is oon.i4ering Wyle
modules. A third designs and etohes
Again, Teletype is the most oommon his own PO oards. A fourth makes
output devioe. Others inolude a his oards from Veotor boards. A
Kleinsohmidt printer, paper tape fifth uses Ransom, SEI and Auto-
punch, IBM SelectriC typewriter, netios oards. A sixth uses Teletype
lamps, and Nixie tubes. One member etohed boards, with his own oircuits.
uses magnetio tape, paper tape,
Seleotrio typewriter, printer and Number of Instructions
lamps. And the member with the
Flexowriter also uses it for output. Generally speaking, beginning oom-
puter amateurs hope to use a large breadboarded.
number of instruotions, from 50 to
100. Those who have gotten tairly (1) Over 100 Sylvania bulbs in
well into the oonstruotion use no 8t~ip sockets will monitor the
more than between 11 and 34. The major registers, etc. CRT displays
one exoeption is a member who has planned. When completed it will be
spent $1,000 and two years on hie far more versatile than DECls
maohine, and has (or has projeoted) PDP8 line.
67 instruotions. The average num-
ber, oounting all those reported, (2) Data-word length 16-32 bits
is 44. Leaving out those over 50, (32-64 for tloating). Planning
the average is 22. modular op-code decoders (i.e.,
basic repertOire plus floating
Data-Word and Instruction Lengths arithmetic, hardware stack opera-
tions, etc.). Basic structure is
The data-word lengths speoified bus-oriented.
range from 4 to 32 bits, with the
average around 12 bits. (3) Has D/A converted output to
drive motor position. Machine has
The instruction lengths aleo range two a-bit registers, one l5-bit
from 4 to 32 bits, with an average accumulator.
ot about 12 bits also.
(4) Variable-length instructions,
Add Speed variable-length indireot address
tields.
The range of add speeds ie from
a peeo to 10 msec~ with in-betweens (5) Contents 01' memory address zero
of (1) 24 psec, (~) 216 psec, (3) and A register are swapped every
100-500 psec, depending on the . oyole (inhibited on some instruc-
length of the binary number, (4) tions). Therefore one register
a psec for one memory reterenoe, serves as acoumulator and program
but circuitry will operate in 1 counter. Memory address 1 serves
pseo, (5) 30 pseo add speed, 4 as index register.
mseo memory cycle time with a
magnetostrictive delay line, (6) (6) Double preoision arithmetio;
20 psec with one number in acc~u­ fixed and floating-point numbers;
lator, 25 pseo with both numbers link on all arithmetic registers;
in memory, (7) 32 p'sec per pair ot full oomparator; AND, OR, Exolusive
deoimal digits, (8) 1 to 10 msec. OR registers for logioal computa-
tions; data bus allows bi-direotion-
Number 01' Registers al transter between any two regi~ers.
The range of number of registers (7) Will use IBM 1620 software,
is from 2 to 11, with 3 the most moditied to use USASCII oode and
popular. One member has 2 memory, to get around unimplemented in-
2 data, 1 op code and 5 address struotions.
registers.
Cost
Special Features
As to "Cost so far, II the range is
Here are some of the special tea- trom 0 to $1500, with an average
tures reported. Not all of these (among those reporting a cost) of
features have yet been translated .650.
into hardware; some are only in
the planning stage, or partiall, For "Estimated oost when oomplete,"

Number a -- Janua.ry 1968 2 ~NEWSLETTER

the range is from $300 to "over constructlon work~ such as bUild-
$10,000. 11 with an .verage of ing PC cards. I became an Explorer
12,100. Without that If over $10,000· advisor at my company's poit to
estimate, the average is $1,100. get more hands on the project and
to torce me to get on the ball and
Wiring make some progress •••• I am golng
to debug the power supply tranSients
The large majority, over 80 per- and add a line filter. RTL has low
cent, use tixed wiring. noise immunity and my first wired-
up register is dropping and gaining
How Long Working On It? extra bits.
The range ot time spent so tar (2) Wish disks and llne printers
ranges trom "one month on the were cheaper! Fortunately, I can
present model" to 4 years, with build my own software -- assembler,
an average ot 2 years. compiler (FORTRAN and/or jtQOL)
and operating system.
§!!!.
(3) Teletype oontroller and memory
Here are some present sizes: 3- operational. Can presently trans-
toot relay rack; 6' x 7' x 18 n; fer data trom TTY to reglster to
35" x 83" x 20"; 1 work bench; memory and back. Delay-line memory
1 board complete; 30" x 36" :x: 40"; stabillty problems solved -- suo-
three 19" tive-toot racks; 38" :x: cessfully retrieved data after
60" x 12" & TTY. The "Estimated eight hours. Uslng 8&" x 17" Vec-
slze when complete" is usually torboard wlth AA pat~ern, strength-
just the same. ened by ohrome-plated angle. Dual
Inline8 mounted by alternately
Education bendlng pln pairs inward and out-
ward. Wiring directly soldered to
Most ot those responding have at lOs, using #22 wire with high-
least one technical degree, in- temperature-resistant insulation.
cluding ESEE, MEE, EA in Math,
PhD EE, ilEA and BS and working on (4) This has been an evolutionary
MS," and several student s. process without a fixed idea of
exactly what the final product
Because the great majority ot would be. Now I have outrun myself
those sending in the survey have in some ways. For example, I know
teohnical degrees, and because how to get back and torth trom
those who sent it in are among memory to TTY. Also, how to add
those who have advanoed the most blnary numbers. I don't know how
with their computers, it seems to turn TTY charaoters into binary
that laok ot a technical eduoation numbers in any ai.p1e manner. I
is holding back many ACS members would appreCiate any olues you
from pushing ahead with their mlght have on the subject. (ANY
machines, or perhaps trom just MEMBERS ABLE TO HELP HttN ON THIS?)
getting started. Unllke amateur
radiO, there Just isn't enough Interested in Computers Slnoe •••
circult-level information avail-
able on how to build computers. Those who put down a date gave:
1951, 1955, 1957, 1965. Those who
Other Information put down an age gave: 13, 14, 15,
18, 20, 21. Those who gave the
(1) Presently supervising 5 Explor- number ot years gave 3, 3, 9 and
er scouts who are doing much of the 1'1. years.

~NEWSLETTER Number 8 -- January 1968

COMPLETED COMPUTERS Clook speed is 160 Xc. There are
18 instructions, 4 bits long.
Only two ACS members have reported
being anywhere near completing Speo1al features: one's complement
their oomputers: adder with end-around carry. Over-
flow and oarry designators are
ECHO-4 stored in upper two bits of Program
counter (location 0 of oore memory).
Jim Sutherland's ECHO-4 computer, Interrupt automatically stores P
reported briefly in ACS Newsletter and takes next instruction from
6, is 7 feet long! 1, feet deep specified SAVE routine entry. Using
and 6 feet high. t took Jim a l5-pps syno derived from real-time
year to build it and will take 10 clook. One index register, and
years to program. He says the CPU also indireot addreSSing, can be
is complete, but the input/output specitied by setting flags in
system is still growing. the instruction word.
ECHO-4 uses 2N404 transistors and Input: alphanumeric keyboard, six
RTL NOR logic elements. The NOR control keyboards, a-channel paper
gates were used in process oontrol tape reader, 15 interrupts, 75
systems built by Westinghouse contaet closures.
about 8 to 10 years ago and were
declared scrap. They are mounted Output: Kleinschmidt printer, 60
on etohed oirouit boards with 35- oontaot olosures, a-channel paper
pin Elco oonneotors. A total ot tape punoh, 4 digital clocks.
120 boards were used in the entire
system (input/output oontrol! Interconneotions are wire-wrapped.
arithmetic units) but only lb
types of boards were used, so spare By the way, ECHO stands for Eleo-
boards do not take up muoh room. tronic Computing Home Operator.
The memory unit, an Ampex 4096-RQ- EL-65
30A, oame from an obsolete procels
oontrol computer. Memory oyole is Hans Ellenberger, who lives in
6 usee, but sinoe the NORs require Switzerland, worked a year on his
from 1 to 3 useo to switch, the computer and finished it in 1965.
add time sutters (add speed is 216 A small desk-top machine, looking
)1sec) • a little like a Wang oaloulator
with a separate keyboard, EL-65
Between instruction aocesse8, the has a keyboard input and Nixie-
memory is available as a refreshing tube readout. Size is 40 by 40
butter tor a CRT display, whioh is by 20 centimeters.
planned but not built yet.
A serial-type computer, EL-65 has
Jim says a story about ECHO-4 is 3 registerl, 30 words in flip-flop
tentatively soheduled tor the April memory, and 15 instructions. The
1968 issue of pOfular Mechani~. transistors are A0122 (Ar inp ger-
He says it doesn t go into mu manium) Ilbecause of price.
oonstruction detail, "but the pio-
tures should be interesting.' Addition and subtraotion times are
1/50 second. The longest multipli-
ECHO-4 has 4 flip-flop registers, oation and division times require
and three (p, A and X) in core 1.3 seoond's. In addition to these
memory. There are 8,1~2 words in four basic funotions, EL-65 oan
core memory, each 15 bits long. alao perform negative multiplioa-

Number 8 -- January 1968 4 ~NEWSLETTER

tion, and aooumulate produots. eaoh of the MC724P (quad, two-input)
and MC7l5P (dual, three-input) NANDI
The cost ot materials alone was NOR gates. And seven transistors.
1500 SWiss tranos, whioh is about
$345. Hans tried to market his An interesting ooinoidence is the
oomputer, oalling it "der erste appearanoe by the same author of
Schweizer Pul t-Elektronenreohner,," n an Electronios article (Jan. 22,
meaning the tirst Swiss desk-top pp 74-76), IiFor low cost, count
eleotronio oaloulator. But the on RTL," which oompares the $12
sales price ot 6000 sr (.1380) deoade with a $10 digital display
seems to have put it beyond t~e that uses a milliameter with a
means ot most SWiss and also it speoial scale, calibrated from 0
may have been too muoh of a novel~ to 9, and a biquinary 1-2-2-4 oode.
ty on the market. As Hans notes,
"It seems almost impossible for an The authors aays in his last para-
amateur to build a oomputer that graph that the in-line oounter is
oan oompete with oommeroial ma- superior in readability, but the
eh1nes. (The Amateur who oan do meter design is cheaper and smaller.
that would be, betore long, em-
ployed by a oomputer oompany.)" Basic Digital IC Cirouits
Hans is working on a new model, Over a dozen simple digital oir-
with 16 registers, using Philips cuits are given in "30 Basic IC
LTC oores, and ICs by Fairohild ProJects," in Radlo-Electronics
(RTL epoxy), TI and Philips. (Jan. 1968, pp 50-53). This second
part of a two-part article uses
the Fairchild pL9l4 as the basis
MAGAZINE ARTICLES tor inverters, pulse-enabling and
d1sabling gates, NOR/NAND and ORI
Low-Cost Counters AND gates, square-wave generators,
one-shot, Schmitt tr1gger, flip-
The February Popular Eleotronios flop, and others. All that's need-
oontains a oonstruotion artiole ed is a 914 and a few resistors
(pp 27-32) on a deoimal oounter and capaCitors, plus d10des for
with readout, which the magazine the generator.
believes to be a prioe break-
through, as the deoade oosts only The artiole on the following pages
$12, oomplete with oounter, dri- (pp 54, 55, 62) describes how to
vers and ten lamps. Parts are "Build a Low-Cost IC Signal Gene-
available from a Texas company at rator," with the same p.L914, to
$12 a deoa4e inoluding a PC boar~ provide square waves from 5 ops
A power-suppiy sohematio is given. to 50 Ko.
The maximum rate is 10 Mo, althou~
the unit has been used up to 18 Mo. The first part of the Ie artiole
appeared in the Deoember 1967
Later issues will feature items issue (pp 43-45), and oovered the
based on the oounter: an "Eleo- bas1c desoript1on of the pL914
tronio Stop Watoh," which is an giv1ng cirouits for linear appii-
EPUT (events per unit time) ooun- oations suoh as emitter followers
ter; a digital voltmeter; digital and amplifiers.
multimeteri and a frequency coun-
ter. Wireless World Digital Computer
The ICs used are all Motorola: two The four-part artiole on building
MC79aP dual JK flip-tlops, and one a small oomputer, desoribed in the

~NEWSLETTER Number 8 -- January 1968

 The Amateur Computer Society i8 BREADBOARDING INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
open to all who are interested
in building and operating a dlg- Wade White says he breadboards in-
ital computer that oan at least line lOs with a board that holds
perform automatio multlplioation 16 ot the 14-pin packs, from J.R.
and division, or is ot a oompar- Anderson Enterprises, Inc. 3691
able oomplexity. Lee Road, Cleveland Ohio 44120.
For membership in the ACS, &&4 The boardl type MC- i , costs $4.85
a subscription ot at least eight tor 1-9, ,4.60 for 10-24, and
issues ot the Newsletter, send $4.26 tor 25-49.
$3 (or a check) to:
Stephen B. Gray No holes are drilled in the board.
Amateur Computer Sooiety The components are soldered to the
260 Noroton Avenue top, for easy removal or Change.
Darien, Conn. 06820 Size is 3/32" x 8-5/8" x 5-49/64".
The Newsletter will appear about
every eight weeks. For permanent mounting of 12 of
the 14- or l6-pin ICs, Wade uses
previous Newsletter, has a titth an M-96003-PG board trom Dyna
part now, oompleting the series. Sales Co., 9621 S. Atlantic Blvd.,
The Deoember Wireless World (pp Los Angeles, Calif. 90022. Phone
601-605) covers the operation of (213) 268-1175, ask for Milt Hol-
the machine, with coding examples. lingsworth.
Uslng Miniature Relaya? For TO-5 and flat-pack lOs, use
board M-96002-PG. The boards have
An interesting compariaon ot major holes drilled tor mounting compo-
oharacteristios ot miniature re- nents, and pins to tit a 22-con-
lays appeared in a new-product tact conne.ctor CAmphenol series
item in the January 8 Eleotronics 143). The connector costs about
(pp 171-172). Comparisons are made $1.55 new, but can be bought sur-
between crystal-case relays, mer- plus tor much less.
cury-wetted and dry reed relays,
and solid-state switohing devices. Prioe for either board is $6.95,
Eaoh of the tour types is said to with a diacount of 5% for 5-14,
provide certain advantages. "It 10% for 15 or more.
speed is needed more than ilola-
tion, solid-state switches should Wade also notes that the Vero 10
be used. When cost is the prime board kit listed in Newsletter 7
factor and high isolation is also at $40, is available from Dyna
required, the reed rel., is the Sales for $29.95, as item MO-10.
best ohoioe." The new produot is a
line of dry reed relays, made by NEXT ISSUE
Hi-G Inc. (Windsor Locks, Conn.)
whioh sell tor about $2, oompar~d It any ot you who have gotten
with about $8 tor solid-state into the construction of your
switohes. maohines fairly well would like
to write up your experiences tor
Would you believe a relay in a TO- the Newsletter, several pages
5 transistor can? They're descri- are available for the gory de-
bed in the January EEE (pp 20 & tails. Tell Us all about your
24). Not cheap, though; over $20. problems! solutions, discover-
ies, tai urea, oomponents, and
your future plans.
Oopyright 1968 by Stephen B. Gr8J

Number 8 -- January 1968 ..JilQJiL NEWSLrl'TER

 .Jil.QJSL NEWSLETTER
a publication ot the
AMATEUR COMPUTER SOCIETY
Number 9 May 1968

HORE ACS COMPUTER SURVEY RESULTS nature of baslc bullding blocks is

changlng at a rapid rate; many oom-
Several survey torms were received mercial designs are proprietary;
too late to be included in the there does not eXist 40 years ot
last issue. Here is the data: computer design historr to draw
upon. H
1. From Long Island: a deoimal,
variable-word-length computer, 2. From a Harvard sophomore: 200-10
with sottware similar to that ot maohine, with l3-bi t words, and
the IBM 1620. Will make extensive lnstruotions two words long. Tele-
use ot read-only storage to hold type (Model 19) input/output in-
micro-programs by which regular oludes paper tape. Memory 1s Honey-
maohine instructions w1ll be 1m- well TC-M30, SKwords. Add speed
plemented. The deoimal add and 20 psec. Slx registers.
mult1ply tables w1ll also be stor-
ed 1n read-only memory. Hopes are Built with Motorola ?OOP series of
that the "1620 Model III" will be lOs, and npn s1l1con translstors
about 25% taster than the 1620 Hod trom IBM SMS boards.
II and w1ll have its oomplete 1n-
struct10n repertoire (about 60). "Although there are well over 150
instruotions, only around 16 are
Main memory so tar oon si st s ot 201 basic. The others oome about as
decimal d1gits (10K X 12 b1ts), follows:
with lO-psec cycle t1me, us1ng
straight IBM circuit~and semicon- a) Eaoh baslc instruct10n may use
duotors mounted on PC boards ot a llteral operand, or an lndireot
own design. operandi e.g., ADDl 50 means add
the oontents of address 50 to the
There are tour two-d1g1t data reg- A.O, whereas ADD2 50 means add the
1sters and 32 memory address reg- number 1 tselt.
isters (high-speed core).
b) Each basic instruotion has 5
"My only consolation 1n attempting oonditional variations. For example,
to improve on the IBM 1620 is that in addition to the conventional OLA,
1t my maohine doesn't work right, we have
at least I know that I have soft-
ware that will." OLA on AC • 0
CLA on AC less than 0
"It should be emphas1zed that the CLA on AC greater than 0
popular analogy between the ama- CLA on overfiow
teur computer bullder and a radio CLA on least order bit ot AC.
ham is slmply not valid. The com-
plexity ot even a small oomputer These are, ot oourse,the convent1onal
outweighS~ b at leas~ an order ot transter condit1ons. I tound that
magn1tude ten tlmesJ the design they oould be lmplemented tor the
eftort nec ssary to oonstruct an entire instruotion set with almost
amateur transmitter. This ls doubly no additional hardware: three bits
compounded by the faot that: the ot the OP oode, wh10h compr1ses 13
bits, are devoted just tor this is less than 5 pseo. Over 100 in-
purpose. Just before the exeoution structlons.
ot any instruotion, the oontrol
oheoks whether or not the oondi- "The majority of the logic will be
tion is satisfied; if not, the in- oore-d10de, whioh 1s slow in some
struotion is skipped. (This is one respects, but has great flexibility,
of the advantages of a long op reliabi~ity and power saVings."
oode: oertain bits may be devoted
to speoifio funotions.)"
DO-IT-YOURSELF PROBLEMS
"Here are some ideas I found use-
ful in my design. Firstly, 1f oore A one-page item on the advantage
is used, one oan k1ll two b1rds of buying digital modules instead
wlth one stone by us1ng the seleo- of building them appears on page
tion matrlx deooder as the 1nstruo- 42 of the April EEE. It points out
tion interpretation deooder; if some dandy l1ttle problems, in-
the memory seleotion deooder were oluding:
for a 4K (12 x 12) memory plane,
then one 12-bit deooder oould be 1. After final assembly, noise is
used to hold the op oode, while found in the baok-panel wiring and
the other could generate the the noise amplitude is greater
timing signals." than the noise rejection of the
oircuitry.
"The soheme of making every in-
struotion oonditional extends the 2. Fower-supply speos prove in-
effeotive lnstruotion set, and 1s adequate.
oheap to implement. Conditional
instruotions make the set much 3. Signal reflections appear on
more powerful." back-panel wiring and interoabinet
cabling. Unplanned signal delays
"The oheapest SMS oards are sold Violate timing requirements.
by Brooks. Radio in NYC (Brooks
Radio & TV Corp., 487 Columbus 4. Logic-output current drives are
Ave., New York, N.Y. 10024). They too low to charge and disoharge
sell at 100 oards for $10. There parasitio capaoitances fast enough
are an average of 4 translstors to meet oloak-speed requirements.
per oard, ln ad~tion to other When fan-outs are reduced to oom-
goodies. pensate for charge and disoharge
times, the number of logio oircuits
"Someone should design parallel- must be increased, necessitating
serial and vice-versa oonverters redesign.
for TTY from integrated cirouits;
that's one thing a goodly port10n
of ACS members oould use. The oon- COMPUTER HARDWARE
verters oould be standardized to
the point where the ACS oould manu- IC Breadboard
facture pre-drilled PC boards.-
Cambion has announced an IC bread-
3. From Callfornia: another 200-Ko board for 16, 32 or 64 of the 14-
machine, but with 36-b1t words, lead DIP ICs. Although too expen-
and instruotion lengths the same sive for amateur use, it oan be
as the IBM 7090. Input/output: adapted by anJone with enough pa-
Teletype, paper and magnetio tape. tience to set 14 small eyelets
Also X-Y reoorder for output. for each IC, plus 14 larger eye-
lets just outside the smaller ones,
Memory 1s 3D oore, 32K. Add speed and connected to them, for jumpers •
Number 9 -- May 1968 2 ..JAl.QJiL NEWSLETTER
For a look-see at the pattern, see Photo-Transistor
Page 112 of the March m. Fred Strother calls our attention
l024-Bit Memory on a Chip to the General Electric L14B photo-
translstor, whlch GE calls a planar
A 1024-bit MOS read-only memory is slllcon photo-darlington ampllfier,
now available from Philco-Ford's as well as an Eoonomy Light Deteo-
ll1croelectronics division accord- tor.
in6 to Electronics (Feb. i9, page
45). The memory array consists of Priced at 97¢ ln lots at 100-199,
128 eight-bit words on a chip, on this high-sensitivity device is
which is also the decoding cir- desoribed by GE as having appli-
cuitry, using 216 more MOS tran- cations in oard and tape readers.
s1 stars. Fred says it makes a fine inter-
fa ca.
Once a customer has paid the ini-
tial $750 tooling charge for the For many applioations, only the
coating and etching required tor oollector and emitter leads are
his particular interconnection used. A base lead is prOVided to
needs, the chip will be available oontrol sensitivity and the gain
to anyone for the chip price alone, of the device. The L14B is pack-
which will be about $70 1n small aged ln clear epoxy encapsulant.
quantities, and $50 in larger
quantities. Packaging Hardware
A 2048-bit memory is in the works. Wade White sent a catalog of pack-
The read-only memory has applica- aging hardware (Bulletin 10000B)
tlons in subroutine storage, and sent from:
table-lookup operations such as
sine and code conversion. Plug-In Instrument" Ino.
1416 Lebanon Road
Adder on A Chip Nashville, Tenn. 37210
An article by this tltle, subtitled An interesting variety of hardware.
"LSI helps reduce cOst ot small Plug-in cans with transistor cir-
machine, II apl?eared in the March 18 cuit blanks, from $3.45 up_ Two
Electronics (pp 119-124). dozen models of plug-1n blanks,
such as a board that will accomo-
This 8-bit integrated MOS arith- date s1x l4-pin flat-packs, for
metic, measuring 86 by 116 mlls $2.60 without drilled holes, or
and containing 200 gates, will be $6.55 with. Several types of card-
introduced by Fairchild Semicon- mounting files, and various other
ductor as the 3800. On one chip hardware.
is an input register, an adder-
subtracter, accumulator register,
and output buffer. No price given. PUBLICATIONS
Electronio Pocket Calculator Digital Design Aid
Hayakawa Electric hopes to lntro- A method of designlng the detailed
duce an 8-dlglt Ie pocket calou- logic of a digital system is given
lator this tall. It wlll use minia- in "Flow Chart Methods of Logio
ture Dlgltron readout tubes 1 clr- Design" in the February Computer
cuits with about 250 e1emenvs on a Design (,p 72-75). It shows how to
chip, total of 8 to 10 chips, and make a flow chart from the ba.io
cost about $280, Eleotronics says. considerations, then develop the
~NEWSLETTER 3 Number 9 -- 14ay 1968
ohart up to the point where it oan that the logarlthms to the base 2
be used for derlvlng equations for of blnary lntegers may be derived
the logio. approxlmately by a simple shltt
reglster and a counter. This oan
The author says thls method helps be extended to deal with non-
keep traok of all the dlfferent integral numbers as .hown 1n the
sequenoes of operation, and mlni- following example:
mizes redundanoy_ Caloulate log2 13.625
Binary 13.625 • 1101.101
Understanding Logio Count number of d1gits to the left
of blnary point commenclng from
"Eleotronio D1g1tal Components and zero and write this as the charac-
Clrcuits," by R.K. Riohards (D. terlstl0. Ignore most significant
Van Nostrand Co., 526 pp, $15), blt ot original number and place
explalns how varlous oomponents remalnder of number to r1ght ot
and olrcuits work. It gives the binary polnt as the mantissa. Thus
advantages and disadvantages of
the major deslgns, provides alter-
=
1082 1101.101 11.101101.
Tnis result 1s an approXimat10n
nate approaches, and compares the and technlques are available to
merits of diodes, transistors, reduce the error involved."
tunnel dlodes and super-oondaoting
devices. Amond the topios lnoluded The reference to M1tchell ls h1s
are speedup capacltors, DTL compo- artlcle, -Oomputer .ultiplloat1on
nents and tunctions, oore struo- and div1sion using binary loga-
tures and accessing methods, film- rithms," 1n the August 1962 IEEE
storage units, magnetio drums, Computer Transaotions, page 512.
disos, tapes, oards, and varlous
switchlng methods. A Computer in the Basement?
Binary Logarithms A four-page artiole w1th this
t1tle appeared in the April 1968
In the March 1968 issue of the issue of Popular Meohanics (pp 77-
Brltlsh Computer Bulletin (pp 282- 79, 209, 229), desorlb1ng the ECHO
285) ls an artlcle on "Some App11- oomputer built by ACS member Jlm
oatlons of Controlled Shift Regls- Sutherland, and desoribed ln News-
ters." No c1rcults; theory only. letter 8 (page 4).
The author shews how to oontrol ECHO IV will be used tor tamily
shift registers in such a w$J that bookkeeping, by keeping track ot
they perform multipllcation~ divi- monthly budgets and expenditures,
slon, and oode converslon. ~he so that when tax time oomes, de-
prooess lnvolves varlous oombina- ductions oan be identif1ed and
tions of shittlng, adding (or sub- grouped to s1mplify fllling out
trao'lng)Jl and shift1ng" and the tax forms.
shlttlng wlthout adding {or sub-
traotlng). ECHO will also be programmed to
keep traok of real t1me, so that
One paragraph about b1nary-loga- events oan be soheduled up to a
~ converters may be of lnterest year ahead, with one-second aoou-
to several who have lnqulred about racy. It oould be used in the kitoh-
the prooess involved: en, to inorease or decrease pro-
portions fOr reoipea, and prlnt
"The use of logar1thml0 oomputatlon out shopping lists. Jlm plans to
eases the extraotion of powers and mod1ty the kitohen cab1nets to
roots and simpllfies multiplioa'loD allow ECHO to take inventory auto-
and divlsion. Mltohell has shown maticalll.
Number 9 -- May 1968 4
ECHO has been connected to the TV 30 or 40. In some cables, the wire
.et for eventually regulating une insulation is solid-color, with
schedule ot watching. It may also the same 10 color. as used for re-
be used to control the house tem- aisistor coding. Other cables con-
perature, by tirst querying the tain parti-oolored wire., which
weather instruments outside, then have a body ot one oolor, and
adjusting temperature and humidity stripe. of another, every inoh or
inside the house. so, in several dozen oombinations.
What Will You Do With Your Computer'
MINIMUM KEYBOARD
Even if some ot the planned use.
tor ECHO don't prove praotioal, ror those of you interested in a
Jim Sutherland has obviously minimum input keyboard, IBM has an
thought a good deal about what to "Experimental Home Caloulator" that
do With a oomputer onoe it's built. uses a l2-button telephone attaoh-
mente At present, the pushbutton
And that's a question that a great attaohement is oonneoted to the
many ot us may not have given much telephones ot six Brooklyn high-
thought to. What kind ot problems sohool students who do their math
will we run on our maohines? Matrix homework on an f BM 1710 oomputer
inversion? Hardly. But just what' 50" miles away, in Yorktown Heignts,
One non-member is using his tor N.Y. The oomputer's output is voice
stock-market analysis. It may turn answerbaok, from"a magnetio-drum
out that finding uses for our com- prereoorded vocabulary. It a mis-
puters will be even harder than take is made in entering the prob-
building them. Unless you've got lem, the oomputer's voioe tells
your own business, there isn't the student he's made an error.
much you'll want to program in the
way of business applications. And There are several versions of the
you'd soon get tired of most of touch-tone ooding; here is one:
the scientific types of programs,
it you have no real use tor the
output.
It you've done any hard thinking
about what to do with your oom-
puter when it's finished, let's
hear about it.

HOOKUP WIRE
The telephone cempany uses a
multi-conductor cable that is per-
feot for amateur oomputer wiring.
The next time teleppones are being
installed where you work, try to
get some of the short lengths ot
cable that are thrown away. Some
ot these "short" pieces are 20
feet long, and not worth splicing.
The mathematioal operations are
Some cables contain only a dozen programmed by.:
of these solid l8-gage Wires, in
twisted pairs; some cables contain ADD press + only
~NEWSLETTER 5 Number 9 -- May 1968
The Amateur Oomputer Society i8 Next best is GE RTV-30, with a
open to all who are interested lower modulus. At,one time you
in building and operating a dig- oould get samples of both of
ital oomputer that oan at least these silicones with a letterhead.
perform automatic multiplioation Perhaps you still oan from the
and d1vision, or is of a oompar- GE Silicone Produots Dept., Water-
able oompleXity. ford, N. Y.
For membership ln the ACS, and
a subsoription of at least eight Several plastios are available for
issues ot the Newsletter, send pouring into the mold, to make the
$3 (or a oheck) to: holder. A good one ls Shell Epon
Stephen B. Gray Resin 828, whioh ls mlxed with
Amateur Oomputer Sooiety Epon Curing Agent V-40, with a
860 Noroton Avenue minlmum of trouble. The result is
Darien Oonn. 06820 . an amber-oolored plastic. For
The Newsietter will appear about minimum light loss, the plastio
every elght weeks. can be oolored black by mixing in
some carbon black before pouring;
SUB press 9 and • other oolors oou~d also be used.
MOLT 4 and • You might try your local Shell
DIV plastios dealer for a sample, by
7 and • using a oompany letterhead.
SQ RT 5 and •
END MESSAGE * and •
MINUS o and * Pour-your-own plastlcs might also
OLEAR + and ** be a oheap way to make segmented
readouts, either 7-segment for
For example, to multip~y 2 times numerio, or up to 14 or more seg-
8, press 2 4 * 8 * ., and listen ments for alphanumerio. You oould
for the answer. pour black plastic around long
Luoite strips arranged in the 8eg-
Pressing VERIFY INPUT wl11 make mented pattern, then out the fini-
the oomputer repeat the entry, by Shed bar into slioes and make ano-
voioe answerbaok. ther mold for a lamp holder that
ohannels the light to the individ-
ual segments. Or you oould mold
PLASTIOS the entire segmented display
as one piece, Luoite strips and
There are times when you may want lamp-holder all together.
to mount lamps a oertain way, suoh
as in a minimum-spaoe decade, and
the kind of mounting hardware you HELP!
want is too expensive or it just
doesn't exist. One soiution is to Your assistanoe is needed to help
make the lamp-holder yourselt, fill these pages. Please send me;
using some ot,the modern plastics 1. Answers to any of the problems
that cure at room temperature. in the early Newsletters.
2. Details of your oomputer, in-
First, make a model ot the holder, cluding pro~lems and solutions.
from plastic or wood. Then make a 3. Ideas about what you intend
mold of it, usin~ something like doing with your oomputer when
General ElectricTs ~V-41 sill- it I s finished. What progl'amS
cone plastic. This is reoommended, are you going to run'
as it has a "high modulus at elas-
tioity," meanlng that it's easy to
separate from the original model. Copyright 1968 b, Stephen B. Gray

Number 9 -- May 1968 e ~NEWSLETTER

 ..JAlQ.JSL NEWSLETTER
a publication ot the
AMATEUR COMPUTER SOOIETY
Number 10 August 1968

THE PDP-S ROUTE come a non-voting member of the

soc1ety. Interested persons might
Fred Sias likes the Digital Equip- approach their local DEC sales
ment Corporat1on's PDP-8/S comput- representatlve. User-developed
er enough to borrow a lot of ideas assemblers, statistical packages,
from it. He wr1tes: arithmetic subroutines, and spe-
Cial software tor peripheral de-
nIt is a little diff1cult for me vices is available to any member.
to see a computer sitting around For instance, I just recently ob-
do1ng noth1ng. There are plenty of tained a sottware symbol generator
chances to use a machine to teach for displaying text on an oscillo-
h1ghschoolers. A number of PDP-SiS soope. Text output by this route
are in use for this purpose alrea- is very inexpensive. Keyboard in-
dy. I think there 1s opportunity put and soope output is probably
to develop low-cost inventory sys- the most inexpensive I/O system
tems for small businesses. These for an amateur computer.
ideas are in the line of income-
producing sidelines, but computer I'd like to present some ot the
time is valuable and anyone w1th a features of the PDP-8 series ot
machine Should be able to produce computers that make them worth
income w1th it. A particularly looking at for ideas for amateur
frultful area should be 1n soft- construction. Should I eventually
ware development. At the present construct a machineL it w11l start
state of technology, practlcally out looking like a ~DP-8/S and may
any company with an engineer or eventually be changed to a PDP-8.
two can market a computer. Soft- The difference is that the 8/S is
ware support is the costly and a serial machine. That ls, all
time-consuming requirement for transfer between registers is done
success in the computer bUsiness, through the adder, bit by b1t. A
however. This suggests that , serial adder has much less logio
amateur-built machines could pro- than a full parallel adder. Oon-
Vide support to the vast software sequently the 'oomplete PDP-SiS
needs of the computer 1ndustr1. To has the follow1ng complement ot
do this, an amateur machlne would logio:
only need the same order structure
as some commonly used commerclal 92 flip-flops
machine. There are over 2 LOOO ma- 2 clock multivlbrators
ch1nes in use of the PDP-c, 8, 8/8 2 one-shot delays
and 8/1 series. These machines vary 52 pulse amplifiers
cons1derably, but share a common 161 inverters
order structure. 160 NAND gates
62 diode gates
The software problem is a two-way 70 drivers for d1splays
street, also. DEOUS 1s a users' 1 Schmitt trlgger
society for DEC machines that pro- 14K, 12-bit memory, and de-
vides a medium for the exchange ot coding and driVing loglc.
programs and ldeas. Probably an
amateur computer builder could be- The commero1al unit uses a 6-micro-
second parallel core memory even Early maoh1nes requ1red large word
though the rest of the mach1ne 1s size due to the slowness of memory
ser1al. Data 1s transferred 1nto acoess.
the memory buffer register serial-'
ly and then 1nto the memory in The PDP-8 has only e1ght basio 1n-
parallel. Oonsequently, two sepa- struot1ons, but the set can be ex-
rate clocks are needed, and run panded to a hundred or more by
independently, depending on the m1cro-programming the operate and
phase of the word timing. Inciden- input/output 1nstructions. This
tally, I understand the orig1nal permits one to use a simple ootal
des1gn of the PDP-8/S was to use decoder for decoding 1nstructions.
a drum or disc, but the cost of
core memories dropped so rad10ally Bas10 1nput/output transfer on the
that the maohine was marketed w1th PDP-8 is v1a the aooumulator. Trans-
a core memory. That core is avail- fer is in parallel, both for the
able from DEO for $2000. Applioa- standard and serial maohines. A
tion notes and driving logic are party-line bus system is used, with
ava11able, too. each peripheral device recognizing
its own m1croprogrammed dev10e-
It I were starting to build a ma- seleot oode. The logio to do this
chine from surplus parts, I think is s1mple , with the oommeroial
I would choose the PDP-8 instruc- dev10e-seleot logic oost1ng only
tion set, construot the serial about $50. This is one of the
logio w1th a disc memory first, s1mplest input/output systems that
later convert to a parallel core I have seen, and 1t 1s thoroughly
memory, and finally convert to desoribed in the DEO "Small Com-
full parallel logic. Even using puter Handbook," ava1lable free
serial logio, the slaw vers10n has from any DEO salesman. I endorse
a respeotab1e 28 to 54-miorosecond this handbook as a l1beral educa-
operat1on time. tion in computer design.
Some other features of the PDP-8 Do you think there would be any
are worth mentioning. Th~ maohine interest 1n approaoh1ng DEO about
has a l2-bit word size. Where ana- supplying a basio kit for amateur
log devioes are to be attaohed to oonstruotion of a version of the
the maohine 12 b1ts is a natural 8/S oomputer'
preois10n. A-to-D oonverters are
usually 12 or less bits in preo1- ,The parallel-to-ser1al oonversion
s10n (for a number of reasons) and devioe mentioned in your last news-
a resolut10n of 1 part 1n 4096 1s letter is ava1lable from DEC for
more than adequate for dev10es .150. I reoommend the free DEO
like soope displays. Multi-preoi- "Log10 Handbook" as a seoond
sion ar1thmetio SOftware, both liberal eduoation.
f1xed-point and float1ng-point, is
readily available, so a longer Inoidentally, one does not need a
word length is unneoessary for separate devioe for parallel-to-
anyone exoept a professional oom- serial oonversion. One merely
puter person who has a requ1ement needs to sh1ft the data word out
demand1ng h1gher-speed multi- of the aooumulator, testing the
prec1s10n arithmetiC. In support link bit 'eaoh sh1ft, and outputting
of th1s statement, one might note a pulse 1f a one is present in the
that the IBM 360 series equ1pment link bit. ("The link is a l-bit
has turned to the small basio word flip-flop reg1ster attaohed to the
s1ze with multiple-byte memory aooumulator, and 1s used primarily
acoess1ng to gain speed. in oaloulations 1n which 12 bits

Number 10 -- August 1968 2 --.fIl.QlSL NEWSLETTER '

are not enough to represent the OR, O. BP, H, N, M to represent
numbers involved," according to the ootal numbers 0 through 7.
the Small Computer Handbook.) See Larger b1nary numbers can then be
an article by Park and Ohkuma in assembled by shifting in the accu-
the Fall 1967 DECOS Proceedings. mulator in the standard way. A
The article, by the way, describes hardware Baudot-to-octal conversion
a magnet1c-tape system using an matrix could be constructed fairly
ordinary unaltered audio-tape easily, but onoe h1s computer oan
transport for recording digital execute a few simple instructions,
data. Cost of the interface is a table look-up program is simple
about $200, using commercial logic to write and won't use up much
modules. This is one of the clev- memory. Output to the TTY would be
erest designs that I have seen for via table look-up also. Only the 8
a digital magnetio-tape system at numbers in the octal number system
minimum oost. need be converted, since text
would be stored as is, and an
Perhaps I have over-sold the v1r- assembler could be constructed by
tues of the PDP-8 ser1es of ma- merely changing the symbol table
chines, but I think they have a definitions to Baudot, it his 1n-
number of minimum-cost design fea- struotion set matohes some com-
tures that would benefit an ama- merclal oomputer sold by a helpful
teur who does not have special salesman.
reasons for using other, possibly
more complicated, approaches. Several months ago I noticed IBM
1620 oore staoks and drlvers
Here are a few hardware 1deas. For available for around $200. It hap-
a oontrol panel: Drill holes for pens that the 1620 accesses 12
all register indicator bits. Cover blts per memory cycle, even though
the whole panel with solid trans- lt ls a deCimal machlne. That ls,
luoent plastic, with decals for the memory ls a 101, l2-bit word
labels. Insert lamps in holes in slze, and two BCD characters are
back of panel with only wires for aooessed each memory cyole. Per-
connections to a backup mother feot oore for a l2-bit machlne.
board. Take a look at the PDp-sis The PDP-8/S uses a l3-bit core,
to see result. but the parity bit ls really un-
neoessary since the machine COmes
We use strands from telephone ca- to a screechlng halt if a sense
bles in our wirewrap tool. The 'amplifler goes out and the machine
$5O-or-so hand wirewrap tool from starts getting inoorrect parlty.
Gardner-Denver (Part. No. l4H-1C The 13th bit is probably a carry-
with No. 26263 bit and No. 18840 over from lts serial-memory ances-
sleeve) is well worth the expense. try. The 1620 memory has a 20-
Wire wrapping is a fantast10 lm- microsecond oyole time, wh1ch re-
provement over soldering conneo- sulted in a relatlvely slow deci-
tions. An unwrapplng tool for 110 mal maohine, but would provide re-
makes changing conneotions very speotable speed 1n a binary con-
simple. I would suggest that these figurat10n. Converting the deood-
are essential lnvestments to ease ing and core-driving 10g1c mlght
much future pain. require some ingenuity.
The ACS member with the TTY code- Where one has some money to spend,
conversion problem undoubtedly has I h1ghly reoommend the new Tektro-
a five-level Baudot oode instead nix,storage scope d1splay Type 601
of ASCII. The simplest procedure at $1050. I have just oonstructed
for 1nput would be to re-label T, an inexpensive interface, and find

..Jil.QJSL NEWSLETTER 3 Number 10 -- August 1968

it a Joy to get text output on the DEC reoently announoed the PDP-8/L,
soope instead of waiting for the a stripped-down model ot the PDP-B.
slow TTY to pound out results. The interfacing oirouits have been
Analog displays with a 35-_ oam- removed, and only a TTY can be used
era for permanent reoords make for I/O. The memory is 41, with a
this a very general-purpose inter- maximum of 8IC. Price is $8500, or
faoe. $1500 less than the PDP-e.
Have thought about getting oheap As to a PDP-B/S kit, DEC says that
logic oards. Of course, IBM SMS there is the question of their re-
oards are readily available, but sponsability to the kit buyer.
the oonnector is usually cut off. What happens if he can I t make the
(Does anyone know where to get in- kit work? Does he ship it baok to
taot SMS cards') Anyway, out SMS the manufacturer, like a Heathkit,
oards probably oould be most easi- and get it tixed up for a price'
ly used by oementing on a short Also, if the back panel is fur-
extension with an etohed male PC nished pre-wired, how can the kit
conneotor. ~or a oheaper way, see oost much below the assembled and
page 1 of tpe November 1967 ACe tested price, beoause there isnit
NewsletterJ A silk-soreen outfit much to the assembly. And it the
trom your local art store is baok-panel weren't pre-wired, how
cheaper than the kit from Allied. long would it take a man to go
Silk-screened and etched oonnect- orazy trying to wire it all him-
ors for dozens of SMS oards could self' DEC says the only praotioal
be made in a few hours. place for a kit is the power sup-
ply, whioh is handwired.
This has been a rather rambling
letter, but perhaps there are some
ideas that will be of use to ACS HEATH MODULAR DIGITAL SYSTEMS
members. I will be pleased to com-
munioate with anyone who has cho- Speaking of Heath, if anybody has
sen to use the PDP-e instruotion been patiently waiting for Heath
set and has programming ,or inter- to come out with a reasonably
facing problems." priced oomputer kit -- forget it.
Fred R. Sias, Jr. Recent Heath Company ads show the
University of Miss. Med. Ctr. new 805 Universal Digital Instru-
School of Medicine 'ment , which can be used as a fre-
Department of Medicine quenoy meter, events oounter, di-
Division of Neurology gital voltmeter, time interval me-
2500 North State Street ter, etc. The same ads ahow the
Jaokson 6, Mississippi BOI Digital Analog System Modules,
whioh inolude a power module, bi-
••• • ••• •• • •••• nary information module (10 neon
lamps, 8 SPDT switohes 2 SPDT
Fred also sent along a short piece spring-return SWitches), timing
of paper tape to show why he chose module (0.1 cps to 10 ICo), and
those partioular keys to be re- plug-in circuit cards (NANDs, dual
labeled: JK fliP-flOPs, dual one-shot, re-
lay card, eto •
•••• •••• The B05 sells for $940 without the
••••
YNHSOCT
digital voltmeter function!. $1250
with it, assembled. The 80 sells
P R for $435 with a fixed set of 13

Number 10 -- August 1968 4 .JAl9JSL NEWSLETTER

 circuit cards. Other cards may be shift registers are ot the dynamio
bought, at .10 to .40 each. Note t1pe, whioh require a continuous
that this is not a kit. two-phase olook at a minimum ot
10 10. This means that it the reg-
The 801 is for breadboarding oir- ister is used to store data tor
ouits , . using patoh-wires that plug future use, one must keep track ot
into ~e special oonnector boards where it is in the oontinuous loop
on top of eaoh card, whioh uses by an assooiated oounter. I have
TTL integrated oircuits. done this, and have found that it
loses no data if the power supp11
At these prices, whatever more is adequately tiltered. National
sophistioated digital oirouits also makes a dual 100-bit (200-
Heath mAJ'.offer in the future will bit) dynamic shitt register which
be quite expensive. sells tor $36 in single quantities;
part number MM506.'
MOUNTING DIL ICS InCidentally, Ungar now has an IC
desoldering tip, No. 859, designed
Don Tarbell writes: to "remove ICs rapidl{ without
causing delamination. The desold-
"I noticed some members are having erer melts all 16 solder pads at
trouble mounting dual in-line pack- the terminals simultaneously. Ihe
ages. A friend and I have gone to- device is designed tor use with
gether to form a small oompany the Ungar 47.-watt heat unlt L No.
whioh, among other things, manu- 4045 Whloh fits the 777 or 776
factures a board for mounting the handie •. The Lafayette Radl0 price
DIP's. You push the IC into the tor the desoldering tlp is 11.65;
board from one side and solder to for the heat unit, .2.97.
pads on the other side. There are
two extra pads (also with holes)
for interconnection to each pin. WIRE-WRAP AND TERMI-POINT
I use small telephone wire for in-
-terconneotion and find ·that a .For more information on tool-
wire may easi i y be soldered and applied terminations, suoh as the
unsoldered many times without litt- wire-wrap discussed by Fred Slas
ing a pad. A whole IC may be un- earlier in this lssue, see the
soldered by wicking the pads and February 1968 lEE article, 'Paok-
prying it out , although I have '&ging/.lnterconnectlons, Part 1:
found this not often necessary.' Tool~Applied Terminations,· pages
66 through 74 •.
For a spec sheet on these IC
breadboards, write:
BOOKS AND ARTICLES
Advanced Digital Design
P.O. Box 4409 "How to BUild a Working Dlgital
HuntSVille, Alabama 35802 Computer,' by Alcosser, Philllps
and Wolk, H~den Book 00., N.Y.,
The boards hold 32 of the l4-pin 175 pages, $3.75.
DIL ICs, cOst .8 each.
The blurb on the back cover notes
Don continues: "In reference to that the book ·shows the reader
Newsletter Number 7 (November how to construot a working model
1967), page 5, SHIFT REGISTERS of ~ d1g1tal computer, using slm-
(by National Semiconductor), I ple, inexpensive components.· The
wish to warn members that these six bas1c units are "encoder,

.JilQJiL NEWSLETTIR 6 Number. 10 -- August 1969

The Amateur Oomputer Soclety ls most signitloant bit ohanges 10 0,
open to all who are lnterested at whlch poln1 the total number ot
ln bulldlng and operatlng a dlg- addltions to the oomplement is the
ltal computer that can at least square root.
perform automatlc multlpllcatlon
and dlvision, or is of a oompar- UNUSED LEADS
able complex1ty.
For membership ln the ACS I and Q&A trom the UTest Your IC IQ'
a subscrlption ot at least eight page in Electronl0 Design (page
issues ot the Newsletter, send 198, March 14, 1968):
$3 (or a oheck) to:
Stephen B. Gray Is there a rule ot thumb to help
Amateur Oomputer Soo1ety us decide what to do wlth "extra'
260 Noroton Avenue leads on diglta1 lOs'
Darien, Oonn. 06820
The Newsletter will appear about What is done with unused leads
every eight weeks or so. often depends on the partioular
circuit app1ioation. In general,
arithmetic unlt, oontrol panel, lt ls safe to leave unused output
drum memory, oore memory, and leads open. Unused input leads,
decoder.' on the other hand, should be tied
to ground or some other potential
The blurb is misleading, but the polnt to prevent parasltic tran-
oomputer, although manual~v oper- sistor action or leakage under any
ated, ls quite lngenious. The possible signal oombination. The
oore memor,y is really a read-only best potential point to use will
memory made of paper ollps, bent depend upon the circuit geometr,y,
to torm swltches. The drum is also and ln most oases will be apparent
read-only, made of a large julce trom the clroult schematlc, whlch
oan and 29 paper olips that make oan be obtained from the manufao-
oontaot with the drum through turer.
holes out in graph paper wrapped
around the oan. The drum contalns 10 SOCKETS
the program steps, using 26-bit
instructlon words. An § survey on "Sookets for In-
t egrat ed Circul t It·" appears ln the
The arithmetio unit oonsists of July 1968 issue (pp 56, 58, 60,
39 DPDT switches and 5 SPST ones; ,61), and dlscusses packaging sock-
the Appendix shows how you oan ets, test sockets, oontaot prob-
bulld your own swltches with lems and dielectric materials.
paper cllps and dowels.
APPLICATIon NOTES
This book may be of interest it
you're working with a grade-sohool The latest Applioation Note Cata-
group or perhaps even a high- log from Motorola, dated April
sohool bunoh that's low on tunds. 1968,11sts 43 on diglta1 circuits.
Some are of little amateur inter-
SQUARE BOOT est, such as on 10 rellablllty,
but most glve worthwhl1e design
IC's Generate Instant SQuar, Root, into, suoh as 'Deslgning Integrat-
(EDN, Maroh 1968, pp 26, 29. , by ed Serial Counters,l or are acout
Graham of Falrohi1d, gives a nloe partiou1ar Motorola digltal lOs.
olrouit tor square root: To the
10's complement ot the number is
added 1, 3, 5, 7 •••••• , until the Copyright 1968 by Stephen B. Gray

Number 10 -- August 1968 6 -1il.QJSL NEWSLE'l"l'ER

 ~NEWSLETTER
LAST I SSUE OF
a publloatlon of the THIS SERIES
AMATEUR COMPUTER SOCIETY
Number 11 December 1968

IT'S SUBSCRIPTION RENEWAL TIME machines; others are in families

of oards used in only one computer
The money has flnally run out, and or group of computers, suoh as the
so thls ls the last lssue ln thls 1400 series.
serles of ACS Newsletters. For a
new subscrlption, please send ln There is no list of code numbers
$3.00 ($3.50 lf you 11ve ln Italy, and oorresponding oirouit types
Japan or Swltzerland). for these cards, acoording to IBM.
The tabs are broken off beoause
If your name ls Fronek, Gantner, they are gold-plated, and Federal
Gruner, Hanson, Harrold, Haynes, law requires that the gold be re-
Pfeiffer, Sundstrom, Van Ornum, covered, even though there is only
Young or Zucoaro, you don't need a few oents' worth on eaoh board.
to send any more money now, as
you're already paid up, by virtue
of previous contrlbutions. SAVE THE MOSFET a
As of this issue, there are 91 ACS Walk across a rug, touoh an un-
members, in 27 states and 5 ooun- mounted MOSFET, and it's shot.
tries. I hope most of you will con- Even less electrostatio potential
tinue to be members, because the than that is enough to destroy a
more of you there are, the more MOa field-effect transistor. To
issues there will be in the new get around this problem, some ven-
series of Newsletters. dors ship MOSFETs with the leads
solaered together, or shorted with
Along with your renewal cheoks, a pieoe of metal foil.
please send me a few words about
what you intend to do with your That's fine until you're ready to
computer when it's finished. mount the transistor in a oirouit.
But When you separate the leads
One of the first Newsletters in for assembly, you oan wreck the
the new series will be a roundup transistor by building up statio
of the basic circuits used in ACS charges.
computers. So, if you buy ICs,
please let me know in your renewal Page 66 of the Deo, EEE shows how
letter what make and types you use
for lamp drivers, memory drivers,
some NAsA engineers usea loop of
flexible nickel wire, attached to
flip-flops and gates. If you build a music-wire spring, whioh is '
your own, please send sohematics slipped over the transistor oase
of these oircuits. and then around all the transistor
leads, shorting them together and
allowing them to be handled with-
IBM SMS CAF.DS out damage to the transistor. The
device is removed after the tran-
According to IBM Industrial Prod- sistor is soldered into a oircuit.
ucts, there are about 3800 differ- If there's enough space, it can be
ent SMS circuit cards. Some of the removed and used again, but the w.tre
cards are used in several pre-360 can be cut and replaoed if necessar.Y.
AN XS3 OOMPUTER The instruction set at this time
is: 0,1,2,3,41 5,6,71 8,9, ADD, SUB-
Don Tarbell, who was last mention- TRACT, ENT MUL.T, MUL.T I STORE, RE-
ed in the August 1968 Newsletter CALL, SHIFT, STOP, SHIFT IF POSI-
(page 5) writes that his computer TIVE I RESUME, COpy INPUT I RUN
uses the excess-3 code, and its 4 PRINT OUTPUT. '
registers are each 5 digits by 4
bits. Olook speed is 10 Ko at this Following is a solution Don had
time, but will probably be speeded for the problem of filtering five
up to 100 Ko or 1 Mc later on. He inputs that were full of oontaot
is using mainly the Motorola bounce from buttons or tape reader.
MO?OOP line of ICs.
Don's computer at this time oon-
slsts of the prooessor, a Teletype
tape reader, TTY tape punoh/print-
er, Western Unlon page printer,
and two oode-oonversion boxes. It
has add, subtraot and hardware a
multlply, and will soon have a
hardware divide. He oan run prog-
rams from the paper-tape reader
or from a magnetio-tape recorder.
A 4K memory will soon be added to
the system. OR Gat~~~ Sohmitt
rigger
His sources of hardware are Allied
Radio, Airwork Gulf, Lafayette
Radio, Ampex Computer Produots,
1vestern Union, and friends. All An Input ~
the sohematios came from his own
design, or from fragmentary Filtered ~
souroes.
Here is a block dlagram of Don's After Trig.~
oomputer; most of the llnes are Output (on 1----
actuallY several wires, and most the proper .
of the junctlon pOints are 4-l1ne flip-flop) - - . . . . I
dlgltal switches:
Page Buttons;:! Tape
Printer I+- \Reader
'-- Entry Register
Temp. Storage (Right-Left)
r-" Register (5 x 4)
t 4-l Repeater I--H-
Control
Unit
t
Instruction
, Re~ister
XS3
Serial
Adder
f-

Deooder r'" Aocumulator

Number 11 -- Deoember 1968 2 ~NEWSLETTER

Don says his present problems are: The new policy came about because
(I) Find suitable drivers and of a junk dealer in Boulder, Colo-
sense amplifiers for a memory that rado, to whom IBM was selling worn-
requires 190-ma drive ourrent and out tape drives. The first models
has min. 30 mv output to 200 ohms. sold were old tube model s II not
(2) Understand how present-day worth muoh to anyone." Newer mod-
computer compilers and assemblers els, such as the 727 and 2400, be-
perform translation funotions. gan appearing, and salvage hunters
(3) Find equal and plus signs had a field day, at 25 to 30 cents
for his printer. a pound. Competition soon sent the
prices up to 35 or 50 cents. But
then some people began using the
P-S AND S-P CONVERTERS FOR TTY surplus parts in supposedly new
equipment, even selling some of it
Back in the May 1968 ACS New'slet- back to IBM. IBM doesnTt want old
ter, a member noted that someone parts sold to the public; they
should design parallel-serial and carry its label and "might compro-
vice-versa converters f~r TTY from mise IBM's image."
ICs, and which he believes a "good
numer of ACS members could use." t(hether the new policy is country-
wide, or applies only to tape
Jim Haynes writes that there are drives, is not knOOl at +his moment.
two suoh items in existence. One
is a set of boards for 5-level TTY
intended for amateur radio use for CRT NUMERIC CHARACTER G~~ERATOR
selective calling, and produoed by
Harold Quinn of St. Louis. But Jim For those interested in CRT dis-
didn't have Quinn's address at the play, Fairchild Semiconductor has
time. The other item is a Teletype a seven-segment numeric character
aend-receive converter that uses generator that is a MOS/LSI cir-
ICs ••\nother ACS member, who is cuit with 150 gates on a chip.
'-Ii th Teletype, says the only card
that seems to be applicable is one The.3250 DIP accepts four-bit
used as the sending distributor on binary-coded words, and generates
Lhe Model 37. However, "it would four deflection pulses synchronized
be difficult to get these cards, with a serial train of video pulses
since production at present is that subsequently control the CRT
needed for sets being built." The beam. About 550 characters (the 10
card uses 21 ICs, three of which numerals and a few special symbols)
are Motorola MC853Pdual JK flip- can be displayed at a 60-cycle re-
flops, or equivalents made by ITT fresher rate.
or Fairchild.
The 3250 DIP sells for $60 each in
quantities of 1-24, operating at
SCRAP IBM EQUIPMENT -55 0 C to +85 0 C. A limited-range
unit (OOC to +70 0 C) sells for $42,
According to a special section on in quantities of 1-24.
"Computer Trends" in the Dec. 9
issue (pages 44-45) of Electrpnic
Ne~, IBM now has a policy which NEW FREE BOOK FROM DEC
says that, as of July 16, 1968,
no scrap will be sold whose souroe A new 425-page book, "Introduction
of origin is IB¥. The policy is to Programming," is available free
said to be that such parts will be from DEC as the latest in their
junked and melted down for salvage. Small Computer Handbook Series. It

~NEWSLETTER 3 Number 11 -- December 1968

is oriented toward the PDP-8 fam- resist-ink solvent; and one 1/16-
ily of oomputers, of whioh over inoh drill bit. The kit is paoked
3500 are in operation. in an aory1io box whioh serves as
a developing tray. Costs $5.95
Single oopies may be obtained free from Injeotorall Electronios Corp.,
by writing Dept. P, Digital Equip- 4 North Road., Great Neok, NY 11024
ment Corp., 146 Main St., Maynard,
Mass. 01754.
ONE REASON FOR BUILDING A COY~UTER

S-P CONVERSION FOR TTY One of the newest ACS members has
an unusual reason for wanting to
Don Tarbell, noting that someone build a oomputer. Some years ago
was looking for oirouits to oon- he had oerebral meningitis. Among
vert from Teletype to their oom- other things, the aooompanying
puter, eno1osed a oirouit he uses fever damaged his memory oonsider-
for serial-to-parallel conversion ably, both in the ability to re-
from his Teletype tape reader. The member things, and the memories
capacitors in the schematic oppo- that were already in it, back to
site may need to be adjusted some- when he was 11. As he puts it;
what, depending on the transistors
used and the frequency desired. "Since I had never previously had
His unit runs at 60 words a minute. much difficulty remembering things,
it took quite a while for the new
Don says the best IC sense ampli- oondition to be reoognized. The
fier hels seen yet is Texas In- trouble masked itself, as it were,
struments' SN7525N. This dual in- sinoe I oou1dn't keep in mind the
line package has two sense ampli- faot that I oou1dn't remember
fiers in it, and costs about $13 things. Eventually I simply learned
in single quantities. He has test- it .. II
ed some samples, and they work OK.
liThe first solution was to keep a
When he gets his memory hooked in- jour.nal of my aotivities and oopies
to the oomputer, Don intends to of everything I wrote (letters,
work on three software paokages: orders, eto.}. This worked for a
(1) A simple version of Fortran. while (10 years), but now I'm being
(2) A oompiler for solVing spe- driven out of the house by the
oial math problems suoh as higher mountains of aooumu1ated paperwork.
order equations, differential I am similarly obliged to keep all
equations, and many simultaneous bills, reoepts, oanoeled checks,
equations. etc., for years baok. Simply find-
(3) An English conversational ing the stuff is becoming a problem. II
program to solve logical questions
depending on previous input state- "So the second solution 1s to put
ment s. 1t all on mag tape and let a oom-
puter keep track of it. Obviously,
suoh a oomputer will be more
PRINTED CIRCUIT KIT business-type than soientifio. (Of
oourse, if it can do math prOblems
Kit #500 oontains PC boards and as well, so much the better.)
all ohemioals and supplied needed
to manufaoture printed oirouits. liMy real problem, of oourse, is the
Eaoh kit oontains two PC boards, oomputer's enormous complexity,
4-3/4 by 3-3/4 inches; a resist- with many different things going on
ink pen; one 6-oz bottle of simultaneously. A poor memory is
Number 11 -- Deoember 1968 4 ~NEWSLETTER
 NOTES
P~~LEL OUTPUTS A- MC790P I - MC?89P
B - MC790P J - MC799P
5 4 3 2 1 C- MC790P K - MC724P
z .. D- MC790P L - MC?24P
~
j 4
E - MC725P
til
t-t
~
t-3

~ SERIAL
INPUT
&
lett 6ft 9~O l2fr4l3 1~2 Be sure input is as
clean as possible. I
used a mercury-wetted
relay and then an in-
verter with a capaci-
1 = MARK J-3 tor for filtering.

1 ~tt1ru
..
C
A
4 C
A
r
B 3
4 C~
For manual reset, con-
nect 14 to SPST button
14 to +3.6 volts.
~12 tID 1 .fi2 2
+3.6v
I
01 14 ~. • , • I I." 10K pot
(RESET ~L------+---------t and cap-
acitors
3 may be
adjusted
z for pro-
s:: per fre-
~
(1)
quencY' •
'1
......
......
(4) 2.N708

I!~
t1
(1)
o
(1)

g. l [112131451
14
--'LJLJLJ~
(1)
'1
......
to
Ol
(l)
obviously a great handioap here. Moorestown, N.J. 08057.
While I concentrate on what's go-
ing on in one area, the aotivity Tlie Digi-Probe model 1210 uses ICs,
elsewhere escapes from me. For operates from a 6-volt 76-ma source,
this reason, I am obliged, much and has red and green indicator
more than most people, to depend lights lito allow non-technical per-
on circuit diagrams. The diagram sonnel to perform most digital oir-
serves as a memory and I can ouit production-line ohecks with
switch my attention back and forth the probe, in lieu of a scope."
without any part getting away."
A second suoh probe is marketed by
IIBut all the oomputers I have had Automated Control Teohnology, 3452
anything to do with, have been far Kenneth Dr., Palo Alto, Cal. 94303.
too big to get onto one cirouit A lamp at the end of the probe will
diagram, or even several, and I light for logic 1 (+2.0 to +6.0 V),
still get lost in the pages and and remain off for logio 0 (zero to
pages of oirouitry. However, it 0.8 V). High input impedanoe pre-
seems possible that the type of vents upsetting flip-flops and one-
limited-soope, single-purpose shots.
computer I have in mind might be
encompassed in only a few drawings Hewlett-Paokard has a logic probe
that I could eventually comprehend. with a lamp at the tip that flashes
for 0.1 seoond for a positive
IISorne of the computer's functions pulse, goes out for momentar~ly for
might be of some use once it is a negative pulse, turns on low for
built (such as listing), but there a pulse train, burns brightly for
might also be things I could do a high logio state, and turns off
right now that haven't occured to for a low logic state.
me. I will appreciate anything
anyone can do." Overload proteotion is from -50 to
+200 V continuous; 120 V AC for 10
Any suggestions? ge has 30 reels seo. Input impedance is 10 kohms.
of one-inch instrumentation tape,
two 120Kb core mewories from the Pulses as short as 30 nseo will
IBM 1620, a 32Kb core memory, and oause a flash. Price of the HP
some 4Kb frames. 10625A Logio Probe is $95.
The probes are all small: the Digi-
THREE LOGIC PROBES Probe is 1" x 1i" x 2~", with the
probe extend1ng.1-3/4~ beyond the
Within several weeks of each other, o~se. Weight 1s 2i ounoes.
three logic probes were put on the
market. Because ACS members may be
interested in debugging digital REMEMBER TO RENEW
Circuits without having to use a
scope, details of the three probes If you'd like to subscribe to Volume II
are given here. Is there an ACS of the !OS Newsletter, please send a
memper who will design us a probe check or money order for 83.00 to:
u.ing the best features of all 31
Stephen B. Gray
A hand-held probe for deteoting Amateur Computer Society
the presence and polarity of digi- 260 Noroton Avenue
tal pulses as fast as 26 nsec is Darien, Conn. 06820
available at $89 from Pulse Moni-
tors, Inc., 361 New Albany Road, Copyright 1968 by Stephen B. Gray

Number 11 -- December 1968 6 ~NEWSLETTER

 ~NnSLETTlCR ·
Volume II, Number 1 FIRS'!' I SSUI: or
(Serial Issue 12) a publicatlon of the VOLUME TWO
April, 1969 .AMATEUR COMPUTER SOCIETY

HERE WE GO AGAIN partlcular shltt r.glst.r to func-

tion ls not the major stumbllng
Enough mon.y has finally b ••n s.nt block; lnt.grating the system ls
in to guarantee publloatlon of at the problem. Now lo.e more specl-
least .ight lssues of Volume II ot flo comments.
the ACS Newsletter.
In past lssues of the Newsletter,
aome rather lngenloua lnstruction
A LETTER OF COMMENT sets have been devlled whlch .ith.r
almplity hardwar., d.codlng, or
Along with his check, Allyn !oth- subsequent programming. It should
man wrltes that he 'thought he be borne ln mind, however, that
might add some comments and obser- the use of an instruction set
vatlons oonoerning the ACS News- whioh is already impl.m.nted on a
letter and members' aotlvitl ••• • oommerolal machine meana a great
What he adds is qulte construotlv., reduction in problems wlth soft-
ware whloh would then be readily
'Let me pretace my remarks by aV.liable. Re.ember that co_eroial
statlng that I can't h.lp gettlng manufacturers alao look for in-
the impresslon that many members atruotion .eta which tend to opti-
are havlng conslderable trouble mlze both hardware and loftware,
with their maohines mainly because and many machines have instructlons
they don't seem to be aware ot the worth oopylng. If youlv. n.ver
huge work etfort involved. Commer- writt.n an aasambl.r or rortran
clal computer manufaoturerl .xpend compiler, don't just laugh lt off
tens ot thousands ot manhour. de- as an .a., proJ.ot; it may w.ll
signing their produots, and wlth tat. you long.r than to bul1d the
all th.lr .nglneerlng tal.nt, com- maohin. ltself. Coming up with a
puter alded d.sign, etc., they n.w, unique instruotlon set may b.
stl11 have probl.ml! I thlnk that a thrilllng idea, but g.tting
for anyone without advanoed teoh- someone elaell instructlon s.t to
nioal train1ng, knowledge about funotlon with your hardware ls no
(or .ven acoe •• to) oomputers and small feat .ither.
programming, d•• igning a comput.r
may prove lmposslble altogether. Th. r.port on the PDP/S ln lssue
Thls leaves! ln ord.r of d.creas- 110 of the Newsl.tter was most In-
ing ditticu ty, improving on the formative. As to the feaslbl11ty
design ot an .xist1ng computer" of a PnP/8 k1 t, you laugh.d off
oopying an existing computer, or the pOIslb111ty of havlng to do
dep.nding on some type of oomputer the back pan.l Wirlng yours.lf al
kit. I allo think that, ln g.n.ral, b.ing an invltatlon to inlanity.
m.mb.rs ought to conoentrat. aore It s •••• to me that this ls what
on technique organl zatl on , and amateur oomput.r bul1ding is all
planning lnstead ot diddling around abo.t (th. wlring and the lnsanl ty ), •
a fllp-flop at a time and oonlld- rarthermore, I thlnk that some im-
erlng the soldering ot an IC lnto portant pOintl w.r. al ••• d ln the
a olrcuit a 'real' aooompllahment dlleulalon. Th. lmpllcatlon wal
as tar as the progrel. of th.ir that a kit would oontaln the stand-
maohine is oonoerned. A comput.r ard DEO olroui t boards and oompo-
is oonslderably more than the sum n.nts. The lavlngs ln COlt would
ot all its hardware. Getting a oertainly not accrue tram the ama-
teur merely oomp1eting the baok- also attempting to simulate my en-
panel wiring for a bunoh ot com~ tire micro-instruction sequences
mercia1 (and expensive) cirouit tor my read-only memory on a com-
boards. The list of logical com- puter to make sure that the ma-
ponents which was provided was im- chinels logic will really work. By
pressively small. Implementing the time I start plugging in actu-
this logic with, say Fairchild al components, I want my only prob-
Micrologic would mean: lem to be nOise, not logic organi-
a) a real money saving--1ike you zation. Anyone in the electronic
would be talking about a few design business, as any computer
hundred dollars for all the builder must be to some extent,
ICs required, would much rather substitute a few
b) a large savin8 in space, minutes ot computer button-pushing
sinoe the PDP/SS, small for hours of slide-rule pushi~.
enough as it is, is still not With all due respect (honest!),
an I C machine; anyone who would have his home-
c) not merely copying an exist- built machine control his house's
ing maohine, but turning a heating system is insulting his
good seoond-generation one own creation. When I have programs
into an improved third- which will enable my machine to
generation model. completely design its successor,
then I will wonder what to do with
I think that the PDP/SS is an ex- it (including whether or not to
cellent machine to either improve pull its plug out in a hurry to be
or consider as a basis tor a kit. on the safe side). Software devel-
While on the subject of kits, I opment alone ought to keep most of
will also add that the concept ot our machines pretty busy.
a modularly expandable kit is com-
pletely unfeasible Since, again, A few odds and ends now. I am seri-
it does not solve the major prob- ously dabbling with the idea of a
lem, which is system integration; PDP/SS kit, since the logic for
not just implementing a particular the machine is rather simp1e~ and
register. For those who do not thousands of PDP/St s are being
have the background or the test used in industry for data collec-
equipment to design their machine, tion and process control, and they
just the logic schematic ot a all use the same software. Someday
small computer consisting of a few it might serve as a Useful auxil-
hundred cheap ICs would be more iary oomputer tor my main CPU, but
than a start. Provide a tew cir- it still is a very "spare" time
cuit boards, and there's a kit. projeot. It anyone else is inter-
The PDP/SS is small, serial, and este4 in pursuing thiS, it might
slow, but I think that none of us be fun; it certainly will be eas-
would mind having one, tiniShed, ier than anything else anyone is
working, and usable tor whatever buildinl.
limited capabilities it would hav,
Members may find the following
As for the question of "what to do manual very useful: "A Pocket Guide
with your machine when it is coa- to Hew1ett-Paokard Computers,'
pleted,n I would like to state available from H-P, 395 Page Mill
that it I had no u.,'in mind for Road, Palo Alto, Calit. 94306. It
it, I wouldn't be wasting my time containa detailed hardware desorip-
trying to build one. First of all, tions ot the H-P seriea of amall
I am already using a computer to computers (detailed 10gioa1 orsan1-
help me with both my logic design s.'ton, that is), as well as com-
and my circuit-board layout. I am plete specitications for H-P Ass em-

Vol. II, 10. 1 -- April 1969 2 .Ji1.Q.JSL NEWSLETTER

bly language, fortran, and Basic, Amperex has no more copies ot
programming techniques, algorithms, "Bulld Your Teaohlng Oomputer Vl'h
etc. Well worth the $3.00 they're M.E.L. Subassemblles,' mentloned
asking for it. I am interested in ln an early Newsletter. Although
obtaining any information that is there were requests tor the book-
available on CR! displays. Are any let (whlch Amperex bought trom
members working on them? A kit tor M.E.L. in England), nobody waa
one of those wouldn't be a bad buying the subassembll.s.
idea. They can be built cheaply.
What I'm trying to do now i8 to OURRENT MAGAZINE ART! OLES
get a oomputer to design my oom-
puter. It doesn't aeem to be aaT- Qulte a few magazine articles ot
ing tlme, but lt sure does aave lnterest to ACS members have come
energy, not to mentlon hardware. I out lately.
•••••••• Customer Engineerlng Ollnlq
Inoldentally, DEO now manufaotures for some months now, EDN has been
the PDP-a/S only on order, wlth a runnlng a department by thls name,
4-month lead time. As a DEC sale.- presentlng problems that cuatomer
man put lt, liThe 8/L ls cheaper englneers have had, and showlng
and does more than the 8/S.' how to solve them. So far, most ot
the problema have been wlth dlgi-
tal lOs. Examples of problems are
OOMPUTER SOHEMATIOS? "One-Shot Clrcults Driven from Deo-
ade Oounter Glve Multlple Pullea,'
A quiok check wlth half a dozen IC (Feb. 1, 1969, p 59-60'; IS-Blt
manufacturers (Motorola, Signetlcs, Serlal Reg1ster Shlfts Unpredio-
Amperex, Natlonal, TI and Falr- tably (Apr. 15, 1969, pp 73-74).
ohild) showed that not one ot them
haa a demonstration IC computer of Power Supplies
any slze, and thus no schematlcs
for any suoh machine. A dellgn artlole, 'Power Suppllel
for Solld-Stat. 01rcu1ts -- a
For one reason, these IC manufac- Qu1ck Method for Deslgnera ln a
turers don't have CPU designers. Hurry," appears ln the Apr1l 15,
The oomputer manufacturers deslgn 1969 EDN (pp 61-68).
their own circults, often with
oomputer-aided deslgn that ls be- Unlv.r.al FrequIQoy OOunter
yond the means of IC makers.
The most amb1tloul dlgltal oon-
Signetics says the most they do is structlon articl. Popular Elegtron-
try a llttle component-count re- 12A will probably ever prlnt waa
duction. In a couple ot years, given 1n two parts (Mar. 1969, pp
Signetlcs intends to market LSI 33-47; Apr. 1969, pp 41-45).
bullding blocks, about 6 inohes
square, with a complete subsystem As 1s often the caa. with PEt a
on each so that a oomputer could kit of parts (26 lOs, 43 transls-
be buil' by connecting several to- tor., 14 dlodes, eto.) is ava1l-
gether. But rlght now Slgnetlcl i8 able; thla runs to over $200, tor
concentrating on brlnging out KSI a 2-Mo oounter, t1Plcal acouraoy
oircuits, to keep up with the com- of O.l~.
petitlon.
The deoimal counting units are not

~NEWSLET!ER Vol. II, No.1 -- Aprll 1969

described in either article, but This v.ry brl.t oircuit-de,ign it ••
only 1R the Winter 1969 edition ot
Eleotronic Experimenter I I Handbook.
1s ln the Jan. 1969 m (pp 115-6),
and .how. how tc use the two halv ••
ot a 914 10 to 'int.rt~ce with many
Segmented Digital Readout ditterent type. ot logiC, both
positive and negative.'
Also in Popular Electronici (reb.
1969, pp 43-49) is a construotion Tutorial 1
artiole on the Dialco 7-segment
readout, "Third-Generation DCO.· "Slngle building block prove. logi-
The artlcle shows how to UI. the cal cholce tor custom lOs" (Iltl-
Dialoo segment.d display pan.l tronios, Apr. 28, 1969, pp ee-9~)
($5.4S) with an 10 decade count.r contains good tutorial intormatlon
and decoder (kit at parts, 113.50), on logic. It is part ot a study
and how to make a similar segment- made by NOR to "d.termine lome of
ed display panel yourlelt. the oharaoteristics desir.d in the
design ot the 10 uled ln the 11ngle
Program Loadin; bul1d1ng b100k tor its Oenturl Oom-
puter lerles. 1
"Read-Only Xe.or,y Loadl Proce.s
Oomputer," by Marcon and Rosbo- Tutorlal 2
rough (Oontrol Engine.rinc, reb.
1969, pp S9-9l), shows how on. 'A Prim.r on Priorlty Interrupt
group ot users solved the probl.m SYSt ••8," bl Van G.lder and England
ot setting the initiating cod. bl ot SDS (Q,ntrol Engine.ring, Mar.
buildlng a read-only memorl (ROM) 1969, pp 101-10i), i. an excellent
to enter the read-in mode (RIM) tutorlal, with tour logic diagrams,
instructions into a PDP-S, or a/s. to Ihow interrupt hardware.
You probably arenlt in a pOlition DelV Lln.
to really need this ROM, but the
details are interesting, and "Ultralonlc d.lay llne needs no
"readers are invited to contact power suPp11," (1119t£lnl, Dellen,
the authors tor more detail." Aug. 15, 1965, pp 31- 32 , Ihow.
a "-p••o 'elay 11ne ullng a seven-
Solid-State Optoelectronics 11 '89 lnoh glass rod drlven by an r-f
osoll1ator, dellgned bl an AIG-
Want to know more about phototran- Telefunken .nglneer.
sistors, laser arr81s and photo
SORs? Read the speclal report with D.,lgn Aid
the above name in JaR (reb. 15,
1969, pp 49-64), available as a "Bond Graihs tor De.lgning Loglc
reprint. Clrcult., by Irigman ot Batt.lle
Output Oircuits
l
(008fro Enlln.er~ reb. 1968,
pp-9 ), give. an interestlng
and •• emingly u•• rn1 graphloal
'Whlch Output Cirouitry Should You method for d•• lgnlng logic circuits.
Use" (lEE, reb. 1969, pp 6S-7l),
discussel brietly tive t1Pes ot How to D,lV
output oircuits: resistor pull-up;
complementary; totem-pole; diode- • 5 Wa;r s to D.lay- a Signal," by
clamped tote. pole; and tranlil- Bauer ot Dlgital DeYices (Qpnirol
tor-clamped totem pole. IQglD!eriPg, Aprll 1968, pp 9 -9'),
brief 1 discu •••• magnetostrlctlv.
Unlversal Digltal Intertace del8J 11ne., toraional delay 11nea,
Vol. II, No. 1 -- April 1969 .Jl1.QIiL NEWSLETTER
glass and quartz del81 linea, die- The probe vi11 telt, in or out ot
tributed and lumped-constant trans- oirouit .1..'. IRTL lOs snch A. the )101;0-
mission lines, and mechanical me- rola M0700P and the Fairchild
thode (tape loops, ete.). ~L900 series.'

No Bounce Logio Probe 2

"Get Bounce-Free Digital Inputs An inexpensive logic-level teat
From Switches," by Walker of Fair- probe is described in the Jan. 1969
child Semiconductor (Control En- Electronic Engineer (p 96). It uses
gineering~ Mar. 1969, p6S), shows a TI 14-pin DIL, SN15 844N, and a
four simp~e cirouits for eliminat- lamp, mounted in the body of a
ing switch bounoe, using 10. such felt-tip marking pen.
as the 9946.
Small-Scale Integrat10n
Arithmetio Hardware
"New Logic Meets Needs of Advanced
"Arithmetic Functions Using MOS Integration," (EEE, Apr. 1969, p
Registers' is the title of MOS 52), describes some really 1nde-
Brief 6 in the National Semioon- seribabl. SSI circuits such as the
ductor series of ads (Electronio tlop-flop, unigate, NON gate,
Designt Apr. 26, 1969, among many make-shift register, and the halt-
others), and shows very briefly tast adder. Some ot the oh1ps used
how to use the MM5l5 triple 64- are so small that they can include
bit MOS shift register (a l6-pin no more t han half a diode.
DIP) in three arithmetic cirouits.
Computer Simulat10n of Logic
Driver
"Computer-A1ded Des1gn: Simulat10n
IUse a voltage regulator as a of D1gital Des1gn LogiC," by Gwen-
lamp/relay driver,- (E1eotronio dolyn G. Hays (blond, 26, and mar-
Engineer, Apr. 1969, p Sl) is a ~1ed), in the IEEE Computer Trans-
very short item on using, for act10ns (Jan. 1969, pp. 1-10) gives
example, the General Instrument aeta1ls of a program (wr1tten in
NC531 voltage regulator as a lamp, fortran IV and used on a Univac
re~ay or motor driver. l10S) that can simUlate around 3000
'. logic elementa, for debugging d1gi-
Logic Probe 1 tal designs.
Newsletter #11 mentioned three Building Your Own Agoustio Coupler
commercial logic probes. A oon-
struction article on suoh a probe, Few it any ot us will eYer need to
"IC Telltale," appears in the Apr. couple a Model 33 or 35 Telet1Pe
1969 Popular Electronios (pp 69- w1th a time-shared computer, but
74). the article w1th the above title
makes interest1ng read1ng, in the
The probe aotually oonsists of two Rar. 1, 1969 Electronic Design
assemblies: a probe and a test set. (pp 68-73).
~he probe is a simple two-transis-
tor lamp driver. The teat set has Delal-Line MemorY tor ORT Display
a 2-ops and lO-ops trigger pulse
generator, with 14-pin DIL and S- "Standard Glass Memory Modules for
pin round sooket.. The socket pins Low-Cost Oomputer-Driven Displays,"
are brought out to spring-clip (Computjr DeSign, Apr. 1969, pp
test terminals. 118-122 is really an ad tor a Cor-

~NEWSLETTER Vol. II, No. 1 -- April 1969

The Amateur Computer Soolety 11 be made by plugging ln lengths ot
open to all who are interested #22 hookup wire.
ln bul1dlng and operatlng a dlg-
ltal computer that can at least 10 Pllers
pertorm automatl0 multlplloatlon
and divlslon, or ls ot a compar- Techni-Tool, of 1216 Arch st.,
able complexlty. Phl1adelphia, Pa. 19107, has
~or membershlp ln the ACS, and pllers tor removlng 10- and 14-
a subscrlption ot at least elght lead flatpacks when desoldering.
lssues ot the Newsletter, send The ooated jaws allow use with
$3 (or a check) to: 11ve circults.
Stephen B. Gray
Amateur Computer Soclety Phototran'istor Arrar
260 Noroton Avenue
Darien, Oonn. 06820 'airohild has a "lOW-COlt" arrar,
The Newsletter will appear about the fPA-700, wlth 9 npn phototran-
every two months. sistors ln an lS-lead package tor
electronically reading standard S-
n1ng Electronics produot. channel punched paper tape. Cost:
$12,50 (1000 up).
The glass memor,y (maxlmum capaolty,
41 bits) is used to store all the
characters to be displayed ln a HELP!
slngle horlzontal row, and ls in-
put to a oharacter generator that One of our newest members ls a
oontrols the Z axil by brightenlng math teacher whose sohool 18 gath-
the proper parts of the raster ering components for a computer.
dlsplay. They have a Remington Synchro Tape
trom an early Unlvac. Sperry seems
The computer places a frame ot to have run out ot sohematlos and
data in the dlsplay-system buffer operatlon manuall. The B-level
memory. One full row of charaoters paper-tape punoh and reader work
ls then transferred from the bat- flne, but the informatlon 11 need-
fer to the delay l1ne; th1s data ed just ln oase of trouble.
rec1rculates 1n the "single line
storage device" to refresh the If any JOS member has aaoess to a
display. sohemat10 and/or manual, and would
sell lt or let lt be ooplel, please
writ. to: Riohard p. rllohock
HARDWARE ON !D MARKlL".r Box 124
Hl1ler, Pa. 15444
Ie BreadbOard
~he school also has a oor. memory
Although this IC breadboard (by from an IBM 1401. A number of ACS
EL Instruments Inc 61 first St., members have a180 acqulred one Of
Derby, Conn. 06418) is too expen- th.s.; no doubt many of them could
slve (.650) for any of us the allo us. help. If any ot you have
brochure is somethlng to dreOl worked out drivers and .ens. am-
over. The breadboard will accept pllflers and so on tor thl, par-
DILs otany size (14, 16, 24 or tlcular 16-plane, 41 memorr, then
36 pins) and will also accomodate pl.ase s.nd in detail,.
reSistors, capacltors, ~O-5 oans,
etc.; lt contains a pulse genera-
tor, power supply, a dozen lamps,
9 switchea. Interconnections can Copyrlght 1961 by Stephen B. Gray
Vol. II, No. 1 -- Aprll 19'9 , ~NEWSLETTER
 ~NEWSLETTER
Volume II, Number 2 PDP-8/L
(Serial Issue 13) a publioation of the ISSUE
July, 1969 A.\tATEUR COMPUTER SOCIETY

THE PDP-8/L used IBM (or other) core staok.

l>1any ACS members are interested in The sense amplifiers in the 8/L
the PDP-8 family, so let's look are Motorola MC1540G types, at
into these best-selling small $31.50 eaoh for 12 of them. This is
oomputers. the full oount, as I figure it:
The PDP-8 and 8/S are no longer 81 SN?400N 4 NAND 2-input
made on a produotion basis. The 26 SN?402N 4 NAND 2-input driver
current models are the 8/L and the l? SN?4l0N 3 NA"lD 3-inpu t
8/I, both built with Texas Instru- 13 SN?420N 2 NAND 4-input
ments TTL integrated oirouits, by 8 SN?430N 1 NAND 8-input
Digital Equipment Corp. 52 SN?440N 2 NAND 4-1nDut driver
5 SN?450N 2 AND-NOR •
The 8/L is the oheaper model, at 53 stl?453N 4 AND-NOR
$8500 for 4K of memory and ASR33 29 SN?460N 2 Gate expanders
Teletype. Maximum oore is 8K. The 58 SN?4?4N 2 D-type flip-flops
8/1 has the same capability plus 6 SN?482N 1 Adder
an internal peripheral oontrol
and data-break panel for plug-in 12 1~C154OG Core Memory Sense Ampl
expansion. The 8/1 is faster,
costs $12,800 (in raok-mounted Another big problem is the "unde-
version) for 4K of mernory and fined" components, suoh as the DEC-
ASR33 TTY, and is ~ore flexible 300gB transistors and the D664 di-
than the 8/L. The 8/L was "design- odes, as well as a few transformers.
ed for those who don't need plug- The 8/L uses about 314 transistors
in eX"pansion. II and 959 diodes, of half a dozen
different types each.
Maintenanoe Manuals
The 8/L oontains four oard raoks,
To obtain the two-volume mainte- with 22 slots eaoh, holding one
nance manualR (containing schemat- double-height or two single-heie;ht
ios) for either the 8/L or 8/I, oards in each slot. Total number
send $50 to the Field Service De- of cards: 104. There is room for
partment, Digital Equipment Corp., option cards, which are needed for
146 Main St., :t-1aynard, Mass. 01?54. the h1gh-speed reader, power-fail
cirouits, memory parity, and data-
The 8/L contains 360 TI TTL DIP break options. .
ICs, if no options are inoluded,
and if my oount is right. These Half the 8/L oards are standard
360 ICs, if bought from Texas In- DEC M-series oards, as desoribed
strulnents in the quantities for in reoent DEC Logic Handbooks.
building one oomputer, would cost These inolude:
$1243.
5 MIll Inverter
One big problem is the oore memory; 6 Ml13 NAND 2-1nput
DEC will sell you one for $2,000. 5 Ml15 NAND 3-input
Nobody in the ACS has reported any 2 MIl? NAND 4-input
suooess in hooking up drivers and 2 Ml19 NAND 8-input
sense amplifiers to any suitable 5 M160 AND-NOR
 6 M310 Delay line Signetios, Sprague, and Transitron.
1 M360 Variable delay However, although the type numbers
1 M452 Variable clock ma, be the same (or about the same),
5 MS17 NAND 4-input driver the circuits are not always eleo-
2 M6S0 Positive level driver tronioally equivalent. For example,
1 M706 Teletype receiver the Sprague ICs are said to have
1 M707 Teletype transmitter differenoes in clamping and fanout.
1 M901 Flexprint cable conn.
7 M903 Flexprint connector Texas Instruments reoently announ-
3 M906 Cable terminator ced a prioe out, of about 30% in
1 M002 Logic source the 74N line, whioh may bring the
54 oost of those 360 ICs for an 8/L
The other cards seem to be special down to just below $1,000. But
for the 8/L model: Motorola has also out the cost of
the MC7400P line, for a Motorola
5 M2l6 D-type flipflops total cost of $932, but still
6 M220 Major registers using the TI adder, whioh has no
2 M5l6 Positive bus receiver Motorola equivalent, and using the
3 M623 Bus driver prices for 100 of eaoh DIP. (DIP,
1 M700 Manual timing generator for Dual In-line Package, seems to
6 G020 Sense amplifier be more universally used than the
8 G22l Memory selector DIL we've been using up to now.)
5 G228 Inhibit driver
1 G610 Diode board PDP-8 Simulation
1 GSll Diode board
4 G624 RC board If you have acoess to Applied Log-
1 G785 Power connector io Corporation's At/COM timesharing
1 G82S Regulator control system, their SIM-8 program simu-
2 G92l Control panel lates the PDP-8, as well as the
2 W025 Cable connector PDP-5.
1 W076 Teletype connector
1 Memory stack NOTES FROM ACe MEMBERS
50
Here are what a number of members
These 104 PC cards contain the 360 have to say about their ourrent
ICs, 314 transistors, 959 diodes, efforts:
some transformers, etc.
Millard McVay, Illinois
ICs Cheaper than TI 74N
"So far I'm sticking to discrete
Several members have expressed an oircuitry, using DTL NOR gates of
interest in the Motorola MC700P very standard desi~. I originally
series of ICs. There are 45 dif- bought (from Meshna) 2N706 1 s at 7
ferent circuits in this RTL line. for $1.00, less 20% in quantities
However, the M series of DEC logic of 1000 but they graded out at
modules, used in the PDP-8/L and just under 50% good enough for the
8/1, are built with the Texas In- job so I'm looking for something
struments 74N series, which has 'better here. I bought diodes from
only 19 circuits in it. Solid State Sales at 30 for $1.00,
less 30% in 1000 quantities, and
Eleven other manufacturers have a they graded out about 87% good,
TTL series similar to TI's 74N: Which isn't bad. 11m etohing my
Amperex Hughes, ITT, Motorola own circuit cards, and use Amphenol
(MC7400P), National, Nucleonio l5-contaot oard sookets. I've de-
Products, Philoo-Ford, Raytheon, cided that silk-soreen process is

Vol. II, No. 2 -- July 1969 2 Y1.QJSL NEWSLETTER

much simpler than Kodak photoresist the last bugs out of the modem
techniques for my purpose, where (modulator-demodulator) for going
very many cards of the same type to and from magnetio tape and the
have to be made. Teletype. The original design pro-
bably took about as long to work
liMy logic levels were chosen to be out. This is a good device and
compatible with integrated circuits probably ought to be used by others.
so they can be mixed if I decide But how to recover part of my oosts
to later. In fact, I already have so that loan eat While I ~o about
purchased a couple hundred Fair- developing other goodies? lNorm is
child type 914 gates, a hundred a consultant in oirouit engineer-
923 flipf1ops, and some 900 buffers ing~ Even if all the ACS members
to play with when I find time. II bought copies of the paperwork
(schematios, theory, layouts, etc.)
Al Sinclair. Ontario, Canada to reproduce the modem, it would
take about $10 a set to recover
"I recently aoquired three IBlY! oosts. I oould supply printed cir-
baok panels with almost 500 5MB ouit boards, raw but etohed, but
sockets, and some 250 SMS cards this would run about another $10
complete with contacts (mostly 3 apieoe; and for parts, another $10.
and 4 gates per card), also a con- It someone were to take over the
siderable number of broken cards ~ast two items, they would each be
with contaots. I have been outting half as much.
the oontacts off these latter oards
and epoxying them onto other oards, "I have a 33 Teletype TO, with one
mostly double height. Removing all Il-part character every 100 mseo.
the wiring off the baok panels was Tb.e modem uses the Teletype supply,
a heart-breaking job, but I could and typing is normal without sld toh-
not make use of it. ing when the magnetio-tape reoorder
is not playing back. If it is play-
"This aoquisiting resulted in a ing back, the keyboard oan be used
oomplete rebuild of my oooputer to to intersperse oharacters, but if
eliminate all the plugs and jaoks, the keyed and played-baok charao-
and oomplete the oonversion to the ters overlap, you get gibberish.
SMS system, soldering all oonneo- The computer itself is required
tions. As you can imagine, this is also to get the lookout function.
a monstrous job, and it will be If the recorder is reoording while
many months before I oan use my keying is done, a record of the
maohine again. I also took some keying ismada, which oan then be
damaged oore-memory frames and re- played baok to give machine oper-
wired them to 1024 words of 14 ation identioal to that which was
bits, whioh took two months of caused by the keying. For time oom-
steady work. So now my maohine will preSSion, to have the retyping at
be 14 bits (4 instruotion, 10 ad- maximum cachine rate, and/or for
dress), all parallel operation, editing, etc., the computer itself
olook speed 1 Mo. I have also made must also be called into play.
a new front panel to spread out
the indioating lamps for easier "Even though the modem is limited
reading. The sooket panels swing to literal key-to-magnetic-tape and
out like the PDP-8 for easier magnetio-tape-to-pr1nt, it is qUite
working on." useful. It also serves to clean up
the keyboard pulse-train output,
~an Saunders. M~ which is horrible in noise and hash
for one used to eleotronic signals.
"I've just spent 30 hours getting Another feature of this modem is
.JA"lQJSL NE\llSLETTER 3 Vol. II, No. 2 -- July 1969
that it requires a bandwidth of $25.00 (inoludes tape and maillng)
only about one kilohertz at one or for the reproduotion.
two kilohertz, whioh 1s all that
the reoorder I've assigned to the Out here the dual in11ne paokage
Job has, being one of the earliest is oalled a DIP, not DIL. For what
tape reoorders sold for the home It Is worth, the DIP is generally
market. Any reoorder using a oap- aoknowledged to have been developed
stan would probably be all right, 1n my department (baok before I got
and those without mlght do 1f the here, to be sure).
tape were not out or splioed, and
were always played baok on the III notioe that Fairohild does not
same reoorder. If now aotively sell RTL (or even make
it, unless a large order is re-
Myron Calhoun. California oeived), so don't plan on using it
forever. It was nioe stuff, though;
"At Fairohild R&D we have quite low power, eto.
oomplete and oomplex CAD (oomputer-
alded design). Interested ACS mem- "I have shown your oomment about
bers might be able to get a oOPf 'these IC manufaoturers don't have
of FAIRSIM (Fairohild Simulator) CPU designers ••• ' to my boss. It
User's Manual by writing to: amused him, sinoe my department is
Falrohild Semioonduotor full of engineers who either have
Distribution Servioes worked, or are working, on advanoed
440 Middlefield Road oomputer designs. Normally, however,
Mountain View, Calif. our efforts are either proprietary
or else direoted to the manufaoture
"We oan go trom equations to finl- of better oomponents, LSI, eto."
shed PC boards without touohing
anything more "hardware" than a Lt. Cdr. Lyle Pellook, New York, NY
keypunoh (and I let the keypunoh
servioe do Dost of that). Unfor- "I am atraid my projeots have oome
tunately, most of our CAD is pro- to a halt with the needs of my new
prietary. assignment. Belng the exeoutive
offioer of a destroyer 1s a tull-
liAs for software: a oompiler' oan t1me job plus. However, maybe one
get quite oomplex, but assemblers of these days I oan get moving
are easy. My dissertation, nMa_ again. II
ohine-Independent Assemblers for
Computing Systems," (order number Bill Mltghell, Ontar10, Canada
68-1647 from University Miorof1lms,
300 N. Zeeb Rd., P.O. Box 1346, "The most interesting idea for the
Ann Arbor, Mioh. 48106; miorofilm oentral prooessor live seen lately
$3.20, Xerox $11.05) desorlbes how Is 'A Proposed Minimum Hardware
to produoe an assembler fast (us- Central Prooessor with General Pur-
ing another oomputer -- by hand it pose Computation Capab1lity,' by
would take a l1ttle longer). It Robert W. Ehmann of Airborne Sys-
gives oomplete flowoharts, listings, tems whioh was obtained as memo
e t o . # R - 6 S - l 5 5 from the Comyuter Re-
pository of the IEEE (345 East 47
"I still have my original souroe St, New York, N.Y. 10017).
deoks around (as run on the GE-225
oomputer at Arizona state Univer- "Basioally, the idea is that a 161
sity) and will send tape oopies 24-b1t oomputer oould be built by
made on a 360/44 if anybody wants using some of the memory (128-256
to pay our oomputer oenter fee ot words) to store data, whioh would

Vol. II, No. 2 -- July 1969 4 ~ NEWSLEI'TER

be used as microprogram instruc- bulk storage."
tions for the sequencing of the
processor. The resulting design, QUERIES AND ITEMS FOR SALE
the logio equations of which are
spelt out in the 23-page memo, Buffer Memory and Readout
would be quite oomplete with in-
terrupt oapability, normalizing Dave Vednor offers for sale a Tele-
logio for handling floating point, meter Magnetics l44-B buffer memorr,
indireot and index addressing. and a Sylvania electroluminescent
7-digit, 7-segment readout. Write:
nAnother article worth a mention
is "Causes and Cures of Noise in David Vednor
Digital Systems," which was pub- 2801 Willow Avenue
lished in three parts in Computer Fullerton, Calif. 92631
Design, Sept. - Nov. 1964. It has
also been reprinted as a separate Dave also says: "I have been using
booklet by Computer Design for Signetics JK flip-flops at work,
$1.75." and they have proven far superior
to the Motorola MRTL with respect
(The IEEE memo costs $1.50 for to noise i~munlty. The DOL line is
miorofiche, $3 for photocopy.) not that much more expensive, and
more functions are Offered.
Wade ~fuite, California
"Have any members had any luck with
(Wade is now working for a new the MOB registers or other MBI MOB
company, Electronic Arrays, in devices? I would like to try some,
vloodland Hills; they make MaS de- but the cost is a big high at this
Vices suoh as dynamic registers; time."
their latest is a 2560-bit read-
only memory containing the basic Memory and Decimal-Point Query
64 characters of ASCII format,
for CRT display.) Ted Naydan writes from New York
State: "The availability of Moto-
"I plan to use my company's pro- rola ICs encouraged me to get away
ducts, as they are introduced, in from paper studies to hardware.
the construction of my computer. Still, memory systems were not
The first project is a memory em- available to me.
ploying high-speed Shift regis-
ters. After the memory I'll tackle "An opportunity to get my feet wet
the control logic, then the arith- with a complete memory system, pur-
metic unit, and last the I/O. With chased from John Meshna of Lynn,
the availability of MaS devioes Mass. for $26, has kept me busy for
and the assistance I can obtain some 3 months. It is a 64-word, 7-
from the rest of the company, I bit random-access' unit with no
hope to develop a modular computer schematics available. it consists
kit as a result of my playing of 3 boards, containing all of the
around. X, Y and Z select functions. The
core plane is a Univao C-164. Any-
"I 'lirant to use the computer for body have any information on these
stook analysis, game-playing and un1ts?
automated logio design. I am work-
ing at present on an interface for "Anyone have any ideas on how deci-
use with a cassette tape recorder mal point 1s selected in the eleo-
(a Sony 124) to allow my computer tronic desk caloulators now appear-
some easy and inexpensive means of ing on the market?

.JAkISL NEWSLETTER 6 Vol. II, No. 2 -- July 1969

The Amateur Computer Society is lower left-hand corner of the card
open to all who are interested on the side the parts are mounted.
in building and operating a dig-
1tal computer that can at least "The letters definitely do not
perfo~ automatio multip11cation identify the use of the card. For
and d1vis10n, or 1s of a oompar- example, a CW and a JZ oard are
able complex1ty. triggers, with the same components
For membership in the ACS, and and circuit, escept that one has
a subscription of at least e1ght two more diodes for the S&T func-
1ssues of the Newsletter, send tion; the other has a direct oon-
$3 (or a check) to: neotion to the bases for use as
Stephen B. Gray extender leads."
Amateur Computer Soo1ety
260 Noroton Avenue For help, wr1te: Donald Paddock,
Darien, Conn. 06820 Rt. #2, Box 54, Vero Beach, Fla.
The Newsletter will appear about 32960.
every two months.
I'd like to hear more from Don Tar- THE WANG LOGARITHMIC CIRCUIT
bell, as h1s activ1ty parallels
mine, as far as complexity is oon- Several members have asked about
cerned. In addit10n, details on h1s the log oirou1t used in the Wang
4K memory, as he implements 1t, calculators. The patent was issued
would be appreo1ated." to An Wang last Fall, and is num-
ber 3,402,285, "Calculat1ng Appara-
Patghoords for Sale tus." For a copy send 50¢ to the
Commissioner of Patents, Washing-
A member has about 3000 patchcords ton, D.C. 20231.
for sale, 1n lengths of 4, 7~ 9,
12 and 15 1nohes. They are I~M The caloulator generates the log
types, ot two k1nds: one 1s the of numbers by a ser1es of success-
self-contacting type, with pl~s ive approximat1ons, us1ng stored
an inch long and more than 1/8 in oonstants of the log to the base
d1ameter; the other 1s the fixed- e of 10, 2, 0.9, 1.01, 0.999, and
w1r1ng type, w1th plugs 5/S" long 1.0001. The antilog conversion
and about 3/32" 1n diameter. Cost works in the same manner, by suc-
1s 5¢ each, minimum order $10, cessive approximations, us1ng the
postage extra, from: same stored constants.
Johan Svanholm
Svanholm Research Laboratories Accord1ng to one of the top men at
3205 Stanford St. Wang, the log oonversion techn1que
Hyattsville, Md. 20782 is original with Dr. Wang, and was
not known previously.
Help Offered on SMS Cards
If anybody figures out how to make
Don Paddock writes: "I've drawn that log oircuit work, how about
about 100 circuits of the IBM SMS . telling the rest of us?
cards to date, and have 1dentified
about 30 .of these in the manual SERSE AMPLI FIERS
(see Issue 3, page 4).
The July ~ (pp 64-75) has three
"If I could help any of the members art1cles on sense amp11f1ers and
in identify1ng their carda, I would comparators, used with core memory.
be happy to do so. I would need the
two or three letters g1ven at the Copyr1ght 1969 by stephen B. Gr81
Vol. II, No. 2 -- July 1969 6 ~ NEWSLETTER
 ~NEWSLETTER
Volume II, Number 3 MORE ON
(Serial Issue 14) a publication of the TE:LETYPE
October 1969 AMATEUR COMPUTER SOCIETY

MORE ON TELETYPE Teletype that will perf to 100 wpm

(1200 opm). It might be possible
One of our newest members is Gor- to parallel-feed a unit which
do n !ifui t e, who edits th e Surplus prints on the tape, though I doubt
Sidelights column in CQ magazine. the mechanism would take much more
Gordon writes: than 100-wpm speed. These LARPs
were recently selling for $5 each,
"After a quick skim through Vol. plus motors. There are 8-level
I, I can offer these observations: LARPS too, though the 8-level gear
I doubt if there are many model 12 is newer and more rare than 5-level.
Teletypes still around. I've never
seen one in amateur hands, although There are several Western Union
they were the first RrTY machines, readers for parallel operation,
23 years baok. most of them going cheaply. There
is a Teletype LBXD reader which
Models 14, 15 and 19 are still very offers serial £t parallel output,
oommon, and if usable (60 wpm is but has 7.00 unit serial code
pretty slow and they are not very cams (Western Union type) which
flexible in other ways), are the make it less useful to hams. I
oheapest good maohines now avail- doubt an ACS member would care if
able. Ilm going to sell my oomplete the serial stop pulses were .00,
#19 (tape perf, keyboard, reader, .42 or .50, so these ought to be
printer, table and power supply, useful.
pretty fair shape) for $65, as I
go to all #28 and later gear. If one had a complete model 28
printer, he could put contacts on
The 28, 33 and 35 models are of the code bars to generate parallel
course faster -- to 107 wpm, and signals at the same time he gets
150 wpm on the model 37. Most of hard oopy from the serial keyboard
the latter are pretty oostly for (or parallel contacts could be put
amateurs, however. A oomplete 28 on the keyboard itself).
ASR (roughly equal to the 19) is
commercial-surplus prioed at $1300 Further, you can code the IIstunt
up, though some MARS members get box" of the 28 printer to give
them free, and I have been able to multi-wire output; that is, open
provide some reassembled out of or close a oontact for up to 36
parts and surplus stuff for rather different characters (72 characters
less. considering upper oase/lower case).
This might make the computer design
The RTTY amateur wants serial ma- easier -- read-in multi-wire, and
chines, and parallel units are no read-out parallel to a l200-opm
use to him. On the other h~d, I perf, using the tape loop as buffer
can see that for ACS use, parallel storage, reading from tape to the
units are more easily used. This printer where 5-level parallel sig-
is fortunate, since the parallel nals would be generated or, again,
units are a drug on the market multi-wire.
most of the time.
I doubt that anyone would want to
For example, there is a parallel- invest in the model 37 PC boards,
fed tape perforator (LARP) by as prioes are rather astronomical.'
Gordon has a Fr·:::derlck 670B Morse- up with transistors) are coming
to-Teletype translator, and "some into surplus, and contain these
5:8 stor~e gear for communications units. The FGO-5 is larger, but
handling. He adds: its oomponents are really a drug
on the market -- useful for little
IIU sing the model 28 typing unit, else than the small parts. The
you could get a modified ASCII par- UGC-l is later, but is also becom-
allel input rather easily by using ing available.
code-reading contacts and a latch-
ing contact on the letters-figure There are souroes here wh10h have
stunt level. ASCII, of course, uses a lot of 1dentified, undamaged
five levels for character identifi- computer parts: SASCO ElectroniCs,
oation and level 7 for US (spaoing) 1009 King St., Alexandria, Va. and
and LO (marking), which oould be Ritoo Eleotronics, Box 156, Annan-
derived from contaots on the 28. dale, Va. have this material. I
have seen flip-flops, matrixes PC
You would not get even-parity on oard racks, etc. in quantity. Also,
the 8th bit (you would have to be I have a man who wants to sell com-
content with steady mark), nor the puter DC power supplies, 100, 180, .
non-printing oontrol functions on 210, 280 volts, eto. -- anyone have
the 6th bit, but this might still any interest? I will supply the
be useful. It would be possible to address on request. (Write to Gor-
arrange a separate button on the don White, 5716 N. Kings Highway,
28 keyboard to provide the 6th-bit Alexandria, Virginia 22303.)
information, I suppose.
I'd like to hear reaction from mem-
On printout, you would have to pro- bers on my suggestions for the
vide a parallel-to-serial oonver- model 28, as I am a Teletype man,
sion to drive the printer, or use not a computer expert, and I may
parallel-fed punches and a serial not have made myself olear."
printer, as suggested previously.
You'd have to rearrange the type- Gordon also sent a notice of a
box if you used the actual ASCII sale of government property, by
coding as, for example, A in Baudot sealed bids, several months ago in
is bit 1 and 2 marking, the rest New York. The item was a Philco
spacing, and in ASCII, A is bit 1 2000 computer. If, by some odd
marking and the rest spacing. You'd chancel a bidder managed to get
have to put the A type-pallet in this au some low price, he'd have
the plaoe where the E normally is to have quite a bit of room to put
found. 1t in, as there were 21 tape trans-
ports with 1t, two printers, etc.
This could be done in outrigger
fashion on older stuff like the The 2000 was offered on an "as is,
model 15, but I shudder to think where is'' baSiS, located at West-
of the haywire involved; the 28 inghouse Electric in West Mifflin
is designed for that sort of thing Borough, Pa. (the Bettis Atomic
-- the 15 was not. Power Lab.).
There are several military surplus
units which contain rather straight- A MEMBER'S PROGRESS
forward serial-to-paral1el and
parallel-to-serial modules. The. Bill Greene of New Jersey reports
AN/FGO-5 and AN/UGC-l multiplex on his progress:
sets (the former bu1lt with tubes;
the latter virtually the same set- Last summer I made the decision to

Vol. II, No. 3 -- October 1969 2 ~ NEWSLETTER

switoh from delay-line memory to ferred. By allowing the register
oore, after fighting long-term se1eoted. by the memory address bits
temperature stability problems and in the instruotion to be inorement-
marginal operation for about six ed during the instruotion, trans-
months. I have disoovered that to fers of blocks of data become
start with a surplus oore plane simple. Furthermore, if this regis-
and end up with a working memory ter is #3 (the program oounter),
is no minor undertaking, espeoia11y the program will skip one byte and
on a spare-time basis. I am using its oontents oan be transferred
a 16K plane with four sense wind- from memory to one of the registers,
ings and will go through a double thereby giving a double word in-
oyole to end up with a 2K byte struotion oapability and a means
memory. The oomplete unit is on of loading a oonstant by program.
five 8-by-8-inoh Vero boards. One
board contains the oore plane, two I have written several programs
contain the drivers, one contains using this instruction set, and
the address registers, data regis- find that a program that takes
ters paoking and unpacking logic 100 l2-bit instructions in PDP-8
and i evel shifters to drive the language oan be written using 100
drivers, and the last board oon- a-bit instructions in this format.
tains the sense amplifiers and Sinoe 8 bits allow us to address
timing 10gio. At the moment it only 256 addresses, a soheme of
looks like it will take about two using a field register Cas per
more months of spare time to com- PDP-8) of four bits gives a maximum
pletion. memory size of 4096 locations. Two
double-word instruotions, namely a
r still feel that a delay line is Jump to Subroutine and a Jump In-
the best answer to many amateur direct, allow simple acoess to all
memory needs, if the line is pur- of memory.
chased from the manufacturer,
rather than relying on surplus I guess you oan oonclude from the
lines that were produoed several preceeding paragraphs that I have
years ago, before the state of the beoome convinced that the smallest
art improved. feasible oomputer for amateur pur-
poses is not a l2-bit maohine, but
With the switoh to oore and the that it can be squeezed down to 8
exposure to more and better ma- bits.
ohines in the line of duty, oame a
ohange in system design for my com- Like many others, I am using Moto-
puter. I will use an 8-bit instruo- rola RTL for all logic, and have
tion format, of whioh four bits are found an excellent transistor for
set aside for the op-code, one of all-around use: the Motorola Mfa
whioh is sub-ooded, allowing a 2923. Although it is listed in the
total of 31 instruotions. The key oategory of a small-signal ampli-
is in using four a-bit registers fier, I have found that it oan
that are selectable by the instruo- switoh over 500 ma at one mioro-
tion. One of these serves as the . second with no apparent harmful
program oounter. Two of the remain- effects. It makes an excellent
ing four bits in the instruotion lamp driver, since you can put a
seleot one of these registers, 6.3-volt 50-ma lamp on the oolleo-
whioh at the time oontains the tor side and connect the base thru
memory address to be aooessed by a 6l0-ohm resistor to the RTL ele-
the instruction. The remaining two ment or even direot1y to an invert-
bits seleot whioh of these regis- er output, if that inverter drives
ters oontain the data to be trans- nothing else. Best of all, it is

~ NEWSLETTER 3 Vol. II, No. 3 -- October 1969

pr1ced at 43¢ 1n small quant1ties, bits eaoh. I/O: sw1tches and lamps,
or 29¢ it you buy more than 100. and maybe TrY. Add speed, 1/5 seo,
clook spee~ 1/10 seo, about 50 in-
I have also tound a good buy on struotions, programmed by plug-
teletypewriter page pr1nters. At- board only. Present s1ze, about 50
lant10 Surplus Sales, 300 7th St., relays; 400 when complete.
Erooklyn, N.Y. 11215, has on hand
some model 10-15 mach1nes built in Dave also says, "I ran a 'free ham-
West Germany. Many parts are inter- shop' ad in CQ to survey interest
ohangeable with the model 15; it in a computer kit. The enclosed
1s set up tor the European standard letter 1s what I sent the dozen
ot 63 wpm, although gears are avail- replies I received (in late 1967):
able tor oonversion to 60 wpm. The
unit is ot muoh more recent vintage "Thank you for your 1nterest. I
than the standard model 15 and 1s hope the early state of my project
ot lighter and more attractive con- will not disoourage you. This is
struction. The price is $80, and what you m1ght oall a 'market sur-
when I purchased mine in the middle vey' -- I hope to get as much in-
of January, it was the tenth one formation from you as I have to
sold w1thin a week, out of a lot give you right now. And the ad was
of 46. published a month ear11er than ex-
peoted, so the follow1ng data
leaves muCh to be desired. But
ANOTHER RESPONSE TO THE SURVEY here is the basic story and some
tentative spec1fications •••
Dave Digby recently sent in the
ACS computer survey, from Texas. RA few years ago, some computer
The computer he has planned will fans indulged in fanoiful specu-
have two registers, and will be lation as to whether one could
built with RTL MC700P DIPs. The build a 'kilobuck comput er,' a real
memory: 512- to 1024-word wire digital computer to cost less than
delay 11ne. I/0: Teletype model 26 a thousand dollars. It was natural-
printer, MXD tape reader, RPE-26 ly assumed that all sorts of sur-
tape punoh. There will be 64 in- plus and homemade parts would have
structions, 6 to 10 bits long. to be used at that price. But today
Data words, 16 to 20 bits long, there is a tempt1ng possibility
1.6-Mo clock. Add speed t 10 to 20 that it can be done with new, off-
msec. (he must mean useOI. Speoial the-shelt components.
teatures: lowest oost for off-the-
shelt oomponents (except for sur- "I have toyed with the idea ot
plus I/O); plans to develop it in- building my own computer for seve-
to a oonstruotion kit if there is ral years, but until recently I
any demand for it. Includes indi- stuok to using tree relays and
reot addressing and one or more helping to design oomputers tor
index registers (in memory); auto- others to build. Early this year,
matio multiply and divide optional ~t1mu1ated by the trends 1n compo-
at extra cost. Estimated complete ~ prices, I sat down with a
cost less than $1,000, total ot simple serial oomputer plan, and
50 to 75 DIPs. tried to further reduce it, throw-
ing o~t every feature that oou1d
Dave's tour-register relay oomputer possibly be spared or substituted
uses U and Y types from surplus tor. The only active registers I
telephone equipment, plus multi- retained, for instance! were those
contaot and stepping switches. The clearly required in orner to get
relay memory holds 16 words,ot 15 intormation into and out ot memory.
V'ol. II, No. 3 -- Ootober 1969 4 ~NEWSLETTER
Then I devised means for substitu- minimum price??? If you can wait
ting memory storage for most of the untl1 sometime next year for a
remainlng registers required for small, slow digital computer at a
useful computing. The result was price in the vicinity of one kilo-
so promising that I embarked on the buck, let me know what you think
current projeot to aotually bul1d of the enclosed tentative specifi-
suoh a maohine. cations, and tell me which of the
optional features you must have,
"Subsequent work, although agoniz- and which ones you don't want to
ingly slow as a part-time effort! pay extra for. In particular, how
has been even more encouraging. t much memory do you need, and what
would appear now that our kl1obuok instructions are most vital?? I/O
will buy the materials to bul1d is also a major concern, of course.
qulte a respectable little oompu- Any addit10nal suggestlons you
ter. With luok we might have might have are equally of interest.
enough change left over to buy a I have already received a sugges-
surplus Teletype for I/O. tion that cirouits be explained in
an educat ional manner, ~"hioh I cer-
"Having acquired a great deal of tainly hope to use, and there seems
my computer eduoation through di- to be considerable· interest in the·
rect aocess to a modest-sized com- Teletype angle, which I would like
puter, and having subsequently to explore further.
taught programming to students
with similar privileges, I am oon- "KEMORY -- This will probably al-
vinoed that even a very small oom- ways remain the most costly item
puter, close at hand, can be a very in any small-scale prooessor. The
large asset to the learning pro- least expensive seems to be of the
cess. And, although I recognize wire delay line variety. A single
that any computer buff worth his such line oan store up to perhaps
salt will aspire to bigger and more 20,000 bits, although the lowest
glorious gadgets, I also believe cost-per-bit may occur at less
that small machines can perform than the max1mum value. Larger
many useful tasks. storage oapacity calls for more
than one line. This introduces more
"If you and/or enough other people complexity into the addressing
agree with me as to the utility of struoture, as well as the addition-
such a small, slow but cheap com- al recirculat10n electronics for
puter, then there is every reason each separate delay line. This adds
to expect that a kit for home or up to more than a minimal-sized
sohool construction of this design computer, but 1s not otherwise in-
can be produced. It should be no oompatible with the proposed logic
more difficult to construct than design.
most of the hi-fi and ham kits on
the market. "SPEED -- We are talking about a
memory ciroulation time on the or-
"I oannot make any definite quotes der of ten milliseconds. In the
on price or dellvery dates at thls simplest version, most memory ao-
time, but I am offering you & cesses would use up a whole 10-
chance to express your wlshes be- msec cycle. Since both instruotion
fore it is too late to consider and data require access, this gives
them in the initial model. a typical speed of about fifty in-
struct10ns per second. The addition
liThe big question is this -- what of an extra address counter, plus
are you willing to do without, in a judicious allocation of memor,y
order to get .a useful machine at a between program and data, could
~ NEi'lSLETTER 5 Vol. II, No. 3 -- October 1969
The Amateur Computer Soc1ety 1s 1noonven1ent.
open to all who are 1nterested
1n bu1ld1ng and operat1ng a d1g- "If a non-volat1le memory 1s re-
1tal computer that can at least quired, th1s would most l1kely be
perfol~ automat1c mult1p11cat1on a rotat1ng store -- d1sk or drum.
and d1vision, or 1s or a oompar- The oost would be somewhat higher
able complex1ty. than wire delay l1nes, and slower
For membersh1p 1n the ACS, and operat1ng speeds would be probable.
a subscr1pt10n of at least e1ght However, no h1gh-stabi11ty oscil-
1ssues of the Newsletter, send lator 1s requ1red, s1noe the
$3 (or a oheck) to: "clook" 1s usually derived from a
Stephen B. Gray recorded traok on the device.
Amateur Computer Soc1ety
260 Noroton Avenue "Rotat1ng memories can have oycle
Dar1en, Conn. 06820 times as short as 10 msec, but the
The Newsletter w1ll appear about cheaper ones run to two or three
every two months. times as long as that. Speeds as
low as 15 to 30 1nstruct10ns per
just about double th1s -- 100 1n- second could easily result.
struct10ns per second -- by per-
m1tting an 1nstruct10n and 1ts ad- "INSTRUCTIONS -- There are suocess-
dressed data both to be referenced ful computers on the market with
dur1ng the same oycle. In either extremely lim1ted 1nstruction sets.
vers10n, spec1al programming tech- I am plann1ng a somewhat more ex-
n1ques oould be used to make 1m- tensive repert01re, wherever th1s
portant routines run several times w1l1 substant1ally improve the
as fast as th1s, but suoh programs ut1lity of our small memory and
can be very ted10us to wr1te. slow speeds. Some otherwise border-
line instruot10ns and other features
"Glass delay lines have shorter will be prov1ded beoause they are
cyoles -- on the order of a few also needed for 1nternal funotions.
hundred mioroseoonds -- so are
naturally that muoh faster -- sev- "Probably the most oontrovers1al
eral thousand instruot10ns per oategory is that of mult1ply and
seoond. But the b1t rate 1s faster, div1de. Do you 1nsist on having
too, and more expens1ve 10g10 ele- one or both of these at a deoided
ments may be requ1red. Each 11ne 1norease in cost? A full-word-length
stores fewer b1ts, also, so that operation def1nitely requ1res more
more than one may be requ1red, reg1sters than are needed by the
even fo r a II m1n 1mal" mach1ne. basic mach1ne. On the other hand,
to program or s1mulate these in-
"Any delay l1ne const1tutes "vo1- struot10ns using memory for storage
at11e" memory, mean1ng that all 1s very muoh slower than a w1red-1n
stored 1nformat10n 1s destroyed 1nstruot10n us1ng act1ve-element
when the power 1s shut off. Th1s registers. Letts oons1der three
is most annoying 1n a small compu- preliminary ch010es 1n order of
ter, s1nce the power may very well cost -- No multiply or diVIde-
be shut off frequently, and since half-word 1nstructions; or fuil-
input dev1ces fast enough to re- length, full-speed multIply and
load memory oonven1ently are some- d1v1de. We m1ght package this as a
what expens1ve. In many oases, separate 0it1on to be added to the
however, one may w1sh to reload bas1c k1t.
memory frequently anyway, due to (TO BE CONCLUDED IN NEXT ISSUE)
1ts small s1ze. In this oase, a
vo1at11e memory may not be unduly Copyright 1969 by Stephen B. Gray

Vol. II, No. 3 -- Ootober 1969 6 .JAl..QJsL NE't"SLETTER

 --1AlQJSL NEWSLETTER
Volume II, Number 4 DECOUPLING
(Serial Issue 15) a publication of the FILTERS
December 1969 AMATEUR COMPUTER SOCIETY

COMPUTER KIT a couple of delay lines, whioh he

says are a little short as they
The previous issue oontained most hold only 100 words (hels consider-
of a letter from Dave Digby in ing words of 16 to 20 bits length).
Texas, which contained a letter Dave hopes to cut the number of
he'd sent to those who inquired registers to a minimum, and says
about his computer-kit notioe in two might be used, one to address
CQ magazine. The letter ends: the memory location, the other to
contain data. He's using Motorola
"Index registers are fairly easy RTL ICs. With the right backing,
to include, if they oooupy memory Dave would consider producing the
looations, rather than aotive reg- computer kit commercially, but
isters. I favor at least one, pos- that kind of money is scarce.
sibly three. They can greatly fa-
cilitate loops and iterated algo-
rithms. RC DECOUPLING FILTERS
"WORD LENGTH -- On the order of 20 Our newest member is Louis Frenzel
bits. This would mean about 1000 of Maryland, who has a working com-
words using a 20,000-bit delay puter with minimum I/O, and who
line. The general idea is a word also gives some very helpful infor-
long enough to contain one oomplete mation on RC decoup1ing. He writes:
instruction, including a full mem-
ory address. This is not too large "I have build a complete working
in terms of data, representing digital computer. It is in opera-
about six digits in deCimal, but tion now, and as you might expect,
will handle many useful problems. is gradually undergoing various
And double precision is not com- modifioations and improvements as
pletely out of the question. time, money and ideas perm1t. The
machine uses an a-bit word, and
"INPUT/OUTPUT -- I have mentioned serial 2's complement ar1thmetic.
only Teletype, so far, but other It has 8 basic instructions, with
devices are not impossible. In mult1ply and divide be1ng perform-
particular, a small photoelectric ed by subroutine. The oomputer is
tape reader would facilitate re- implemented with a mixture of DTL
loading the memory. Thus larger and TTL ICs, including some of the
programs or data tables oan be MSI units. The basio add time is
contemplated. These come as low as 3 milliseconds. So far I use only
a few hundred dollars I am told.
I binary switches and lights for 1/.0.
The general limits on other de-
vices might be described as: only "I'd like to comment on ••• Problem
character-by-oharacter deVices, no B-l-. I don't really think that
faster than 100 characters per there is a set procedure for cal-
second. The number and complexity culating RC decoupling (low-pass)
of control and synchronizing sig- filters for use in digital cir-
nals is also a factor." cuits. Every system I'Ve seen has
been d1fferent. Some use series
Dave says he's still working on res1stors; some don't. I recently
the computer kit, and is trying to saw a small RF choke used as the
build a small prototype. He's got series element on one system.
That's going almost too far, but make it. Try using some fat braid.
for this system it may have been The multiple strands keep both re-
needed. As for capaCitor values, sistance and XL low. I recommend
I've seen values from .01 mfd to at least a i" braid, and even big-
several thousand mfd. Almost any- ger if you bave a high power con-
thing works, but there are a few sumption system with lots of cir-
simple rules to follow. cuits. Use it for both power and
ground. This approach will often
"First, if possible, do decouple reduce the noise to a point where
each PC board of circuitry. You filters are unnecessary. If any
won't go wrong if you use a fairly noise is left! a .l-mfd disc on
large tantaluc or electrolytiC, each board wi 1 get it.
say 100 mfd, shunted by a .01 to
.1 mfd disc. The 100-rofd unit "Good noise suppression is a must
takes care of most noise problems if you are using low noise immuni-
and is large enough so that no ty circuits. You can get away with
series element is needed. However, murder if you use DTL or TTL, since
the inductive reactance of this their noise immunity is relatively
large capacitor is pretty high at high. But if you use RTL, like a
switching frequencies, so it does lot of guys do for low cost, you
not get rid of all the high-fre- can literally be "eaten up" with
quency stuff. The parallel disc noise problems. False triggering,
takes care of this. lIve used erratic operation, and unusual
this successfully for years. logic problems will result.
"In some systems the larger capa- "As a general word on wiring, don't
citor just isn't needed. The only bundle, cable or lace wires in
way to find out is to experiment. parallel. Scramble-wire all cir-
Take a scope and look across your cuits point-to-point. Use the big-
ground buss between the power gest stranded wire you can stand
supply terminal (scope ground) and and keep it short."
a ground point in the system. You
will probably see a lot of high-
frequency .,unk here. Experiment by I,tOUNTING ICs
connecting capaCitors at the point
under observation and notice any A recent look at the various ways
change. Use the smallest capacitor of mountin~ ICs shows that prices
that best minimizes the noise. A are still high, no matter who
.l-mfd diso fixed my problem in a makes the deVice, or how they
recent design. make it.
"Deoouplers are a necessary evil Augat's Universal IC Packaging
in digital systems, but their need Panel, which accepts 14-, 16-,
can be minimized or even eliuina- 24- and 36-lead DIPs, and has Wire-
ted in some cases, if the reason Wrap terminals on the back, costs
for the noise problem can be found. about $1.50 per position to mount
In other words, treat the cause, 14-pin DIPs. Other Augat packaging
not the symptoms. Noise on the panels cost $1.00 per position.
ground and power busses generally Augat DIP sockets are about 25¢
means poor busses. These busses each. Breadboards for flat-pack or
must have a very low impedance at TO-5 ICs cost $5 to $6 per position.
high switching frequencies. This
doesn't mean just low resistance; Cambion DIP sockets for 14-pin ICs
it means low inductance too. Thin cost 75¢ each in small quantities,
solid or stranded wire just doesn't or $550 per thousand. The high-

Vol. II, No. 4 -- December 1969 2 ~ NE'\'lSLETTER

density wire-wral oircuit boards The book contains 92 problems,
cost from $1 to 3 per position. ranging all the way from "The Game
Breadboards are 4 to $5 per posi- of Dice" to "Economio Lot Size,"
tion. and includes problems in primes,
games, random numbers, puzzles,
Vero PC boards holding up to 20 geometry, and many others.
l4-pin DIPs cost $16 in lots of
100, or 80¢ per position. Even if your oomputer may never
be able to handle Dartmough BasiC,
ELCO DIP sockets cost from 80¢ the paperback by the parents of
iiGh (1-19) to 55¢ (200-999). Basio, John G. Kemeny and Thomas
E. Kurtz, contains some interesting
Vector Micro-Vectorboard is one of sidelights in oomputer programming:
the cheapest methods of mounting "Basic Programming," John Wiley "
DIPs (if permanent mounting is de- Sons, 1967, 121 pages, $4.95.
sired)! by inserting the ICs thru
the ho es in the board and solder- After a thorough discUSSion of
ing directly to the leads. Vector BaSiC, the authors present chap-
also makes sookets, but they are ters on number theory, simulation
not oheap: a solderless DIP socket (dealing a bridge hand, baseball,
for 14-pin ICs oosts $4 for 1-19. the knight's tour), games (NIM,
tioktacktoe), business problems
(compound interest, tax deprecia-
DISPLAYS tion, decision trees), statistics,
vectors and matrices, calculus,
Aloo Eleotronio Produots has some and special topics (teaching ma-
interesting displays: chines, codes and cyphers, and
music harmony).
Incandescent readout indicators,
using a staoked set of plastic Software
edge-lit plates with a dot-pattern
number engraved on each; about $8 Control Engineering has an inter-
each, for 6, 14 or 24 volts. esting reprint of a series of 14
articles on programming (whioh ran
Seven-segment incandescent readouts from Oct. 1967 to Dec. 1968) and
cost $6.45 each; a "matrix-driver available for $3. Although mainly
module ll costs another $25, plus $1 about programming for process con-
for a connector. trol, there is a lot of meat here,
especially the article on "How
Seven-segment neon readouts cost Hardware Responds to Software"
$5 each; a IIdecode-display module" (Dec. 1967), which is recommended
is $30, plus $1 for a connector. reading for those who are not too
familiar with the subject.
BOOKS AND MAGAZINE ARTICLES Multiplexers and Logic Circuits
What ~o Do With Your Computer IIMultiplexers double as logic cir-
cuits," by James Anderson of Fair-
Anyone wondering what to do with child (Eleotronics, Oot. 27, 1969,
his computer after finishing it is pp 100-105) is about using the
referred to "Problems for Computer dual four-input 9309 and the eight-
Solution," by Fred Gruenberger and input 9312 multiplexers in place
George Jaffray (John Wiley & Sons, of interoonnected gates.
1965, 401 pages, paperback $5.95),
probably the only book of its kind. The technique requires a good know-

~ NE~lSLETTER 3 Vol. II, No. 4 -- December 1969

ledge of Boolean, truth tables and in low-power digital systems, and
Karnaugh maps, whioh are required inoludes schematiOs for data input
for translating a function into seleot circuits and for the data
multiplexer inputs. The author alighment seotion (for aligning
says the multiplexer "is so versa- the serial output of the parallel
tile that it takes on the aspeot registers) •
of a universal logic oirouit."
Inexpensive Pulse Source
"The multiplexers are eleotronio
switChes that sequentially connect "Inexpensive pulse source has
input-data lines to a single out- 'high-prioed' features," in The
put. On the dual 4-input unit, the Electronic Engineer for Oot. 1969
two select lines are common to (p 78) describes a oirouit using
both halves of the multiplexer, so only two Fairchild TTpL 9601 one-
that it behaves like a two-pole, shots, yet it has adjustments for
four-position switch. On the 8-in- period/delay and for pulse width,
put multiplexer, three seleot lines switches for output-pulse polari-
oontrol the eight input lines, and ty, for pre-trig~er output-pulse
the devioe resembles a single-pole, polarity and for internal or ex-
eight-position switoh. ternal trigger, a button for sin-
gle pulses, and inputs for gate
"Applied as a universal logic oir- and for external trigger.
cuit, the 4-input multiplexer can
handle as many as three variables; Reduce IC Package Count
two are applied to the select ter-
minals, and the fourth variable or "Cut binary-to-BCD conversion
its cooplement goes to eaoh of the costs," by Roland B. Anderson of
input lines. Bunker-Ramo, in Electronic Design
(Oct. 11, pp 104-110), tells how
"Any of the possible functions of to reduce your IC package count
three variables -- there are 256 -- with a nonsequential circuit using
can be generated with one-half of full adders and TTL gates, rather
the dual, 4-input multiplexer. And than a static converter.
any of the possible functions of
four variables -- which amount to Application Memos
a prodigious 65,536 -- can be hand-
led by just one 8-input unit." Signetics Corp. (811 East Arques
Ave., Sunnyvale, Calif. 94086) re-
As_an ~xample~ the function F = cently put out a small book of
XYZ + XYZ + Xyz + XYZ can be im- several hundred pages, "Applica-
plemented on half of a dual 4-input tion Memos," which you may be able
uni~ whereas, if it were built to get on a letterhead.
with discrete NAND gates, this
even-parity function would require The book covers a lot of ground.
five 2-input and two 3-input gates. The first section includes guide-
lines for selecting a digital IC
MOS Memories family (relative comparisons), and
a fine, illustrated glossary of
"MOS Memories Save Power" is the logic terms.
title of an artiole by Dale Mrazek
of National Semiconduotor in The The second section, on digital con-
Electronio Engineer (July 1969, siderations by family, is the lar-
pp 49-53). It is about the advan- gest section, and inoludes appli-
tages of MOS shift registers over cations in counters, shift regis-
magnetic cores, for data storage ters, adders, comparators and de-

Vol. II, No. 4 -- December 1969 4 ~NEWSLETTER

coders. Section 3 is on decoding Nov. pp ??). The logic display aid
and steering; 4 on counters, shift produoes, on a standard oscillo-
registers and memory ICs; 5, inter- scope, the Venn diagram, Karnaugh
face and display elements; 6, lin- map or truth table of any gate or
ear considerations; 7, timing cir- logic oircuit that is conneoted
cuits; and 7, parallel data hand- to the display aid. The display
ling. is a 16 X 16 dot matrix.
This book seems well worth obtain- Author Crank priced out the oom-
ing, which may not be so easy, as ponents, and lists half a dozen
is usually the oase with suoh pub- British souroes for the various
1ioations, exoept for those that groups of parts, at low cost. The
DEC gives out in suoh quantities. ICs, for exam p1e are by Ferranti,
and cost ~33.15. 6, or about $80.
Understanding Core Memories Total parts oost, inoluding cabi-
net, is ~74.l7.6, or about $180.
Two reoent pub1ioations by Ferrox-
oube are about oore memories.
"Taking the Mystery Out of Memory" SEQ,UENTIAL CIRCUITS -- INQ,UIRY
is a 5-page broohure that oovers
the basio faots. Muoh of this in- Don Fronek writes: "I have just
formation is oontained in IIHow to finished some research in the area
Use Ferroxoube Digital Magnetio- of sequential oirouits and wonder
Core Memories," a 28-page booklet if anyone in the ACS uses sequen-
(Bulletin No. 666) well worth t ia1 programr!ling. It I S not a bad
reading. After a brief review of way to go for these smaller maoh-
how memories work, it gives some ines. Gives a cheap method of call-
memory oontro1 teohniques, and ing subroutines with only the ba-
then goes into applioations: data sic commands (add, subtraot, etc.).
links, instrumentation, small
business-data maohines, prooess I I m about ready to tear down my
oontrol and monitoring, telemetry maohine and re-do it in a parallel
and digital oommunioations, and fashion (was series addition for
data organizers. process oontrol).
A letterhead might be required to Am interested in obtaining a cheap
get either of these, from Ferrox- printer -- any suggestions?"
oube Corp., Systems Division,
Englewood, Colo., or from a 100al Later, Don writes: "Have obtained
offioe (Annapolis, Burbank, Cleve- some core planes for the heart of
land, Denver, Minneapolis, North- a small 17-bit-word memory. \'lou1d
lake, Orlando, Phoenix, San Fran- like to knOl'; if anybody has a
oisco, Union (NJ), \va1tham, or simple read-write cirouit (inolud-
Toronto). ing elementary circuits for tran-
sistor line drivers). I would like
LOiio Display very much to obtain this informa-
tion. These oore planes are 16 X
The "\i1reless i![orld Logic Display 16, and I'm planning on staoking
Aid" is described in a series of them 17 deep." Don Fronek, 520 E.
construotion artioles in the Bri- liB \I Street, Mosoow, Idaho 83943.
tish magaZine, Wireless World, by
assistant editor B.S. Crank (May
1969, pp 196-202; June pp 255-264; QUOTRON MAGNETIC TAPE UNITS
July pp 311-316; Aug. pp 372-377;
Sept. pp 419-422; Oct. pp 466-470; Bill Pfeiffer sent some notes he
~NE\vSLETTER 5 Vol. II, No. 4 -- Deoember 1969
 The Amateur Computer Soolety ls ing on your luck -- a tuned o1r-
open to all who are lnterested ouit before the four squar1ng 1n-
in buildlng and operatlng a dlg- verters Should do the tr1ok.
ltal oomputer that can at least
perform automatlc multiplloatlon
and divislon, or is of a compar-
able complexity.
For membershlp ln the ACS, and
a subsoription of at least elght
lssues of the Newsletter, send t H OOI
IOK
ptd
$3 (or a cheok) to:
Stephen B. Gray
Amateur Computer Soclety
L-V
260 Noroton Ave. "Solution to the serial-parallel,
Darien, Conn. 06820 vice-versa conversion problem with
The Newsletter wlll appear about TTY I/O: software! The computer
every two months. can walt around and pick off each
serial bit as it comes (1t m1ght
wrote up on the Quotron tape hand- eVen do some calculation while
lers, whloh are available for waiting out the 22 msec between
about $100 in Californla. Also, he TTY pulses). I doubt many members
says, the modules and other parts have plans for interrupt systems,
are available. If anyone is inter- I/O buffers, etc.,.that would al-
ested, wrlte to Blll for a copy low the CPU not to be tied up
of his notes: t!1lliam F. Pfeiffer, during I/O anyway_
932 Via Del Monte, Palos Verdes
Estates, Calif. 90274. "\'fuat is a source of cheap taper-
pin terminals to be crimped or
soldered to the end of plugwires?
WHERE TO BUY IT
"What is a source of surplus neon
B&F Enterprises P.O. Box 44, Haw- drivers or indicators driven from
thorne, Mass. Oi937, has a catalog ICs? 'iJhe.t cheap transistor would
showing a memory core stack (12 brave the 90 V DC?
~lanes with 2048 cores each) for
$90; PC logic boards at 10 for "Possible memory idea: a small
$3.50 with connectors; one-psec tape loop on a regular tape recor-
delay line for $1.50; and a magne- der used as a delay line. Read,
tic drum with 146 heads for $95, write heads must be spaoed very
if you have 115 VAC 400-cycle. olosely for good access time; one
c-ould probably get bit densities
of about 1000 bpi using just audio
IDEAS AND INQUIRIES FROM 1ii0STAIC tones. If
Bob Shostak has several ideas and
questions: "Nodification of a Pop- DON'S TRADING POSI
ular Electronics circuit makes a
stable, simple yet reliable clock Don Tarbell (11200 Hillwood Drive,
for any frequency up to around 3 Huntsville, Ala. 35803) would like
Mc. Use one Motorola MC789F hex to trade, for items of equal value:
inverter 10 (about a dollar) and a 2 SN7483N (4-bit adder, cost $13.43
few oomponents on a PC board. Four eaoh); 6 MC778P (dual D FF, cost
series inverters square up the $2.35 each); 2 MC?84P ~ual half
oscillator output. Harmonic sup- shift register, cost $2.30 eaoh).
pression may be required, depend- Don needs: MC7l?P, MC?89P, MC790P.

Vol. II, No. 4 -- December 1969 6 .JAlQJSL NEUSLETTER

Copyright 1969 by Stephen B. Gray
 ~NEWSLETTER
Volume II, Number 5 LAMP
(Serial Issue 16) a publication of the DRIVERS
February 1970 AMATEUR COMPUTER SOCIETY

THOSE ADDRESS LABELS I~yinitial thought was to use neons

because of their low cost and avail-
If there is a machine-printed ad- ability. Besides, I had a batch of
dress label on the envelope this NE-2's on hand. But I quickly found
newsletter came in, the program that I needed some high-voltage
used to print it was written in transistors to drive them. These I
Cobol, for an IBM 360/30. didn't have, and since they are ex-
pensive, I didn't get them. However,
The addresses are keypunched into I did find that high-voltage tran-
cards, three cards per address, sistors weren't needed if care was
with a maximum of six lines per taken to limit the collector voltage
label. The program deck consists on a low-voltage transistor to a
of 105 cards. The 360/30 puts all value within its ratings. I used
the addresses on magnetic tape, this circuit:
then prints as cany sets of labels
as called for by a control card.
Another control card permits the
labels to be l?rint ed "three up"
(three across), or two up, or one. 220K
NE-2 ,
etc
LAMP DRIVERS
II
Louis Frenzel, the new member who 2N2369 lOOK
LOGIC
contributed the item on RC decou- IN
pIing filters to the previous is-
sue, now com~ents on lamp-driver
circuits. He says:
I~he voltage divider keeps the vol-
"This is an area usually neglected tage on the collector below the
or taken for granted, as it is one breakdown level when the transistor
of the less interesting and rather is Off. The transistor is a 2N2369,
simple circuit requirements. I did whose breakdown is 40 volts. Almost
dig into this area when I designed any switching transistor can be
my computer, and found some inter- used. Just set the Rl-R2 divider to
esting things. a value high enough to prevent the
lamp from remaining on when the
"First, with all the sophisticated transistor is off. The lamp sus-
indicator lamps available today, taining voltage is lower than its
you can literally spend a fortune ignition voltage, and when the
on simple off-on indicators. Most transistor is off, the potential
of them look good, of course, but voltage across it is the supply
still do nothing more than go off voltage less the divider voltage.
and on. There are several good,
cheap ways to make indicators that II mounted the lamf.s by pushing
will serve your purpose and still them through a 3/8 ' grommet in a
look good. They are not as fancy panel. It's a snug fit, so no
as some of the commercial units further support is needed.
available, but their low cost per-
mits you to use more of them. "While this works fine electrically,
 it does leave something to be de- digit adder/subtractor built and
sired in appearance. Frankly, I tested. It takes Just 69 NAND
hate neons and the high voltage gates. I found that the inclusion
they need. So I went to a standard of direct subtraction takes so few
incandescent. The cheapest is the extra gates that the nuisance of
old bayonet-base type. I used a complementation is unnecessary. It
#49 (cheap), rated at 2 volts and is to go into a serial-by-digit,
60 mao I drive it with a 2N5l34 parallel-by-bit arithmetic unit
Fairchild npn (19¢) through a 47- based on the delay lines I got
ohm dropping resistor. The supply thru the ACS Newsletter.
voltage is the existing 5-volt
regulated logic supply. The driver liThe price of the adder/subtractor,
transistor base can be fed directly by the way, was 6 boards of 12 NAND
from TTL or RTL gates or flip-flops. circuits per board, at 69¢ per
. Inexpensive bayonet sockets can be board, for $4.14 plus tax, plus a
used to mount the lamps behind a few hours of design.
panel. No jewel or colored filter
is needed. Just drill a hole in "I plan to start out using this, at
the panel a hair smaller than the first, with the four-bit I/O regis-
diameter of the bulb. Then let the ter doubling as the MQ register. As
bulb end poke through the hole a calculator, each digit of the
slightly. The effect obtained is multiplier, as it enters from the
unusual but pleasing in appearance, keyboard, can be counted down as
and ever so cheap. Try it. the multiplicand is accumulated.
On division, as each digit of the
+5V quotient is produced, it can oper-
ate the Flexowriter, thus printing
the quotient as it is produced.
IILater I hope to get my drum mem-
ory working, and convert the kludge
#49 into a computer.
"I could get more done on my little
Fairchild computer if the big ones \'lould stop
2N5l34 breaking down. At the college we
may have established some sort of
record last week, with all six of
our G.p. computers down for one
"I highly recommend a book titled, reason or another (one 360, one
'Digital Computer Design Fundamen- B205~ three G-15's, and an Athena)."
tals,' by Yaohan Chu. This is a
McGraw-Hill book, and it outlines
detailed design procedures and MORE ON ECHO IV
even describes a small hypotheti-
cal computer that could be easily Some new information about Jim
modified or added to, and built by Sutherland's computer, EOHO IV,
an amateur." appeared in the February 11 issue
of Oomputer l{orld.
NE11S FROM A MEMBER ECHO IV has 17 maChine-language
instructions, l5-bit words and an
Richard Dickey of California says: 8X core memory, to which is being
added 2X words of read-only memory
"I have a nice full decimal one- to eliminate bootstrapping. Another

Vol. II, No. 5 -- February 1970 2 ~ NE\vSLETTER

expansion will be two tape drives, 120 nsec; the cycle t1me about 150
adding 1.5 million characters on nsec. But how about cost? Motorola
each drive. expects a price of about 10¢ per
b1t "when the memory goes into mass
Instead of punching up cards or production." By 1972, the price may
tape, ECHO IV goes directly from be reduced to "about 5¢ a bit."
keyboard to core, and then will That would be about $800 now, and
transfer the programs onto the mag $400 in a couple of years. Cheap
tape after debugging. for an 8K memory, if you can wait.
Control keyboards can be plugged Electronic Typewriter Actuator
in at any of 16 receptacles scat-
tered around Jim's house, using an Here's an idea that may be worth
l8-wire data trunk. borrowing from:
Jim plans to hook the TV picture Colorado Instruments, Inc. (One
tube to ECHO IV so the machine can Park St., Broomfield, Colo. 80020)
communicate with the family thru has designed an actuator for use
an unused channel. On school with an IBM Selectric typewriter.
nights, the set 1IITill switch to The ETA-14 is a long, s11m box
that channel at a certain time and containing 14 solenoids, and which
remind the children to go to bed. c11ps on the Selectric to actuate
the 0 to 9 keys, plus tab, dash,
********* return and equal signs. A separate
coupler provides the power and
Incidentally, by what may not be a dri ve cireui t s.
coincidence, there was a book pub-
lished in 1965 by Little, Brown & Viatron has gone this one better:
CO::J.pany, liThe Tin r'!en," by Michael they will offer (or intended to at
Frayn, a reporter for the London one time) a "soleno1d robot" with
Observer; in this comic novel, a 50 solenoids for operating a Se-
small part is played by a computer lectr1c at 12 characters a second,
named ECHO IV. using an OCR font.
U-Shaped Cores
HARDWARE
U-shaped cores are coming into use
Semiconductor Memories? for read-only memories, with the
sense wires strung through or
The technical magazines and jour- around the cores, depending on
nals are full of articles and news whether a 1 or 0 is desired. How-
items about semiconductor memories. ever, these U-shaped cores do not
For instance, Motorola showed a seem to be available off-the-shelf
8l92-bit random-access memory at yeti companies such as Indiana
the 1969 Fall Joint Computer Con- G~neral and Ferroxcube make them
ference in Las Vegas. A hybrid it only to order.
contains both l·lOS and bipolar LSI
circui ts. The MOS circuits provide Cheaper ICs by 1973?
the high density and low power
dissipation for the storage arrays, Tosh1ba will build a $19-million
and the bipolar circuits prOVide plant to produce 100 million 1n-
the high speed for driving, sen- tegrated circu1ts annually by
sing and decoding. 1973, according to BUSiness Week.
The memory access time is about Mitsubish1 w1ll also make ICSi by
~ NE~lSLETTER 3 Vol. II, No.5 -- February 1970
1973 the two will be producing more waveform generator that outputs
than 250 million ICs a year, which sine, triangle and square waves,
is about 20% of U.S. production. and positive and negative pulses.
The cost is twice that of Elite 1:
For years, U.S. semiconductor manu- $1300.
facturers have been saying that
only strong Japanese competition The lI un iversal matrix" that is the
could thwart their continuing, heart of both Elite models can be
dramatic growth. If the tariffs bought from AP Inc., 72 Corwin Dr.,
are not changed, Japanese ICs may PaineSVille, Ohio 44077. The AP
become as prevalent in the U.S. as breadboard consists of 8 groupings
Japanese transistor radios. (Pre- of 64 terminals each, with 4 tie-
sumably, nearly all these ICs will points per terminal, making 2048
be for entertainment products at tiepoints, plus two Eroups of 27
first, but digital ICs may come four-tiepoi~t terminals, for a
along a little later.) total of 2264 tiepoints. Any DIP
from 10 to 128 pins plugs in, also
Nixie Readout at $15 per Decade 8- and 10-pin TO-5 cans, and stan-
dard discrete components. Inter-
The February 1970 Popular Electron- connection is by any piece of ''''ire,
ics (pp 33-47) has a long construc- from size 10 to 30. Cost: $85 each.
tion article, "Build Numeric Glow Seems expensive for five acetal co-
Tube OCUli by Don Lancaster, based polymer terminal 'strips on a glass
on the Burroughs B5750 Nixie. epoxy base, even with a "gold-
plated copper ground plane ll on the
The counter operates from DC to 8 back, and "spring-loaded beryllium
or 12 Mc, depending on whether RTL copper, gold-plated" tie-point con-
or Signetics Uti logic is used. The tacts.
article describes the 8-Mc RTL mo-
del (Motorola MC700P series). Com- Lower-Cost Fairchild 7400 ICs
plete information on the Uti logic
version is available from a Texas During the last weekin January,
address. Fairchild Semiconductor started
offering 7400-series ICs at what
As usual with Lancaster articles, they say are the lowest prices in
kits are available. A complete kit the industry. And their ad com-
of all parts for a 2i-digit counter pares prices (the first column
costs $43.50; for 3i digits, $59.50; gives the basic IC number):
4* digits, $75.00. Etched and dril-
led PC boards are available alone,
Fair-
TI Signetic s 1,10torola child
at $4, $5.75, and $7.50. That half- 7400 1:26 1.20 1.10 .85
digit is a neon lamp that indicates 7404 1.58 1.36 1.07
a one, permitting counts up to 199 7450 1.26 1.20 1.10 .85
with the 2* digits. At the 200th 7474 2.52 2.40 1.88
count, an over-range neon indicates 7472 1.77 1.69 1.50 1.31
that the counter has gone beyond
its limit. A power-supply kit is These are the 00 to 70 0 C types, in
available at $6.50. quantities of 100; only several of
the 24 types are shown.
Expensive Breadboard
Fairchild is aiming at producing
The breadboard mentioned in Vol. 2 million circuits a month. There
II, No.1 (page 6), now has a big are 17 gates, 6 flip-flops, and a
brother, Elite 2, which has three BCD-to-decimal decoder/driver.
power supplies instead of one; a Fairchild also aims to produce at

Vol. II, No. 5 -- February 1970 4 ~NEW'SLETTER

least two 7400 MSl elements every can also be used as a lamp driver,
month. relay driver, or high-fan-out log-
ic gate. It consists of four fast,
Core Memory Drivers and Amplifiers high-current switches controlled
by seven logic inputs that are
Texas Instruments published, last compatible with 54/74 TTL and
October, two applications reports other standard logic systems.
of interest. "The Operation and
Use of Series 7520N Sense Ampli- Tl Eu1letin CA-122, "Monolithic
fiers, II CA-10l, has 25 pages of interfacing in computers," briefly
not-too-technical information on describes (in 10 pages) the 75 109
the 7520N, a 16-pin plastic DIP line-driver circuit, 75 107 line
family of three threshold-and- receiver, 75 308 transistor array,
strobe ci~cuits. 75 324 memory driver, and core
memory sense circuits.
The SN7520/21N sense amplifier has
dual sense-input preamplifiers Printed Circuits vlithout Photography
with independent strobing of each
sense channel. The outputs of the The "negative drafting system" of
two sense channels are combined in Bishop Graphics, Inc. (7300 Rad-
a common-output circuit composed ford Ave., North Hollywood, Calif.
of two cascaded TTL gates. It is 91605) permits making printed-
compatible with standard TTL. wiring boards without photography.
The SK7522/23N also has dual The secret is FC-component patterns
sense-inpu't prearap1ifi ers with on black matte acetate film, called
independent strobing of each sense JIB Neg, 11 with which one can make up
channel. The outputs of the two the equivalent of a photographiC
sense channels are combined in a negative. This eliminates two steps:
double-inverting open-collector making a photo positive, and photo-
output gate. It can be connected graphing it.
with logic gates with the wired-
OR capability, such as most DTL A PC board is made by spraying a
gates and the SN7401 TTL gate. clean copper-clad laminate with
~ishop Resist, placing the B Neg
The SN7524/25N is t,,,,o separate on the sprayed board and exposing
single-preamplifier sense ampli- it to ultraViolet, developing the
fiers. Each sense-input channel pattern, and etching it.
can be independently strobed. The
output circuit of each channel Bishop sells a complete kit, con-
features a simple TTL gate with a taining 5" by 7" trays, photo re-
high fan-out capability. This is sist, developer, stripper, etchant,
designed primarily for small mem- contact pressure frame, and three
ory applications where performance 4" by 6" boards, for $28.70. For
and cost are important considera- $36.80 you get an 8" by 10" kit.
tions. All items are available separately.
B Neg artwork patterns (1:1 scale)
Tl Bulletin CA-107, on the SN75 cost $7.55 a roll of 100 patterns,
324 monolithic memory driver, is a and include DIP, flat-pack and
5-page item adapted from the 1968 TO-can types.
Spring Joint Computer Conference
proceedings. The SN75 324 was de- Cheapest Commercial Computer?
signed specifically to replace the
traditional discrete transistor- For $1800, UniCorn In~ sells the
transformer circuits. However, it CP-BA, with a 1.5JPseo-cyole pro-

.JAl.£JSL. NE\vSLETTER 5 Vol. II, No. 5 -- February 1970

The Amateur Computer Sooiety is modules together, exoept for a
open to all who are interested couple of simple logic circuits.
in building and operating a dig-
ital co~puter that oan at least Semiconductor Memories
perform automatic multiplioation
and division, or is of a oompar- The November 1969 EEE oontains an
able oomplexity. interesting seotion:-on pages 52-
For membership in the ACS, and 67. After a brief introduotion and
a subsoription of at least eight a list of 40 manufacturers, there
issues of the Newsletter, send is an artiole, liMOS Memories, II by
$3 (or a cheok) to: Leonard of TI, mainly about oontent-
Stephen B. Gray addressable memories and read-only
Amateur Computer Sooiety memories. "Bipolar Memories, II by
260 NOl'oton Avenue Snyder of Raytheo~ mainly desoribes
Darien, Conn. 06820 the operation of a memory array,
The Newsletter will appear about and has almost a page on LSI memory
every two months. subsystems.
oessor, 512 bytes of read-only mem- An Eleotronio Digital Slide Rule
ory, 4 soratchpad registers, and 40
byte-oriented instructions. Core is A fasoinating artiole with this
extra. The D model, with a million title, by Sohmid and Busoh of GE
bytes of tape-oassette storage and AVionio Controls, appeared in The
lK of oore, is "under $5,000." Eleotronio Engineer for July 1968
(pp 54-64). This hand-size oalou-
Unicorn is at 1275 Bloomfield Ave., lator, weighin~ less than two
Fairfield, New Jersey pounds, measuring 5x7xli inohes,
oontains 40 standard digital ICs,
8 ro tary input S'17'i tohes, and four
BOOKS AND ARTICLES Nixie tubes.
Computers for Amateurs? The EDSR is based on integration,
and has three basio seotions: a
IIComputers for the Amateur Con- pulse rate generator, output inte-
struotor," by R.H. Warring, was grator/timing oirouit, and funotion
published in England in 1966, and seleotor switoh. The switch provides
is available from Sport shelf, P. O. the proper interconnections for add,
Box 634, New Roohelle, N.Y. 10802 subtract, multiply, diVide, square,
(102 pages, $6.75). square r~ot, exponential, logarithm,
and sine-cosine functions.
Although the title is misleading,
the book is of some interest, The EDSR has not gone into oommer-
mainly beoause it is about the oial produotion, aooording to one
only one of its type. It tells how of the authors, but has been offer-
to build a oounter, adder/subtract- ed for lioensing to outside manu-
or, deoade soaler, NAND, AND, NOR, faoturers. If nobody pioks up this
OR, and lamp driver. These seem to item, the authors may be able to
have been designed by Mullard, and release the detailed schematics~
use transistors such as the OC7l However, it looks possible to fig-
and OC78 (there are substit'ution ure out the oonstruotion of the
manuals that give the Amerioan EDSR from the sohematios in the
equivalents). artiole.
However, the book tells nothing
about how to conneot the basiC Copyright 1970 by Stephen B. Gray
Vol. II, No. 5 -- February 1970 6 .JAl.QJSL NEiV'SLETTER
 --1il£fiL NEWSLETTER
Volume II, Number 5
(Serial Issue 17) a pub110at10n of the
May 1970 AMATEUR COMPUTER SOCIETY

THOSE UNDEFINED DEC COMPONENTS brand-new deVices, and is not really

worth 1t from the viewpoint of dif-
As the ACS Newsletter of July 1969 ference in qua11ty.
noted (page 1), one of the big
problems in oopying.a FDF-8/L is "Folypaks also asks ridiculous
that many of the oomponents bear prices for their unsorted devices.
DEC numbers only. Mike Quinn and Electronic Compo-
nents Co. (also known as General
One of the DEC Distriot 14anagers Sales Co.) are the only companies
very kindly provided some help. I know of that sell unsorted ICs
1n the 5¢ each range. I oannot deny
For the transistors and diodes with that getting these into usable oon-
no commeroial equivalent, a DEC dition involves a lot of work, but
part number is given. as one of your correspondents
pOinted out, "insan1ty and wiring
Transistors is l.,hat computer building is all
DEC 2 (15-05369 ) about. "
DEC 1008 (15-02155)
DEC 2904 2N2904 or 2N2905 "SO far I have built a tester for
DEC 3009B (15-03100) series 53 (TI) DTL, and also a
DEC 3568 2N3568 device which allows me to eas1ly
DEC 3790 (15-03399) identify unmarked ICs. At present,
DEC 6534B (15-034090-1) I am working on a more general
DEC 6534D (15-03409) tester, whioh will be able to
handle TTL as well as a number of
Diodes other lines of ICs.
D652 lN645
D664 lN3604,lN9l4,lN3605 t'I also have a oouple thousand
D67l lN3653 ICs in a narrow-gage TI DIP that
D672 lN3653 I would like to sell once I get
1..ffi2064 lN400l them tested. Prices would be 30¢
for a 5360, 60¢ for a 5302 (dual
No information was received on the FF), and I also have some series
two delay lines (DEC 16-05530 and 74 in this paokage, as well as
500), rectifier (11-05397) and many other series 53 types.
transformer (T2037).
"Gadgeteers Surplus sells a number
of panels of lights at about 10¢
A NEW MEMBER'S COMMENTS per lamp assembly. These are gener-
ally low-current incandesoent lamps;
Ou~ latest member is Steve Wiebk1ng the ones I have are 10 v, 20 mao
in Nebraska, with the USAF. Among
h1s interesting comments are these: "On the subjeot of making your own
PC boards, I presently u~e a tech-
"I have bought so-called tested ICs nique given to me by Bill HacBeth
from Polypaks in the past. The1r ot Aust1n. I draw my layout on
linear devices seem to be generally graph paper, tape the paper to the
OK, but I have no oonf1dence in the PC board, and use a soratch awl to
quality of their digital devices. oenter-tap the hole positions,
At any rate, tested surplus is usu- which I drill with a number 70
ally only marginally cheaper than drill for ICs. This makes a fairly
tight fit on IC leads, but 1t makes "On breadboarding ICs: I haven't
soldering easier. After drilling tried this yet except in a single-
the holes, I dip a draftsman's bow IO version, but I think I have a
pen in airplane dope and use this good arrangement. Hount three IC
to draw resist lines on the board. sockets side-by-side. Solder the
I etch the boards by gripping the leads of the two outside ones to
board with pliers and stirring the the adjacent leads of the center
etch solution, using the board as socket. You now put your IC in
a paddle. This gives me a better the center socket and plug #24 solid
etch factor than merely 181ing the tinned wire into the two contacts
board in the tray and rocking it. that are connected to each pin of
The improvement is especially great the IC. This is a little cheaper
with double-sided boards. than commercial breadboards, almost
as dense, and requires no special
liThe book, 'Circuit Design of Digi- plugs.
tal Computers,' by Hawkins (John
vliley & Sons), contains a discus- "A possibility for an I/O device
sion of the transmission-line as- that no one seems to have mentioned
pects of a core memory, and also yet is a FAX tranSf:li tter/receiver
takes a practical approach to many set changed to provide a digital
other aspects of discrete component output instead of an analog one.
design. As for the logical end of Through the use of software, the
computers, my introduction to the transmitter could be used to input
subject was 'Understanding Digital ordinary typewritten material, or
Computers' by Siegel (Wiley), carefully lettered handwriting. The
about 1961 or 1963. I/O of graphs and curves would be
possible. I remember reading sev-
"Fairchild has a nice application eral years ago of an Australian
note on using the uA7ll as a sense university that converted a stand-
amplifier. However, things are get- ard FAX machine for use on their
ting to the point where 7lls have computer. Also, the Visicon company
only a marginal price advantage is now making a device of this type
over straight sense-amplifier ICs. for computer input.
In the latest Electronics, National
Semiconductor advertises dual sense "I have bought a great quantity of
amps for $4.80 each in 100-up. surplus ICs for 6~ each, from Mike
Quinn E1ectronios. In December I
"In answer to question 4-2 (Feb. spent $760 on 16000 ICs and expect
1967, p 6), 'The Log1c of Computer the fo11ow1ng y1e1d of perfect de-
Arithmetic' by Ivan Flores (Pren- Vices, based on small samples:
tice-Hall 1963) contains the most 7400 - 1500; 7410 - 500; 7420/7440
information on floating-point hard- - 1100j 7441 - 90; 7473 - 300;
ware I have seen. 7474 - 150; 7476 - 660; 7442 - 50;
and a handful of other types."
"You may already be aware that the
Selectric typewriter can be con- It you're interested in buying some
verted for automat1c operation of those narrow-gage TI DIPs, write:
using only about 10 low-power sole- Stephen A. \'l1ebking, 6802 South 14,
noids to operate the control rods Apt. 6, Omaha, Nebraska 68107.
under the keyboard. These rods can
also provide coding of the keyboard
for input to a computer. There is Inexpens1ve TIs Terminal
a company which does this commer-
cially and has advertised in With1n a year, one of the electron-
Computerworld. 1cs hobby magaZines may publish a

Vol. II, No. 6 May 1970 2 ~ NEi~SLETTER

construction article on a time- PDP-8E, a 12-bit computer slimmed
sharing terminal to cost less than down to oompete with the small 8-
$200. It will use a CRT (for off- bit oomputers, will sell for about
line editing), a 21-inch tape loop $4000 in quantities, with 4K oore
with a cheap Japanese tape record- and no Teletype.
er, and one of the new Flex Key
"integrated" keyboards. Arithmetio Unit in a 24-Pin DIP
A read-only memory will be used In I-taroh, Texas Instruments intro-
for ASCII conversion. Future op- duced the SN54/7~ arithmetio
tions may include a color adapter, logio unit, claimed to be "equi-
cassette storage, and a solenoid valent to 75 TTL gates ••• it is
matrix for typewriter hard copy_ the olosest thing yet to a 4-bit
CPU in a paokage. II
Two reasons for the long lead time
are the metalworking problems, and The SN54/74l8l performs 16 arith-
the fact that no two Japanese tape- metio binary manipulations on two
recorder heads (of the cheap vari- 4-bit ,.,ords, including add, sub-
ety) are alike. traot, compare, deorement, direct
transfer and shift right. It will
Flex Key Integrated Keyboards also perform all possible 16 logio
funotions of two Boolean variables,
Those Flex Key keyboards got a lot including AND, NAND, exclUSive-OR,
of attention at the March IEEE OR and NOR.
sho,.., in New York, because they are
so simple, and the button travels Four of the SN54/74181 can be hOOk-
only about 0.02 inoh. ed up with a SN54/74l82 carry look-
ahead generator (also new) to add/
In the thin version, the keyboard subtract two 16-bit words in 36
is only 1/8 inoh thick; the exte- naec, more or less.
rior is all plastic. It uses a
"proprietary structure of conduc- The SN74181 is $16.50 in quantities
tive elastomerio membrane, deform- of 100-999; the SN74l82, $3.63. The
ed under pressure through a thin 1-24 price is about 50% more than
aperture film on a printed cirouit those prioes.
board, to aocomplish effeotively
bounoeless switohing. tr This seems 10 Plugboards from Vector
to mean that pushing the surface
will foroe a conductive plastio up New at Vector this year are the
against a rigid PC board, after 3677 series DIP plugboards, whioh
which the plastic returns to its provide universal mounting for DIPs,
original position. flat packs, transistors and discrete
oomponents. The longest board in
The thick keyboard with raised the series (3677) will hold up to
numbers (O to 9 and decimal point), 24 of the 14-pin DIPs, and costs
is t inch thick. Both measure 2t $9.89 for 1-19, $8.90 for 20-99.
by ~ inches. The thin model is . There are 22 tabs per side at the
$9.95; thick, $12.95 eaoh, from: plu~-in end. The 3677 is 9.6" X
Flex Key Corp., 1277 Main St., 4.5 with two sides; 3677-1 has
Waltham, Mass. 02154. only one side; 3677-2 is "a 6.5" X
4.5 tr version of the 3677.
An Even Cheaper PDP-8
The 3682 DIP plugboard holds up to
Another version of the PDP-8 is 54 l4-pin DIPs. The size is the
slated to come out this summer. The same as the three boards in the

~ NE',alSLETTER 3 Vol. II, No.6 -- Nay 1970

3677 series, but the layout is dif- Heath and Digital Kits
ferent, and the prices are slightly
less. One reason Heath hasn't gone into
the digital-logic kit business is
1'1i thin the last year, Vector has due to their designers' insistance
brought out two breadboard kits for on usin~, for esthetic reasons,
IC experimenters. The 29K, costing decimal readouts such as ~ixies,
$59.75, includes a 4.5" X 13.9" rather than a row of binary lamps.
perforated Vectorboard with side This raises the price to the point
and end rails, five 14-pin DIP beyond "customer acceptance."
sockets, two 16-pin DIF sockets,
four 4-1ead TO-5 sockets, two 10- In talking with Heathkit men at the
lead TO-5 sockets, four flatpaok Maroh IEEE, it seems that Heath had
adapter plates, ten 12-hole mount- worked up a prototype kit several
ing pads, and contacts, wire, ter- years ago for a combination Eput
minals, lugs, bus strips, tools. meter, frequency meter and interval
timer, which \'TOuld have been the
Another kit, for $17.95, oomes in TB-1B kit. The .'proj ect was aban-
two versions: 30X and 31X. The doned because the kit price would
main difference is that these two have been too high, due to suoh
kits contain no sockets. The 30X factors as Nixies being specified.
has two 4.5 11 X 8.5" Vectorboards
with side and end rails; the 31X InCidentally, it would seem, at
has one 4.5" X 17" Vectorboard first glance, that Reath has lower-
with rails. ed the price of its digital system
from $435 to $365, on looking at
These are not the only Vector DIP the Spring 1970 catalog. However,
plugboards; for full information, the $435 price, as noted in the
write to Vector Electronics, Inc., August 1968 Newsletter (p 4) was
12460 Gladstone Ave., Sylmar, for the 80l-A Analog Digital De-
Calif. 91342. signer, with 13 plug-in cards. For
the $365, you get the 8010 Computer
Cross-Reference Guide for TTL ICs Logic Teaching System. This seems
to be just like the 801-A, but
National Semiconductor has put out minus four of its cards: one-shots,
a handy one-page cross-reference relays, comparator, and operational
guide to the series 74N TTL lOs, amplifier. These four cards cost a
g. iving the pin-for-pin replacements total of $132 (1969 oatalog). Yet
(or nearest equivalents) for the the 801C is only $70 cheaper ••••
74N ICs made by National, TI, AEG That's quite a bit of inflation
(Germa~y), Amperex, Fairchild, Fer- in onla' one year.
ranti (England), ITT, Motorola,
Sescosem (France), Siemens (Ger- Computer Designer's Conference
many), Signetics, Sprague, Sylvania,
and Transitron. Called the "first national confer-
enoe enoompassing all areas of com-
For a copy, write to National Semi- puter design," a Computer Designer's
conductor Corp., 2900 Semiconductor Conference & Exhibition is scheduled
Drive, Santa Clara, Calif. 95051. for Jan 19-21, 1971, at ~he Anaheim
They will also send a ohart of Convention Center in Anaheim. Calif.
"helpful general rules-of-thumb re- Although most of the papers to be
garding practical uses of standard presented will be too far out for
TTL Series 54/74, II plus a list of amateur applications, there may be
their own TTL ICs: 16 gates, four one o~ two of interest. "Froceed-
flip-flops, six counters, etc. ings will be published and will in-

Vol. II, No. 6 -- May 1970 4 ~ NEWSLETTER

clude all papers. " Mlcroprogramming
The conference is being put on by An interesting seml-tutorlal, "Sys-
Industrial & Scientifio Conferenoe tem Design of a Dynamlc Mlcroproc-
I-Ianagement, !nc., 222 ~'1est Adams essor, \I by Cook and Flynn, was in
St., Room 1098, Chicago, Ill. 60606, the :March 1970 IEEE Trans. on Com-
from which address is available a puters (pp 213-222).
"free exhibit entrance badge,"
along with conference details. Nearly all the mlcroprogramming
done to date is of the static type,
IILow Cost Output Device" in whlch a machine instruction re-
pertOire is implemented by a fixed
Unicom, Inc., which has offered program in a read-only menory. A
the lowest-cost computer so far Qynamlc microprocessor uses a read!
($1800 -- but without core), offers write meQory for microinstructions,
a "low cost output device for IJini- and permits a computer to be re-
computers, II whioh turns out to be structured to represent any oompu-
an Olivetti Praxis typewriter with ter instruction vocabulary that
a solenoid box over the keyboard, exists (or can be conceived of), by
at $790. The PR-2000A types at 10 simply writing and loading its
oharaoters/seoond; for another mioroprogram.
$300, an 8-bit custom code-oonvert-
er is attached to the back. The article discusses a hypothetical
computer, describes its basic ope-
The 3aynes Cookbook ration, and gives several coding
examples. In logioal-type operations,
Jim Haynes, an ACS member in Cali- the speed is about 10 times as fast
fornia, recently became the editor for direotly mioroprogrammed logical
of a new department on the Computer programs as for the maChine-language
Group News (IEEE), called "The Cook- equivalent, because the actual oper-
book. Ii This new oolumn "is an at- ation oal1ed for by a logical machine
tempt to be of servioe to the prao- lnstruction is such a small percent-
titioner of computer design," and age of the overhead operations of
will contain notes, suggestions, instruotion-fetohing, decodlng, and
oomments, "who-is-doing-what-and- address generatlon. However, for
wbere-to-write-for-more-informa- programs involvlng arlthmetic oper-
tion," "questions, problems, gripes atlons, the time savings is much
and goofs. II Jim is at the University less (only 20% in the sample square-
of California in santa Cruz. root program), since the arithmetio
lnstruotlon's loop will dominate
the total execution time.
CURRmT ARTICLES
IC Flip-Flop Control Problem
Einary-to-ECD Conversion
If you've been applying (or removing)
IIComparing Einary-to-BCD Conversion the preset and olear signals simul-
Techniques" by l-lacDonald and Sklar taneously to an IC flip-flop, you've
in the Dec. 1, 1969 EDN (pp 33-39) probably been having troubles. Ac-
disousses parallel !eOhniques (log- oording to a Customer Engineering
ic matrices, summation of BCD com- C1inio item ln the Jan. 1, 1970 EDN
ponents, read-only memory), oounter (pp 74, 74), if the two signals
techniques, Couleur's teohnique applied together, both outputs of
are
(B!DEC, integers only), divide by a JK master-slave flip-flop such as
10 (binary integers only), and mul- TI' s .·SN7495 will go hi~h j 81 r.lul ta-
tiply by 10 (binary fraotlons only). neous removal of both will permlt

~NEWSLETTER 5 Vol. II, No. 6 -- May 1970

The Amateur Computer Society is Character Generator
open to all who are interested
in building and operating a dig- A character generator using ~ms
ital computer that can at least read-only memories and shift reg-
perform automatic multiplication isters is described in "There's a
and division, or is of a compar- better way to design a character
able complexity. generator," by Carter and Hrazek
For membership in the ACS, and of National Semiconductor, in the
a subscription of at least eight April 1970 ElectroniCS (pp 107-
issues of the Newsletter, send 112). The mecories shape the char-
$3 (or a check) to: acters for CRT readout; the regis-
Stephen B. Gray ters handle refreshment.
Amateur Computer Society
260 Noroton Ave. A pair of ROM chips, either MM: 5240
Darien, Conn. 06820 or MM 5241 (available in June, and
The Newsletter will appear about designed for generating CRT display
every two months. characters) generate the raster
scan and vertical scan. A 5-by-7
random patterns to set uP." dot matrix is used. The article
shows a logic diagram for generat-
Trouble also arises when applying ing multiple-character lines.
preset or clear signals while
clock pulses are being received, . Computer M.usic
even though IC makers may say
"preset and clear are independent Not recent, but interesting, is a
of the state-of-the-clock." letter from Himelhoca of 1·1artin
Marietta in the Jan. 1969 Data Pro-
The solution is to avoid simulta- oessing Magazine (p 14):
neously applying or removing op-
posing control functions. Also, " ••• I have taken orchestration on
phase-lock all inputs, to prevent a computer with no converter or
nonsynchronized inputs from drift- other type of an adapter. This ,,,as
ing in their phase relationship. accomplished by capacitor-coupling
the output of some controllable
Poor Packaging of LSI Chips flip-flop such as IIsense light
switchll direct to an audio ampli-
LSI packages are being delivered fier or home-entertainment tape
with missing leads, broken or recorder.
warped ceramiC, loose caps, and
bent pins, according to a March ~mhe flip-flop was turned off and
30 article in ElectroniCS, "The on under program control. Pulse
broken promise of LSI: packagingll width is produced by the length of
(pp 123-125). time the FF is on, and frequency by
the number of times per second the
According to the article "the pulse is turned on and off. The
problems of packaging LSi devices pulse width controls the quality
seem to be growing faster than the of the audio, producing a range of
market." "Reliability, assembly quality from that of clarinet to
yield, and delivery problems p1aiue organ ••••
users of large ceramic packages.
1I~'lith chip makers throwing away two "Audible music can be produce di-
packages for every three deliveries, rectly from a chain printer such as
and using 2.5 paokages for every an IBM: 1403. I've heard "Jingle
delivered LSI device, price beoomes Bells" on a 1403 under prograt1
an important ~ssue.n control of a 1401 computer."
Vol. II, No. 6 -- May 1970 6 ~NEWSLETTER
Copyright 1970 by Stephen B. Gray
president Lowell Wilkes (Cambridge loglc and standard-feature logiC,
Thermionic Corp., 445 Concord Ave., two for the basic 4K word core
Cambridge, Mass. 02138), and men- memory, and one for the memory ex-
tion the ACS. tenslon control. Each addit10nal 4K
words of core adds one board. A
Cambion's usual policy is to "with- dlagnostic program determines
hold the sale of any products which which board is malfunctioning and
fa~l to meet our quality standards," should be replaced. The ICs, how-
but they would IIconsider making an ever, are soldered in, not plugged
exception in the case of any sock- in, for economic reasons.
et s 'frThich might be available, so
lone as we can clearly distingulsh The DCC-112 has a 1.2-psec cycle
such sockets from our first-quality (the e/I has 1.5 and the elL, 1.6
sockets." usec). Basic price is $5900, said
to be lower due to: large volumes
DIP IC Connectors of the few types of PC boards; the
number of connector pOints is re-
A new line of low-cost IC connec- duoed; and baok-panel wiring ls
tors by ll.Iolex has no insulator, simplified.
just terminals that are inserted
individually into a PC board, and Computer on ~ Chip
into l<1hich you plug the IC.
RCA has built a computer for !JASA
The terminals are suppl~ed loose on a chip 1/7" square, according
or in chain form, to the 1vall Street Journal (June
for inserting into 22). "The tiny chip, whioh may
b;lO" holes. Cost acoompany astronauts to l':ars some-
is $4.84 per thou- day, can perform all the arithmetic
sand for 50,000 functions of a oedium-size, mediuc-
and up; fo r any- speed computer. II
thing less than
that: $6.06/M. Loglc Indicators
lUnimum billing
charge is $25. Now that half a dozen logic probes
At $6.06/M, the cost of terminals are on the market, along come a
for a l4-pln DIP is 8.5¢, about as couple of in-oircuit logic indica-
cheap as you can get for plug-in torSi which clamp onto the DIP and
terminals. For information and/or disp ay the states of all logic
sacples: Molex Products Co., 5224 pins, simultaneously. One or the
Katrine Ave., Downers Grove, Ill. other could probably be copied
60515. cheaply for amateur use.
Imitation PDP-8/L Hewlett-Packard's Logic Clip 10528A,
which costs $95 eaoh and weighs only
The DCC-112, recently introduced by 1.5 ounces, clips over the IC like
Digital Computer Co~trols (23 Just a large clothespin. The state of
Road, Fairfield, N.J. 07006), is each fin is sho~m by individual LEDs,
plug, program and mechanically in- of which there are 16.
terchangeable wlth the PDP-8 fam-
lly, and looks like·an 8/L or 8/I. Caltron has a different approach
Sales are limited to OEM's, and that is more complex and more ex-
the only software currently avail- pensive. The Circuit-Vu 100 has the
able is dlagnostics. Built wlth TI same type of spring-loaded clothes-
7400N TTL ICs, it is allan five pin clip, but it's connected by
13 x 16 PC boards; two for the CPU cable to a small box whioh has lamps

~NEWSLETTER 5 Vol. II, No. 7 -- August 1970

The Amateur Computer Society is will be 7090 Fortran IV, for ~Thich
open to all who are interested he already has an in-core compiler
in building and operating a dig- on punched paper tape.
ital computer that can at least
perform automatic multiplication Sal says "I still have a lot of
and division, or is of a compar- PDP-8 information, prints, training
able complexity. tapes, etc., on the IC version, for
For membership in the ACS, and anyone who ",rant s them. 1'lri te 939
a subscription of at least eight Breton Ave., Simi, Calif. 93065
issues of the Newsletter, send
$3 (or a check) to:
Stephen B. Gray HIGHLY ACCURATE DIGITAL CLOCK
Amateur Computer Society
260 Noroton Ave. The National Bureau of Standards
Darien, Conn. 06820 has been experimenting with provid-
The Newsletter will appear about ing an extremely accurate time
every two months. standard via TV sets. The NBS trans-
mits a digital code in the vertical
on the front panel. Overlays for retrace, or blanking intervalJ in
the specific IC types are held in four cities: Denver (Ch. 7), LOS
place over the lamps with small Angeles (11), V!ashington, J. C. (5),
magnets. Price: $229. and Cheyenne, "r/yo. (5). NBS uses an
atomic-standard clock, which is ac-
curate to one part in a billion, or
LATE ~"ORD FROM ~'lIE:SKING within one second in 300 years (my
figures say 30 years).
A postcard from Steve ~T1ebking adds:
The digital code signal is on the
u:More good news. Just got a call 20th line, and can be picked off
from Intel, and the ACS is defi- the video amplifier (or detector or
nitely in the semiconductor memory sync separator) and with various
business. Like the other companies, digital techniques can be used to
they had no speCific details to drive an IC clock. One of the hobby
offer, but Intel said that the magazines is \'lorking on an article
types of devices that they feel on such a clock, for less than $50.
would be most useful to us are the
\I cosmetio !land "hermet ic II dropouts. A clock based on the digital code
The cosmetio dropouts have been signal alone would not be as aocu-
tested in the paokage and would rate as the original NBS standard,
have a high yield. Intel, of course, due to propagation delays. There-
is pretty exolusively in the memory fore, the blanking interval contains
and shift-register business, and a second signal, for correcting this
could be oounted on ftr a good sup- error; proper use of it requires
ply of a variety of produots; note knowing, for one thing, the time
their recently announced 256-bit difference between the TV transmit-
bipolar l20-nsec scratchpad." ter and the NBS source.
Further information is contained in
SAL 1 S COMPUTER - AND AN OFFER NBS publication TRG-6592W, a two-
pager called "New Role for TV:
Sal Zuccaro says his computer now Atomic Clock."
has abou~ 450 neon lights, to be
driven with neon drivers he got at
10~ each; two 36-bit 4K word stacks
have been built; the first language Copyright 1970 by Stephen B. Gray
Vol. II, No.7 -- August 1970 6 ~N~'!SLETTER
type coded for either parity or for a hobbyist to pick up some use-
non-parity ASCII code. ful computer items; perhaps he could
"start tIith a processor and add to
it later. II There 'Vlere several high-
COMPUTERS OH AUCTION school and college students at the
auction, but after a few half-
The first computer auction ever hearted bids on items that went too
held took plaoe in New York last high after a few rounds, they Cave
July 30; 93 lots were disposed of up and just watched.
in 80 minutes by a fast-talking
auctioneer. More than tw'o-thirds of the $269,000
worth of used computer equipment vras
The first item was a Univac Solid bought back by the people who had
State 80 system, with six Uniservo consigned it to the Parke-Bernet
tape units, read/punch, and print- gallery for sale, because the bid-
er; it went for $325, FOB NYC. A ding "failed to reach the upset
Univac I control panel, for display price, \I according to the raan 'l'lho
purposes only, 80 pounds of lamps bought back both 360/20 systems, as
and sWitches went at $110. Five well as about 60% of his 23 con-
identical LGP-30 comnuters sold at signments, for which he will have
$300 to $550 each (FOB Michigan), to pay a 15% commission.
mainly for the accompanying Flexo-
writers. An IBM 1401 CPU, 4KA, went
at $1750; a second one, for ~1500. HARDWARE
One 360/20 went at $52,500, another
for ~~29, 000. PDP-8/E to Replace alI and aIL
Two minicomputers went high: a Digital Equipment Corp. announced
Varian 620i with ASR-33 and options, 1n July its first under-$5,000
original cost $21,800, went at member of the PDP-8 family, the
$7000; .an Int erdata 15-103 with 7 8/E. Cost is $4990 for 4K core and
datasets, for $9000. There were no no Teletype. Fully compatible t.rith
bidders on an IBM 7072 that was the rest of the PDP-8 series, the
opened at $2000, nor for a 7094 8/E will eventually replace both
that was started at $20,000, and the 8/I and 8/L, which are the cur-
dropped to 115,000; a 7070 went rent model s.
for S2250 •.
Speeds are faster than previous
The biggest item was a Univac 1107, Dodels: I/O transfers are executed
with 7 tapedrives, card reader, 1n one usec (4.25 pseo for 8/I or
punch, printer, and communications aiL). One reason for the lower cost
subsystem -- no bidders at $100,000 is the use of busing rather than
or at $50,000. One of the last wire-wrapped backpanels; all options
items was a Univac Solid State 90, are pre-wired for later plug-in,
with 6 tapedrives, printer! punch and logic modules are bus-independent.
and reader, which went at ,425; the
90-column card equipment to go with A byte-swapping command has been
it (3 keypunches, verifier, inter- added to the instruction set; 1t,
preter, collator and sorter) went operates on the right and left
for $75; an optical" scanning punch halves of the accumulator.
for $75, and an alphabetic tabula-
tor for another $75. Fred Sias says that used 8/S models
are having trouble finding buyers,
Before the auction, one publication as they are slower and serial. DEC
had described it as a good place gets several calls a day from a/s

~NEWSLETTER 3 Vol. II - No. 7 -- August 1970

owners wanting to trade for later made with the "sub-elements" market-
codels, but DEC doesn't want to
stock up on the 8/S. In contrast,
ed by Circult-Stik, Inc., 1518 ' I.
132 St., Gardena, Calif. 90249. :·:ade
a used PDP-8 sells for at least of very thin metal, and backed with
$7-8,000. an adhesive that "withstands solder-
ing temperatures," these IC pads
Another Look at ''lire-Wrap Tools come in two basic groups: one pre-
drilled to match the .001" grid of
Gardner-Denver Wire-Wrap tools "for pre-punched mounting boards; the
solderless wrapped connections" are other is not pre-drilled and is not
expensive. The electrio-powered lion grid,1I and is for maximum com-
tools run about $180 or more, the paotness.
air-p0'll'rered ones about $130, and
even the battery-run tool costs Patterns available are for TO-5 and
$95. trrapping bits and sleeves are TO-18 cans (3 and 4 leads), DIP
extra. strips in various lengths (with and
without power and ground connec-
~here are manually operated tools: tions), individual DIP pad sets (24
the squeeze type, for 22, 24 and and l4-1ead), flat-packs, connec-
26-gage wire, is now $60, plus bit tors (15 and 22 pins), SCRs, TO-3
and sleeve. The rod types run from power transistors, distribution
$18 to $23, depending on gage, and strips, and discrete components.
terminal-hole diameter and depth. Also in the catalog are pre- and
Unwrapping tools cost $75 (sgueeze un-punched boards, jumpers, and
type) or, for the rod type, $~-5. conductive and insu1ative tapes.
These pads are not oheap; a package
It would be much cheaper to cake a of ten sets of 14-1ead DIP pads
wrapping tool from a short piece costs $3, or 30~ per IC. The strips,
of tubing. Might be easier to use which mount six ICs each, cost from
with an offset handle, something 22¢ to 30¢ per IC. Hinimum order:
like the old Victrola windup ten dollars.
handles, or an automobile crank.
Cheaper GaAs Displays
Has anybodY had any experience
wi th home-made tnre-trrap tools? Monsanto has been marketing seg-
mented and dot-matrix displays.
Price War Cuts IC Prices llIAN 1 is a 7-segment G~s reae-out;
HAN 2 is a 5x7 LED matrix (plus a
A price fight between Texas Instru- 36th LED for deCimal point); and
ment s and National Semicondu.otor ~UU~ 3 is a planar monolithic 7-
has driven the cost of some 7400 segment GaAs display, cheaper than
TTL gates by National from 63¢ (in MAN 1.
1000 quantities) down to 30¢. Moto-
rola and Fairohild hope to remain The news is that xilonsanto 'trill sell
competetive. From the others, no the fallouts from MAN 1 on the hobby
oomment yet. market, calling it something like H4.
The 7400 gates have been sold below IC-Socket Fallouts
cost for several months now; some
projections see gates sold for less Cambion has some "manufacturer's
than 20¢ in 1971. seconds" of l4-pin sockets for DIP
ICs,with ~rire-i"rap terminals, style
Paste-Up PC Boards 703-3897-01-03-16, at 25i each for
100 to 499, 20¢ each for' 500-999.
"Instant ciroui t boards" oan be If interested, write to vice-

Vol II, No. 7 -- August 1970 4 ~NE\'lSLETTER

 ~NEWSLETTER
Volume II, Number 7
(Serial issue 18) a publioation of the
August 1970 AMATEUR COMPUTER SOCIETY

LOW-COST ICS I do not yet know if it 1"i11 be

possible to buy mixes oontaining
Steve t'1iebking, who letter was digital ICs only, but I presume
printed in the previous issue, has that something of this variety
been negotiating with IC makers could be worked out.
for their rejeot-but-usable lOs:
"All devices are untested, of
"I have written to six 10 manufao- course, and I presume some peroent-
turers so far and have reoeived age of them will be unmarked -- it
replies fro~ Philoo and Advanced was about 75% for the National ICs
~aoro Devioes. They both seem in- I bought from Mike Quinn. I am not
terested in selling rejeot lOs to partioularly interested in trying
us (I would oonsolidate orders to to do sorting and testing for
avoid bothering them with small others, since my previous experi-
orders), but I have no speoifio ence with this indicates that it
details yet sinoe this is not a takes up more time than I have, to
standard line of business with do it for anyone but myself. It is
most oompanies. In general, how- possible that I might be able to
ever, it should be possible to ~et do sorting only (by this I mean
the devioes for less than the 5~ identifying the unmarked devices),
per IO live been paying Mike Quinn since I have this part of the oper-
for mine. ation semi-automated, but I would
prefer to simply resell the ICs at
"It is likely that some oomplex cost and let everybody do their
devioes may run a little higher; own sorting and testing.
Advanoed Mioro Devioes makes only
MSI TTL and linears, and Philoo "Naturally, I would publish in the
makes some 256-bit random-aooess Newsletter everything I have learn-
memories (ruu4s). Philoo oakes a ed about sorting and testing from
limited but growing amount of my past experienoe with many thou-
series 74 TTL, inoluding a wide sand lOs. The work required to sort
variety of types, and some HSI. and test enough lOs for a small
They indicated that the majority oomputer should not keep a member
of their present output oonsists busy for more than a few months of
of series 930 DTL and RTL, but the average spare time (not working
proportion of TTL oould be expeoted continuously!!), and this is not
to rise in the future. So far, it really too much, oonsidering how
looks like we would be able to buy much time most members will wind up
only the series we aotually wanted. putting in on a discrete-parts ma-
Advanced Mioro Deviot}s makes a few ohine. In addition, the lOs for a
series 9300 TTL MSI {9300 shift small computer should not cost much
register, 9301 deooder, 9304 dual more than $100 in a deal like this,
adder, 9309 dual 4-input multi- and this will represent a saVings
plexer, 9310 deoade oounter, 9312 of well over $1000 even for the
a-input multiplexer, 9316 hexa- most modest maohines a little
deoimal oounter, and two devioes larger than a PDP-8/L (compared to
from the Signetios line) and a new IC cost). Further, the result-
slightly larger variety of Fair- ing benefits in the areas of de-
ohild and National series linears. oreased size, power, and design work
from using ICs should be plain from the various manufacturers. I
enough, especially if compared to would expect that nearly everyone
discrete parts, which the majority would be interested in RAMs, so
of members seem to be using. Con- please write soon and give me some
sider, in particular, the advan- estimate of how much you want of
t ages of semiconductor RAHs over what. Remember that the distribution
using old core frames, if we are of types will be somewhat random,
able to get the former. but we will nost likely be able to
control the series we are buying.
"Of the four remaining companies I will send more information as it
that have not yet answered me -- becomes available."
Intel, sprague, Advanced Memory
Systems, and Computer Microtech- Steve's new address is: Stephen A.
nology -- all but Sprague make Weibking, Apt. 119, 251 W. Dayton-
large RAMs. Yellow Springs Rd., Fairborn, Ohio
45324.
"In case anyone is worried about
the reliability of ICs obtained in Steve also notes that anyone work-
this manner, I used over 50 such ing on a delay-line machine would
rejects in a sorting aid I built do well to consider the 1024-bit
last year, and I would estimate 5-Mc shift registers Intel now
that it has been in operation 300 sells for $38.50 (1-24), $31 (25-
hours w1thout any signs of failure. 99), $24.10 (100-999).
This, of cours., 1s not very long
for determining a useful reliabil-
ity figure, but it is certainly a I S THERE AN AUTHOR IN THE HOUSE?
step in the right direction.
Fred Sias sent the first chapter,
"Philco has mentioned the possi- on general design principles, of a
bility of selling us II mechanical book he started on amateur computer
rejects,tI which are devices re- construction. But now that he's
jected simply because the sections finished his PhD work, and been
of the case are misaligned, or the promoted to Assistant Professor, he
lead spacing is a little off, etc. feels any writing he does nOtoT ehould
These have been tested electrically be in his field, which is in applying
and would therefore contain more computers to biophysics. (I think).
than the usual number of electri-
cally perfect devices. My past ex- If any qualified ACS member would
perience indicates that the yield like to carryon with \'{hat Fred has
of good devices from rejects is started, please write to Dr. Fred
generally 30-60%, but Advanced R. Sias, Jr., School of Hed1cine,
Micro Devices feels their should Dept. of Physiology and Biophys1cs,
be somewhat better, since they test University of Mississippi Medical
all their devices to military stan- Center, 2500 N. State St., Jackson,
dards. Miss. 39216.
"For the time be1ng, I would like Fred is looking for an 8-level
to hear from all members who think paper-tape punch operating at at
they might be interested in pur- least 50 cps, in working condition
chasing any of the'types of ICs and reasonably priced. Or he \,lill
mentioned above. I am not asking trade a new-condition 350-cps
anyone to commit himself, but I photoelectric paper-tape reader
would like to be able to estimate (CDC oodel 350) for the right punch.
the total amount of ICs that we He would also like to locate a
would eventually want to purchase repairable ASR-33 or KSR-33 Tele-
Vol II - No. 7 -- August 1970 2 ~NE11ISLETTER
 ~NEWSLETTER
Volume II, Number B
(Serial Issue 19) a publication of the
November 1970 AMATEUR COMPUTER SOCIETY

·HARDWARE way of driving core staoks, which

is described in "Submicrosecond
Low-Cost ICs Again Core Memories Using Multiple Coin-
cidence," in the June 1960 issue
Steve 1:l1ebking, who has been nego- of IRE Transactions of Electronic
tiating with IC makers for their Computers, pp 192-19B. Using stan-
usable fallouts, writes: dard 4-wire planes with the system
described here gives a 2-psec cycle
"Intel is.the only firm to give us for BO-mil cores, .and a I-psec
a firm offer so far. Their offer cycle for 50-mil cores. The low-
is to sell us cosmetic rejects at cost driver system used with the
half price. Taking half of their
current price list, this comes to:
1-24 25-99 100-999
1101 - 256xl RAM, 1.5 ~sec ••••••.••• $20.00 $16.25 $12.BO
11011- same, 1 pseo 24.00 19.50 15.3B
1103 - 1024xl dynamic RAM, 600 nseo 30.00 24.3B 19.20
3101 - 16x4 RAM, 60 nsec 20.00 16.25 12.80
1402 - 256x4 dynamic shift reg, 5Mo 20.00 14.00 9.00
1403 - 512x2 " II II II 15.00 10.00 6.00
1404 - 1024xl II II " " 15.00 10.00 6.00
IIAny of Intel's other deVices are
also available on the same half- BO-mil system built by the author
price deal. The only thing here is described in "A New Core Switch
that interests me is the 1404 (or for Magnetic Matrix Stores and
1403), and lim thinking about Other Purposes," on pp 176-191 of
placing an order for some of these the same issue.
if nothing else turns up by next
spring. If anybody else is inter- "If any members would like.a copy
es"ted in the registers, 1111 be of these articles and cannot obtain
trying to build up an order of 100. them locally, I can make copies at
(Write Steve at Apt. 119, 251 West 5¢ a page. Allow something for post-
Dayton-Yellow Springs Rd., Fair- age if you decide to take me up on
born, Ohio 45324.) this.
"I wrote a reminder to Advanoed "Cassette Decks: A solenoid-operated
Micro Devices about the middle of cassette drive is available from
October, and still have no useful V-M Corp., P.O. Box 659, Benton
information from them. Sprague and Harbor, Mich. Model 1602 is read!
Philco have also both said they write in one direction only, and
are interested, but have not yet costs $40-$25~ depending on quan-
made any kind of offer. tity. The l62A::. can read or write
in either direction, and costs
"Core Drivers: As long as semicon- $76-3B. Rewind time is 75 sec for
ductor memories are not turning 323 ft. The ad, which appeared in
out to be as easily obtained as I Computerworld (Sept. 16, 1970, P
had imagined, perhaps some of the 35), was not explicit, but apparen-
members would like to consider a tly this 1s the mechanioal portion
faster, cheaper and lower-powered only, with a half-track head and no
read/write electronics. It was men- The shift registers are the Nation-
tioned that multi-track ~ead8 can al MM5016 512 or 500-bit dynamic
be ordered as an option. shift registers. In general, beware
of dynamic registers, because they
"Have just purchased a model 533 require odd voltages, excessive
IBM card-reader/punch from a local clock drive, and won t run slowly
surplus dealer for $200. Main rea- enough. These are the best I've
son it's so cheap (I guess) is found so far. I purchased in quan-
that this is the reader fo~ the tity because the single-unit facto-
IBM 650 and isn't any good with ry price of $15 was too much. I'll
anything else. If anybody wants sell my surplus at $10 each, the
the IBM 650, the dealer still has 25-up factory price. The factory
the rest of it. I didn't ask what driver is far too expensive, so I
the price was, since it is about suggest discrete components for that.
3x7x12 ftw, and it would not blend
in too well with the furniture. I tiThe ferrite cores are General
hope to rebuild the reader into a Ceramics CF123 in 0-5 material.
somewhat smaller cabinet, so this They are SUitable for 100-watt di-
will divert me from my other pro- rect from the line to low-voltage
jects for some time." loads with ultrasonic switching.
The factory price is $5.70 A and
Earlier J steve wrote: III figure I I'll let my surplus go at t5.00.
can get my core stacks operating In the alarm, one is used to gene-
a~ around a 2-~sec cycle time for rate -12V, -2lV, and -30V from the
.06-.l¢/bit ($360-$600 for 6xl0 5 +5V supply. Thus only the t5V sup-
bits). " ply needs to be taken from the
mains and regulated, since the con-
Low-Cost TTL. DTL. and SurpluA version introduces very little re-
gulation at its outputs. The total
Norman Sanders sent word about low- load is one watt. A core with the
priced TTL, and shift-register and semiconductors, capaCitors, resis-
ferrite-core surplus. tors, wire, and schematic and in-
structions for a one-watt supply
The TTL (and DTL) is sold by Gerber with input from a 5 to l2V souroe
Electronics, 852 Providence High- and outputs up to three, e~ch from
way, U.S. Rte. 1, Dedham, Mass. 5 to 30 volts, can be had for $10
02026. Their price sheet shows 7400 While the supply lasts.
TTL and 930 DTL ICs; the 7402 quad
2-input NOR at 60¢ each, 7472 . "A preliminary check shows that it
master-slave J-K flip-flop at $1.11 takes me about an hour to wire in
each; 949 quad gate at 70¢, 9093 each IC of the DIP type. I'm won-
dual clocked J-K FF at $1.30 etc. dering what the experience of
Minimum order, 25 assorted cIrcuits. others is. 11
Norman says: "These are the lowest Write: Norman B. Saunders, 15 Ellis
prices I've seen for new material. Road, Weston, Mass. 02193.
What I've gotten was Sylvania, and
all have worked well on insertion. No Catalog From Mike Quinn
liThe surplus is from my intruder Steve Wiebking mentioned (on page 1
alarm, a piece of new equipment of the May and August 1970 issues)
developed in the course of my work. that he'd bought many unsorted ICs
This is for manufacture and sale from Mike Quinn Electronics. At
by the security people. I over- that time, Quinn intended to put
bought for my engineering work. out a catalog. He has since deCided
Vol. II - No, 8 -- November 1970 2 ~NEWSLETTER
not to, says the stock changes too metic operations, the logic per-
fast, even for another ad in Elec- mits chained operations, negative
tronics World (his last was back sign and overflow indication, and
in November 1969). electronic interlock. Price for
1-10, $158.46 a set; for 11-49,
Mike no longer sells unsorted DIFs, $144.06. Applications material is
but he does' have unsorted flat- available.
packs at $13 to $19 per 100, depen-
ding on whether they're RTL or TTL. IC Dropout
His DIPs are tested; a 7490 costs
$2.95, with 10% off for 10 (the 10 The first victim of the TTL price
can be ~ixed). Mike supplies Poly- war is Sylvania, which will end
pak with 70% of their material, its IC operation in Woburn, Mass.,
and also sells to a kit outfit in by the end of 1970, thus ending
Indiana called Environmental Pro- the SUHL line by the originator.
ducts. He also has core memories,
mainly fro~ IEM 1400 and Ramac, Immediately after Sylvania's an-
also some Ampex and GE types. nouncement, other Ie makers ran ads
for their. SURL lines; Philco-Ford,
If you're in the area, you may Motorola, TI, Transitron, Raytheon;
want to drop in on Mike Quinn all are hoping for a piece of Syl-
Electronics, 727 Langley St., vania's $8-$10-million market in
Oakland Airport, Calif. 94614, this ultra-hi~h-level logic family.
(415) 569-1539.
In late September, F,irchild cut
One ACS me~ber doesn't recommend the prices of its 9300 lineup to
Quinn. He sent a money order after 54%. Advanced Micro-DeVices has
seeing the magaZine ad, never got cut its 9300 prices to the point
a reply, and when he applied for a where gate functions in arrays are
refund from the post office, found down to 8¢, in quantity; these com-
Quinn had cashed his money order pete with discrete TTL gates that
two weeks after it had been sent. are priced at 18~ in quantity.
LSI For a Calculator Alterable Read-Only Core Memories
Electronic Arrays (501 Ellis St., At least two companies have U-core
Mountain View, Calif. 94040, (415) ROMs that can easily be altered.
964-4321) has developed the EAS100, To change a word in the Mempac mem-
a set of six MOS LSI circuits for ory from Datapac Inc. (santa Ana,
a l6-digit caloulator with 8-digit Calif.), clip a drive line at its
. display capability. The six cir- terminals, and weave a new drive
cuits are 24-pin DIP types, and line through or around the cores ac-
provide the complete electronic cording to the new bit configura-
portion of the calculator, except tion. Datapac provides a "simple
for the display. little wire dispenser. II
The set includes a control array Varian Data Machines uses a diffe-
which uses a 1920-bit ROM to gene- rent approach for their VROM (var-
rate the baSic control sequences iable ROM), a 20Kb memory that
that operate the calculator. The costs abo~t $500. The braid is in
other five arrays are for: input, a package that plugs onto the ROM
control logic, register, arith- board, and is quickly changed for
metiC, and output. another braid. Small changes can
be made (at another part of the
In addition to the normal arith- VROM) by removing or inserting
~NEWSLETTER 3 Vol. II - No. 8 -- November 1970
I-bars into the plastic holders ground connections to the proper
around which the sense winding is pins, aocording to a March 1 ar-
wrapped. The entire configuration ticle in EDN (pp 74-75).
could be altered by changing the
I-bars, but it's faster and easier Clock and Control with TTL
to snap in a new braid board.
This is the title of an article in
Arithmetic Logic Unit Electronic Design (May 10, 1970,
pp 82-88) on a digital clock, by
Fairchild has an MSI 4-bit arith- Dennison of National Semiconductor.
metic logic unit, the 9340, which
can perform in parallel the add For as little as $180, a clock that
or subtract operations, or any of will display time in the form 11:
six logic functions on two four- 43:56 with six Nixie tubes can be
bit binary words. The high-speed built with 14 TTL ICs of the SN7400
IC TTL ALU incorporates full carry- type, plus 7 tranSistors, 16 diodes
lookahead internally, and provides and a transformer. The clock uses
either a ripp~y carry output or line frequency as the input time
carry lookahead outputs. Further base, which is accurate enough for
information is provided in a data most applications. If very precise
sheet and in a 16-page brochure on timing signals are required, a
application notes, which covers, crystal-controlled oscillator may
among others, interconnections for be substituted. For actuating an
8-bit, l2-bit, l6-bit and 28-bit external ~evice at a specific time,
ALUs; single-address and three- a comparator circuit is described.
address arithmetic registers; 4x4
multiplication; and detection of $70 Data Modem
overflow, all one's, and all zero IS.
Price for 1-24, $20.90; for 25-99, tlDesi~n pruning trims costs of data
$16.70 each. modem (ElectroniCS, July 20, 1970,
pp 99-101) by Stifle and Johnson
Full Multiplier on a Chip of the University of Illinois, gives
the full schematics for a l200-bps
"Parallel multiplier gets boost transmit-receive modem with a total
from IC iterative logiC," in the parts cost of less than $70, about
Oct. 12 Electronics (pp 89-93), 25% of the cost of commercial modems.
discusses what is claimed to be the
only TTL IC full multiplier on the The modem can be built on two 3x4i-
market, the Fairchild 9344. inch PC boards, and consists of six
ICs in the SN?400N series, three op
The H-P "Logic Clip" Again amps, seven 2N2359 tranSistors,
eight lN995 diodes and six lN4l54
Hewlett-Packard's $95 Logic Clip, diodes.
described on page 5 of the August
1970 issue, turns out to have quite The low cost was achieved by using
a bit of circuitry in its two cus- digital techniques rather than ana-
tomized ICs. The clip can be clamp- log, eliminating all "unnecessarylt
ed to an IC any way you like, in- circuits such as data-set-ready and
cluding upside down and off to one clear-to-send, direct interfacing
side. The clip contains 16 Decision with TTL to eliminate voltage-level
Gate Networks of proprietary design, shifting CirCUits, and use of only
which determine if the input at one OSCillator.
each pin is Voc, ground, or logic Digital Tape Sensor
signal (high or low), and automati-
cally connect the clip's Vcc and UDigital-tape sensor requires no

Vol. II - No. 8 -- November 1970 4 ~NEWSLETTER

adjustments.l.." in Electronic Design posed product a 'hypothetical' auto-
(14ay 10, 19'10, pp 112-114), descri- matic computer only because its per-
bes a simple five-transis~or detec- formance will not match ordinary
tor for beginning-of-tape and end- commercial demands; but for educa-
of-tape, using lN2l75 photodiodes tional purposes, HAC is ideal -- and
in a differential amplifier cir- its paper design can be converted
cuit. The design operates "without into real hardware. We know it can
adjustment, over wide ranges of: be made real because our adVisors
illumination, detector sensitivity, and authors at the U.S. National
wrinkled tape, dull reflective Bureau of Standards who conceived
tabs, power-supply output, and HAC for this study have produced
temperature. " the hardware and have made it work.
You who study this deSign can also
PUBLICATIONS build HAC."
Don'~ forget that if you d~n't have HAC has 64 ten-bit words of mag-
one of the referenced magazines in netic-drum memory, eight instruc-
your company library or handily tions, and a serial adder. The
available elsewhere, you can get drawing of the operator's control
tearsheets from nearly all of them panel shows 42 lamps, 16 push-
by writing to their Readers Service buttons, a 3-position switch, and
Department, at-the address given in HALT and RUN buttons.
the June 1967 issue of the ACS
Newsletter. All of those listed are The logic diagrams are very much
still being published, except for like those in NBS Technical Notes
Electro-Technology, which died this 68 and 168, as desaribed in the
last March, and Industrial Elec- Dec. 1966 ACS Newsletter.
troniCS, dead as of January 1969.
There are various block and logic
New DEC Book diagrams, including a complete
logic diagram of the arithmetic
Digital Equipment Corp. has recent- circuitry. There are no specs for
ly published their second program- any hardware; it would take a gOOd
ming handbook in the PDP-8 series, man to build HAC from these lessons,
"Programming Languages," as a com- particularly the memory-unit part.
panion to "Introduction to Program- Input/output is theoretically by
ming," which appeared previously. keyboard and printer; in the lesson,
the I/O buffer pUshbuttons and lamps
The new volume covers FOCAL, BASIC, on the console are used to enter and
4X and 8X assemblers, FORTRAN, the read out information.
floating-point package, and math
routines. The first coPy is free; Another lesson in both courses, on
additional copies are 32. "Digital Computer Components,"
seems to have also been written by
Hypothetical Automatic Computer NBS men. After a description of
various components, there are 18
CREl (Capitol Radio Engineering pages on operating the HAC. This
Institute) offers home-study "Major lesson notes that HAC was never
Elective". courses in Computers built, but that "a much larger com-
:(#253) and Automatic Control Engin- puter has been simulated to operate
eering (#255); both contain a les- as HAC." A program to add five num-
son on the flDesign of H;ypothetical bers (and check for overflow) is
Automatic Computer (HAC)." As the shown; it takes 50 instructions.
forward phrases it: "In this as-
signment, we have called our pro- InCidentAlly, neither course is
~NE~"SLETTER 5 Vol. II - No. 8 -- November 1970
The Amateur Computer Society is niques," by Langdon of IBM Endi-
open to all who are interested cott, appears in the October Com-
in building and operating a dig- puter Design (pp 85-93). The arti-
ital computer that oan at least ole ooyers a number of binary and
perform automatic multiplication non-binary trigger oounters, shift-
and division, or is of a compar- ing oounters, and three other coun-
able complexity. ters~ and includes block diagrams
For membership in the ACS, & for ~7 counters.
a subscription of at least eight
issues of the Newsletter, send IC Digital Logio Families
$3 (or a cheok) to:
Stephen B. Gray A three-part article comparing the
Amateur Computer Society major IC logic families opened in
260 Noroton Avenue the IEEE Speotrum with part one in
Darien, Conn. 06820 the Oct. 1970 issue (pp 46-58), on
The Newsletter will appear about "requirements and features of a
every two months. logio family: RTL, DTL, and HTL
devices." by Garrett of Motorola
available separately; the prerequi- Semiconductor. The advantages and
site for either is one of four disadvantages of the three families
"programs,1\ in electronic s, or are discussed, along with input,
electronics and mathematics. transfer and output oharacteristiCs,
plus a few basic gate designs.
MOS IC Course
Part II is on TTL devices (Nov.
A six-part course in MOS integrated 1970, pp 63-72); Part III is on
circuits appeared in The Electronic ECL and MOS devices.
Engineer between February and Octo-
ber of 1970. Low-Cost Digital Reoord & Playbaok
Part 1 (Feb., pp 55-64): history "Low-cost stereo recorders oan
and background. Part 2 (14ar. 55- adapt to digital data" (Electronics,
73): MOS circuits (p-MOS, MNOS, July 6, 1970, pp 90-93), by Newton
and Si gates). Part 3 (Apr. 61-73): and Buczek of Fort Monoouth, in-
application of MOS circuits (inter- cludes blook diagrams of the record
faoing MOS and bipolar logic; MOS and playback circuits. Combining
arrays in a data terminal; MOS data and clock on a single track
shift registers in arithmetic ope- beats the problems of intertrack
rations). Part 4 (May 51-57): com- phase-shift and head-gap spacing
plementary 1-1:OS logic and applica- that audio machines have.
tions. Part 5 (June 63-81): random-
access memories, static and dynam- A tape speed of 15/16 ips was used
iC, performance and cost tradeoffs. for maximum recording time; the
Part 5B (July 63-69): MOS RA\1s, higher speeds of 1-7/8, 3-3/4 and
performance and convenience trade- 7~ ips were used for data compres-
ofrs. Part 5C (Aug. 53-56): MOS sion when playing back data.
associative memories. Fart 5D
(Sept. 49-54): memory costs. Part The military version cost $650 for
6 (Oct. 41-46): testing MOS. The the electronics, using TTL and an
Nov. issue (pp 83-86) contains an a-c power supply. A $750 Uher re-
examlnatlon, "\fuat's your MOS IQ,?" corder was used; a less expensive
Fill it out, send it in with $1; one with fewer speeds would cut
if you pass, a certificate is sent. the cost quite a bit.
Counter Survey
"A Survey of Counter Design Teoh- Copyright 1970 by Stephen B. Gray
Vol. II - No. 8 -- November 1970 6 ~NEWSLETTER
 .JA1.2JSL NEWSLETTER
Volume II, Number 9 EUYING
(Serial Issue 20) a publioation of the AN OLD
Maroh.1971 AMATEUR COMPUTER SOCIETY COMPUTER

HARDWARE trouble shifting information be-

tween registers. The memory plan
Latest on Rejeot ICs hadn't been nailed down but I had
aooumulated a lot of options to
Steve Wiebking writes: "The possi- ohoose between. Naturally, eaoh
bility of getting rejeot ICs direct had disadvantages in terms of ad-
from the manufaoturers seems to be ditional effort needed, and risks
dying a quiet death. I just read in regard to potential performanoe.
that Philoo has gone out of the IC
business, joining Sylvania. "For instanoe, I have 2000 26-bit
words of tWistor (from Eell system
"At any rate, the Gerber ad below military gear), 2 X 8-bit 1000
makes it unlikely that anyone would words of oore with eleotronics and
be interested in rejects, unless we power, five 10,000-useo delay lines
oould get some MSI dirt oheap (very with eleotronios and power, several
unlikely) • other oores some thin-film whisker
planes (NCR~, tape, several hundred
"In Eleotronio News, Feb. 8, Gerber bits of MOS, eto. I also have parts
Eleotronios advertised these unit of several oomputers. One of these
prioes for TTL: 7400 - 22¢ ••• 7472 might be the major portion of an 10
- 48¢ ••. 7491 - $1.38 ••• 9300 - breadboard job, inoluding oore mem-
$2.73, 9306 - $5.95 •.. 9328 - ory, all on four large boards. An-
$4.62. Linears: 709 - 53¢. And a other may be the major part of a
number of other types. small airoraft oomputer using oore
logio; it has power, memory, eto.
[In a previous Gerber prioe list, No prints, though, and I gave up
quoted on page 2 of the Nov. 1~70 trying to figure it out.
Newsletter, the 7472 was $l.llJ
"About a month ago I bought an RPC-
"On that Gerber prioe list you 4000 at a graveyard-type disposal
quoted from, there is an interest- sale. A oompany that had been in
ing item you missed. The 2N2222's the business of reoonditioning LGP-
at $31 per hundred should make 30's, G-15's and RPC-4000's had de-
pretty good oore drivers, if you oided to quit that end o.f the busi-
oan believe the specs in the Moto- ness, and hence sold out. I got
rola data book. most of the RPC rema1ns. Now I have
to make it operate and then learn
"If I had suspeoted that tested how to run it.
prices would ever be as low as
this, I would never have bought the "As the result, I would be happy to
15,000 ICs from Ilfike Quinn. I guess dispose of my oolleotions of oompu-
the best advice would be: don't buy ters, disorete-oomponent oards in-
any ICs until you absolutely need oluding oore drivers, eto., inte-
them. " grated oirouits identified and un-
identified, MSI, LSI, BTL, DTL,
Buying an Old Computer TTL, switohes, power supplies, a
display for an LGP-21, and a lot
Eill Pfeiffer writes: "Up until of other stuff that gets forgotten
about a month ago I was building and redisoovered from time to time.
my version of a PDP-8/S and having For someone who oan oome and get it,
I oould part with an RPC-4000 main- tive oirouit elements, input/output
frame for, say, $25. (This oomputer devioe, memory and suoh. Some omis-
is still on maintenanoe'oontraot sions were made on the basis that
with Control Data.) No'memory for my information suggested that per-
this one. haps only one maehine had been
manufaotured. This may be of inte-
[Eill Pfeiffer is at 932 Via Del rest to some of the fellows who,
Monte, Palos Verdes Estates, Cali- like me, may be thinking that the
fornia 90274.J purohase of an old oomputer may be
the shortest route to getting a
liThe RPC is a very fasoinating ma- maohine working that has some usable
ohine. I have learned about adjust- oapabilities. Quite a few of these
ing the heads on its magnetio drum, old maohines are turning up on sur-
adjusting the eleotric typewriter, plus sales. Most of these are too
about free programs from the users' big to be useful to amateurs.
sooiety, eto. It seems like it
would be diffioult to program with- liThe maohine that is of partioular
out the regular assembler, whioh I interest is the LGP-30. Look at the
have, and the compiler tapes, which number of active oirouit elements,
I expeot to get. The instruotions only 113 vaouum tubes. The clook
have all sorts of masking, shift- rate is 120 KHz. The word length
ing, indexing variables, repeat and will handle 9 deoimal digits. Man-
transfer modes, plus using hexa- uals are available from Control
deoimal 4-bit bytes or 6-bit sym- Data. Also, there is quite a li-
bols. My work is really out out for brary of programs available to
me. What I learned about the PDP-8 those who belong to the Users Sooi-
doesn't seem to help muoh. I was ety. The weak point of the machine
getting to like ootal. Now I have is the drum or the sensitivity to
to get used to the idea that DFFOB- pilot error. I understand that if
F84D7F03F80* is equivalent to you run the maohine long enough to
27 12702 12702 warm up the drum and then shut it
26 12700 12700." down, you oan't restart it until
everything oools baok down to am-
In a later letter Bill encloses a bient room temperature. Otherwise,
table of data on ~amal1 Computers the heads will sorape the magnetio
Produoed Before 1964," listing the coating off the drum. There were
word-length, number of instruotions, 40 or 50 of these machines offered
mode, memory type and size, number at $25 each without their drums. A
of tubes or transistors, I/O, power few drums oould be had for $200
and weight, for 13 oomputers: CDC eaoh. The main input/output devioe
G-15, l60A, LGP-30, LGP-21 RPC- is a Flexowriter, but there is also
4000; Librasoope L-2010i NCR 310; a separate punoh and a faster opti-
PaOkard-Bell 250; Recomp III, aDS oal paper tape reader. The reader
910 and 920; TRW 230 and RW 300. handles oharacters at about 250
The letter says: per seoond.
"Enolosed are the results of an ,"The G-15 is still available, or
analysis of computers made before at least was before Christmas, and
1964. The souroes were Department 1s in the same price range. It is
of Commeroe publications describ- a bit too heavy (1000 lb.) and the
ing about 300 computers. The ori- power reqUirements (110V,50A) pre-
teria for selection was a consid- sent some problems. If my informa-
eration for the praotioality for tion is oorreot, the unit oontains i ~
amateur usage. The main factors the tape equipment and uses a type-
were weight, power, number of ao- writer instead of a Flexowriter.
Vol. II - No. 9 -- Maroh 1971 2 ~NEWSLETTER
There are a lot of programs for the 1038, Boulder, Colorado 80302.
G-15 from the same Users' Society
that is available to LGP users. Minuteman I Computer Club?
liThe LGP-2l will catoh one's atten- A member asks if anybody knows of
tion too. It is a solid-state ver- a olub formed by those who have
sion of the LGP-30. It has the same bought surplus Minuteman I compu-
instruotion format, but is not as ters. He adds:
good as the LGP-30 from the stand-
point of speed. The olook frequenoy "Just bought an old Univac Synohro-
is 80 KHz instead of 120 KHz. The Tape typewriter (for $25), which I
book "Computer Struotures" by Bell understand, besides autoletter
and Newell puts the LGP-2l perfor- typewriting, was used in the early
manoe below the LGP-30 by a faotor days to feed computer programs to
of 3. The RPC-4000 design is appar- the computer for medical purposes
ently the result of an effort to as well as for airport control pur-
recoup. It has twice as r;Juch memory, poses. Does anybody have any ref-
twice as many basic instructions erences and/or application data
with micro-variations that extend for this? It punches a 7-level tape
the capability considerably further. while typing. I'd like to know if
A next-instruction address is used possible and how to convert this
in the instruction word, the clook type of equipment for general-
rate is brought baok up to 125 KHZ, purpose data-processing purposes,
and options include a high-speed as well as info on conversion to
paper tape reader controlled by the receive teletype from a shortwave
computer to supplement the memory receiver, a line, etc., and to
with external routines. The reader possibly use this paper-tape equip-
handles a l200-foot reel of paper ment for feeding standard computer-
tape backwards and forwards at 500 timeshared equipment via telephone
characters per second in an on-line lines. II
mode.
If you have any of the answers,
liThe machine that really catches please write Johan Svanholm, 6019
my eye is the CDC l60A. The chances Baltimore Blvd., Riverdale, Mary-
are that we will never see it avail- land 20840.
able at the right price for a non-
commercial application. Another A Simple Computer Kit
factor is the 1700 transistors. I
look at this number as an indication Many of the electronics hobby maga-
of the problem I would have in keep- zines have recently been running an
ing it running or even getting it ad for the National Radio Institute
gOing. You can see from my select- on a new course in computer elec-
ion list that this is where I topped tronics. Part of the course includes
out. The SDS computers, I suspect, building a simple desk-top computer,
are in the same category." which measures 19" x 7" x 14", and
weighs 22 pounds.
Diode Matrices for Sale
The Model 832 NRI Digital Computer
John Green writes that he has some 90ntains 52 TTL ICs, 7400 type. The
new diode-matrix circuit boards, specs include: . 17 storage locations
MIL spec, for sale: seven 4x25 ar- for 8-bit words, expandable to 32
rays, $2.75 each postpaid; nine wordsj over 15 basic instructionsj
lOx24 arrays, $5 each ppd. They I/O is switches and lights. A close
measure 5.6" x 6". Details on re- look at the photo in the ad shows
quest. Write John K. Green, Box that the memory is made up of slide
~NEWSLETTER 3 Vol. II - No. 9 -- March 1971
switohes. Passive DIPs
The NRI oourse, in Computer Eleo- Now that so many integrated oirouits
tronios, with 58 lessons, oosts are DIP types, a number of oompanies
$578 oash. The advanoed oourse, have ~dopted the DIL paokage for
"For men with eleotronios exper- other oomponents -- resistor net-
ien6e -- first 19 lessons omitted," works, relays, oapaoitors, eto.
oosts $503 oash. Monthly-payment
plans are available. Beokman's Helipot Division has
standard resistor networks in DIP
The 832 was designed by Louis E. form, suoh as digital pull-up ~et­
Frenzel, NRI Assistant Dlreotor of works ($1.45, 1-99), analog soaling
Eduoation, and Projeot Leader for networks ($2.75, 1-99), and digital
the Computer Eleotronios oourse; line-terminator arrays ($1.25, 1-
he is also an ACS member. \'/hen 99). Others making DIP resistor net-
asked fox' details on the oiroui try works are Sprague, Mepoo, XTS, IRC,
of the 832, Lou sald he plans to Dale, and Centralab.
write an artiole on it for one of
the eleotronios magazines. The 832 Daven has a "Dipswitoh, II with up to
kit is not avnilable apart from six oontaot arms, for a maximum
the oourse yet but plans are 6pst or Sp6l'. The unit has a piggy-
underway to seil it separately, baok option, allowing any l4-pin
either in kit or wired form. DIP to be plugged into its baok;
oontaots of the mounting DIP are
DEC Unified Bus oommoned to the Dlpswitoh terminals.
A speoial ooupling and rear-shaft
"Unlfied bus maximlzes minioomputer extension permit tandem operation
flexibility" (E1e~tronios, Deo. 21, of another Dipswitoh. Cost is $2
1970, pp 47-52), by Chertkow and to $3 in 100-up quantities.
Cady of DEC, desoribes the inter-
oonneotion system used in two oom- Corning Glass plans to put combi-
puters. The PDP-ll Unibus has 56 nations of as many as 20 components
lines; the PDP-8/E Omnibus has 96 into l6-pin "Cordips."
signal lines oonneoted to eaoh
module slot. 8X Bits for $240 or $80 .
The artiole notes that solid-state A planar array of thiok-film ele-
memories "are not now available on ments, oalled the Flux Ring memorY,
DEC oomputers, but will probably is being marketed by Signal Galax-
be announoed in the not too dis- ies, Ino., 6955 Hayvenhurst Ave.,
tant future." Van Nuys, Callfornia 91406.
How Cheap Can a Mlni Get? The manufaoturer says the Flux Ring
memory is about twioe as fast as
Coming this Fall is a $1700 oompu- plated-wire types, requires less
ter (in quantities of 200), a Com- complex eleotronios and about half
puter Automation 8-bit model 208, the drive current. They oall it
with 4K of oore, but no power sup- the Flux: Ring beoause "the magnetio
ply, oonsole or ohassis. The same flux from the film elements is pro-
oompany will offer the l6~bit 216 vided with a low-reluctance path in
on the same kind of stripped deal, the form of a ring surrounding the
for $2400. A ohassis-mounted 216 element. 1\
will oost $5600 for one •••• And
what kind of modular prooessor Two adjaoent memo~ elements per
does DEC have up its sleeve?? bit provide a 100~ redundanoy. If
Vol. II - No. 9 -- Maroh 1971 4 JAl..QJSL NEWSLETTER
power fails, the elements remain ory decreased by a factor of 6 be-
locked in their magnetized states tween 1965 and 1971 (from 3¢ a bit
due to a proprietary technique to 0.5¢ a bit), the cost of logic
called "magnetic closure ll ; thus dropped by a factor of 27 (from
the memory is non-volatile. $2.70 for a discrete-component DTL
gate, to 10¢ for a DIP TTL IC gate).
The 8Kb array costs $240, or $80
each in lots of 100. A 64Kb stack The factory cost factors for the
costs $1415, or $393.20 in lOOts. pEe PDP-8/E are 15% for logic, 47%
The exorbitantly high prices of for memorY, 15% for power supply,
the single "evaluation samples" and 23% for miscellaneous. The
seem intended to keep out all but PDP-8/E is constructed of MSI and
OEMls, which is all that interests SSI TTL DIP packages mounted on
Signal Galexies, Inc. double-sided boards.
In-Circuit IC Tester The factory cost factors for the
Honeywell H-112 are 24% for logic,
The Aug. 1970 Newsletter described 44% for memory, 10% for power sup-
the Hewlett-Packard Logic Clip for ply, and 22% for miscellaneous. The
$95 (p 5), which clips over an IC H-112 is made of SSI DTL logic of
like a large clothespin and indi- the 930 series, mounted on circuit
cates the state of each pin on in- boards 2-3/4 11 square. The memory
dividual LEDs. is a 1.6-~sec, 4-wire, 3D design.
A less compact, but similar and Magnetic Drums
cheaper tester, the Digi-Viewer, is
described in the March 1971 issue Herbach and Rademan, Inc. (401 East
of Popular Electronics (pp 41-46). Erie Ave., Phila., Fa. 19134) lists
This is based on the IC test clip two magnetic drums in their Winter
made by AP Inc., from which 16 1971 catalog. One is a Ferranti-
wires run to a box containing 16 Packard 371-4A, 10-inch diameter,
lamps driven by Darlington-pair l2i inches high, 38 data tracks, 2
amplifiers. A transparent overlay timing tracks, 180 pounds, $195.
of the particular circuit arrange- Vertically mounted in aluminum
ment is slipped between the two housing, protected by dust cover.
rows of lamps to show the IC logic.
The Ferranti 371-121 is also a 10-
A complete kit of parts (including inch drum, but is 31 inches high,
a "basic set of the most-used cir- has 480 tracks (384 data, 3 timing,
cuit slides) is available at $19.85 58 spares and spacers), over 3 mil-
plus postage and insurance for 4 lion bits (65K words, 48 bits plus
lb., from Southwest Technical Pro- 6 parity bits), 500 lb., $395.
ducts~ Box 16297, San AntoniO, Tex-
as 78~16. The IC test clip is H&R also has an IBM core stack for
available at $5.95. $24.50 (five planes, each with 14
rows of,16 cores) and a no-name
Low-Cost Logic & Minicomputers stack for $89.50 (7 planes, 15-usec
cycle) •
tiThe Effect of Low Cost Logic on
Minicomputer Organization, II by This is an expensive company, even
House and Henzel of Honeywell (Com- more now than previously, many more
puter Design, Jan. 1971, pp 97-101) high-priced items than a few years
has several facts of interest. ago. (They also have a computer
tape transport, without read/write
l'lhile the cost of minicomputer mem- heads or electronics or vacuum
~ NEWSLETTER 5 Vol. II - No. 9 -- March 1971
 The Amateur Computer Society is components racked up vertically.
open to all who are interested One lead goes up over the top of
in building and operating a dig- the mount and down the other side.
ital computer that can at least The Verti-Mounts, for 1, 2, 3 or 4
perform automatic multiplication components, cost 6 to ?if; in lOOts
and division, or is of a compar- and 3i to 5¢ in 1000's.
able complexity.
For membership in the ACS, & No-Solder IC Breadboard
a subscription of at least eight
issues of the Newsletter, send The "universal matrix" that is the
$3 (or a check) to: basis for the Elite breadboards
Stephen B. Gray (Feb. 1970 Newsletter, p 4) is ex-
Amateur Computer Society pensive: $85 each. EL Instruments
260 Noroton Avenue (61 First St., Derby, Conn. 06418)
Darien, Conn. 06820 has now come up with a smaller and
The Newsletter will appear about cheaper matrix, the SK-IO "univer-
every two months. sal component EL socket," for $18.
pump, for $99.50.) It consists of a 6.5" x 2.2" plas-
tic board with 64 rows, each with
More Paste-Up PC Boards two sets of five eleotrically-con-
nected terminals, so that DIP8 when
The Aug. 19?0 Newsletter described plugged in have a fanout of four at
(p 4) the Circuit-Stik system of each pin. Two rows of contacts along
thin-metal IC pads with adhesive both the long sides provide power
backing, for pasting up a PC board and ground connections. As many as
on laminate or perf board. eight 14-pin DIPs can be mounted at
one time, along with any components
Bishop Graphics (7300 Radford Ave., with leads .015 to .032" thiok. In-
N. Hollywood, Calif. 91605) has terconnections are made with any
come up with a similar product, solid #22 to #26-gage wire.
Circuit Zaps. Standard patterns are
for DIP mounting, with 8, 10, 14,
16, 24 or 36 leads; for TO cans Book on Computer Organization
with 3 to 16 leads; for flat packs
with 10 to 36 leads; connector Prof. Ivan Flores' latest book,
strips, etc. Also in the catalog "Computer Organization" (Prentice-
are terminal pins, zap guns for Hall, 1969, 371 pages, $12.95) is
staking, jumper cords, and laminate an excellent description of compu-
board. These pads aren't cheap ter systems "in terms of functional
either; a package of 12 sets of 14- block organization and relates that
lead DIP pads costs $7.55, or 63¢ organization to software components
each, twioe the cost of the Cirouit-in their operating systems. Cover-
,Stik equivalent. age of the IBM 360 is most exten-
sive; several other popular systems
Component Insulators ~re considered in detail:' RCA Spec-
tra 70, Honeywell 200, PDP-8, IBM
Robison Electronics (2134 West Rose- 1401 and IBM 1130, among others. "
crans Ave., Gardena, Calif. 90249)
makes tiny insulators for mounting
axial-lead components, for increas- Copyright 1971 by Stephen B. Gray
ing packaging density of DQ-? di- , ,
odes and i-watt resistors. These
Verti-Mou~ts resemble the gunracks
found in some barraoks, with the
Vol. II - No. 9 -- March 19?1 6 ~NEWSLETTER
 ~NEWSLETTER
Volume II, Number 10 MINUTEMAN
(Serial Issue 21) a publication of the
June 1971 AMATEUR COMPUTER SOCIETY

FRC!li $5000 TO $690 IN TEN YEARS? the tape. Also vice versa.
A recent .Auerbach study on mini- "Add to this the fact that every so
computers says the potential do- often I have to design and build
mestic market is well over half a some special piece of test equip-
million, but competition will be ment to take data on some of my
tough and prices will decline 18% . special circuits. II
a year. I~ -- at that rate a
$5000 mini would be down to '690
in ten years. A PDP-8/W? SENSE ~lPS & FOR-SALE

Steve \~iebking writes froD Ohio:

A l·IEMBER' S PROGRESS REPORT
"Gerber Electronics sent me another
Sal Zuccaro writes from California: price list \'lTi th a few additional
ICs on it. They now have 7l1's for
lI}fy computer is coming along fine. 70~ each. On the back of the price
The various tasks are as follows: list was this information: The digi-
tal circuits are alFiost all Sylvania
1. Build R&W circuitry for the or PhilcOi the linears are Philco,
FR400 tape transports. ITT, and Silicon General. There are
2. Finish assembly of meoor.1, no rejects or fallouts; all brand-
32K, 36 bits (still testing stacks). new circuits, guaranteed to meet
3. Build 2 NDRO memories for all specifications. No rrinimum --
microprogramming. you can buy one circuit for 22~
4. Finish wiring up lights on plus shipping ••••
front panel (over 300).
5. Build R&W circuitry f~r drum. "I went down to the local DEC office
6. Close the loop on the paper- a few months ago to see about buying
tape-reader/punch/flexowriter settp. a set of PDP-8 schematics. For some
reason, the field engineer there de-
"I've installed a CRT on the front cided to give me Vol. II for the 8/L
panel for direct readout. for free (this is the volume with
the schematics; Vol. I is descrip-
"Also, I've taken over the master tive). Since then, I've decided that
bedroom for the installation and I the PDP-8 is not really what I want.
find it helps a lot. There is a So I will pass the schematics along
lock on the door to keep out little to the first person who sends 50¢
fingers and all of my test equip- to cover postage.
ment is in two 6-foot racks on
wheels at the end o! the workbench. "I I ve been experimenting with using
The scope is on a raised platform some of the small epoxy rectifiers
over the bench. that many places sell for 5¢ as
selection diodes for a core stack.
"This weekend I'll shift one of the I haven't run all the tests I should
tape transports into the room. I yet (translated: I haven't gotten
will install R&W circuits and marry around to building a complete pair
it to a buffer memory. This way I of line drivers), but it looks like
can flexowrite into the buffer in- ·they may be OK at least for slower
crementally and dump blocks onto stacks in the 10-psec area. Also
hopeful is the use of 2N5451's as untouched, except for a little of
drivers; they are 15¢ eaoh in the the printing ink I tried to use
1000's. They are listed as audio for resist. I will sell it for $10
transistors, but are billed as plus postage. -- Stephen Wiebking,
having a fairly high cut-off fre- Apt. 119, 251 W. Dayton-Yellow
quency, so they might work. Springs Rd., Fairborn, Ohio 45324."
"Here is a schematic for using the
711's as sense amplifiers. The USED COMPUTERS AND MINUTEl-1AN
Fairchild data sheet from whioh I
am taking the application is a re- Bill Pfeiffer writes from Calif.:
print of an artiole by R.J. Widlar
in EDN for Jan. & Feb. 1966. There "The Minuteman club mentioned in
aretwo basic circuits; #2 has a . the Newsletter must be the Minute-
slightly improved insensitivity to man Users Society formed by Dr.
common-mode noise. No indication Charles H. Beck at Tulane Univer-
is given of what the threshold vol- sity, New Orleans. I would like to
tage was supposed to be on these, know where they are selling the
but they are probably set up for computers. My understanding of the
30-mil or smaller cores. Threshold Users SOCiety is that it is for
voltage should be variable by the D-17 computer, which is part
changing the biasing resistors. of the Minuteman system. The 400-
cycle 3-phase power requirements
#1. l}3ame as #2 l • but without the are an interesting problem that I
pair of 12K resistors to would like a solution for. The best
ground, and without the 20- idea I have requires 6 SCR's and
ohm resistors in the lines 3 transformers.
from the sense inputs to the
plus inputs of the 711'sJ "I found the TRW engineers who
bought the LGP-30's. They obtained
#2. Vadj 70 in total, with 20 memory drums
and a similar shortage of Flexo-
12K writers. The G-15's are all gone.
Another group of engineers bought
",.", them all."
SENSE OUTPUT
INPUTS In a later letter, Bill writes:
'\ ':'

"My RPC is working but I can't get

an assembly program more than 2/3
loaded. This produces lots of mes-
sages telling me my programs are
STROBE bad; NO, ILLEGAL ORDER, NO LOAD
CODE, etc., are the result. I sus-
peQt some memory aberrations but
the memory print routine won't load
The Vadj is not specified, either. So I have been trying to
but presumably is also 12v, write a simpler routine of my own
as it was in ~l. in machine language. That is a drag.
It is amazing how many ways you can
III have a Kepro Silk-Screen PC make mistakes with 32-bit instruc-
Board Printer that has been sitting tions.
around for a couple of years. It
cost $35 and can be seen in the "Attached are some notes I put to-
Allied catalog. It is all there, gether on the Minuteman computer:
Vol. II - No. 10 -- June 1971 2 ~NEWSLETTER
Minuteman Computers In normal operation the D17 was
programmed via an umbilical cord
Over 1,000 Minuteman D17B computers from a test stand on the ground.
are being made available to quali- Typewriter, tape reader, printer,
fying applicants as a result ot and a control unit were, therefore,
modernizing the Minuteman ICBM's. separate. The control unit has
These units were designed and pro- SWitches, a keyboard, and a Nixie
duced by Autonetics, vintage 1962, display. The ground equipment is
and are used in the missile as not always available but has been
part of the inertial guidance sys- seen on surplus. An interface unit
tem. It is a small, versatile, and I/O devices are thus usually
multi-purpose, serial computer, needed to put the D17 into use."
designed to meet the highest stan-
dards of ruggedness and reliability.
WORD FRO~,I DR, BECK ON MINUTEMAN
Structurally, the unit is doughnut-
shaped, with the computer occupying A telephone call to Dr. Beck brought
one half of the package and the out this information:
power supply filling the other hal~
The computer weighs 65 pounds and The Minuteman computer is not avail-
is 20 inches high~ 29 inches in able to individuals. The schedule of
diameter. A 28v, ~O-amp source availability priority is first to
should ceet the primary power re- the Defen se Dept. (the Army uses
quirements. Secondary voltages are them for automated data acquisition
furnished by the power supply and in laboratories); second,to DOD con-
include various voltages between tractors; third,to universities with
+36 and -36 volts, as well as 28 DOD grants or contracts; fourth,to
volts, 3-phase, 400 Hz. It is un- civil agencies of the Federal gov-
clear as to whether power supplies ernment; then, much further down the
will come with the computers. list, the Dept. of Health, Education
and Welfare, for colleges and uni-
The computer components are located Versities.
on 75 plug-in circuit boards. There
are over 1500 transistors, largely As of mid-April 1971, DHEi'l had a
silicon or mesa-germanium, and 6000 waiting list of 125 universities
diodes. The memory is a small, light for the computers as they become
disk system about 6 inches wide and available at that level. (Some may
3 inches high. The disk turns at want more than one computer.)
6000 rpm and has a capacity of 2727
27-bit words of which only 24 bits The MCUG has 63 paid members,
are used; three are spacer bits. The
disk also has a number of circu- Only 100 of the D17B models were
lating registers and loops. The made. Then about 1000 of the D27
clocking is at 345 kHz. (Minuteman II), and about 1000 ot
the D37 (Minuteman III); this III
The number system is binary, fixed is still in production.
pOint, 2 1 s complement. The machine
operates serially and synchronous. Only six test stands were made; Dr.
There are 39 instructions decoded, Beck has one. This part of the
an external direct interrupt, and hookup, he says, could be the hard-
numerous I/O lines which include est for anybody who doesn't realize
digital, discrete levels, analog, how simple the interface actually
and pulse. Three, four, or eight can be; the user's group will tell
bit-parallel I/O lines can be him how. For a typewriter, a F1exo-
selected. writer or TTY can be used.

~NEWSLETTER .~ Vol. II - No. 10 -- June 1971

The computer, it for use on a gov- the switoh-input number is positive,
ernment contract, costs the reci- divide by eight and store in looa-
pient only the shipping charges. tion Ll; if negative, divide by 8
It at DH~i level, the rec1p1ent and store in looation L2. Cost is
pays about one percent of cost. The $800, if you order ten or more.
cost is $234,000; one percent of
this is over $2000. However, some
states lim1t the max1mum cost, for CALCULATOR CIRCUITS
a single item made available thru
DHEW, to $600. The NoV. 1970 newsletter reported
a set of s1x LSI cirouits by Eleo-
There is a very slim chance of tron1c Arrays for a l6-digit oa1-
these computers becoming available cu1ator with 8-digit display capa-
to individuals. b1l1ty, $158.46 for one set.
The D37 is an 1ntegrated circuit Varadyne Systems (10060 Bubb Rd.,
version, takes up 0.6 cubic feet. Cupertino, Calif. 95014) has now
come up with a $249 MCM-14 Micro-
Calculator, a 7" x 9" PC board
DEC'S PDP-16 with 6 MOSILSI arrays, 4 memory
registers, and "the entire logic
What had been rumored as a highly and oontrols functions required to
modular computer, with any word perform 14-digit displayable arith-
length desired, turns out to be a metic functions." Standard keyboard
custom-designed hard-w1red no- and d1splay units are available as
software semi-computer that DEC options.
has decided to call the PDP-16,
even though some of the 16's will
be no more than logic systems that CIRCUIT ZAPS MAY GET ZAPPED
perform a minimum of computing.
The Bishop II Circuit Zaps If mentioned
The PDP-16 is designed by a PDP-IO, in the previous issue (p 6) won't
using "Chartware, which interprets be around long if the suit by
your problem and generates the Cirouit-Stik is suocessful. Cirouit-
right logic design, hardware re- St1k claims patent 1nfringement and
qUirements, and system price." Word theft of trade seorets.
length is 8, 12 or 16 bits; these
can be taken in mult1ples to make, Cirouit-Stik pads cost 30 to 50%
for instance, a 32-bit system. The as much as the Circuit Zaps, are
price of typicalPDP-16 systems plated to mil speo, the 1000 Series
will be $800 to $3000. is drilled to a 0.100" grid, and
the oonneotor tapes oan be over-
Memory of the PDP-16 is up to lK lapped without shortcircuiting.
of hard-wired read-only memory, 16
or 256 words of scratchpad memory.
Up to 150 program steps. MOSTLY BREAD, LITTLE MEAT IN BOOK
So the PDP-16 is a minimum computer "Computer Teohnioian's Handbook,"
custom-tailored to the application, by Brice Ward (Tab Books, 1971, 475
for some of which it will be no pages, $10.95), is almost entirely
more than a calculator. about s~ch basics as number systems
and Boolean algebra; 160 pages on
The PDP-16 demonstrated at the IEEE c1rcuits (CDC, TI, Signetios); and
show in Maroh (and desorib,ed in the 200 pages on the hardware and soft-
4-page brochure) does only this: if ware of Computer Automation's PDC

Vol. II - No. 10 -- June 1971 4

808 minicomputer. Most of this ma- io circuits, as used in Tektronix
terial you can find in manufactur- instruments. The cirouits are ana-
er's manuals. Only a page or two lyzed in details; families suoh as
actually get down to the work of RTL, DTL, DCTL, CML and TTL are
figuring out what's wrong and how described, as are specifio types
to fix it. used by Tektronix, such as the
FairChild 914 NAND/NOR, 923 clocked
JK Fr, Motorola MC 357 gage, MC 354
EDP ON STAMP S regulator, MC 360 NAND, MC 352 RS
FF, and MC 358 JK FF. Some counting
Even if you're not a stallP collector, and counter-readout circuits are
you might be interested in making a presented.
specialty of collecting only EDP
stamps, more and more of which are These books nominally cost a dollar
beginning to be printed. but there seems to be no charge
when sent to a company address.
For instance, several recent Swiss
stamps have non-representational
computer-art designs. The Canadian ANALOG COMPUTER SIMULATION
6¢ "Centennial of National Census
Taking," issued June 1 this year, For those with access to a General
shows a strip of perforated tape Electric time-sharing terminal vali-
and two mag-tape reels, arranged dated for the Mark II system, there
to make "100." is a ~rogram in the on-line library,
ANALG" which Simulates an analog
oomputer.
TUTORIAL MANUALS
ANALG$ is based on the PACTOLUS
Tektronix, manufacturers of oscil- program, described in the paper by
loscopes and data-display termi- Brennan and Sano, "PACTOLUS -- A
nals, publishes a series of "new Digital Analog Simulator Program
concepts ll books that provide much for the IBM 1620," published in the
information. Most of these are in AFIPS Conference Proceedings 1964
the CRT area: scope trigger cir- Fall Joint Computer Conference.
cuits, spectrum analyzer circuits,
storagr CRTs, etc. However, two In ANALG$, the conventional patCh-
are of interest to ACS members. board interconnection used to ope-
rate a standard computer is simula-
"Information Display Concepts" is ted by specifying, using the termi-
one of half a dozen Measurement nal keyboard, the interconnections
Concepts books, and discusses, with between the many types of blocks
block diagrams, the basic princip- available. Thru using these bloOks,
les of data display. The chapters the response of any time-dependent
on time-sharing, programming, etc. linear or non-linear system can be
are rudimentary; the chapters on obtained. For instance, the opera-
"D-to-A and A-to-D converters and tion of meohanical, electrical, and
vector and character generators" hydraulic systems can be simulated
and on "characteristios and speoi- by using this program.
fications of direct-view bistable
storage tubes" are highly informa- Program features include: on-line
tive, and easily understood. oonfiguration modification, on-line
initial oondition modifioation, on-
"Digital Concepts" is one of eight line timing changes, maximum of 250
books (so tar) on Circuit Conoepts, blocks for defining a sYstem, 31
giving basic theory on digital log- different types of blocks available,
~NEWSLETTER Vol. II - No. 10 -- June 1971
The Amateur Computer Sooiety is after laminatlon oan be very bene-
open to all who are interested ficlal.
in building and operating a dig-
ital oomputer that oan at least After removlng the Mylar, develop
perform automatio multiplioation in Du Pont's Methyl Chloroform,
and division, or is of a oompar- Dow's Chlorothane NU, Ethyl's 1,1,1
able oomplexity. Trichlorethane Cold Cleanlng~ade
For membership in the ACS, and Inhiblted, or PPG's NU Stabilized.
a subsoription of at least eight A oontainer of the 1,1,1 triohlor-
issues of the Newsletter, please ethane with a soft brush, or ade-
send $3 (or a oheok) to: quate agitation, should work well
Stephen B. Gray for development. Rinse with water
Amateur Computer Sooiety and dry after development.
260 Noroton Ave.
Darien Conn. 06820 Suitable U.V. sources are, in order
The Newsletter will appear about of preferenoe, meroury vapor lamps,
every two months. oarbon arc lamps, and pulsed xenon
lamps. Riston should be handled
and numerio output values may be under gold fluoresoent or equival-
printed or plotted. ent safelight.
The film oomes ln thicknesses of
MAKING PC BOARDS WITH RISTON 0.5 to 2.5 mils, depending on the
end use; the 0.5 and 1.0-mil thiok-
Du Pont has a new produot, Riston, nesses are for etching. Five-inch-
a photopolymer film resist, whioh wide rolls cost $112.50 for 150
oomes sandwiohed between two one- feet (minimum) of 0.5-oil; $115.50
mil films. The polyethylene oover for 125 feet (minimum) of 1.0-mil.
sheet is removed just before lami- Samples may be obtalned (on suit-
nating the resist to a oopper-olad able letterhead) from: E.I. Du Pont
board under heat. A negative (or de Nemours & Co., Photo Products
positive) mask is laid over this, Dept., Room 2428-A, l11lmington,
then exposed to an ultra-violet Del. 19898.
souroe. The other film, a proteot-
lve layer of Mylar polyester, is
then removed; the board is devel-
oped, the unexposed resist washed
away, and the board dried. HELP! HELP l HELP !
Since the photoresist is SOlid, it I'm running very short ot material
has uniform thickness and neat for this Newsletter, otherwise I
Sidewalls, and it covers the board~ wouldn't have run the last couple
holes without penetrating in them. of items.
Ordinarily, the film is laminated Please send a longish letter on how
by a maohine at 230-250 0 F. It may you hooked up a surplus oore memory
be possible, Du Pont says, to do and made it work, how you figured
this with an ordinary iron set at out what to use for drivers and
the right temperature; try to keep amplifiers, eto. Memory is the Num-
the fllm wrinkle-free and also free ber One problem of ACS members.
of airpockets. Atter lamination,
allow the board to stand at least
30 minutes; the adhesive strength
of the resist inoreases during this
holding period; longer hold times Copyright 1971 by Stephen B. Gray
Vol. II - No. 10 -- June 1971 e ..JIl.£JSL NEWSLETTER
 ~NEWSLETTER
Volume II, Number 11
(Serial Issue 22) a publioat1on of'the
November 1971 AMATEUR COMPUTER SOCIE'l'Y

THE ACS STORY John Ranelletti, a new member in

California. Further info was obtain-
An article about the Amateur Compu- ed by a call to Kenbak Corp., 8714
ter Sooiety has been acoepted by Darby Ave. t Northridge, Calif. 91324,
Computers & Automation magaZine, phone (2131 349-3861.
and should appear shortly.
This $750 maohineweighs 12 pounds,
measures 19 by 4* by 12 inches, oon-
RECOMP II AND III FOR SALE sumes 40 watts. ~o keep oosts down,
it is a minimal computer: I/O is by
Autonetics is offering a very limi- console switohes and lamps; memory
ted number of Recomp II and III consists of 1024-bit Intel MOS shift
general-purpose computers for 3% registers; the Motorola, TI and
of the original oost: $3.000; used Fairehild TTL ICs are soldered in.
but guaranteed to operate. Joe Tol-
bert says the II is more desirable, There are no peripherals just now;
even though it's older, because it a punched-card input device, manual
has, for one thing, more hardware type, will be available this winter
instructions (71 to the Ill's 48). for about $100, w1th factory retro-
It has more available programs (50 fitting. A more flexible model may
subroutines, 80 programs and 185 be available in a year or two, but
users' programs) than the III (56 no work has been done on it yet,
subroutines, but only 63 programs says president John Blankenbaker.
and 16 users' programs).
A 24-page programming reference
Both the II and III are fully tran- manual costs ,2.00, and a manual of
sistorized and inolude: oomputer, 30 laboratory exeroises is $6.00.
control console, photoeleotrio tape A maintenanoe and theory-of-opera-
reader, tape punch, typewriter and tion manual, oontaining complete
desk. Both operate from standard schematios, will be published soon,
l15-volt lines. Also available is at $10.00.
a limited number of per1pherals
such as high-speed tape punch/read- The 8-bit Kenbak-l has three prog-
er, and Versa tape and keyboard. ramming registers, five addressing
modes (oonstant, memory, indexed,1nd1r.c~
For further inforcation, and/or a indirect-indexed), twots oomplement
system description and index of arithmetio, serial operation. The
programs contaot H.O. Elkins, memory oonsists of 256 eight-bit
(714) 632-3031. Address: Autonetios, bytes. There are 21 basic instruo-
North American ROckwell, P.O. Box tions: Add, Sub, Load, Store, And,
4192, 3370 Miraloma Ave., Anaheim, Or, Load Complement, 4 Jumps Sk1p
Calif. 92803. There may still be a on 0, Sk1p on 1, Set 0, Set i ,
oouple left. Shift Left & Right, Rotate Left &
Right, No Op, and Halt •
• 750 EDUCATIONAL COMPUTER There are 34 register-to-register
operations (transfers, additions,
Information about a new educational subtraotions, eto.) produced by a
computer, the Kenbak-l, was sent by single instruot1on using the memory-
addressing mode. Terminal Systems in Plainview, N.
Y., and oosts $129.99 for an "eval-
There are no plans to offer a k1t. uation sample. '~ On page 99 of the
"Our answer has always been that same issue is an ad by the authors,
we might oonsider it, but only at offering detailed construotion
a higher prioe. Wh~t we would po- plans for $14.95.
tentiallly save on labor is lost
in headaohes and troubles (for
us)!" However, it might be possible SIGNS OF THE TIMES
for some people to oome in on sev-
eral Saturdays and eaoh build one Several ambitious oonstruction pro-
under supervision, but no prioe has jeots have been mentioned in these
been established for this, says pages as forthooming in one of the
John Blankenbaker, who also says eleotronios hobby magazines. Well,
that Kenbak would be happy to re- the magazine has deoided to out out
ceive members of the ACS for a the big ~uild-it-yourself artioles
visit to the plant. and go to the smaller stuff. So
don't look for an IC olook run by
TV digital oode (Aug. 1970 News-
MINUTEMAN COMPUTER INFO letter, p 6) or the inexpensive
time-sharing terminal (May 1970,
Autoneti08 has prepared a Technical p 2). (The magazine is Popular
Data Package for the D-17B oomputer Eleotronios, whioh, starting next
for $100. The publioation oontains January, will be merged with ~­
sections on logio fundamentals, a tronios World, and will be known
D-17B desoription, word formats and as Popular Eleotronics including
programming, cirouits, funotional Electronics World. After all the
logio desoription, and maintenanoe converted EW subsoriptions run out,
data. The 15 gu1dance eleotronios the EW name will be dropped.)
modules oan be removed to reduce
power consumption and heat genera-
tion. The outoff date for ordering DESK CALCULATOR KIT
this paokage was 9-15-71, although
it may still be available. The last big construction artiole
P~ular Eleotronics will run is
Autonetics has also developed an II Electronic Desk Caloulator You
Input/Output Interface for the Can BUild,1I (Nov. 1971, P 27-32)'
Minuteman I D-17B oomputer. It The caloulator adds, subtracts, di-
oomes w1th or without an ASR-33 vides and multiplies up to 16 digits,
Teletype. With, $5200 (all electro- and has an electro-luminescent seg-
nios are in the TTY oonsole); with- mented display of eight digits. A
out, $3500. Interfaoe sohematios shift key causes the first or last
are not available separately. 8 digits of the 16-digit results to
be displayed. The six LSI ICs oan
be bought separately for $75 (this
CODE IN, PRINTED TAPE OUT is called item EA-80, whioh sounds
like an Eleotronic Arrays item), as
"Automatio radiotelegraph translator well as a keyboard for ~2l, eto.;
and transoriber, by Gonzales and the oomplete oalculator kit, with
Vogler (Ham Radio, Nov. 1971, pp 8- case, is $179 plus $5 for postage
23}, uses several dozen TTL ICs in from MITS, 2016 San Mateo N.E.,
digital oirouits to deoode Morse Albuquerque, New Mexioo 87110. The
(at up to 120 wpm) and feed it to article hasn't enough details to
a strip printer. The printer de- permit building the oalculator;
soribed is the Model 4 by Computer you'd have to buy the kit. MITS

Vol. II - No. 11 -- November 1971 ~ ~NEWSLETTER

has another calculator, with square- with drive electronics, for $80.
root capability, but none of the He can't guarantee it, but h~ ex-
electronics hobby magaZines are run- pects that more such units will be
ning big construct10n articles any available from time to time. They
more. The emphasis is now on the are failures from G.E. computers;
easier-to-build items. one or two of the inhibit lines
have burned out, leaving 38 or 39
usable bits. Otherwise, they are
NIXIE TUBES AND MOLEK IC TERMINALS supposedly OK. Present units are
of Ampex manufacture. Future units
Joe Tolbert mentioned a company may be Fabri-Tek or Lockheed. The
with low prices on several items: complete un1t is 4 x 10 x 12 in.,
Black Mountain Engineers, P.O. Box and weighs 12 pounds.
One, Corinth, Vermont 05039.
"The dealer is Mr. Gary Forbes,
They have type AZK Nixies, manu- 3641 E. Van Buren, Phoenix, Ariz.
facturer's rejects, at $2.90 each, 85008. He mentioned that he gets
for 1 to 19; sooket for 55¢. Molex other "interesting" Honeywell items
IC-mounting terminals (see News- from time to time: IC boards, Tele-
letter for Aug. 1970, p 5) are 67¢ type and other interface circuitry,
per strip of 56 (for four l4-pin or CPU's (GE 200 and 400 series), and
31 l6-pin DIPs); over 500 (9 or miscellaneous per1pheral equipment."
more strips), 56¢ a strip; over
5000 terminals, 0.9¢ each. Steve's letter of July 8:
Black Mountain sends several appli- til have finally regained my sanity
cation notes on numerical indica- long enough to settle firmly on
tors. They also sell first-quality building a PDP-8. I am nearing the
7400-series ICs; a 7400 gate is end of about 4 weeks of leave of
35¢ each; the 7483 4-bit full adder which I spent a large part giving
is $2.25 each. closer consideration to the various
machines I have collected informa-
tion on. ifuile I still feel that
XDS MEMORY STACKS there are many machines I would
prefer to a PDP-8, I am forced to
Valley Computer Corp., 17027 Roscoe the oonclusion that any machine I
Blvd., Northridge, Calif. 91324, oan build in a reasonable length of
sells used computers such as the time is better than any machine I
RPC-4000 ($14-21K), LGP-2l ($12- can't. I can use DEC's plans right
14K), LGP-30 ($5-7K) and XDS 930 down to the last logic board except
and 940 ($50K up). They have ten around the memory controls, and this
XDS memory stacks, 16K words of will save me a lot of work OVer try-
24 bits, 1.75-~sec cycle time, for ing to design my own from scratch.
$300 each; "some of them have minor
problems, but all are generally HSO, I won't be giving away that
operational. II manual as in the previous letter l
but I can still supply Xeroxes a~
the following postpaid prices:
WORD FROM WIEBKING PDP- 8/ 1 Vol. 1 17
Vol. 2 12
Steve Wiebking writes from Ohio: PDP-s/L Vol. 2 4.50
Volume 2 ~n either case contains all
"I've located a dealer who will be the logic diagrams. Volume 1 is pro-
of int erest to many members. He has· bably not necessary.
a 4K x 40-bit, l-Fseo memory unit

~NEWSLETTER ® Vol. II - No. 11 -- November 1971

"On memories: I havenlt gotten higher for a stored "1" (about 260-
around to test+ng the rectifiers 300 mV in the case of my aO-mil
yet, but it nas occured to me that cores). Alternately, the value ot
part of the advantage of 3-to-l the ~~select current can be reduced
selection ratio in a core stack can so tfiat the memory will operate
be had without the need for sepa- over a wider temperature range with-
rate drivers for the X direction on out a temperature-compensated power
each plane. (Three-to-one selection supply. Since you are still using
ratios are usually achieved by 2:1 selection in the write cycle,
using the inhibit line to bias all you can't reduce it too much, but
cores in the plane with -i units increased speed in the read cycle
of current and driving the X and Y over a 2:1 system should more than
lines with +1 full units of current make up for what you lose by lower-
each. This results in +3/2 units of ing the drive currents."
current at the selected core and
+t or ~ at all other cores in the Stevels postcard of Sept. 11:
plane. Dnfortunately, inhibiting
will not work with this arrangement "At the rate things are going, I
even if you had a fifth wire to do may not get any more work done on
it with. Consequently, separate my computer until I graduate from
driVing of the X lines is required AFIT next KarCh. 2N6451 1 s work OK
for each plane; this much of the as high-current switches. The
system is similar to a 2fD conven- switching speed looks like it is
tional system.) OK for memories as fast as 1-2
~sec if used in circuit 1. Note
'Note that the only problem arises
in the write cycle. There is no + +
real difficulty connected with
using 3:1 selection in the read (1) cores (2)
cycle when the inhibit wire is not
used anywaY,and using the 2:1 sel- -0(--+
ection system in the write cycle.
There may be a problem if your
drivers are transformer-coupled to
,- 1/4 7400
.-/
the drive line, but I will be
coupling my drivers direct to the that there is no base resistor. Use
selection lines, and the only change of a base reSistor in this circuit
required in the design to have dif- with 2N646l l s or other cheap tran-
ferent read and write currents will sistors causes the turn-off time to
be to have different load resistors become longer than the memory cycle.
in the drivers at oPPosite ends of Circuit 1 has been built and will
the lines. It would also be neces- definitely work. Circuit 2 has not
s.ary to change the inhibit drivers yet been tried, but shOUld be OK as
to bi-directional operation. the positive-end-of-the-drive-line
swi tch. (No. 1 is for ground end. )
"Members may be wondering "why \fuile testing testing '1, I found
bother II if they have not read the that a little bypass capacitance on
two articles I referenced in the the power supply is worse than none.
Nov. 1970 Newsletter (p 1). The 3:1 I originally put •.01 )IF acro ss the
selection allows a higher current supply, but this converted the .2V
at the selected corej this results spikes into a 3 or 4v sinewave on
in faster switching, which means a the 6v supply. A large (....,10 }1F)
faster read cycle in the case lIve electrolytic finally smoothed them
described. Because the core switche·s out. "
about twice as fast, the output is

Vol. II - No. 11 -- November 1971 ~ ~NEWSLETTER

Steve's letter of October 19: I can't see any of the 360 models
falling into this category. I would
"I never have quite given upon the guess that a model 40 with a 4K x
IBM 360/50, although I have off and 18 memory oould be put together
on considered a number of smaller, using surplus oore and cheap lOs
more sensible machines. Lately, for a little over $1000 (would you
though, a number of things have believe $1500, maybe?). The 50 with
happened to make this a much more minimum memory (4K x 36) should
reasonable project. cost me about twioe as much.
"About a year ago I bought a copy "If there are any members interested
of 'Microprogramming: Pr1nciples in spending this amount on their
and Practices' b~ Samir S. Husson machine, I would be more than happy
(Prentice-Hall, ,1:6.95). Mr. Husson to write them a letter on the sorts
was one of the leading designers of of problems likely to be enoountered
the 360 series, and the book con- in building such a maohine. I don't
centrates on the "how it was done" have any information on the 30. I
approach to the subject. There are don't recommend the 25. It is in-
long chapters on the 360/40 and teresting from the paint of view of
360/50 as well as two other ma- havings its microprogram in main
chines. Reading the chapter is suf- core, but unless you think the
ficient to put you in a position to ability to change your instruotion
write your own mioroprograms, but set at will is an advantage, the
the chapters cover a lot of ground; only thing it has to offer is up-
it took me about. 10 days to get ward compability. Even though it
through the one on the 360/50. uses 900-nsec core, a PDP-8 oould
easily beat it in terms of Inumbers
itA very helpful feature of the book orunohed per second. I
is the many referenoes to IBM engi-
neering manuals. I ordered the mod- "The thing that has kept me from
el 50 manuals referred to by Mr. taking the 360 seriously before now
HUsson a few months ago, and I have was the need to build a large, fast
just ordered the ones referred to ROM without going broke; in the oase
in the first set of manuals. The of the 50, a 1408-word by l76-bit
logic diagrams in these manuals are ROM with about lOO-nseo access and
muoh easier to follow than the DEO 500-nseo cyole is required. Assuming
PDP-8 manuals, mostly because they half the bits are las, over 100,000
are broken up into small funotional diodes would be needed for a diode
units and all signals flow from ROM, so that approach is out •••• •
left to right. The manuals general-
ly seem to be directed to field Steve's letter of Oot. 28:
engineers learning how to service
the maohines, and are loaded with "Amerioan Mioro-Systems offers a
explanations and charts. dual 480-bit shift register for
$3.50 in quantities over 25. De-
"I bought one manual on the 360/25 pending on whioh part of the oountry
last year, and it is not nearly as you live in, the distributor is
clear as the ones on the 50. Dif- Cramer, Industrial Eleotronics,
ferent models of the 360 were de- Badelle, or Century Eleotronics. I
veloped by independent teams. didn't have any luok the last time
I tried to coordinate an order for
"From what I have read in the News- registers, but the price is lower
letter, most members seem to be in- and the quantity is smaller this
terested in a maohine that will . time, so I'm willing to try it again.
cost only a couple hundred dollars. The registers are guaranteed to 1
~ NEWSLETTER @ 'Vol. II - No. 11 -- November 1971
 The Amateur Computer Society 1s series 930 DTL. The easiest way to
open to all who are interested collect a set of hardware manuals
in building and operating a dig- for a model 'is to order a few known
ital computer that can at least ones, then order the ones referred
perform automatic multiplication to in these, etc. Starter sets for
and division, or is of a compar- several of the models are:
able complexity.
For membership in the ACS, and 360/20 Y26-5909, Y25-3027
a subscription of at least eight 360/25 Y24-3527, A24-35l0, R25-5402
issues of the Newsletter, please 360/30 A24-323l, 225-33601 225-3362
send $3 (or a check )to: 360/40 223-2840 thru 223-~844
Stephen B. Gray 360/50 Y22-2821, 122-2822
Amateur Computer Society
260 Norot on Ave. "Particular;t,y with the newer models
Darien, Conn. 06820 20 and 26, you may oocasionally
The Newsletter will appear about find that some of the manuals are
every two months or so. "restricted distribution II and can-
not be bought. On the other hand,
MHz with a "typical" 2i-MHz rate. depending mostly on the time of day,
[Steve's address is Apt. 119, 251 you may be able to buy them after
W. DaYton-Yellow Spripgs Rd., all. In the case of hardware manuals,
Fairborn, Ohio 45324J they apparently all start out with
Z prefixes, which means they can't
"Inoidentally, members who are be sold to anybody, including the
willing to put up with a serial fellow who wrote them. Only one of
memory no longer have any excuse the 360/50 manuals I ordered was
for putting off construction; 1024 restricted (the time of day was
words of 15 bits will cost only wrong that partioular time) and this
$56 plus drive oircuits. was volume ,one of a pair for which
the second one is not restricted."
liThe rest of the IBM manuals I or-
dered arrived. They did not contain
all I had expeoted, but the combi- WANTED: HELP WITH 8/L
ned set contains diagrams of all
the logic "whose function is not Al Kilburn writes that he has a PDP
immediately apparent" and has flow- B/L. He's interested in information
charts of all instructions that on interfacing an audio tape record-
will convert to microinstructions er with it, and in cheap peripherals
rather easily. Actual logic and such as printer, card readerj and
microinstruction diagrams are ap- also used boards compatible with DEC
parently buried in manuals referred sockets; 6844 S. Oglesby, Chicago,
to as the ALDis and CLD's. These Illinois 60649.
are frequent11 referred to, but no
form number is ever given, so it is
probably not possible to order the~ CONNECTORS FOR SALE
From a sour-grapes point of View,
what I have might be optimum, since I have 62 used Amphenol oonnectors,
it will require me to get a fairly female, type 26-190-32, 3 3/4 in.
good understanding of the machine long. These have 32 contacts; two
before I start filling in the mis- opposed sets of 16, the sets tin.
sing parts. apart. Originally held ;-inch~thick
analog boards. Catalog price {for
"Direot substitution of TTL is fea- 50-99}, 2.60 each. Sale price for
sible for all 360 models from 50 on all 62: 30 or best offer
down. The logic used is similar to opyright 1971 by Stephen B. Gray
Vol. II - No. 11 -- November '1971 ~ ~NE1vSLETTER
 ~NEWSLETTER
Volume II, Number 12 LAST ISSUE OF
(Serial Issue 23) a publioation of the VOLUl~E II
March 1972 A~~TEUR COMPUTER SOCIETY

RENEl'lAL TIME AGAIN Computerworld Letter

The Volume II money has run out, A brief letter from Steve ~~iebking
so this is the last issue of the about the ACS was printed in the
second series. For a subscription Jan. 12 Computerworld. Over 100
to Volume III, please send $5.00 people responded; two have operat-
($5.50 foreign). ing computers, three are building,
one has a complete Univac File 0
Sorry about the rise in price, but computer, and 62 joined the ACS,
the cost of printing and mailing inoluding the first two women mem-
the ACS Newsletter has gone up al- bers (in Virginia and Alabama), who
most 50% since 1966. both joined on the same day_
Most of the money from these new
THE ACS STORY members went toward reprinting Vol.
I, because back in 1966 I didn't
"Euilding Your Own Computer" ap- believe that more than 100 people
peared in Computers & Automation would ever join the ACS.
in two parts: Dec. 1971, pp 25-31;
Jan. 1972, pp 20-22, 40-42. Grand Totals
Eight photos of five amateur com- As of 3-26-72, 310 people have in-
puters were sent to C&A; none was quired about the ACS, 195 have re-
used, because C&A, for reasons of ceived Volume I, and 113 have sub-
economy, contains a minimum of scribed to Volume II.
photos, only 1 or 2 per issue. The
manuscript was printed exactly as
submitted, except that the refer- KENBAK SWITCHING TO CASSETTE INPUT
ences to photos were changed by
the editor. Where the original had Development of the card-input de-
"The logic for the delay-line ver- vice for the Kenbak-l training com-
sion of Bill's computer is shown puter (see NoV. 1971 issue, p 1)
in Fig. 3, II for example, the QM has been shelved in favor of using
artiole says, "The logic for the cassette-tape input.
delay-line version of Bill's com-
puter was not very difficult." The audio cassette will be recorded
Sorry about that, Bill. in FM, with several cycles per bit.
The user will be able to record on
Responses to the C&A Article the tape directly from the previous-
ly loaded memory of the Kenbak-l,
In the three months after the C&A and Kenbak will sell pre-reoorded
article appeared, 28 people wrote cassettes for games, etc.
in to say they'd seen it, and
wanted more information. Of the 28, Newer models of the Kenbak-l will
at least four have operating oom- contain the ne~essary interface
puters, four or more are building circuits. Kenbak will recommend and
their own machines, and 12 joined market a cassette recorder, for
the ACS, including our first couple,. about $100. A user can try his own
Dr. & £.Irs. Jun of Ohio. cassette recorder, but Kenbak won't
guarantee success with any but the IS A SCOFE NEEDED?
recommended model.
Several members have asked if an
Kenbak-l Schematics oscilloscope is needed for bu1lding
an amateur computer.
The Kenbak-l maintenance and theory
of operation manual, for $10.00, John Blankenbaker, who developed
contains complete schematics. The the Kenbak-l computer, says tb4t
input and output lines to and from one of the big problems many people
each group of ICs are identitied have w1th using a scope, no matter
onlI-by a signal name, such as HT how good it is, is inadequate
or 13, so you1d have to make up , grounding, so there are noise prob-
your own wiring lists if you want lems that can be tracked down only
to copy this ingenious computer. with a high-frequency scope. John
says he feels he 'could now trouble-
The Kenbak-l uses 131 ICs, of which shoot the Kenbak-l with a logic
129 are 14 different types in the probe. And if he were to use a
7400 series, and two are Intel 1404 soope, he could get by with a l-MHz
1024-bit dynamic shift registers model. For design, though, he'd want
($16.30 eaoh from Intel). The 129 to use at least a 15-MHz type, and
ICs, if bought from Solid State 30 to 50 MHz if possible. He bought
Systems, Inc. (P.O. Box 773, Colum- a used 50-MHz H-P scope for $700.
bia, Mo. 65201), would come to
$62.15; add $32.60 for two 1404's, Dual-traoe and dual-beam soopes are
for a total of $94.75. If the 129 helpful at times, but John sayS he
ICs are bought from B&F Enterpr1ses can get along without them,as well
(P.O. Box 44, Hawthorne, Mass. as delayed sweep.
01937), the total! including the
1404's, would be 0100.83. The biggest problems are grounding,
power distribution, and clocking.
No values are given for the Kenbak Amateurs often try asynchronous
-liS couple of dozen resistors and logic, says John, and this is a mis-
capaoitors; most of the resistors take, because it causes race condi-
are lK. The power supply, clock tions, unusual delays, etc. He re-
multivibrator and clock driver are commends the fully-olocked system.
all .hown without component values.
There is no parts list in the According to Tektronix, an electro-
manual, although one could be ob- nic switch is OK only up to about
tained from Kenbak. 100 KHz. Beyond that you need a
dual-beam or a dual-trace scope for
Kenbak-l Log1c Alone? synohronized alternate sweeping. The
latter is part of a number of Tek-
John Blankenbaker president ot tronix plug-ins. Tektronics markets
Kenbak, says theylre been thinking the British-made Telequipment scopes:
of offering the Kenbak-l logic the dual-trace transistor D54 has a
board alone, as a tested item bandwidth of DO to 10 MHz, costs
(taken from a tested computer). $595. The dual-beam vacuum-tube D51
This would be the full set ofICs, has a DC-to-6-I~z bandwidth in chan-
on the one board, without front nell, DC-to-3-MHz in channel 2,
panel, switches, lamps, power sup- costs $375.---Any oomment on scopes?
ply or case, for about $450. If
you're interested, write John at
Kenbak Corp., 12167 Leven Lane, COMPUTER PARTS IN KINGSTON, N.Y.
Los Angel.s t Calif. 90049, or call
him at {213, 472-8347. Various computer peripherals and
Vol. II, No. 12 -- March 1972 2 .JAlQJiL NEWSLETTER
oomponents are available at P&D of neYer looking at their PDP-8
Surplus, 198 Abeel Street, Kings- hardware diagram_, eto. I'm sure I
ton, N.Y. 12401, 100 miles north- learned more th1s way. Atter all,
west of New York City, ott exit 10 I'm supposed to be an IE.
on the Thruway; (914) 338-6191.
"I haven't made much use at lIlY ma-
They have mostly components in the ohine; it is less reliable than I
retail store: ICs, oapaoitors, PC would like. It 8eems to piok up
boards, eto. They do get peripher- extra bits now and then. At present
als; Wayne Ely got a oomplete IBM I am writing a program to reduce
728 tape han41er there. IBM equip- the data that the Radio Amateur
ment, though, is :available only if Satellite Corp. (AMSAT) expects to
it comes through government sur- reoeive trom the telemetering on
plus, as IBl-1 shreds and reoycles their "bird" whioh may be 1aunohed
their own used equipment. P&D does in the summer. .
get equipment trom other makers,
such as Univac oard readers. They "With the recent drastic reduction
have no c atalo&, or flyer, so you in sem1conductor memory prices, it
have to go take a look. looks like a fast amateur computer
will soon be within the price range
ot many. My maohine must have cost
A NEW MEMBER l'IRITES $1200 plus the ASR-33. With cheap
7400-series and semi memories, it
Bob Carpenter writes from Maryland: should be possible to make a good
maohine :t't:tr not much more, nowadays.
"Over the past four years, I have After all, TI will sell ~oua com-
been in the prooess of building a plete machine for under ,3000."
computer. The actual hardware wo~k
got underw~ about three years ago. In his next letter, Bob answered
The machine really started working a few questions:
only a year ago. My maohine uses
the PDP-8 command set and runs at "1) How to get the IBM 1620 memory
about the speed of a PDP-8/S (24- to work: The 1620 oore stack is
pseo eyole time). MY memory is trom 100xlOO (a total of 10 000 words).
an IBM 1620, obtained from Herbaoh Since it was the only source ot
& Rademan. I have implemented only memory I could come aoross at a
4K at present, though I have de- reasonable price at the time (Fall
signed the boards to allow easy eX- 1968), it seemed to lead the way to
pans~on to 9K (whioh still leaves a 12-bit machine. Hence the PDP-8.
part of the oore staok free). My
only referenoes have been the DEC 'lAs for getting the memor;y going,
Small Computer Handbook give-aways, I initially used trapezoidal waves
plus a few library books. The NBS in the four switch-core drive lines.
reports are pretty useless since I experimentally decided what the
they are so old and slow. I use bias current should be for the
8ignetios Utilogio (it was oheap switoh-oores. To elaborate: the
when I started the design) and some 1620 had switch-core matrioes tor
7400 series where it's best. I each axis. Eaoh switch-oore corres-
bought an ASR-33 after I was sure ponded to one X or Y line in the
my maohine would run! main oore stack. A bias-current
wire runs through all the switch
"I have oopies of the DEC software, oores. There are also two input
whioh all seem to run: .Fooal, Edi- windings (4 turns) on each oore.
tor, PAL III, eto. While I use the
DEC software, I have made a point "These switch oores are arranged
~ NEWSLETTER Vol. II, No. 12 -- March 1972
in a 10x10 matrix (100 cores) for go through with things like the
X and a similar set for Y. For one 710 or 711 to get the desired char-
side of a 10x10 matrix, the 10 acteristiCS, and they include
lines may be called the ",'units " strobe, etc •.
lines and each goes to 10 cores.
The other side of the 10x10 matrix "2) How to accomplish the PDP-8
may be called the "tens" side and command set: In the first place a
each line also goes to 10 cores. large part of my motive for building
If there is a one-ampere bias cur- the machine was to learn something
rent, and a 250-mA current is put about minicomputers. Therefore it
through a "units" line, all the seemed to be defeating the purpose
cores it feeds will have zero fie1~ to blindly copy a commercial design.
If now 250 rnA is put on one of the Reason prevailed to the extent that
"tens" lines, the core that has I wanted something that would run
both lIs and lOts current in it with readily available software,
will flip and produce a Read pulse since my interest lies in hardware
in the main core X line driven by development, primarily. I went
it. When the l's and lOts currents through a period of locking at other
have both been removed, the switch- command sets, but the fact seems to
core will be flipped back by the be that the PDP-8 is logically the
bias-current fi eld and the h"rite simplest machine in common use. I
pulse will occur on the line in have carefully avoided using any
the main core stack. Thus we have DEC drawings, etc., in my design.
a v.ray to drive the X and Y select In fact, my whole source was their
lines of the main stack frOm uni- "Small Computer Handbook" of the
directional current drivers, and late 60's. This is the reference
without any selection diodes. manual on the 8 1 s, but gives no
detailed hardware info.
"Since I felt I could get by with
only 4K of the stack, I use only 8 III designed both serial (PDP-8/S)
of the 10 lines to each side of and parallel verSions, and the ex-
each switch-core matrix, giving 64 tra price for parallel seemed to be
driven wires on each axis of the worth it. I have mainly used the
main core stack. The fact that my Signetics Utilogic II series since
stack came with the switch matrices it was the cheapest 5-volt logic
was a major stroke of luck, at series at the time I got to building.
least as far as money was concerne~ Nowadays one would use the 7400 se-
Of course, the cycle time is pretty ries most places. I note that DEC
slow, around 20 psec. uses Utilogic II for buss receivers
in both the FDP-Il and PDF-8/E. Con-
"In the summer of 1970 I was at the struction had many fits and starts.
NBS location in Boulder, Colo., Finally I felt confident enough to
where tapes were being added to an invest in a Teletype ASR-33. This
old 1620 and I was able to get a represents about 40% of the total
look at its diagram, etc. They cost of the project. I was able to
drive the core with non-time-co~ obtain the hardware diagnostic tapes
incident reotangular pulses (to for the 8 which identified a couple
ease the voltage compliance re- of instructions that aren't fully
quirements of the bias current reg- described in the older Small Compu-
ulator). Since then I have changed ter Handbook. Simple wiring changes
to a similar setup. I used the Mo- fixed these up.
torola MC 1440 or 1540 for the
sense amplifiers. At less than $2 'As you see, all I can say about
each they are a real buy. There is how to duplicate the PDP-8 instruc-
none of the foolishness you have to tion eet is to figure it out. It

Vol. II - No. 12 -- I'larch 1972 4 ~NEWSLETTER

really ls pretty slmple. I tear up through lnterconnected groups
that no one w111 be able to get a of ciroults, suoh as adders, de-
machlne runnlng lf they can't de- coders, oounters, and memory. The
s1gn the control 10g1c for thls last construction is of the "Baros
set. The secret seems to be to computer," using four loglc labs,
draw a tlme ohart to plan what hap- two 256-blt MOS memory IC. and
pens at what tlme ln each memory tour mountlng frames (tota! oost:
cycle (If you want to bul1d a $1804) to build a single-address,
memory-synchronous machine). 'DEC 8-blt sequential machine wlth 8
is good enough to tell you in what instructions. Not bad tor only 320
order things are done in the translstors and two ICs.
"microinstructions.-
The new version of the workbook,
"If I were starting over today, I coming out in Aprll, will also oon-
might choose the Nova instead, it taln a logic-lab'sohematio for an
a 16-bit memory could be found. lnterface requlred to connect an
The PDP-II looks very powerful, ASR-33 Teletype to the Baros mlnl.
but is doubtless very much more
complex.
SPEAKING OF SCOPES ••••
"What do I have for my $2000' The
main thing is a reasonabl, good For $595, there ls also a Heath/
inSight into the workings of the Schlumberger EU-70A assembled
simpler mlnicomputers. I also have scope, with dual traoe, trlggered
a small, though unrellable, machine sweep, and 15-MHz bandwidth.
which has enough software available
to be of some practical use. Home-
grown instruction sets are fine, COMPUTER ART
but who has the time to write a
Fortran or BasiC, or even an assem- Computra (Box 608, Upland, Indiana
bler? If your main interest is 46989), has a booklet of computer-
software, buy a machine. II enerated art, all originals, from

A 320-NOR COMPUTER
l
5 to $16 for standard items, and
5 to $20 for a "unique reVision
of the catalog version. II
For $1.25, you can get a "Computer
Lab Workbook" from Indiana Instru- FOR SALE
ments, 15054 Gulf Blvd., Madeira
Beach, Fla. 33738. The workbook ls Kel th Stoicheff (P. O. Box 74i Burn-
used with a 10glc laboratory (cost: ham, Fa. 17009) has a Kl1go 735-1A
$425) based on NOR gates. On four analog/digital plotter for $295
PC boards are 80 NORs, each consis- (originally $20K), a model FL Flexo-
ting of an npn translstor, four re- writer (some repairs needed) for
sistors and a capaCitor on the 1n- $95, and the main frame of a Logis-
put 11nes, and a collector resis- tics Researoh CRC-I05 deoimal digi-
tor, in a square 9-pln pattern. tal differential analyzer tor $150.
Various "logic symbol plates" are
lald over one or more of the NORs Herbach & Rademan (401 East Erie
and then leads are clipped on ac- Ave., Philadelphla, Pa. 19134), hal
cordlng to the lines on the plate, a Feb/Mar catalog with: F.riden
to create fllp-flops, gates, one- Flexowrtters (7-1evel Daspan oods),
shots, exclusive-ORs, clocks, etc. $395; Hewlett-Packard 565A digital
printers, $280; Unlvao 1103 slng1e-
The stUdent progresses from gates plane memory (4K bits), 114; 111-
~NEWSLETTER 5 Vol. II - No. 12 -- Karoh 1972
 The Amateur Computer Society is gives schematics of Computer Auto-
open to all who are interested mation's PDC 808 computer, wh1ch
in building and operating a dig- was designed for communications,
ital computer that can at least control, and monitoring applicat-
perform automatic multiplication ions. The eleven schematios are:
and division, or is of a compar- processor (4), processor timing
able complexity. circuits, processor control (2),
For r:wt.'lbershlp in the ACS, and memory regulator, driver switches,
a subscription of at least eight memory data, and Teletype control.
issues of the Newsletter, send The ICs are SN7400 and MC800 types.
$3 (or a check) to: Values are given for all disorete
Stephen B. Gray components except the transformers
Amateur Computer Society in the core-driver circuits. Th1s
260 Noroton Avenue looks like most of the schematics;
Darien, Conn. 06820 it may be all needed for the 808.
The Newsletter will appear about
every two months or so. 1103 Handbook
bit core stack, $60; Ferranti 371- Get the 32-page booklet on the
12A magnetic drum (480 tracks, 3 1103, a l024-bit dynamio MOS RAM
million bits), $295; Ferranti 371- chip, from Intel Corp., 3065 Bowers
4A drum (38 tracks, 3K bits per Ave., Santa Clara, Calif. 95051.
track), ~~95.
MagnetiC Heads
IN PRINT Nortronios' "Design Digest for Mini-
Digital Magnet1c Recording 'I is a
Display Teroinal Under $200 32-page booklet on magnetic heads
designed for minioomputers, desk-top
IIConvert your scope to a display calculators, I/O systems and other
terminal," by Armstrong and Hern per1pherals. The first 9 pages dis-
of 1-1arquette University (Electron- cuss technical considerations, 5
ic Design, Nov. 11, 1971, pp C20- are on test procedures; the rest is
C24), describes a display generat- product data. Nortronics Co., Inc.,
or that uses any general-purpose 8101 Tench Ave. North, Minneapolis,
oscilloscope. It's based on a 22- Minn. 55427.
stroke starburst pattern, portions
of which are blanked to form the Logic SYstems Design HandboOk
various characters. Flip-flops and
gates generate the four required In mid-May, DEC will publish a
bit-patterns, which are summed and ilLogic Systems Design Handbook,lI
integrated by op amps to give the which will be a user's manual of
X and Y deflection voltages. Up to typical applications.
250 characters can be displayed
with a software package (interrupt
program, table look-up subroutine STARTED A PDP-8?
and output character table) using
no more than 410 core locations. If you've built, or started to make,
a copy of one of the PDP-8 family,
Schematics for PDC 808 Computer please send info on your work, suc-
cess, pro~lems, eto., especially
A member writes that Brice Ward's about getting a core memory to work.
"Computer Technician's Handbook"
(mentioned in the June 1971 News-
letter, p 4; TAB Books, $10.95) Copyright 1972 by Stephen B. Gray

Vol. II - No. 12 -- March 1972 6 ~NEWSLETTER

 ~NEWSLETTER
FIRST I SSUE OF Volume III, Number 1
VOLUME THREE a publioation of the (Serial Issue 24)
AMATEUR COMPUTER SOCIETY June 19'72

VOLUME III IS UNDERWAY cirouits, with 16 8-bit file regis-

ters, and 4K bytes of oore at pre-
Thanks to all who mailed in oheoks sent (soon to be expanded to 651!).
so promptly, enough were reoeived The 16 8-bit file registers are
within only 40 days after mailing used for 5 16-bit index registers,
the last issue of Volume II to pay 1 16-bit aooumulator, 1 16-bit
for printing and mailing eight program counter, 1 8-bit terminator
issues of Volume III. Of oourse, register, and 1 8-bit temporary re-
the rise from $3 to $5 for a sub- gister. The cycle time is at pre-
soription meant that only half as sent? useo, but will be speeded up
many oheoks were needed. to 2.4 usec shortly. The 8-bit byte
organization does not really slow
things down, sinoe six 8-bit trans-
A \.,rORKING COMPUTER fers between registers can take
plaoe during one oyc1e. The byte
Don Tarbell wrote from Alabama; orientation also speeds up 1ist-
prooessing-type subroutines, whioh
1I~1y maohine is now in working or- will be used oonsiderably in my
der! I have done quite a bit of work in artificial intelligence.
programming with it in the past Even with the 7-usec oyc1e time, I
several months. My first pieoe of can multiply a 140-digit number
software was an editor, whioh (all nines) times itself in about
enables me to type programs on the 40 seconds.
Teletype, into mer!lory, and to mod-
ify them from the keyboard. The IIThere are eight address modes: di-
editor receives letters for oom- rect relative, indirect relative,
mands: N for new entry, L for list direot indexed, indirect indexed,
the buffer, A for append, D for extended, literal, direct to X3,
delete, I for insert, and P for direot to X4. The last two modes
print. The D, I and P are followed use only one byte; the extended
by the appropriate line number. uses 3 bytes (instruotion and mode,
16-bit address); and the rest use
liThe second pieoe of software I 2 bytes. There are 8 oonditional
designed is the CALCULATOR. Vii th jump instruotions, all of whioh
it, loan add, subtraot, multiply, are relative addressing. There are
and divide integers up to 256 di- arithmetio instruotions which han-
gits long. It does not yet aocept dle both single and double bytes:
deoimal pOints, but it will in the ADD, SUBTRAGr, LOAD, STORE, and
near future. AND. One of the conditional jump
instruotions deorements an index
"I am still working on the third register, then jumps if it is not
piece of software, the ASSEMBLER. equal to one. This is very effect-
It will oonvert symbolio programs ive for loop control. There is alsO
into maohine language, and will at a jump which may be in any address
first be a stripped-down version, mode, and also a jump to subroutine.
later to be expanded, by using it-
self to oreate more subroutines. liMy present organization allows for
16 I/O devices, but this will short-
liThe maohine is an 8-bit byte- ly be inoreased to 256. The I/O de-
oriented machine, all integrated vioes I have working are: keyboard,
Teletype, cartridge tape write and to use another board only because
read. The 8-track cartridge tape of insuffioient pin count. If you
is useful as a paper-tape replaoe- use TTL, always use plenty of .01-
ment. I run it about 100 characters .l-uf capacitors on the board to
per seoond. It is not yet as reli- bypass noise. Keep the main compu-
able as I would like it, but as I ter clock duty-cycle to a bare
have error-checking write and read minimum. In other words, it should
subroutines, it is no problem to be a spike-type olook of, say,
read or write again if it is not 100-nseo spikes. This is because
oorreot. I use one track for clock many flip-flops are sensitive to
and one for data, whioh automati- what happens on their J and K in-
oally oompensates for speed varia- puts while the olock input is high.
tions. I have a 6.5-million-bit So if you have a control signal
disk, and am presently building running to these inputs, then a
its interfaoe. I also have an IEM spike tor the clook allows the
727 tape drive, but it will have maximum time for your control sig-
uo wait for the disk. A friend and nal to propagate through the logio.
I also have a joint projeot: a CRT This was a major souroe of problems
display. It is about half done. for me as long as I had a 50% duty-
cyole clook.
"SO I should have a big enough
system in the near future to do "1'v'hile designing your maj or-state
some really meaningfUl work in the generator (the counter that changes
field of artificial intelligence. state once per memory oycle), keep
Bight now, my machine has 45 active in mind that it will need to be
instructions, and 1111 be adding stalled in one position for halt,
about 20 more. for I/O interrupts, and for direct-
mewory access. In oontrol-unit de-
"O ne problem whioh set me back some sign (about half my machine), I
was the fact that I had a 20-volt found it a good concept to make
power line (for lamps) running next control lines wire-ORed or tri-
to an ALU control line. Well, a state. In other words, when the
scope probe slipped, and zorked two machine is halted, the required
of the TI SN?4l81N ALU chips. If pOSition for the control lines in
anybody needs a couple of these this state should be defined as
with the 53 line non-fUnctional, normally high. Instructions are
let me know. I learned one great then implemented by "pulling down"
lesson about using MSI: when using the proper control lines in the
high-cost chips, be very careful proper sequence, with open-collector
to protect them against accidents or tri-state gates (e.g., SN740lN
suoh as this. Another thing I found is good). This organization allows
is that interboard wiring on oon- you to »uild a minimum instruction
nectors using solder-lug-type ter- set on one card which can be used
minals can turn out to be a mess. to check out the memor,y and other
It's too late for me, but I advise parts of the system. Then instruc-
anyone who is starting out to use tions can be added on in logical
wire-wrap if possible, or at least sets. I also wire-ORed my 8 data-
connectors with widely-spaced ter- bus lines to allow attaching more
minals. registers."
"Another thing. I am using the 36-
place DIP breadboards with 44-pin INTEL MICRO COMPUTER SETS
edge connectors. If possible, use
boards with more conneotions, at Intel Corp. (3065 Bowers Avenue,
least 56. Several times I have had Santa Clara, Calit. 95051) has two

Vol. III, No.1 - June 1972 2 ~NEWSLETTER

"Micro Computer Seta," the MC8-4 ASR-33. All in all, if you want
and MCB-8, whioh are aet a of LSI only one MCS-4 or -8, it's oheaper
chips for microprogrammable gene- to buy a SIM4-01 or SIMS-Ol and
ral-purpose computers. The MCS-4 add ROMs and RAMs.
has a 4-bit parallel CPU with 45
instructionsj the MCS-8 is 8-bit
with 48 commands. The MCS-4 oon- THE TRADING POST
sists of the 4001 programmable ROM
control memor,y (256 x a-bit), 4002 RPC-4000 Parts?
RAM data storage (320-bit), 4003
I/O expansion (lO-bit shift regis- Lyle Biokley (2351 Ridley Creek Rd.,
t er ), and 4004 CPU. Media, Pa. 19063) writes:
The last three are fairl, cheap: "I recently purchased an entire
$50, $10, and $100, respeotively, HPC-4000 system whioh was in work-
for 1 to 24. The oatoh is the 4001; ing order for $1000, less shipping.
OU have to order at least 25, at It consists of an RPC-40l0 CPU with
J
.25.50 eaoh, plus mask charges of
600. If you don't know exaotly
how you want the 4001 ROM oUltom-
ax of 32-bit drum memory and a RPC-
4437 I/O oontrol un1t, Tally paper
tape reader (120 o~s), Tally paper
programmed by Intel, you can do it tape punoh (60 ops), and an laOXE
on a out-and-try basis with eleo- oonsole typewriter. Thrown in "free"
trically programmable ROMs such as was a Flexowriter in good working
the 1601, 1602, 1701 or 1702, order. The entire system required a
which are $91 to $109 eaoh, for 1 good deal of oleaning up and the
to 24. You can have these ROMs I/O gear needed adjustments and
programmed by Intel for $10 1f you preventive maintenance. I have oom-
provide the tape, or $90 add1tion- pleted all this, having easily ob-
al if Intel prepares the tape. tained the service manuals from CDC
and Tally. There is a complete set
To program one of these ROMs your- of d1agnost1c, assembler, comp11er
self, you need the SIM4-01 m1cro- and problem-or1ented program pack-
oomputer ($500, or you can bu11d ages available from the CDC user
one from the schemat10s in the organization, FOCUS (Forum of Con-
MCS-4 u.er', manual), MP7-02 pro- trol Data Users).
grammer board ($400; schematics
also ava1lable), three oontrol- "One can purchase RPC-4000's (also
program ROMs at $101 each ($91 LGP-30 ' s and LGP-21's) directly
plus $10 for programming), and one from organizations upgrading to
ASR-33 Teletype. more powerful eqUipment. The names
of these organizations are avail-
The MCS-a is not just an a-bit able from CDC salesmen or from ads
MCS-4j for details see the 45-page in the FOCUS newsletter.
brochure. An MCB-S is made up of
an aoos CPU chip that contains "I am interested in f1nding some
oircuits qu1te different from the parts of RPC-4000 equ1pment, espe-
4004, and which costs $260 for 1 cially a 300-ops Ferrant1 reader,
to 24; ,:lWeI (such as the 1101); and spare heads for the drum."
ROMs (such as the 1701) and TTL
interface cirouitry. To program a A Store in Dallas
1701 (or 1601) yourself, use the
same setup as for the MC8-4, ex- KA Sales (1312 Slooum St., Dallas,
cept that you use a SIMS-Ol micro- Texas 75207) sent a flyer showing
computer at $900, along with the some EDP hardware, suoh as a "World
MP7-02, three oontrol ROMs, and an Computer Unit" containing 58 S1gnet-
.JAl.QJSL NEWSLETTER 3 Vol. III, No.1 - June 1972
ics Unilo~ic ICs, power supply, 36-bit plus parity, 16K words. Some
etc.; and also used Nixie tubes, of the other core stacks I have are
computer-grade canacitors, etc. (1) 16K, 2 usec, 37 bits (2) 16K,
2 usec, 24 bits (3) 5.6 usec, lK,
TTY Parts for Sale 8 bits (4) 10 usec, 8K, 20 bits.
Host of the memories are available
Per Biorn writes from N.J.: "A with drawings and technical info to
friend of mine sells TTY equipment get them running. Another item is
and ham stuff. Although a rather a 300-1pm 120-colum line printer.
sharp businessman, he is a helpful This stuff comes out of General
fellow and has quite a few goodies Electric large computers. A friend
in his shop. It is also possible and I are rebuilding a GE computer
to get T'fY parts fr::>m him at rea- and hope to have it running soon."
sonable nrices. His address is:
Van, 1,Y'2DLT I 302 Passaic Ave., A N,J. Member Has •••
Stirlinf, N.J. 07980. He has a
catalog he will be glad to send. Wayne Ely (209 Lees Ave., Teaneck,
Or call him at (201) 647-3639, at 07666), who writes that he
N. J.
night only. Say Per sent you; it got a PDP-8 without core for about
may (or may not) help. \I $1000 from Maynard, Mass., wants
to sell a 728 tape drive, complete
Comnut~ Farts for Sale with maintenance manuals; this is
the old tube oodel; $125, you haul.
Gary Forbes (2028 ~~. Indian School Also a switch panel, $50. And some
Rd., B9X 100, Phoenix, Ariz. 85015) core array from an IBM computer,
",ri tee: 3 feet square, 16 planes with 4x4
arrays. 1,'layne needs PDP-8 core and
"Your members may be interested in an ASR-33 and PDP-8 cards for ex-
some computer parts I have for sale, tended memory and extended arith-
some of which are: (1) cooputer-to- metic, etc.
EIA interface boards (all ICs), (2)
discrete logic which is compatible Integrated Circuits
with TTL (this is a complete logic
line), (3) a nice 32X x 20-bit i- Steve Wiebking saw in Electronic
usec memory, complete except for News an ad for Intel-compatible
t,)O~Ter and computer interface, (4) 1101 1 9, at $5.50j 1402, 1403, 1404
a real nice core controller; this at $6.50; 2150 256-bi t TTL RA~.1s,
is a emall IC sequencer and address ~28.50j for 1 to 100, $10 minimum
and parity checker for an l8-bit order, from: Roni Jiscount Elec-
word,. (5) a lot of nice ICs mounted tronic Supply Co., 61 First St.,
on boards, ~ostly TTL Sylvania SURL Derby, Conn. 06418, (203) 735-9333.
II, (6) good technical assistance
in getting these things operating. Used DEO Computers and Modules
I have copies of many of the man-
uals." American Used Computer Corp. (15
School St., Boston, Mass. 02108)
Later Gary wrote to say he also has sells a 4K PDF-8IL or 8/1 for
several boards out of a GE DN500 $3000, an 8X 8/1 for $6500, and a
Datanet, an 10 version of the DN30; 12K 87~ for $8000. They have vari-
"these cards would make into a nice ous DEO peripherals, from SlK to
cinicomnuter. I have Bome of the $3K, such as a TU-55 DEOtape for
CRlO table-top card readers at $75 $1200. And DEC modules (series B,
and an I/O interface board at $25. G, K, M, R, 5, W) and hardware such
I have several core memories. The as 8/L racks, power supplies, etc.,
most complete on~are 2-usec Ampex at 35% off DEC prices.

Vol. III, No.1 - June 1972 4 ~ NEWSLETTER

MORE ABOUT INTEL I S z..IC S deep -- it has room for only 20
card slots for expansion, instead
The MCS-4 directly drives up to 16 of 40. So the 8/F is for the user
of the 400l's and 16 of the 4002's. who knows he'll stay within those
l:a thout a 4003, there are 128 I/O 20 slots. The 8/F is :~3990; the
l1nes; with 4003's, I/O is unlimit- 8/E is ~4990. If the 8/F user needs
ed. Minimum 1·1CS-4 is one 4004 CPU more than 20 slota, he can buy an
and one 4001 ROM. expander box for -- guess -- $1000.
The MCS-8's 8008 CFU C&l directly LED Edge Card Lights
address 16K x 8 bits of memory
(any mix of HAl·! (including the Monsanto has introduced low-power
1103), ROM or shift register), and edge card lights, for diagnostics
32 different 1/0 Dorts. and for indicating malfunctions.
-_ -
.. Typical operation is 15 mW at 5
volts, 3 mAo ~n internal resistor
HARD'vvARE permits operation at 2.2 volts,
with maximum set at 6 v DC. The
QJ_namic ~igita~~~ester lamps can be stacked 10 to the
inch, and they fit in standard DIP
The Hay 1972 Radio-Electronics has sockets. Frice for 1 to 9 is $2
a construction article" "Build R- each, from ~'!onsanto - Electronic
E's Digital IC Tester, I (pp 33-36, Special Froducts, 10131 Bubb Rd.,
85). Heart of the Digi-Dyna-Check Cupertino, Calif. 95014.
is a 20xlO matrix switch that con-
nects various inputs to any of the LSI for a Calculator
DIP pins; these inputs include 0,
1, a stepping pulse from a push- The Nov. 1970 Newsletter (p 3) men-
button, and an internal 50-kHz tioned the Eleotronic Arrays set of
cloCk. Sixteen lamps monitor the 6 1,1OS LSI circuits for a l6-digit
logic levels. External input to calculator with 8-digit display
and outuut from the Ie is connect- capAbility; price, 1-10, $158.46,
ed through binding posts. ~ adap- for 11-49, $144.06.
ter ca.ble permits in-circuit test-
ing of ICs. Now there are two cheaper sets from
Electronic Arrays, the S-lOl and
The June R-E (pp 55-59) tells how S-114, for 8- and l6-digit entries.
to use the Digi-Dyna-Check, and is Each set consists of four chips:
mainly concerned with how to set input, control & memory, arithmetic
the matrix switch for the various & register, and output. Both sets
ICs (SN7400 series, mostly) and prOVide add, subtract, multiply,
then h01...r tot est them. divide, stored-constant operation,
keyboard setting of decimal-point
The July R-E (pp 59-61, 94) shows location, and BCD outputs for dis-
how to use the Digi-Dyna-Check in play control. For 100 to 249, $40.
breadboarding circ 11its. A complete
ki t for building the D:)C is $79.95 An Expensive Kit
from MITS; a manual listing the
pir. connections for over 500 ICs Lockheed has developed a modular
is~2. 75. line of minis called SUE (System
User Engineered), which involves a
DEC PDP-8/F kit of parts from which you select
the various ones you want: basiC
The new PDP-8/F is exactly the same chassiS, CPU, core, I/O controllers.
as the 8/E, except that it isn't as One minimum configuration, with 4K

~NEWSLETTER 5 Vol. III, No. 1 - June 1972

The Amateur Computer Society is frequency to input to an electronic
ouen to all who are interested switoh should be no more than a
in building and operating a dig- tenth of the switch's switoh1ng fre-
ital computer that can at least quenoy. However, in pract10e it has
perform automatic multiplication been found that ratios as low as 2:1
and division, or is of a compar- are often sv.itable, so that if the
able oomplexity. electronic switch's top rate is 100
For membership in the ACS, and KHz, you can input up to 50 KHz
a subscription of at least eight without missing too much in the
issues of Vol. III of the News- ohopping of the signal. Beyond these
letter, send $5 (or a check) to: limits, you either have to examine
Stephen B. Gray one signal st a time, or use a dual-
Amateur Computer Society gun scope.
260 Noroton Avenue
Darien, Conn. 06820 TIts Low-Priced Minicomuuter
The Newsletter will appear every
two months or so. Texas Instrument's 16-b.1 t ~
with a 750-nsec cycle~ime and 4K
of core, costs $3425 each. words of semioonductor memory,~s
$2850, for 1 to 100. The 960AJ~s~
rUnut eman Comput ers built with standard 7400 rTL MSIl
The CPU is on one 10-layer board,
Computerworld notes that "only with a front panel also formed from
about five of the 100 installations a cirouit board. LEDs are used in
actually have their D17's running." the panel display. Added HOS memory
These 100 are the members of the is $1500 per 4K words. Software in-
Minuteman Computer Users Group. cludes Fortran, monitors, loaders,
microprocessors. For OEMs.
Computer-Generated Grey Shades
Heathkit Peripheral Interface
According to Computerworld, Compu-
tax Corp. uses computerized gra- A do-it-yourself peripheral inter-
phics in their offioe interior de- faoe kit for the PDP-8 family of
sign. Yariable density was achieved minis (L, E, M or I), the Heath!
by using ten shades. The #0 shade Sohlumberger liEU-BOlE Computer In-
is blank; #B is superimposed 0, A terface ADD" costs $1250, consists
and X; #9 is superimposed 0, A, X of the three-module Analog-Digital
and V. Different fonts may require Designer (see the Aug. 1968 News-
other combinations. The 10 shades: letter, p 4), an interface-buffer
assembly, and a workbook.
a 1 234 567 8 9
••• 'I'===+++XXXOOOQQQIII'"
... '11===+++XXXOOOQ9Q...... A GENEROUS OFFER OF HELP
More on Soopes E. Douglas Jensen (M.S. A3340,
Honeywell, Inc., 2345 traln ut St.,
That Heath/Schlumberger EU-7oA St. Paul, Minn. 55113) writes:
dual-trace 15-MHz scope, mentioned "Since I design computers for a
in the previous newsletter as avail- living, and also have a lot of oon-
able assembled for $595, is also taots in the surplus and exoess in-
available as a kit, model IO-105, ventory business, perhaps I can be
for $430 from a Heath store. of help to other members. Anyone is
free to write to me on either topio.I .'
And as for electronic switches, the
10:1 rule does say that the highest Copyright 1972 by Stephen B. Gray
Vol. III, No. 1 - June 1972 6 ~ NEl,vSLETTER
 --.fil.QJSLNBWSLETTIR
HAL-4096 Volume III, Number 2
a publioation ot the (Serial Issue Z')
.AMATEUR OOMPUTER SOCIETY September 1972

HAL CHAMBERLIN'S COMPUTER "This set of drawings and plans

represents the or1g1nal work I d1d
Acoording to Hal (Howard) Chamber- 1n adapt1ng a oomplete 1620 memory
lin's Survey Form, his operating unit for operation 1n a lS-b1t
"HAL-4096" oomputer has 6 registers homemade oomputer. The method used
and is 3/4 made ot IBM oards, 1/4 for oonverting to binary addressing
home-built oards. Core memor,y: IBM was optimized for m1nimum alteration
1620 staOk, 16-useo, 4098 16-bit ot the unit itselt and simplified
words. I/O is Seleotrio typewriter, driv1ng oircuitry at the expense ot
paper tape reader/punoh, dataphone. speed. The unit that will be descri-
The olook speed is 1 ~; there are bed has been built and operating for
16 instruotions. Add speed: 3 ~seo about S months. Reliability has been
oarry propagation, 16 )lsec total. perfect. The oomplete 1620 memory
staoks may be purohased from Mike
Speoial features: 116 index regis- Quinn Eleotronios! 727 Langley St.,
ters in upper oore, 6-level nested Oakland A1rport, Calif. 94614, for
priority interrupt system, program- $175. They inolude a staok of 12
med I/O to slow devices in 2 groups planes of 10,000 bits eaoh, divided
and 2 independent data ohannels for into two sense-inhibit groups eaoh,
fast devices. Trace interrupt per- and X and Y-axis switoh core mat-
mits oontrol program to traoe un- r10es. No electronics are inoluded.
tried program on oonsole typewriter.
4-level priority memorl-aooess ·Statistios on the unit built are
soheme." The CPU cost 3500, total as tollows: Cycle time, lS micro-
t1me was 2i years to bUild, w1th seconds full cyole read, write,
w1re-wrapped construction. read-modifY-write, 6 mioroseoonds
acoess. Size: 4086 words of 16 bits
Other information: 'Paper-tape eaoh, 12-bit binary addressed.
reader is entirely homemade, with Spec1al features: sp11t-oyole oper-
st~-motor drive 125 char/seo; ation; a oyole may be suspended
photocell read; total oost with new halfway through it, the data in the
step motor, $45. I/O devioes avail- memory data register may be mani-
able but not connected: 3B4X-word pulated, and the oyole restarted.
drum, two 7330 tape drives, two The data 1n the memory data reg1ster
100-cpm oard readers, lBO-column/ will be wr1tten baok into the same
seo card punch alphanumerio key- looation. The memory data register
board, facsimiie maohine. A home- is also an up-down oounter so that
built line printer is 1/3 complete, the oontents ot a memory location
52-charaoter ohain, about 200 lpm. m., be 1noremented or decremented
Current use is object maoh1ne for in only one cyo1e. ivriting 1n a
oomputer scienoe class projects. looation oan be all b1ts, the upper
Current programming proJeot is a B, the lower B, or the lower 12.
4 remote user ~y home-built data- Where only a portion ot a word is
phones) Basic-language time-sharing wr1tten, the rest ot the word is
system.' unaltered.
Hal has written 20 pages of notes "The only modifications made on the
and sohemat1os, "Using Complete memory staok were the outting of 4
lS20 Memory Units tar Binary Addres- jumper wires on the switoh oore mat-
sing.' Here are some of the notes: rioes and bringing the tree end ot
the Jumpers out to the wire-wrap and is ideal for the advanced ama-
terminal boards. Conversion from teur computer builder. Although
the deoimal addressing to binarY' there is space tor 480 tracks on
addressing was acoomplished with the drum sUrfaoe, onll 384 data
12 3-input NOR gates, 12 2-input heads are mounted. As a result, it
NOR gates, 4 4-input NORs, and 12 part of the surface is damaged
inverters. The current drivers are (HiR do not guarantee a perfect
simple saturating switohes oapable surface, but I haven't found anl
of carrying 350 mai 40 are used. bad traoks yet), the affected head.
The drivers have 5-input NOR in- can be moved. Along with the data
puts; all inputs must be logioal heads there are 6 olook tracks with
zero to have drive ourrent. The heads. A read clook, write olook,
other logic gates should be oapable and index clook aloni with a spare
of dot-ORing. In this design 4 for eaoh is provided. Actually, I
planes in the stack were wasted. use only the read and index olooks,
If one wants a 24-bit word all since the write clock is simpl, a
that would be required is 8 addi- delayed version of the read clook.
tional sense amplifiers and inhibit The index olookin oonJunction
drivers. No modifioations to the with the read ciOCk, will generate
drivers ahould be necessary. A a pulse each revolution at the
slight change in address deooding beginning of the data tracks."
logio would allow 8192 looations
of 12 or fewer bits. There are schematics for bit and
track timing cirouits, drum matrix
tiThe logio gates, sense amplifiers, driver, drum amplifier, peak detec-
flip-f~opsJ and lnhibit drivers are tor, drum write driver, eto.
all of IBM origin. The current dri-
vers are an original design. Cir- Plans Available
cuits of all plug-in cards are
given so that the entire unit could Later, Hal wrote, "I would be happy
be duplicated, given a good suppll to provide copies of the 1620 memory
of ISM parts boards.· ilans to interested people for
12.00. I can reproduce and mail the
The remainder of the 20 pages con- Ferrantl drum information for $1.50.
tain a page on address decoding and [Hal Chamberlin, 5l6-B W~st Cabarrul
driving, another on the procedure St., Raleigh, N.C. 27603J.
for aligning the drivers and sense
amplifiers, and schematics for a II would emphasize that the 1620
timing signal generator, X and Y staok is verl flexible in that 8192
switch oore matrix decoders and looat10ns of 12 or fewer bits are
drivers, memory data reiister, and posslble for short-word fans, and
the various NOIls, inverters , ampli- 4096 words of 13 to 24 bits can be
1

fiers , drivers, et.o. !he last three 40ne also simply by rearranging cir-
pages conoern memory driving with cults slightly. The oycle tlme of
ICs, with tour schematics. 16 ~seo ls unaffected by the word
length chosen.
'erranti 37l-l2A Memory Drum
"For people who preter faster oyole
Hal next sent 13 pages ot text and times with more oostly drive clr-
sohematios on a Ferrantl drum. Part ouits, I am oompleting a slmilar
of the text is as follOWS: set of plans for a diode-matrix
drive whioh will oyole in 4.5 psec.
"This memory drum is oUrrently belng The drive oiroults oan drive anl
sold for $295 by Herbaoh • Rademan memory of 30, 50 or 80-mil cores
[401 E. Erle Ave., Phl1a, pa. 19134J with half-seleot ourrents of 350 ma
Volume III, No. 2 -- Sept. 1992 8 ..JilQ.JSLNEWSLE'l'TER
or less. The 4 basio oirouits exoept tor a 4096-word by l6-bit
(souroe-sink drivers, inhibit dri- memory.'
vers, sense am~-data register, and
load resistors) are laid out on Halls Uses of HAL
22-pin edge-oonneoted s1ngle-sided
oirouit boards. I oan soon otter a "As to what kind of programs I run
oomplete paokage tor $5.00, on on my oomputer, the story goes some-
these universal memory-driver oards, thing like this: The oomputer was
inoluding theory of operation, built to oontrol an electronic music
schematics, tim1ng diagrams, in- synthesizer (analog) whioh I built
structions on how to adapt to near- up during high school for soienoe
ly any kind ot surplus memory staok, fairs. In the oourse of building the
and a set of layout negatives along oomputer it became olear that the
with assembly diagrams. All oompo- synthesizer oould be greatly impro-
nents are readily available on the ved if the analog oircuits were re-
surplus market from a number ot sup- plaoed by digital oirouits. So here
pliers, and all oirouits generate I am with a oomputer and without a
7400 TTL outputs and aocept TTL in- satisfactory musio synthesizer to
puts; conneot it to.
"Any interested person oan have a "I have two friends who are regular
oopy of the prinoiples of operatlon users and who are helping write a
manual on my oomputer, and a sample firm software base. So far we have
program, for 50~." written a full-function debug pro-
gram whioh doubles as an operating
Other Surplus Available system, a oomplete in-oore assem-
bler, and are about 75% finished
"For the moderate-size-memory maker, with a 4-user timesharing Basic
two items have shown up in surplus system. When the hardware catohes
catalogs lately. First, Star-!ronios up, access to the Basic system will
(Box 17127, Kenton Station, Port- be on a dial-up basis from any
land, Oregon 97217) is offering a standard Teletype terminal. Sinoe
1024-word by a-bit, 50-mil core mem- the oompiler, interpreter, teleoom-
ory stack for $20. The seleotion mu~ioations routines, and math rou-
diode matrix is inoluded and all tines take up nearly 3X words, a
oonneotions terminate in a oonneotor 10I-word memory expansion is being
with mate supplied. put on to give a reasonable-sized
user partition. My Herbach & Rade-
"A perfect complement is a PC board man drum should be up in 2 or 3
sold by Delta Electronias Co. (P.O. months, which will give users the
Box 1, Lynn, Mass. 01903) for $12. abillty to save programs and data."
This board has all of the souroe-
sink drivers, inhiblt drivers, and Home-Grown Instruotion Sets
sense ampllf1ers for two of the
Star-TJ"onios memory stacks, whioh "At this polnt I Wish to take lssue
would provide 1024 words of 16 bits with Bob Carpenterls remark Maroh
eaoh with about 6-usec oyole time. 1972 Newsletter about "home-grown
The only 1tems needed for a working instruotion sets." The HAL-409B has
memory are a timing generator, a a homebrew instruotion set whioh
handful of 3-input gates for address seems to be optimized simultaneously
decod1ng, and 8 dual D flip-flops for simplioity and effeotiveness.
for a data register. Inputs and The s1mplioity is borne out by the
outputs are TTL oompatible. Delta faot that the softwear mentioned
also has another board for $20 above has all been written and de-
whioh appears to be the same thing bugged since last December [6 or7
~NEWSLETTER 3 Vol. III, No. 2 -- Sept. 1972
months ago]. The etfeot1veness green and yellow, and blue.
shows when a tull-tunot10n assem-
bler t1ts 1n 1200 words, or a WHAT OTHER MEMBERS PLAN TO DO
str1pped assembler (suoh as PAL-
III tor the PDP-B) t1ts 1nto about The latest version of the Survey
750 words. The tloat1ng-po1nt paok- Form asks "What kind of programl
age 1s 30% smaller than the one do you intend to run on your oom-
supp11ed tor the IBM 1130, wh10h puter when operational?" Here are
uses the same data tormat and the most of the responses so tar:
1130 has automat10 mult1pi y/d1v1de!
Engineering oaloulations, statilti-
"In short, I th1nk that a big part oal data reduotion, data storage and
ot amateur oomputing is programming retrieval, entertainment graphios,
and disoover1ng programming tr10ks perhaps automatic machine-tool con-
that can be done w1th one's own in- trol (Durk Pearson, Calif.). Compu-
struction set. To me, oopy1ns a ter-generated mus1c (J. Hemenway,
produot1on maoh1ne's instruotion Calif.). Games, personal 1ncome
set is like building a kit, in that tax, bookkeeping, etc. (Steve Marum,
you oan't honestly say that the Ind.). Data storage, number crunch-
tinal result is all yours. Anyway, 1ng with "programmable calculator,"
oommeroial maoh1nes with deoent computerized mus1c (G. Chamberlain,
I/O provisions are way too expen- Fla.). Mostly educat10nal programs
sive. If you exolude the 453 osoil- (Dale Schutte, AriZ.). Interpreter,
loscope, then the computer, I/O comp1ler, assembler, ed1tor; real-
gear, 40K words of add-on memory, time app11cations; 1.e., mon1tor1ng,
and drum have all oost less than t1m1ng (Bob D1ffely, Ore.). Account-
$1500. 1ng programs (tax, general ledger,
f1nanc1al, etc. ) (J1m Law, Tex.).
"At any rate, I still plan to con- Usual games and desk-calculator-tYPb
nect the maohine to a digital musio programs, and s1mulat1on and learn-
synthesizer (the design ot the syn- 1ng programs. Would like to try
thesizer is my Master's thesis top- multiprogramm1ng when core and drum
10), an organ keyboard, and a permit (Pete Bayly, Ontar10, Canada).
graph10s d1splay so I can experi- Number experiments, l1ngu1st1cs, CAD
ment with computer-a1ded oomposi- for a b1gger mach1ne, high-school
t10n and performanoe of mus10. When student math projects, home econo-
the hardware 1s ready', I would also m1cs (Jerry Bryson, Va.).
l1ke to set up an amateur modem
network w1th other members' compu- Fortran CAD programs (R1ckey Cald-
ters which have data modems." well, Okla.). Desk calculator, oom-
puter demonstrator and tra1ner,
Hal sent a photo that shows the music synthes1zer, and processor
console keyboard set 1nto one end for a programmable term1nal (Elmer
of an L-shaped desk, with the CPU Beaohley, Pa.). The f1rst task w111
and 1ts lamps and switohes d1reotly be to wr1te ut111ty routines and an
behind, in a cabinet about 6' high, assembler. After that I am primar-
3' wide, and maybe 6' deep. At the ily interested 1n expior1ng the de-
other end of the desk is a Seleot- velopment of new languages des1gned
rio typewr1ter; in between is the to allow non-programmers to utilize
453 scope tor alphanumer10 d1splay. oomputers. One example m1ght be
To one side is steel shelving w1th something to perm1t young ch11dren
the tape reader and punoh, faosim- to 1nteract w1th a computer. Another
ile maoh1ne, eto., and next to that m1ght be a language to fao1litate
the magnetio-tape drives. Most of programm1ng of games. Of cou·rse, I
it is in quiet, pastel shades ot also 1ntend to wr1te household ac-

Vol. Ill, No. 2 -- Sept. 1972 4 ~NEWBLETTER

oounting programs and things 11ke the IC-socket problem 1f you're
that (Gene Witherup, Pa.). Intend willing to solder the IOs.Q
to use maohine as prov1ng grounds
for software systems experiments, PC-Board Layouts
and eventually to build a time-
sharing maohine (Ira Baxter, Oa1.). Peter Stark (196 Forest Drive, Mt.
General purpose; e.i., home "MIS," lisco, N.Y. 10549) has several PC-
possibly servioe-type operation. board layouts he'll send you for
Hope to develop oommero1ally (Jim a self-addressed stamped envelope:
Melton, N.J.). Mainly for eduoa- (1) frequenoy counter (to 20 MHz),
tiona1 purposes (Miohe1 DreYfus, uses Fa1rohi1d EOL and 7400 TTL
France). The maohine will be used Numitron or LED readout (costs 690
for dedicated real-time control of with all new parts), EOL scaler
a robot (Chris Dewhurst, B.C., (about $25) extends range to 300
Canada). Artificial intelligence MHz (see 73 magazine, May, June,
(after assembly language and oper- Sept. 1972); (2) touohtone decoder.
ating system are written) (Ron Oarl-
son, Calif.). Statistical analysis,
computer-aided education, and lan- HELP WANTED
guage translation (George Dinsmore,
Calif. ). Bendix G-15 Computer
THE TRADING POST Charles K1essling (P.). Box 539,
End1cott, N.Y. 13760) 1s rebu1lding
A Garage Full an old BendiX G-15 computer, and i.
"interested 1n contacting others
Ron Carlson (6717 #44 La Oienega, with G-15's either as hobby or
Inglewood, Calif. 90301) has "an business. H
entire garage full of stuff that
needs cleaning out," and will sell AWOIS MA-l Computer
(1) a Douglas experimental d1gital
computer in two 6-foot relay raoks. Alvin Marshall (412 Oakwood St.,
without backpanel wiring; all sche- Angola, Ind. 46703) is "think1ng of
matios; will deliver within 76 using the drum un1t from an AWCle
m1les, $50. (2) Two Goodyear analog MA-l oomputer -- some sort of USAV
computers, 24 amp1if1ers each, two Nav-Attack system -- as a file un1t.
patchboards each, one set manuals; Has anyone used one' What is the
600 lb. eaoh, so bring a trailer; drum speed, what data rate - bpi -
$400 each, $600 both. (3) Teletype did you use, what did you use to
model l8 4 char/sec, .100. More drive the heads? Any problems with
lnformat i on on request. the drum coating, heads, etc.' If
anyone has a drum and no data, I
IC Mount1ng Boards have prints for head-to-sooket-p1n
data. Send a SASE and I'll send
Gary Forbes (2028 W. Ind1an School you a copy. Would be glad to hear
Rd., Box 100, Phoenix, Aria. 85015) from anyone using disk/drum for
has "some real nice boards for fast mass memory."
mounting 14-pin ICs. They are moun~
ted dead (pins up) and soldered to Assoc1ative MemorY
wire-wrap pins. This board will
mount 200 ICs. One side of board Darrell Foster (8220 Research Blvd.,
is ~Vc, other is ground. The mat1ng Apt. l73C, Austin, Texas 78758)
connector will handle 6 of these would like to know if anyone 1s
boards. Eoards, $3 eachj connector working on a "general purpose"
raCk, $6. I th1nk th1s would solve assoc1ative memory or processor.
~NEWSLETTER 5 Vol. III, No.2 -- Sept. 1972
The Amateur Computer Soc1ety 1s uea except the power-supply trans-
open to all who are 1nterested former and rectlfiers.
1n bu1ld1ng and operat1ng a d1g-
ital computer that oan at least The 832 computer will soon be of-
perform automat10 multiplioation fered separately from the oourse,
and division, or ls of a oompar- in wired form, for $600-$700. There
able complexity. are 16 8-bit words in a read-only
For membershlp ln the ACS, and memory consisting of slide switches.
a subsorlptlon of at least elght For another $35, the student gets
lssues of Vol. III of the News- another 16 words of semiconductor
letter, send $5 (or a oheck) to: RAM memory, plus the 11K manual on
et ephen B. Gray how to install the RAMs, along with
Amateur Computer Soolety 10 programming experiments inoluding
260 Noroton Ave. square root, floating point, and
Darlen, Conn. 06820 some games.
The Newsletter wll1 appear every
two months or so. The ten PC boards will be available
for about $10, without ICs or IC
Hls computer "ls not going to be sockets or terminals. If you're in-
designed around the CPU, but around terested in either the manuals or
the memory (e.g., to glve the mem- boards, write Louis E. Frenzel, Jr.,
ory a data-prooesslng oapabllity). National Radio Institute, 3939 Wis-
As ls indicated by various computer oonsin Ave., Washington, D.. C. 20016.
projects (e.g., CDC~ STAR, TI ACe),
the wave of the future ls ln high The full 832, with bipolar RAM mem-
memory utilization (not high CPU ory, oonsists of 74 ICs, 7400 types.
utilizat10n alone.)" The 832 has 15 instruot10ns.
Ampex Memory Un1t The 101 manual contains ten pro-
gramming experiments for the 832,
Lou1s Taber (3520 N. Presoott Pl., and the assembly manual has a set
Tuoson, Ar1z. 85715) asks for 1n- of diagnostic programs for oheckout.
formation on an Ampex memory un1t,
model MA6, Assy. No. 3227339-10 M, Digital Kits
Issue No. 088.
Env1ronmental Produots (Box 1014,
Glenwood Springs, Colo. 81601) has
HARDWARE a 52-page oatalog that includes
qu1te a variety of oounter/display
More on the NRI Computer K1t modules, w1th both LED and Numitron
(vacuum-tube) segmented d1splays,
The 16-pound desk-top 832 oomputer and several types of oounters, plus
1s built as part of a $500 National several assembled 1nstruments, 7400-
Radio Instltute course (March 1971 series ICs and other oomponents. No
Newsletter, p 3). surplus, all new from the factory.
Quarterly, they publish application
ACe member Louis Frenzel, wbo de- notes, mostly digital, for $5 a
signed the 832 for NRI, and is year, and they pay authors for new
their Director of Instruotion and notes. EP invites ACS members to
Produot Research, has very kindly subm1t cirouits.
arranged to make the 832 Reference
Manual 10KX available for $10, if
there is enough demand. The manual
contains block diagrams and full
schematlcs, with all oomponent val- Copyright 1972 by Stephen B. Gr.,
Vol. III, No. 2 -- e~t. 1972 ~ NEWSLI'l'TII:R
 ~NIWSLETTER
Volume III, Number 3
a publioation of the (Serial Issue 26)
AMATEUR COMPU~ER SOCIETY November 1972

BOB BENJAMIN'S COMPUTMR "word organization for programs is

5 consecutive symbols - address not
From Texas, Bob Benjamin first sent in partioular bit positions - reads
i the following: symbQls in sequenoe - ops that don't
need address just 5 bits then next
"I read your article on building op examined.
your own oomputer. I have built one
and thought you might be interested. "Binary to decimal conversion and
I'm an electronic engineer with LTV print on TTY is software but takes
Electrosystems. Never had digital only 8 words (less for positive
experience. Built the computer to numbers). E = external execute,
learn. Now doing digital work as a takes instructions from paper tape
result. Started October 1968, was if actuated or from keyboard if
operating stored programs by Feb. tape not actuated, such as for
1969. Have added instructions and loading bootstrap program. Some op
I/O features since •••• codes required an extra byte, use
next 5 bits as modifier, suoh as
"Started with model 19 Teletype and for shifts: long, short, left, right,
worked I/O first. Memory: 62 words, oiroular, non-oiroular, eto.
25 bits, dynamic shift register.
~aoll.e software: wife's adding ma-
ttRegisters: ACC, MQ, 1 Index, I/O ohine, desk oaloulator for me, ran-
status, program count save for sub- dom flash-oard exercises for ohild-
routine save. Arithmetic: 2's oom- ren with messages typed to user,
plement; add, subtract, logical And, line by line text edit.
mult, divide 2's comp, increment
ACC, clear + add, clear ACC, etc. "FIG F in program prints following
Branches: jump if minus, not zero, message until FIG li, then prooeeds
unconditional; decrement Index and to oompute IfF't by itself, prints
branch if not zero. next symbol such as for decimal
point. Eaoh key on Teletype is a
ttFive-bit byte symbol string orient- potential address (31), "LFn changes
ed. "FIGS" used as op code prefix pages of memory. Maohine serial and
for digit keys causes automatic deo- very slow; 100-kHz clock, 400 sym-
imal to binary conversion into ACC. bols/seo execution. Following is a
If op code (5 bits) needs address, program example for binary-to-deci-
next byte is address. FIGS prefix mal oonversion and printing result:
on address op codes causes displace-
ment by index register value. Program Loo. Loo.
Letter Bin.
"Op oodes semi-mnemonio: AX means (#1,000,000) I 01
Add contents of location X to ACC. '~F N G SF] LP 02
D = divide, M = subtraot, L = load LJ LF F + SP A 03
ACC ~ Index register, X = multi- 1 0 FG 7 L SP~CE 04
ply, S = store, 0 = output one byte ...... D E Z Q ¢ S 05
off ACC to TTY and shift 5 bits, LI S F OR F I 06
C = clear ACC, H = halt, etc. LF R SP SP SP J 07
"Main program would say RGA, mean- sec auction.
ing Return Q£ to location! (03).
R remembers program count by swap- It Design of comI,uter was at random,

ping with 5-bit register. J LF (02) no previous conceptions or books,

means jump if AUC neg to location except Richards' It Ari thmetic Opera-
LF (02). F - means print a minus tions in Digital Computers." Machine
sign. N = negate ACC. G SP, go to is serial. The 25-bit word was short-
locati:m SPAC~ (04). L :::: swap ACC est National Semiconductor dynamic
and index to save ACC. C FG 7 :::: shift register. Also, machine was
clear ACC, 10,lds binary 7 to ACO. originally wanted for stock market,
L :::: swap index and ACC. DE:::: divide and 25 bits is approximately correct
aCC by E, 1,000,000. Z = print di- for personal finances and hopes 300,
git of 4 LSB's of ACC (quotient ends 000 dollars (wishful thinking). The
up in ACe, remainder in l'vlQ.). Q = PDP-8 software can be bought for a
swap ACC with MQ to get remainder. nominal fee including FOCAL which
¢ : : multAOC by 10. I S = decrement would make a nice home scientific
index, if not zero go to location machine.
S (05), otherwise continue. F CR F
LF = print carriage return and line "Incidentally, I find my easy-to-
feed. R :::: return to main program. program computer more useful for
(Spaces are no op.) doing some work problems than the
IBM 360, H-P 9l00B, or Raytheon 703,
"Branch pOints must be beginning of particularly in simulating digital
5-symbol block. Numbers are 24 bits algorithms related to hardware."
and sign. This machine has been
functioning for 2t years. Made for In his third letter, Bob notes:
9400 with samples and surplus. Have
a 4K core memory now that this com- "I've been amazed at how useful only
puter C'in read and write with -- 62 words (two 3l-word pages) of mem-
planning PDP-8 with old computer ory can be when symbol byte oriented.
primarily as ASR33 simulator and Memory size has not yet limited what
executive control." I have wanted to do with the machine.
If the problem is much larger it is
Bob's second letter said, in part: done at work on the 360/50."
"Scientific Controls Corp. in Dallas
went bankrupt and had an auction. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
COQldn't make the auction but friend
bought me a 4K x 12-bit complete Doug Jensen, who kindly offered to
Fabri-Tek memory system (new) for help ACS members with design prob-
$25. I've added a general I/O in- lems (June 1972 Newsletter), writes:
struction to old computer to talk
to it. Can load data and retrieve "I cannot imagine better advice to
data with 12-bit address and l2-bit an ACS newcomer than for him to read
data from ACC of old computer. Have straight through from issue 1 to
loaded TTY pictures and played back. (the current) issue 24. The histori-
also have run worst-case test pat- cal perspective of computer techno-
terns. logy that can be obtained could well
be one of the most important bene-
"Plan is to build PDP-S/I. Got all fits he receives from his amateur
ICs for Iti apiece, including such computer activities. Semiconductor
items as 1-out-of-16 decoders at cost/complexity curves have changed
Vol. III, No. 3 - November 1972 2 ~N~WSLETTER
 by orders of m:igni tude over the de- machines. This goal will still re-
sign cycle of u typical AOt) compu- quire sUbstanti:.ll technical know-
ter. This will continue to be true: ledge, and in some cases the tra-
SSl circuits will be 10¢ and micro- dttional .J:!lill will be no better pre-
processors such as the Intel 8008 pared than the amateur. For example,
will be $25 in the near future. ACS LSI microprocessors like the 8008
members should carefully consider may be inexpensive, but they are
their motives and goals in the also very low performance, which
light of rapidly changing technolo- raises the question of how to ef-
gy. bVen if a builder's principal fectively interconnect more than
objective is to acquire engineering one of them to increase throughput.
experience, it is still frustrating This is a very broad and complex
to see hundreds (even thousands) of problem that is the subject of
hours and dollars be replaced by a study at many corporations and
$10 IC. A member who is more con- universities.
cerned with having and using a com-
puter would be wise to concentrate UIn the area of excess inventory,
on the systems and software aspects I list below several sources that I
of the machine rather than the de- have found to be productive. Few,
tailed deSign of its processor. if any, of these advertise in na-
~en if it were free, tne 8008 is tional media; most do not have cata-
not much of a processor -- how logs or mailing lists -- write and
could you build a more capable ma- tell them what you need.
chine from several of them? Learn
to progr&m the PDP-II and/or the Vide Corp. Teco
Nova -- the next generation of IC 1918 Ottawa E.O. Box 1050
processors will have instruction Houston, TX 77043 Garland, TX 75050
sets which are compatible with
these popular minicomputers." AC ~quipment KA Sales
10616 Hempstead Hwy. 1312 Slocum St.
In an earli~r letter, Doug wrote: Houston, Texas Dallas, TX 75207
"Much more sophisticated 16-bit and Acme Electronics
larger processors are now imminent 224 washington Ave. N.
from several mujor IC manufacturers. Minneapolis, Minn. 55401
Some of' these will be directly pro-
gram and I/O compatible with today's Gordon Elliott white
popular PDP-II and Nova minicompu- 1502 Stonewall Ave.
ters. IVlany other v?luable units Alexandria, Va. 22303
(such as complete 103-type modems)
will also be introduced soon as LSI "It should also be noted that large
chips. This indicates that perhaps companies everywhere frequently op-
amateur computer builders should erate surplus stores; these almost
stop worrying about a level of de- always require personal visits. An-
sign which for the most part they other extremely good way to find
, are ill-equipped to cope with. Vol. components, subsystems, and even
1, No. 8 noted that successful mem- complete systems, is to attend
bers have been professional ~E's. electronics company bankruptcy auc-
The availability of low-cost TTL tions. These are usually advertised
ICs may have altered ~hat situation in the local papers; some auction-
slightly, but the emergence of LSI eers maintain mailing lists. You
subsystems should allow serious must attend personally and bring
hobbyists to construct their own cash, but even travelling a consid-
~N~WS~TTMR 3 Vol. III, No. 3 - November 1972
erable distance can sometimes be been erased by the Wang Laboratories
worth the time and cost. However, 2200, which is the first calculator
not everything sold at an auction that operates in Basic language. The
is a b~rgain -- particularly beware 2200 looks like a terminal, with an
01' test equipment, which often goes 8-by-lOt-inch CRT display, cassette
for near new prices. data store, and keyboard. The key-
board has a key for each Basis in-
"I am afraid that I am unable to struction (which is fast and also
assist your readers in the design reduced errors), numeric keys, ex-
or selection of core sense amps and ponent"ial and math function keys,
drivers. plus 16 special-function keys to
which subroutines can be assigned
"I have for sale some new, factory- by the user.
seal~d Lambda 5V/48A power sup-
plies. These are 3t lt rack-mounted The microprogram architecture in-
units. The manufacturer's current volves a 6-kilobyte braided-wire
price is $475 each; my price is read-only memory, used instead of
$150 each. [Doug also has Augat MOS because it's cheaper. The basic
8136-PGl high-density DIL packaging 2200 has 4096 program steps, expand-
panels, new, unused, list price able to 32K steps. The CRT shows 14
over $350, for $100. also for sale: lines of 64 alphanumeric characters
a variety of Ie's, mainly SN7000N per line.
types, at "107~ less than any adver-
tised prices. lt ] The 2200 is modular: the CPU with
4K programming steps is $3500; addi-
ItI do quite a bit of consulting in tional 4K steps are $1500 each. The
the area of computer organization combined CRT and cassette unit is
and design; I would be happy to $2500; CRT alone, $1500. The key-
donate whatever assistance I can to board is $700. So a minimum 2200 is
your readers. My response time is $6700; without cassette storage,
always a function of my business only $5700.
commitments. 1 encourage that re-
quests be sent on cassettes; a Hewlett-Packard's 9830A (Nodel 30)
phone number where the individual calculator was announced a few weeks
can be reached during the day will later. The Model 30 looks more like
allow me rapid reaction to partic- a combination typewriter and calcu-
ularly time-critical or interesting lator, with integral 32-character
problems." LED alphameric display and built-in
tape cassette.
Doug is a Principal rlesearch ~ngi­
neer/Scientist, in Computer Tech- The minimum 30 has 3520 8-bit bytes
nology. His address is: E. Douglas (1760 words) of read/write memory,
Jensen, M.S. a3340, Honeywell, Inc. expandable to 7616 bytes. The key-
2345 walnut St., st. Paul, Minn. board includes all typewriter keys,
55113. (That's Honeywell's Govern- a set of numeric keys, edit keys,
ment and Aeronautical Products Div.) and 10 special-function keys. The
single cassette can hold up to 80,
000 bytes.
CALCULATINGrJITH BaSIC?
Add-on ROMs provide optio"nal features
The thin, fuzzy line between compu- such as matrix operations, plotter
ters and calculators seems to have control, extended I/O and string
Vol. III, No. 3 - November 1972 4 ~NEWSLETTER
variables. THE TRADING POST
The minimum 30 is $5975. gach add- Used PDFs
on ROM, $485. Peripherals include
plotter, paper-tape reader, page- Ken Karow writes from Chicago that
width printer ($2975), external Newman Computer Exchange (222 S.
cassette unit, Teletype, etc. Seventh St., Ann Arbor, Mich. 48103)
offers a PDF-8 4K for $1500. Also a
4K PDF-8/L for :,2640, 4K PDP-8/1 for
$290Q, and a TO-55 DECtape at $1150.
The ~lectronotes Newsletter appears Readout Samples
every 20 days or so (!!) and covers
constructiun, theory and use of Barry Mulligan of New York writes
synthesizers, etc., as well as re- about the limited-time offer by
views of literature, performances Dialight Corp. (60 Stewart Ave.,
and products. For further informa- Brooklyn, N.Y. 11237) of a number
tion, write: B.A. Hutchins, 60 of readout modules (both segmented
Sheraton Dr., Ithaca, N.Y. 14850 • and dot-matrix) at around half-
.As he puts it, "Computers have lost price, for prototyping.
some favor in electronic music,
people preferring the synthesizers, Computer ~guipment 80urce
but recently there is a trend back,
as more and more computer equipment For 50~, a catalog from MNH - Applied
is available to more people, and Electronics (F.O. Box 1208, Land-
also digital generation of sound is over, Md. 20785) lists used computer
very big." ACS member John Bottoms equipment such as control panels,
is cited as having "teamed up with RCA memory systems ($485), address
Gary Nelson at Purdue, using a CDC registers, arithmetic units, cabi-
6500 computer in a modified version nets, etc. also a complete communi-
of "Music V" called "Nusic 65."" A cations processor th~t needs some
copy of the program from the line logic debugging and interface wir-
printer is It inches thick. There ing. Also listed: TTL ICs, electric
is also mention of DECUS (the DEC wire-wrap guns ($87), etc.
Users jociety in Maynard, Mass.)
having "a couple of music-type Surplus BurroughS Computers
programs in its program list."
Dick Breidenbach of Michigan writes
that "Silverstein's, a surplus
TEM.PLaT~ FOR DRaWING PC BOARDS store in DetrOit, has about 90 Bur-
roughs B-200 computers for sale.
The ~uad-Template by handu provides The CPU with 4K storage is going
four types of symbols: (1) for PC for $150, the l32-position line
boards: conductors, pads, card-edge printer for $150, and the card read-
connectors; (2) for logic, gate and er for $lOO •••• Documentation is hard
function-box outlines; (3) for to come by •••• Unfortunately only
drill jig: lead-hole patterns for those who live near Detroit will be
transistors, ICs and components; able to take advantage of these ma-
(4) for schematics: alphabet, com- chines, as they are strictly cash
ponents, arrows, etc. Made of a and carry, and the printer weighs
rather thin plastic, the ~uad-Tem­ about 1700 pound s! I bought one
plate is $2.50 from Kandu, Inc., door of the CPU with the core, all
6115 Miller St., Arvada, Colo. 80002. drivers and buffers, for $35."
~NEWSLETTER 5 Vol. III, No. 3 - November 1972
 The Amateur Computer Society is I'm having trouble trying to program
open to all who are interested the Signetics 8223 256-bit P!rlOMs,
in building and operating a dig- They seem to be re-linking,as they
itul com~uter that can at le~st do not take. Anyone else having
perform automatic rnulti~lication this problem?"
and diVision, or is of a compar-
able com~lexity. .Audio Heads for Drums?
.rlor membership in the ACS, and
a subscri~tion of at least eight Jerry Bryson (618 W. 55 St., dich-
issues of Vol. III of the News- mond, Va. 23225) writes, in part:
letter, send $5 (or a check) to:
Stevhen B. Gray "Since I announced my intentions, I
Amateur Computer Society have received a lot of advice about
260 Noroton Ave. core (tlDon't try it!"). Indeed, the
Darien, Conn. 06820 drum may be better, from the stand-
The ACS Newsletter will appear point of expense, capacity and word
every two months or so. size. I'm not interested in great
speed. I'm wondering about audio
Logic Cards, Anyone? heads for the drum. Will 20,000-cps
audio heads work for 20,000 bits/
Dave Digby (511 South Brown Ave., sec? will they work faster? Will
Orlando, ~la. 32801) writes: they work at all?

tII h;:LVe acquired a fair number of til visited the computer exhibit at
logic cards, discrete transistor the Smithsonian. Most of the relics
type, of various brands (Milgo, were built by hand and should be an
Raytheon, IVlilgo, etc.) and would inspiration to "datamaniacs." The
gladly part with them for little exhibit does leave something to be
more than the cost of shipping. Not desired, however. Many displays are
enough of any tYE,e to build a whole not yet labelled and most of the
computer, but maybe enough to con- stuff is from space and military
struct an I/O interface or supple- applications. An Atlas control sys-
ment one's existing supply. Let tem is still alive and does demon-
anyone interested send. me their strations daily. There is no 1401,
limitations -- connector type and which should certainly be there.
contact spaCing, number of pins, And the miscellany of memory stacks,
transistor ty¥es, card dimensions etc., is just so much junk without
-- whatever, and I'll Ie t them know any captions, unless you already
if and how many I have to match. know what you're looking at. If the
And I have telephone-type relays by 3mithsonian accepts volunteer help,
the .fJound! And some lab instrument s." WaShington-area ACS members could
make a contribution to both history
Help Needed and public education with their
services."
Bob Harrington (2228 Ft. stockton
Dr., San Diego, CA 92103) writes:
FAST FLIP-FLOl:JS
tlI'd be interested to know of any-
one who has built a cassette drive Motorola has a new M~CL III IC, the
for 3M's belt-driven cassettes. It MC1690, a master-slave D flip-flop
looks like it would be easy, but with a toggle rate over 500 MHz,
may not be. at $55 each for I to 24.
Copyright 1972 by Stephen B. Gray
Vol. III, No. 3 - November 1972 6 ~ NEwSLETTlm
 ~NEWSLETTER
Volur.le III, Number 4
a publication of the (Serial Issue 27)
AMATEUR COMPUTER SOCIETY February 1973

ROTH~1AN \1RITES AGAIN p 3 J, which he obtained fror:J. l~he

same source thHt I did, Perl,ach &
Allyn Rothman writes from New York: Rademan. I regret not having boueht
additional modules, because the slow
"I don't have much progress to re- cycle tice plus the core matrix
port on the hardware side, but my switches used for drive-line se1eo-
10bic design has undergone several tion make the unit relatively easy
revisions. My basic philosophy to operate. The 10-psec cycle tice
still remains that of implementing also gives me plenty of room for
the machine instructions by means micro-programming to oontrol all
of a microprogram stored in some the necessary functions between
type of read-only-memory or alter- cycles. A 500-nsec cycle time may
able ROM. This neatly divides my be ri~ht with the state of the art,
work effort into two convenient but I d sooner avoid the problems
sections. I can design and test the and aggravation from such iigh fre-
lo~ic of my microprogram on another quencies, and settle for a slower
computer using sioulation tech- merJory that works reliably. I think
niques, thus saving the expense and Bob is at a decided disadvantage
tilJe of building complex logical using his l2-plane unit for a 12-
functions with hard~."are. The hard- bit word. Having a spare plane
ware I require, then, becomes just (which I would advi se ~is someho\-I
the ROl.f plus relatively simple data adding) provides a parity bit, and
busses and eates. I have redesigned this is crucial to reliable opera-
the oicro-logic several times, tion. Not just by indicating ohvious
since as various ICs become cheaper catastrophic failures, but for
on the mRrket, it pays to take ad- "tunine;1I the memory to operate in
vanta~e of them in the overall de- the middle of its error-free opera-
sign. ~Prices are droppin!.~· rapidly, ti~e area. I check the parity error
so I tend to spend more time devel- count and I vary the select drive
oping my It fi rm~lare ," and less on currents and the matrix switch bias
the hardware. ROl-1s are still expen- current to develop a plot which
sive, and "'ith my computer depend- neatly defines for ~e in what region
ing heavily on them, the longer I my memory is most reliable.
wait to buy, the cheaper my machine
becomes. For me, looking at the II steve 1,.,iebking quotes an excellent
out:put from a successful micro- text [nov. 1971, p 5J on micro-pro-
logic siwulation run is just as gramilling concepts, but T submit that
satisfying as seeing the lights it is possible to implement the
blinking on the finished oachine. micro-logic to support the IEM 360
instruction set in a far more simple
"I have been lucky in one respect. manner than the approach taken by
My memory, which is a 10K x 12-bit IBM. IBM's micro-logic was not de-
unit taken from an IBM 1620, is signed to minimiZe the number of
working satisfactorily in a bread- separate functions needed to support
board setup. It runs with a 10- its instruction set. It was designed,
microsecond cycle time and appears rather, for complete flexibility so
to be 100% reliable as far as that emulators for t heir older com-
errors are concerned. I see that puters and a very complex Ilo ohan-
Bob Carpenter is also making use nel system could be included in the
of an IB14 1620 memory [1J!ar. 1972, maohine oapabilities. The 360 mioro-
 instructions therefore control two pulses that is of interest. For
hardware gates, latches, and data those who want to build a kit, I re-
channels at a much lower level in commend the Heathkit IO-185 30lid
the machine hardware than is neo- state l5-MHz Dual Trace Triggered
essary to merely implement the in- Scope, at $429. I'm making it an
struction set. For the fun of it, even better buy by soratch-bui1ding
I have partially developed mioro- it myself fror,1 .Heath schematics and
code from which most of the 360 using a less expensive CRT (f1at-
machine functions oou1d be control- face tubes aren't cheap). I expect
led, and it appears that far less to finish the job tor about 1100.
than the 140B-word x l76-bi t RO~1 And I started out bui1dine a com-
which IBM presently uses is needed puter!
to aotually support the instruction
set. Leave out the floating-point tiThe longer I wait, the cheaper ICs
instructions, and you are not left become, so I feel very little pres-
with an impossibly large task. As sure to rUsh my machine to comple-
the book on micro-programm~ng by tion. The soft't\l'are simulation of my
~usson explains, Honeywell has micro-instructions provides me with
taken the opposite approach from enough of a sense of accomplishment
IBM, resulting in more compact for the time being. I would be in-
microcode that oontrols the actual terested in hearing from any mel'lbers
maohine hardware at a much higher who have successfully used ROlvls,
functional level. I find the de- especially the ser.liconductor types.
signing of a microlanguage to im- Sas anyone attempted a CRT I/O de-
plement machine instruction sets vice? !.fany such units have been
to be one of the most interesting mentioned, but has anyone actually
aspects of computer design. To come managed to build one? [Allyn Rothman.
up with optimal oontrol micro- 19 Roberta Lane, Syosset, NY 11791]"
instructions which minimize ROM re-
quirements while maximizing control
flexibility is tricky business, but TWO "IORKING COMPUTERS
far more satisfying (to me) than
getting a shift register to work. D.A. Bowman writes from Arizona:
I would like to know if anyone is
seriously considering tackling a "I have built tNO computers from
360-1ike machine, especially with scrap parts in the past 4 years.
a microprogram approach. Both are l2-bit, 2-vsec machines
patterned after the PDP-8 instruc-
"In the 1,farch 1972 Hews1etter was tion set. The first was built from
a small blurb on the utility or second-generation discrete-component
necessity of using an oscilloscope DTL NAND logic. ':he cemory was of
in developing machine hardware. I my own design. My seconcl computer
find an oscilloscope indispensib1ej l.'lQs built to get around the power
so much so that I am in the process dissipation problem (1.5W) of the
of putting together a more adequate first machine. It gets expensive
one than the simple one now at my to operate and refrigerate that kind
disposal. A delayed sweep doesn't of system in Arizona. The second ma-
seem to be that essential, since chine is made out of 7400 series TTL
you can always find some pulse in and has an 8K x 12 main core memory.
the system advanced enough to pro-
vide a trigger signal for the wave- "I have also designed and have oper-
form you actually want to look at. ating the following extensions to my
~.I]hat is a real convenience is a computer: high-speed reader and
dual trace, because very often it punch (General Electric); Ca1comp
is the time relationship between 565 incremental plotter; 32K-word

Vol. III, No. 4 --February 1973 2 ~NEWSLETTER

x l2-bit extended core memory; ASR at ~1.25 each, a 4K x 16 memory for
33 Teletype; video display (16 $320. And with at least 512 of these,
lines of 64 characters, lK refresh at $1.17 each, an 8K x 16 memory, for
memory, 5x7 dot-matrix characters); $600. "I need a total order of 500
X-Y D/A converter and storage minimum to get these prices. If I can
scope. move all 2700, prices would be about
10-15% lower. Again, these devices
"All of the PDP-8 software works are new and are being offered to me
on my system. This has saved con- by a computer mfr. How'ever, I can
siderable time, as you can well offer no guarantee. II
imagine. I have used the following
DEC software: compilers (Focal - Time-Sharing Club
8K, Easic - Poly, Fortran - 8K);
assemblers (:iifacro 8, Pal III, Frank Eperjesi (P.O. Box 221 Bur-
Saber); maintenance programs, disk bank, Calif. 91503) writes: ~I would
monitor systems (my 32K core memory like to start a local club in either
looks like a DF32 Disk system). LA or Orange County. I live in
Orange County but am in LA so much
"Hy entire system logics are mount- that I don't care which area - it
ed in a 19-inch rack and all of the depends on where I could drum up
packages are wire-wrapped together the other members. The purpose of
using 30-gage wire. I use wire-wrap the club would be to buy a small
boards on which you can mount 200 time-sharing system. I figure that
TTL packages. They are mounted up- if 20 people were to kick in $250
side down and soldered to pins that each to join, and pos9ibly~250 a
go through the board and are wire- year thereafter, this would allow
wrapped on the other side. This me and the other members to have a
allowed me to put my whole co~puter fairly povlerful system at r.linimum
logic (registers plus control and expense, and expandable as extra
timing) on one card. I have a mod- members Join. The other possibility
ule that ho~ 10 such cards, in- would be for ten people to get to-
cluding: one for video display log- gether to purchase an Intel computer
ic, one 32K interface logic, two development system (about elK) and
core memory, one Teletype and high- a TI printer/dual mag-tape unit with
speed reader/punch logic, one com- keyboard ($2400) and misc. hardware
puter card. at about $lK. This would be a fairly
powerful mini-computer system at
III have devoted most of my spare minimum expense."
time for the last four years in
accumulating the parts and develop- 727 Tape Drives
ing my soft'\o,are. II
Alvin Marshall (412 Oakwood, Angola,
Ind. 46703) says: "I have sooe 727
THE TRADING FOST & HELP \V'ANTED tape drives -- with the books --
$100; you haul lem. These are tube,
1101 RAMs but worked when removed. They are
stored at Pocomoke, Md., not at my
Dave Vednor (P.O. Box 1317, Tustin, place, but they can be picked up
Calif. 92680) writes: ~I've had a at almost any time."
mfr offer me 2700 pieces of a OMI
1101 256-bit RM~. These are new, 727 Circuit Info?
but have been scrapped due to a
product change." l'l1th at least 16, Al Sinclair (941 Hedge Dr., rUss1-
at $1.50 each, you've got a 4K x 1 ssauga, Ont., Canada): "I acquired
memory, at $24. With at least 256, an IBM 727 tape drive in perfect

~NEWSLETTER 3 Vol. III, No.4 -- February 1973

condition and spent the next tour line interface. (3) A disr:lay buf-
months tracing out all the cir- fer and generator to display on
cuits. Is there no way of getting oonventional TV set.
this information? I use a li-HP
3-ph motor and a 240-to-208V auto- Are any readers currently involved
transformer to generate the three- in accumulating orders for shift
phase 90wer to run the tape drive. registers or other memories? Or in
I am dispensing with all parity evaluating ourrently avallable log-
and deskewing circuitry at this io lines for home computer use? Or
time since the relatively few in projecting possibilities cooing
errors don't matter to me anyway. up with 1-10S, CIviOS, etc? II
The outfit sure generates a lot of
noise in the house!
KENBAK DRO!' S CASSET'!?r~ DJPUT
On a visit to Kingston, N.Y.,
dropped in to P&D Surplus [~.1ar. Development of the cassette input
1972 Ne'Vlsletter J and picked up a for the Kenbak-l training computer
card reader, keyboards, control (Maroh 1972 Newsletter, p 1) has
panels and a host of other parts been shelved, as it isn't needed
a.t ridiculously 10vl prices. If in the educational field, toward
which the Kenbak-l is oriented.
Surplus Items Kenbak is concentrating on the
seoondary and post-seoondary
Gary Forbes (2028 W. Indian School, schools, which can obtain Federal
Box 100, Phoenix, Ariz. 65015) funding for such hardware.
sent a list of items advertised in
the Dec. 1972 Popular Electronics; Half a dozen of the Kenbak-l (whioh
he has a 2K x I-bit core plane for is now ~850) have been sold to pri-
.~5, driver board for :;p3, sense am- vate individuals, half of whom are
plifier for $2, IBM electric type- programmers and EEls. As one pro-
writer with solenoids, ~50; ICs; grammer put it, "I have an IBM com-
IC mounting boards, core stack, etc. put er at 'I'lork with half a million
Write him for a copy of the list. words of storage, but I didn't have
a oomputer at home. II
Any Readers Involved?
Kenbak Corp. is now at 12167 Leven
Dave Digby (311 S. Erown Ave., Or- Lane Los Angeles, Calif. 90049,
lando, Fla. 32801) writes: (213~ 472-8347; John Blankenbaker,
president.
"Over the past year or two here in
Florida, I have been too busy de-
signing computers at work to feel A $695 COM:t'UTER KIT
much like doing it also at home.
Have not given up the project, how- The System One computer kit will
ever, but keep accumulating little soon be available from EPD, P.O.
bits and nieces. Let me list a few Box 1014, Glenwood Springs, Colo.
minor projects in various states 81601. There are 16 individual kits
of non-completion: (1) A one-pass that make up the entire computer,
assembler, hopefully tailored to with lK of memory, and addressing
very small computers. Few restric- for 8K. System One oontains 62 ICs
tions on features for paper tape and has a control and display con-
object tape, but obviously requires sole that displays the contents of
an optional second pass for com- most of the major registers. Input
plete address data in listing. (2) is by pushbutton; output by lamps.
An all digital modern -- exoept for There are 29 micro-instruotions

Vol. III, No. 4 -- February 1973 4 ~NEI~SLETTER

and 28 combined micro-commands Datamation (Jan. 1973, pp 62-64,
programmed in a diode matrix that 77-81) and "How to protect data
is in the form of a read-only mem- with ciphers that Rre really hard
ory. This matrix can be altered by to break" by Geffe in Electronics
the user who wishes to tryout his (Jan. 4, 1973, pp 99-101). The----
own instructions. The entire Sys- first is about programs for crypto-
tem One is J695. The plans, with analysis and includes a Fortran
all schematics and parts layout, program for sir.lple work; the second
is $25. The first ad will appear describes enciphering methods.
in the May Radio-Electronics.
ROMs in Digit al Systems
You will need a good scope (at
least 10 l-1Hz) J preferably dual- "RO~ls are versatile in digital sys-
trace, for setting the core levels. tems" by Percival of National Semi-
System One has a data-bus termina- Conductor (Electronic Design, June
tor connector, and there are in- 8, 1972, pp 66-71) goes into lookup
structions for setting up I/O to tables, programming the ROM, arith-
anything that operates on an 8-bit metic with RO:·1s, con"lerting codes,
binary code. Only 15 machines will and microprogramming.
be offered at this time, because
EPD has only 15 IEM 1401 core mem- LSI and Central Processors
ories, bought surplus, and no more
are available. '.'/hen the core is In the Nov. 1972 IEEE Spectrum,
gone, they will switch to solld- "HOS/LSI launches the low-cost pro-
state memory, either Intel 1106 or cessor" (pp 33-40)i8 well worth
Signetics 2601 l024-bit types. reading (reprint is $1.50 from IEEE,
This will add about ~200 to the 345 E. 47 St., NY, NY 10017; ask
price; this machine will be System for article X72-l12 within a year).
Two; another change will be from
S-bit with link to l6-bit with link. The devices outlined are the Ameri-
can r~icrosystecs 7200, Fairchild
System One is patterned after the PPS-25, Int e1 HCS-4 and !1CS-8 J nat-
PDP-S, but comes only with a list ional HAFS and GFC/P. The MCS-4 is
of cocman,ds. There is no user group noted as havin~ an extensive soft-
yet -- only 11 of the original Sys- ware library compared with other
tem One machines were made (plUS 2 processor families.
prototypes).
The article points out the slower
Also available is an 80-page Mem- execution times of MOS processors,
ory Core Booklet, 1.1PB-l, for $5, the minimum applioations support
on setting up a core oemory, with from the makers, and the need to
values for the 1401 mer:lory as used buy large quantities of an Ie to
in System One, but with all the offset customized masking charges.
equations for adapting to any core
mer:lOry. TV set for Data Display
"TV set is display for data termi-
IN PRINT nal," by Bratt of Motorola (~­
tronic Design, Sept. 14, 1972, pp
Cryptology and Computers 134-141), has an all-digital char-
acter-generation circuit; 1024
By coinCidence, two articles on a characters, each in a 5x7 dot mat-
subject quite rare in trade maga- rix, with 16 rows of 64 coluons;
zines appeared in January: "Compu- full set of 64 ASCII a1phanumerio
ters and Cryptology" by Chesson in characters available. Six l024-bit

5 Vol. III, No.4 -- February 1973

 ompu er 00 e y s of some ICs: FOR gates, Sohmitt
who are interested triggers, JK flip-flops, and count-
in building and operating a dig- ers, and describes some lab experi-
ital oomputer that oan at least ments for each. Some 25 pages are
perform automatio multiplioation devoted to "Design and Build an
and division, or is of a compar- Analog Computer" without going into
able complexity. much detail. The appendix provides
For membership in the ACS, and circuits for a regulated power sup-
a subsoription of at least eight ply and an "IC control and readout
issue of Vol. III of the News- board," along with photos of a
letter, send ~5 (or a oheck) to: breadboard usinC Augat sockets, sub-
Stephen E. Gray miniature banana jacks, and a 'Tec-
Amateur Computer Sooiety torboard with holes on til centers.
260 Noroton Ave.
Darien, Conn. 06820 Computer Structures: Readings and
The ACS Newsletter will appear Examples
ever two months or so
This is the title of a 668-page
RJU.1s refresh the display; a speo- book, by Bell and Newell of Carnegie-
ialized ROM (MCln131) generates Mellon University (HcGraw-Hill,
the oharaotersj the remaining cir- 1971, $16.50>' It is a "case-study
ouits require ouch construction, approach covering 40 distinct com-
on four logic cards. puter types."
Computer Logic Book In one convenient volume, the auth-
ors have collected a variety of
For your son or a young friend, historical and/or technical papers
"Beginner's Guide to Computer Log- that cover the recent history of
ic" is a recent one froo Tab Books comput ers. Many of these papers are
(Blue Ridge Summit, Pa. 17214). unpublished or ditficult to obtain.
By Gerald Stapleton, it has 192 Among the computers covered are the
pages, is $7.95 hardbound, $4.95 DEC PDP-a; LGP 30 and 21; IBM 1800,
paperbound. 1401, 7094 and 650; Midao; Illiac
IV; and two desk calculators, the
The first 96 pages are on logio Olivetti Programma 101 a.nd the H-P
theory. The rest is on building 9100A. Fine for browsing.
logic projects. A discrete-oompo-
nent breadboard (DTL) is built. As Gene 'IVi therup of Pa. puts it:
Then COr:le ICs, RTL and DTL, with "This is an excellent study of the
breadboards for each. The final IC development of computer systems,
DTL experiment is an a-bit binary with emphasiS on the language set
adder-subtractor. and central-processor configuration.
It contains 688 pages •••• It is ll2!
Laboratpr l·Ianual for Integrated a "hot., to" book, but it is defini-
t
Comnuter ircuits. tely of interest to the serious stu-
dent of computer organization."
The paperback with this name, by
Robert F. Coughlin (Prentice-Hall,
152 pages, $5.95) has a somewhat SURVEY FORM?
misleading title. The manual starts
off with faots and principles about If you were sent a Survey Form and
RS flip-flops, and then asks the haven't returned it yet, please
student to design several of these fill it in and send it to Darien.
with various parameters. It dis-
cusses and gives some applications Copyright 1973 by Stephen B. Gray
vol. III, No. 4 -- February 1973 6 ~NEWSLETTER
 .JAl.QJi'L NEWSLErTER
Volume III, Number 5
a publioation ot the (Serial Issue 28)
AMATEUR OOMPUTER SOOIETY May 1973

USED UNIVAO OOMPUTERS "Maintenanoe in those days was a

trioky thing," says Univao, "and
Ed Moakler (Hoakler Eleotronios, the man who did it has long since
500 E. Ohestnut St., Jefferson- been assigned to newer equipment,
ville Ind. 47130) has a Univao 0 so there is nobody available from
File Computer, whioh he bought as us today who knows how to service
scrap. Ed has the arithmetic unit, the old maohines."
program-oontrol unit, 90-oolumn
reader/punoh, sort-oollate unit, As to whether there are still any
tape-drive program oontroller, and File Oomputers in operation, Univac
six magnetic tape units. Original says anybody who has one must have
value, over $164,000. Ed hopes to bought it, ~d so it's out of Uni-
make it work, and maybe use it in vao's oontrol, both as to dooumen-
his business. tation and maintenanoe.
The File 0 takes muoh power and One oompany was getting rid of its
air-oonditioning. Ed writes, "I Univao I, and wanted to give it
had figured to use the outside win- away_ But Univao found that to take
ter air to get it turned on and see it apart oarefully and reassemble
what I've got, and just olose down it elsewhere would oost $100,000,
in summer. As to spaoe, not too so the maohine was sorapped.
bad: only about 400 or 500 square
feet, pretty oompaot. I'm presently At one time, Univao did give older
having 220 V installed to begin to vaouum-tube maohines to sohools and
turn on some of it." non-profit institutions, but there
were so many headaohes with proper
Univao says they oan't provide dooumentation that this 1.,aS dropped.
sohematios for any maohine this Even with some of the older tran-
old. Eaoh maohine was somewhat dif- sistorized oomputers, it's hard or
ferent, various ohanges having been impossible to provide updated
made to eaoh during its life, and sohematios.
oareful dooumentation had to be
kept as to what was inside each. Univao gets 50 letters a month ask-
Many of the old sohematios and ing for information about oomputers,
dooumentation have been thrown out, mainly from students. Univao sends
and "no amount of money" could pro- a oouple of booklets and a list ot
vide relevant sohematios tor one helpful books.
of these old maohines, antiques at
age 16.
HARRINGTON'S MICROPROGRAMHED UNIT
There are manuals ava1lable tor the
Univao 1108: 20 to 30, eaoh three Bob Harrington writes froe Calif. :
inohes thiok, eaoh oosting $50.
"I solved the problem with program-
A fair number of Univao Solid State ming the 8223 F/ROMs (Nov. 1972,
oomputers were given away, to p 6). I tried more juioe to the
sohools, whioh then oame to Univac point ot trying the ohip with no
for dooumentation. The situation suooess. It turned out that the
turned out to be "impossible," as transient on the +12 volts caused
there were no reoords available on by the ourrent rush through the
updated blueprints. Voo pin was in effeot de-seleoting
the output I was trying to program. steps. I made elementary loops by
I solved this by using separate using one oontrol line to reset
l2-volt supplies. the least two .significant bits at
the address oounter. Another re-
"My oomputer is nearing oompletion. sets all bits, causing a branoh to
It has been operating thro~h the 000000, where the fetoh-next-
panel oontrols (no I/O let) tor a instruotion instruotion resides.
oouple of months. I am working on
the I/O board now and have some "I used ordinary logic in addition
mioroprogramming to do. Here are to the microprogramm1ng to squeeze
some updated speos: more out of it. The four types of
shift-right instruotions, for ex-
"Word length: 12 bits. Registers ample, all use the same mioroprog-
(12 bits): aoouCulator aocumula- ram, the differenoes being genera-
tor extension, index (i ), storage ted by hardware logio using the
address, storage butter, instruo- three modifier bits.
tion address, 16 soratoh, console
switohes. Oore memory: 3200 words, "The control panel is an 8-3/4" by
8-useo oyole time. Olook: 1.25 19" raok panel. The computer is
~mz. Addressing: direct, relative, oompletely enclosed in a oapinet
index. I/O: 8-bit bus, 8 inter- which is 16" deep. The panel has
rupts, 8 strobes. four l2-lamp displays plus six
auxiliary. All working registers
"Instructions: blook load/store oan be displayed by means of a
to/trom scratoh (1 to 4 words), selector switch. The instruction
load aooumulator, store accumula- address register oan be loaded
tor, add oyerand in any soratoh manually with the contents of the
register (load accum., add, sub- oonsole switches, and core loca-
traot, mult1ply, and, exolus1ve tions then examined or loaded in
or, or, 1ncrement, deorement, de- sequence. There is provision tor
crement & skip if neg.), branoh ~ single-step operation, and a
store inst. addr., jump on oondi- manual interrupt is available.
tion (8 oond.), 4 shift right N,
2 shift left N, shift left and "I am planning to use my computer
count (normalize), clear link, in soientitic/enginerring appli-
add & olear link, enable interrupt, oations mostly. One app11oation
load output buffer & issue strobe, I'Ve used it for so far was for
issue strobe, input data. test1ng oommas for uee in a d1gi-
tal oommunication system.
"1 1 m using a 5-bit op oode, 3 modi-
fier bits, and 4 b1ts for eoratoh "For any Who are just start1ng or
register address. Some instruotions not too far along, I would highly
use a second word for an address. recommend (a) microprogramm1ng
The op-code bits oontrol the ad- (wh1ch I did), and (b) plann1ng
dress of a 256-bit ROM, the output for future exp.ans10n (wh1oh I d1d
of whioh oontrols the address in not do)."
an array of four 256-bit ROMs ar-
ranged to give 64 l6-bit words.
These 16 b1ts are deooded in groups REISS ON LSI AND MICROPROGRAMMING
ot four to 64 oontrol lines. The
address of the 54-word ROM is se- Russ Re1ss of Oonn. wrote last year:
quenoed at 1.25 MHz beginning at
the location selected by the tirst- "For about seven years now live
mentioned ROM. Each instruction been plann1ng to bu1ld ~ computer.
oocupies one to five microprogram Finally last June [1971J I complet-
Vol. III, No. 5 -- May 1973 2 -..JAl.QJSLNEWBLETTER
ed the PhD in EE/Computer Scienoe SIC, APL-type languages. '''riting
and thought I might have time to the interpreters are not THAT much
get going. The courses I'm now trOUble either. My students are
teaching as Asst. Prot. at RPI- flnding this out in Compiler De-
Harttord Graduate Center such as slgn class where each student
Compiler Design, Digital System writes hls own complIer for a
Design, Digital Communications, speclal-purpose language he cre-
and lUnioomputers, have really ates -- in about i semester.
spurred my interest.
"One other point I'Ve concluded is
"Cost-wise the CPU is no problem. that any computer (and especlally
This summer I bought 600 ICs trom an amateur job for experlmental
Gerber Electronics when the price uses) should be mlcroprogrammed
dropped to 22¢, but still haven't and (dynamioally) microprogramma-
found the time. Memory is the kl1- ble. Commercially avallable ROMs
lerl 11m convinced that core is on are now reasonably priced (one can
the way out and would like to go build his own programmer), or one
with IC memory. The recently intro- could go the diode-matrix route.
duoed Intel in-20 does look like a But I see no meanlngful justifioa-
pretty good deal, but not exaotly tion for hard-wired instruct10n
cheap. Perhaps in quantities a sets. The use of an IC ALU with
group of ACS members could make two input buses which derive sig-
this an economical approach. The nals from any register through a
oost factor keeps telling me to multichannel NUX, and the use of
use a shift-register memory (such mioroprogramming, offer a very
as the 1402A), but the speed would neat, Simple, and flex1ble arran-
be horrible. I am considering some gement for any computer. Through
"tricky" st",apping sohemes between mioroprogramming such a oomputer
small RAM and SR memories, suoh as could emulate any other computer.
the "cache ll system, but this prob- Sixteen-bit registers also seem
lem is yet to be resolved. like the most appropriate ohoioe.
But I really thlnk somethlng like
"Enter the Intel 4004 and 8008 OPU the Intel 8008 is an even less ex-
on a chipl~! Both are complete pensive route. This might form the
CPUs with quite a bit of power (45 basis of a "general" AOS computer
instructions) and flexibility (in- as was discussed in the inltial
ternal address staok for subroutine issues of the ACS Newsletter. I'd
nesting, etc.). The 4004 is not as be happy to work with others to-
desirable since lt is more compli- ward this goal." (R.A. ReiSS, RFD
cated to control and doesn't look 1, Box l76A, Sohool Rd., Bolton,
as much like a typical computer. Conn. 06040.)
The 8008, however, is a beaut! ••••
The Intel 1n-20 1s a lk x 12 mem-
liThe only drawback I see on these ory system, 950-nsec speedl on a
devlces is their slow speed (about an x e" PC board, one for ,S20. The
1 MHz clock), yielding about 75k In-26 , announoed three months ago,
instructlons per second. For ama- is tallored for the 800e: 4k x 8
teur (and many commercial) uses bits, 900 nsec, same size board,
this should be no real problem. $750 for one.
Whether we wait 1 sec or 3 sec for
an answer does not really matter.
But a cost of $5k or $lk does mat- PROGRESS REPORT ON MOLASSES I
ter! I believe this approach would
be ideal for a "conversatlonal/ln- R10hard Dickey writes from Callf:
teractive ll system using FOOAL, BA-
~NEWSLETTER 3 Vol. III, No. 5 -- May 1973
"\'1ith integrated-oiroui t teohnology logioal, as well as physioal sepa-
simplifying oomputers faster than ration, of program and data. Eoth
we oan get the old stuff to work, PC and DP are 12 bit s long and oan
it takes some determination not to direotly address 4098 memory looa-
junk the oarefully-built arithmetio tions. A memory-expander ohip is
unit and just buy a tiny lump tor available to extend addressing oa-
$15 which does the whole job! paoity to 258k. Eaoh memory looa-
tion oontains 4 bits of data (one
"Molasses I is still making pro- nibble! whioh is half a byte)."
gress. In 1966 I bought the diodes A nibb e"
for switching the drum tracks;
last year I got them soldered on- It.I also has a MF7ll4 (4-bit paral-
to the printed-oirouit boards. I lel Arithmetio Unit & l2-bit memory
have acquired a oomplete photo- referenoe unit & Instruotion and
reader from a G-15, and am modify- Control Unit) and an 10'8008 (8-bit
ing it so that all the control log- parallel adder & six 8-bit data
ic is looated inside the box, in- registers & a-bit aocumulator &
cluding a rewind system it never two a-bit temporary registers &
had before. Now if I only had the four flag bits & eight l4-bit ad-
rest of the G-15, lid be happy. dress registers).
"Right nm<T I have access (ino1ud- Oriental Wizardry
ing keys) to 8 G-15's, a CDC 046,
Burroughs 205, PDP-8L, and an Myron Calhoun (Kansas) found this
Athena, but there's nothing like in Modern Data:
having your own."
"Tang Juan, 22 an undergraduate
at the Nationai Chengkung Univer-
HARDi'rARE: LSI sity (Chenta), has suooeeded in
making the Republic of China's
Signetios PIP Chip first fourth-generation oomputer.
Nioknamed "Tang Go Go II (Brother
Durk Pearson (Calif.) says that Tang), it oost all of $60 and took
Signetios has a PIP (Programmable Tang Juan six months to build. Ex-
Integrated Prooessor) ohip. The cept for the LSI oomponents, all
data sheet says "all data opera- parts were bought from junk shops
tions are performed on 8-bit bytes, in Taiwan. II
and an 8-bit bus is used for all
memory and I/O data transfers. A
13-bit memory address is used for PUBLICATIONS
direot addressing of up to 8k
bytes of storage. There are four Computer Arohitecture
8-bit general-purpose registers. II
Unit prioe is less than ilOO (the This is the title of a 225-page
FIP may be as low as $25 by 1974). book by Caxton Foster of the Univ.
of Mass. (Van Nostrand Reinhold,
Another MiorosYstems MOS LSI Ie CPU $12.50). It begins with binary num-
bers, has chapters on 10gio, stor-
Ken Karow sends word from Illinois age, addressing, I/O, speeding up
on the j·!icrosystems International the computer, parallelism, and
(Canada) OP S/l Hicro-Comput er SYs- tessellated computers. Chapter 5
tem. The bulletin says: "The CPU is 30 pages on An Elementary Ma-
oontains two memory pointers: the ohine, describes a livery simple
usual program oounter (PC) and a oomputer, one that might sell for
data pointer (DP), whioh allows about $10,000 or so. BLUE (named

Vol. III, No. 5 -- May 1973 4 ~ NE\V'BLETTER

for the color of the cabinet; the itself is properly explioit; "Using
author says "I'In weary of acro- PDP-16 Register Transfer Modules."
nyms") has 4k words of l-useo oore, So this is not a cookbook on compu-
lS bits per word, 16 commands, and ter design, but rather a lengthy
a common-bus soheme. It looks pos- applioation note on DEC IS RTMs, and·
sible to build a machine from the thus is of little or no interest
black-box diagrams, although the to amateurs. Any oomments?
last sentenoe says the computer is
"SO simple that probably nobody Popular Computing
,.,ould actually \'Tant t a buy one. II
As Foster puts it previously, "none This is the title of a monthly pUb-
of the 'goody features' present on lication by Fred Gruenberger, whioh
most current machines, e.g., indi- began last month, and is "designed
reot addressing, index registers, for those who are interested in
interrupt, eto., are present. II oomputing for its own sake. II The
first issue is 12 pages long, oon-
Computer History tains items on the 3X+l problem,
the t~ells/Ulam Conjecture, notes
"The Computer froe Pascal to von on the Hewlett-Packard HP-36, sta-
Neumann II (Princeton University tistical data on the calendar sys-
Press, 378 pages, $12.50) is by tem, a book reviel'1 of "Program
Herman H. Goldstine, who helped Test M.ethods," and a list of sub-
create ENIAC. The first part in- factorials. The cost is $15 a year
volves the early pioneers: Babbage, (or $12 if remittance accompanies
Boole, Hollerith, Bush, etc. The the order): Popular Computing, Box
second covers ENIAC and EDVAC at 272, Calabasas, Calif. 91302.
the Moore School, and the third is
on the postwar years at the Insti- Logic Newsletter
tute for Advanoed Study at Prince-
ton, through 1957 (after which the The "Logic Newsletter," advertised
author joined IB!.I). There are only in at least one eleotronics hobby
a couple of simple schematics, and magazines at $1 for a sample copy
the text does not get very teohni- (and for eaoh issue) from UTI (P
cal, as it 1.,as intended for an O. Box 252, Waldwiok, N.J. 07463)
audience beyond computerniks, but is published 10 times a year (Sept.
it is an interesting and informa- to June) and is a curious li1ixture
tive narrative by a man who was of bits and pieces. The first is-
there at the beginning. sue (Sept. 1972) consists of a 4-
page wraparound with a page on 10-
DEC Sells a Book gio function generators in textbook
style, five simple oircuits (gate,
Digital Equipment Corp., whioh has flip-flop, latohing FF, RTL NOR,
been givin~ books away for years, olook circuit), a book reView, and
now has a "Digital Press" that very brief news items on publioa-
publishes books for sale. The first tions and ICs. The four inserts
of these is "Designing Computers are: truth-table summary of funo-
and Digital Systems, II by a·ell, Gra- tions; powers of two; logic funo-
son and Newell of Carnegie-Mellon tion ohart; table of oombinations
University; 447 pages for $3.96. (at two variables). And a 6-page
The ad for this book is slightly logic-design example: deoimal-to-
misleading as it says only that 8421 BCD enoo der.
this is a Aguide to the design of
digital equipment using register The first issue states: "Starting
transfer modules as the basic com- next month, each issue will con-
ponent. 1I The subtitle of the book tain a 4-page application note on

~NEWSLETTER 5 Vol. III, No. 5 -- May 1973

 The Amateur Computer Sooiety is soopes suoh as any of the Heath
open to all who are interested general-purpose soopes. One adap-
in building and operating a dig- ter uses a switohed amplifier and
ital oomputer that oan at least the other uses a standard diode-
perform automatio multiplioation switoh arrangement. The diode
and division, or is of a oompar- switoh is the one I would recommend.
able oomplexity. It has individual pos1tion and
For membership in the ACS, and galn oontrols for eaoh ohannel and
a subscription of at least eight it may be used with either AC or
issues of Volume III of the News- DC soopes. Chop rate is between
letter, send $5 (or a oheok) to: 100 kHz and 1 MHz, and it oan also
Stephen B. Gr8¥ be used in the alternate mode!
Amateur Computer Sooiety
260 Noroton Ave. "Since we are in the business of
Darien, Conn. 06820 doing speoial development of inter-
The ACS Newsletter will appear faoes, we don't usually make our
every two months or 80. internal teohnical reports avail-
able to the public, but since there
the most popular UTI 7400 Series seems to be a need among amateurs,
integrated circuits." A logic de- we have made an exception. Members
sign exam~le is to be inoluded in of the ACS may obtain these reports
each issue. The price is $9 for from us for the cost of duulication
one year, $15 for two. and mailing. Please refer to the
numbers and costs shown below:
UTI also sells hardware, including
7400 ICs, a breadboard kit, semi- "Teohnical Report #67, Logic Indi-
oonductor memories, etc. oator Probes, $1; #68, Logic Pulser
Probe, $1; #69, Logic Clip $1; #72 1
Two- and Four-Trace Scope Adapters,
HELP FROM TITUS ON INSTRUMENTS $3. For $5 we will send all four
Tech Reports. The reports contain a
Jonathan Titus (Titus Labs, P.O. list of all needed parts (all stan-
Box 242, Blacksburg, Va. 24060) dard) and full directions for dupli-
\orri tes: liThe logic probes that we cation, along with schematics and
are using here for trouble-shoot- checkout procedure."
ing were developed here by our
staff. They are better than the About the Foster book (p4), Jon
Hewlett-Packard probes and at says "It is an extremely easy to
least as good as the Kurz-Kasoh read, informative book that sho't4rs
probes that ourrently sell for $80 how a computer is developed. It is
to $100. '!;le have two designs for worth its cost many times over.
pulse and logio-level deteotion Perhaps ~efore any of the newer ACS
and one design for a pulser probe members start" on a computer they
that allows in-oirouit generation should read Computer Architecture.'
of pulses.
"11e also have our own design for a FOR SALE: Jim Mims (307 Sudbury P..d. I
logio olip, along the same lines Linthioum, Md. 21090) has Ampex
as the HP type, but ours has only memor1es, 4K of 16 bits with rea4/
a oouple of simple ICs inside and write eleotronics, $300 or best of-
it still has the +5 and ground fer; similar with 4K of 8 bits,
auto-seek features. half price; two Univac 1105 core
stacks, 4K by 36 b1ts, ~75 each,
"We have been using two types of Bryant 7505 drum, asking t80.
traoe adaptors tor some inexpens1ve Copyright 1973 by Stephen B. Gray

Vol, III, No. 5 -- May 19?3 6 ~NEWSLETTER

 JilQJSL NEWSLETTER
Volume III, Number e
a publioation of the (Serial Issue 29)
'AMATEUR COMPUTER SOCIETY September 1973

DICK SNYDER'S MININOVA 721 struotions were ohosen so that

some funotions of the Nova instruo-
From Florida, Diok Snyder sent sev- tion set oould be performed direot-
eral dozen pages about his oompu- ly, and others by a group of 3 or
ter, and also his resume, Whose 4 instruotions. For example, the
last line says "Designed and built Mininova instruotion let inoludes
a-bit oomputer. \I Diok says: a right-shift instruotion, but no
left-shift instruotion. This 1s be-
"The Mininova 721 is designed to oause it is hard to produoe a
be a miniature Nova 1200. I've right sh1ft using other instruo-
used and programmed Data General's tions , but easy to duplioate a
Nova 1200 minioomputer, and have left shift by adding two identical
been exposed to many other mfr's operands.
minioomputers. I feel the Nova is
the finest mini available. I want- "After ohoosing my instruotion set
ed to have a Nova for my very own, and oontrol-panel-switoh funotions,
but oouldn't afford it. I thought I started (on paper) blocking out
"someday when the prioe of ICs major registers. The instruction
oomes down I'll design and build set \Olas ohosen to allow the maohine
my own minioomputer, a small-soale to have two program-acoessible data
version of the Nova." registers. These were set down,
along with a few address registers.
IIt'lell! the prioes of ICs oame down I determined what register trans-
tenfo d or more in 1971-72, and fers 't'lere needed to implement eaoh
that made my dream praotioal. The instruotion. Then I grouped related
rest was innovation! enthusiasm~ operations together, and plaoed
and a lot of oarefu planning. The them under the oontrol of mode
result is my very own min1oomputer, flip-flop's. Then I began to assign
of whioh I'm really proudl The the times when these operations
Mininova 721 has an instruotion would be enabled. I specified,all
set very muoh l1ke the Nova'~ (The the conditions and times to enable
Nova has the f1nest, most powerful setting and clearing of the mode
instruotion set of any minioomputer flip-flops, and then I was able to
on the market today, and I've oare- begin ,oonsidering waveforms and
fully stUdied most of them.) The oircuits. I ohose my logio family
Mininova 721 has oontrol switohes (7400 series TTL) and began to de-
very muoh 11ke the Nova's. (The sign. I ohose my memory ICs (MOS-
Nova's oontrols are the most prao- RAMs that require only the +5V DC
tioal I've seen on a minioomputer. ) power supply) and des1gned the oir-
cuits associated with the memorr
trSo I've inoorporated very oare- and major reSisters. I designed
fully the best features of the Nova the oirouits that implement the
instruotion set and programmer's operations to be performed by the
oonsole, and designed the oirouits programmer's oonsole oontrol
to make a true stored-program, pro- switohes, and designed oirouits to
grammable digital oomputer (oom- enable my computer to do DBA (l.e.,
plete with loads of integrated- DMA) transfers to and from a stand-
cirouit MOS-RAM memory) that would ard audio hi-fi oassette reoorder.
exeoute 16 different very oarefully All this time I was involved in pro-
seleoted instruotions. These in- ouring, wiring, and test. I "deslgn-
edMmy power supplies (I'm using a I know torward and backward, but
Lambda Power Kit and IC voltage most ot it all I des1gned trom
regulators mounted on heat slnks scratoh, and I'm very pleased with
tor the +5V supply, and a home- the result. I've learned a lot,
brew rlg wlth IC regulators to and I'll learn lots more in the
provide +12V tor the lamps) and future as I oontinue the project.
assembled these. I don't intend to expand anything
on this maohine except memory size
"All together I've put about tlve and address-reglster size (this
monthe worth of evenlngs and week- will make all storage-referenoe
ends, $360, and about 175 ICs and lnstructions 4-word instructions)
IC sookete, and a few hundred feet and I/O capability. To add more
of wire into my minioomputer. live registers or enlarge the registers
made loads of plans for the future, or add more bits to the lnstruc-
suoh as new I/O oapabilitles like tlon words (meanlng add more bits
dlgital cassette and 4K of memory, per each memory location, more
all 1-10S RAM ICs, the kind that re- bits to the instruotlon registers,
quire only the +6V power supply. eto.); i.e., add more instruotlons,
I've written and exeouted programs would change the maohine too great-
on my computer, and learned how ly and take it too far from the
painful lt can be when you don't orlgina1 challenge. Also lt would
have indireot addressing, and when require too muoh wiring! If I want
you have only two program-acoess- a larger processor of the same
lble data registers. Maybe I'll (approx.) size, I'll buy an Intel
add an lndireot addresslng oapabil- MCS-4 system, based on the Intel
lty; I haven't deolded yet. But 4004 cocputer-on-a-chlp CPU.
anyway, 1 t sure ls rewarding: I I ve
shown the Mlnlnova to my employers liThe Mininova is my dream oome
and former employers, and frlends, true, and also lt ls my resume ln
and reoeived a wondertul red-oarpet hardwired form. I've got a lot of
treatment wherever I've taken it. lnltiative, ambition, and imagina-
tlon, and I feel the Mlninova
I'Most of all, I have the satlsfao- olearly demonstrates my capablllty
tlon of having ~ all this, and as a dlgital systems and oiroult-
done lt to the best of my abi11ty. deslgn englneer."
Some parts of the des1gn of pro-
grams and design of maohine tielng The Min1nova 721 is a mixed 4, 8
took an awful lot of intense oon- and 12-blt machine, with 4-b1t and
oentrat10n on abstraots. I've got 12-bit lnstructions, 4-bit storage
volumes of design notes, sohemat- words, a-bit operands (data words)
108, waveforms, etc., al10arefully and a-b1t storage addresses. The
arranged, ino1uding every problem 16 instructions include 4-bit regis-
I enoountered, and how I overcame ter reference instructions (shift,
the problems; the errors and over- increment, complement, arithmetic,
looks in deslgn phl1osophy the logical, test) and a control In-
wlring errors, etc. I rea1!ze that struction (HALT). The storage refe-
oomputers are easy to des1gn, and rence instructions are three 4-bit-
k1nd of standard in makeup, but I words; the first word is the in-
started from soratoh, with 11tt1e struction, the other two are stor-
more than enthusiasm and a desire age address. There ls a 4-bit I/O
to have a computer of my very own instruction. No parity checking,
at any oost (exoept oost ln ~oney no interrupt sYstem, no program
greater than about $500). I got a proteot system.
lot ot general ooncepts and t1m1ng
help from the old CDC 1704, wh10h The lnstruotions are HLT (halt),
Vol. III, No. (5 - - Sept. 1973. ' 2 .JIlQSSL NEWSLETTER
JMP (jump), JSR (jump to subrou- 4-bit and 8-bit modular miorooom-
tine), SMZ (skip if memory oon- puter development systems oalled
tents are zero), LDA (load A reg- Intelleo 4 and Intelleo 8." They
iste~ LDB (load B), STA (store "provide a fleXible, inexpensive,
A), S'I'lS (store B), RSB (right and simplified method for develop-
shift B), INA (increment A), CKA ing OEM systems. They are selt-
(oomplement A), MOV (move B to A), oontained, expandable systems oom-
ADD (add A to B), ,AND (logioal plete with oentral prooessor, mem-
AND), SZC (skip on zero oarry), ory, I/O, orystal clook, power
SNB (skip on negative B). supplies, standard software, and a
oontrol and display console,"
The 721 operates on 8-bit single-
word operands, handles Signed num- The "complete table top develop-
bers from -12810 to +12710 and ment system" oosts $2195 for the
unsigne~numbers from 0 to 255. Intellec 4, $2395 for the 8. They
The random-aocess memory has 256 come with system monitor, resident
storage. locations, each containing assembler, and text editor. At ex-
a '-bit word, addressed directly. tra oost are a PL/M (derived from
The 721 executes about 300 instruc- PL/l) oompiler, and an assembler
tions per second in run mode, 150 and a simulator, all three written
a seoond in mixed mode. in Fortran IV, and also available
through three time-sharing compa-
Future additions inolude changing nies (GE, Tymshare, Applied Logic).
the m4Z instruction to DSZ (deore-
ment and skip on zero), the SZO to Another option is a oomplete PROM
SCS (skip if carry is set), SNB programmer. After the program is
to lOT (input/output transfer). firm, it may be plaoed in the non-
volatile storage of the Intel
Diok asks if anyone's oomputer in l702A PROM.
the ACS does direct-storage trans-
fers (DNA or DSA) to a oassette The oards making up the two oom-
recorder or other magnetio-tape puters can be bought separately.
unit (Riohard Snyder, 1910 N.W. "The major benefit of the Intelleo
23rd Blvd, \ Apt. 181, GaineSVille, modular miorooomputers is that
Fla. 3260e I • random-aocess memories (RAMs) may
be used instead of read-only mem-
ories (ROMs) for program storage.
Il:TELLEC 4 .AND 8 MICROCOMPUTERS By using RAMs, program loading and
modifioation is made muoh easier.
Two of the better-known CPU-on-a- In addition, the Intelleo front
chip ICs are the Intel 400j and panel oontrol and display console
8008, whioh are 4-bit and a-bit, make it easier to monitor and de-
respeotively. To help in develop- bug progra.t:ls."
ing hardware around these CPUs,
Intel oame out with the MCS-4 and The Intellec 8 oan direotly address
MCS-8 "mioro computer sets" of up to 16K 8-bit bytes of memorYL
chips that oan be oombirted and wh10h oan be any mix of ROMs, PHONs
programmed to make a variety of or RAMs. There are 48 instruotions,
microprogrammable general-purpose plus a input and 24 output ports
oomputers (see the June 1972 News- (a-bit ).
letter, page 2).
Intel has a Miorooomputer Workshop
Now Intel has gone a step further 1n California for the MOS-4 (3 days,
and "to make it easier to use 1350) MOS-e (2 da:{8, $250), and
these sets, now offers oomplete PL/M t2 days, $300); handa-on labs.
..Ji'l£JiLNEl-TSLETTER 3 Vol. III, No.6 -- Sept. 197~
DIGITAL EQUIPMENT RTM BOOK aoquiring a machine."
The May 1973 Newsletter had an Glen Langdon also comments:
item (page 5) about the DEC book,
"Designing Computers and Digital liOn Foster's book, Computer Arohi-
Systems,lI saying it is a long ap- t,oture (May 1973 Newsletter, page
plioation note on DEC's PDP-l6 4 , it is true that in Chapter 5
Register Transter Modules, and so on BLUE, it lacks many "goody"
is of little or no interest to features -- but read on to the
amateurs, and asked for oomments. next ohapter where he defines
INDIGO with indexing. The book may
Doug Jensen comments: not be as easy for a beginner to
read as it seems to us ••••
"In fact this is a very important
text in the professional computer "On the RTM book by DEC by Bell et
literature, and should be of con- al, don't sell it short. There is
siderable value to the serious a lot of Wisdom in it, involving
amateur. The register-transfer their languages ISP and PMS, intro-
level of design has always been duoed in the book Computer Struo-
important but rather negleoted; tures. The PDP-16 really isn't a
now teohno1ogy (MSI, LSI) is for- oomputer, it's a set of cards. The
oing it into prominenoe. The book timing philosophy one uses in ap-
illustrates the concepts with the plying these oards is "asynohronous"
PDP-16 register transfer modules in the sense of "invitation" and
(which are the only ones oommer- "oomp1etion" signals oontro1ling
cial1y available as such), but the the sequencing of events. In this
ideas apply directly to digital sense, it is not a oookbook on
maohines designed with convention- ourrent practice, which uses a
al ICs. Almost no one designs system olook. II
their own gates from resistors and
transistors any more (exoept for DEC now offers the DEClab-RT, a
the fun or experienoe). Few pro- training unit oonsisting of bUild-
fessional engineers ever design ing blooks: arithmetic units, bus
counters, registers, etc.-- they sense, memories, interfaoes and
use MSI and LSI. Design will con- oontro1s, for learning to "under-
tinue to occur primarily at higher stand digital system design u~ill­
and higher levels; that's what de- zing the register transfer oon-
signing with Register Transfer Mod- cept." The Basic Kit is $1425.
ules is all about (there is an even
higher level called the Processor/
jy!emory/Swi toh level). THE UGLY DUCKLING CONPUTER
"It you recall, in a past issue of Glen Langdon of upstate New York
the ACS Newsletter I propo{led that was loaned by IBM to the University
the Processor/Memory/Switch level of Sao Paulo in Brazil for a year
(the use of oommercially available ending June 1972. For the "Patinho
microprocessors, memories, etc.) Feioll (ugly duokling) computer pro-
is the appropriate level for those ject, Glen's group of graduate stu-
ACS members whose primary goal is dents designed "an instruotion set
having and using their own compu- to have about the power of the POP-
ter. The only justification for e, although the word size is e bits.
getting involved with gate-level The power supplies were designed
design is for the experienoe-- and built by students. The 4K mem-
these days it is rarely going to or7 was imported from Philips. The
be a oost-effeotive approaoh to oirouits were T2L from Fairohild.

Vol. III, No. 6 -- Sept. 1973 4 .JA1.QJSLNEWSLETTER

 had a printed-oiroui t lab, and
~""e ly announoe a muoh improved ohip
all the oards were done there. oalled the 8080.) Protesslonal
Some oards (the oontrol oards) oomputer users are beooming more
were mounted with l4-pin DIP sook- and more aware that programmablllty
ets and wire-wrapped, to ta01li- is oruoial beoause software devel-
tate debugging. Having had suooess opment usually requires tar more
with making one-sided printed oir- time (and thus money) than hard-
ouits, an attempt was made to do ware development.
2-s1ded ones with the plated-thru-
hole. We got two data-flow oards "The subjeot of software brings
done with this teohnology (after me to the advantage that oommer-
muoh sweat; many neoessary oheml- olal mloroprooessors have over
oals are not yet available in Bra- home-built maohines, in that at
zil) betore abandoning it and go- least an assembler and some diag-
ing to soldered wiring on the nostios and utilities are already
oard. The cards plug into a Oam- available, although usually at a
bion rack, with wire-wrap sockets. fee. Private lndividual mempers
The baok panel was wire-wrapped; a of ACS who have purohased the
oomputer program aided by listing National GPCP oomponents are wel-
the desired oonnections and thelr come to oontaot me for a copy of
lengths. the software listings at a nomlnal
reproduotion oost instead of the
"The I/O bus was sort of a cross $2000 or so charged by National.
between the PDP-8 scheme and the
HP 2llSB bus. A Teletype terminal, "If you are interested in the IMP-
a plotter, and an optioal paper- 16~C approaoh, it is a worthwhile
tape reader were interfaoed with investment of $5 to purchase the
it. The panel display was LED, applioation manual (4200021A) from
oontrols include read/write memory Natlonal Semioonductor Corp., 2900
from SWitches/to display, plus Semio.onduotor Drive, Santa Clara,
single-instruotion oycle, and sin- Calitornia 95051.
gle maohine cycle."
"Beoause the MOS mioroprooessors
are so inexpenslve, it is tempting
NATIQ{AL SDtICONDUCTOR'S IMP-1SC to oonsider how a more powerful
maohine might be oonstruoted out
Doug Jensen wrote turther: of more than one of them. This is
a very non-trivial task; I have
"R.A. Reiss' enthusiasm in the May extensive experienoe in this area
issue over the primitive Intel (including using IMP 16Cs), and
8008 is rather misplaced. For less will be happy to disouss the mat-
than $500 in singles, one oan pur- ter with those interested. Inc1~­
ohase the five National Semioonduo- dentally, the GPCP part s oan be
tor GPCP MOS LSI ohips and the two used to bUild a tull 32-bit pro-
dozen TTL ICs needed to oonstruot cessor at less than twioe the oost
a lS-bit mioroprooessor. The re- of a l6-bit one.
sulting IMP-1SC Cas National oalls
it) has an instruotion set similar "A oouple of TTL LSI mioroprooes-
to the Nova, although at about f)-- sors are nearing introduotion, as
10 mioroseoonds per instruotion it is a one-Chip MOS replaoement for
is quite a bit slower than a Nova. the PDP-8 CPU.
However/ the IMP-1SO is not only
faster ~han an 8008 but alsO in- "Let me olose with a crass oommer-
flnitely easler to program and to oial mention that I still have a
interfaoe with. (Intel will short- few 5 volt/4S amp power supplies

...Jil.£lSLNEt.'lSLETTER 5 Vol. III, No.6 -- Sept. 1973

 teur omputer ol.tT 1, The only thing I th1nk any of your
op.n to all who are 1nt.relted reader. would be intere.ted in is
in bu1lding and operat1ng a dig- my DNA 01rcuits t s1noe I'm using a
ltal oomputer that oan at lea.t standard unmodir1ed audio oalsette
p.rform automatic mu~t1p11cation reo order • I'd be glad to share the
and div1.10n, or 1, or a compar- plans for that with anyone who 11
able comple.z1tT. int.re.ted, for.l.50 •••• "
P'or memberlhip 1n the .tQ8, and
a .ubscript10n ot at le••t eight D1ck also asks if any info is
1 ••ue, ot Volume III ot the New. available on the pins, voltage
.l.tter, send '5 (or a check) to: levels, etc., for R/W control and
Stephen B. Gr-1 data, for an Ampex 11 X 16 core
Amateur Oomputer Sooiety memory, model 1024 RVS 16, assembly
260 Noroton Ave. #3223634-10A, serial #414.
D~ien, Oonn. OeS20
The AOS Newlletter will appear
v r tom nt s r 0 !HE TRADING poer
left tor sale. These very high A Batch of Boards. lOs. etc.
quallty unlts are new, tactory-
seal.d Lambda LMr-5s, whiCh cur- Ed lCirklel ('1-B Ridge Rd. , Greenbelt,
rently list for '475 each; ., Md. 20770) has a number of DEO
price is only '150." (E. Dougla, Flip-Ohip board" digital lOa, re-
Jensen, M.S. A3340, Honeywell, Ino, lays ( keyboard, and core memory (21
2345 Walnut St., St. Paul, Minn. X 16/, all for ,250, with data
55113.) sheetl, and mostly unused. Also a
Tektronix 5llAD scope for $130.
MORE fROM DIOl SNYDER Oore Planes and Ampliflers,_
Right at this point I tound a later Gene Witherup (8220 Michener Ave.,
letter trom Diok Snyder that I'd Philadelphia, Pa. 19150) has 8
torgotten. Perhaps I should rewrite planes at oore, each 18 X 8 wordl,
this Newsletter~ but I'd hate to 18 bits. Also 4 boards at lens.
delete Dick's infectiously enthusi- amplifiers for these cores. And 22
altic letter. Diok wrote: new and 45 used Motorola ~L oir-
• cuit8. For a list of items, send a
"I'm pleased that you intend to selt-addre8sed envelope.
print up a lot ot my introdu~tion,
but after caretully looking through MNH - Applied Electronic.
all the AOS Newsletter. I've Just
received, I'm atraid I'd be embar- Digital computer equipment i8 ' 1
rassed to .ee lome partl of that available trom MNH - Applied Eleo-
intra in the New.letter. Really, tronics, P.O. Box 1208, Landover,
my maohlne i, almo.t nothinc com- Md. 20'185. Their late,t oatalog
par.d to .ome of the.e people'. inolude. a Datacratt.core Iyste.,
maohine.; I have luch a .mall 512 X 9, With '1400 serie, TTL,
amoUDt ot .emory, and no program 843; ke7board, computer control
acce •• I/O y.t, on11 DNA acc.s. and I/O devioe, 177; tape tran.-
I/O, and on11 to one external d.- pon, '11S; comput er backplane
vic ••••• Perhap. I'd better ju.t and .~t1 oard. Ipace for 7000
..y I like the Nova be.t, better IC8, 133. MNR 8!.o .el1. 10., con-
_.,...". ~b.aA other mu.lti--.oo~lator ma- nector., cnal,i. hardware, eto....._. ~.~
ohine. w1th .tandaZ'd arohiteotur.
and oo-.plex in.truot10n ••t ••••• cOP1riiht 19'78 by Stephen B. 0;:.,
Vol. III, No •• -- Sept. l;'~
• ..JI1.!tliL OWIILI'1"I'.
 .JAlQJSL. NEWSLETTER
Volume III, Number 7
a pub110at10n of the (Serial Issue 30)
AMATEUR OOMPU!ER SOOIETY Deoember 1973

TYING A COMPUTER TO A TAPE RECORDER bearings tend to freeze when the

maohine heats up after long opera-
Norm Saunders (Nass.) wrote the tion, and if this happens when a
following some time ago to help a oopy is being printed from an ana-
member wanting to use tape: log reoording and I'm not around,
I've got a 25-dollar repa1r bill.
"Perhaps loan help on the tying
of a oomputer to a tape reoorder. liThe next step was the buffers to
You have stated that you want to go from real-time Teletype format
go between a oomputer and tape. to a simple a bits at oomputer
You need to oonsider all the peri- speeds, and back again. I chose to
pherals as well, before you start build a speoial-purpose buffer for
to tie the two together. As for each direotion, since this, among
oard readers, I have had no use other things, made Teletype oontrol
for them for the last 20 years of the oomputer easier, and allowed
since magnetio reoorders became oontinuous reoording (with subse-
easily available. quent printout when desired) of any
portion of the computer operation.
liTo give you an idea of what is You will realize that this is a
involved, Illl tell you of my se- godsend in debugging and/or reoov-
quence of developments. This copy, ery, at low cost, of an operation
inCidentally, is printed from a that went sour somewhere before it
aO-cent seVen-inoh reel of tape on was oompleted. At present under
a l5-year-old tape reoorder by a development is a-ohannel input and
Teletype SK33 or some suoh maohine output, to allow sort and merge
with speed of 3-3/4 inoh/second on using the almost unlimited storage
the tape. About five years ago I of tapes. Eight of the basio input/
bought the Teletype new. The tirst output units would use half as much
priority seemed to be to make re- TTL as my whole computer (less the
trievable records. Hence I tirst CRT store and display part) does.
built a modulato~-demodulator ~fuereas my design for 8 ohannels
(modem) to get to the tape reoord- at a t1me uses only a few paokages
er from the keyboard and from tape more. The next step will be to go
to printer. To get some editing to tape reoording at a one-kilobit-
faoility, this was designed and per-second rate, and after ,~hat to
built so that the keyboard oould five kilobits per seoond or poss1b-
break into the print stream at any ly more.
gap in the text and insert addi-
tional oharaoters. ItA typical reoording sequenoe starts
with turning on the power. It is
"The next need was found to be a neoessary to load the thread the
motion-oontrolled reoorder, sO I tape. The next aotions are: start
built one. This lets me oompress moviqg, get up to speed, looate
the rough and uneven entry of working location, read or write
oharaoters from the keyboard, or deoelerate, stoP. reverse (speed
as played baok from the real-time and distanoe, eto., are oonsidera-
tape-recording, into substant1ally tions here too; often you must re-
full-printer-speed capability. In verse to re-read, because an error
my oase this is especially. neces- cheok failed or you missed the de-
sary, since with only oooasional s1red looation), iterate, and shut
use of the Teletype, some of the down when finished.
 "There are many types ot dec1s1ons available? The 4LO Japanese reoord-
requ1red: er is 1n some ways my favor1te
A. How much of the above sequence (make that ten-dollar -- lim not
1a g01ng to be manual and how much g01ng to run this through the ~d1t­
computer-controlled? ing prooess but am going to keep
B. Is the data to be reoorded the or1g1nal and send you d1reot
and read 1ncrementally, w1th stop printouts from the tape so that
and start around eaoh blook (wh1ch you oan see why I need the edit1ng
may be as small as a single ohar- prooess). But it has many head-
aoter or even a single b1t) or are aohes, such as the laok of a cap-
read and wr1te to be sw1tohed in stan, and under-powered motor. The
wh11e running? 100-dollar un1t borrowed from the
C. How is the data going to be household 1s my ma1nstay. Th1s is
entered? One or multiple tracks? not really so cheap when your w1fe
By blooks? Of what size? (1, a, then goes out and buys a oouple ot
64, 5l2-bit blook sizes have pro- her own. The three-motored soleno1d-
ven useful to me.) With oharacter aotuated deck was g01ng to be my
parity? With bit-plaoe parity per bas10 un1t, but after getting
block? These last two are some- optioo-mechan10al-eleotr1cal servos
times oalled row and column par1- tied to it so as to get the one-
t1es. Or 1s Teletype or some other m1l11seoond starts and stops from
. spec1al format to be used? (When high speed that I sought, I found
I go to 1 Kb1 t/ sec I III probably that in overall operation these
go from TT to a seit-cloCk1ngtor- speeds, rather tremendous acoele-
mat.) In any oase, representat10n rations, were simply not needed
fo~ the pr1nter or d1splay should and probably 1nadv1sable since
be in ASCII 1f at all possible. they stressed the tape to about a
D. What means of synchronizat10n quarter or that which would beg1n
1s to be used? For bits? For to stretch it. When a data-prooes-
blocks' If synchronous 1dle, 1001 sing system needs 1nterraoe with
0110, or null is used for blook only one man, the problema are
synohronizat1on, there may be quite 41fferent and some ver7
trouble it this gets out into a s1mple and elegant solutions can
pub11c oarr1er's lines at some be used. The wow, flutter and
future extens10n of your system. frequency response of the reaorder
E. What means of error deteot1on to be used may dictate several ot
1s to be used? the ch01ces mentioned. Speeds ot
r. What means of error oorrect10n l-7/a, 3-3/4, 7-1/2, 15 inohes per
1s to be used? The TT tormat is of second and others are usable, but
some help w1th both of these, but again, a ch01ce 1s needed. A com-
1fsynchron1zat10n is lost 1n a plete data-process1ng system tor
so11dly-packed TT recording, the one man or one household could
printout is real garbage. Par1ty is well use at least threelpeeds,
mentioned above. Mult1plic1ty of but eaoh speed would be uled only
recordings 1s another approach; on thoae units ded1cated to 1t.'
that 1s, many oop1es or data 1n
proport1on to 1ts importance.
G. What mode or record1ng 1s to FREE OOMPUTER
be used? Amp11tude, amplitude mod- I .

ulat10n, frequenoy modulat1on, Mark Jame. (Cal1t.) ran letters

phase modulat1on, pulse w1dth 1n two publications, ask1ng tor
modulat1on, eto. Dupl1cation, par- the donat10n of a oomputer, and
1tT, selt-clocking, permanent th1s is what happened:
olock, come 1n here too.
R. What qual1ty ot reoorder 1s "Please excuse me tor not wr1t1nl

Vol. III, No. ? -- Deo. 1973 I

.ooner; however, I had had very by standard Oomputer Corp. The
llttle luck ln reaponae to m1 let- unique capabl11ty of thls system
ter.. ln Oo~uterworld and Dat!ml- ls that it can emulate other oom-
um. Fina y m1 long shot paid
ott. A company re'ponded to m1
puter system. by the use ot a
microprogramming language oalled
letter ln E~"tloD by'aaying Minitlov. I pre ••ntly have IBK
that they a aome undi.olo.ed 7094 'emulation sottware on car48
computer equlp••nt that they would' which I can read lnto the mioro-
be wll11ng to glve to me. What memory. However, Ial.o have a
tranaplred was beyond my greateat rather persistant parity error ln
expeotations. The maohlne that wa. the memor" which has defied m,
glven to me ls a 321, thlrd-genera- best etforts to locate. I suspect
tion, mioroprogrammable computer a sen.e-amplitier problem; however,
syatem wlth eight 556/800-bpl tape I havenlt been able to locate lt
drl.es, a Selectric I/O unlt, and beeauBe I haven" t been able to get
a 100-cpm reader. my hands on a wideband osoilloscope.
Hopetully, thought as soon as 'I
"The main memory oonslats ot 32, can borrow thia, '11 be able to
768 looations in core, wlth a tull scope out the problem. One draw-
cycle time ot 2 microseoonds, and baok in having a ayatem wlth thia
access tlme ot 800 nseo. The system architecture is that the mioro-
1, highly mlcroyrogrammable, Wlth processor handles all I/O channel
II X 36 by tea (used ln la-blt '" . funct10ns, and thus I can't load
byte.) ot microprogrammable core dlagnostiol or even dl.play a reg-
that oyolea ln one mloroaecond. iater on the control panel until
At~er haullng the oomputer tram the mioroprooesaor ia tunctloning.
Newport Beach, Callt. to Belmont, However, this machine is golng to
Callt. where I 11ve, and movlng have vlrtually unlimlted potentlal
the 1300 CPU, the tapes and con- in graphics processing. I have alao
trol console to the lower level at had some rather draatio envlron-
our apllt-level home, wlth the help mental problems, cons1dering the
of several rather husky friend, ot taot that the entire Iystem dii-
cine, I was ready to start modity- sipatea 48,000 BTU of heat per
ing the 20a-volt 3-phase power hour, and conaumes apprOXimately
supply in the CPU. Very fortunate- 14 kilowatts of electrical energ,.
ly, once again I lucked out in However, I've been able to operate
that the power-supply design used the OPU, one tape-oontrol un1t and
a bank at three separate tranator- two tape dri vea trom the eleotrio-
'mer. to supply the main VCC and dryer outlet in the house. II
VEE. voltages. Merely by rewiring
the AC lnputa of the transformer.
and adding an addltional amount ot Tltt TRADING POST ell HELP WANTED
filtering to the' output ot the
power supply, I've been able to NCR ORAM Memory
get VCO and VEE. Fortunately, all
ot the cost crltical voltages suoh Bu.ter K1l1ion (2?73 N. Winrock,
as sense-amp supp+y and lnhiblt- Altadena, Callt. 91001) wrltea:
driver supply came trom single-
phase supplies, and thus no add- "I've got an NCR CRAM (Card Random
itlonal tiltering was neoessary. Access Memory), whioh 1. ba.1cal1,
a drum memory wlth a vacuum drum
"The main trame use. approxlmately with 338 d1tterent Burtace. ln the
8000 Fairchl1d CTt microoircuits, shape ot magnetl0 carda. Eaoh oard
and i. appropriately named an 10 is held on a rack and oan be lndl-'
6000. The sy.tem was manutactured vidual1y seleoted, dropped, held
Vol. III, No. 7 -- Deo. 1973
 to the drum and read/wrltten 11ke lnto. The re.ult i. that we have
a drum memOr1. I've got the oom- an unbelievable amount ot sottware
plete mechanical tranlport. I in use. We are looklng tor lource
don't have read/wrlte 10g10 or 11etings ot BASla, OOBOL, and .
tlmlng 10g10 but I do have tull NASAP. It anyone knows where we
dooumentatlon trom NOR, lnoludlng can get cards or mag-tape copie.,
all diagram., parte 11.t., maln- please yell.
tenanoe manual •• I'm a.king $300;
plck lt up at my house or trade "The ins and outs ot system lott-
tor a dual-traoe trlggered-eweep .are ls qulte an education tor a
soope (hopefully around 10 MHZ),I hardware type like me. Fortunately
we have a oouple of proteseional
Buster would also llke a Seleotric programmer types ln our group. They
I/O typewriter, will pay up to help over the bumps."
$500. He has an RO-70, and would
llke to hear trom AOe members who Oore and Keyboard
have data terminals suoh that pro-
grams and data could be traded via Steve Wiebking (910 Plea.ure Park,
a Data-Phone type setup. San Antonia, Texas 78227) writes:
Oore Electronics; Software Needed "I have nine of the 409S-word ~
40-bit core-memory units that Gary
Sal Zuccaro (2116 Athens Ave., Simi, Forbes was selllng about two year.
Oallt. 93065) "rri tes, in' part: ago. One has a slngle burned-out
lnhlbit line; the rest are probably
"'or the local member who may have usable on all bit., although I have
a 4K core stack, I have a number not trled any of them. The stack i.
ot sets ot Ampex R.F.S memory el- mounted on a plug-in unit wlth
eotronics boards (2). The sets are space tor 19 PO card.. The whole
complete tor 18 or 36 bits, expand- unit is about 12x12x4 inohes and
able to 20 or 40 bits. Stack and has tour 50-pln connectors on the
diodes are all that's needed. Oycle back. I have enough pa cards tor
time is 900 nsec, but may be used about 3 unlts. C~ds wll1 go to
at slower timing. I think the sets flrst buyers at $80/staok Whloh
are worth $50 each, and any local is what I paid tor them. f also
who uses one car. test his unlt have one ot the Univao keypunoh
here on my eqUipment. keyboards that I would 11ke to sell
tor $20; the oase has a slight crack. 1t
flRedcor Oomputer busted and I, the
greatest sorounger at all time, Trouble with 8223 ROMs'
just happened to be on hand and
out of work. I have a complete Steve Wlebking al.o wrote: "I may
data-prooessing center in operatlon be able to help Bob Harrlngton,
and making money. I am pre.entl, who val havlng troubl e programming
on a tape operating system, and the 8223 ROMs (Nov. 1972 1••ue). I
only tlme is needed tor me to up- was havlng what I thlnk is probably
. grade to DO!. From Ampex, I pur- the same trouble programmlng some
ohased ten mas. memorie. ot 5 mil- ot the.e at work, untl1 I notioed
lion oore. eaoh. I plan to u.e that the program won't take unle ••
the.e on DOS, u.ing oore In.tead . there il a bypa•• oapaoitor aoro ••
of dlso. I have allot the He do 0» the l2.5v supply (put it olo.e to
sottware, Looally there are about the ROM) -- I was uling about 20uF."
a dozen senior-level types. who
have Hedoor systems in operation. Empty Tape Reel.,
We all share sottware and ha~are

Vol. III, No.7 -- Deo. 1973

Tom Orosley (14-3 Klng Arthur Ot., oommunity-group servioe. (helping
Northlake, Ill. 60164) askl if any- with mal1ing listl, aooounting and
one knows where he can get about 6 ~ other time-oonsuming clerical wort.;
?-inch-diameter empty tape reels, developing a network ot shared re-
for .-inoh tape, standard large souroes, information and oooper&-
hub, for use on h1s transports. t10n among many different groups),
eto. A Resouroe One member writel:
Modem Clrouit? "We deslre only sufflclent oommer-
clal ap~lioations to support our
Jim Hart, Jr. (101 N. 8 St., Mur- total operat10n." They would no
ray, Iy. 420?1) asks: "Does any- doubt welcome asslstanoe from any
body have a cheap and dlrty aoous- local AOS members ln keeping the
tlc modem clrcult," 940 in shape and 1n other oomputer
and eleotron1c projeot.. (Accord-
(Jim has qult working tor NASA al lng to thelr flyer, One is a "oom-
a physiclst and is now going to munity of 200 artists, craftsmen,
medical school.) teohnloians and ex-professiona11,
llv1ng, working and sharlng their
Info on a Jabrl-tek Oore MemorY? skills in a converted 5-story
warehouse in the eouth-ot-Market
Gene Wltherup eRn 4, Bloomsburg, area.")
Pa. 1?8l5) asks: "Would any reader
have information about Fabri-tak
core, model 3509 (Rev. C)? Thls ls IN PRINT
a 16K-byte core with pulse trans-
formers and diode clrcuitry lntact, . Computer Terminal
and so far I haven't seen any cir-
cuits using pulse transtormers in An artio1e by Don Lancaster, "TV
the address llnes." Typewr1ter " 1n the Sept. 1973
Radio-Electron1cs (p 43-43, 30-51)
Working on Computer Mus1c' delcr1bes a conltruction proJeot
for a oomputer terminal us1ng a TV
Ned L~in (Box 269, Fairfax, Cal. set for ORr display. Oomplete con-
94930) writes: "Would llke to hear structlon details are ava1lable ln
from others worklng on computer a l6-page booklet (which lnolude.
musio proJ eots. '4e wlll need soft- the orlglnal artiole) tor $2.00
ware help or collaboratlon per- from: TV. Typewriter, Rad10-Eleo-
hapl." Ned plans to buy a Nova 2/ troniol, 45 East l? St., New York,
10 or PDP-ll/40, "depends on funds." N.Y. 10003.
Parts are available from Southwest
COMMUNITY-GROUP OOMPUTER Teohnical Products: 5 PC boardl
for $32.75, keyboard for .18.'15. A-
Resouroe One (1380 Howard St., San set of .emiconduotors wl1l oo.t
Franc1sco,·Ca11f. 94103) 1s a non- about $50.
protit commun1ty group to whioh
has been donated an XD8-940 time- Radlo-E1eotron1cs may be running
sharing computer Iystem. ProJeots an art101e in a oouple ot month.
ln planning lnolude ullng the oom- on a 11mple computer to go with the
puter for health care (accountlng, TV termlnal, which generate. and
bl1l1ng and stat1st10al reportl store. 512 oharaoterl, arranged al
for community 011n1ol; developing 16 11nes of 32 ralter-soan dot-
1nformat1on systems ulab1e by c11- matrlx oharaoterl each. Any key-
n10. 10 1mprove and evaluate their board wl11 work with this terminal,
serv10es to hea1th-oare oonlumerl), provid1ng lt can generate 7 bitl
Vol. III, No.7 -- Deo. 197~
 The Amateur Oamputer Sooiety 11 laton, whlle wlth the A1r Force ln
open to all Who are interelted Phoenlx, Arizona worked 1n an
in building and operating a dig- electronic I lurpius store that
ltal computer that can at lealt bought and 101d computer partl'
pertorm automatic multiplioation dumped by the GE Salvage Operation.
and divilion, or is 01" a compar- Forbel, an old trlend,lent hill
able oomplexity. ' $800 to buy three tape drivel, a
For membership in the ACS, and controller, a typewr1ter and some
a subscription of at lealt eight oircuit boardl. Later Eaton bought
issues of Volume III of the NewI- a GE 645 Series line printer, the
letter, send $5 (or a oheok) to: I/O control, and other oomponentl
St ephen B. Gray tor t800. Later came 32K (36-blt-
Amateur Oomputer Society word) of memory tor $800.
260 Noroton Ave.
Darien, Oonn. 06820 Out of the Air Force in 1970, Eaton
The ACS Newaletter will appear bought a 6~5 CPU tor $350. A tully
every two months or 10. operational 12iOOO line/min prlnter
wal '750. A tu 1 set of cables tor
ot TTL-compatibl. ASOII code, and the 645 was 12 cents a pound, or
had a keypressed output that is $200 in all. :
normally high and drops to ground . ~'

When a key is pressed. Eaton and Forbes boUght a:Datanet

CRT terminal tor $500 and 32K more
Oon.ervative Design word. 01" memor,y tor $300. Forbel
took a job in Phoenix to be clole
Elmer Beaohley (Penn.), commenting to the lIstore" and Eaton qult hil
on the "Oomputer Teohnicl~'. Hand- job to spend tull time on aSlem-
book" by Brioe traM (June 1971 bling a .ystem. Using Eaton's
newiletter), saYI "I have tound wite'l salary and Forbes' salary,
that many commercial loh,matiol they bought all the ml •• lng power
are more conservatively de.lgned lupplle., 641 wordl more of oore,
than ls nece.sary for the amateur, and a 50X-byte GE DSU 204 dille
who usually must .acritioe relia- subly.tem. The oomp1ete programming
bility tor co.t. In thil relpeot, tor the 6.5 wal tound being sold
1ndultry deslgns can be milleading.' tor sorap .paper and sorap tape.
cgPUt er in a Cornti eld Eaton and Forbes are looking tor
"a buyer, a backer, a proposall..
Page one of Computerworld for Oct. anything in the torm 01" money.R
3, 1973, hal an artiole tltled "In They claim the aystem is total11
Hooller Cornfield Ri.e •••• a Com- compatible with another 645 or 635.
puter'!" and it startl: LIBERTY, The last quote trom Eaton: "We
Ind. - In the mlddle of a oorn- don't oare who bUYI it; we know
field, outside thil IleepT town 01" if bought trom GI the sYltem would
2,000, sits an old conorete barn.
Rented by two men tor ,50/mo, the
OOlt more than '2
ml1l10n. Atter
81x yearl lt would be nloe to get
, barn houses a $2 milllon oomputer some mone1 and stop living in a
IYltem they built tor .20 000 oornfle1d ln Indiana.-
from lurplul and sorounge! hard-
ware oomponent. and lottware.o . Your COPlPuter'
oheap ''It mlght al well have been
tree."" If 10U haven't written to the £0.
about your oomput6r, send detal11.
'!'he two men are Bl11 Eaton and
Gary rorbe., both AOS memberl. OOP7!'lgb1lj f."S by Stephen B.' dNi
Vol. III, No. ? -- Deo. 1973 e .Jil.£.1iL11WILI!1'IR
 ~NEWSLETTER
WANG Volume III" Number a
PATENTS a publloatlon of the (Serlal Issue 31)
AMATEUR COMPUTER SOCIm'Y Maroh 1974

WANG PATENTS tails on a tape-reader-contro1led

caloulator. Also, patent 3,474.437
The July 1969 Newsletter oarried of Oct. 21, 1969, "Scanned Display
an item about the basl0 patent on Device," and patent 3,449,555,
the ingenious 10garithml0 oirouit "Parallel Binary to Binary Coded
used in the Wang oaloulators. Decimal and Einary Coded Deoimal
to Binary Converter Utilizing Cas-
Cdr. Lyle Pellook, baok from duty oaded Logio Blooks," are informa-
in Vletnam, has been researohing tive. Patent 3,474,437 includes a
Wang patents. He is now statloned schematic of the system along with
in Washington, so "getting to the oomponent values."
Patent Offloe ls no problem." His
first letter: Later: "The Patent Offioe has an
exoe11ent cross-referencing system
"Patent 3,402,285 of Sept. 17 (just like a library). All you
1968, "Caloulating Apparatus, ~ need is one of the following: pat-
gives the basic theory of the Wang ent, inventor, app11cation serial
log generation system, replete number (prior to patent issuance),
with examples. Patent 3.428.950 of or assignee. I am not sure if \fang
Feb. 18, 1969, "Pro~ramrnable Cal- 1s corning out with any new patents;
oulating Apparatus, gives details however, the P.O. is tight-lipped
on the Wang card reader. Patent on pending applications."
3,509.329 of April 28, 1970, "Cal-
ou1ator, Ii i8 very detailed and in- Letter 3: "Made another trip to
oludes many logic diagrams and the Patent Office and found the
logic flow diagrams. There are 47 latest aSSigned to :'lang. In my ex-
sheets of drawings and 17 pages of perience (limited though it is),
text. 14hile I have not cheoked it it is kinda rare to get so detail-
out completely, it would appear ed a patent (3,727,201, April 10,
that there is more than enough de- 1973 "Information storage Sys-
tail to allow building a similar tem"); i.e., complete with core
systeu. All in all, a very good part numbers, current levels, ao-
buy for 50¢. [To get a copy of a cess time, et a1. Another recent
patent, send the number and 50¢ to Wang patent discusses an automated
the Corn.cissioner of Patents, ',\I'ash- braided ROM wiring machine which
ington, D.C. 2023l.J Patent 3,5ll~ I'm sure matches 3,727,201. The
974 of 1.1ay 12 1970, II Automatioa1.LY wire size 8u~gested in the automa-
Controlled Caiculating Apparatus," ted 100m was 28-32 AWG.
is a further expansion of 3,402,
285 and disousses oard programming. "Also enclosed is the foreward pa~e
Patent 3,524,970 of Aug. 18, 1970, from a Harch 1973 NAVELEX (Naval -
"Automatioally Controlled Caloula- E1eotronic Systems Command) pub11-
ting Apparatus," is a continuation cation. Volume I (of the Digital
of 3,428,950. It gives details of Computer SYstems Handbook) would
interfacing more than one card not be too useful to ACSers. Vol.
reader. Patent 3,573.746, "Calcu- II uses the Fabri-Tek Bi-Tran Six
lating System, II also continues 3, Educational Computer [described
428,950 and subjects as branching in the Aug. 1966 NeWSletter] as
and looping. Patent 3.594,734 of the funotional desoription vehicle,
July 20, 1971, "Programcable Cal- and covers the 6-bit, 30-instruo-
culator," gives logic-diagram de- tion machine in great detail (func-
tional logio). I feel Vol. II Deo. '73 patent assigned to H-P
would make a worthwhile addition uses a reoiroulating shift regis-
to a teohnioal library. I have ter concept for store/reoall. Very
noted the Gov't Printing Office detailed, down to the logic-element
stock number (0859-0010) and the level, but only for addition, store,
price ($3.25). reoall, enter, and sign change. A
good start for a simple desk cal-
"My latest job involves daily culator. 3,676.656, "E1eotronio Di-
contact with all facets of ship- gital Slide Rule. Ii This is a very
board naval eleotronic equipments, interesting devioe, assigned to G.
inoluding, for example, NTDS, AN! E. [see the Feb. 1970 Newsletter,
UYK-7, AN1UYK-13, AN!UYK-15, etc. p 6 1. uses a pUlse-rate generator
I am evaluating available infor- and decimal rate multiplier to
mation on Navy-used oomputers to generate multiplication, division,
see which ~.,ay I want to go. The squaring, square root, addition,
one problem with these computers subtraction, exponential, loga-
is that, exoept for what i8 call- rithm, sine and cosine. The idea
ed the mini-UYK (AN!UYK-15), the is a replacement for your slip-
machines are big. I am still look- stick, with inputs and answers to
ing at the Wang method, and may 4 significant figures. The patent
settle for a relatively simple is very detailed, down to the lo-
programmable pseudo-calculator. II gic-device level, complete with
recommended devices such as 7490,
Letter 4: "I made another trip to 9307, and B-4021 Nixie tubes. Might
the Patent Office and can bring just build one and thro~! away my
you up to date on Wang. 3.760,171, K&E. 3,766.370, "Elementary Float-
"Programmable Calculators Having ing Point CORDIC Function Proces-
Display Means and Multiple Memo- sor and Shifter." This Oct. '73
ries." This Sept. '73 patent ad- patent, assigned to H-P, has got
dresses the Model 700 calculator to be the best 50¢ bargain around:
and discusses the internal program- 233 pages of diagrams, complete
ming. Additionally mentions 3,727, with logic-device identification
201 (see previous letter) as cov- (including pin aSSignment), parts
ering the ROj 1 of the calculator
J values, etc. This embodiment of the
composed of 2048 43-bit words. CORDIC technique (see the article
3,754,631, "Positioning Typewrit- by Volder in the Sept. 1959 IRE
er. Ii This Aug. '73 patent disclos- Trans. on Electronic Computers,
es the liang r.lodifications to a pp 330-334) is designed to inter-
Selectric to allow its use, pri- face with the H-P Model 2115/2116
r.larily as an output device for minicomputer and thereby generate
graph plotting, etc. 3.470.542, up to triple preCision on 20 func-
llModular Systems Design. II Busing tions. 3,??8,?75, "Microprogrammed
techniques, probably used in their Terminal. it This Dec. '73 patent,
old Model 4000 series. However, assigned to Computek, discusses a
the details would have further ap- microprogrammed, alphanumeric,
plications. 3! 567.911, "Sensor for single-bus computer display termi-
Punched Cards," Details on the nal.
Wang card reader, whose basic con-
cept is that of a non-moving card "Enough on patents. I have just
with multiple contacts for reading. about completed the implementation
into TTL of Wang's 3,509,329 but
Non-Wang Patent, am hung up on a ROM problem. Need
three 256 X 4-bit-word ROMs from
I have also found some interesting 8223's by oascading to reduce
non-l!J'ang patents. 3.781.820, "Port- parts count. A ~ problem that
able Electronic Calculator." This has so far consumed untold hours
Vol. III, No. a -- Maroh 1974 2 ~NEWSLETTER
 (and all to save a few bucks -- I the standard card set plus card
guess it's the challenge that this ohassis (with oonsole switohes,
pastime is all about). The other oard sockets, I/O and power con-
option is to use 353 2-input ANDs neotors), separate power supply;
and some ORs. Well, 11m still work- $79,5 in k1 t form, $950 assembled.
ing on the problem. These ROMs are The 8H deluxe computer has 4086
used to calculate In, • In (tor w,ords of RAM memory, and a higher-
square root) and 2 In 1for x2 ), in rated power supply; $1400 in kit,
accordance with the basic WANG me- $1600 assembled. The memory oan be
thod. I have also replaced the expanded to 16K words, for about
core memory described with 74S9 $2760 more.
RAMs, which is one heck of a lot
cheaper (there I go again trying Peripherals include osoillosoope
to save bucks) and simpler. I have alphanumerio 1nterfaoe (requires
been through a couple of itera- a scope with a bandWidth of 5 MHz
tions of the design (more than one or more), $200 kit; aud10 oassette
to correct mistakes) but don't be- tape unit interfaoe, $100 kit; and
lieve I have minimized parts count an ASCII keyboard (reoonditioned,
yet. For example, I decided to less oase), with 1nterfaoe, $100.
standardize on NAND logic, i.e., The bit-ser1al 1nterfaoe for a 33
the 7400, but an OR application Teletype 1s $50 without relay for
would be a lot easier (and oheap- tape reader, $75 ,.ri th relay.
er?) with a 7402 and I do have a
lot of OR/NOR needs." The SCELBI-SH is a "fully program-
mable machine having a basio in-
struction set of 48 instruotions,
TF.E NE\-lEST PDF-8 w1th var1at1ons of these •.• allow-
ing approximately 170 different
The latest DEC uinicomputer 1n the instruct10ns."
PDP-8 l1ne 1s the PDf-S/A, $895
eaoh, or $537 in quantities of The machine has one full acoumula-
1000. The 8/A has ROM, RAM and tor and s1x add1tional temporary
p/ROM memory options, a 1.5-useo reg1sters. The CPU program counter
oyole time, and is hardware and 1s on a seven-level pushdown staok
software compatible with the ear- allow1ng subrout1ne nest1ng to
l1er S/E, 8/M and 8/F models. seven levels. All e1ght output and
s1x 1nput ports are fully TTL com-
pat1ble. The SCELBI-SH is 10 1nches
COl4FUTER KIT w1de, 9.5 h1gh, 12 deep.
A rnodular computer kit has been Instruct10ns require 3 to 11
offered sinoe late last year by IIstates" and a typical instruction
BOELBI Computer Consulting (125 requires about 5 states (20 mioro-
Edgef1eld Ave., Iv1ilford, Conn. seconds) to execute.
06460 ).
SeELBI has a "w1de range of pro-
The PC oards can be bought separa- grams and software support for the
tely, or 1n combinations. The 8H and SCELBI-developed peripheral
SCELEI-SH starter set of five interfaces. 1I Programs now available
cards -- CPU, DBB (data bus but- include program loaders, memory
fer) and output, input, front- dumps, and CRT display programs.
panel oard, and RAM card (256 S- Editor and assembler programs and
bit words) -- is $440. One step up a ~sophisticated calculator pack-
1s the 8H standard oard set, with age" are being developed. The pro-
1024 words of RAM memory; $565. grams cost about $5 to $20; a list-
The standard computer oonsists of ing ot the calculator program
~NEWSLETTER 3 Vol. III, No. 8 - March 1974
(with 2K of oore) is $50; the ob- eaoh, will sell at $1.00 eaoh.
jeot ooding is $20. A program is
available for assembling SH pro- Ron also has "a note on my Intel
grams on a PDP-8. a008 oomputer. Prooeeding slowly
but aure hope to be running soon.
SCELSI stands for Soientific, Currently debugging the solid-
Eleotronio and Biologioal. state console ' uses only touch
switohe. and i EDs. It anyone is
interested, will give them my oir-
MORE ON THE PDP-8/A; THE MPS oui t tor it. Works quite nioely."
The $875 unit prioe for the DEC TV Typewriter as TTY Subst1tute?
S/A includes 1000 words of MSI
mecory. There are optional incre- Dick snyder (621 Old Colony Terraoe,
ments of 2K and 4K in RAM; lK, 2K Tiverton, R.I. 02878) asks "Do you
and 4K in ROl-1; and lK and 2lC in know of anyone who has modified one
p/ROM. Frices for these have not of the Radio-Eleotronios TV type-
yet been established. Maximuc mem- writers to use with a oomputer as
ory for the a/A is 32lC words. a,Teletype substitute?"
Computers have beoome cheaper than Memory Chips
a few K of mecor,y. The' 8/E, for
instanoe, is now ;4490 with its William Ivt1 tohell (39 Rookfield
initial 4K; an additional 4K costs Cres., Ottawa, Ont. K2E 5L6, Cana-
$2500. It will be interestin~ to da) writes: "Atter a year of nego-
see what prioes DEC puts on a/A tiation, I am finally able to offer
memory. "production drop-out" memory ohips
to ACS members. Both 2102 RAM and
Also new at DEC is the ~~S micro- 1702 PROM units are available. The
prooessor series, an a-bit MOS/LSI 2102 is a 1024-word by l-bit MOS
processor for the low end of the static RAM; single +5V supply, di.,
controls market. Based on the In- reotly TTL compatible, fully de-
tel a008 ohip, the MFS has 48 data- coded, l6-lead DIP. Typical access
oriented instructions, RAM memory time is 500 nseo, but this may be
with inorements of lK words, up to one of the reasons for rejeotion.
4K 'Words, FROM with maximum storage
up to 4K words. Price is less than "The 1702 is a 256-word by 8-bit
$750 eaoh, with lK RAM. Applioa- programmable ROM, requiring +5 and
tions include intelligent termi- -9V. Typioal oyole time is 1.0 useo;
nals, prooess oontrol, and dedica- TTL oompatible.
ted controllers on industrial ma-
chinery. liThe prioe for the units is $11.00
per pair for the 2102's and $11.00
,eaoh for the 1702's, postpaid, and
THE TRADING POS'!' & HELP WANTED including Federal Sales Tax.
Core MemorY, Sense Aops "Beoause the 1702's are rather dif-
ficult to program without the pro-
Ron Carlson (7333 West 90 St., per eqUipment, I am prepared to
Los ~geles, Calif. 90045) has a perform this operation for an ad-
4K X 14-bit oore stack with driver ditional 82.50 per unit provided
transformers and reSistors, mounted that the required bit pattern is
in a 19-inoh oard oage ready tor supplied on punohed oards, ooded
timing, sense and driver cards; in hexadeoimal, 2 oolumns per word
$75 or trade. Also, 29 SN7529N and 32 words per card, it w1l1 re-
dual sense amps by fl, cost #1.59 quire only 8 oards. Use oolumns 73-
Vol. III, No. 8 -- Maroh 1974 4 ~NIWSLETTER
80 for a serial number so they will which I have been making additions.
be in the right order, and double- Right now I am working on the mem-
check your coding as I can only ory addition; then will come the
provide what is asked for. An ao- CRT, second TTY, and mag tape.
ceptable alternate layout tor the Even with only the original 256
card is to separate each pair ot words of memory, I have enj~yed
digits by a space for better writing programs for the Kenbak-l,
checking, an~ using col. 1 to 72 such as a line-by-line text editor
as required. tor the TTY; games (e.g., Nim)j
and a Turing machine simulator.
"If I get a chance I will try to After adding the 21 of memory, al-
run sorne tests on the units before lowing muoh larger programs, I
shipping, but the samples provided still don't feel the slow cycle
to date have been operable as re- time will be a drawback; since
presented. I'm busy designing my most of my applications will be
own cocputer around them, as you TTY-oriented, most of my programs
might imagine. II . will still be I/O-bound.
Later: "I have confirmed that the "I would be interested in corres-
units meet all spec. tests except ponding with anyone else who has
for cycle time: the 2102's operate a Kenbak-l and has made or is
between 1 and 3 usec, while the thinking of making additions to it."
1702's are between 1 and 2 usec."
NRI Computer Kit Manual
Selling, BUYing
Robert ,..,. Kelley (5806 Mt Terminal
Michael Guerre (204 Faxon St., Dr., \'{aco, Texas 76710) writes
Spring Valley, Calif. 92077) has that the NRI 832 computer refer-
these tor sale: "one Clary 703 ence manual 10KX once available
programmer without keyboard; this from National Radio Institute (see
is an 8-level paper-tape punch op- the Sept. 1972 issue) is no longer
erating at 20 cps; removable diode available; he would like to buy or
matrix board; $30. One Geotech buy a copy. Note: NRI has dropped
24888/14R magnetic tape head, 14- plans to sell a wired 832 separate
track, I-inch, used about 2/3 life
J
from the course.
left, $5. One FL Flexowriter, mis-
sing part of tape reader, needs Wants IEEE 'and ACM Publications
some work done; .55. Buyer pays
postage, or picks up. Al Marshall (412 Oakwood, Angola,
Ind. 46703) would like to obtain:
"I am looking for: keyboard (non- IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics
mechanical); printer, alphanumeric, Vol 1, #3; IEEE Trans on Computers
any type; incremental cassette tape Vol 20, #4 & #8; ACM Comm Vol 15,
drive; technical manuals (schema- #1 thru #6; ACM J, Vol 16 #4, Vol
tiCS, operation, etc.) for any of 17 #3 & #4. Al adds: "For others
these computers: IME 86 SR, Unicom who may be missing issues, I found
CP-8, Applied Systems 1100 and some extras and I have some I'm
Home-Eo VIIi Autonetics RECOMP (CP- not going to keep. Drop me a line
266), H-P 2 14 and 9100 A or B.u if you have a hole in your collec-
tion.1I
\1b.o Has a Ken bak-l ?
IBM 705 for Bale
Tom Crosley (14-3 King Arthur Ct.,
Northlake Ill. 60164) writes: "My Willis H. Hard writes: "Although I
computer is basically a Kenbak-l have never seen your publication,
[see the Nov. 1971 Newsletter], to I have been intormed by some ot my
~NEWBLErTER 5 Vol. III, No. a -- Maroh 1974
 The Amateur Computer Soo1ety is Mark Messinger (New York) sent
open to all who are interested oopies of several artioles: "Low-
in building and operating a d1g- speed modems are easy to design"
1tal oomputer that can at least (Electron1c Design, Sept. 2, 1971,
perform automat10 mult1plioat1on pp 50-52); "Design pruning trims
and division, or is of a oompar- oosts of data model" (Eleotronics,
able oomplexity. July 20, 1970, pp 99-101); "Build
For membership in the ACS, and your own acoustic coupler" (Elec-
a sUbscription of at least eight tronic Design, Mar. 1, 1969, pp
issues of Vol. III of the News- 68-73) •
letter, send $5 (or a check) to:
Stephen B. Gray Jim Knock writes from IllinOis, 1n
Amateur Computer Society part: "Another possibly useful
260 Noroton Ave. piece of information is the pro-
Darien, Conn. 06820 duct description available from
The ACS Newsletter will appear Exar Integrated Systems, 750 Falo-
everY' two or three months. mar Ave., Sunnyvale, Calif. 94086,
on the XR-2l0 FSK ~odulator/demod­
associates that, despite its rath- ulator. I belleve there are co~­
er small circulation, it does panies sel11ng modem kits for some-
reach many dedicated amateurs. thing in the range of $50. Ads can
be round in occasional issues of
"I have just decommissioned my IBM EDN, Eleotron1c Design, Computer
705 computer and put it in storage Deslgn, and Eleotronics. There are
pending its sale. Since it is a a lot of different considerations:
first-generation computer, it is frequencies, switchable speeds,
unlikely to be sold to a commer- number of bits per charaoter, ohar-
cial user because of its cost of acter representations of speoial
operation and maintenanoe. There- oharacters, etc. One should also
fore, I would like to offer it to be aware of the faot that the typ-
a more receptive group of poten- ioal ham RTTY setup i8 distinctly
tial buyers through your journal. dlfferent from what is generally
used in the field surrounding dig-
"The system consists of a 705 CPU ital oomputer communications.
w1th a 40K-byte core (7 bits per
byte), a console (including type-
writer), 745 power supply, and a INTEL 8080 CHIF
card reader. It also contains a
754 tape-oontrol unit and eight Intel's new NMOS 8080 microproces-
727 tape decks (I just sold 2 of sor is an improvement on the PMOS
the original 10 to an amateur who 8008, with a 2-usec instruotion
is going to convert them to solld oycle and 74 basic instructions
state). The system is for sale as (26 more than the 800a). The 8080
an entity or by the plece, and my can address up to 65K bytes of
address is: P.O. Eox 1132, Canoga memory without an external address
Park, calif. 91304." register. It oan perform double-
preoision arithmetio, in BCD and
binary, and costs ~360 for 1 to 24.
IN PRINT For a TTL I/O interface, the 8080
requires six ICs; the 8008 needed
Modem Circuits 20. The 8080 oomes in a 40-pin
paokage and operates from ~12 and
In response to Jim Hart's request ±5-volt supp11es. There are assem-
for "cheap and dirty aooustic modem blers, editors, and simulators.
cirouits" in the previous issue,
several members sent him info. Copyright 1974 by Stephen B. Gray
Vol. III, No.8 -- March 1974 6 ~NEWSLETTER
 ~NEWSLETTER
Volume III, Number 9
a publioation of the (Serial Issue 32)
AMATEUR COMPUTER SOCIETY June 1974

MARK-8 MINICOMPUTER KIT minimum Hark-8, with 256 8-bit

words, is about $300. The Mark-8
The July 1974 Radio-Eleotronios oirouits provide a basio capacity
has a short artiole (pp 29-33) on for up to 4 memory boards, for a
a minioomputer kit. As with the TV maximum of 4K words; however, by
Typewriter (see the Deo. 1973 News- adding external addressing de-
letter, page 5), a 52-page booklet coders, up to 16K words can be
oontaining the full details is addressed directly.
available, for $5.50 (plus 7$ tax
for New York State residents) from The Mark-8 is programmed in Intel
Radio-Eleotronios, Mioro-Computer, assembly language, which has 48
P.O. Box 1307, Radio City Station, instruotions for the 8008. There
New York .. N. Y. 10019. is an Intel user's group; member-
ship is obtained either by contri-
The Mark-8 is built around the buting software or by paying $100
Intel 8008 mioroprooessor and uses a year.
7400-series TTL ICs t plus the 1101
(or 1101A or 1101AlJ type 256-bit Add-ons are planned for later, and
~~ as memory. Register readout is include a modem, cassette-storage
by four groups of eight LEDs. interface, and a caloulator inter-
faoe.
A set of six PC boards costs $47.50
for the CPU, address latoh, input
multiplexer, lK memory, LED regis- COMPUTER BUILDERS ABROAD
ter display, and output ports. The
8008 from Intel is $120, but can The ACS Newsletter has been the
be had for $50 or so elsewhere. No inspiration for two foreign ones.
cabinet is available. The 1101 is },1ike Lord ran a letter in a British
available in quantity for about eleotronios hobby magaZine asking
$1.80 eaoh. Since the 1101 RAMs if anyone was interested in joining
are volatile memories, "information a computer club. I sent him oopies
stored in them will be altered or of this newsletter. In Maroh 1973
lost if the power is shut otf. If the Amateur Computer Club News-
you w'ant to save a program, leave letter appeared, with a first issue
the power on." looking very muoh like its American
cousin. However, by Vol 1 Iss 3, it
The six boards use a total of 74 had established its own identity,
ICs in the minimum 256-word ver- and included a cartoon, flowchart,
sion; for every additional lK of some "analogue computer't circuits,
memory, add 32 of the 1101 RAMs. a page on the game of Life, part
of a tutorial on cores, etc. The
The Mark-8 oan be used with the TV ACe Newsletter (7 Dordells, Basil-
typewriter or with the ASCII Key- don, Essex, England) appears every
board, the latter desoribed on page 2 to 3 months; Vol 1 is 5Op.
5 of this Newsletter.
Miohel Dreyfus, an ACS member, is
Aocording to the Mark-8's designer, president of the AFACO, founded
ACS member Jonathan Titus (see the this spring in France (42, rue de
May 1973 Newsletter, page 6), a la Barre, 95880 Enghien-les-Bains).
AFACO is the Assooiation Fran9aise tem One, and says: "The System One
des Aoateurs Construoteurs d'Ordi- is a nice silfiple machine for an
nateurs. The newsletter is entire- amateur to try in ICs. A word of
ly in Frenoh; the first issue de- caution: the Boolean logic equa-
soribes plans to establish oontaots tions for the Programmed Logic Ar-
between tho se who vlant to and those ray that are given in the documen-
who have built a oOI;1puter, publish tation have several errors. A ma-
basic artioles for beginners, pub- chine wired according to the plans
lish technical artioles on subjeots would neVer work. Even after the
such as cecory, peripherals, and errors had been oorrected, the re-
oomputing oirouits, publish the sulting machine would lack several
oharacteristics of new ICs, try to of the features (including tour
get ICs from canufacturers at low instructions and any type of pro-
cost or free, etc. There is a grammed I/O) advertised for the
brief note on memory, stating that System One. The designers obviously
this 1s the most difficult part of ran out of room in their PLA to im-
a computer to get working; a tew plement all that they had hoped for.
words about a Universal Computer All of this is on top of great in-
being built with a read-only sto- efficiencies in the implementation
rage, to use PL/l; circuit for a of the PLA logic. Also, the diagram
5-volt power supply; 3 pages de- of the memory timing board was
scribing the "Maohine Originale ocitted."
Nucerique et Logique," a paper
ciorooomputer. No subscription
price is given for the AFACO news- ADDING TO THE KENBAK-l
letter, which the founders intend
to issue every two months. The Tom Crosley writes from Illinois:
AFACO is rather optimistio, declar- uTo the basic Kenbak-l, so far have
ing that "Building a computer is added interrupt system plus real-
relatively simple; simpler, perhaps, time clook (1 second interrupt); am
than building an electronic organ."" just oompleting a full duplex TTY
controller (at first I used serial
I/O for the TTY); am adding a pag-
SYSTE=:H ONE COMPUTER KIT ing register to seleot one of (in-
itially) 16 l28-word pages (only
The System One computer kit, men- in etfect tor addresses 204-376;
tioned in the Feb, 1973 Newsletter the lower addresses -- and all re-
(page 4) is no longer available. gisters in memory -- will be avail-
The company marketing it, EPD (En- able independent of the page regis-
vironmental Products Glenwood ter), Am making use of the "don't
Springs, Colo. 81601~, has gone out oare" bits of the NOP instruotion
of business. Rights to publish the to add 15 I/O instructions whioh
User Teohnical Notes (see the Sept. will be single word (data set up
1972 Newsletter, page 6) '<{ere in registers)." Tom will be using
bought by Teohnical Publications a TV Typewriter as a CRT terminal,
Corp., Box 954, same town; plans and two mag-tape transports.
are to publish them more often.
TPC plans to bring out a System THE TRADING POST & HELP WANTED
Two computer kit, with solid-state
mer:lory, half the number of ICs, CRAM. Transports. Core. Eto.
and at about the same price.
Buster Killion (2773 N. Winrock,
Jim Gaudreault ot Haryland writes Altadena, Calit. 91001) writes:
that he bought the plans for a SYs- '(1) Since live aoquired other
Vol. III, No. 9 -- June 1974 2 .JAl..QJSL NEl.,SLEl'TER
equ1pment, I no longer need my 214. For historical buffs, the
CRAM [see the Deo. 1973 Newsletter, ENIAC is patent 3,120,606, and the
page 3J and I am ask1ng only $100 Univac 1 had patent 31 784,983 is-
so I oan get the storage spaoe sued Jan. 8, 1974 -- ~2 years after
baok. (2) S01ent1fic Data Systems 1t was f1led. II
(Xerox) dual cartr1dge drive (two
cartridge drives in one 19-inch B008 for $50
rack utg) minus plug-in oards but
with some dooumentation, $100. steve Wiebking writes from Texas
(3) NCR thermal printer, 80 ohar-- that there was an ad in 1973 offer-
aeters per line, a~-inch wide pa- ing the 8008 for $50, by B111 God-
per (TTL state of ~he art), $250. bout Electronics, Box 2673, Oakland
(4) Maroon1 "IBM card" reader, Airport, Calif. 94614.
about 400 cpm, $75. (5) Ampex TM-4
transport deck, i-inoh 7-traok, Equipment Source
sans head and vacuum assembly, $50.
Gary Colemen writes from Ohio: "I
Also I have brand-new Ampex 850- have finished wiring up oy CPU for
nseo core staoks, 18-bit x 4K my little machine. Big deal, 15
words, $35 eaoh. And I purohased oh1ps. I have found that ham con-
the IBM 727's from the other ama- ventions are great sources of cheap
teur that \.,11118 Hard mentioned in equipment. I bought an IEM I/O type-
the last Newsletter and would like wr1ter at one for $50 in perfeot
some help, 1f anybody has any dia- oondit10n. "
grams for head R/\~ electron1cs I
can build for these mach1nes. Also D1so Controller Designs?
I have some Century Data floppy-
disc drives model 127 sans head & OWen Pha1r1s (1908 12th St. Apt 1,
eleotronios for $75 eaoh." Santa lvIonica, Cal1f. 90405) says:
"I am work1ng on a l6-b1t maoh1ne
Core Searoh & Patents and I have a Memorex 630A d1sc
dr1 ve fa r 1t as well as two IBM
Stephen E. Flocke (1407 Croyden 727 mag-tape un1ts. Estimate one
Rd., Lyndhurst, Oh10 44124) wr1tes: year before completion. '. Tould be
very 1nterested 1n designs for a
"I'm 1n the process of building a disc oontroller."
l6-b1t m10roprogrammed machine w1th
a small core memory. My only major ACS Data Net?
problem 1s f1nding some ferr1te
cores for a transformer-type read- Jim Hart (101 N. 8 St, l·!urray, Ky.
only memory. The type I'm 100k1ng 42071) wr1tes: "I have often been
for have about a ;-bY-i-1noh cross- frustrated by the need to ask the
sect10n core and about a one-square- ACS membership about small things
inoh open1ng. They were used 1n suoh as the availability of parts
some rope memories made at MIT 1n or 1nformation about a particular
the 1960's. circuit, while rea11zing at the
same t1me that these matters are
"I have been 100k1ng thru patents of too little consequenoe to be
for computers; the Cleveland Pub- oarr1ed 1n the Newsletter. In light
lio L~brary has a very complete of this, I would like to hear from
file. One th1ck one, 3,4001 371, has ACS meobers who would be 1nterested
the IBM 360/30 oomplete wi~h mioro- 1n des1gning a rather loosely organ-
program and 1nternal 10g1c diagram~ ized data net to function as a read-
The Interdata Model 2, complete 11y aooess1ble "bulletin board" for
with mioroprogram listing is 3,675, ACe members. The equipment could be

~NEWSLETTER 3 Vol. III, No. 9 -- June 1974

fairly simple: a 100-wpm modem and can supply these for less. A copy
a mas-tape transport on a ded.1oa- of the Want 720 service manual can
ted telephone number. Ideally, also be obtained from me. "
auoh a facility would be acoessible
to someone with a bare minimum of Disk Heads?
equipment, and ,...ould be intelligent
to take care of itself most of the Don Tarbell (144 Miraleste Dr.,
time. Miraleste, Calif 90732) ~Trites:
"I just got my disk operating sys-
"The cost of construotion and tem going good, and it really
maintenanoe of suoh an installa- helps out in program development.
tion, given a little ingenuity in I also have a simple version of
the design, could be made quite BASIC going, and a modem has been
small and could be borne in sever- added to the system. I 'trlas ,,,onder-
al ways, inoluding a subsoription ing if anyone knows where I could
fee or, better, a small fee for get a set of 2311 or 23l4-type
posting "for sale" nbtioes. disk heads. I would like to experi-
ment with that kind of drive, as
"It should be emphasized that such it would allow me more storage ca-
a facility would in no way diminish pacity.
the importance of the Newsletter.
Instead, it should augment it by "In response to Dick Snyder's
serving as a medium for oommunica- question I have a direct memory
I

ting items of limited interest and channel operating on my computer

notioes of short-lived interest for the disk drive. I will soon be
which the time-frame of the News- adapting it to an IBM 727 tape
letter publication makes it im- drive, which a friend of mine has
practical to carry. converted to solid-state. The
channel operates thus: index regis-
"For the present, at least, I don't ter 3 is f1rst loaded (by the pro-
have the time or the resources to gram) with the block starting ad-
aot as prime mover in suoh a pro- dress; X5 is then loaded with the
ject, but I would enthusiastically block length; an instruction (blook
give what help and support I could transfer) is then given to write;
to any person or group that cared the disk interface counts the num-
to undertake, or at least to study, ber ot liS, module 256, and attaches
a project of this sort. I feel it this 8-bit byte on the end of the
would be of benefit to all of us." blook; for a read, the same regis-
ters are loaded, and the read-block
Interdata 7(16 command is given; after the data is
transferred into core, the last
Dave Vednor (14914 D Newport Av,e., byte (check) 1s automatically put
Tustin, Calif. 92680) writes: III into the upper half of the l6-bit
have purohased five Interdata 7/16 acoumulator; the lIs counter, whioh
CPU's at work. If any members are also oounts during a read, is then
interested, I have sets of sohema- read into the lower half of the AC,
tics for the CPU, memory, and many and the two halves oompared for the
of the interfaoes, and most of the check. A separate CHECK~BLOCK in-
software (BOSSL DOS, RTOS, assem- struotion 1s used for oheoking the
blers, Basic, b'ortran IV, eto.). blook integrity after a write with-
If any members are contemplating out altering core. It works the same
the purohase of a 7/16 or have as the READ-BLOCK, exoept oore is
done so, they should oontact me not tampered with. The main draw-
regarding hardware multiply/divide back to this system is that ooncur-
and memory parity options, as I rent I/O is not possible, as with a

Vol. III, No.9 -- June 1974 4 .J'i1.QJSLNEWSLETTER

cycle-steal type of DMA. This is prioe is $7.95 from Southwest Teoh-
beoause the program oounter is nioal Products, 219 ~lest Rhapsody,
"frozen" at the instruotion loca- San AntoniO, Texas 78216."
tion until the transfer is oom-
plete. However, this is no prob- lUsnamed Book
lem in my system, because my disk
data transfer speed is clpse to The "Handbook of Computer 111ainten-
the oycle time of my oomputer. As ance & Troubleshooting ll (Reston,
far as the error-detection soheme 366 pages, $18.00) shOUld really be
goes, I realize it is not fool- titled "Some Inforoation on Main-
proof, but has worked quite satis- taining & Troubleshooting Digital
factorily for me. If anyone is in- Ciroui ts in Mi11tary Systems." The
terested in more detail, or has first 100 pages are general, and
ideas, please feel free to write oould go into almost any book on
to me. II eleotronio maintenanoe. The maoh-
ines involved in later chapters
are not computers, but mainly the
IN PRINT digital oirouits in radar and other
military systems. There are compu-
TTL Cookbook ter-oriented chapters, but on prin-
ters, programming, and military
This is the title of the latest test eqUipment. The 39-page ohapter
book by a new ACS mecber, Don Lan- on troubleshooting is of some value,
oaster. Very little material is re- going into Boolean algebra, log10
peated froc Don's previous book, analysis, patterns and waveforms,
the "RTL Cookbook. 1. signal-tracing, and oscillosoopes.
After a chapter on the basics is Hiorooomputer Chips
an 84-page chapter on circuits,
with a page each on 77 TTL ICs, "Current lUorocomputer Arohitecture"
mostly 7400 and 74100 types. The by Holt and Lemas of Compata, in
next five ohapters are on: logio; Computer Design (Feb. 1974, pp 65-
gate and timer cirouits; clocked 73) disousses the recently intro-
logio; divide-by-N counters; and duoed miorocomputers. There is a
shift registers, noise generators ohart of the operat1onal charac-
and rate multipliers. The last teristics of seven of them (AMI
chapter, "Getting It All Together," 7300 and CKl14, Fa1rohild PPS-24,
desoribes suoh TTL applications as Intel 8080, National IMP-16, Rock-
a frequency counter, digital volt- well PPS, Signetics PIP), the blook
meter, digital taohometer, TV Type- diagrams of the 7300, CKl14, and
writer, eto., many of whioh are 8080, a disoussion of the oirouitry
available in kit form from Sl'ITP, of all seven, and a 35-itec b1blio-
which also has kits for TTL and graphy.
RTL breadboard labs.
There are various oirouits of in- HARDWARE
terest to ACS members, suoh as
Baudot-to-ASCII, keyboard enooder, ASCII Keyboard and Enooder
keyboard debounoer, readout dri-
vers, ASCII-to TTY-oode, eto. An artiole with this title, by Don
Lancaster, appeared in the April
The "TTL Cookbook" is $8.95 from 1974 Popular Eleotron1cs (pp 27-
sams, but Don writes that "South- 31). A oomplete kit of parts 1s
west has agreed to offer the text $39.50 from Southwest Teohnical Pro-
at disoount tor ACS members. The duots, and includes two MC789AP hex

~NEWSLETTER 5 Vol. III, No. 9 -- June 1974

 The Amateur Oomputer Sooiety is to $3500 with keyboard and CRT
open to all who are interested display, $1000 more for a high-
in building and operating a dig- speed printer. The printer rate
ital oomputer that oan at least is five lines per second, with
perform automatio multiplioation both upper and lower oase. ~'Ti th
and division, or is of a compar- its logio and memory oirouits, the
able oomple~ty. 40 permits editing text on the
For membership in the ACS, and soreen; when a word, line or let-
a subsoription to Vol. III of ter is erased, the spaoe is olosed
the Newsletter, send $5 to: up automatioally. And the 40 will
Stephen B. Gray store up to three 24-line pages of
Amateur Oomputer Sooiety text without external storage, as
260 Moroton Ave. well as formatted data.
Darien, Oonn. 06820
The AOS Newsletter will appear Add $2K of logio and memory, and
every two or three months. the 40 beoomes a stand-alone mini-
oomputer, although Teletype won't
inverter ICs, 20 lN9l4 diodes, 49 be going that route, leaving it to
keyswitohes and key tops, eto. The others.
user must supply the +5 volts. The
keyboard is assembled on a single Aoross the Counter
double-sided PO board. Details are
included for using a 1-1onsanto MDA- A variety of eqUipment is sold by
111 or MAN-2 as a single-oharacter Data Instrumentation Assooiates
readout. The text notes that "the (208 S. Pulaski st., E·altimore, Md.
keyboard oan be used as a computer 21223). They have test eqUipment
timesharing terminal, either in (soopes, oounters, generators),
oommeroial servioe or for home or power supplies, I~ and digital
school. The keyboard, with a sim- equipment (LGP-30, $250). IIA num-
ple parallel-to-series oonverter, ber of items are so oostly to paok
forms half an ASR-33 Teletype at that we offer them only on a piok-
a very reasonable oost." up basis, inoludine magnetio-tape
units. Open to the pUblio saturdays,
10 Digital Logio Memory Probe 9:30 to 5:00. 11
An artiole with this name (Popular 1964 Digital Oomputer Kit
Eleotronios, Mar. 1974, pp 33-35)
desoribes a penlite-size probe for Baok in the sixties there was a
oheoking 5-volt logio devioes. The oompany oalled the Tesla Researoh
indicators are three LEOs; the lOs Foundation, with offioes in Salt
are a 9601 used as a triggerable Lake City, Utah, and Phoenix, Ariz.
multivibrator, and a 7404. Puls~­ The manager was John Sehlmeier.
stretohing keeps the oenter LED on Tesla offered a variety of analog
for 200 ms, for pulses as short as and digital oomputer kits, plans
50 nseo, giving enough time to ob- for digital gadgets, and home-study
serve them. The top LED lights for oourses. The DI-Ta5 digital oomputer
logio 1, the bottom LED for logio cost $365 in kit form, $440 assem-
O. A SWitoh allows the oenter LED bled. The DI-TR5 used germanium-
to remain on permanently after a transistor NAND logio and diode ORs,
pulse. A kit of all parts is $17.5~ had 15 instruotions, and two regis-
ters. Input/output was with switohes
Teletype Model 40 and lamps. Does anybody know what-
ever happened to Tesla and/or Sehl-
A year ago, Teletype introduoed a meier. last heard from in 1964'
new terminal, the Model 40, $2500 Copyright 1974 by Stephen B. Gray

Vol. III, No. 9 -- June 1974 6 ~NEWSLETTER

 ~NEW8LETTER
IITS Volume 111:£ Number 10
• publio.tion of the (Seri.l Ilue 33)
AMAT:a:t1R COMPUTER SOCIETY November 197.

COMPUTER KITS puter kit (June 197. Newlletter),

with anlwera by the deligner, in-
Altair 8800 Computer lit oludlng oorreotlonl and explana-
tion., and alao a letter about
The Jan. and Feb. 1975 i.luel ot how to obtaln oertaln parts. There
Popular Eleotronio. will h.ve a i. allO an art101. on "comput.r
de.oriptlve artiole on the Altalr moditloation.," on how to lnor••••
8800 oomputer kit trom MITS l ba.ed the input capablllty up to 8 input
on the Intel 8080 ohip, an ~-blt­ ports and how to use an additional
word/l6-blt-address maohlne with 16 output oommands to g.nerate
78 lnstruotions. pulses for control.
The Jan. lssue wlll oover the 8397 SCELBE Computer Klt Prioe.
oomputer klt, whloh inolude. the
8080, 50 ICl t PC board., a oaae The prioe. of the SCELBE-8H modu-
(19 x 19 x 8/, swltohel, 36 L~, lar oomputer klta (Mar. 1974 Newl-
and 11 of memory. The oase 1. 3/4 le~ter) have been reduoed, due to
empty, but there are 17 oonneotorl ".ome improvement. in our manu-
on an I/O bu., for addlni memory faoturing .ftloienoy."
(651 words max) or I/O board •• The
oOltwlthout oase swltohes or The atandard oomputer klt i8 now
power supply ls '298; assembled $695; a'iembled, '750. The deluxe
and telted, $498. MITS wl11 send klt is now $1249; assembled #1295.
tree the etohing and drl11lng The oo.t ot expandlng the memory
gUide., oomponent-plaolng diagrama, to 16K worda, whioh was about
and mlso. lnto., tor a selt-addres- .2760 more, 11 now '2465 more.
sed at x 11 envelope wlth .o¢ post-
age on It. The CRT intertaoe and audlo-ca.-
sette intertaoe were avallable in
The Feb. PE issue wlll be about klts; now, alsembled and telted,
programmlng the 8800. Later ln the they are eaoh $25 more. The oas-
year will be the PI: "smart terml- sette-intertaoe IY·ltem is lald to
nal," wlth bullt-ln CRT, 32-oharao- be "remarkably reliable" with oa.-
ter., 16 llnea, 4 page., modem, and lette.reoorderl oosting $50 to ,75,
keyboard, tor about 1300 ln klt whloh do not have to be modltled.
torm. There are plan. to publlab
artiole. about a hard-oopy dev10e, !he SCELBI-SH Ulerls Manual (15.00)
a tloppy-diak memory, and the Cyo- aSlumel no knowledge ot oomputer.,
lopi CCD 1011d-Itate TV oamera th.t Itart. wlth 26 page. on ball0.,
oan be oonneoted to the 8800. tollowed by oh.pter. on the in.truo-
t10n .et, operatlng information, and
The oomplete OOlt ot an Altalr 8eoo on oonneoting »erlpheral ••
wl th 651 memory and the CRT t e!'JD1-
nal ls aald to be under $1500. MITS SCELBE now alao a.lll "unpopulated'
1a at 6328 Linn N.I:., Albuquerque, let. of oard., wlthout the 10.: the
New Mexloo 87108. tlve oard. alone for .135; .am.
wlth the ma.ter olock oircult in-
Kore on the Mark-8 Co.puter K1t It.lled, .149; and .0on up to the
••t w1th olook, 8008 IC, e1ght 1101
The Deo. +974 Radii-El~rOn10, RAM, inltalled, plU8 oh•••l. kit,
hal letter. abouthek-8 oom- tor .42&.
As for softwar., 24 programs are .yst.m oalled FRED (Flexible Reo-
now available, either in obJeot r.ational and Eduoational Devioe),
oode or as "souro. mnemonio list- ba ••d on the RCA COSMAO mioro-
ings," for editors, memory 4umps, prooes.or.
pap.r-tape loaders, mag tap. read,
mag tape write, eto. FRED ls designed to be used in
sohools tor educatIonal games,
There is now a SCELBI "Computer .1mulatlon .xeroises, .to., and in
Digest and Userls Bulletin," pub- the home for games, caloulator,
lished quarterly, $7 a year for 8H oontrollable TV puppet, low-fidel-
owners, $12 for others. lty musl0 synthesiS, shootIng gal-
lery, puzzles, eto. Some ot these
funotions have already been devel-
TERMINAL KITS oped. Over 30 programs are running
on prototypes.
MITS Comter 256 Kit
Program loading is via an audio
"First, Computer Terminal You Build oassette player, which also gives
From A Kit" (Radio-Eleotronic., the oomputer its volce, musio, and
Nov. 1974) is a desoription of the sound etfeots. After loading, FRED
MITS Comter 256 kit, whioh is '495 ls operated with a l6-button kel-
oomplete, or $395 without oabinet board. FRED is attaohed to the an-
or power supply, or $695 assembled. t.nna t.rminals of any TV set, tor
The terminal has a bu1lt-1n aoous- output display, using a dot pattern
tio ooupler, auto-transmit, oursor to torm letters, numbers, or simple
oontrol, tape-reoorder I/O jack, plotures. The basio FRED oonsists
32-character Burroughs displaYl of the COSMAC mioroprooessor, 1024
standard ASCII-encoded keyboara, bytes of RAM, keyboard, oass.tt.
and an internal memory of 256 player, and a TV set.
oharacters per page, with up to
four pages of memory. The artlcl. mentions "addlng a $25
punched oard reader and $10 manual
aWTP OT-I024 Kit punch" and "adding amodul. tor re-
oording the contents ot memory on
The SWTP CT-l024 terminal system oassettes turns the FRED system
displa,s up to 16 lines of 32 lnto a user-proirammable oomputer
oharaoters eaoh, with a two-page tor serlous hobbylsts. Other pos-
memory capaoi ty, and oan be us.d sible attachm.nts includ. light
wlth any TV set for display. In- guns, extra memory (R.t\M), pre-
put may be any souroe of parallel stored programs or tables (ROX) ,
ASCII oode. The kit without oabl- and output relay. tor oontrol us ••••
net or power supply is $175, power
supply is $15.50 keyboard kit 1s Reaohed by phone, the author said
$39.95, eto. SWT~L is Southwest that further detalls are not avail-
Teohnioal Produots Corp., 219 V. able, as they are proprietary. He
Rhapsody, San Antonio, Texa. 78216. hopes that RCA may some day make
ohips for FRED avallable, although
there are no suoh plans now.
HOMitSCHOOL COMPUTER
"A Praotloal, Low-Cost Home/Sahool DEC HOME COMPUTER
Mloroprooessor System," by Joe
Welsbeoker of RCA Labs, ln the Aug. Acoording to rumor, Digltal Equip-
1974 IEEE Computer (pp 20-31) d.- ment Corp. is plannlng to market,
soribes a low-cost (under '500) ln a year or tWo, a "Home Computer.

Vol. III, No. 10 -- Nov. 1974 2 Ji"lQJiL NEWSLmTER

wl th 16' ot memol'1, CRT, tull ltllJ- The Or1g1n. ot D1gital Computer.
board, two tloPPl d1ekl, and hard
copy, tor under '5,000. It wlll Thl. is the title ot a book ot
probably be baeed on either the lelected historical papers (moet
PDP-8 or PDP-ll; riaht now, both or them pr1n'ed tram the or1ginall)
the 8 and 11 Kroupi at OEO are edited by Brian Randell, who pro-
lobbyinl tor their deel"ne to be vide. much conneot1ng text (pub.
uled in the new machine 10 there Spril1ier-Verl&l of Berlin, and in
are two prototypee. It {I ••1d the New York at 175 Fitth Ave. 464
IYlte, will coet DEC about .2200 p~e., 120 tigures, .23.90~. The
to manutacture. 32 papers include a dozen that are
untamiliar to mo.t ot ulan thil
side ot the Atlantic, such as two
ONE WAY TO BUILD YOUR OWN by Torres Y Quevedo, on automat1ce
and on an electromechanical calcu-
According to COIlputerworld, an 18- lating mach1ne, and two by Cout-
year-old programmer at oid ,.tole t1gnal on oaloulatins mach1nee.
parts ot a minicomputer and put Two by Zuse are a little better
the IYltem together at the place known here. There is an 1889 paper
ot bUline.1 at hi. tather who by Hollerith on a tabulatinl sye-
thought the part. were .aivaged. tem, a 1946 one by Aiken and Hop-
Police e.timate the equipment per on The Automatic Sequence Con-
could be worth up to 875,000. trolled Calculator, several on re-
lay computers, a 1946 paper by the
Goldstines on lCNIAC, a von Neumann
DEC POp-a/A EDVAC report, and the last tl«) are
on EDSAC. There is an exoellent,
Price. tor the PDP-8/A, delcribed annotated 42-page bibliography.
in the prevloul Newlletter, have
been eetab1i.hed. The 8/A with 11 Rather expensive, but moat ot the.e
ot semiconductor RAM is $1745; papers would be d1fticult to locate
wlth 21, $2100; with 41, $2600. today, 80 this is a tine Christmae
'or more than 41 ot maintrame mem- pre.ent tor the computer-history
ory, the memory extension board aticionado, (or atioionada).
mUlt be u.ed; that board, which
allo include. power tai1/auto- Mioroproce.sor Roundup Article,.
reltart, time-Ihare control and a
12a-inltruction boot.trap loader, "Foous on Mioroprocessors" is •
i. ,$1500. Memory can be expanded l7t-page article in ElectroniK
up to 321~ using varioue comblna- Delign (Sept. 1, 1974, pp 52- 9)
tlonl at ~.3-~sec RAM in 11 (••80), that includes a table listing 19
21 ('835), 41 ($1335); 1.5-u.eo mioroproceslOrl, 11 ot whioh are
ROM in 11 ($480), 21 (760), 41 available ott the shelt or al
plea, 6 have been announced, one
.am-
(11300); and 3.4-psec PROM in 11
( 995). The boards are aval1ab1e rumored (Intel 4014), and one
leparately; tor inltance, the QPU oustom-made (Burrough I Mini-D).
and 11 ot RAM are $a95, tor the
two boardl. The I/O option board Ot particular interest il the an-
i. .500, and the programmer I I con- nounoed Intersil ISO-8, "deligned
lole another '400. So an a/A wlth to be a OMOS/LSI equivalent ot
41 at RAN 11 $31500; ax RAM, '53315. DEC'. popular PDP-8 minioomputer'
and whioh 'benetit. trom the .11-
able sottware support that eXietl
IN PRINT tor the PDP-a •••• However the
unit'l repertOire ot eilht basio
.Ji1.2IiL NEWSLI'1"l'ER Vol. III, No. 10 -- Nov. 19~'
.e.or,r-reterence In.tructlon. aa tast nor as tlexible a. the
tend. to llmlt the ran,e ot appll- older verslon, PACE provlde. the
catlon ••••• Interlll plans to de- convenlence and cost aavlnga ot
Yelop a tull set ot clrcultry and .ingle-DIP packaglng. And lt can
me.orr, all ullng OMOS, to operate be u.ed tor elther 8 or 16-blt
wlth the procesaor. Conceivably, data proces.lng." TentatiTe prlce.
the end result could be a pocket- are under 8400 ln single quantlties,
liled, portable PDP-8.' below 1100 in very hlgh volume.
"Excludlng aemorl only slx lOs
Mlcrocomputer Sottware are needed when P1OE ls used, com-
pared wlth 20 to 25 for the IMP-
"Microoomputer sottware makes ltl 16. When speolal clrcults become
debut" (IEEE Speotrum Oct. 1974, available, PACE and just 10 other
pp 78-84; reprlnt '1.50) la a tine lOs wlll oonstltute a mlcrocomputer
tutorlal on mlcrolottware, with a wlth lK wordl (each 16 blt.) ot
chart ot what 10 oompanles (trom ROM and 256 words (al80 16 blt.
Control Loglc to Toanlba) have eaoh) ot read/wrlte memory."
ourrently avallable, ln .elt-
as.emblers, editore, loaders, de- Miorocomputer Dlge.t
buggerl, .1mulatorl, and other
program•• Intel hal many ot theae, Thls new monthly started ln July
but many are avallable only to de- 1974, has 12 to 16 or more page.,
velopment syatem users. Natlonal ls $60 a year, publlshed at 2368-0
Semlconductorhaa manYi some come Walsh Ave., Santa Clara, Oallf.
wlth the prototyping system. 95050. ~he thlrd lssue has a page
on Japan's tlrst mlcrocomp~ter
Intel has set up a mlcrocomputer (Toshlba TL08-12)A teohnoloiY ltems
userls program llbr&r1, wlth mem- about SOS, TIla I~L VO, etc; mlcro-
berlhip costlng $100, but tree to computer-ba.ed produots; memorle.
thoae who submlt a prosram. Natio- and perlpheral.; 11terature, meet-
nal la plannlng a slmllar llbrary. lngs and people.
Intertaolng a TTY with an IC uP Creatlve Computlns
"Intertacing a teletypewrlter with Thls ls a new, non-protlt magazlne
an IC mlcroprocessor" (Electronicl, of eduoatlonal and recreatlonal
July 25, 1974, p 96) aays that "the oomput1ng, pub11shed 6 tlmes a
lengthy sottware servlce routlne lear, $15 a year to lnstltutlons,
generally requlred" tor an lnter-
tace to such as the Intel 8008 "can
,a tor lndivlduals, $6 for students,
trom p.O. Bos 789-K, Morrlstown,
be ellm1nated •••• A anltt reglster New Jersey 07960.
and some control 10glc are all that
it take., brlnglng total component
cost to only about $6.50." THE TRADING POST & HELP WANTED
16-blt uP on a Slngle Ohlp Amateur Computer-Bul1der Workahrp
"Slngle monollthlc chlp holds 16- Jeftrey Vlo1a (846 Sprlng Valley
blt mlcroproce •• or" (Electronlc Rd., KaTwood, R.J. 07607, wrlte.:
Dellgn, Deo. 6 197., p 105-6) 11 II am ver1 lnterested ln an ldea
a new-product item about the Nat- to .tart an am&1eur oomputer-
10nal Semlconductor proces.ing and bullder workshop ln mr area. !he
control element (PAOE) that "otter. ACS New.letter tult~ll. 1~. p~­
all the ba.lc teature. ot the com- po.e, but tor people 11k. m. wlth
pan,'. multlchlp model. Thoush not re1atlve11 llttle experlenoe ln

Vol. III, No. 10 -- Nov. 1;74

oomput.r bul1ding, w. n•• d .0..- Ow Met.,
t,.,.
thln, mor.. I think a workahop-
thlnS would b. lnTaluabl ••
.Anyone who 1. lntere.ted, pl ••••
To. K1ntn.jt (P. O. Box 2698, Iova
01t1, Iowa. 522(0) ••b: '00 •• any-
oontaot me. I would 11k. to, tor one have, or mow wher. to ,et,
tran.portatlon oon.ideration., 0&1'4 racka and/or .lIIIJ.ler baoJr:plane
limlt the mew York 01ty - north- •••••bll •• wlth oard.,'
•••t ern Nev J er.ey area to Itr11
.ttort a ••uoh.· "I hav. bullt lev.r.l modular de-
~i•• s tor sound Droo •••ing which
terminal H.lp Wanted h.ve digit.l oontrol. Thel. are
suoh item. al envelop. ,en.rators,
D.rrell V. ro.ter (D.pt. ot Oompu- sequ.noerl (really an an.log m.m-
t.r Sci.noe, Duk. 0., Durham NC ory deTioe), satins and panning
27706) wrltes: "I am ourr.nt!, oontroll, .to. Th.se .re hybrid.
tr,rlng to de.ign an lnteraotlve- with the t.oility tor digital spe-
t1J)' oomputer terminal whlC,h sat- oitio.tlon ot their operating p.-
i.ti •• theae oriteria: (1) it ram.terl. Thele wlll then be ;
worka and is .uttloently tleXibl. ooupl.d to • la~e (by .l.otronio
(baud ratea, keyboard oharaoters, mu.l0 .tandarda) SO memory system.'
.to.), (2) it mlnimize. my tim.
tor oonstruotlon, and (3) it mlni- T.pe-Transport Controll.r Board.
mlze. my ooat tor oonstructlon. It
you have any 1deas tor thls type Gary Ooleman .lso has some OE8
ot proJeot (say u,.d terminal., tape-transport oontroller boards,
klta, PO boards), please l.t me ''In oase lome m.mber. h.ve the 01:8
know. • tape tran.ports lold by MeIM.,
and by MNH-Applied Eleotroniol."
To 8ell & want Lilt
D.mo Computer'
Wrlte to Mlohael Guerre (204 Faxon
St., Sprlng V.ll.y, Calit. 92077) Oolln S.L. Xeay (0 at N.woa.tl.
tor • tull llst ot hls otterlnss New 80uth Wal •• 2308, Australla):
(lnoludlns a dlaplay t.rmlnal, "I am re.ponsible tor an und.r-
'Nlxle tubes, B-Tran 6 manuala, graduate course 1n Electronio. and
Nova operating manual, two books) Instrum.nt.tlon 1n whioh I am en-
.nd w.nts (lntormatlon on the deavour1ng to give the Itudenta
HOMl-EC VII mlnloomputer, the In- some 1n.1sht into the working
t.rsl1 "PDP-S" mloroproo.s.or; • struotur. of small oomputer.. I
32-oharaot.r Burroughs S.lt-Soan would l1ke to build one or two
pan.l, S-dlg1t LEDa eto). Imall demon.tration oomputer.
(whereln the oOlt ot the prooes80r
4-Bit ALO oiroult1 would run to no more than
'200 or 300 at the most), and I
Gary Coleman (3227 N. V.rnon St., believe that members ot your Soo-
Arllncton, V•• 22207) write.: "To 1ety have developed 8Yltems whioh
• upport my hablt 11m .elling 748- would tall within thls oo.t range •
lSll., the80hottky v.rslon ot the ••• The PDP-ll (ot whloh we have
4-bit ALU, tor the amazinS prio. , on oampu.) il a honey ot • m.-
ot .2.60. I al.o have • boxtul ot chlne, and it I oould tlnd a lmall-
11sn.tio Utl10S10 TTL las whioh loale demon.tration computer kit
mat. sood bu. r.o.lver.; DIO u••• wlth 80me ot lts teatur •• , I would
• oad. ot th •• ln the P»P-11; the _e very pl ••••4 ••
pr10e on the •• la negotlabl •• '
RAM and ROM Qhip •
...Jil..[J'iL NEWSLJ:1'TD Vol. III, No. 10 -- Nov. 197,
 The Amateur Computer Soolet7 1s projeots."
open to all who are lnterested
ln bul1dlni and operatlns a dii- MOE! Terminal Help Wanted
ltal computer that can at least
perform automatlc mu1tlpllcatlon G. D~rl (V. Beaudulnstr. 91,
and divls10n, or 1& ot a oompar- B3300 Tlenen, Belglum) wrlte.:
able oomplexlty. "I am develop1ne a Vldeo-Termlnal
~-For membershlp ln the ACS, and '(CRT Dlsplay" conneoted to a 10-
a subsorlptlon to Vol. III of oal Oomputer~ but also lnoludinc
the Newsletter, send '5 to: a CPU and ALu for uslng ita. an
St ephen B. Gray lndependent oaloulator with pos-
Amateur Computer Soolety slbility of vector-dlsplay. I
260 Noroton Ave. would weloome any lntormation at
Darlen, Conn. 06820 all on thls kind of termlnal, even
The ACS Newsletter wlll appear at a charge."
every two or three months.
Commerclally Available
Wllllam Mltohell (39 Rocktleld
Cres., Ottawa, Ont. I2E eL6, Cana- MNH--Applle4 Electronlos (P.O. Box
da) wrltes: "Just a note to oon- 1208, Landover, Md. 20785) has a
flrm that I stlll have 2102 RAM 1900-baud modem for $45 ~ower
and 1702 ROM memory ohips, as men-- supp17 (+5, +12, ~12) at ,45, 7400
tloned ln the Maroh 1914 Newslet- serles TTL reJeots at '15 tor 1000,
ter. The 1702's, however, are now oomputer ke7 switohes, LEDs, eto.
produotlon rejeots due to slngle
blts belng unprogrammable. Eaoh
ls marked wlth the looatlon at the A MEMBER'. CO~U'J!'ER
"stuok" blt, so I wll1 se1eot a
sultable one lf you send along a Bob Robbins of Ohl0 has completed
oopy at the pattern you are golng 90% of his 8-blt, SI-word maohlne,
to use. otherwise they meet all using DDt Utiloi10, TTL, and MOS/
speos, lnoludlng speed. The prloe LSI. Memory ls Dataoraft core. It
is stlll $11 per palr of 2102's or "uses s8me instruotion set as In-
per 1702 (payable ln Canadian dol- tel S008; 5 tape drives, one at
lars, p1ease).11 whloh is IBK 9-track compatlble;
all registers and memory looatlons
Identlfy ICs' are acoesslble trom malntenanoe
panel." Input/output ls with TTY,
Jetfrey Vlola (address p 4) has a modem, tape drives, plus keyboard,
prototype CPU wlth 436 ICs, some CRT display, and tape reader. "The
at whlch he oan't ldentlty. Any- bas10 processor is oomplete wlth
body reoognlze these': ceraml0 the exception of interrupt~and all
ii
chlps label ed Ml3~1. marked
and Addr; 88889, ~883 ,RK9 ,
COdl I/O devices are lnterfaced and
worklng wlth the exception of two
SN55~SN74948. or the non-oompatlble tape dr1vel.'
Help Ottered
HAVE A SCELBE OR KARK-a OR ALTAIR'
John Young,ulst (899 Nl&iara Blvd.,
'ort Erle, Ontarl0, Canada) ls one If anybody ha. a SCELBE-SH or a
ot the newest member., and ,wrltes: Mark-8 Radio-Eleotronios oomputer,
"I have oonslderable hardware and or wlll be getting an Altair 8S00,
deslen and would be i1ad to help plea.e wrlte the ACS about your
anyone ne.d1ns lt wlth deslfns or oPlnloifi Of the machine_Rio! PAl.
with Intel 8008 or PDP-8 re ated dOP7J'l t §,.by stephen • rAT

Vol. III, No. 10 --NOT. 1914 .Ji1.2Jil.....NEWSLITTIR.

 .JAl..QJSL NI£WSLETTER
MORE O!~ KITS Volume III, Number 11
a publication of the (Serial Issue 34)
AMAT EUR CO;,rPUT ER SOCIETY }.larch 1975

MO".1.E ABOUT COMFUTER KITS with CRr was from an overly optim-
istic PE editor. )
Altair 8800
From the Top
Popular Electronic's Altair 8800
computer kit from MITS, described Ed Roberts says (by phone) that
in the previous Newsletter, gets a MITS generates all the software
whole page in the Dec. 1974 Compu- for the Altair 8800, beoause pro-
ter Decisions, where it is said to grams from Intel are expensive:
he" "comparable to (and in many re- the 8080 assembler is $1500 to an
spects better than) the Nova II individual; to MITS, it would be
mini from Data General, from a $5000 for the licensing fee, plus
hardware viewpoint. II AI. though the :;~ 25 per uni t •
basic cycle time of 2 microseconds
is slower than the 1 psec of the About 700 of the Altair 8800 units
Nova II, Ed Roberts of MITS notes were shipped in February. The in-
that lIit is still possible for the dustrial percentage of the mix is
PE 8800 to outperform the Nova •••• going uP. The production 8800 is
It R particular problem requires different from the FE model, uses
decimal arithmetic and a lot of 100-pin plugs, not ribbon cable.
I/O capability, then the HITS mini
has the advantage because the 8080 The disk controller will be about
contains a decimal oonverter that $450. Software will be featured in
makes it easy to perform arithmet- the next Altair oatalog. There is
ic on BCD numbers ••.• If the prob- a resident assembler, which re-
lem is a cpu-related problem that quires 8X memory and some sort of
requires speed, the Nova may be I/O device. The assembler is free
significantly faster." with a system that will support it.
BASIC (extended Version) is coming
The 8800 can directly address up along, could be used with 8K, al-
to 651 words of memory. The memory though very little memory would be
is, expandable in blocks of 256, 11 left for programming. FORTRAN is
or 41 9-bit words, at about $200 , also in preparation, available
for each 41 of words. sometime after May.
MITS is working on a disc operating Nathaniel Wadsworth of SCELBI says
system for the floppy-disk memory; there w11! be a SeELBI book on ma-
the controller will oOst about as ohine language this Spring. A third
much to build as the oomputer; the of the SCELEI computer kits are
drive will be $600 to $700. sold to schools, a third to busi-
nesses, a third to hobbyists.
Acoording to Roberts, "a stand-
alone unit that will consist of a Oomments on Computer Kits
prooessor, terminal and several
disc drivers will be available for These comments have been reoeived:
about $3,000. That would be com-
parable to a system that now lists "The Altair 8800 was hastily thrown
for 15 to 20 thousand dollars." together. Very little thought has
That's a processor with 16K memory. been given to interfacing it with
(The previous Newsletter's assump- the outside world. The availability
tion of $1500 for a 65X machine of peripherals is a lot of hot air.
Some Altair owners are finding it has developed pluggable boards,
extremely diffioult to interfaoe octal readout, large power supply,
to. It uses 256x4 memories, great keyboard data entry, and an FSX
stUff, but impossible to add on to oassette interfaoe.
the original system; you have to
buy another memory board. For ama- The Micro-8 Newsletter writes of
teur use, they should use memor,y the Altair 8800: "More and more
that amateurs can go out and buy; people keep wondering about the
they use ROMS that are not easily Altair 8800 and how they can make
available." the kit prioes so low. A lot of
people have gambled on it. (Seve-
"It's ridioulous to make a higher- ral thousand baok orders, aooord-
level language for suoh a machine. ing to one report.) I suspeot that
Why duplicate the effort already it's a loss leader, to try to look
made, as on the PDP-8 and others'" people into buying their add-ons.
At least one rumor is floating
"The 8800 is a better machine than around about them using factory-
the SeELBI, a much more powerful fallout 8080's •••• With the kind
ohip (8080 versus 8008); however, of baoklog they are supposed to
the Altair has a poor interoonnec- have, you may have t·o wait many
tion design, seems to be soldered- months for delivery and then you
on ribbon cablel' will still be stuck with the pro-
blems of memory and peripherals ••
"I don't think much of the 8008, •. If the future artioles on peri-
it's slow and not very good. As pherals in Popular Electronios are
for the Mark-8, it has problems, glorified advertisements as the
suoh as the difficulty of adding last two have been, then what' ••••
more than lK of memory, the I/O Even the information pack didn't
problem, and it's also a meohani- oontain any real oonstruotion in-
oal nightmare." formation. "
"There's a rumor-repeat, A. rumor
--that the price dip of the Altair JOHN FREDERICK'S MICRO
8800 is due to the ohip not having.
the full temperature range; in John Frederick (306 West 100, #81,
other words, it's a temperature New York, N. Y. 10025) writes: "Af-
fallout. " ter much backing and filling, I've
gotten on the cicroprocessor band-
Microcomputer Newsletter wagon for my computer project. I'm
using an Intel 8008 from Eill God-
The Mioro-8 Newsletter is publish- bout and 2102 memory. The design
ed by the Micro-8 Computer User is a mixture of the SIM8-0l one-
Group (Cabrillo Computer Center, board system sold by Intel, the
4350 Constellation Road, Lompoo, Radio-Electronics Mark-8 and the
Calif. 93436). It was originally PDP-II Unibus. The 8008 has memory
th~ 1-1ark-8 user group, but widen- address bits for 16K bytes but I/O
ed its soope to include all micro- addressing for only 8 input and 24
oomputer systems. A subscription output devices. Adapting the Unibus
is $6 for six issues. idea, the I/O devioes are conneoted
to the memory bus and referenoed by
The Micro-8 Newsletter mentions addresses whose high-order 4 bits
The Digital Group (Box 6528, Den- are all ones. Bits 0 and 1 address
ver, Colo. 80206), which has been four 8-bit devioe-oontrol, status
working on modifioations to the and data registers assooiated with
Mark-8 micro. Dr. Robert Suding each devioe, and the middle 8 bits
Vol. III, No. 11 -- Maroh 1975 2 .J'A1QJSL NEWSLETTER
allow 256 devices to be addressed. Tape Decks
Doing it this way adds to the parts
count, but should make life easier John Marshall (Box 242, Renton,
later. Wash. 98055) has several extra
Wangco tape decks, model 7's, both
"My first objective is a flexible 7 and 9-channel, brand new. Write
controller for all my peripherals, for detailed specs or make offer.
which include (at this point) a
Tally 420 tape punch, a Tally 424 Digitlzer
tape reader, acoustic ooupler and
the first Radio-Electronics TV Mark 1-1esslnger (85 East End Ave. ,
typewriter. If I can use this to New York, N.Y. 10028) has a Summa-
emulate the PDP-8 the PDP-ll and graphiCs digitizer with an ll"xll"
an ASR33-compatibie CRT terminal, tablet and binary display; cost
I can utilize software which al- $2150, is a tew months old, Mark
ready exi st s. would like $1300. He can also sup~
ply the wiring list and diagrams
"I have some advice for ACS members tor a PDP-ll interface uslng a
who are concentrating on sophisti- DEC M1710 module.
cated architeotures and homemade
instruction sets. It is that writ- Core Stack
ing good software is very diffi-
cult and time-oonsuming. You'll Steve Marum (Westwood Manor Apt.
get more computing done with a 136-J, Howe, Texas 75059) says he
slow, simple machine for which free now has enough }mS RAMs for his
software exists. main memory, will sell his core
stack, 16K by 24 bits, Fabri-Tek,
"There's a boom right now in the $300 or best ofteri he'll "even
use of microprooessors as dedicated throw in 34 TI 752B core sense
peripheral-device controllers. ' amps extra."
Those of you who have surplus I/O
devices but no oontrollers or oon- "If you know of anyone using a TI
venient interface to the rest ot 980 who might want to trade pro-
your system might look at this ap- grams, let me know. At a surplus
proach. I'd be happy to correspond sale I got an old one, which ap-
with anyone who wants to try it. pears to be the grandaddy of TI's
I'm trying to set up a flexible present 980 and looks to be pro-
prototyping lab for this sort of gram compatible."
thing."
COMMEROIAL HARDWARE
THE TRADING POST
M & R Enterprlses (Box 1011, Sunny~
Buster Killion (2773 Winrock Ave., vale, Calif. 94088) has an 8008
Altadena, Calif. 91001) has a core with application manual, $60; 800a
FIFO buffer designed to butter tape with all the reSistors, caps and
drives, $50; two IBM 727 drives 15 7400's for the Mark-a, 875; plus
with all manuals, $150 each, $250 110lA RAMs starting at $5 each,
both; Century Data floppy-disk 2102 RAMs starting at $10, and the
drives, $250 each; 4K word x 18-blt 1702A pROM starting at $40 each.
Ampex oore stacks, $35 each; card Send tor a price list.
cages wlth conneotors, $15 each;
plus documentatlon on several com- Al Bardo (2032 S.W. E~res8way,
puters, and wire, oable and Amphe- San Jose, Callf. 95126) sells the
~ol connectors. Write for details • 110lA RAM for $2, 2102 at $7, 1702A

.JIl.QJiL NEWSLETTER Vol. III, No. 11 -- March 1975

for $13, 8008 for $40, 8008-1 for Part 1 outlines the reqUirements
$60, 2516 64x6x8 oharaoter genera- for the three basic ~rocessor ele-
tor for $3; $5 to program the 1702A ments--the register/arithmetic/lo-
with listing inoluded. gio unit, the oontrol memory, and
the input/output circuitry. Part 2
discusses how proper seleotion of
WALK IN AND OOMPUTE the microinstruotion format can
minimize oontrol-memory size, and
The publio library in lYhi te Plains I also covers memory branohing and
New York, has what may be the firs~ outlines some designs for standard-
walk-in-and-oompute installation logio processors.
in the oountry. Sinoe the beginning
of 1975, a Wang 2200 hard-wired For Teaohing or Learning Digital
BASIO oomputer has been available
at 25¢for five minutes. Input is E&L Instruments (61 First St.,
magnetio-tape oassette. There is Derby, Conn. 06418) has a new LR
a library of tapes for games, math, Innovator series for teaching (or
statistiOs, eto. Anyone who wants learning) digital eleotronics. The
to write his own programs and save series includes preas sembled modu-
them has to buy a data oassette. lar hardware, called Outboards,
which plug directly into the SK-IO
Beoause there is no off-line pre- solderless breadboarding socket,
paration of programs, as with an allowing for quiok set-up and in-
ASR33, a lot of maohine time (at terconnection.
a niokel a minute) oan be used up
in preparing input. The Outboards are used as input
and output to standard ICs (mainly
7400 series), and consist of logio
IN PRINT switohes, LED display, pulse in-
put, olock and power. The basic
Designing Mioroprooessors With system is 6247.70. The two manuals,
Standard-Logio Devioes called Bugbooks I and II, are
$16.95; in their ?50-plus pages
This is the title of a two-part they cover experiments with gates,
article by Robert Jaeger of Signe- truth tables, counters, decoders,
tics (Eleotronios, Jan. 23, 1975, multiplexerr, sequencers, displays,
pp 90-95; Feb. 6, pp 102-107). The T:ri-State logio. flip-flops, one-
author notes that although MOS shots, memories (RAM and ROM), re-
microprooess'ors are growing in gisters, and arithmetic elements.
popularity because of the few lOs
required, there are drawbacks suoh The prefaoe gives oredit for signi-
as being slower and less flexible ficant participation in the design
than random-logic TTL systems. and implementation of the Outboards
"But there is a third design route to Jonathan Titus, designer of the
available to meet certain system Mark-8 microoomputer kit and an
requirements: the small, applioa- AOS member.
tions-oriented prooessor built
with standard high-speed logio de- The Origins of Digital Computers
vloes, either EOL 10K or Sohottky.
• •• Al though they require more lOs This book of historical papers
than MOS'microprooessors, they oan desoribed in the previous Newslet-
replaoe random-logic TTL designs ter and printed by Springer-Verlag
that need five to 10 times as many at $23.90 in hardcover, is now
devioes." available in a second printing for
only $14.80, also in hardcover •

Vol. III, No. 11 -- Maroh 1975 4 .Ji1gJiL NEWSLETTER

A FOURrH MICROCOMPUTER KIT don't think they are delivering).
Assembled MITS memory is about the
Several microcomputer kits are same price as DEC's memory boards.
being oftered by companies that ••• If you've gotten the impression
specialize in selling ICs at low that 1'm partial to the MIL MOD 8,
prices. One of the better known you have reached the right conclu-
is the IvfIL MOD S, made in Canada sion: 8008 system that modifies to
by Space Circuits and sold here an 8080, software, audio cassette
by Mini Micro Mart, 1618 James St., interface, TTY interface, a floppy
Syracuse, N.Y. 13203. disk interface SOON."
The MIL (Microsystems Internation- Mini Micro Mart sells IC kits tor
al, Ltd.) MOD S costs $85 tor the the Mark 8, Altair 8800 and SCELEI,
seven basic boards, lIuses a mini- as well as memory ICs, keyboards
mum of components, provides for a and other hardware, and the HIL
good deal of expansion, is design- MOD 8080 for $294.50 (lXx8 memory),
ed around a TTY as the I/O device, without power supply or front panel.
has no front panel and you probab- The MIL MOD 8, with 6 PC boards,
ly can get by without one. And if all the TTL, 8008, and lKx8 memory
you want to go to an 8080, you put (no ROM board or mother board) is
in a new CPU board, eliminate the $219.95 plus $2.50 for postage, etc.
buffer board, and it is an 8080
system." Another MMM quote: liThe Mark 8 -
surely not the best but it started
Mini Micro Mart has this to say it all -- the mass interest started
about other micros: "SCELBI is the with this -- the boards would have
most expensive route and probably been nicer with plated-through
the best--surely the way to go if holes -- but i8 still the least ex-
you don I t \'1ANT to build your own, pensive way to start for a novice;
or even if you want to build your $5 gets you the manual, the boards
own and nave a minimum of techni- are available, and there is support
calor software background. Good to get you out of trouble (thanks
boards, good design, ~nd most im- to Hal Singer. II
portant, FULL support, even to the
systems level •••• The Altair 8800t
the first of the 8080's attracting MACHINE LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING BOOK
the amateur market, the best pack-
aged, and the slickest promotion, SCELEI Computer ConSUlting, Inc.
and a rich man's toy as far as I (1322 Rear, Boston Poat Road, Mil-
am concerned. If you take their ford, Conn. 06460) has just announ-
basic kit, add 3 memory add-ons, ced their new manual, IIMachine Lan-
3 I/O, and a TTY interface, the guage Prolramming for the 8008 (and
extras come to $549, more than the similar microcomputers, II containing
kit itself, and you still have a detailed presentation of the 8008
only a IX microprocessor. Buy MITa instruction set, and coverage of
boards, come to us for the parts, flow-charting, mapping, editing and
and save about 50%. My blood pres- assembling, search and sort rou-
sure was starting to rise, because tines, mathematical operationa,
I started thinking about the stor- multiple-precision arithmetiC,
ies in Popular Electronic!" I quote floating-point-package, I/O pro-
"but it can be economical y expand- gramming, and many other areas.
ed to 65,000 words." 'That economi-
cal expansion will cost you a mere The price is $14.95 until April 30,
$4224 if you order the economical 1975, after Which it will be $19.95.
version of their memory (which I

.JilE..fiL NEWSLETTER 5 Vol III, No. 11 -- March 1975

 The Amateur Computer Sooiety i. my interfaoe and software allow bi-
open to all who are lnterested direotlonal searohes for any blook
in building and operating a dig- wlthout oountlng fl1e gaps. Address
ital oomputer. error deteotion and veri float ion is
For membership in the ACS, and done before a blook is read or writ-
a subsoription to Vol. III of ten, to prevent aooidental loss of
the Newsletter, send $5 to: data. A parity bit for eaoh 6-bit
St ephen B. Gray byte is written and verified for
Amateur Computer Sooiety all data words. Blooks with parity
260 Noroton Ave. errors are re-read up to three
Darlen, Conn. 06820 times before the appropriate error
The ACS Newsletter will appear exit takes plaoe.
everY' two or three months.
"The interfaoe is based on a phase-
LATEST ON MICRO SYSTEMS INT. locked UART ohip (i.e., General
Inst. AY5-l013). Data is written
Miorosystems International is part serially with start-stop bits on
of Northern Eleotrio (the Western one traok and referenoe olook on
E1eotrio of Canada), whioh deoided the other. When read, the olook is
to stop making lOs, so MIL is in phase-look multiplied and applied
shut-down mode and will close May to the UART. The data rate is 10K
30. However, Mlni Hicro Mart says baud and tape speed is 15 ips, but
MMM will stl1l offer the MOD 8, oould ohange to suit a partioular
will design its own board for the tape drive. The tape drive used is
MOD 8080, and hopes to have soft- a two-traok and uses St-lnoh reels
ware for the latter before long. of i-inoh IBM tape. It was made by
Computer Entry Systems for a spec-
One of MIL's oustomers designed a ial applicatlon •••• The complete
disorete version of the 8080 with interface and controller contains
?400-series TTL, for only $90. Al- only 20 lOsJ a l-10S LSI UART A. some
though it uses more power and takes OMOS and TTL, at a cost of ~20. It
more spaoe than the 8080, it is a oan of oourse be applied to a var-
great deal faster. And proprietary. iety of tape drives and OPUs. loan
provide sohematios, software, and
It should be noted that MMM kits applioation ~ssistanoe to anyone in-
are sets of PC boards and ICs, ~erested. Please enolase $1 with in-
without full oonstruction plans, for quiries, to oover duplioation costs,
engineers and advanoed hobbyists. and request PDP-S program listings
lf you need them.
JOHN YOUNGQUIST'S TAPE CONTROLLER "To support the tape drive, I have
written a series of tape oommands
John Youngquist (S99 Niagara Blvd., in FOCAL 69. I oan read/write blooks
Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada) writes: of integer, 3 or 4-word floating-
"I have oompleted my low-oost tape- point variables, and ohaln to new
drive oontroller and interface. De- programs, startlng exeoution at any
signed around a two-traok digital line number. This allows FOCAL to
tape drive and 41 PDf-s/L, it emu- run in "batoh mode" unattended for
lates TD8E DEOtape with a one-page ; hours .• I oan provide· the software.
(128-word) handler program. The DEO
TD8E handler is twioe as long. The I'I have an Intel 800S CPU (new, not
standard PDP-S DECtape format is surplus) for sale or trade. I wish
flxed-1ength l29-word blooks, eaoh to aoquire some floppy-disk drives,
numbered and individually address- preferably in oomplete working order."
able, muoh like dlsk format. Thus Copyright 1975 by Stephen B. Gray .
Vol. III, No. 11 -- Maroh 1975 6 ~ NEWSLETTER
 ~NEWSLETTER
KITS: PART 3 Volume III, Number 12
a publioation of the (Serial Issue 35)
AMATEUR COlvIPUTER SOCIETY July 1975

COMPUTER KITS, PART 3 lng/Engineer1ng System for $10,489

{Altair with 32K of memory, serial
Altair 8K BASIC Speoial interfaoe, teletype [or terminal] ,
11ne printer, disk oont~011er and
Unt1l Sept. 15, 1975, MITS is off- disk drives, DOS and EXTENDED BASIC
ering the Alta1r 8800 oomputer kit, software}. II
two 4K-word memory boards (kit),
your ohoioe of interfaoe board, Sound like they intend to oompete
and the Altair 8K BASIC language, with DEC. In fact, part of the ad
for $996. That's a savlng of $139 reads, lilt's almost embarassing.
to $176, depending on the inter- ive've only been on the oomputer
faoe you ohoose. scene a short While, yet we're
selling more oomputers and peri-
Altair 8X BASIC uses 6260 words pherals than many of our long-time,
leaving 1750 words for programming established competitors. II
and storage. There is also a 4K
BASIC, and an Extended BASIC (12K). lUTS is said to have sold over
The 4K BASIC has 15 statements, 6 2500 Altair kits, and has opened
math funotions, and 4 oommands; two regional sales offioes, in
the ax BASIC has 4 more statements, Orange, Calif. --aild- :Mi~i, Florida,
a more funotions, 1 more oommand, "with the ultimate goal of main-
and advanoed string funotions. The taining operating servioe oenters
Extended BASIC adds PRINT USING, and display areas at these 100a-
disk I/O, and double-preoision tions. 1I
math. BASIC is available on either
paper tape or oassette tape. Altair Experienoe #1
Altair Systems Doug Penrod writes fron California:
"I ordered a MITS Altair 8800. It
The April -Computer Deoisions oar- has been ooming in bite and pieoes,
ries a full-page MITS ad that looks espeoially after I wrote Mr. Roberts
more like an ad by a min1-waker (pres.); he oal1ed me on the phone,
than by a kit oompany. to get the order straightened out.
Their paper-work orew is overloaded
Aooording to the ad, " ••• we're and gets things all mixed uP.
selling our BASIC Language System
for $2,461 (fully assembled Altair "Yesterday UPS brought 2 boxes from
Computer with 8X of memory, a ser- MITS. One oontained a 4K dynamio
ial interfaoe, oomputer terminal ~1 board kit and a 4-s1ot expan-
and BASIC languag~ softwarel We're sion to the bus board. And a note
selling our EXTENDED BASIC Language saying that 8 ohip sookets had been
System for $2,.806 (Altair with 12K baokordered. The other box oontain-
of memory, serial interface, com- ed two 4K dynamic RAM kits, com-
puter terminal, and EXT~~DED BASIC plete. Now I have 3 manuals for the
software). Our DOS EXTENDED BASIC 4K RAM. Now all I 1aok are the a
Language System goes for $6,649 ohip sookets and the software: the
(Altair with 16K of memory, serial assembler and utilities paokage,
interface, oomputer terminal, disk and the 12K BASI C paokage.
oontrol1er and 2 disk drives, DOS
and EXTENDED BASIC software) •• '•• liAs you no doubt know by now, they
we're selling our Advanoed Aooount- have 3 versions of BASIC--for 4K,
8K, and 12K. No source code is house machine. I think that the
available for any software, only bulk of the gross regulating could
object code, and that only in pa- be done outboard, with just enough
per or audio mag tape form so far. on-board to keep the glitches away.
So modifying their software won't
be easy. "I wish the MITS had an optional
18 or 19-s10t bus board available
"I have some criticisms of the Al- in 1 piece. Now you have to use
tair. I notice that the new ads 100 jumper wires to connect each
mention the use of fans, and all pair of 4-slot boards together,
of the four machines at a local max 16 slots. Need 16 to handle
MITS "seminar" had fans. However, the max 64K memory, plus a CPU and
they aren't much more helpful than at least one I/O board. In my Al-
the blower on the motor of a Tele- tair, every chip has a socket; I
type, which has no air inlet or think they ought to oome stock
outlet. The MITS has inlets all that way.
along the ~ of the sides of the
oabinet, and the motor blows out "At the MITS "seminar" in Van Nuys,
an outlet in the rear of the cabi- the lw1ITS guys were saying that a-
net. Better. But there is no air- nother Popular Eleotronics cover
flow pattern in the board layout story will be coming out, presum-
or oabinet design. ably with a suooessor or alternate
to the Intel 8080 machine. They
"In partioular, the front-panel PC said they were working with Motor-
board has a heat sink for the 8v ola 8-bit chip, and didn't deny
to 5v regulating transistor mounted the National Semiconductor IMP-16.
on the front side of the PC board, It is obvious that the cheap compu-
where the sink is trapped in a nar- ter world is changing radically
row spaoe between the PC board and and rapidly this year and next. It
the aluminum sub-panel which mounts hardly pays to design and build
the SWitches. The sub-panel, in your own computer anymore, if re-
turn, is behind, and in contact sults is what you're after. Espe-
with, the thin aluminum dress pan- cially if you consider the time
el. At any rate, there is no way and effort involved in the soft-
for air to circulate around that ware. It ain't every solder mech-
heat sink, which is mounted on the anic who can write a compiler.
~ of the board, thus precluding
even normal convection in the "Pretty soon it ought to be pos-
space between panels. So I changed sible to buy slightly-used Altairs
mine, and mounted the heat sink cheaply. Unless the buyers want to
(augmented, in my case, by a cop- up-grade to BASIC. Incidentally, I
per addition to increase the area found that their machine won't ac-
by a factor of 2) on the rear of cept program input from paper tape.
the PC board, where it can get Too slow. Apparently doing line-by-
some air. line diagnostics. Also, there's the
matter of a Line Feed on the paper
"I also expect to design and build tape and another one from the com-
some baffles to systematically puter; they don't have a TAPE mode
channel air-flow through the PC of entry. I tried some experiments
boards in a manner determined to to see if this can be bypassed.
keep the chips cool and keep the But for computer-generated listings,
heat-sink air away from the ohips. the only cure is to get at the soft-
Actually, I feel that appropriate ware. I suspect that a tape which
thermal deSign would have obviated had no Line Feeds (only Carriage
the need for a fan, even in a full- Returns)~ and nulls or rub-outs for

Vol. III, No. 12 -- July 1975 2 ~NEWSLETTER

time between lines, might work. II nolsier .than had been anticipated
, and have had many capacitors added
Altair Experience #2 t.. 0 soak
. up .the noi sea
Dick Schwanke writes from Illinois: '~I do expeot to get my 8800 working
"I am riowwe11 along in the con- although I have no idea as to the
struction of my Altair 8800,. thanks proe1ems I may run into. If I have
to rainy weather. The construction t09much difficulty figuring out
section of the manual seems to be tpe I/O problem, I can always pur-
entirelY adequate for anyone who chase the manuals from Altair and
will read the instructions care- see how they did it.
fully and can identify the parts.
The theory of operation section liP. S. There is a shortage of wire
covers the operation of the parts an~ solder in my kit. The panel is
they added, but the explanations gOi;ng to be very difficult to re-
are not easy to follow unless one pal"r in case of d.1fficul ty because
is quite familiar with this type all of the switches are bolted down.
of design. The debugging section
is nearly useless, and the almost "There are some new 4K statio R..AM:s
complete absence of explanation of which oost $22.75 eacrh for, 10-99. "
the CPU chip itself means that
trouble can be anticipated in lo- Altair Experience #3
cating the reasons for not working.
There is also a very obvious lack The writer of this letter asked
of application data, including .that his name not be A,lsed: "I have
failure to indicate how I/O is Just received my Altair 8800. I
accomplished. 'was extremely skeptical from the
advertising but deoided to gamble
liThe answer to the I/O question is, anyw.ay •
of course, that a tap must be put
on the data, address, and control "The printed-circuit work is of
busses; and an interface control- very good quality, with plated-thru
ler must be constructed. I have . holes, and takes solder well. The
not done sufficient research to case is excellent and .expensive,
know if thare are family members and can be disassembled as required
(8080) designed for the specific. to wo~k on the circuitry. The bus
Job, but I am sure that I will is construoted of two rails with
sooner or later find the applica- PCB w:1.ring and 100-pin connectors
tions data that I need •. and card gUides which ought to make
an adequate mechanical and eleotri-
liThe Motorola 6800 applications oal assembly. It i.s sold in incre-
manual contains designs for both ments of 4 positions but came with
static and dynamic memory modules 'only 2 connectors. Vfui1e it is not
as well as huge quantities of in- olear, it appears that MITS hopes
formation on I/O with or without to make out by selling memory and
interrupts and priority schemes. peripheral adapters to people who
I have not yet figured out how to will, be unable to ,expand the bus by
get a front panel on the 6800. any other means. I believe most
.JJu1~ders would be put to it to oon-
"Back to Altair. I am not particu- . s~r:uc'\; such a nice package for less
larly happy with the method of than, twice the price I paid for the
hooking the panel to the CPU and basic machine.
bus. It looks very subject to noise
and crosstalk. The CPU and memory U~t ~s.well known among computer
boards looks as though they were types that lots of memory and an

~NEWSLETTER 3 Vol. III, No. 12 -- July 1975

 assortment of input/output devices muoh better than the 8080 set as
are needed to do any ~seful compu- far as ,eoonomical use of memory is
ting in a reasonable length of oonoerned. The 8080 is muoh better
time. Short word lengths and lim1- than the Motorola in the input/out-
ted instruotion sets do not prevent put interrupt struoture area, as
good results but make the memory it oan p01nt to 8 separate loca-
requirements more difficult and tions in memory, oompared to one
, expensive and cost a lot of time. for Motorola.
Orbits for cyclotrons were calcu-
lated on a machine with 256 words "It is a temptation to use the emp-
of memory at one time (when there ty spaoe in the Altair cabinet to
was noth1ng better). install a Motorola 6800 and try to
interface it to the 8800's panel
"Unfortunately, static memory is and memory.
not the way to go in these mioro-
prooessors. The oheap 1101's take If I likely will not ever try to make
up a lot of board space and will a large useful machine out of my
undoubtedly produce bus problems Altair, but will use it as an edu-
before the memory ,reaohes a satis- oational tool to study the program-
faotory size. The reoent-design ming problems of this type of mach-
static chips are too expensive. It ine, the results of wh10h loan use
is hoped that the new 4K dynam10 in my job. It
ruu~s will produoe a digestible
solution. Altair to go Motorola?
"Motorola has introduced an evalu- Acoording to a rumor in the July
ation package which includes seven Computer Decisions, "the next ver-
compatible ohips, a CPU, a ROM sion of the Altair ••• will be built
with a monitor program built in, around the Motorola 6800 chip ••••
256 bytes of RAM, two parallel in- Intel's 8080 was judged less power-
terfaoes, and one serial interface. ful than the Motorola micro •••• "
The system devotes one parallel
interface to a Teletype machine to Seems that the two best bets for a
be used as the console, leaving company going into the computer-kit
the other~arallel interfaoe and business right now are the Motorola
the serial interfaoe to the user. 6800 (for whioh there isn't much
The monitor program uses some of software) and the Intersil IM6l00
the RAM (possibly as much as half). microprocessor ($394 in 1-24 quan-
The bus loading rules are such tities) whioh, as the ad says, "re-
that these seven chips oan be con- cognizes the instruotion set of a
nected together without any bus popular minioomputer, the PDP-8/E.
drivers, so getting the whole thing No need to generate complex special
working can probably be done with software. No need to learn new lan-
less than $50 worth of parts plus guages. It's already there in soft-
an 8-level Teletype or s1milar con- ware everyone knows and understands •
sole. A panel 1s not needed. ..• the most extensive software li-
brary of any microprocessor."
"Any attempt to expand the machine
will require spending considerable Two More Kits
money and effort on the bus driving
and receiving arrangement, and the In addition to the NITS Altair,
memory problems are the same as Scelbi-8H, Radio Electronics Mark-
above. 8, l~L MOD 8 and MOD 8080, there
are also the Sphere I and the Mar-
"The Motorola instruction set is tin Research MIKE 2. (Aotually,

Vol. III, No. 12 -- July 1975 4 ~NEWSLETTER

there are now some 13 kits on the , ,2;..'20 console ,board has a six-dig1t
market; more in the next 1ssue •.) d+splay and 20-key' ,caloulator-type
keyboard; "unlike systems with
Sphere (96 East 500 South, Bountl- b~ks of toggle sw~tches and lights,
ful, Utah 84010) offers a 4X "Hob- this micro 1s easy to program,
byist~ computer kit, based on the since. codes are eas11y v1su,alized."
Motorola 6800 microprocessor, w~th The kit, $69; $84 wired. The MIKE
512-character TV term1nal, keyboard 2-3 PR~RAM board ~as room ror up
and power supply, for $650 ($870 to lK of RAM and2K of FROM; handles
assembled). Memorl is expandable ' up to e1ght 2112 1 s and up to ,e1ght
to 64K, at about i240 for a 4K 1702A's.
board, $400 for 8K, $750 for 16K
memory-board kit. The 'basic system, "the MIKE 203,
uses 256 words of RAM and 256 words
An assembler, editor, debugging ofPROKj $230 kit Without 8008,
a1d and dr1 vera for the CRT are '$270 kit with 8008, $276 kit with
buiit into a read.:..only memory. 8008-1 and fast XTAL. A memory.'
Available software inoludes Exten- board with 2K RAM (450 nsec) is
ded BASIC (with string and matr1x $108 kit; 3K, $137; 4K, $165 kit.
manipulation, machine-language sub-
routine oal1s, tr1g funotions, and 'Options under development include
disk-file I/O, plus FDOS--f1exib1e a CRT display 1nterface, cassette
d1sk operating system). re,corder interface, Teletype inter-
face, PROM programmer.
The "Intel11gent" kit adds ser1al
communicat1ons and aud1o-cassette
oapability at $750 (until S8f.t. ," THE TRADING POST
1975; $999 afterwards). The 'BASIC"
system kit adds 16K, more of memory, ECL Source?
for $1345 ($1765 after sept.); the
"Classio" system kit includes 65- D.13. Lamklns (Magno11a Ave, Man-
lpm printer, two IEM-compatible chester, MA 01944) nwould l1ke to
floppy disks, and DOSL at $5250 buy unused, tested EOL 10,000 lOs
($6100 after Sept. 19,,5). , 1q small quant1t1es. If anyone has
a source at below distributor's
Sphere also has a paper-tape read- listr prioes, please send type num-
.er/perforator and w111 have a bers, prices, and quant1ties."
network operat1ng system, RPG II,
and an 1ntegrated data-base system. Peripheral s for. S':l.!
Plus "un1que developm.ents in pro-
oess oontrol for the home ,and in- Dan,laller (1191 Rlaa Place! Santa
dustry and an ultra low-cost mass Ana, OA 92705) has several ine
storage system" by early 1976. printers, mag-tape drives, disk
drives, card readers, tape punche~
Acoording to Mike i'lise, president, and drums. Send for his price list.
"Sphere was started by computer
professionals, and the1r computer DEC Modules for Sal!
was started as a system. 1I
~teven Roy (Electronic Assembly
Mart1n Research (1825 S. Halstead AssQc1ates, P.O. ,Box 3711, Amity
at!..l. Chicago, Ill. 60608) has the S~a~~on, OT 06525)' has var10us DEO
Mlu 2-1 CPU board, W1th8008,' maqules, including M8300 (major
orystal-oontrolled oso1llator, and registers), 1018310 (maJ. reg. oon-
a~l the timing for the system, e.t t~ol), M837 (extended memory oon-
$55 k1t, $75 assembled. The MIXE~' tro1). etc. Write for price l1st.

~NEWSLET,TER 5 Vol. III I No. 12 -'- July 1975

The Amateur Computer Soc1ety 1s be demand1ng that it run every time.
open to all who are ~nterested
1n bu11d1ng and operat1ng a d1g- Computer Hobby Magazine
1tal computer.
For membership in the ACS, and Scheduled to appear on the news-
a sUbscrlptlon to Vol. III of . stands in September is BYTE!, an
the Newsletter, send $5,to: 8i-bY-l1, 150-page monthly maga-
Stephen B. Gray zine tor the oomputer experimenter,
Amateur Computer Society at $1.50 an issue, or $12 tor 12
260 Noroton Ave. issues ($10 introductory) from
Darien, Conn. 06820 Green Publishing, Inc., Peterbor-
The ACS Newsletter wl1l appea~ ough, New Hampshire 03458
every two or three months.
Steven also has some fixed-head, BUYING MINIS IN QUANTITY
4-platter d1sk drives, with 30-1n.
~latters, 256 R!W heads per sidei A member has sUigested that the
V200 per unit, you cart. ACS look 1nto the possibi11ty of
buying a mini in quantity for ACS
New Address for MNH members, to take advantage of the
quantity prioing. ''lell, the prices
MNH-Applled Electronlcs has moved, would still be rather high:
to PO Box 367, Jamul, CA 92035.
Their latest catalog includes an The Fabr1-Tek MP12 (whioh is almost
FSK modec card for ,30, small po- software-oompatible·withthe PDP-8)
wer supplles from $5 to $8, d1gital with 4K core has been'-advert1sed at
cassette-tape cartridges at $2, etc. $990 in quantities of 100. That ma-
chine is without power su~ply or
Chlps. ICs. Translstors I/O interfaoe, and costs $1340 for
one. An MP12 with I/O 1nterfaoe
At 128 N. 81 St, Mesa, ArlZ. 85207, and power supply is $2395 eaoh for
Electronlc Dlscount Sales offers 1-4, $2258 for 5-9, $2181 for 10-24,
the Intel 8080 at $155, and a wide and $1922 each for 100.
varlety of translstors, RAMs, dlg-
ital and linear ICs, switches, etc. The PDP-8/A from DEC, with 8K of
core memory (and including program-
mer's console and I/O option board)
IN PRINT is $3695 for one, with d1scounts of
up to 30% for quantities of 100
Another Newsletter bringing an a/A down to about $2600.
The same 8/A w1th 8K of RAM memory
One of the newest hobby publioa- is $3895 for one.
tions is the "Homebrew Computer
Club Newsletter " Fred Moore, edi-
tor, 568 Santa 6ruz Ave., Menlo FASTER INTEL 8080 OHIPS
Park, Calif. 94025.•
The Intel 8080A chip operates at a
Computer Column 1.5-usec cycle time, conpared lfith
2.0 useo for the 8080. Intel also
Starting with the June 1975 issue, plans to market a13-chip processor
Popular Electronlcg magazine is set tor $250, including 8080A OPU,
runnlng a column oalled "Computer two 256x4 RAMs, two bus drivers,
Bitsl! by Jerry Ogd1n. The column a lKx8 erasable ROM, decoder, pri-
was intended to be a q~rterly ority interrupt control unit, etc.
feature, but readers are said to Copyright 1975 by Stephen B. Gray

Vol. III, No. 12 -- July 1975 6 ~NEWSLETTER

 ~NEWSLETTER
KITS: PART 4 Volume III, Number 13
ROSTER a publioation of the (Serial Issue 36)
AMATEUR OOMPUTER SOCIETY November 1976

KIT ROSTER kit 1s $295, with monitor PROM and

256 bytes of RAM. Expandable to
Over a dozen miorocomputer kits 16K bytes. For $12, a kit of ICs
are now on the market, so maybe for a 16-ohannel display on a trig-
it's time to make a list. ,ared-sweep scope, for debugg1ng
and educational purposes.
1. One of the first (non-mioro)
kits was the 832 (Maroh 1971 News- 7. The Mike 3 kit is $396 ($445 af-
letter), still offered by National ter Dec. 15), with 8080, monitor
Radio Institute as part of their PROM, 512 bytes of RAM.
oomputer eleotronios oourse. Built
with 7400-type TTL, it has a memo- 8. The E&L Micro-Designer SYstem
ry made up of slide switohes, for (E&L Instruments, 61 First St.,
simplified teaohing of bit storage. Derby, Conn. 06418) is an 8080 sys-
Input/output is by sWitohes, lamps. tem, composed of three plug-in
oards, control panel (with LED dis-
2. The Scelbi-8B is about the same plays and oontro1 switohes), inter-
as the 8H (Maroh 1974 NL), but uses face board, power supply, and soft-
2102 :fW.1s, "which allow the 8B to ware. Can use up to 661 of memory
be direotly expanded up to 16,384 (lloan mix R-W or PROM"). The basic
words of memory at a oost oompar- unit is $1,696, for a miorooomputer
able to that of 4,096 words of me- also known as the Mark 80.
mory 1n an 8H." The 8B kit, with
8008 MPU and lK memory, $499; em- 9. The MOD 8 (Maroh 1976 NL) from
pty 41 RAN card, $49; e1ght (1024 MinildcroMart is based on the 8008,
words) type 2102 RAl4:s, $59. sold as unpopulated boards or as a
kit with 11 memory.
3. Rad1o-Eleotronios' Mark-8 (June
1974 NL) 1s also build around the 10. The MOD 80 from MMM uses the
Intel 8008 m1oroprooessor unit. 8080 MFU. The C-MOD6800, a 6800
MPU on a board, is compatible with
4. The MITS Altair 8800 (Io(aroh the MOD 8 and MOD 80 bus structure,
1975 NL), based on the 8080 MPU, input, output, etc., is for the
oan direotly address up to 66X of owner of an 8 or 80 who wants to
memory, has a variety of periphe- plug in a 6800 and try it out.
rals and oan be programmed in as-
lembiy language and in BASIO. KMM's R-M terminal 1s a surplus
hotel reservation termina~, with 9
5. The Sphere (July 1975 NL), using e1eotronic boards in it. Any ot
the 6800 MPU, is now offered at the HMM micros fit in it; a Tele-
.860 for CRT display, ROM mon1tor, type 32 or 33 printer also fits in-
real-t1me olook, typewriter key- side, for another $330 or 80; the
board, 41 memol'1. Extended BASIO is RM terminal is $109.95.
ava1lable (more memory needed). The
OPU board, with 41 RAM, "512 times 11. MMlvI's RM6800 MPU "is tor the
e PROM," serial T!Y interfaoe and person who is starting from scratch
hardwired HOM monitor (oonsole emu- and who doesn't want to try to try
lator) is $350. the other MPUs, II according to Haury
Goldberg of Min1MicroMart. It will
6. The Mike 2 from Martin Research also fit in the R-K terminal, which
(July 1975 NL) is based on the 8008; has modem and TV-display opt1ons.
 12-. MS Eleotronios (3650 Charles whioh has a built-in Teletype in-
St., Suite I, Santa Clara, Calif. terfaoe, and whioh plugs d1reotly
95050), has the 008A kit, with an into the tront-panel board. The
8008 MPU, 1024x8 memory, all ICs 680 is TTL-oompatible, and uses
and parts exoept oabinet, .375; only one 5-volt power supply. The
ASCII keyboard input kit, $135; 680 is slower than the 8800, with
audio oassette adapater kit; $100. a 4-useo minimum oyole time, oom-
pared with 2 usec •
. 13. The Godbout kit, oalled "George"
(beoause "it seemed nioe and friend- The software tor the 680 1noludes
ly") based on the National Semioon- a monitor on PROM, assembler, de-
duotor l6-bi t PACE MPU, has been bug, and editor. The 680 has three
delayed a little, now has a deli- interrupt levels; the 8800 has 8.
very date of 1-1-76. The projeoted Both oan be expanded to 65X bytes.
price is to be just under $600,
with 11 words of memory, provis- A $293 kit ($345 atter 12-31-75)
ions for 71 more, editor and assem- inoludes 11 b1tes of RAM. Options
bler, provisions for 4K ROM and for are: I/O sooket k1t, $29; fan k1t,
serial oassette interfaoe, for 3 $16, FROM kit (256 x 8-bit), $42;
audio cassettes, and with .keyboard there are prov1s10ns on the main
rather than toggle-switoh input. FC board tor another 11 bytes, ot
ldth 8X of RAM the prioe 1s "still ROM or PROM, mainly tor dedioated
under$BOO." There will be no peri- vers10ns of the 680; there 1s a
pherals; the oassette interfaoe blank front pansl tor turnkey use.
will be supplied with a oassette
oontaining editor and assembler. The 660's main PC board w1ll be
sold separately for $160 ($195 af-
Contrary to rumor, there is no re- ter 12-31-75) tor OEM use or "for
lationship between the Godbout kit the experimenter who w1shes to pur-
and the kit to be oftered shortly chase an absolute m1n1mum."
by Radio Shack, also based on the
PAC; miorooomputer. As the latest MITS "Computer Notes"
puts 1t, liMITS has dec1ded to awa1t
For a "oom:p,lete data paoket" on the oustomer re,ponse to determine the
kit send 32.50 (refundable) to oourse ot further 680 development
Bili Godbout Eleotronios, Box 2355, in both the areas of sottware and
Oakland Airport, Calif. 94614. hardware." If enough users ask for
a BASIC oomp1ler, 1t will be pro-
14. Details on the MITS Altair 680 vided. No prioe has yet been set
Iti t, bas ed on the 6800 Iv1PU trom tor the 12K RAM board. Also being
Motorola and Amerioan Mioro-Systems, oonsidered 1s a board oontaining
were withheld until the publioa- half RAMs and half ROMs. Anyth1ng
tion ot the November Popular Eleo- requ1r1ng more than three additio-
,tronios article. nal boards will also requ1re an ex-
pander chass1s, whioh 1s in design.
The 680 is less than a third the The 680 seems to be aimed pr1marily
s1ze of the Altair 8800, only 11 x at OIM oontroller applioations.
11 x , 3/4. This "makes internal
expandabilit-1 signitioantly les8," 15. SWTP (Southwest Teohnical Pro-
whioh means, although the artiole ducts Corp. Box 32040, San AntoniO,
doesnlt say so, that the chassis Texa. 78284~ has announoed "The 000-
wlll hold only three more boardS! puter system you have been wa1ting
8uoh .s two 121 RAM boards :(sti1 tor," its 6800, whioh contains a
in design) and an intertace board. ROM with "the program neoessary to
Most ot the 680 is on one PC board, automat10ally plaoe not only a load-
Vol. III, No. 13 -- november 1975 2 .JAlQJSL NEWSLETTER
 er, but also a mini-operating I{I- 8al B080's or Altair BBOO's to
tem into the oomputer'l memor1. ~hare the same memorr"i $296 k1t,
$336 assembled.
The 6S00 is oontrolled bl anl
ASOlI-ooded terminal. The basio Are there anl others'
6800 inoludes the ROM, a l2S-word
static soratchpad RAM, 2( memory, OEM EVALUATION. KITS
serial control intertaoe, power
· supply and case, plus test pro- Manl microprooessors are now avail-
grams and the Motorola Programmers able a8 part ot a PO board marketed
Manual, at $450. tor englneerlng evaluation, in kit
or wired torm, usuall, with a m1ni-
16. The Micro 440 by Oomp-Sultants mum ot memory, and without power
Ino. (P.O. Box 1016, Huntsville, aupp11, chassis or case.
Ala. 35B07) is based on the Intel
4040 oh1p, and is a.ailable With 1. The JOLT (Pehaco Oorp., Micro-
256 bytes ot RAM, power supp11, computer Assoo1ates, Inc., 111 Main
caae, I/O port and Teletype 1nter- St., Los Altos, Calit. 94022) has
tace, tor '275 kit, $375 wired. a $249 CPU oard kit built around a
MOS Technology 6502, whlch can ad-
The 440 teatures 60 instruotions dress directly 651 of memory. ROM
and 24 on-ch1p registers. For $175 program memorl on the OPU oard con-
you can get the tull OPO board, sists of 11 b,tea ot monitor/debug-
tront-panel oontrols and dilpla,s, ger with an automatio power-on
and the 256 b,tes ot RAM. The oase boot8trap program. A 41 RAM card
has room tor BX ot RAM or PROK, in kit is $266; I/O oard (peripheral
2' 1ncrements. intertace adaptor)k1t, $96; power
auppll (will support OPU, I/O and
17. The SRI-1000 by S7stems Re- a 41 card), $146 klt. An aooessory
searoh Ino. (P.O, Box l5l2S0, Salt bag, with enough parts to connect
Lake 01tl, Utah B4ll5) uses the one JOLT card to another, 1s $40.
PAOE MfO, and 1noludes tull ke7- That would make a 41 kit cOst
board oontrol,41 BAM, 1599 a8sem- about $860. The 6502 has 58 instruo-
ble~and tested. Opt10ns 1nolude tions and 11 addressing modes, and
more RAMi 1ntertaoes tor oassette, sells tor #25.
v1deo, TTY, ftS-232, TTL; tloP.P7
d18k, l1ne pr1nter, and tape reader. 2. The Mostek ra Evaluation Klt,
at $297, inoludes the 3850 MPU, a
lS. Im881 (IKS A••ooiatel, Ino., ROM, statio memorl intertaceL lK
1922 Republl0 Ave, San Leandro, x 8 ot static RAKL crystal l ~ CMOS
Oallt. 94577) has the Im.al 8080, butters, and a &.75" x 6.5" PO
"ob~at1ble wlth the Alta1r 8SOO.' board. A Teletlpe or ORT can be
The ba.io oomputer 1nolude8 OPU, oonneoted d1rectly to the board.
11 ~, tront panel, control panel The ROM sottware permits "program
, w1th 8 extra LIDa to lnMcate the loading, storing, moditication, de-
output port, all l1ghts and sw1t- buggins (with "traps") and even
ch.s, power suPp11, expander board hexadecimal aiithmetio--all trom
and ca •• , '439 k1t, $621 aSlembled. the Teletype.
Im.U al.o ••11. boards that are 3. Oramer llectron1os (85 Well. Ave,
lnt.rahanl.abl. with Alta1r's, 1n- Newton, Masa. 02159) ofters three
olud1nl CPU ~I RAM 11 RAM on 41 evaluation kit., built around the
boa:r4, 21 DoM on Ri: board eto. Intel S08CA, Texas Instrument.
And a multlprooeslor/shareA memory 8080, Motorola 6BOO. Theae are $496
taol11t, that 'allow. up to 3 IDl- eaoh, and inolude eight l024xl sta-
3 Vol. III, No. 13 -- November 1975
' ..
 tic RAMs, a 1024x8 erasable ROM. 8080 AND 6800 PRICE CUTS
preprogramme4 w1th system monitor,
controll (toggle, puShbutton, and In October, Intel cut the pr1ces
DIP switoh.l) and 41splays (LIDs of the 8080 t~11Yi the neW 100-
and 7-segment) tor programming with lot price for the 8080A lo1PU is
or without a t erlDinal. Inolude. $40; 25-99, $60 (was $110); under-
both ourrent loop and R8-232 1nter- 25, $75 (was $150).
faces tor any terminal, and an au-
dio cassette w1th test programs Advanced Micro Devices offers its
(aud10 oassettes oan also be used 9080A vers10n of the 8080 MPU at
for extra program storage). "The $29.95, 1n lots of 100.
erasable ROM oontains a system monl-
tor that make, your m1crooomputer Motorola's M6800 MPU 1s $69 for 1-
useful as 800n- .•• you turn it on.. 99 (was $175 for 1-9). The MOM6810
•• A casl.tte tull of other usetul lX RAM 1s now $5 tor 1-99 (was $15
p:r.ograms ls lncluded to help you for 1-9). The Desi61;n Kit J w1th FO
debUS and.demonltrate your mioro- board, 1s now $149; it was $300
computer. before, w1thout a PO board.
Power supply ls not prov1ded. Mem-
ory 1sexpandable to 12 add1tional PACE HIGH-LEVEL LANGUAGE
lK RAMI. Com1ng up: klts based on
the AMD 9OaO, Mostek ra and ROA National Semioonductor, makers of
OOSMAO. And 1n early 1976, blpolar the l6-b1t PACE MPU, will soon have
Oramerkits ul1ng the Intel 3001, a D1sk Operating Syatem (DOS) and
AMD 2901, TI SSP 0400, and Motorola SM/Pt, a resident high-level lang-
, 10800. uage; "this makes PAClI: the only
fully supported one-ch1p micropro-
The $'95 doel not lnolude a PO cessor in the industry," according
board. The Auga' boards shown ln to the advert1sement.
the broohures are about .S~5 each.
4. PrO-Log Corp. (2411 Garden Road, IN PRINT
Montere1, Callt. 93940) otfers a
variet1 ot assembled cards, for Designing Your Own Microcomputer
10glc prooesl1na (using the 4004
or 4040) and tor microprooessors Th1s is the title of an article in
(800~f aaoo~ eeoo, r8), all usi~ the Sept. 27 Electronic Design, on
"1702.& MOS l"!lCM. or equivalent.' how to use bipolar bit-slice micro-
processors to bUild, for example,
a l6-bit processor with 24 ICs,
WHERI IS IINBAI TQDAl" bu11t around tour 6701 4-b1t MPUs
~y Mono11thic Memor1es?), and
The Xenbak-l (June 1974, 'eb. 1973, featurinl 16 general-purpose reg1s-
. and Mar. 1972 NRsletter,) 1850 tera, ab1l1ty to address esx words
tra1n1ng oomputer ls no longer be- of memory, and instruction execu-
ing marketed by its deI1gner"John t10n times trom 0.9 to 1.2 usee.
Blankenbaker. It is now in the hands
ot C.T.I. lduo.t10n Produots, Ino. Itlncrea.e microcomputer eff1ciency"
(e915 Colell&il 81"'4., Xt. Pleasant L by the same author, Dav1d Wyland
S. O. 2SMM), and 1. the Model 5000 (ED, Nov. 8)L, shows how to add 1n-
Dlg1tal Oomputer a".tem. Tra1ner, terrupt and uNA (direct memory ad-
at '1,03&. CJ!I &1ao markets logio dress) capabilities with only seven
lab. ant a variety ot eleotronio extra ICs, s1x new instruct1ons,
train1ng dev10e •• and nine extra control-ROM bits.
Vol. III, No. 13 -- November 1975 ~ ~NEWSLETTER

.,
The schematic shown is basically 41 memory (static or dynamic), $18;
the S8me as in the prevlous artl- ppwer 8up~lY, $13.50; display and
c1e, with the required additions. control( ,33; SET I (1 each CPU, PS
and D/O/, $58.50; SET II (4 each,
Micro Dept s • statlc or dynamlc), $65; SET III
(SETS I & II), $115. Thls lncludes
Starting wlth lts Nov. 22 lssue, postage, lnsurance and full docu-
Electronic DeSl~ wll1 have a mentatlon of all mods.
"Mlcroprooes80r esisn II seotion
ln every lssue. "I am willing to produoe any other
boards if there ls enough demand.
And Dlgita1 Des1gn started a "Mi- Along the same llnes I may be able
oro Notes" department, in lt8 to supply the DIP swltches, oonneo-
Sept. 1975 ls8ue. tors (both lOO-pln and 10) and mln-
lature swltches, lf there ls enough
lnterest, at OIM prlces."
ALTAIR-TIPE PC BOAlmS
Jim Garrett (322 Ro1l1ngrldge Ln., BUILDING FROM SCRATCH
Garland, Texas 75041) wrltes: "In
contaot1ns MITS about the aval1- Desplte all the actlvlty in mloro-
ablllty at thelr Alta1r 8800 PO klt8, many ACS members are stll1
boards I have found that they are bul1d10i their machlne8 from thelr
no longer golng to 8upply them to own deslgn, or copylng a commerclal
the hobbylst. If there ls enough machine. Bl11y H. Pettlt (1277 In-
interest, I wl11 make an equlva- dian Rd., Mlss18sauga, Ontarl0,
lent 1mproved 8et of board8 tor us L5H lK7 Canada)L writes: "lim bul1d-
at oost. The purpose of thls let- ing a 12-blt, 8A machine completely
ter ls to gauSe lntere8t. oompatlble with the CDO lSO-A/S090.
Using TTL, naturally, wlth a solld-
"Everyone lntere8ted ln Altair- state RAM memory. Been playing a-
S800-11ke boards, drop me a post- round Wlth 1103 1 s, but flnally gave
card (or letter) 8tatlng the1r up. They Just aren1t worth the ex-
nee~. These are improved boarde tra lnterfaces. Will probably go
(DISCLAIMER: I do not offer Altalr to 748206 1s. [CDC. Control Data]
produots or klts; I sell parts and
aooessories whlch oan be used ln "Have always felt the lSO-A had
the Altair 8800). about the best lnstructlon set and
versatlllty of any 12-blt machine.
'The display board wl11 oontaln the In my opinlonlt ls superior to the
neoessary mods to provlde an octal PDP-8 set, and easier to use. Plu8,
displa, (for about $16 more in com- for me, the blg advantage of soft-
ponents you can read ootal instead ware. For 10 year8, I've used the
ot blnary), AO swltch lmprovement. l60-A and now have hundreds of pro-
will be in8tltuted, grounding on grams. Espeolally useful is a very,
all boards will be lmproved, mode very sophistloated FORTRAN for a
to the OPU board. will lnclude 12-blt machine. There ls a second
reduoinc 8wltoh noi8e and a more FORTRAN, more primltive and 8imilar
oonventional oonneot1ns to the di8- to DECls 8K verslon. Also a pseudo-
play board.' The memory board8 will COBOL and half a dozen f10ating-
have provisions for a DIP switoh polnt slmulator package ••
tor address .eleotion (no more Jum-
p••• ), eto. tAll of whlch means that when lt is
bullt (my verslon), I can use it
"entatiTe price. are: OPU, ,lS.50; for 80methlng. All of the software
e Vol. III, No. 13 -- November 1975
The Amateur Computer Soc1ety is An excellent oatalog of "more than
open to all who are interested 2500 tools tor electronic assembly
in buildlng and operatlnc a dig- and precision mechanicsl! comes trom
ltal computer. Jensen Tools and Alloys, 4117 North
For membership ln the ADS, and 44 St., Fhoen1x, Ariz. 85018. Some
a subscription to Vol. III of of the prioes may seem high, but
the Newsletter, send $5 to: that's because these are all first-
Stephen B. Gray quality tools, inoluding over 60
Amateur Computer Soclety pliers, 10 pages on soldering equtp-
260 Noroton Ave. ment, and many fine tool kits.
Darlen, Conn. 06820
The ACS Newsletter will appear
every two or three months. THE TRADING POST
is in the publio domain, and the Gary Coleman (14058 Superior p~.,
user's group is still aotlve. Apt. 8, Cleveland, Ohio 44116) has
acoustio coup+ers, modems, key-
"If any re~der ever buys a scrap- boards, CES tape drives, etc. For
ped CDC component and wants some a price list, send a SASE.
into, have him write. I can pro~a­
bly get a schematic of anything
likely to be on the surplus market.11 NEW COMPUTER CLUBS
Doug Penrod (1334 La Cima Rd., San-
SURPLUS IN SWEDEN ta Barbara, Calif. 93101) has star-
ted a new computer club.
Eskil Hedetun writes from SWeden:
"As you probably know, oomputers John Vullo (230 Main St.,Rte. 28,
are manufactured in Europe by just North Reading, Mass. 01864) is pre-
a few, and very big, companles; 1. sident of the Boston-area Alcove
e., Siemens-Philips, IBM-Europe Computer Club.
and perhaps the Swedlsh SAAB (same
company that makes the car). Thls
means that surplus ls very Bearce, IBM'S MINI
and if the "ioodles" ever come out
of the factor1es, they go to var- The IBM 5100 IIportable compute.r"
10us Bchools and un1versities. Sur- looks more like a CRT terminal than
plus to amateurs ls "zero." As re- a mini, with a 1024-character d1s-
gards components and "rejects," it play screen, typewriter keyboard,
1s mostly sold 1n England, and due and an integrated cartridge tape
to the EfTA-EEe free-trade lt ls drive. Memory ranges from 16K to
rather easy to get a sh1pment from 641 characters, and pr1ces from
England. For more comp11cated lOs $91 to $201, depend1ng on memory
l1ke RAMs, we have to iO to the US s1ze and on choice of printer, aux-
to get them. Most US dealers are lllary tape-storage unit, and other
very speedy and efflcient. The in-optlons. The 5100 comes w1th either
flated dollar .has made it tavourable APL ,or BASIO, or both. Three pro-
to buy components and even computer gram librar1es, eaoh oonsisting ot
k1ts trom the Statea. In thls re- two mag-tape oartridges and a user
glon (southern SWeden) I know at gulde, are $500 each, for business
least two persons who have bought analysls, math problem-solving, and
the Altalr.' statistical problem-solving.

TOOLS Copyright 1975 by Stephen B. Gray

Vol. III, No. 13 -- November 19~5 6 ~ NE\{SLETTER
 . ~NEWSLETTER
'KITS:' PART 4 Volume III, Number 14
ROSTER II . a publication of the (Serial Issue 37) .
(Al-1ATEUR COlvIPUTER SOClm,ry February 1976

KIT ROSTER (continued) Send 1n $110; get a 315 computer

.trainer (id.enti·cal to the 300),
Many more miorocomputeritems have return it w1th1n 60 days, and you
been advertised or announced since receive three PC boards (super-
the listing in the pre~ious issus. board, I/O board, video board) and
Here are over a dozen: . ,software for TV typewriter and au-
dio cassette monitor, for a sY's tem
19. From Sphere, the MicrO-Sphere based on either the 6502 or 6800
200 is sold as a wiredun1t only" MPU. To qUotefrQm the OSI Feb/Har
.with 4K RAM,' ROM oassette loader, flyer: "The 6502 is ,currently ,the
128x128 black-and-white dot-matrix fastest N-ehannelm1croprocessor
graphics system,' and . a games paok- available ••••. It 1salso very 1n-
age; $860. The MPU is a 6800. expensive in small quantit1es ~and
features an internal clOck. These
20. The Systems Researoh SRI-500 features are very important to the
!Salsoa wired-only unit,w1th'F8 hobbyis~ on a budget, especially
l1PU, available as'mqdules: board if he doesn't have a good SCope.
"t11i th lXRAM, TTY interface, debug The 6800 is somewhat more expensive
in .ROM ("Falrbug"),' $325· ,po\1fer and requires an ext ernal clock. ,It
supply, $55; keyboard, $iOO;etc. is rated for:~ a 'I-US cycl~ time and
therefore canoperlilte at only One
21. Wave Mate's Jupiter II comes half of the speedot the 6502. ·tt
in both kit and assembled forms; does feature ,two accumulators ahd
wi th . 6800 1<1PU, 8X dynamio RAM I . RS- a more extensive in'struct1on set
232 interfaoe; software (editor, than the' 6502. Therefore, ~he po;..
debug, assembler, BASIC), wirewrap tential user should carefu1ly'con-
tool, $1299 kit. (1015 West 190 sider it when real-time applica-
St., Gardena, Calif. 90248). tions are n0t antiCipated. It ':.

22. The EBKA 6502 Familiarizor has &to Techtra Corp. '(130 '\-'ebster' at. ,
ahex keyboard and two-digit d1s~ . Oakland, Calif. 94607) will offer
play on the same PC board·as the the.TMC 112, Ita replacement 'for the
circuitry, so it doesn't require a pDP-a, fI with operator's control pa-
tel'minal for a beginner to leal'1l nel, up to 32K.Of oore'or s.emioon-
the basics. ~ For the'MOS Teohnology ductor memory, "a oomplete' rang!e
6502 MPU', lX-byte RAN, 256-byte ' of.per,lpherals," etc. Based on the
PROM (mon i tor l: ~229 ki t, $285 ' Intersil 6100 MPU, the TMC 112 is
wired. (EBKA Industries; 6920 Me1- still in,pro~otype, they tell me.
rose ~ane, O~lahoma 'City,~ o~ 73127)
25. The Micro-S8, trom Electrori.'1c
~3. The OSI 300 frOm OhioS'cieht'1- fr'oduct Ass'oOiates (1157 Vega. st. ,
fic Instruments (P.O. Box 3?4~ Hud- San D1ego, Calit. 92110) is' a wired
son, Ohio 44236) is a wired trainer un1twith 6800 l~U, .integral hex
using the HOS 6502 MPU w:tth·l2B- keyboard and 6-dig1t display, 512-
word RAM, 7 address SWitches, 8 • word "John-Bug" PROM, 128 words of
data switches, 'displays that ind1- RAM; $430. .
cate data, address, and program,
execution, lab manual with 20 ex- '.. ~. The' KIM-I. tromHOS Technology
per1ments; $99. ., . is a',sim1lar unit, with 6502 MPU,
23-button keyboard and 6-digit dis-
OSI has an interesting alternat1ve: play mounted.on the PC board, lX
 RAM, mon1 tor 1n. 21 ROM; $245 •. 31. HAL'Oommunioations (807 East
Green St., Box 365,Urbana~ Ill.
27. The D,yna-M1ero kit will super- 61801), best known for their RTTY
sede the Radio-Eleotronios Mark-B. CRT terminals, has taken the 8080A
. A miorooomputer learning system,' board out of their DS-3000 and DS-
it oomes w1th a series of books on 4000 KSR/RO terminals, and Offers
learn1ng the 8080 and the system, it as the HAL MOEM-8080 miorooom-
and 1s soheduled fOr introduot10n puter system, a "oomplete operat-
in the May-June R-E. ing system ona single PC board,
exclusive of power supply and Tele-
The Dyna-Hioro will be marketed by type or ORT terminal. II Ino1ude.d are
its manufaoturer, E&L, as the Mini- LED indicators, switches for system
l1ioro Designer, MMD-l featuring
J oontrol, a break-polnt register, 11
the 8080A MPU, w1th everyth1ng on bytes of PROM with system moni~or,
a PC board! 1noluding le-key key- 11 bytes of RAM, for $375. Options
board and ~4 LEDs, plus a bu11t-in include keyboard/video display, po-
interfaoing breadboard1ng sooket. ,wer supply, ROM programmer.
Keyboard entry 1s oontrolled by a
ROM, and the 256 words of RA.M are 32. From Texas Instruments (Box
expandable to 512~ The oomplete ~2, Mis 54, Dallas, Texas 75222),
set of parts and boards is .350; the Mloroprogrammer is the first in
aseemb1ed and tested, $600. a .series of Mloroprooessor Learning
Modules. The 3-pound hand-held TI
28. Hami1ton/Avnet offers the Microprogrammer (LOM-1001) oomes in
raoer , with the 16-b1 t PA.CE l.(FU, aplastio oase, only at x 5t x 1 3/4
11 ROMmon1tor, 1K RAK, two 4-dig1t inohes, has 20 toggle swito~es for
displays, 32-key pad, power supply entering instruotions, data and ad-
and oase; .695; assembled, $160 dresses, etc., and 29 LEDs. Avail-
more. For assembly-language pro- able wired only, with rechargeable
gramming, a TTY interfaoe/program batteries and oharger and 148-page
assembler is $176. . manual, at $149.95, it has a 40-pin
IC oonneotor for expansion; tuture
~. The PCM-12, from POM (Box 215, units will ino1ude a controller
san Ramon, Calif. 94583), uses the (with PROM), memory, input/output.
l2-bit Intersi1 IM6100 MPU, has a
full set of switohes and lamps, and 33. The UT 8100 mioroprooessor trom
is software-oompatible with the Intioi t e Ino. (P.O. Box 906, 151
PDP-8/E. Price: $400 to $600, de- Center St., Cape Canaver~l Fla.
pending on options. DEC's 41 BASIO 32920), using the RCA OO~O MPU,
is inoluded, and is the only soft- will b.e . available in June as a
ware available from POM rignt now. "oompletelr self-oontained mioro-
oomputer," with bu1+t-lnlkey'board
~. Acoording to the Micro~8 Com- programming 256~byte RAM expandable
puter User Group Newsletter, the to 41-byte RAM or ROM on-board ex-
. Astral 2000 k1t (M8cREleotronios, ternal memory expandable (via i6-bit
Box 1011, Sunnyvale,·Callt. 94080) . addresfil) to 65X bytes of' RAM or ROM,
is based on the 6800, features 81 4-dlg1t hex readout, 16 keyboard
ot memory, serial TTY I/O, and switohes. Available wired or k1t,
comes with BASIO. It has a 12-amp prloes to be announoed.
power supply, DM', real-time olock,
binary and hex front-panel display, NOTE: The Teohtra TMO 112 may not
and front-panel SWitches that can be the only unit still in prototype.
be used as I/O while running. Avai1- There is no way of knowing from an
ability was soheduled tor Dec. 1975, ad if the advertiser has units all
at under $1000. ready to shlp, or has only a proto-
Vol. III, No. 14 -- Feb. 1976 2 ~NEWSLETTER
 type and is wait1ng for enoUghre- cantly less cost than purchasine
'sponse to start up produotion. a new machine."
t.rhe newdes1gri'(i)fthe 680 includes
. MICROKIT UPDATE an automatic PROM loader, and a
EASIC interpreter 1s being devel-
As new as it is, the microcomputer _oPed~ (The·or1ginal 680 had some
scene has already witnessed some bugs, and only two or three were
major changes: sold before they were all recalled.)
Scelbi Drops Hardware SRI-lOgO Delayed ..
Sc'albi Computer Consul:t1ng is, no, The Systems .Rese~rch SRI-.;lOOO (Nov.
longer manufacturing elth~r the 8H 1975,Newsletter) was des1gned around
or the 8B, but is concentrating on th, PACE; MPU, put there were oompo-
software, and at the moment is nent delivery problems, so the
working on BASIC for the 8008 and wired-only SRI-oOO is now being·
8080 MPUs. Other MPUs are being offered, with the Fa1rchild F8 MPU.
considered for future software.
, , .

Incidentally, the Scelbi "Machine MI CROCO}'1PUTER TYPES

Language Programming for the 8008
(and, s1milar microcomputers)" 18 The microcomput er scene 8••I1S to
highly recommended by many mlcro- have set.tled' down to seven basic
kit manufacturers, and is now in types: ' .
'a second edition, .typeset' on both
sides bf the page (the first was 1. Box with full set of switches
all in Teletype capitals on -one andlampa: ~t~r 8800, Alta1r
side of the paper.), stili $19.95 680, Imsai 8080, PCM-12, etc.
(1322 Rear , Boston Poat Ro-ad,
'Milford, Conn. 06460). 2. Box with very few switches -or
lamps: SWTP 6800, Jup1ter II;' etc.
MITS Upgrades Both M1cros
3. Box with keyboard, but no switohes
The 8800B "is an entirely new Al- or lamps: l>1icro-Sphere 200. ,
tair, the oontrol and d1splay pan-
els are an entirely new des1gn and 4. Box' with keyboard and CM: ,the
,contain PROM memory ••.• Th~ clock Sphere.
width 1s crystal controlled as well
as the ,frequency., •• '. 'The interface ,g. PC boaret. 'Without keyboard' or
card and front, panel are connected:, d18P l. a7: ,Wintek L engine.ring ·eval-
by pluggabl$ ribbon cable. The sys- uatiou"hQard8 ,(.rPL'!', C;ramerk.1.ts,
tern bus has 18 slots. i,.~' the new Pro-Log), etc.
switches have longer, flat, handles.' ., " , .
Four new front-panel functions ,are 6. PC board with k.,bo~d ana..
dis-
available for accumulator control:, play: MRE Milte-2 and Mike-3, EBKA
display, deposit, output, input. Q502 Fam111'~r1zor, EPA. Mioro~6e,
A Slow function single-steps the MOS Teohnology KIM-l. .'
processor at'32 instructions per
seoond. Front...;,panel functions oan 7. Surplus:, Y1atron.
be redefined by reprogp&mming the
front-panel PROM. "Exl'stlng Altair
owners will be .able to purohase a VI.TRON COMPUTERS '
kl t . from MIT Stc upgrade' their
eXist1ng Alta1r-to a B, at signif'1- Verada214{Sa French at., Box 438,
~NEWSL.~TER 3 ',Vol. III, No •. 14- -- Feb. 1916
Lowell, Mass. 01852) got 20 of the sider the LSI-ll or the mono11thio
Viatron 2111 Microprocessors, hopes implementat19n of the PDP-8 offered
to get more. The 2111 "is a com.... as the IMl600 by Intersll. The in1-
plete oomputer-with keyboard input, tial 1nvestment 1n these maohines
two cassette tape drlves bul1t-ln, may be greater, but the availabil1ty
a vldeo display, an operatingsys- of software ls unparalleled.
tem on ROM •••• Guaranteed working
when they left our plant": $699, "There is a large followlng of
FOE Lowell. people devoted to the smaller 8-bit
maohines. The 8008 was the flrst
Heshna (E. Lynn, Mass. 01904) is mlcroprooessor available with which
offering the II System 21, tf whioh to oonstruot a home oomputer. It ls
appears to be the same unit offer- also probably the most prolifio of
ed by Verada 214, II sold as it; due the microprooessor ohips. There is
to 4 years of storage, may require a fair amount of home-generated
some adjust1ng/oleaning"; $425, software available to a person who
FOE E. Lynn. constructs with one of these .ohips.
Unfortunately, the 1nternal arohi-
Note that these unlts are no long- ~eoture oan now be oonsidered ar-
er be1ng manufaotured, and that ohalc.
most of the meohanioal parts (and
perhaps some of the eleotronio "The 8008 requlres a fair amount
parts, are thus not available it of supportlng TTL log10 to make lt
needed tor repalrs. A letter to work, and thus oould never be con-
Interfaoe ories out: "HELP! I have sidered for a mlnlmal deslgn ef-
a Viatron model 2101 that doesn't fort. The 8080 is very popular too.
work. Would appreclate oontact ••• Aswlth 'any ohlp, software sup-
wlth anyone who oould prOVide teoh- port ls at least as important a
nioal information or programmlng conslderation as the actual ohip
assistanoe •••• " .Caveat emptor. itself. Inthls regard, the 80eO
ls one of the better oh1ps aval1-
able. There is a large number of
FIVE MPUs homebrew programs for these ohips,
and there ls a very powerful BASIC
Gregory Peterson says, in the Deo. lnterpreter paokage available from
1975 Denver ACS Newsletter, in part: MITS. A FORTRAN paokage ls ava1l-
able from another souroe. It does
"The PACE ohip from National •.• is requlre 16K of memory to run, tho.
1n a olass by itself, a l6-bit ma- The 8080 ls a serious and powerful
ohine whereas the other ohips men- chlp wlth • large oommunlty ot
tioned are all 8-bit units.'There- users. Yet, even this ohlp ls only
fore, it handles more data at a a soaled-up and 1mproved 8008. Re-
t1me, but uses a relatively slow cent trends in mlcroprooessor de-
semioonduotor teohnology and loses s1gn have rendered even this ohip
some of what it ga1ned in data obsolete, tbough it will oontinue
volume in relat10n to speed of exe- for some tlme on the sheer momen-
oution. It has 48 instruotions but tum ot its usage.
only three addresslng modes. It 1s
also quite expenslve ln oompar1son "The 8080 is not as integrated a
to the other ohips mentioned, oost- maohlne as the 6800 and requires
1nt more than twloe the others •••• 11 tha. more ohips be added around
lt to enable it to funotlon. The
Hlf you are of the opln10n that anl 6800 also differs radloally in In-
oomputer worthy of the name ls at put and output approaoh from the
least 16 blts in word length, oon- 8080. Whereas the 8080 ls partl-
Vol. III, no. 14 -- Feb. 1976 4 ~-NZWSLETTER
 tloned along the classla61, lin'8·s. of 8008). It ranks as', the most powe:r-
computer archltecture,with input tul ohip :available now to the home
and out'put funct:lons belng clearly constructor, haVing 55 b.asic. in-
deflhed ln relatlon to thsflow of struction:~ ,seleotively oper~ting
other data wlthlnthe system, the Over 1.3 dlstinct ad:dresslng nodes.
6800 places all lnput and output, This addrassine flexlbllity.gives
on the data bus ·as addressable mem- . the chip unparalleled ease ln mani-
ory locatlons. Some of the beneflts pulat:1,ng data ln memory. Thechlp
gained from thls are the availabil- tollows the 6800, ln$.ssigriing all
ity of all memory reference' fnstru- input and output to locati~ns in
'. ctions to manipulateth~ input and memory. It l'ls also. the only 'ohip
output ports. The decoding and ac- ' disoussed here that i'noorporates
c'easing of input and output' locati- . an on-ohip 'clock oscillator. This
ons iseasler'in this System,ana convenienc eshould not be ov.,erlook-
it requ'ires fewer ohips to support ed. 'rne qpmplexity added by. the
the rnloroprocessorohip.' ' high-level clo'ok drivers the other
chips require, and the increased
"There is also available' a read- wir1ne complexity, can be appreci-
only meGlory chip for the n06800 ated only aft~r one uses the 6502.
containing a very nice little moni-
tor' 'system for control of a 6800. liThe 6502 is strictly a plus-5-volt
This chip is what makes possible machine, r~4uirlng no multlple sup-
the stark front panel of the MITa ply voltages for chip operation. It
and SWTPO 6800-based microcomputers. interfaoes d1reotly to TTL. Tt is
All the lights and SWitches that ~ also very "fast ..... TAe 6502 is the
are synonymous with data prooes- only chip con,'sidered ,here 'tI1th ,~wo
sing are replaoed by a small ope.:.. distinot true index ;registers. This
rating system in a ROM chip~ 'I'his little convenienoe makes fOr un-
controls operation of the micro- matohed ease in oonstruot1ng,pro-
computer and allOlis One to display gramming loop,. It also allows data
memory locations and register val- to be easily shuttled about 1n'mem-
ues, and alter them at' will as one ory with minimal programming ef,f.ort.
develops his programs. Thisohip The' internal arohitecture also In-
also costs a lot less than all c'orpora,tes an 8-bit accumula~o~.)' a
those lights andswttches, and sim- fairly standard staok capability,
plifies the design of a oOr.lputing and a good seleotion of testable
system. Therefore, a computer con- status bits to monitor internal op-
structed along these lines is less "erations aruial.low,thech:1pto a1-
expensive, but at no eacrifice in tel" its,prooessing on the results
computational'power. It does pre- of its computat10ns~ The multipli-
dicate the ownership of an input Qity of on-ohip registers that 8008
and output medium whioh speaks se- and 8080 users are aocustomed to.
rial ASCII code,' thoUgh. A modern ar~ ~bsent. Cdmputation in this'ma-
Teletype,or a TVT with suitable chine is intended to take place 'be-
interface board works 'well, ,but twe~n the'acoumulator and memory,
tends to drive up the initial in- and. in a sense the addressing flex-
vestr:1ent in equipment for a tunc- fbili ty gives one a whole memory
tional system....· ' f u l l ot register~ to use in thelr
computations. One oannot overstress
til ,chose the HOS Technology 6502 the prograunI;1ing ease ,the multiple
chip' for my design fol:' 'several im- merrioryaddressing modes convey. Ra-
yortant reasons ..•• It·is passlbly ther,than having to cleverly juggle
the least expensi veor "the avail- the ,data in, on Chip registers to
a}:lle microprooessor chips (don I,t tritik the chip into accessing the
forget all that support TTL f,or the portign of. memo,ry you are interested
~NEWSLETTER 5 Vpl. III, No. 14 -- Feb. 1976
 The Amateur Computer Society is 1106, Mira1este, Callf. 90732) says:
open to all who are interested "I have been usins an lnexpenslve
in bu11ding and operating a dig- au410 cassette reoorder in my home-
ital computer. . deslgned oomputer system slnce 1972.
For membershlp lnthe AOe, and I have over 600 fl1es on cassettes,
a subscrlpt10n to Vol •. III of mostly about 4 Kbytes eaoh. My es-
the Newsletter, send $5 to: tlmate ls that the error rate ls
st ephen B. Gray less than 1 error ln 1,000,000 blts.
Amateur Computer Soolety I say thls because I can usually re-
260 Noroton Ave. oord 30 4-Kbrte flles on one slde of
Darlen, Conn. 06820 a 0-60 cassette without any errors."
The ACS Newsletter w111 appear
every two or three months. The letter goes on to say that the
s~eed ls up to 540 bftes per seoond
ln, there somehow always seems to (2200 bytes per lnch); 187 bytes
be an addresslng mode to do just per second for .ANSI standard 800"
What you want. '4!i •• " blts/lnch; 30 bytes per seoond for
"Byte/Lanoaster~-standard. Cost:
$100 for kit, $150 bullt and check-
TRADING POST -- For Sale ed out. Wrlt e for further detalls.
on the Tarbell C~ssette Interfaoe.
John L. Marshall '(Box 242, Boston,
Mass. 98055) writes: "Well, I fln-
ally broke down and bought a box ONE MORE MICRO
from IMSAI. I sure hope that it is
as good as advertlsed. I also ~. Just lea»ned of the ROA OOSMAO
bought memory and CR! 1nterfaoe M1crotutor that uses the 1801 MPU
from Prooessor Teohnology. (whl0h haa 16 l6-bit reglsters),
$349 wlred. The Mlorotutor may lat-
"I have a few items tor sale. In- .er use the new 1802 MPU, and may
terested persons may·inqulre and later be aval1able as a klt, oheap-
make offers: lftlngoo 7 tape drl ve, ere The small box, about 5 x 7 x 2
MFE cassette drives, 4Ixl2 memory lnohes, has 256 words of RAM memory,
sY,stems, llne printers, paper tape 8 input toggle switches, and a two-
reader, paper tape punoh L THS 2105 d1glt LED output d1-.play.
MC L 3002, 3003, 3113, 74~1, 1414L,
71u, 741. II
A TALL ORDER
HARDWARE -- Igs,MPUs, etc. Most questlons asked of the .OS are
reasonable, but thls Qne from up-
Cybertronios (Box 18065, Loulsvl11e, state New York a oouple of years
Iy. 40219) has a 28-page catalog of agp, asked one that I just oouldn't
ICs, MPUs, and' wlrEJWrap and packag- answer: "I would also appreoiate
ing items, lncludlng the 7400 ser- some, lnformation on the struoture,
les, CMOS DIPs, op amps voltage current and past actlvlties, gens-
regulators, 7-segment d!spl~. and ral state of development, and over-
LEDs, 8008 ($19.95), 8080 ($50), all orlentation of the organlzation.
PACE ($125), PROMs, RAMs (2102. A run-down on the various levels of
$2.50), EROM kits, 10 sockets, po- aooompllshmen' of the major oomputer
wer supply klts, capacltors, etc. bUlldinf proJeot. and the "etate-of-
the art within the group would also
be appreoiated.'
THE TARBELL CASSB:rTE INTERrAOE
Don Tarbell (144 Mlraleste Drive Copyrlght 1976 by Stephen B. Gray
Vol. III, No. 14 -- Feb. 1976 8 ~NJ:WSL:s:rT:a::a
 ~NEWSLETTER
LAST ISSUE or Volume III, Number 16
VOLtnt!E III a publication of the (Serial Issue 38)
AMATEUR COMPUTER SOCIETY June 1976

TIME AGAIN TO P..BlIEW 93017) consists of a video board

with graphics oapability, CPU/ROM/
This is the last issue of Volume ruu4 board, backplane with power
III of the ACS Newsletter. If you supply, and cabinet. The CPU board
would like to subscribe to Volume includes an 8080 MPU, 512 bytes of
IV, which will consist of at least RAM, spaoe for 3K bytes of ROM,
eight issues, please send $5.00 and vectored interrupts. Several
($6.00 overseas). CPU boards may be plugged into the
same backplane for parallel prooes-
The first issue of Volume IV is sing. Data may be entered in ootal,
scheduled'to appear during August hex or ASCII, and edited on a TV
1976, the month of the tenth anni- screen. The Micro-88 is oompatible
versary of the publication of the with MITS Altair peripherals and
first issue of Volume I. software. The complete system, in-
cluding operating system on PROM,
is $575 in kit form. Boards are
KIT ROSTER (P~ III) available separately.
Several more kits have appeared on ~.
The ANT 2650 from Applied Mio-
the market since the, last Newslet- rotechnology (100 N. Winohester
ter, and I've gotten info on seve- Blvd., Suite 260, santa Clara, Oal- .
ral that have been around awhile. if. 95050) is a self-oontained card
These should bring the list up to mioro using the Signetios 2650 MPU.
date. If you know of any not in- The oontrol panel, mounted directly
cluded in these 42, let me know. on the PC board, has 14 mini toggle
switches, a run LED, and four sets
35. The ETC-IOOO from Electronic of 8 LEDs for ADDRESS, DATA I, DATA
TOol Company (4736 W. El Segundo C and DATA D. The 256-byte RAM mem-
Elvd., Hawthorne, Calif. 90250) is ory is expandable to 32K bytes via
a wired-only system based on the the 62-p1n edge oonneotor. Price is
MOS Technology 6502. The front pa- $195 wired-only; an optional 5V/3A
nel has an 8-digit segmented alpha- power supply is $39.95.
numeric display and 40 switches
for data/address entry (hexadeci- 38. From Computer Shack (P.O. Box
mal), control, and specialfunc- 662, Littleton, Colo. 80120), the
tions. Word length is 8 bits; in- 8080+ is a wired-only all-on-one-
structions are 8, 16 or 24 bits. board microcomputer! requiring only
The basic system includes II bytes a 5-volt power supp y (the "single
of RAM~ current-loop interface, 5v supply is internally stepped to
and a ~56-byte EAROK containing -5, -9, +12 and tapped for +5V, all
the system control programs, for available 1n wire wrap area U ). On-
$575. A II RAM expansion is #118, board RAM is 1[, monitor is in two
4K for $235. Other OPU modules are 256-byte EPBDMs, llPU is an 8080.
available (8080A, )16800, and F8) The control panel inoludes 16 hex
for "sharing system resources," keys, 4-digi~ LIDs, address/data
meaning main memory and perlpheral& d1s~lay, TeletlPe interfaoe. Price
is i995, plus '18 tor shipp1ng and
36. The Mioro-88 (formerly the handling.
Micro-Altair) from Polymorphic sYs-
tems (737 S. Kellogg, Goleta, Calif. ~. Hlkra-D (30 Main St., Ashland,
Mass. 01721) has these: VT-1920 is system is $720. II (These prices are
a CRT terminal with monitor, key- as of last year, may be more now.)
board, housing, interfaoe for 8080
CPU, and power supply, $695 kit. 42. OSI (new address: 11679 Hayden
MTS-8 includes the VT-1920 plus st., Hiram, Ohio 44234) now has the
8080 CPU, IK bytes of ROM, 4K bytes 400 computer system: several boards
of RAM, serial interface, cassette now, oore boards (and 2 enclosures
interfaoe, assembler! editor and and 2 power supplies) to come later.
debug software, $1190 kit. BASIC-8 The 400 Superboard alone is $29;
includes the MTS-8 plus 4K more of with 6502, $54; with 6800, $69. The
RAM plus BASIC software, $'1695 kit. 412-A is a 400 with 6502 eight 2102
All systems have 80-character by memory, monitor PROM, 6850 ACIA "and
24-line display. all miscellaneous parts to talk to a
Teletype, II $139. same but with 6800,
40. The Digital Group (P.O. Box $159. The 420 memory expansion board
6528, Denver, Colorado 80206) has is a 4X of 2102 memory, $119. The
a computer kit that can take any 430 Super I/O board has high-speed
one of three different CPUs: 8080A, analog I/O, with AID converter and
6800, or 6501/6502. "You oan change two 8-bit D/A converters, serial
from an 8080 to a 6800 by literally and parallel interfaces, $29 (must
unplugging the 8080 card and plug- be an empty board). The 440 graphiCS
ging in the 6800 oard. Switch on board is $29; 470 floppy disk (GSI
power, read in the 6800 operating 105 disk drive, OS! bare .interface
system and you have changed your board and operating system), $699;
system to a 6800 •••• Each of the 495 prototyping board, $29; 480
CPUs is oompletely interohangeable backplane board, $39.
at the CPU card level with any
other." An 8080 3-board slstem Coming: 460 PDP-8 emulator using
with 2K RAM is $425 kit, $645 wire~ 6100 l(PU, to be used with 6502-
4-board 8080 system with 10K RAM, based 400 board; Superboard that
$625, assembled $895. The 6501/2 will take the Z-BO MPU i 450 PROl-1
system with 2K RAM is $375/$595, caloulator-chip board an inter-
10K RAl( $575/$845; 6800 system with face to an MOS Technoiogy oalculator
21 p~ $425/$645, 10K RAM $625/ chip; 490 distributed-prooessing
$895. A 3-board system oonsists of network backplane boards, whioh
CPU oard, I/O oard, TV readout and will support four processor systems.
cassette-interfaoe board, and mo-
ther board; the 4-board system has
an additional 8X of memor,f. Options THE REST OF TI' S LEARNING SYSTEM
inolude power supply, video moni-
tor, eto. A oase is underway, may The Texas Instruments Mioroprogram-
be available this summer. mer (Feb. 1976, p 2) has been join-
ed by three new Learning Modules:
ll. Moducomp Inc (75 California Controller Module, to "progress
Ave., Brockville, Ontario, Canada from mioro to macro-level program-
X6V 5Y6) has wired boards for the ming," $189.95 wired; Memory Mod-
MOD8 microcomputer: CPU board with ule, rea.d/write, with lX of l2-bit
8008, $135; PROM board with Moni- words, $189.96; Input/Output Mod-
tor8 software programmed into 8 ule, 4 input and 4 output ports,
PROMs, $233; TTY I/O board, $62; eaoh 4 b1ts, can be combined for
RAM board with 2Xx8 RAM, $120; in- 8-bit ports, $109.95. Also new is
~ut board with 3x8-bit channels, the TI book, "Sott~~e Design for
$51, output board with 3x8-bit Microprooessors," 500 pages for
channels, $621 baokplane with PROM $12.96. (The modules are Wired, no
programmer, $~72. "typical minimum kits; each has 1ts own battery/
Vol. III, No. 15 -- June 1976 2 ~NEWSLETTER
charger system; modules are inter- hundred, and have run it entirely
connected by ribbon cable.) by myself for 10 years. By doing
the collating, folding, stuffing
and addressing myself, I save enough
FIX-KIT FOR ALTAIR 800 CPU CLOCK money to give subscribers more is-
sues of the newsletter than other-
Parasitic Engineering (p.O. Box Wise, and by not using outSide help,
6314, Albany, Calif. 94?06) asks, I have only myself to blame if any-
"Is your Altair 8800 slow to start thing goes wrong. Having been the
up? Writing all D's or lIs into editor of magHzines or professional
memory? Producing the wrong STATUS? newsletters for many years, it's
Having troubles running BASIC? nice for once to know exactly who
Then your Altair may have CPU clock d1d what wrong.
problems." They offer a "permanent
fix-kit" that includes a "special
bi-polar M.S.I. integrated circuitll TRENTON COMPUTER FESTIVAt
for #15. .
The Trenton Computer Festival, held
at Trenton State College in New Jer-
"MICRO-8 NEWSLETTER II PHASE-OUT sey on May 2, was very well run, and
Should serve as a model for future
That's the heading of the sad-news events. There were dozens of exhi-
paragraph in Hal Singer's fine bits along the engineering-school
newsletter that paoked so much in- halls, including Byt e, E.PA, Hal ,
formation into its always-welcome HOS Technology, OSI, RCA and a num-
pages. ber of computer stores. ~he halls
were narrow and not very well lit,
As Hal notes, one of the main fac- but this seems to be typical of
tors contributing to his decision many engineering schools (besides
was the time required. Anybody' who which, the halls weren't designed
has started a hobby-computer news- for comput erfestivals ) •
letter soon discovers that there's
a point where the growing number A Flea Market operated in the park-
of subscribers will make it neces- ing lot, with tailgate sales of
sary for him to either have his anything and everything, some old
list of subscribers handled by a and some new, including CRTs, ICs,
professional "subscription mainte- TTY tape, capacitors, power sup-
nance H organization, or else find plies, MiniM1croMart PC boards.
volunteers who will spend a great One had Scelbi's BASfo for 8008/
deal of time changing addresses, 8080, for $43.95.
taking care of renewals, etc • .And
there's also the big (and expen- Two dozen lIf'orums and talks" were
sive) problem of getting the news- presented, on computer musiC, Al-
letter printed, collated, and:ad- tair 8800 rap session, writing a
dressed. This all costs money, but systems monitor, RCA Microtutor
the subscription price has to be tutoria;, microprocessors in ama-
kept reasonable, so that unless teur ra~o, computers in the home,
the newsletter sells advertisins computer graphics. interfac1ng,
(which is a whole new--~d hairy-- computer games, data recording,
game), it may lose money. So it all etc. Some wer~ interesting, some
has to be a labor of love. were dull, some too far out with
predictions ••••
All this helps explain why live
kept the ACS Newsletter subscr1p- The DEC setup inoluded a computer
tion list at a minimum of several with disk memory and v1deo terminal •
.JAlQJiLNE1V'SLETTER 3 Vol. III, No. 15 -- June 1975
During the day a l3-year-old sat June e to glve a paper on "Bul1dlng
down at the t eminal, and with fln- '!r;'our Own Computer."
gers flying aooessed the batoh pr~­
oessorl, wrote a program to put a
message on the CRT, using the ed1~ SCIENCE FAIR
tor, put it out from file to exe-
oute. It came up tine the flrst If the student Compl tel' Fair at the
time, and the boy walked away with 1976 Natlonal Computer Conterenoe
a smile. Later the DEemen found ln June ls any crlterlon, there may
he'd also dropped out the boot- not be many scratch-built or even
strap loader, and although there kit-bul1d computers being entered
was a hardware loader, nobody knew in soienoe talrs these days.
its starting address. It took halt
an hour to flnd a listing for the The 1976 NCe Falr inoluded 58 exhi-
loader, whioh was then keyed ln so bits selected from some 300 en-
the oomputer oould set baok 1nto tries. There were 4 computer sto-
operation. ries, 6 drawings, 1 poem, 1 ven-
trlloquist, 1 dancer~ 1 planist, 1
A olever gimmlok to get people to synthesizer, 2 scratoh-built oom-
stay around:: drawlng for door puters, and 41 aoftware exhib1ts.
pr1aes, at 4 P.M.
Both oomputers were complete home-
The Altair 8800 Rap Sesslon was brew, using 7400-series TTL, no
given by Dennis Dupre, who r~1rs MPU, and the designer's own lnstruc-
AI tail'S and other k1 ts that their tlon set. The.llth-grader trom
buyers can't malte work, at $5 to Scarsdale had lOX of semioonductor
$10 an hour, on an informal basis; memory, vectored lnterrupt, DNA,
average job t alte s about two hour s. and two addressing modes (present
The most oommon problems, he sald, page and indirect,. The Ilth-srader
are solder br1dges, the Altair from Florida had 8X of l6-bit core
clock, bad ICs, and ICs that were memor,r, and used wi rewrapp ins •
pu t in baokward.
The software exhibits included 3
Muoh of the big, old stuff d.1dn I t musio-writers, 2 s1mulators (plane
sell, suo~ as the huge old Ampex cockpit, factory-machine usage), 2
tape drive, offered for $50, free graphlos, 1 maze, 7 games (Life, 2
delivery, but no takers. Monopoly, ~oker, pinball, football,
Battlesh1p,~ 2 financial, 3 phySiCS,
Next Computer Fair 1 biology, ~ astronomy, 1 language
tranalatlon (Latin), 2 translators
upooming 1s the "Personal Comput1ng (BASIC to APL), 1 datine;, 4 for
76 Fall'," the weekend of August 28 sohool use (library system, class
and 29, at Atlantl0 Clty, N~J. For l1st., sohool inventory, attendanoe),
a "Trlp-Ki t ," wrl te: Personal Com- and 3 program m1ng ~atch proceSSing,
puting 76 F81r Headquarters, Shel- multi-language sfstem, mlnioomputer
burne Hotel-Motel, Box 1138, Board- system simulator,.
walk and Mlohlgan Ave., Atlantl0
City, NJ 08404. The grand prize, an .Altair 8800 k1 t,
went to a 9th-grader trom Pennsyl-
Admisslon ls #5 in advanoe, $7.50 vania who developed a "oomputer pre-
at the door. I've slgned on to talk diction ot the spread of tire J" a
about "Current Trends 1n Hobby Com- simplified model based ln :internal
puters," and wl11 have muoh more eneriY, heat oapaoitT ignltion
time than the 23 minutes I had at temperature, and tot~1 oombustion
the National Computer Conferenoe on tlme of the material in each posi-
Vol. III, No. 15 -- .rune 1976 4 .Jil.QJiL NEWSLP:I'TER
tion in eight 10xlOxlO matrices. ed them again. They recommended
(The student uses a time-sharing adding caps to the CRr board to
system evenings at the Univac stop the image from shaking, and
plant in Blue Bell, Fa., where his to add heavier bus wire for the po-
father is a chemist.) wer connections between boards
(even they admitted that the oon-
The initial 300 entries showed the neotors and wiring used to conneot
same low proportion of hardware to the boards together was oausing
software. Many of the hardware en- problems in other Spheres as well).
tries were too elementary, such as
binary counters, and a circuit} "I tried everything they or I oould
made up of knife SWitches, thav think of for two weeks. It just
could count from 1 to 8. wouldn1t work reliably. I finally
gave up and sent it back again, with
a letter saying to either fix it
A SPHERE EXPERIENCE properly or send my money baok. I
didn1t hear froe them. After ano-
Allen Solomon writes from Brook- ther week, I called Sphere again.
lyn: "I wrote to you a few months They said that my system had had a
ago concerning the Sphere System 3 power supply problem oaused by the
I had ordered and was waiting for. transformer having broken something
1fell, after waiting 4 months and inside, that nothing I had done in
making many long-distance calls to trying to make it work had oaused
Utah (Sphere never called or wrote any problems, and that it was 100%
to me) to find out why they hadn1t checked out and being shipped baok
delivered my system within the 90 to me. .
days they had promised when I paid
for it (remember, they were holding "Two weeks later, I got another bro-
almost $2,000 of my money all that ken s.Phere. This time, somebody had
time), after all that aggravation, left one of the bus cables attached
I received my computer in pieces. to the keyboard, and this resulted
in a broken keyboard oonneotor. I
"They had packed it so poorly that gave it one last chanoe •••• I bought
the oirouit boards had smashed in- and replaced the oonnector. The
to each other and also broken the thing still didn't work properly
CRT. The power supply was in equal- (shak1ng CRT 1mage, assembler fail-
ly bad shape. I oalled Sphere, and ures, random characters popping up •.•
they said to send it baok, and they just like before). I paoked it up,
would fix it. I told them to either shipped it back to Sphere I and sent .
ship out a new one or send my money a letter telling them that I didn1t
baok. want to deal With them any more,
send me mr money.
If A week later, a seoond Sphere oom-
puter arrived. This time, because "Another week went by, but no word
they hadn't used look washers in from Sphere. I called Utah again
mounting the transformers in the (this was costing me a fortune) and
power supply, one of them was lay- told the operator at Sphere that if
ing loose inside with a wire broken somebody from Sphere didn't call me
off. back that day, I was tak1ng legal
action. Lo and behOld, Sphere called
"I still was stupid enough to deal me (the one arid only time). I was
with Sphere, so I called them and told that, if I ins1sted, they would
agreed to make repairs myself if I send my money baok (they tr1ed to
could. I fixed the power supply_ It talk me into letting them f1x it
still didn1t work properly. Ioall- again ••• ha hal). They al so t old me
~NEWSLETTER 5 Vol. III, No. 15 -- June 1976
The Amateur Computer Society is as it's so terse as to be sometimes
open to all who are interested confuslng unless you've carefully
in building and operating a dig- read every word. And the type 1s
ital oomputer. too small. But the bra1nstra1n and
For membership in the ACS, and eyestrain are worth it; no other
a subscription of at least eight book on the market today conta1ns
issues of the Newsletter, send so much 1nformatlon about m1cro-
$5 (or a check) to: computers in such a small package.
at ephen E. Gray
Amateur Computer Soc1ety Dr. Dobb' s Journal
260 Noroton Ave.
Darien, Conn. 06820 The full title 1s "Dr. Dobb'e Jour-
The Newsletter w111 appear about nal of Computer Calisthen1cs & Or-
every two or three months. thodont1a L " pub11shed by People's
Oomputer uompany (Box 310, Menlo
the7 would deduct 10% of the refund Park, Calif. 94025), at $10 a year.
amount for "restocking" charges. I
told them to do what they l1ked, The emphasis here 1s on software,
but I would take· them to oourt l.f with each issue offering, for ex-
they gave me anything less than the ample, a system mon1tor, or a Tiny
full amount I had paid. BASI 0 , or a memory-test program,
or a computer game (all these and
"Now, a week later, I rece1ved a more are 1n only two issues--Aprl1
cheok for $245 less than I had and MaY!).
paid. On top of that, it had cost
me almost #50 1n long-distance There is no Dr. DQbbs; h1s name is
calls, plus the interest lost on a oontract10n of the f1rst names
my money while Sphere held it for of the two PCC people who are llst-
6 months. I am furious •••• " ed as "Watchdogs" on the Journal's
masthead: Denn1s Allison and Bob
Albrecht.
IN PRINT
Although there may be other hobby-
An Introduction to Microcomputers computer software Journals com1ng
up soon, they'll have a long way
This outstanding book published t& go to equal this one, the f1rst
by Osbourne & Assoclates (2950 7th of 1ts kind. Thank you, Dr. Dobbs.
St., Berkeley, Calif. 94710) at
$7.50 is well worth every penny. TV TYpewr1ter Cookbook
The first six chapters cover the Another·ln the Sams serles of' com-
fundamentals, of binary and Boole- puter Cookbooks by Don Lancaster,
an, microcomputer organization, th1s $9.95 paperbaok tells all
the MPU, CPU logic, and program- about "low-cost te1evlsion dlsplay
ming. Chapter 7, the l38-page meat of alphanumer1c and graphlcs data
of the book, covers seVen of the for mlcroprooessor systems, oompu-
top MPUs: F8, PAOE and SO/MP 8080, ter hobbylsts, ham RTTYI TV titling,
M680g, PPS-8 (Rockwell), 2650. It word process1ne, and vi~eo games n
goes into, for each MPU, the regis- to quote trom the front oover. T~e
ters, addressing modes, status 256 pages oover baslos, lOs for TVT
flags, pins and signa~sJ interfaces, use, memory, system tlming, cursor
1nterrupts, DMA, instruction set, and update c1rcuits, keyboards and
and a benchmark program. encoders, serial and TV 1nterfaoes,
Th1s 1s not an easy book to read,
and hard Om; and oolor graphios.
Oopyright ~ 6 by Stephen B. Gray
Vol. III, No. 15 -- June 1976 6 ~NEWSLETTER
 Ji"WiLN.~D.
FIRST ISSUZ or Volume IV, Number 1
VOLUME IV a publ~oatlori ot '.
th.e " (Serlal Issue 39)
.AMATIUR OOMPUTKR SOOIB'J.'Y Aqust 1976

TiNTH ANNIVERSARY
The tirst ACS Newaletter was pu~ bou;ht at the s&me tlme.
11.hed ln August 1966, ten 1ear.s.,·
-So thls mon~h, and has aeen man7 44 •. , '!'hEf,. Qua1 SOAl uses the Z-80
changes ln the tleld ot hobby oom~ iiPu ,1f~th ,.a ,2. 6...kHz clock, "so you
put era , especlally the flood ot' Q8A . run Altair 8800 sottware." 'Jlle
k1 t8 ln the last :rear and a halt. kl t ~Dolude. the Z-80, PROX aonl-
Until then, ~t was all hOlle-brevi' to~!. Ik st,tic RAI, parallel port,
and althouih many ot ue are atil EPROM· pro~ammer socket s tor up
bul1ding from soratoh, the empha-· to to~8k IP~X~, parallel ASOII
sls today ls on k1 ts, whioh oer- keyboard, and interfaoes tor RS-
tainly do help out down on tlme.,. 2320 and 2o-mA current loop; $450
klt, 8800 wired.
KIT ROftER (PART IV) QU18.lso hal a Q-SIJ OEM m1cro, on
a larie~ board, with 4k 4lnaml0
Although I thought the 11et vas BAR, on-board expan.lon 1'0011 tor
pretty muoh up to date with Part ..emory, I/O port.! oounter tlmer,
III, several aore 1I10roklte have DNA c01ltrollerj '095 wlred. Quay
turned uP, lnoluding aev,er&1 that ..ieat P.• O.Box 388, Preehold, NJ
"lI" were introduoed ln Atlantlo' Clt1. 0'1128'. ' ,('l'h&:t I, 8 QUa1 Corp. ,)
at the end ot this month.
45.0SIta,Ohallenler usee thelr
43. The Sol Terminal Co..,ut.r br " 4oo-lerle.· boards ln a case with
frooessor Teohnolol1 (6200 Rollia onl7 one switch. The 65-1X model,
st., Eme17.,llle, Oallt. 94808), ls vl1;h 6502XPU, serlal intertace,
baaed on a single Altair-bue-type lk ••iaort, 1.s .439 wired; 85-4lt.
board that lncludes an 8080 HPU, 8629; 65V-4X, 1f1ih naeo board,
lk RAM, UAR'!', vldeo diaplq olr- .675. The 88-1K, wi 1;h 6800 MPU
cult (ldentlcal to PT's VOX-l), il .439; 68-*1, 8529. (OBI 1. 11679
parallel I/O port, keyboard lnput Haiden ·St., Hiram, Ohio 44~34. )
. port audio-cassette interfaoe, ad
a PROM/ROM stored-program 'persoD- !§... OGRS K1ol'Ote~h (P. O. Box 368,
allt7 lIodule" with up to ZIt 11'01"<18. Southampton, PA 18966) otterl the
A CONSOL program ln PROM pem1t,. p-PU'l'ER, with 6502, JIPU a& bare
simple terminal operations. !he "boardS, kite,·and wlredunltl. The
optlonal leoond level 18 ihe· SOLD oompl,e~. eY'et_, at .539.95, In-
edlting terminal'. A third PROX, ol·udesCPU board, oontrol panel
SOLOS, turns SOl lnto a stanc1- , ,wit h.,.7-s.pent hex displays! mother
alone computer, wlth BASIC 1Il0;Lu... · bo&:rdl1th ., oonnectorl, I/o module,
ded. '!'he Sol-PC board alone 1. ' p01l'~ suPP17, wooden oabinet.
$475. Sol-l0l. with cabinet, 'power
eupp17 and 70-keykeyboard, 11 .7'. 1'he Veras :ra (Veras Systems,
$795. 801-20 ls Sol-lO plus a more D1v.o~ Solld state Sale.~ Inc.,
amps ot power, tl ve-slot expanslon BOx . 7.m, So_n111e, HA O~l':S) hal
cha.el. and oard true t 15 aore '. a CPU that :inolu.a.ea the Fe MPU
keya (arlthmetl0 keypa.a.l. !he' SOLID rall'b'&.1l, aonl1iol'. progr8.mmable tlmer,
or SOLOS modules oan be added to 2o-.11·lq~p. ana/or RS-232 1nter-
Sol-PO, -10 or -20 tor $100, l t tace, lk:!lAK. '1'he CPU, plul butfered
motherboard, power supplr, and'ci... " ~ tlpe 1ntertaoes 1s $81.70. Terml-
b1net, is $429 kl t, $679 asseJDble4 _.nals perml t us1n, external 5- or
(atter Sept. 15, $459 kit, $709 lO-volt power supplr.
wired). Motherboard aocept. tbur -
4k statlc RAM boards, at .149 ldt, -R. The Data Handler trom Western
each. Under development: UV PROM Digltal Systems (3650 Charles st.,
board, DM! and DMA board, cassette, Suite Z, Santa Clara, Callt 950501
modem, vldeo board. up,es the HOS Teohnology 6502 MPU
and. single 13.75-inoh by 11.5-
48. Three 6800 evaluatlon boards 1ndhPO board. "The Data Handler
?rom AMI (American M1crosrste•• , ls plui~1n compatible" with the
Inc., 3800 Homestead Road, Santa Altalr:8800; . "even the 8800 CPU
OlaraL.OA 95051), feature a bUilt- wll1 plug right in." The bare-bones
in lRuM programmer: EVIlOO kit, klt, w1th PC board, 25 SWitches,
with PO board, minimum otp~rt •• WOOden stand, is $79.95. The oom-
$295; EVr200 kit, with 512-brte . pl~teklt lncludes this plus a
EROH, $595; wlred 1VK300 with 2k tull set ot lOs, lk RAM, reSistors,
EROM and TlnY' BASrO, .956• - oapaci~orsJ LEDs and l-MHz 6502.
The DataH8ndler oan directly add-
The EVl:99, advertised b1 Advanced- ress- 65k of lllemor;y. There is an
11!1cro Oomputer Products, is the _. aeaay to use tull-function hardware-
same aa the EVnOO but wlth lese oontrolled tront panel. 1
to 1t, made tor hobb1ists and com-
puter stores, sold onll in quantitr 'The Data Handler has dual interrupt
to computer clubs and storea. lines (one maskab1e), slow-down cir-
ou1trl tor slow memories, DMA (dl-
49. EPIC 2L trom -Barkeshire 87.t_s rect memol'1 address) and also oon-
1f.O. Box 012, Mountain Vlew, OA ta1ns one a-b1t parallel-input port,
94040) features a board wlth 8080 one 8-b1t parallel-output port,
MPU, 2k Ril, 256-brte PROM boot- separate 170 address oontrol and
strap, 16 110 linea, video lnter- memor,y-control lines, single volt-
tace, cassette interface, program. ag~
including monitor, text editor,
., .
and oyo1e times to 250 naeo."
'
-

Lite, blackjack; separate kerboard; Bi. The App1$-l, trom Apple Compu-
$775. -._ ter Companr (770 Weloh Road, Suite
1501:,·palo.A1to, CA. 94304) 1s an
50. Interoept Jr. trom Intersil assembled board using the 6502 MPU,
l'i'0900 North Tantau Ave., Cuper- comes with v1deo generator, 4k
tino, CA 95014) is an all-CKOS bYtes ot B.AK (board will hold 8k),
"low-cost tutorial arstem' uslng- mon! tor in PROM, breadboard area j
Intersil's IK6l00 CMOS MPU and $666.66 • .Al_so available: oassette
related OMOS devloes; it recognizes lntertac-., whioh includes a tape
the DIO PDP-S/E instruotion set:, ofpseudo-oompl1ed Apple BASIC;
Basic module is a lO-b;Y-ll-inol1 _ t75;4k RAM expans1on, $120.
double-sided PC board, with multi-
functlon alphanumerio kerboard,.:two 53 •.. Gnat OOJllputers (8869 Balboa",
tour-diglt LED displays, resideht milt 0, san Dlego CA 92123), or-
micra-interpreter, and battery ters.a -dozen boards, and tive as-
power; $281 wired. Memory can be sembledsystems, based on the 8080
extended up to 12 non-volatlle .:' MPU •. _System 1 wi th CPU, lk RAK,
IM6518 1024%1 CMOS RAMs; $145 Per 512.,word.s ot !oK, Gnatbui, serial
RAM module. A power-strobed PROM anapara;llel intertaces, hardware
module supplies up to 2k words of .p~e (power aupp11, card rack
user program; #74.65. Serlal I/O- .itnmotherboard andtive oonneo-
module with both R8-232 and Tel'e~" tdra);~.925. System 2, "mlnimum

Vol. IV, No.1 -- August 1978 2 ~REWSLETTER

IYstem for hardware checkout,· hal t10nal latched I/O ports, Teletype
OPU, lk RAM, front panel, hardware lntertace, $179.
package; 1985. System 3, FASIO-
orlented, has CPU, ak RAM, ?68 ROK 57. The M-8 Educator, from Techn1-
words, Gnatbug monltor, lnterface, cal Oommun1cations, Inc., (114:95
hardware paokage wlth 6 oonnector~ Lenexa Dr., P.O. Box 306, Olathe,
$1695. System 4, 'minlmum for PROM Kansas 66061) uses an F8 MPU J has
programmlng,· has OPU, lk RAM, lk 4k bytes of RAJ( (expandable \;0 16k),
ROM, GnatbUi, lnterfaces, PROM pro- 2k bytes of RAM for OR! retresh, lk
grammer hardware package; 81695. Fa1rbug monitor, with OM', kerboard
aystem 5, the 'oomplete development and electronlcs 1n p1astlc housings.
system," has OFU, 16k RAM, RAMlROK The 12-inoh CRT has 31 l1nes of 64
for floppy-disk dr1vers, 4k ROM characters each; kerboard has 53
for mon1tor, lnterfaces, front pa- keys. Serial 20-mA loop for Tele-
nel, 19-1noh oage, oablnet; $2995. type 300-baud I/O for mag tape,
~ng to s.vstem 0 a Lear Slegler parailel port tor hlgh-speed tape
ADM-3 te:r:"Dlinal, Teletn>e 40, lOOK reader. Optlonal: resident assemb-
floppy-disk system and hlgh-speed ler in 3k ROMi ROM board has space
paper tape reader br1ngs the total for additlonal Sk. Prlce: $1895.
system to $10,320.
~. The Inteco1or 8001 klt" trom
54. BABY! ls a w1red mioro ln an Intelllgent S7stems Corp. (4376
attaohe oase, from 81M Systems (P. Ridge Gate Drive, Dulugh, G-eorgla
O. Box 248, Kont Vernon, N.H. 030- 30136), althouih advert1sed as an
57), us1ng the 6502 MPU, oomes a-color lntelllient termlna1, 1.
wlth 2k RAM, 512-byte bootstrap actually a computer, based on the
loader and monltor ln PROK, DMA, 80aO MPU, with 25 11nes ot 80 cha-
video 1nterfaoe, audl0 oassette In- racters each on a 19-1nch 8-oo1or
terface, 63-key keyboard wlth up- aRT, 4k RAM/PROK software, baud
per and lower case (plus Greek with rates up to 9600 baud, ASCII key-
control key), pover supply, speak- board; ,1395. Opt1ons inolude RAM
er, audio oassette tape with dump to 32k 4a llnes of eo oharacters
program, text editor, three games, each, i 19ht pen 1.lJJl1ted graphios
muslc program, for $850. Same with mode, background color, speclal
4k ~~ 11000. Optlonal vldeo monl- graphlcs characters. Later thls
tor, .i50. Floppy diskette wlth year they'll otter check-balancing
power supply and oontroller, '750. and 1nventory programs, and will
Maintenanoe oontraots aval1able! advertise the 8001 as a personal
oomputer.
55. The SC/MP PC-board kit trom
Nat10nal Semioonduotor uses the
SC/!IfP MPU (ISP-8.A!500D), features CHANGES IN THE COJIPUTER ROSTER
static operat10n, 46 instruot1on
types, 81ngle- and double-byte op- There are some changes and correot-
erat10n 512 bytes of ROM wlth 10ns to be made to the computer
"Kitbug' monltor and debug program, rosters in the last three lssues
256 bytes ot RAM orystal clock, of Volume III.
TTY interfaoe, 6~-pin edge oonneo-
tor, at $99. The PolyMorphlc Mlcro-Alta1r name
was ohanged to Poly-BS, !'!S!! Micro-
56. The P8-S10 trom Fronet1os Corp. 8a, as reported 1n the June 1976
11.0. Box 28582, Dalla8, Texas lssue, 1tem 136.
75228), 18 an assembled PO board,
4.5" x 6.5', with lk RAM lk f1rm- A couple of oomputer companles may
ware (Fa1rbug monltor), 32 b1dlreo- be out ot buslness, or relocatlng:
~NEWSLE'.rTER 3 Vol. IV, No.1 -- August 1976
Systems Research, Ino. (SRI-lOCO, ware on his 400 system wlthout mo-
#17, lov. 1975 Newllett~r,_and SRI- difying the software." Inserted in
500, #20, Feb. 1976 NL) has a dis- the 400 bus between a 6602-baaed
oonnected phone. Teohtra (TKO 112, 400 board and the rest ot the 400
#24, Feb. 1976 NL) ls havlng lts system, the 460Z oontains both a
phone number changed, new phone Z-80 and Intersll 6100 MPU With
not 1n 1et •••• room tor a third MPU. !he 'exeou-
tive" 6502 oontrols eaoh line ot
One of the very flrst microcomput- the Z-BO and 6100, monitors sys-
ers was the 8GB OOSA (#12, Nc;»v. tem s1gnals, and permlts multl-
1975 NL) J which ls now available prooesslng.
only on speclal order, as RGS is
now working on a new syste.,_ using Oheiky said that the reason to go
many of the same boards! such as to multlprocessing is to proteot
for RAM and ROM, but wl1ih new CPU against obsolesoence, since "anr
boards for the aoeo J 6800, 6502 , prooessors you use today and in the
1802 (COSKAO). Ava11ab1ll ty date tuture oan be run under the execu-
depends on cap1tallzatlon. tive of the extremely fast 6502."
The 6502, which is the fastest MPU
Computer 138 the 8080+ l listed ln available, due to lts pipeline pro-
the June 19'701 NL as OOlllJlg from oess~ng, which increases speed by
the Computer Shaok, 1. actually overlapping operations will be
the MBC 8080+, a product of Xono- superseded by an even taster MPU,
lithl0 Systems Corp. (14 Inverness the 65020.
Dr. East, Englewood l Colorado 801-
10), and is one of lhe best-looking talking CQBPuters
micros available, with a very' neat
and tunctional-looking oontrol pa- Both Votrax and Oomputalker exhibi-
nel. This wired~onll two-board ted oomputer-oontrolled speeoh syn-
(stacked) mioro ,haa a blg brother, thesizers. The Votrax takes a bits
a four-board OIK and evaluatlon- to select one of 61 phonemes, whlch
type system, whloh adds to the are the lnd1vldual 80unds that malte
9080+ an OS board (statlo RAM wlth up words. The word "and" takes six
battery, and strapped write-access) bytes, and ls ooded a8 2/PAl, l/AEl,
and a 16k memory board; t19?6. lIENa, 1/13, liN, liD. The first
byte 1s a pause; the numbers before
the remalning slashes are stress
PERSONAL COMPUTING '''/6 levels, with the hlghest number In-
dlcatlng the prlnolpal stress in
The two-day Conawn-er Trade Falr, the word. Votrax has a "diotlonary"
Aug. 28 and 29, at Atlantic Cit,., of words wlth their oodings, whioh
New Jersey, was hectiC, orowded, would have to be stored ln a table.
and had eo or more booths orammed
with oomputer goodies. Between The HobbYist Standard
3000 and 3500 people attended, and
nearly 40 papers were presented, Some manufacturers deoided to find
ranging trom "The KIM S1at em" to a abort name tor the lOO-pln bus
"Software for Speeoh Synthesis.' that has beoome known as the "Altair/
Imsal/PolyMorphio/Sol bus." They
Mult1prooess1ng wlth MiorQprocessors picked "S-100,' meaning the Stand-
ard lOO-pin bus. However, MITS says
This paper, by Mike Chelky of OBI, they have that bus patented, and
was about the new 460Z CPU expander will not adVertise 1n any magazine
board, whloh allows a user to 'run that uses "8-100" instead of just
8080, Z-80 and 6100 (PDP-B) sott- pla1n 'Altair bus," whioh ls what

Vol. IV, No.1 -- August 1916 4 .JA1.QJiL NEWSLE'l'TltR

MITS lnalsta on. Well, It'aShort. latert.c., dual oassette lnterfaoe,
plus, oQnneot1ng cable.. The whole
Me-Too Boarda tor the sw:n 8800 works} complete, 1s '495 k1t, $575
a8sttm,?led. Up to elsht ot the ••
Untll recentlY', any-boa;, Who.· vaa boards "1 be da1s,-ohalned toge-
mak1ng onlY' the board. tor.bobo, ther, . tor a· total of 33k of RAM.
computer, would make them tor the
Al tall' 8800 bua; an example 1s 1th. The IlL Mlnl-Micro Deslgner (same
Vector prototype board. Bat now a. the R!41,-!leotroni08 DJDa-Klcro)
you can get prototype board. tor nov has a p ug-ln acoes80rl board,
the Southweat 6800 qatem, 1D CPU/ wlth extra BAM (lk supplled, 2k oa-
memory s1ze at '19.95 and I/O 81&. pa,1.tl ), 'l'e1et1Pe and aud1o-oas-
at $9.95 trom Personal Oo~ut1ng sett. Intertaces, paper-tape oon-
Co., 332i To~erwood Dr.,SUlte lo?, troller, room tor more PROM or ROM
Dallaa, Texas 75234. (nODe supplied) ••175 kit; 8225
assembled and tested.
Case tor the 01-1024
D1gital Group Case
Ir you need a case tor 10ur South-
~rest <n'-1024 terminal (or tor 8R1 A case wll1 soon be avallable tor
c~m11ar Iterboard teraina!), a tlne all thoae D1,ltal Group boards; a
metal on., with welded jOlnts 1. protot1Pe vas ahOWft, With apace
available trom I,S, AL IndU8'rlea, tor a dozen oarda or 80, no tront-
Inc. (867 Roa. Place, Anah.1m, CA panel avitches or 11ghts other than
92805). Tbere are 8 modela, trom tO'l* power and r •• et. CPUbo..,.... now
$45 to $56. 10U ohooae the one that ava1lable lnolude Z-SO, 808OA/
tits your partloular ke,board and 908PA} 6800~ and 6502. A complete
whloh has, it 'ou need lt, a outout tour-Doar4 :G-SO .,st., Vi th 10k
tor a 5-key or 12-ke, pad tor cur- mello17 , power s",pl7, motherboard
sor oontrol or nwa.rl08. Send tor andoabinet, 1a 1895 kit, 81295
the lnto sheet, wh1ch alao .hovs wired; same vith 18k, 11095 lt1!1.._
lln. drawings ot th.ir oomput.r tl545 wlre4., Slmilar 8080 or 6tsUU
stand. and the oonaole. s1at. . are t60 cheaper; the 6602
siatell 1.*100 cheaper.
Expan810n tor All-OIl-Ope Board
AltaIr
.
Xit-A-Kppth
.
Sev.ral ot the oompanle8 that .ate ' .

:Soomputer-on-a-board.· maoh1nes, 'Irst I'd seen ot an eaal-p8{aent

with ke1board and dlsplay on the plan, oftering the 8800b at 1107
P'J board,are nov otferlDg expan-
illon u n i t . . :
.181'
aonth tor. 8 month8, 8800a at
79 a aonth tor 7 .onths, 680b at
O~.20per .oath tor 6 montha.
MOS TeOhnolog, has, to expand the
IIM-l computer, a IIK-2 ~ stat1c XIM-l Pover SUppll
RAJ( .emo1"1 board (.170), IIK-3 Bit
statlc f i j i . .aor1 board .($298). 'or.thoae ~o don't have a ready
Ie . tlt. works are a re.ldet a ..... source ot +5 and +12 volts, a ~
bler, full BASIC, 2Jr. EROKboard. .upp11 is aval1able at #50 (plu.
$2.80 handlIng and shipp1ng, NJ
EBIA w1ll soon have an expander res14.nt, add 8~ sales tax) tro.
board for lts 6502 fami11ari&or, Soarpa Laboratorl•• , Ino., 46 L1-
or tor an1 6502 or ~80o-ba8ed m1- b"l't, st., BraiD, Bora Statlon,
c~o, with all sorts of optional letuellan, Jew Jers" OS~.
.fROM progr_er, 41t RAJI, parallel
Interfaoe, baud-rate olook, .er1al B.uIO tutorial.
~lfEWSLET!ER . Tol. IV, 10. 1 -- August 1976
 e teur Computer Soclet7 1, S1stem, "$14. 915 f'ro. ML Instru-
open to all who are lnterested . ment. (61 'nrst st., Derby, Conn.
ln bU11dlng. :Land operatlng a dlg- 06418). The Hark. 80, also known
i tal comput)'r. '.. as the Micro-Des1gner System (Nov.
For membershlp ln the'ACS" and 1975 NL). has two 8K-IO bread-
a subscrlptlon 01" at least elght 90ard sockets, permitt1ng the use
lssues 01" the Nevsletter, sen4 of' a wide varlety 01" ILR Out-
$5 (or a check) to: boards,' modular electronic o1r-
at ephen B. Gra, cults that "eaoh ierf'ora a single
Amateur Coaputer SOolet7 digltaltunction, such as LED
260 Noroton Ave. d1spl81, pulser, tlmer, olook, I1ne
Darlen Conn. 06820 dr1~er/~eeeiver, U~, etc.
The Nevsfetter will appear about
ever two or three month Af'ter:a long sectlon on the a080,
there are dozens of' experiments,
Wave Mate, manutacturers 01" the aome lnvo1v1nc running simple pro-
Juplter II and 110 computers are grams, othe,rs that use outboards
plannlng to otter a BASIC tutor1al and simple programs.
on cassette.
sylvanla Technlcal School Manuals
COMING OOMPUTER SYS'rZM One of' the ACs members says he
learned everrthing he knows about
Godbout may be on the wa7 toward oomputera trom the Oomputer Lab
the computer he's been talklng Books publiShed by the Sylvanla
about tor aome tl.e~ Hets now ad- Technioal School (63 Second Ave.,
vertising a l6-blt ~AOI CPU board, Waltham, Mass. 02154).
although "not solloiting orders
(ret), 80 please don't write us The Computer Phase III student
Just now. When we have a complete HandoutlLab Book ($3.23) is a 212-
system, available ott-the-shelf, page pr1mer that examines the ba-
you'll aee lt In. our ads. Hang sics 01" Boolean algebra, truth
In •••• They do have a Naked RAM tables and logic oiroults, combl-
boa~d, 4k, with 40-pln oonnector; national 10glc, t1mlng diagrams,
'88. And Eoonoram, 4k A1 tair-oom- numberins systems and converslon,
pat1ble, $99.95. blnary arithmetic, and 10g10 tami-
11e8 and ls a workbook with many
blanks for the student to fill in.
VECTOR aaoov BOARD
!he Computer Phase IV Integrated
Vector's aeoOY universal mloropro- Circuit Handout/Lab Book (not seen)
oessor board ls the same siz.. aa ls t4.36. The Computer Phase V
Altair and Imsai boards, prepunched PLC-l Oomputer Operations Lab Book
tor DIP lOa. Power and ground (.4. (0) is a manual for a pre-MPU
planes are on opposite sides 01" the teach~g'computer, an a-blt, slngle-
board. Two heat-sink posltionsj one address, bus-transfer-organized, pa-
heat-sink supplled; .19.95 eaon. rallel processor wlth ROM control.
The books "may be bought on the pre-
IN PRINT mlses through the School Book Store,
if'someone lived nearby. Other ar-
A unlque publicatlon 1s the It-lj}oh rang~ments might possible be made."
thlck "Bug Book III, Micro Computer It 10U don't live nearby, you might
Intertac1ng: Experlments us1:ng the vi't'erto the Book Store •••
Mark 80 Mlcrocomputer, an ',.8.080 '90p,rt~ht· 1976 by at ephen l Gray
Vol. IV, No.1 -- August 1976 6 .JAl.QJiL NEWSLETTER
 ~ NiWSLETTiR , ..
KIT ROSTER Volwne IV, Number 2
PART V a publicaticn cf the, . (Serial Is_ue 40)
AMATiUR COMPUTER SOCIE'l'Y Deceglber 1.9'16
, .

KIT RO STiR (PART V) Our CPU board is essentially that

provided by PolyMorphio in their
There's Just no. end to. the proces- Foly 88, . with the excep,tion that
sion of m1crcprccessor kits (and the resident. monitor on PROM il
wired units): 18 were listed in addressed at EOOO h~x, and, that we
the Nov. 19715 Newsletter, 16 in perform a hardware jump to thls . '
Feb. 1976, a in June' 1976, 16 in addres~.upcnre:se~. Allo ,.our moni-
Aug. 1976, and here we go again: tor lnoludes somefe.atures not
found in other microoomputers •••• tl'
59~ The las1s 7301, frcm lasla,
Inc. (815 W. Maude Ave. t Suite 13, 61. The Motorola MEK6800D2 Evalua-
Sunnyvale, Calif. 94086} , is ~ tron Kit has everything 'on one
a11-cn-one-bcard ccmputer, wired board, except power supply. The'
only, with 8080 MPU, lk RAM, 2k $235 kit features 16 hex keys, 8
PROM, 24-key keyboard, eight, 7-8eg- funotion keys, 6 hex LED displays"
ment r.eadouta, Iasis~devel()ped . 256 bytes of RAMI room tor more
mcnitor in lk of the PROM; ,450. BAM (or ROl4: or PROl4:), wire~lfrap.
Acccmpanylng the Illa7301" i8 a 250- area for up to. 20,16-pln lOs, AC]A
page programming course. Bcth com- for oassette interfaoe, PIA for
put er and course are ccntained ln keybcard ,and:d.1splay, ae·eondPIA.
a three-ring binder. Iasis aleo has for user, . J-BUGmoQit·ol.! 1n~OM'
a $7.95 Mlorocomputer Applloatlons (examine and change memory &:,regi~
Handbook. sters, set up to tive bre.ak:t>o1nts,
traoe one instruct:$.on,etc.), cry-
60. The COMPAL-80 cORlPuter, from stal-controlled clock. Hotorola
COmpu,ter Power &: Llght (12321 Ven- started shipping the D2this·month.
tura Blvd., Studio City, Callf.
91604) 1s an assembled system "for 62. First offered about a year ago,
homes and small businesses for only the Mctorola MEK6800Dl design eval-
$1863." The system includes a oom- uation kit oonslsts of PO board;
puter with only two front-panel 6800. MP.U, PIA, ADlA; tWO.128-b. yte
switchel, separate keyboard, and SAMs (room for 4 more on board)
9-inoh TV monitor. Ules 8080A MPU, lk ~Mw1th Mikbug monitor, $149.
two lerial I/O ports, 12k words of The' additional requ1r~d .I C,., .sook-
RAM, 16-line by 64-character video ets,resistors, e1;o". Qost around
display, and extended BASIC resid- $75 mor",:. (not av.ilable, f.·rom Moto-
ing in 10k, includlng tormatted rola)~ , .'.
PRINT, double preCision, etc. Op-
tions inolude additlcnal memory up The· J -BlTG in the D2 ls .11ke the. KIM
to 32k, dual tloppy':'dlsk drive, (Keybcard Input Monitor) in· th.e
hard-oopy devicea, dlskBASIC·, ap- KIM-li the Mikbug.ln the D118. for
pllcation. programs in BASIC (pay- u.e with Teletype orR8-232 inter-
roll, inventory control, general face; theae are two inoompatible
ledger, etc.). The typlcal business sy.teml. .
system, including disk and printer,
is under $9000. In a letter,OF&L ~•. The K1crok:Lt-8/16 MOD:· 8080 and
sa1d, I'We use modified ver.sions· ot MOD 6800 are trom. M1crokl t Inc.
boards manufaotured by PolyMOrPhic (2180 Colorado Ave., Santa·. Monica,
Systems and by Processor TechnoloiY. Calit. 90404), whlch saye "Dcn't be
misled by our name, our Iy.tem 65. The Gemlni-58 from MIR Enter-
oome. tully alsembled, tully te.t- pril~s (P.O. Bo~.610ll, SUnnyvale,
.d •••• " The two "Miorooomputer De- Callt. @40Sa) consists of sev~ral
velopment System." are ldentlcal assembled bo~rd •• The $279.95
except tor the MPU. Each lnolude. stand-alone CPU board, wlth 6800
a black-box computer (with only a MPU, 3S4 RAM bytes, serlal I/O,
power swltch), keyboard, TV monl- DNA, dual 22-pln edge oonneotor,
tor~ and two oass.tte-tape unlts, is about the same aa the M&R Astral
at .3650 eaoh. Other teature. In- 2000 CPU board, except that Gem1nl
clude an lnteractlve debugger, uses the Mlkb~g monltor while As-
edltor, and resident assembler. tral usee a 2k ol.atom monltor; the
Optlons include 8080 and 6800 in- PROM and ROM boards are the same,.
olroult emulators ($1250 eaoh), An 8k RAM board, $269.95; Sk EPROM
oonveralon paokages tor adding a board, with all lOa exoept the
6800 to the 8080 Iystem and vloe 5204 !PROMs, $89.ge. There's al.o
versa ($950 each). prlnters and a OPU board wlth. only 128 RAM bytes
floppy dlsk, addltlonal ax dynaml0 tor $259.95. World-wlde distrlbutlon
RAM memory ($aOO), prototype board, rlghts have been asslgned to James
PROM/RAM board, PROM p'rogramm.r, Electronics (102l-A Howard Ave.,
BASIO lnterpr.ter (t900), word pro- San Oarlos, Callt. 94070); M&R wll1
oeslor tor text .ditlng ($100), and handle only OEM orders for 100 or
terminal slmulator,and PL/X loader. more. The. Gemln1 boards flt one ot
This llnlt really a hobby item, but the Veotor oabinet's; It the volume
It's lnteresting •••• of orders warrants lt, M&R may pro-
vide a backplane. M&R advertlsing
64. M1oroM1nd, trom ECD Corp. (196 emphasls ls now on the Gemlnl-58;
Broadway, Cambr1dge~aMa.s. 02139) presumably M&R has had the .same
1. based on the 651~ MPU (second- trouble wlth the Astral 2000 that
generat10n 6502), with oharaoter most other oomputer-kit manufao-
and graph1cs generator, I/O lnter- turers are havlng: many phone oalla
taoe, rf modulator, power supply, requestlng asslstance, and many PO
80-key keyboard. Sottware includes boards sent in "all screwed up, It
lnteraotlve editor, assembler, aa one oompany puts it.
monitor, oassette-based file sys-
tem, an extended form of BASIC 66. In addltion to the 180l-based
oalled notsoBASlC, and IImany games Mlorotutor (#34 Feb. 1976), RCA
and utilltiel." Has sookets tor now has the OOP1a8020 Evaluation
16k of memory, wlth 8k supplied. A Klt with 1802MPU, PO board, pyt~
memory-mapping option allows a4- lnputand byte output ports, ter-
dr.ssable memory spaoe to be ex~ mlnal lntertace, 5l2-byte ROM wlth
tended to 64 megabyte.; 32k-byte lIutillty programs of oommonly re-
memory expans10n boards are aval1- qulred functions," 256-byte RAM '
able. Eaoh of the 128 possible (room on-board for 4k max.), LED
oharacterl ls software-defined, di.play" $249'.
can be ohanged in real time., for
detailed graphic.. The oassette 67. cromemoo (One Flrst St., LOI
interfaoe operates at a transfer Irtos, Callf. 94022), famous for
rate of 400 8-blt bytes a seoond. the "TV Dazzler," has an aSlembled-
Assembled only, $987.54. The not- only system using the Z1101 Z-SO
soBASIO seems to be a verSion of MPU, along wlth 8t RAM, PROM pro-
Tiny BASIO, as floatlng-polnt ls grammer, monltor in PROM, RS-232
an optlon. Black-and-white gra- . lnterfaoe, and malnframe wlth 22
phlos ls lncluded; ~6-color gra- slota. Actually, the malnframe i.
phlcs ls optional. an Imsa1. The prloe ls a little
beyond the usual hobby range: $2495.
Vol. IV, No. 2 -- December 1976 2 JiWiL NEWSLETTER
This 1s justified by calling the as the Imaa! 8080 or D1gital Group
Z-l a "microprocessor development system •. For the manut.,oturer,
system." there's very 11ttle labor involved,
no sheet-metal work, no pOint-to-
point wiring, and no construction
HOBBY COMPUTERS: TWO DIRECTIONS manual to have to supply. A KIK-l
offers the hobbyiet the cheapest
Two trends dominate hobby compu- way to .get h1s teet wet, to leam
ters tod.,. One is for computer the bas1cs ot computing atmin1mum
freaks, and involves advanoed hard- cost, without the need tor an ex-
ware. Such as an Altair-compatible ternal keyboard, or oonnectlon to
board that will store digitized a TV set or printer.
ver_ior'ls of your voice in "training"
mode, and then, in speech mode, Some of these all-on-one-board com-
when it reoognize. your voice puters are so simple and oheap
speaking oue of the previously re- that they'd be hard to expand,and
corded words, will cause that word are tine ,for the person who's quite
to be printed. (this is coming up sure all he wants ia to learn the
in 1917). There are already compu- elements of oomputing without hav-
ter boards that 'synthesize speech int to put too much money into a
tram stored vooabularies (August machine he might not u.e much after
1976 Newsletter, p 4). So it won't he tigures out how it workl.
be loftl before oomputer freaks will
be trying to get one oomputer to For those who think they may want
talk to another, not through wire, to expand their computer so as to
but by voice! be able to write longer program.,
or to hook on an alphanumeric key....
Otheroomputer-freak areas involve, board or caslette memorf. Iystem,
advanoed graphios, computer musiC, etc., several of these 'oompacts"
intertacing to a breadboard, digi- have add-on boards. KIM-l owners
tiZing the output of a TV oamera, can buy the KIM-2 4k RAM memory
etc. So much time is spent on get- board, or KIM-3 8k memory. KIM-4
ting these devices to work, that is a 5-s1ot motherboard with all
very little time is actually spent conneotors and a regulator. And
by these hobbyists on computing. further KIMs are 1n the works. The
The emphasis here ia on gadgeteer- EBKA expander board, whi oh wl11
tng, on a constant aearch tor the It eXpand any 6502 or 6800-based m1-
tar-out and complex. crocomputer," oan be bought as an
empty board, or with any or allot
The, other trend ls more and mO.re seven opt1ons, including k1ts tor
toward the average conlumer's use a PROM programmer, 4k RAM, 2k PROM,
of hobby computers. This means a baud-rate olock, and 1nterfacee
oertain amount of using all-on-one- tor serlal, parallel and dual-
board machinee suoh as the KIM-l, cassette operation.
iBKA 5502 Faml1iarizor, and EPA-
58, programmed in assembly lang- But a muoh more important trend is
uage. There are more at these'all- to the wired-only computer that can'
on-one-board type at hobby compu- be programmed in BASIC. As the
ter than any other, one reason hobby market appeals to more and
being that it's the simplest oom- more non-teohnical people, it will
plete computer in a single package, have to provide this high-level
with a miniwm of parts, and ie language, sinoe suoh people will be
thus much eaaier tor a manutaot~er 1nter••ted in programming, and not
to del1gn and produoe than the more at all in assembly language, whioh
complex multi-board machines suoh is too tedious and time-ooneuming
~NEWSLETTER Vol. IV, ·110. 2 -- Deoember 19'76
 for all but 'the computer treak. As computer circu1t, 1!'~lo~_~;Ll bU1 H_

'it turna out, incldentally, thel"'~ elimInates tuning,errors (accura,_

are very tew hobbylsts who are to .0024%), etringlng dlal corda
really lnto heavy assembly-language and all m,ohanioal tunotions." The
programmin,g; most of them uee BASIC.tuner reads out the tuned-atation
oall letters on a separate display,
Almed dlreotly at the mass computer- whioh can be programmed to display
hobby market 1s a $495 BASIC oompu- any tour alphanumerio oharaoterl
ter, with CRT and keyboard, sched- in place of the call letters • .And
uled to be shown in prototype at there I s also' a'display of the troe-
the January 1977 Conaumer Eleotro- quency tuned.' Fouretatlons can be
ni08 Show ln Chioago, and made by called up from memory by 81mplr '
a calculator manufacturer that re- toucing one of tour palr. ot eleo-
oently bought an IC manu:tacturlng tronlc touch-swltchea. There 1s 'no
company. Another oaloulator manu- dlal polnter; LEOs lndicate the
taoturer ls sald to be working on relative p081tlon o'n ,R standard'
a similar home oomputer, although linear'soale, in analog fashion.
more expenslve: with 32k, $2,000. Other touch-switohoontrols al;lo1f
soann1ng up or down the :r:M band.
This Is where the major hobby-oom- The memory Is "non-volatl1e." And
puter market of the tuture lles, the prioe 1s about $2,000.
not In the far-out hardware, but
in an all-ln-one-box oomputer that
sells for le8s than $1000. The PUBLIOATIONS
user won't oare it the MPU is a
Zilog Z-80 or an Intel 4004. He End of UMicrotrek"
wants 'to program, and he needa to
be aupplied with plenty ot soft- One of the halt-dozen hobby-oomputer
ware and with plenty of tutorial magazines has already ceased publl-
material to teaoh him how to use oation. The first isaue ot M1t~~
the software and to write his own trek ~a. published 1n August B,
program •• A couple ot the la.rger and the ••oondln Deoember. It hal
hobby-computer manutacturers are sinoe merged With Perlonal comii-
already oonsidering hard-wired tine, and willbeoome a lispeoi
BASIC computers. This mean. a BASIC seotlon" ln that magaZine.
interpreter in aome form of read-
only memory. A oouple ot hobby-oom- Computer Mu.l0 Journal
puter manutaoturer. have BASIC in
ROl-i now; one has 4k, 8k and 12k. The People's Computer Company (PCC),
BASIC in firmware, but at ;pr1oes whioh publ1abe' Dr. Dobbls Journal,
that make his oomplete,BASIO ma- has announc,ed' a "OomputeX' 'Muslc ,
ohine too ,expensive for the mall Journal,- whioh "wlll be devoted to
market. However! 1977 should ••• the development otoomputer systeml
several new BAS C maohines, assem- whloh are capable of produc)i,ng higb.-
bled only, ready to run, tor les8 quality mualc. n "Topiol to be oovered
than $500. inolude "synthe.is ot tones, del~gn
ot real-time pl.,ing instrpmentl,
real-tlme controllera,revlews ot
XI CROPROCESSOR IN .AN J'M TUNER hardware oomponents, compolitian ot
mual0 using a oollputer , digl tal til-
The tirst ,use at a mioroprooessor tering, envelope seneratlon, etc.
Mioro/CPU 100, a synthesized d1£1- is
tal I'M tuner.. The' entire tuner i.
.1.
in hl-f1 tuners islnthe Sherwood A one-yearsublcriptlon (e 1.sues)
(tirltll1aue dUe Jan. 1977),
t'l"Om POC, {Box ~.~ Menlo Park, 'Callt.
said to be "oontrolled by a mlni 94021.' ,

Vol. IV, No. 2 -- Decemb'erl976 4 ~NEWSLETTD\

More Magazines on the Way otters multiple-oopy printing by
us1ng carbon or NCR paper. Kit
In addition to Byte, Personal Com- $399, assembled $549.
puting,Kilobaud, Interfaoe Age,
SCCS Interfaoe, Creative Computing,
Dr. Dobbls Journal, and People's FROM OUR READERS
Computer CompanY,two more hobby""
computer magazines are said to be, Need Help on the Mark-a?
in the works tor 1977: ROM, ori-
ginally planned by New York maga- From Ron Carlson: "I got my MARlC-6
zine, and due 1n June 1977; and' running last year and have been
a Hearst magazine, as yet unnamed. rapidly developing a system around
it. In addition to advanoing my own
computer" I have helped se,veral
HARDWARE other looal MARK-a users get their
machines debugged and UP. From my
Z1log Boards exper1ences I have been a.sked to be
the ItMARI-8Coordinator" for SCCS
The Z-80 oompany, Zilog, has intro- (Southern Calit. Computer Soo1ety)
duoed a set at three boards. The and I have acoepted., I have several
MCB 1s a CPU. board using the Z-80, things to otfer ,to MARK.-8 users at
w1th 4k bytes at RAM, sockets for th1stime: Some rather simple pro-
up to 4k bytes of ROM, PROM or grams to play music. and 89me very
EaOH, -5 volts power, four program- nice test programs, .aybe my opera-
mable counter-t1mer o1rcu1ts; ,415 ting system 1nthe near tuture
k1t, $475 assembled. ' (inquire with a SASE); and a MARK-8
oorrections/mods paokage.
The D1sk Controller board, MDO,
perm1ts storing and retriev1ng 'rhe MARK-a package is the culm1na-
data tror.l up to tour floppy disks, tion of a lot of work and fin1shes
and oontains 12k bytes of RAM; up the design of the system.. It
$745 assembled. fixes over 50 errors in the schema-
tics, the 1nterrupt struoture,
Third 1s the RMB memory board, tor olock phases, buffered CPU, open
expanding memory up to 65k 1n 16k inputs, LED drivers, etc.' There 1s
increments of RAM; $750 assembled. a complete set of redrawn, correot-
As an option, Zilog offers a system ed schematiCS and an instruot1on
1noluding card cage; chassis, po- booklet·ot 10 pages. 'A parts k1t is
wer supply, two floppy disks and alsO included, with even a drill-
a front panel, at $6990. bit to allow one to make the mods
or correot1ons as neatly as they'
Imsai Terminal and Printer Wi8h. The price i8 .10 to cover
oosts and postage, from
Imsa! now ofters a keyboard termi- Ronald E. Carlson
nal and a printer. The 4SCI1-enco- 14014 Panay Way #255
ded 53-key keyboard terminal has Mar1na del Rey, Ca11f. 90291
two-key rollover with aud10 teed- Any questions or troubleshooting'
back, and a d1splay panel with 1n- inquiries areweloome."
dicator LEDs for the shift and
control key as well as the ASCII Pr1nter'
bit pattern. Assembled only, #199.
R. David Vednor(RDV Engine ering ,
The 44-column dot-matrix pr1nt.r 14914-D Newport Ave., Tust1n, CA
interfaces to an 8-b1t parallel- 92680) writes: "1 have three Cen-
output port w1th handshak1ng, an4 tronics 3060 pr1nters for $2000

~NEWSLETTER Vol. IV, No." 2 -- Deoember 1976

 a eur ompu er Soc e 7 ls five 1nches long and an inch w1de,
open to all who are interested wlth three LEDs and tvo .witohes.
in building and operating a dig- One swltch ls set for the type ot
ital computer. . 10glc being checked out, TTL/D!L
'or membership i~ the ACS, and or CMOS. The other swltch haa
a subscription of at least eight PULSE and MEMORY pos1t10ns. When
1ssues of the Newsletter, send the switch isaet to PULSE, fre-
$5 (or a check) to: quenoies up to 10 MHz w111 cause
Stephen B. Gra7 the PULSE LED to blink on and off
Amateur Computer Society at a 3-Hz rate, due to a pulae-
260 Noroton Ave. stretcher in the probe. If a slngle
Darien Conn. 06820 pulse ls to be detected, the MEMORY
The Newsietter w1ll appear about position permlts the event to be
ever t or three month stored lndefin1te17. The HI and LO
LEDs bllnk on and otf, traeklng the
eaoh. 'rhese are new and have never one and zero states at square-vave
been installed. Also, I am 1n the frequencles up to 100 1Hz. Cllp
bus1ness ot manufacturing Inter- leads connect to the clrcuit's
data-compatible lnterfaces. I have power supply.
some used 1tems, and know of seve-
ral used system components avall- The 10glc probe is tlne tor tracing
able for 80meone wlth the money." signals through one IC pln at a
t1me. But l t you need to check out
an entire IO all at once, jU8t clip
COMPl1'l'IR-STORIC ROBBERY on the LM-l 10glc monitor. Hinged
someth1ng llke a clothespln, it
The Computer Store at 55 West 39 c11ps over any DIP IC up to 16 pins,
st. in New York Clty was robbed automatically locates the power
over a weekend several months ago, leade and feeds them to the LM-l's
by burglars who knew exactly what lnternal circu1try. Each of the 16
they were after. As the store mana- contacts connects to a level detec-
ger put it, "They took two of tor that dr1ves a numbered h1gh-
everythlng that was usetul and intensity LED, so you know rlght
not tied down," inolud1ng a oolor away which plns are hlgh and whlch
TV set, two £lta1r 8800a oomputers, are low. The LM-l ls .84.95.
an Altalr S80 computer, osc1110-
scope, two d1sk drives, at least
three Design Mates, two 16k memory- ARE YOU A SOFTWARE WRITER'
board kits for 8800, several 4k
memor7, two CRTs, tour supersoope Is anybody out there good at wrlt-
cassette recorders, and a few ing about hobby-oomputer sottware,
assorted odds and ends. such as an artlcle on how to .et
up a hltl-LP lnventory system, go-
lng lnto tlowchart, record tormat,
PROBE AND MONITOR and a program ln BASIC' (This ls
tor a hobb7-oomputer magazlne that
$Peak1ng of Design Mates (made by payl tor contr1buted articles, and
Continental S,pecialtie8 Corp., 44 which has asked me to help look
Kendall st., P.O. Box. 1942, New tor luch a wrlter.)
Haven, Conn. 06509), the same manu-
facturer makes a cquple ot 1nteres~ It 70ulve assembled an7thlng other
tins and very usetu1 test 1nstru-
ments. than an Altair 8080, pleale wrlte
1n about lOur commentl and opinioftl.
The LP-l logic probe ($44.95) is Copyright 1976 b7 Stephen B. Gray

Vol. IV, No. 2 -- December 1976 6 ~NEWSLJ:ftm

 February 1977

Amateur Computer Sooiety

Newsletter
To Oease Publioation

After two issues of Volume IV, the Newsletter of the

Amateur Computer Sooiety is ceasing publioation. Pub-
lished regularly since August 1966, the ACS Newsletter
was the first hobby-oomputer publioation in the world.
Times have changed, and now that kits are so prevalent,
there are other publications that serve the readers'
interests better than the ACS Newsletter. Also, the ACS
Newsletter always depended heavily upon reader input,
and this input has dwindled.
A few sets of back issues are still available:
USA &: Canada Overseas
Volume I (11 issues) 3.00 '3.60
Volume II (12 issues)
Volume III (15 issues) 1 3.00
.5.00
.3.60
; 6.00

There are only a tew left of the two issues in Volume

IV, at $2.00 for both, in the USA, Canada, or overseas.
A refund cheok is enolosed tor the unused portion ot
your subscription. If there was anything extra in your
account beyond what you sent in for Volume IV, that
amount is also herewith refunded.
Thank you all for your support over these last lot
years. It was fun while it lasted.

St eph en B. Gray
Amateur Computer SOCiety
260 Moroton Ave.
Darien, Conn. 06820

So long to one of the "old-timers,"

dating back to early 196? Sorry I
couldn't keep it up, but am qUite
busy in a new job, as editor-in-chief
of Creative Computing.