[time-nuts] time-nuts Digest, Vol 92, Issue 18

Dennis Czelusniak czelusniakd at yahoo.com
Sun Mar 4 17:01:55 UTC 2012


Sad I gave up my PDP's too many years ago. I had a digi-reader and ASR-33. Program once and load the punch tape from there on. Memory was a premium, not like todays inneficient waste due to cheap memory.
Dennis

From: "time-nuts-request at febo.com" <time-nuts-request at febo.com>
To: time-nuts at febo.com 
Sent: Sunday, March 4, 2012 2:28 AM
Subject: time-nuts Digest, Vol 92, Issue 18

Send time-nuts mailing list submissions to
    time-nuts at febo.com

To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
    https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
    time-nuts-request at febo.com

You can reach the person managing the list at
    time-nuts-owner at febo.com

When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of time-nuts digest..."


Today's Topics:

  1. Re: Questions about Austron 5000 Loran C receiver (Bob Camp)
  2. Re: Questions about Austron 5000 Loran C receiver (Don Lewis)
  3. Re: Questions about Austron 5000 Loran C receiver (Bob Camp)
  4. Re: Questions about Austron 5000 Loran C receiver (DaveH)
  5. Re: Questions about Austron 5000 Loran C receiver (Andy Lokken)
  6. Re: Questions about Austron 5000 Loran C receiver (Bill Hawkins)
  7. Re: Questions about Austron 5000 Loran C receiver (Andy Lokken)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Sat, 3 Mar 2012 19:54:57 -0500
From: Bob Camp <lists at rtty.us>
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
    <time-nuts at febo.com>
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Questions about Austron 5000 Loran C receiver
Message-ID: <EEED0534-67CB-4526-9B5D-ABB742CD0279 at rtty.us>
Content-Type: text/plain;    charset=us-ascii

Hi

Ahhh... The days of toggling the boot loader in with the front panel switches. So much fin.

Bob



On Mar 3, 2012, at 7:45 PM, Jim Lux <jimlux at earthlink.net> wrote:

> On 3/3/12 4:13 PM, Azelio Boriani wrote:
>> Geez, I have read and I don't think it is possible to replicate the CALOC
>> PDP-8/E software nor it is useful to use the Austron 5000 Loran receiver,
>> my understanding is that it was used to control and steer the system. It
>> seems they were in use until the year 2000! Maybe that using MATLAB it is
>> possible to exploit the Austron 5000 functionality nowadays, provided that,
>> someway, the 12bit samples from the Austron are transferred to the PC.
>> Anyway to start with, at least the receiver connectors pinout is
>> mandatory...
>> 
> 
> There are PDP8 emulators out there.  Not to mention actual microcontrollers that implement the PDP8 instruction set (aside from the no-doubt out of production Intersil part).
> 
> And a fair number of FPGA implementations in your choice of language.
> 
> While it might not be as scenic as that nice plastic see through housing with all those discrete DTL circuit cards in the original straight 8.  I used a 8/i way back in the early 70s and I was bummed that it was just a single box in the rack.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
> To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
> and follow the instructions there.



------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Sat, 3 Mar 2012 19:19:03 -0600
From: "Don Lewis" <dlewis6767 at austin.rr.com>
To: "'Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement'"
    <time-nuts at febo.com>
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Questions about Austron 5000 Loran C receiver
Message-ID: <7F899D9F91104764BCF12FC67890A4FB at DonHPPavillion>
Content-Type: text/plain;    charset="us-ascii"

I still have a PDP/8 with 4k core memory out in the garage.  (a jillion RTL
cards in it).  It was free to e then, broken, ...I had to find t\all the bad
transistors.... 

During college, ..I would sit in the floor with that thing and toggle in
small programs in machine language to count up and down, seemingly
impressing everyone with the binary lights dancing on the front panel.

...this all makes me want to pull it out and 'toggle' some more, again....

-Don



----------------------------------------


-----Original Message-----
From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On
Behalf Of Bob Camp
Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2012 6:55 PM
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Questions about Austron 5000 Loran C receiver

Hi

Ahhh... The days of toggling the boot loader in with the front panel
switches. So much fin.

Bob



On Mar 3, 2012, at 7:45 PM, Jim Lux <jimlux at earthlink.net> wrote:

> On 3/3/12 4:13 PM, Azelio Boriani wrote:
>> Geez, I have read and I don't think it is possible to replicate the CALOC
>> PDP-8/E software nor it is useful to use the Austron 5000 Loran receiver,
>> my understanding is that it was used to control and steer the system. It
>> seems they were in use until the year 2000! Maybe that using MATLAB it is
>> possible to exploit the Austron 5000 functionality nowadays, provided
that,
>> someway, the 12bit samples from the Austron are transferred to the PC.
>> Anyway to start with, at least the receiver connectors pinout is
>> mandatory...
>> 
> 
> There are PDP8 emulators out there.  Not to mention actual
microcontrollers that implement the PDP8 instruction set (aside from the
no-doubt out of production Intersil part).
> 
> And a fair number of FPGA implementations in your choice of language.
> 
> While it might not be as scenic as that nice plastic see through housing
with all those discrete DTL circuit cards in the original straight 8.  I
used a 8/i way back in the early 70s and I was bummed that it was just a
single box in the rack.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
> To unsubscribe, go to
https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
> and follow the instructions there.

_______________________________________________
time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
To unsubscribe, go to
https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
and follow the instructions there.




------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Sat, 3 Mar 2012 20:55:46 -0500
From: Bob Camp <lists at rtty.us>
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
    <time-nuts at febo.com>
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Questions about Austron 5000 Loran C receiver
Message-ID: <9FE96201-8E6A-410D-8F49-5D6EED044F29 at rtty.us>
Content-Type: text/plain;    charset=us-ascii

Hi

Time to get out the paper tape for 4K Focal and do some code...

Bob



On Mar 3, 2012, at 8:19 PM, "Don Lewis" <dlewis6767 at austin.rr.com> wrote:

> I still have a PDP/8 with 4k core memory out in the garage.  (a jillion RTL
> cards in it).  It was free to e then, broken, ...I had to find t\all the bad
> transistors.... 
> 
> During college, ..I would sit in the floor with that thing and toggle in
> small programs in machine language to count up and down, seemingly
> impressing everyone with the binary lights dancing on the front panel.
> 
> ...this all makes me want to pull it out and 'toggle' some more, again....
> 
> -Don
> 
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On
> Behalf Of Bob Camp
> Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2012 6:55 PM
> To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Questions about Austron 5000 Loran C receiver
> 
> Hi
> 
> Ahhh... The days of toggling the boot loader in with the front panel
> switches. So much fin.
> 
> Bob
> 
> 
> 
> On Mar 3, 2012, at 7:45 PM, Jim Lux <jimlux at earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
>> On 3/3/12 4:13 PM, Azelio Boriani wrote:
>>> Geez, I have read and I don't think it is possible to replicate the CALOC
>>> PDP-8/E software nor it is useful to use the Austron 5000 Loran receiver,
>>> my understanding is that it was used to control and steer the system. It
>>> seems they were in use until the year 2000! Maybe that using MATLAB it is
>>> possible to exploit the Austron 5000 functionality nowadays, provided
> that,
>>> someway, the 12bit samples from the Austron are transferred to the PC.
>>> Anyway to start with, at least the receiver connectors pinout is
>>> mandatory...
>>> 
>> 
>> There are PDP8 emulators out there.  Not to mention actual
> microcontrollers that implement the PDP8 instruction set (aside from the
> no-doubt out of production Intersil part).
>> 
>> And a fair number of FPGA implementations in your choice of language.
>> 
>> While it might not be as scenic as that nice plastic see through housing
> with all those discrete DTL circuit cards in the original straight 8.  I
> used a 8/i way back in the early 70s and I was bummed that it was just a
> single box in the rack.
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
>> To unsubscribe, go to
> https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
>> and follow the instructions there.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
> To unsubscribe, go to
> https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
> and follow the instructions there.
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
> To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
> and follow the instructions there.



------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Sat, 3 Mar 2012 18:34:11 -0800
From: "DaveH" <info at blackmountainforge.com>
To: "'Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement'"
    <time-nuts at febo.com>
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Questions about Austron 5000 Loran C receiver
Message-ID: <87EAB6B475F748AC9FDB34C372F4620F at photo>
Content-Type: text/plain;    charset="us-ascii"

Just for grins I Googled DECUS and it is much changed but still around:

http://www.decus.org/

Dave 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com 
> [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On Behalf Of Bob Camp
> Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2012 5:56 PM
> To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Questions about Austron 5000 Loran C receiver
> 
> Hi
> 
> Time to get out the paper tape for 4K Focal and do some code...
> 
> Bob
> 
> 
> 
> On Mar 3, 2012, at 8:19 PM, "Don Lewis" 
> <dlewis6767 at austin.rr.com> wrote:
> 
> > I still have a PDP/8 with 4k core memory out in the garage. 
>  (a jillion RTL
> > cards in it).  It was free to e then, broken, ...I had to 
> find t\all the bad
> > transistors.... 
> > 
> > During college, ..I would sit in the floor with that thing 
> and toggle in
> > small programs in machine language to count up and down, seemingly
> > impressing everyone with the binary lights dancing on the 
> front panel.
> > 
> > ...this all makes me want to pull it out and 'toggle' some 
> more, again....
> > 
> > -Don
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > ----------------------------------------
> > 
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com 
> [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On
> > Behalf Of Bob Camp
> > Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2012 6:55 PM
> > To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
> > Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Questions about Austron 5000 Loran 
> C receiver
> > 
> > Hi
> > 
> > Ahhh... The days of toggling the boot loader in with the front panel
> > switches. So much fin.
> > 
> > Bob
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > On Mar 3, 2012, at 7:45 PM, Jim Lux <jimlux at earthlink.net> wrote:
> > 
> >> On 3/3/12 4:13 PM, Azelio Boriani wrote:
> >>> Geez, I have read and I don't think it is possible to 
> replicate the CALOC
> >>> PDP-8/E software nor it is useful to use the Austron 5000 
> Loran receiver,
> >>> my understanding is that it was used to control and steer 
> the system. It
> >>> seems they were in use until the year 2000! Maybe that 
> using MATLAB it is
> >>> possible to exploit the Austron 5000 functionality 
> nowadays, provided
> > that,
> >>> someway, the 12bit samples from the Austron are 
> transferred to the PC.
> >>> Anyway to start with, at least the receiver connectors pinout is
> >>> mandatory...
> >>> 
> >> 
> >> There are PDP8 emulators out there.  Not to mention actual
> > microcontrollers that implement the PDP8 instruction set 
> (aside from the
> > no-doubt out of production Intersil part).
> >> 
> >> And a fair number of FPGA implementations in your choice 
> of language.
> >> 
> >> While it might not be as scenic as that nice plastic see 
> through housing
> > with all those discrete DTL circuit cards in the original 
> straight 8.  I
> > used a 8/i way back in the early 70s and I was bummed that 
> it was just a
> > single box in the rack.
> >> 
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
> >> To unsubscribe, go to
> > https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
> >> and follow the instructions there.
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
> > To unsubscribe, go to
> > https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
> > and follow the instructions there.
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
> > To unsubscribe, go to 
> https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
> > and follow the instructions there.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
> To unsubscribe, go to 
> https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
> and follow the instructions there.




------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Sat, 3 Mar 2012 22:09:11 -0600
From: Andy Lokken <alokken at gmail.com>
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
    <time-nuts at febo.com>
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Questions about Austron 5000 Loran C receiver
Message-ID:
    <CAAzRQfDU_U_DW-2bA-aYarpj9NGsiXsVaFCq_LwF-+UoP0heWg at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Thanks to all who replied. I think I'm in over my head with this one. There
are far easier ways for me to try to receive Loran C, and I have no
shortage of projects.

So... Forgive me if this is not allowed on this reflector...

Free to a good home (after shipping): One Austron 5000 Loran C receiver.
Untested. Decent physical condx. See earlier post from me for a link to
photos.

If interested, please contact me off list.

-Andy






-- 
_______________________________________
Andy Lokken


------------------------------

Message: 6
Date: Sat, 3 Mar 2012 22:32:09 -0600
From: "Bill Hawkins" <bill at iaxs.net>
To: "'Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement'"
    <time-nuts at febo.com>
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Questions about Austron 5000 Loran C receiver
Message-ID: <78DD753866304F0EBF261D84E0BDD319 at cyrus>
Content-Type: text/plain;    charset="us-ascii"

Andy, I'm truly sorry this didn't go anywhere, in spite of Forster's
attempt to hijack the thread. You got more replies from heavy hitters
than I ever did. (Excuse me, Magnus, if you do not consider yourself
as a heavy hitter.)

What you have is a device that has a CRT display and Nixie displays,
an antenna connection, and several 50 pin connectors. A creative
bit banger could make a marvelous display from this unit. Truly
creative bit bangers are hard to find these days.

Have I challenged anybody here? Andy is one of the good guys.

Bill Hawkins


-----Original Message-----
From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On
Behalf Of Andy Lokken
Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2012 10:09 PM
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Questions about Austron 5000 Loran C receiver

Thanks to all who replied. I think I'm in over my head with this one. There
are far easier ways for me to try to receive Loran C, and I have no
shortage of projects.

So... Forgive me if this is not allowed on this reflector...

Free to a good home (after shipping): One Austron 5000 Loran C receiver.
Untested. Decent physical condx. See earlier post from me for a link to
photos.

If interested, please contact me off list.

-Andy





------------------------------

Message: 7
Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2012 01:28:19 -0600
From: Andy Lokken <alokken at gmail.com>
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
    <time-nuts at febo.com>
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Questions about Austron 5000 Loran C receiver
Message-ID:
    <CAAzRQfC=u8nGWOb_u1FA0ZrhLSXS8EwE+os+JnY+jy6DUqQFZQ at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Bill:

No need to apologize. This has all been a positive experience for me. Had I
not taken that receiver, I  might not have learned everything I have
learned about Loran C in the last several weeks. And the other equipment
you gave me is in use and works great, by the way.

This list is a great resource.

Maybe the '5000 finds a new home... or maybe I part it out.... It's still
all a plus on this end.

Best regards,
Andy





On Sat, Mar 3, 2012 at 10:32 PM, Bill Hawkins <bill at iaxs.net> wrote:

> Andy, I'm truly sorry this didn't go anywhere, in spite of Forster's
> attempt to hijack the thread. You got more replies from heavy hitters
> than I ever did. (Excuse me, Magnus, if you do not consider yourself
> as a heavy hitter.)
>
> What you have is a device that has a CRT display and Nixie displays,
> an antenna connection, and several 50 pin connectors. A creative
> bit banger could make a marvelous display from this unit. Truly
> creative bit bangers are hard to find these days.
>
> Have I challenged anybody here? Andy is one of the good guys.
>
> Bill Hawkins
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On
> Behalf Of Andy Lokken
> Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2012 10:09 PM
> To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Questions about Austron 5000 Loran C receiver
>
> Thanks to all who replied. I think I'm in over my head with this one. There
> are far easier ways for me to try to receive Loran C, and I have no
> shortage of projects.
>
> So... Forgive me if this is not allowed on this reflector...
>
> Free to a good home (after shipping): One Austron 5000 Loran C receiver.
> Untested. Decent physical condx. See earlier post from me for a link to
> photos.
>
> If interested, please contact me off list.
>
> -Andy
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
> To unsubscribe, go to
> https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
> and follow the instructions there.
>



-- 
_______________________________________
Andy Lokken


------------------------------

_______________________________________________
time-nuts mailing list
time-nuts at febo.com
https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts

End of time-nuts Digest, Vol 92, Issue 18
*****************************************


More information about the time-nuts mailing list