The Interim Computer Museum strives to preserve and share the history of computing through interactive exhibits using vintage computer hardware with modern enhancements. We are a non-profit membership organization open to all.
(The Interim Computer Museum is a subsidiary of the SDF Public Access UNIX System, 501(c)(7))
Topaz is a highly nostalgic monospaced typeface for people of a certain age and geographical distribution, but it's also a genuinely good font. It's high contrast, it's consistently designed (within the limits of 8x8px), and it's quite compact. It implements the ROM font of the Amiga 500 as a Truetype font, has all of the original symbols, and is Unicode compliant.
Supports nearly every old-school 8-bit/16-bit system out there! from the Atari 2600 and Commodore PET to SNES, Genesis and arcades, you'll feel at home with the vast selection of systems Furnace supports. Every sound chip is emulated using many of the best emulation cores out there for a fantastic, true-to-hardware sound. The most flexible and customizable tracker interface ever. Every window can be arranged as you wish without restrictions. The color scheme is also customizable. I guess you can make it as simple or as complicated as you need? Furnace supports exporting your song as audio files (.wav), VGM files (covering over 80% of the VGM specification), and ZSM files (for Commander X16).
Github: https://github.com/tildearrow/furnace
This guide will explain some ways to set up a VoIP ATA so that you can place calls between computers with modems (although any other pair of telephone devices will work.) When done, you will be able to:
Note that this does NOT involve setting up Asterisk!
pdp7-unix is a project to resurrect Unix on the PDP-7 from scans of the original assembly code done by Norman Wilson. The scans of PDP-7 Unix are in the Unix Archive as the files 0*.pdf.
Study the complete source code for a self-hosting compiler that runs on and generates code for CP/M on the Z80 processor. No prior knowledge in the field of compiler construction is required. The T3X/0 language that is discussed and implemented in the book has its roots in Pascal and BCPL and is very simple. A full 20-page manual is contained in the book.
The reader should know at least one procedural programming language, such as C or Pascal, and at least one assembly language, ideally the one for the Z80 CPU. They should also know the basics of the CP/M operating system. For the determined autodicact a short introduction to Z80 assembly language is also included in the book.
I've reverse engineered the power board from a Thinkpad 700C. The P/N is 35G4785, and the FRU number is 48G3712. A very similar or identical board is also present in the Thinkpad 700. The schematic isn't perfect. Open a bug report if you find a mistake. Not all components were identified. A number of parts did not have designators on the silkscreen, so I assigned them new ones starting at 300.
The circuit board has four layers and an aluminum core, presumably for heat dissipation.
Do not fabricate this design. The PCB layout is for reference only. There are ground plane cuts in layer User.9 that need to get transferred to the ground plane. There are minor footprint differences as well. There are still unidentified components in the bill of materials.
Documentation and the Verilog model of the Soviet microprocessor 1801VM1 (also VM2 and VM3).
We’re an amateur phone collective in Philadelphia! Are you a hacker, artist, or engineer? We need your help!
PhilTel is looking to install new (to us) payphones within the city of Philadelphia. Any payphone installed will be completely free-to-use, allowing the user to place calls within North America. Additionally, we would like to provide various experiences and services through the phones; these could be as simple as voicemail, fun as a phone number that randomly calls other payphones, or as complex as an integration with phone collectors’ networks to allow phone-phreaking and exploration!
JawnCon is an event that celebrates the evolution of security and technology in our lives. Forged in the fires that is everything Philly, this event is driven to educate, celebrate and better understand all the things that make these weird machines blink and go bump in the night.
This site is dedicated to cataloging and sharing information on repairing devices. It's named "Caps" wiki because in older electronics capacitors are one of the more common causes of problems. But any repair information such as ICs, batteries, belts, 3D printer models, or more for devices of any age is welcome here!
XTIDE Universal BIOS makes it possible to use modern large ATA hard disks or Compact Flash cards on old PC's. You can then enjoy quiet or noiseless drives with more capacity than you'll ever need for old computers.
XTIDE Universal BIOS (also known as simply "XUB") can be used on any IBM PC, XT, AT or 100% compatible system. On AT systems you can use any 16-bit ISA or VLB IDE or Multi I/O controller. For XT systems you can use XTIDE rev1 (not available anymore), XTIDE rev2 or JR-IDE/ISA.
All BIOS binaries available here must be properly configured with the configuration tool XTIDECFG.COM before flashing/programming to ROM. In addition to configuring the BIOS file for use with your specific hardware you must also make sure the file is checksummed by saving the file to disk as that will create the padding and checksum required for installation in a computer. Always use the version of XTIDECFG.COM supplied together with the BIOS files.
Source code: https://www.xtideuniversalbios.org/browser
A collection of manuals for Tandy and Radio Shack branded stuff. Size of archive: Over 12,500 separate documents.
The WiFi Retromodem is a non-destructive replacement of the PCB in an external Hayes Smartmodem 1200 or 2400. Note: while it will fit in the later Smartmodems, the LEDs of the Retromodem in the Hayes Optima series aluminum cases are offset slightly from the letters below. The Retromodem is based on the ZiModem software available on Github. This new version also supports simulated audio dialing just like a real Smartmodem connected to a phone line.
The board can be purchased from this page.
Archives of old technical magazines and journals. Mirrors of particularly important retrotech archives.
Mirror friendly as long as you use anonymous rsync. Please note that their archive is rapidly approaching 1TB in size, so you may wish to think carefully about what you want and why.
This project aims to reproduce the LMSI CM-153 card needed to operate a Philips CM-100 CD-ROM drive. This drive was originally released in 1985 and used an early version of the LSMI protocol to connect. Later versions of LMSI cards, such as the CM-260, are not compatible with earlier drives (I do not know what the exactly compatibilities are). So an early card is required. The CM-153 is a very uncommon part to find due to it's limited use, high cost, and the fact that it would probably be tossed out with the computer when upgraded being separated from its original drive.
Thanks to Roland who has a working CM-100 and CM-153 we have some pretty high quality reference images of what this card looks like. It uses all off the shelf 74 series logic chips and one 8251A UART controller. It should therefore be possible to recreate without needing any rare chips or ROM dumps.
The card has been fully reverse engineered and tested to be functional. It has been demonstrated to work using this driver with a CM100 drive.
This is a reimplementation in KiCad of Don Froula's (http://projectmf.org/) PIC-based bluebox. The circuit was by Don Froula and the board layout was by Phil Lapsley (http://explodingthephone.com). It is so named because of Don's production of a close replica to the bluebox pictured in the October 1971 Esquire article "Secrets of the Little Blue Box." This version is based upon the ATtiny85 microcontroller.
There are three branches in this repository. Branch 'v1' is as close a duplicate of the original board as I can manage. As is, this board forms its own lid for the Radio Shack 230-1801 enclosure. The 'v2' branch is modified such that it can fit in the bottom of the Radio Shack enclosure. That one is probably a better choice for replicating Don's replica. The master branch has been modified to fit a Hammond 1591XXM dimensions 3.3" x 2.2" or 85mm x 56mm) enclosure, which I feel is of much better quality and utility.
This board requires six volts DC. Two or four CR2032 coin cells can be mounted in onboard holders or six volts applied to an external power header. Keystone 103 holds one cell each. Keystone 1026 and MPD BH800S hold two cells each stacked. I chose to try the MPD BH800S because I was uncertain if the Keystone 1026 would fit within the confines of the case.
Firmware: https://gitlab.com/DavidGriffith/bluebox-avr/
Instructions: https://661.org/proj/bluebox/ (archived)
My name is Adam Wilson. I’m an embedded electronics engineer by trade, and for the past few years I’ve been collecting, repairing, and restoring vintage computers in my spare time.
I’ve finally got around to creating my own website, in order to document all of my repairs and restorations in an accessible fashion for anyone who may be interested.
A collection of cartridges, adapters and replacements for the Commodore C64.
If you have an interest in the Commodore 64 (C64), SX-64 and Commodore 128 (C128) and all the various hardware that comes with that, like 1541 disk drives, modems, 1702 monitors, etc, then the Commodore Computer Club and Users Group is for you.
We also discuss the Commodore Amiga, VIC-20, Commodore 16 (C16), Plus/4, CBM PET and even the C64 Direct-to-TV (C64DTV) designed by Jeri Ellsworth. If it’s Commodore related, we discuss it at our meetings.
The goal of the club is to have monthly meetings and discuss cool things that are still happening in the scene as well as share project ideas or concepts and to inspire each other for new ones.
In May of 2011 we started the Retro Computing Club as a “sister” club to compliment and cover other vintage computers like Apple, Atari, IBM PC, Tandy, Texas Instruments, Macintosh and more along with video game consoles like Nintendo, Vectrex, Sega, etc.
Like any self-respecting user group, their resources page is well populated.
MicroPython/CircuitPython DOS-like shell for microcontroller boards like the RasPi Pico and Featherwing.
They sell old phones, mods to same so they can be used with modern equipment, and replacement parts.
Handset receiver elements: https://www.oldphoneworks.com/receiver-elements/
Payphones: https://www.oldphoneworks.com/pay-phones/
A z80 kernel and a collection of programs, tools and documentation that allows you to assemble an OS that can:
Additionally, the goal of this project is to be as self-contained as possible. With a copy of this project, a capable and creative person should be able to manage to build and install Collapse OS without external resources (i.e. internet) on a machine of her design, built from scavenged parts with low-tech tools.
Github: https://github.com/hsoft/collapseos
The Altair 8800 Clone is a full size, fully functional replica of the computer that started a revolution – the Altair 8800. Whether used for personal or educational purposes, the Altair Clone is a great way to relive this important period in computing history and learn core computer science principles at the same time!
The Altair Clone provides an accurate, hands-on experience without having to worry about damaging a vintage computer. Built with modern hardware on the inside, the Clone is also less expensive and much easier to keep running than a vintage computer.
Paleotronic Magazine takes an enthusiastic look back at the history of electronics, including computers, videogames and media, as well as its use professionally, in business and in industry. Along the way, we trace the roots of the devices and technologies which define our modern world.
An online archive of old electronics texts, most of which have to do with vacuum tube circuits and suchlike. These are considered core texts of radio because they formed the body of knowledge that we learn today. They are most certainly of interest to people who restore old radio sets.