Test Equipment livestream setup thing tomorrow! www.patreon.com/lookmumnocomputer Mentioned TH-camChannel TanRu Nomad th-cam.com/video/SATjR-MWHDM/w-d-xo.html SAFETY VALVES ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN KOSMO FORMAT store.lookmumnocomputer.com/
If he wants to diversify, I have no doubts he'll continue doing cool things even if it sometimes involves computers. Can perhaps rebrand from "Look Mum No Computer" to "LMNC" or "Elemency". He focuses a lot on the foundational elements of things, and does sorcery with them, so it seems like the name might work. Elemental sorcery.
@@ToyKeeper very close to Elemental Maker , an existing channel . Look mum no computer is already a brand and he gigs under that name. I reckon it’s too late and anyway, you won’t forget that name in a hurry.
@@jw1289 Yeah, that's fair. It looks like Elemency is already a Final Fantasy thing, so it could get confusing. The word just comes to mind a lot because I refer to him as LMNC, which sounds the same.
"IPL" refers to Initial Program Load. With a computer of this era you needed to boot a program from the disk that allowed the computer to access the disk (like the boot sector on the PC). Is the disk you're using a boot disk? Usually users would only place the OS onto specific disks, boot from them then change to the application disk to actually work. In my first job in 1985 after graduating I worked for a software house and one of the customers had a SWTPC 6809 computer that looked uncannily like the one you have there. The prices in the list are accurate, commercial microcomputers were so expensive! That's why consumer computers like the PET, Apple and TRS-80 were such a revolution, coming out at a tenth of the price of other systems. And single board kits ike the NASCOM-1, UK101, ZX80/81 were another revolution bringing prices down to levels affordable to the general public. As far as I recall SWTPC made "commercial" offerings as indicated in the catalogue and kits based on the boards, so if you wanted you could construct one yourself. The "bodge" wires on the PCBs were typical of the time, even from major manufacturers due to the high cost of mastering the artwork for the PCBs (no computer CAD for any but the higest end manufacturers like IBM and DEC!) so they would do extensive rework on PCBs to save costs. Also these were manufactured in the hundreds rather than the thousands. It's a nice machine and a very rare find! One tip: computer enthusiasts of this era used to connect an amplifier to one of the higher address lines and write programs to precisely time access to (unpopulated) memory addresses to make square wave tunes - maybe thats something you can try out your 6809 programming skills on! Luckily the 6809 had a fairly advanced architecture so programming it is fairly straightforward compared to other microprocessors of the time.
@@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER You may need to re-red his comment. "I was running it from the built in boot program." You ran the boot boot strapping, it loads the boot sector IF the disk has one. the "built in boot program" isnt enough
Agreed. Computers of that era generally did not have their OS in ROM. The built-in program you're seeing is a bit of code which we referred to as a monitor program, which was small enough to fit on a ROM of that era. There should be a command in that monitor program to load the boot sector of a floppy containing the OS. The boot sector then takes over and loads the OS itself.
Ian is right. The term comes from the IBM mainframe universe and was coined in the 60s. Even the modern multi-million dollar mainframes are "IPLed" to this day. It is a multi-stage process that can be used both for regular "booting" of the operating system and for alternatively starting special dump/diagnostic routines in case of failure: www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/linuxonibm/com.ibm.linux.z.lgdd/lgdd_c_ipl_vs_boot.html
IPL means I-nitial P-rogram L-oad. This means that the system is trying to load the *operating system.* It's probably on a diskette labeled *Flex* or something similar.
@Giant Atom I kinda didn't get why it wasn't on there, also why he does a lot of DIY synth stuff over there... I watch that one equally as often, so I'd welcome it either place. If putting it on this channel gets him more views and that's cool though. I want him to get lots of views on computer content so he makes more computer content. I love these videos.
In high school my friend used to do intern stuff there. I would go and follow him and talk to the engineers and hang out. Those were the days. I learned vi while playing around there. Our high school had 2 of these systems running their version of UNIX with 10 of those terminals attached to it. We used it for a C programming class in 1983.
Clean the drive heads and clean the floppy disk before use. On the drive heads gently use q-tips with 96 proof alcohol. To clean the floppy disks use a mixture of 30% isopropyl alcohol mixed with distilled water. Use a microfiber cloth to gentle clean it. Don’t use q-tips on the floppy disks. Great find and I’ll tune in tomorrow.
I had a SWTPC 6800 system, the original 1975 version. The complete kit, consisting of the black and silver box like yours, an older all white terminal, and a cassette interface (no floppy drives) cost around $1000 USD in 1975. The motherboard has several 50 pin connectors (known as the SS50 bus) for things like the processor board (I upgraded to the MC6809 board) memory boards, the floppy drives, and a DIY video controller for putting txt and crude graphics onto a TV screen. There is a row of I/O connectors along the back of the motherboard, where smaller I/O boards plug in. There is a serial interface that operates the terminal, and parallel interface boards that send 8 bits of parallel data for things like printers. You can make a simple resistor ladder that can turn the parallel output into an 8 bit D/A converter for making sound or chiptune quality music. The parallel port card can be used for triggering drum synths, or other "button push" type operations. I had three or four of them in my system. I eventually gave it all to a museum sometime in the late 1980's. SWTPC did unsuccessfully try to get into the business computer market, that's the stuff in that pricey catalog. The machine you have is the home / hobbyist version. SWTPC also made a lot of audio amplifier kits under the Tiger name.
That is beautiful! And working! It's a seriously high end machine, and if you have more terminals, you should be able to plug them all in and have multiple people using it at once... That machine's going to boot from floppy, so it'll want a specific OS disk in the drive before it'll do anything. Chances are that accounting disk isn't bootable. I saw a reference to FLEX, which is a classic (and hard to use) OS for 6809 machines, so you might want to search for a disk labelled something like 'FLEX boot disk' or 'FLEX work disk'. This _won't_ be the original --- the user will make a copy of the original and works with that (so they can write files to it). The disk drive will probably need a clean. Dust will build up in the congealed lubricant on the rails and bearings, which will need cleaning and relubricating. The disk heads will also need cleaning by wiping them gently with a cotton bud with a little IPA on it (the alcohol, not the, er, other kind of alcohol). Check the disks for mould or damage. If you get any of that on the heads you'll need to clean the heads again. Chances are that it contains no speaker; the beep was made by the terminal and probably isn't tunable. You might be able to make noises by bitbanging an output port from 6809 machine code, and hooking that up to a speaker. You ought to be able to hand-assemble this and enter it directly from the ROM monitor (it should only be a handful of bytes), so if the disk drive doesn't work then all is not lost. **Edit:** I think you can use a floppy emulator on one of these, although you'll need to wire up an adapter. That might be easier than trying to write to 8" floppies if you want to copy files to it (I've actually got some hardware that might let you do that: cowlark.com/fluxengine/).
I like the nice sharp green text on that old terminal. I have a coin-op Joust video game from 1982 that uses a 6809 CPU. Love to see ancient stuff like that still working.
Old Printer here. That was the machine is what ran our compugraphic typesetter in the Prepress Shop. Every function is a weird proprietary command, probably somewhere in the big binder. Ours was further complicated by additional function buttons to produce data for print medium. Those were added to the layout for professional publishing by being waxed. Photoshop it was not. Good luck.
@@PATRIK67KALLBACK I did. To me it does not really look more UNIX-like than most other systems, OS'es or kernels, realtime or not. I got the impression some of the authors perhaps wants it to be though.
@@herrbonk3635 well, if you look at the system today, it was not that special. But 1979 when it was releases and in the beginning of 1980s it was fantastic compared to other os like MS-DOS. In details about the kernal and so on, I don't have the knowledge. Maybe you have?
Absolutely awesome! Score! The doubled characters would have been to do with local echo on the terminal. IPL is Initial Program Loader. You need a system disk, and the other disk seemed to be labelled as that. There may have actually been some kind of sound card made. Oh yes, the terminal being RS232 serial could also be used with a Linux system.
Not sure where you are in the world, but Neil at RMC might also be worth an ask. I think he's somewhere towards the Cotswolds. I bet he'd fancy a collab and/or put you in touch with other retro computer gear folk.. Also, embrace the contradiction! I personally love it!
Well, that went a lot smoother than I expected. Others have already answered your IPL question, but I would add that often, dual drive systems from this era had a preference as to which drive contained the OS disk. If I remember correctly the Fairlight CMI is one example.
In the eighties I worked as a support engineer for a IBM dealer. For every new model on the marked you were made to have a course on that model for a whole week! Aligning floppy drives, go through all the possible errors of the system, every square inch of the Mainboard was explained. You went home with a ton of support manuals, floppy's etc. Those were the days.
@@ducomaritiem7160 Yes, I worked for Harris /Lanier as a Field Engineer in those days. Was often sent on field service jobs to repair computer models I had never even seen before. And of course our new models required tons of "TSB' updates and mods just to make them work halfway reliably. This was before the IBM PC was just coming on the scene.
If it's got some sort of external I/O port (serial/parallel/user) you can turn it into all sorts of things, from a drum machine (you could set it to trigger the twin-t oscillator board you built from that 70s magazine) to a CMI Fairlight clone.
LOVE old computers and terminals like that. Commands for all those generation of systems were very proprietary, so since you have the manuals, just read them through and they'll cover most of the general operation of it. They were not exactly intuitive, but once you learn how each company's system worked, it'll start to make sense. :)
IPL stands for Initial Program Load. IE. bootstrap the computer to load the OS from the floppy disc. Make sure you have a boot disk in the drive, or it will not be able to bootstrap itself...
I have a master copy of the 'Flex-09' operating system on 5.25 inch disc, if you need it. You could drive the AY-8910 music chips from it which were from the same era. I have an unrestored 6800 system by the same people, with one of their kit built terminals. Doesn't have discs but has a wonderful dual casette interface, instead.
Very interesting find there, S-BUG looks like a ROM monitor, quite common practice for the time to have some basic functions in ROM. Looks like you dropped lucky everything seems to be mostly working. Give the floppy drives a good clean and also inspect the surface of the floppies; oxide build up, dust and mould are quite common.
Yes, but the makers of Alien(1) actually tried to create a somewhat retro industry looking style. It was not designed to look modern at all. I belive they called it retro futuristic, already then in 1978-79.
Brilliant.when I was a lad the first computer I used at school was a print only computer and it printed on a big golf ball type printer no monitor . It was a pleasure to see it print "ready" .I am 56 but it was old then. But respect to you.
It's like crossing Marilyn on the streets again, isn't it? Ol' fashioned beauty! Many things to say... 1) your contents are awesome! Making music out of a trashcan, 2) don't be concerned about it this fits your channel... People love your contents because of the power you inject in every project! 3) the IPL is the bootloader, is the same message that DOS gave when working on a diskette-based pc and the one in the drive didn't have the io.sys/command.com in it. 4) I'm an old 6800/6500 programmer, so I know the families, and the USART in the 68 family is the 6850 ACIA, (so, may the computer have an aux serial Port with one) which, I remember, can be set to synchronous mode and, therefore, drive MIDI! You're not too far! Stay creative, stay cool! (Dr Mix) Cheers from Argentina! 👏
HI, so a general thing to check on anything this old are leaking Batteries, X2 filter caps in the power supply and tantalum capacitors, both of these are know to let out the magic smoke. Then the obvious bulging caps that can be out of spec. Looks like you have been very lucky and it looks beautiful !
That machine has no X2 caps. That's a SMPS thing. The PSUs I saw are linear. Just big step down transformers with bridge rectifiers and filter caps. Then it would be linearly regulated.
Omg. That was my first computer and first love. I still remember the first time I sat at this thing. It started my love with computing and my career. Brilliant find mate!!!
I would 100% be there for more computer content. I just started getting into software development pretty heavy in the last year, and computer history has proven to be both incredibly entertaining and useful in the course of designing tech solutions. I dig the way you approach it because the dry approach (employed by schools and corporations) alienates young people from the innovation process, encouraging them to learn only what is necessary to gain what they perceive, due to their conditioning, to be a competitive edge.
Very, very cool machine you've picked up there. As others have mentioned, you need to boot an OS from floppy and the ones you put in it in the video probably weren't bootable disks, just data disks. There were 3 operating systems you were likely to find on an SWTPc 6809 -- 1. FLEX -- similar to CP/M, but for the 6800/6809 rather than 8080/Z80. 2. UNIFLEX -- from the makers of FLEX. This was a real rarity, and was supposed to be UNIX-like. 3. OS-9. This operating system, named after the 6809 microprocessor was a real-time, preemptive multitasking, multi-user OS that was also vaguely UNIX-inspired, but very modular. OS-9 would also later run on the Tandy (TRS-80) Color Computer line and the Dragon 64. In fact, the very same binaries that run on either of those systems will work on an SWTPc 6809 running OS-9, provided that they don't use any special hardware that isn't in the SWTPc. The Fairlight synth actually also runs OS-9. Because it was quite popular on the CoCo and Dragon, as well as other embedded / industrial computers, there's quite a bit of software out there for OS-9. There's a great structured BASIC called BASIC09, there's a Pascal compiler, a C compiler, and there are quite a few CoCo hobbyists using it today. In fact, a re-written version called NitrOS-9 is still under development by hobbyists -- mostly CoCo enthusiasts. Even if your system didn't come with OS-9 boot disks, the disk image files are obtainable on the Interwebs, and it should be possible to write them to a disk. If you can't get that to work with the 8" floppy drives, one of those Gotek drives set up as a 720K drive should work. There's a lot of expertise on the CoCo OS-9/NitrOS-9 Facebook group ( facebook.com/groups/1929079184021683 ). A boot disk for the SWTPc version of OS-9 can be found here: www.evenson-consulting.com/swtpc/ FLEX and UNIFLEX are pretty obscure now. But if you can get this thing to boot up OS-9 (you'll probably need 64K of RAM) you'll have lots of options for programming it. There's even a guy on your side of the pond making new hardware for those computers: www.corshamtech.com/product-category/ss-50-products/ I very much want to see what you can get this thing to do!
One thing to be careful of: The SS-50 Bus is a forest of un-insulated pins. It's super easy to short them when you're working in there and blow a fuse. Don't ask how I know this. One final hint and I'll shut up: www.corshamtech.com/product/ss-30-prototype-card/
Nope. Gotta add more. Shared this on the CoCo and OS-9 FB groups, and more information is bubbling up. There was at least 1 sound card for the SS-30 Bus: the Newtech Model 68 Music Board. Looks like it was just a DAC with an audio amplifier. archive.org/details/68micro-vol-02-num-01/page/n41/mode/2up Bob Applegate of Corsham Tech cloned the board, but has sold out of his stock. However he posted his design files on GitHub: github.com/CorshamTech/Music_Board#readme Paul Fiscarelli is also working on a replica of those boards: facebook.com/groups/SS50BusComputers/permalink/1744846822345731
Awesome to see you talking about computers of this vintage on your channel. Computers of this era and modular synthesizers share a lot in common, lot of discrete logic and stuff to tinker around with
Thanks for putting up this great video! Also, thanks for plugging my own video and letting more people know about this amazing microcomputer. The error you received is simply letting you know that the 6809 is looking for an OS to load (e.g. FLEX). Hopefully, you have a copy in your collection of disks that came with it. If the disks are intermittent about loading data, then be sure to gently clean the read/write heads on those floppy drives so that the data remains good on the disks. These systems were made to last, but they do need some basic cleaning every now and then. With regard to music, they absolutely can be made to produce melodies (probably one note at a time), but it's worth looking up what music cards were made for it because maybe there's some 4-channel card out there just waiting for a composer to program something on it. While 6809 Assembly and C are mostly what I programmed mine with, I also used a fantastic language called PL/9 that is similar to C and compiles some very efficient 6809 code. There is a small, but mighty group of enthusiasts like myself who still tinker with these things. They are far more knowledgeable about the technical stuff and hardware side. I'm just an amateur retroprogramming guy. By the way, is that SWTPC Logo the coolest thing ever or what? I have a huge poster on my wall of that and even incorporated it into the title screen of my Cribbage game. It's so retrofuturistic, almost like something you'd see on an alien spacecraft. I look forward to more videos on this!
Looks like the read/write head on the floppy drive isn't moving, which is pretty typical. You could try getting in touch with The 8-Bit Guy. He is going through the hell in Texas right now though, so I'm not sure if he has time. But he's the first person that I can think of that might have knowledge of this.
Sam, wire an incandescent lamp between the device and supply in future... If anything is blown, the lamp will take the whack rather than the components within the device. A lot of electronics channels use this method on old equipment when powering up a device that hasn't had any juice in a while...
I saved for the better part of a year with my 3 paper routes to get a TRS-80 back then. It ran the 6809E. Cost $100 to upgrade it from 16k to 64k. I still have several of them in my storage.
I already had a Model I but wanted to do 6809 stuff. I got a 4K for what was probably $300 or $400 then, and upgraded it to 64K for around $75. Except that the 64K chips I got still needed 12V, and it took me a while to figure out to leave that one jumper in the 16K position.
I collect & restor vintage computers, you have found something special. Main thing to look out for is RIFA caps, RAM oftern fails & as you say the voltages on the PSU's. With the floppy drives I recomend lubing up all the moving parts. Also clean the heads in the drive.
Cool computer! My first computer was the commodore VIC 20 with a tape drive, we had loads of fun programming it and playing games on it in the late 80s
mine too! I spent so many hours of time with the manual. It was the greatest thing ever with its ring bound spine and just a world of teaching in it. The Commodore 64 continued that tradition but it was all downhill from there and I've watched the decline in manual quality as computers have gotten ever faster and more powerful.
The 6809 was not only the basis for the SWTP machine as well as the Radio Shack Color Computer, but was also the "brains" of the Voyager spacecraft. One of the perks of those late '70s and early '80s machines is that they often make the various busses easily accessible. I suspect this was largely because they rarely came with "enough" stuff like RAM or other storage capabilities, and needed to provide some means to expand. If your travels ever put you in touch with someone willing to part with one, SWTP also made something they called the Ambience Synthesizer (2AS-A model). It contains SIX, count 'em, SIX Reticon SAD1024 bucket brigade chips.. Yowza!!!
This is going to be exciting! Motorola 6809 and two 8” floppy drives, you’ve acquired some parts that where also in the Fairlight. On these old computers the floppy drives often use the Shurgard interface. The drives are often labelled device 0 and 1. The standard allowed for 4 drives on a ribbon cable, unlike the IBM pc which changed up a few things. Most floppy cables are 34 pins, but I think these 8” drives may use 50 pin ribbon cables. Important to know is the difference between the original shurgard standard and the IBM standard is the device jumper function. I have a feeling that you’ve got the access the drives by adressing them with number 0 or 1. At least On the Acorn machines it works this way. Also the disk motor starts spinning right away, this kind of suggests that it uses the original shurgard standard. It’s an interesting looking system, that’s for sure!
Very nice indeed. That terminal is quite the absolute unit. And they came from here in the Alamo City! Unfortunately when I moved here as a high schooler in 1979, I never quite caught on to them being over there by the airport, until they were already gone. However I was at the 10BitWorks hackerspace one day a few years ago when someone brought in what was left of their repair parts collection (basically a big box with mostly tubes of chips), but I don't know if they'd still have them. As for getting it to make music, I suppose one way would be to make a board (it uses the "SS-50" bus, sort of like S-100 only different) with two 8-bit ports (maybe a single PIA or VIA chip) and either an R2R ladder or an A-to-D chip. Or you could hook up one of the standard sound chips of the day (even a SID!) and then it wouldn't be too much different from a C64 or an Atari. And all that RAM? A decade or so later and you could get 32K on a single SRAM chip. So much easier to make a breadboard computer with! 4K DRAMs are really taking a step back in time! Oh and 7:18 notice the "Motorola Memory Systems" on the board, so those boards may have been made by Motorola, not SWTPC.
Love it! I wouldn't have been able to walk away from it either! I don't see any audio stuff in there but i'm sure you could plonk in a card with an SN76489 or two on. keep it true to it's heritage though, it'd be kinda wrong with a SID or AY-3-8910 etc. shouldn't be to difficult hardware wise, maybe even adding an input or two to control it (MIDI?!). the hard part will be the software, Midi controller in 6809 assembly language anyone?
I wanted one of these when I was at uni ... but your prices are accurate. Think very high end gaming PC today. Instead I built a 6800 board myself and used an old calculator as a terminal. I was the only one in my electronics class with a computer at home. It had 128 bytes of RAM. When I started my first job after finishing uni, they were looking at a 10MB (yes, ten mega byte) hard disk. It was the size of your processor box and cost $5,000.
I love the terminal. Even the logo is awesome. Have you considered reaching out to the 8-bitguy and other vintage computer youtubers? Even if they don't directly know about this stuff they might have somebody in their circle who can help you. Heck i'm certain that your viewers could give you a list of folks to converse with. Wish yeah luck mate, and keep it up. Maybe if you figure out how to program on this thing with assembly perhaps you could even make a soundcard for it, or bread board up a midi card for it using an Arduino?
We have to get on patreon.. we can't have u living on beans 😁👍 Knowing you tho, there could be a video in it.. bending fart notes 🎶🎶 and making music 🤗😁👍
Dude… I learned to program in Algol on an Elliott 803 at Cannock Chase Technical College. That was so retro that the 1K memory was made up of ferrite rings. The teletypewriter used to make the punched tapes the computer used actually ran on compressed air and when you turned off the power to them the whole lot of keys would drop into the chassis. That was the machine that got me so into computers (I got nothing but A’s in that class) that the teacher gave me my own key to the computer room so I could use it whenever I wanted… which was amazing because at Grammar School I managed to get the record for the most number of E’s on a report card… I missed out on a full card of E’s by getting all A’s for Woodwork and metalwork. I think I had ADHD and only being able to work stuff with my hands stopped my brain from running all over the place.
Back in the day (Late 70's) when you got a flashing command prompt on the screen you usually had a few choices; C - Cold start W - Warm start D - Boot from an OS on a disk drive M - Enter machine code mode I think you need to find the disk with the operating system on and see if you can boot from it? Good luck! PS My first computer was 6502 based from Ohio Scientific Instruments in the states, so just later than the PC you now own. Things had moved on a bit, but the prices were still truly astronomical compared to today.
Motorola 6809 is a nice processor! The send "twice" is actually send once and local echo on the terminal is set on. You need to set that off. Oooh I see now you figured it out :D This was a common error in my first full time job, where customers called and said that their "keyboard was stuck". The terminal had lost it's configuration and local echo is standard on. So we'd instruct them how to configure that. Later we actually made our system clever enough to once tell the system what terminal was connected to that port, and push a program string.
My first exposure to computers was this beast - my dad imported "Sweetpack" into Australia (until the aussie dollar was floated in 1983 and it became unsustainable) to this day I remember that "load A register immediate" machine code is "86"
Me and my brothers all used a standalone SWTPC "dumb terminal" to connect to the timesharing (UNIX) computers on campus, back in college at UCSC, from the late 70s through the early 90s. It looked similar to the terminal you have there, except instead of white-black the cover was white-blue, and instead of wood it was metal--though possibly the cover was fiberglass?! A little Googling suggests this might have been the SWTPC CT-82. Its screen was a strange non-standard size, like 82 columns by maybe 23 rows, and even back then people had more or less settled on 80x25 as the standard. But this was sufficient to log in and use "vi" and the shell and run compilers to do our course work from home. p.s. We always pronounced "SWTP" as "swat-p". p.p.s. Yes, I absolutely believe those inflation-adjusted prices. Computers are shockingly cheap now, and it can be hard to remember just how dear they were back in the 70s and early 80s. p.p.p.s. Back in the day my oldest brother wrote a "termcap" entry for our SWTPC terminal, that should let you use it with a modern Linux computer. I might be able to dig it up...!
Even if you can't make tunes with it (and quite frankly you probably can make the floppy drives sing at least) that would make a cracking exhibit at the museum. Maybe use it as a guestbook thing? Also I'm pretty sure you could drive the terminal from a Raspberry Pi if you wanted to, after all when it comes to Linux a tty is a tty, even a 100 year old electromechanical one as demonstrated by Curious Marc haha
6809 was used in a lot of early (late 70's early 80's) digital video equipment to do the heavy lifting processing 8 bit video. It was also popular in synthesisers in quite large numbers though quite why I didn't understand they were several times more expensive than the competition and synth manufacturers fired them at synths with a shotgun both for control boards and voice cards. Good luck with your machine I am sure there will be other people out there using these old machines. "The 8 bit guy" may be able to put you in touch with a user group.
The 6809 had a very regular instruction set that might it easy to get fairly accurate timing while doing real work in software loops. In synthesizers, timing is everything. It was also fast at moving and calculating waveform data without external hardware. With a Z-80, for instance, you needed to depend heavily on external timing devices and other external hardware, to get similar control over the output. (Among other things.)
please do some maintenance , oil the stepper motors of the floppy drives , use isoprop and qtip/paper to clean the reading heads , check capacitors(especially tantalums) for getting hot (those need to be replaced)
![กี่หมื่นฟ้า | Your Sky Series EP.1 [2/4]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qJbQs_nhjD4/mqdefault.jpg)
![ลองสุ่มไอโฟน 990 โกงมั้ย? [ โกงมั้ยครับ ep.101 ] | DOM](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/bfsWe0j492k/mqdefault.jpg)
Test Equipment livestream setup thing tomorrow! www.patreon.com/lookmumnocomputer
Mentioned TH-camChannel TanRu Nomad th-cam.com/video/SATjR-MWHDM/w-d-xo.html
SAFETY VALVES ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN KOSMO FORMAT store.lookmumnocomputer.com/
WOAHH!! it looks so good!!!!
@@Doctormix wheyyy!!!! hows it going doc!!!
Fascinating mate.
You do some of the most obscure and interesting stuff.
Please turn the gain down on your microphone, it buzzes from clipping.
Great!!!
handy if John Titor comes from the future needing the old computer to save the world in his timeline.
Look mum old computer
it is indeed!!@!
Second channel: Look dad yes computer
If he wants to diversify, I have no doubts he'll continue doing cool things even if it sometimes involves computers. Can perhaps rebrand from "Look Mum No Computer" to "LMNC" or "Elemency". He focuses a lot on the foundational elements of things, and does sorcery with them, so it seems like the name might work. Elemental sorcery.
@@ToyKeeper very close to Elemental Maker , an existing channel . Look mum no computer is already a brand and he gigs under that name. I reckon it’s too late and anyway, you won’t forget that name in a hurry.
@@jw1289 Yeah, that's fair. It looks like Elemency is already a Final Fantasy thing, so it could get confusing. The word just comes to mind a lot because I refer to him as LMNC, which sounds the same.
Can we just shout out how dope the SWTPC logo is?
Indeed.
It is really retrofuturistically splendid.
Amazingly dope
IKR?
It's funky, I like it!
Legendary!
Hahahaha. Clint could smell the vintage
"IPL" refers to Initial Program Load. With a computer of this era you needed to boot a program from the disk that allowed the computer to access the disk (like the boot sector on the PC). Is the disk you're using a boot disk? Usually users would only place the OS onto specific disks, boot from them then change to the application disk to actually work.
In my first job in 1985 after graduating I worked for a software house and one of the customers had a SWTPC 6809 computer that looked uncannily like the one you have there. The prices in the list are accurate, commercial microcomputers were so expensive! That's why consumer computers like the PET, Apple and TRS-80 were such a revolution, coming out at a tenth of the price of other systems. And single board kits ike the NASCOM-1, UK101, ZX80/81 were another revolution bringing prices down to levels affordable to the general public. As far as I recall SWTPC made "commercial" offerings as indicated in the catalogue and kits based on the boards, so if you wanted you could construct one yourself. The "bodge" wires on the PCBs were typical of the time, even from major manufacturers due to the high cost of mastering the artwork for the PCBs (no computer CAD for any but the higest end manufacturers like IBM and DEC!) so they would do extensive rework on PCBs to save costs. Also these were manufactured in the hundreds rather than the thousands.
It's a nice machine and a very rare find! One tip: computer enthusiasts of this era used to connect an amplifier to one of the higher address lines and write programs to precisely time access to (unpopulated) memory addresses to make square wave tunes - maybe thats something you can try out your 6809 programming skills on! Luckily the 6809 had a fairly advanced architecture so programming it is fairly straightforward compared to other microprocessors of the time.
I was running it from the built in boot program. But yeah thanks for the info!
@@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER You may need to re-red his comment. "I was running it from the built in boot program." You ran the boot boot strapping, it loads the boot sector IF the disk has one. the "built in boot program" isnt enough
Agreed. Computers of that era generally did not have their OS in ROM. The built-in program you're seeing is a bit of code which we referred to as a monitor program, which was small enough to fit on a ROM of that era. There should be a command in that monitor program to load the boot sector of a floppy containing the OS. The boot sector then takes over and loads the OS itself.
Ian is right. The term comes from the IBM mainframe universe and was coined in the 60s. Even the modern multi-million dollar mainframes are "IPLed" to this day. It is a multi-stage process that can be used both for regular "booting" of the operating system and for alternatively starting special dump/diagnostic routines in case of failure:
www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/linuxonibm/com.ibm.linux.z.lgdd/lgdd_c_ipl_vs_boot.html
fantastic info ian.
IPL means I-nitial P-rogram L-oad. This means that the system is trying to load the *operating system.* It's probably on a diskette labeled *Flex* or something similar.
Flex, Uniflex, maybe OS-9.
Oh oh oh! Flex! Yes, Flex!
I was all CP/M back in the day but my mate who was "doing engineering" used 6809s and Flex.
@@JoelReesonmars I thought too. I thought most 6809 computers run OS9. And even if they don't, there is some hacked version of it somewhere.
Oh man I can still probably IPL a UYK-43 if I had a minute to think about it
Upon an interrupt, decrement the counter to zero and IML
IPL probably means Initial Program Load. So you may just need to insert a OS disk and it will try to boot from it.
Yes a term coined by IBM - still the term for rebooting a z mainframe LPAR (logical partition).
Looks like there is going to be a new channel, "Look Mum No Synths"
hahaha @museumofeverythingelse
@Giant Atom I kinda didn't get why it wasn't on there, also why he does a lot of DIY synth stuff over there... I watch that one equally as often, so I'd welcome it either place. If putting it on this channel gets him more views and that's cool though. I want him to get lots of views on computer content so he makes more computer content. I love these videos.
@@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER You need to create a channel called 'Look Mum Retro Computer'
In high school my friend used to do intern stuff there. I would go and follow him and talk to the engineers and hang out. Those were the days. I learned vi while playing around there. Our high school had 2 of these systems running their version of UNIX with 10 of those terminals attached to it. We used it for a C programming class in 1983.
Clean the drive heads and clean the floppy disk before use. On the drive heads gently use q-tips with 96 proof alcohol. To clean the floppy disks use a mixture of 30% isopropyl alcohol mixed with distilled water. Use a microfiber cloth to gentle clean it. Don’t use q-tips on the floppy disks. Great find and I’ll tune in tomorrow.
I had a SWTPC 6800 system, the original 1975 version. The complete kit, consisting of the black and silver box like yours, an older all white terminal, and a cassette interface (no floppy drives) cost around $1000 USD in 1975. The motherboard has several 50 pin connectors (known as the SS50 bus) for things like the processor board (I upgraded to the MC6809 board) memory boards, the floppy drives, and a DIY video controller for putting txt and crude graphics onto a TV screen. There is a row of I/O connectors along the back of the motherboard, where smaller I/O boards plug in. There is a serial interface that operates the terminal, and parallel interface boards that send 8 bits of parallel data for things like printers. You can make a simple resistor ladder that can turn the parallel output into an 8 bit D/A converter for making sound or chiptune quality music. The parallel port card can be used for triggering drum synths, or other "button push" type operations. I had three or four of them in my system. I eventually gave it all to a museum sometime in the late 1980's. SWTPC did unsuccessfully try to get into the business computer market, that's the stuff in that pricey catalog. The machine you have is the home / hobbyist version. SWTPC also made a lot of audio amplifier kits under the Tiger name.
This is beautiful! Look at that microcomputer!
tiny aint it ha
The art that are in the design, is something special.
I get all fuzzy and nostalgic just looking at it
That is beautiful! And working! It's a seriously high end machine, and if you have more terminals, you should be able to plug them all in and have multiple people using it at once...
That machine's going to boot from floppy, so it'll want a specific OS disk in the drive before it'll do anything. Chances are that accounting disk isn't bootable. I saw a reference to FLEX, which is a classic (and hard to use) OS for 6809 machines, so you might want to search for a disk labelled something like 'FLEX boot disk' or 'FLEX work disk'. This _won't_ be the original --- the user will make a copy of the original and works with that (so they can write files to it).
The disk drive will probably need a clean. Dust will build up in the congealed lubricant on the rails and bearings, which will need cleaning and relubricating. The disk heads will also need cleaning by wiping them gently with a cotton bud with a little IPA on it (the alcohol, not the, er, other kind of alcohol). Check the disks for mould or damage. If you get any of that on the heads you'll need to clean the heads again.
Chances are that it contains no speaker; the beep was made by the terminal and probably isn't tunable. You might be able to make noises by bitbanging an output port from 6809 machine code, and hooking that up to a speaker. You ought to be able to hand-assemble this and enter it directly from the ROM monitor (it should only be a handful of bytes), so if the disk drive doesn't work then all is not lost.
**Edit:** I think you can use a floppy emulator on one of these, although you'll need to wire up an adapter. That might be easier than trying to write to 8" floppies if you want to copy files to it (I've actually got some hardware that might let you do that: cowlark.com/fluxengine/).
"I just thought with my heart, and that is usually the worst thing to ever do."
Don’t call me out like that, damn.
I like the nice sharp green text on that old terminal. I have a coin-op Joust video game from 1982 that uses a 6809 CPU. Love to see ancient stuff like that still working.
Joust is great!
Old Printer here. That was the machine is what ran our compugraphic typesetter in the Prepress Shop. Every function is a weird proprietary command, probably somewhere in the big binder. Ours was further complicated by additional function buttons to produce data for print medium. Those were added to the layout for professional publishing by being waxed. Photoshop it was not.
Good luck.
Fantastic! When I was in my early 20 in the mid of 80s I was programming a 6809 in assembler and using a unix like os called OS9.
In what way was OS9 Unix-like?
@@herrbonk3635 check OS-9 on Wikipedia and the section Comparison with Unix.
@@PATRIK67KALLBACK I did. To me it does not really look more UNIX-like than most other systems, OS'es or kernels, realtime or not. I got the impression some of the authors perhaps wants it to be though.
@@herrbonk3635 well, if you look at the system today, it was not that special. But 1979 when it was releases and in the beginning of 1980s it was fantastic compared to other os like MS-DOS. In details about the kernal and so on, I don't have the knowledge. Maybe you have?
That computer has an aesthetic that would fit right in on the set of 2001.
Absolutely awesome! Score!
The doubled characters would have been to do with local echo on the terminal.
IPL is Initial Program Loader. You need a system disk, and the other disk seemed to be labelled as that.
There may have actually been some kind of sound card made.
Oh yes, the terminal being RS232 serial could also be used with a Linux system.
Maybe CuriousMarc would be interested in helping you out. He does allot of this stuff.
Great suggestion. His channel is awesome. Also the 8-bit guy, he does a lot of restos on early computers very much like these.
Curious Marc? We don't need no Curious Marc.... give it 'ere.... I'll give it a go!
Not sure where you are in the world, but Neil at RMC might also be worth an ask. I think he's somewhere towards the Cotswolds. I bet he'd fancy a collab and/or put you in touch with other retro computer gear folk..
Also, embrace the contradiction! I personally love it!
Well, that went a lot smoother than I expected. Others have already answered your IPL question, but I would add that often, dual drive systems from this era had a preference as to which drive contained the OS disk. If I remember correctly the Fairlight CMI is one example.
You haven't lived until you've set index timing and adjusted radial head alignment with an Oscilloscope on those 8" floppies..!
In the eighties I worked as a support engineer for a IBM dealer.
For every new model on the marked you were made to have a course on that model for a whole week! Aligning floppy drives, go through all the possible errors of the system, every square inch of the Mainboard was explained.
You went home with a ton of support manuals, floppy's etc. Those were the days.
@@ducomaritiem7160 Yes, I worked for Harris /Lanier as a Field Engineer in those days. Was often sent on field service jobs to repair computer models I had never even seen before. And of course our new models required tons of "TSB' updates and mods just to make them work halfway reliably. This was before the IBM PC was just coming on the scene.
If it's got some sort of external I/O port (serial/parallel/user) you can turn it into all sorts of things, from a drum machine (you could set it to trigger the twin-t oscillator board you built from that 70s magazine) to a CMI Fairlight clone.
LOVE old computers and terminals like that. Commands for all those generation of systems were very proprietary, so since you have the manuals, just read them through and they'll cover most of the general operation of it. They were not exactly intuitive, but once you learn how each company's system worked, it'll start to make sense. :)
I have that same crimping tool for 15 years, without knowing what it was for... thanks for the revelation!
I would love to play around with such a old Computer. This thing is insane :3
IPL stands for Initial Program Load. IE. bootstrap the computer to load the OS from the floppy disc.
Make sure you have a boot disk in the drive, or it will not be able to bootstrap itself...
shit was built to last back in the 80' and prior. sweet looking machine. I hope to see it in the museum, when I'll be finally able to visit.
Even my Unisys PW/2 Series 300 is still running. It is an 286 machine.
I have a master copy of the 'Flex-09' operating system on 5.25 inch disc, if you need it. You could drive the AY-8910 music chips from it which were from the same era.
I have an unrestored 6800 system by the same people, with one of their kit built terminals. Doesn't have discs but has a wonderful dual casette interface, instead.
Very interesting find there, S-BUG looks like a ROM monitor, quite common practice for the time to have some basic functions in ROM. Looks like you dropped lucky everything seems to be mostly working. Give the floppy drives a good clean and also inspect the surface of the floppies; oxide build up, dust and mould are quite common.
I love the 70s futuristic aesthetic. Somewhere between 2001: A Space Odyssey and Alien.
Yes, but the makers of Alien(1) actually tried to create a somewhat retro industry looking style. It was not designed to look modern at all. I belive they called it retro futuristic, already then in 1978-79.
@@herrbonk3635
Interesting. I had no idea.
Brilliant.when I was a lad the first computer I used at school was a print only computer and it printed on a big golf ball type printer no monitor . It was a pleasure to see it print "ready" .I am 56 but it was old then. But respect to you.
Lovely bit of kit! I particularly like the logo, and the swoopy terminal shape. If anyone can put that back to use you certainly can.
It's like crossing Marilyn on the streets again, isn't it? Ol' fashioned beauty! Many things to say... 1) your contents are awesome! Making music out of a trashcan, 2) don't be concerned about it this fits your channel... People love your contents because of the power you inject in every project! 3) the IPL is the bootloader, is the same message that DOS gave when working on a diskette-based pc and the one in the drive didn't have the io.sys/command.com in it. 4) I'm an old 6800/6500 programmer, so I know the families, and the USART in the 68 family is the 6850 ACIA, (so, may the computer have an aux serial Port with one) which, I remember, can be set to synchronous mode and, therefore, drive MIDI! You're not too far!
Stay creative, stay cool! (Dr Mix)
Cheers from Argentina! 👏
Bumping this!
That is ace great video I not long started secondary school back in 83
Its a great piece of computer history
HI, so a general thing to check on anything this old are leaking Batteries, X2 filter caps in the power supply and tantalum capacitors, both of these are know to let out the magic smoke. Then the obvious bulging caps that can be out of spec. Looks like you have been very lucky and it looks beautiful !
That machine has no X2 caps. That's a SMPS thing. The PSUs I saw are linear. Just big step down transformers with bridge rectifiers and filter caps. Then it would be linearly regulated.
Much love from France & thank you for your amazing work !
Oui, vraiment, beaucoup d'amour
Omg. That was my first computer and first love. I still remember the first time I sat at this thing. It started my love with computing and my career. Brilliant find mate!!!
I like the passive-aggressive "WHAT??" reply when it doesn't understand. Instead of the usual "Bad command or filename"
If I tried to buy something like that, it'd take me three days to figure out why it wasn't booting, then another three weeks to get parts. Nice job!
The terminal is my favorite part. I love the look of old terminals.
I would 100% be there for more computer content. I just started getting into software development pretty heavy in the last year, and computer history has proven to be both incredibly entertaining and useful in the course of designing tech solutions. I dig the way you approach it because the dry approach (employed by schools and corporations) alienates young people from the innovation process, encouraging them to learn only what is necessary to gain what they perceive, due to their conditioning, to be a competitive edge.
Very, very cool machine you've picked up there. As others have mentioned, you need to boot an OS from floppy and the ones you put in it in the video probably weren't bootable disks, just data disks. There were 3 operating systems you were likely to find on an SWTPc 6809 -- 1. FLEX -- similar to CP/M, but for the 6800/6809 rather than 8080/Z80. 2. UNIFLEX -- from the makers of FLEX. This was a real rarity, and was supposed to be UNIX-like. 3. OS-9. This operating system, named after the 6809 microprocessor was a real-time, preemptive multitasking, multi-user OS that was also vaguely UNIX-inspired, but very modular. OS-9 would also later run on the Tandy (TRS-80) Color Computer line and the Dragon 64. In fact, the very same binaries that run on either of those systems will work on an SWTPc 6809 running OS-9, provided that they don't use any special hardware that isn't in the SWTPc. The Fairlight synth actually also runs OS-9. Because it was quite popular on the CoCo and Dragon, as well as other embedded / industrial computers, there's quite a bit of software out there for OS-9. There's a great structured BASIC called BASIC09, there's a Pascal compiler, a C compiler, and there are quite a few CoCo hobbyists using it today. In fact, a re-written version called NitrOS-9 is still under development by hobbyists -- mostly CoCo enthusiasts. Even if your system didn't come with OS-9 boot disks, the disk image files are obtainable on the Interwebs, and it should be possible to write them to a disk. If you can't get that to work with the 8" floppy drives, one of those Gotek drives set up as a 720K drive should work. There's a lot of expertise on the CoCo OS-9/NitrOS-9 Facebook group ( facebook.com/groups/1929079184021683 ). A boot disk for the SWTPc version of OS-9 can be found here: www.evenson-consulting.com/swtpc/ FLEX and UNIFLEX are pretty obscure now. But if you can get this thing to boot up OS-9 (you'll probably need 64K of RAM) you'll have lots of options for programming it. There's even a guy on your side of the pond making new hardware for those computers: www.corshamtech.com/product-category/ss-50-products/
I very much want to see what you can get this thing to do!
One thing to be careful of: The SS-50 Bus is a forest of un-insulated pins. It's super easy to short them when you're working in there and blow a fuse. Don't ask how I know this. One final hint and I'll shut up: www.corshamtech.com/product/ss-30-prototype-card/
Nope. Gotta add more. Shared this on the CoCo and OS-9 FB groups, and more information is bubbling up. There was at least 1 sound card for the SS-30 Bus: the Newtech Model 68 Music Board. Looks like it was just a DAC with an audio amplifier. archive.org/details/68micro-vol-02-num-01/page/n41/mode/2up Bob Applegate of Corsham Tech cloned the board, but has sold out of his stock. However he posted his design files on GitHub: github.com/CorshamTech/Music_Board#readme Paul Fiscarelli is also working on a replica of those boards: facebook.com/groups/SS50BusComputers/permalink/1744846822345731
Awesome to see you talking about computers of this vintage on your channel. Computers of this era and modular synthesizers share a lot in common, lot of discrete logic and stuff to tinker around with
Thanks for putting up this great video! Also, thanks for plugging my own video and letting more people know about this amazing microcomputer. The error you received is simply letting you know that the 6809 is looking for an OS to load (e.g. FLEX). Hopefully, you have a copy in your collection of disks that came with it. If the disks are intermittent about loading data, then be sure to gently clean the read/write heads on those floppy drives so that the data remains good on the disks. These systems were made to last, but they do need some basic cleaning every now and then. With regard to music, they absolutely can be made to produce melodies (probably one note at a time), but it's worth looking up what music cards were made for it because maybe there's some 4-channel card out there just waiting for a composer to program something on it. While 6809 Assembly and C are mostly what I programmed mine with, I also used a fantastic language called PL/9 that is similar to C and compiles some very efficient 6809 code. There is a small, but mighty group of enthusiasts like myself who still tinker with these things. They are far more knowledgeable about the technical stuff and hardware side. I'm just an amateur retroprogramming guy. By the way, is that SWTPC Logo the coolest thing ever or what? I have a huge poster on my wall of that and even incorporated it into the title screen of my Cribbage game. It's so retrofuturistic, almost like something you'd see on an alien spacecraft. I look forward to more videos on this!
Looks like the read/write head on the floppy drive isn't moving, which is pretty typical. You could try getting in touch with The 8-Bit Guy. He is going through the hell in Texas right now though, so I'm not sure if he has time. But he's the first person that I can think of that might have knowledge of this.
The fact you have Thomann PA speakers installed in your museum pleases me, they are very good
Just what’s needed. Thanks.
:D
This is amazing. Love old computers. Hope to see this thing continue to come alive!
Sam, wire an incandescent lamp between the device and supply in future... If anything is blown, the lamp will take the whack rather than the components within the device.
A lot of electronics channels use this method on old equipment when powering up a device that hasn't had any juice in a while...
I saved for the better part of a year with my 3 paper routes to get a TRS-80 back then. It ran the 6809E. Cost $100 to upgrade it from 16k to 64k. I still have several of them in my storage.
I already had a Model I but wanted to do 6809 stuff. I got a 4K for what was probably $300 or $400 then, and upgraded it to 64K for around $75. Except that the 64K chips I got still needed 12V, and it took me a while to figure out to leave that one jumper in the 16K position.
I'm 63 and worked with similar hardware way back when.So all I can say is WOW!
I collect & restor vintage computers, you have found something special.
Main thing to look out for is RIFA caps, RAM oftern fails & as you say the voltages on the PSU's. With the floppy drives I recomend lubing up all the moving parts. Also clean the heads in the drive.
That's absolutely awesome. I had no idea there were such "modern" designed computers in the 70's. I bet these were really expensive back in the day.
Congratulations. This is completely nuts. I hope the old techs come out of the mist and get this device singing.
Cool computer! My first computer was the commodore VIC 20 with a tape drive, we had loads of fun programming it and playing games on it in the late 80s
mine too! I spent so many hours of time with the manual. It was the greatest thing ever with its ring bound spine and just a world of teaching in it. The Commodore 64 continued that tradition but it was all downhill from there and I've watched the decline in manual quality as computers have gotten ever faster and more powerful.
Totally. You literally used to get enough information in the manual to program the whole computer.
Meanwhile I just became the new owner of a TE-PO12 - two days (a day and a half) of using it and wow love it so much I'm saving for another version.
Thanks for taking the time to make the videos you do and share them with us...
Absolutly fantastic
The 6809 was not only the basis for the SWTP machine as well as the Radio Shack Color Computer, but was also the "brains" of the Voyager spacecraft. One of the perks of those late '70s and early '80s machines is that they often make the various busses easily accessible. I suspect this was largely because they rarely came with "enough" stuff like RAM or other storage capabilities, and needed to provide some means to expand.
If your travels ever put you in touch with someone willing to part with one, SWTP also made something they called the Ambience Synthesizer (2AS-A model). It contains SIX, count 'em, SIX Reticon SAD1024 bucket brigade chips.. Yowza!!!
This is going to be exciting! Motorola 6809 and two 8” floppy drives, you’ve acquired some parts that where also in the Fairlight. On these old computers the floppy drives often use the Shurgard interface. The drives are often labelled device 0 and 1. The standard allowed for 4 drives on a ribbon cable, unlike the IBM pc which changed up a few things. Most floppy cables are 34 pins, but I think these 8” drives may use 50 pin ribbon cables. Important to know is the difference between the original shurgard standard and the IBM standard is the device jumper function. I have a feeling that you’ve got the access the drives by adressing them with number 0 or 1. At least On the Acorn machines it works this way. Also the disk motor starts spinning right away, this kind of suggests that it uses the original shurgard standard. It’s an interesting looking system, that’s for sure!
Oh man, that feeling when stuff "just works." So awesome. Looking forward to hearing some tunes on this.
Considering the amount of jumper wires soldered on those boards I was quite impressed it did prompt and react to commands.
Wow, what a beast! My first home computer was a Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer 2, which also used a 6809.
Very nice indeed. That terminal is quite the absolute unit. And they came from here in the Alamo City! Unfortunately when I moved here as a high schooler in 1979, I never quite caught on to them being over there by the airport, until they were already gone. However I was at the 10BitWorks hackerspace one day a few years ago when someone brought in what was left of their repair parts collection (basically a big box with mostly tubes of chips), but I don't know if they'd still have them.
As for getting it to make music, I suppose one way would be to make a board (it uses the "SS-50" bus, sort of like S-100 only different) with two 8-bit ports (maybe a single PIA or VIA chip) and either an R2R ladder or an A-to-D chip.
Or you could hook up one of the standard sound chips of the day (even a SID!) and then it wouldn't be too much different from a C64 or an Atari.
And all that RAM? A decade or so later and you could get 32K on a single SRAM chip. So much easier to make a breadboard computer with! 4K DRAMs are really taking a step back in time! Oh and 7:18 notice the "Motorola Memory Systems" on the board, so those boards may have been made by Motorola, not SWTPC.
You know what other system had a 6809 processor, ran OS/9, and had 8" floppy disks? The Fairlight CMI!
Love it! I wouldn't have been able to walk away from it either! I don't see any audio stuff in there but i'm sure you could plonk in a card with an SN76489 or two on. keep it true to it's heritage though, it'd be kinda wrong with a SID or AY-3-8910 etc. shouldn't be to difficult hardware wise, maybe even adding an input or two to control it (MIDI?!). the hard part will be the software, Midi controller in 6809 assembly language anyone?
MAD props for having a ribbon-cable crimping thing!
Amazing find! If you thought synths were a rabbit hole... welcome to vintage computers! ;-)
The desk image on the cover of the quote docs, so "retro-futuristic" love it.
Brings back memories, My first job was working for this company.
So heres some info about the operating system for this CPU en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS-9
I wanted one of these when I was at uni ... but your prices are accurate. Think very high end gaming PC today. Instead I built a 6800 board myself and used an old calculator as a terminal. I was the only one in my electronics class with a computer at home. It had 128 bytes of RAM.
When I started my first job after finishing uni, they were looking at a 10MB (yes, ten mega byte) hard disk. It was the size of your processor box and cost $5,000.
Awesome video man, how the hell is it that quite!
Love old PC's crazy to think that is only 43 years old to where we are now, always amazes me!
It's quiet because there wasn't much need for cooling in old computers.
When you did the terminal cable... I was all "no mate, it's more complicated than that.... it's not going to work" AND IT DID... so I'll shut my gob!
I love the terminal. Even the logo is awesome. Have you considered reaching out to the 8-bitguy and other vintage computer youtubers? Even if they don't directly know about this stuff they might have somebody in their circle who can help you. Heck i'm certain that your viewers could give you a list of folks to converse with. Wish yeah luck mate, and keep it up. Maybe if you figure out how to program on this thing with assembly perhaps you could even make a soundcard for it, or bread board up a midi card for it using an Arduino?
"I'm Look Mum No Computer. This is a computer."
Well, I certainly can't argue with that ;D.
We have to get on patreon.. we can't have u living on beans 😁👍
Knowing you tho, there could be a video in it.. bending fart notes 🎶🎶 and making music 🤗😁👍
Dude… I learned to program in Algol on an Elliott 803 at Cannock Chase Technical College. That was so retro that the 1K memory was made up of ferrite rings. The teletypewriter used to make the punched tapes the computer used actually ran on compressed air and when you turned off the power to them the whole lot of keys would drop into the chassis.
That was the machine that got me so into computers (I got nothing but A’s in that class) that the teacher gave me my own key to the computer room so I could use it whenever I wanted… which was amazing because at Grammar School I managed to get the record for the most number of E’s on a report card… I missed out on a full card of E’s by getting all A’s for Woodwork and metalwork. I think I had ADHD and only being able to work stuff with my hands stopped my brain from running all over the place.
it is amazing that it even turned on!!!! what a find you have there Sam !!!
Back in the day (Late 70's) when you got a flashing command prompt on the screen you usually had a few choices;
C - Cold start
W - Warm start
D - Boot from an OS on a disk drive
M - Enter machine code mode
I think you need to find the disk with the operating system on and see if you can boot from it?
Good luck!
PS My first computer was 6502 based from Ohio Scientific Instruments in the states, so just later than the PC you now own. Things had moved on a bit, but the prices were still truly astronomical compared to today.
Motorola 6809 is a nice processor!
The send "twice" is actually send once and local echo on the terminal is set on. You need to set that off.
Oooh I see now you figured it out :D
This was a common error in my first full time job, where customers called and said that their "keyboard was stuck". The terminal had lost it's configuration and local echo is standard on. So we'd instruct them how to configure that. Later we actually made our system clever enough to once tell the system what terminal was connected to that port, and push a program string.
I think I can hear The 8 Bit Guy drooling from here...
I clicked on this thinking it was the 8 bit guy. Im subscribed to both.
"Would you like to play thermonuclear war"
Tic Tac Toe, rather...
It was worth eating beans for a month after all! Looking forward to visiting the museum.
How about a nice game of chess?
@@Pwills The only winning move is to the music...
@@Pwills No graphics capability on the CT-82.
How about a nice game of .... 'Hunt the Wumpus'
You have honestly made me less afraid to try things. I can't thank you enough.
very cool find and video. I'm looking forward to seeing more about this mystery machine.
Keep going and never stop. True technolust is beautiful to experience...
That thing's about the same age as me. Cool to see a computer from before surface mount components.
My first exposure to computers was this beast - my dad imported "Sweetpack" into Australia (until the aussie dollar was floated in 1983 and it became unsustainable)
to this day I remember that "load A register immediate" machine code is "86"
Me and my brothers all used a standalone SWTPC "dumb terminal" to connect to the timesharing (UNIX) computers on campus, back in college at UCSC, from the late 70s through the early 90s. It looked similar to the terminal you have there, except instead of white-black the cover was white-blue, and instead of wood it was metal--though possibly the cover was fiberglass?! A little Googling suggests this might have been the SWTPC CT-82. Its screen was a strange non-standard size, like 82 columns by maybe 23 rows, and even back then people had more or less settled on 80x25 as the standard. But this was sufficient to log in and use "vi" and the shell and run compilers to do our course work from home.
p.s. We always pronounced "SWTP" as "swat-p".
p.p.s. Yes, I absolutely believe those inflation-adjusted prices. Computers are shockingly cheap now, and it can be hard to remember just how dear they were back in the 70s and early 80s.
p.p.p.s. Back in the day my oldest brother wrote a "termcap" entry for our SWTPC terminal, that should let you use it with a modern Linux computer. I might be able to dig it up...!
What is the best content on youtube and why is your channel?
btw, that thing is so beautiful, it gives some good retrofuturism vibes
Fallout Terminals intensify
Absolutely a gas to watch!!! So entertaining and thanks for your preposterous stuff!!!
What an absolute beauty of a find! And yes, would love to see more vintage computer vids. We need a British version of the 8 Bit Guy.
Suddenly a new graphics card seems positively reasonable
Never heard the word "plonker" this much in a single day before.
Even if you can't make tunes with it (and quite frankly you probably can make the floppy drives sing at least) that would make a cracking exhibit at the museum. Maybe use it as a guestbook thing?
Also I'm pretty sure you could drive the terminal from a Raspberry Pi if you wanted to, after all when it comes to Linux a tty is a tty, even a 100 year old electromechanical one as demonstrated by Curious Marc haha
Awesome find - I love the look of those old machines
Yeah, those prices look about right for the era
Don't have time to watch YET..
But you Are 1 Crazy Dude. I Love It. Peace from Pennsylvania mountains..
suggestion: "Don't look mum, a computer."
6809 was used in a lot of early (late 70's early 80's) digital video equipment to do the heavy lifting processing 8 bit video.
It was also popular in synthesisers in quite large numbers though quite why I didn't understand they were several times more expensive than the competition and synth manufacturers fired them at synths with a shotgun both for control boards and voice cards.
Good luck with your machine I am sure there will be other people out there using these old machines. "The 8 bit guy" may be able to put you in touch with a user group.
The 6809 had a very regular instruction set that might it easy to get fairly accurate timing while doing real work in software loops. In synthesizers, timing is everything. It was also fast at moving and calculating waveform data without external hardware.
With a Z-80, for instance, you needed to depend heavily on external timing devices and other external hardware, to get similar control over the output. (Among other things.)
@@JoelReesonmars I didn't realise that synths were that sensetive to timing.
Those capabilities were what made it useful for video processing.
Thanks
please do some maintenance , oil the stepper motors of the floppy drives , use isoprop and qtip/paper to clean the reading heads , check capacitors(especially tantalums) for getting hot (those need to be replaced)