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Vintage HP computer systems
- the_only_law 6y agoI own a number of prices of vintage/retro HP hardware including stuff that was from specific divisions (Agilent, IDACOM). I ended up having a number of questions on these things and I’m also in need of missing software. I wonder if these sort of things are on topic here, even though information on them outside the documentation I currently have is a log shot either way.
- tyingq 6y agoCaused me to search for "IDACOM". The PT500 protocol tester is pretty neat. A color screen luggable with seven separate MC68k processors, all running FORTH. And pretty cheap ($120+shipping) for a used one. https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Idacom-PT500-Protocol-Tester-E4095C/323301485824?epid=1628823464&hash=item4b46452d00:g:ctYAAOSwFxtbIqIT https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Idacom-PT500-Protocol-Tester-E40... Here's the guts: https://imgur.com/a/tz0Y4BZ https://imgur.com/a/tz0Y4BZ Looks like a MVME bus system.
- unixhero 6y agoThat was incredibly fascinating. Loved the keyboard.
- the_only_law 6y agoThat’s exactly what I have :). Got a really good deal on one with the original carrying case manuals and a lot of the software although I’m missing a few disks that I want in particular. It also has a CGA video out I’m trying to get converted to something like VGA. There’s a company that exists supposedly full of former engineers for the company providing support. Or at least I should say a website for a company. I tried reaching out to them to get some information on the missing software but unfortunately didn’t hear back. I wouldn’t be shocked if it’s abandoned but I would have imagined their domain / hosting expired in that case. I also made some minor progress on reverse engineering the file system used on the floppy disks but haven’t done much in a while.
- smcleod 6y agoHere's a HP 4951C I had on loan until recently: https://smcleod.net/tech/2017/12/27/hp-4951/ https://smcleod.net/tech/2017/12/27/hp-4951/
- GekkePrutser 6y agoThanks for the link. I still have two old hp9000s.
- cromulent 6y agoWe had an HP-150 in 1983, it felt like the future. 3.5” floppy, touch screen. Incredible. Unfortunately it was a loaner from HP and Dad had to give it back eventually.
- azinman2 6y agoHere’s their launch video: https://youtu.be/VrlY-aPOW7E https://youtu.be/VrlY-aPOW7E Aside from the fact that this presenter and presentation is almost a stereotype of mac vs pc, it is interesting to see how touch was used. There are elements that now look very familiar — PAM being much like the Home Screen of smart phones, selecting text, direct manipulation of individual elements... but of course it would have been a not super great touch experience in both technical capacity to recognize the touch, inability to drag (?), and most importantly, gravity working against you here. The mouse would soon replace their vision for touch and fix all these fundamental problems. Still cool to see what they thought was important then: business.
- cowmix 6y agoThe HP2000/HP3000 is where where I cut my teeth on developing on a timeshare system in the mid 80s. Great systems and they set my expectations for what computing should be at an early age.
- markbnj 6y agoI learned BASIC on an HP3000 circa 1975 or so.
- ghaff 6y agoSame. My high school had a "computer lab" which had a teletype with a paper tape punch that communicated over a modem to a local community college. Definitely not the norm at the time for a high school.
- jhallenworld 6y agoSame, in junior high school around 1980 (we had some DECWriters and a Hazeltine terminal connected to an HP2000 somewhere). Kids played HP BASIC Star Trek: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_(1971_video_game) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_(1971_video_game) I remember my first program was a slot machine- so I learned about generating random integers within a desired range.