Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Resolved one anomaly and digging into the other, in the Alto disk tool

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ALTO DISK TOOL My first test today was to measure the clock frequency directly. It runs at roughly 45.5 MHz which gives a clock duration ...
Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Good progress on the disk tool debugging

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ALTO DISK TOOL I set up a simulation testbench to closely examine the serializer, a module which loads parallel 16 bit Alto data words ...
Monday, May 29, 2017

More work on IBM 1130 display panel upgrade

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IBM 1130 DISPLAY PANEL UPGRADE I began disassembling the existing IBM boards and wiring inside the display panel pedestal box. The boards ...
Saturday, May 27, 2017

Finished designing PCBs for the 1130 display panel, ordered all remaining parts, boards to foundry

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IBM 1130 PANEL UPGRADE In addition to the two swapped thyristor and output socket components, I found that some of the 2 pin headers, which...

Alto event planning, work on IBM 1130 panel upgrade and on disk tool

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ALTO DISK TOOL I attended a meeting today at Computer History Museum to discuss holding an event to celebrate the Xerox Alto and other in...
Thursday, May 25, 2017

Building PCB design for IBM 1130 light enhancement, plus working on disk tool debugging

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ALTO DISK TOOL I think I have worked out some light modifications to allow me to trigger my disk tool for writing, without having an actu...
Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Adjustments made to disk tool

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Maker Faire took place these last few days and I was busy volunteering as an examiner for amateur radio license testing, for attendees who w...