Grandpa's computer, My vintage computer collection

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UzZx32QU

UzZx32QU

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This has nothing to do about framing, it about what I do for fun...

This thread is about my oldest IBM PC and IMHO is from the 1st batch released. When I got it I started a thread here for help http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcf...odel-A-5150-cheap-on-FleaBay&highlight=framer in getting it running.
More of my collection is here http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcf...I-view-my-vintage-collection&highlight=framer about my 5170's.

This IBM Computer:
IBM PC
16-64MB MB w/64MB
2 SSDD FD
256 RAM Card
CGA Card
Floppy Card
Brown PS
Speaker on metal bracket
Original Case
PC1A.jpg


Question: Were the 1st SSDD floppy drives unbranded or were these added by the dealer?


PC1 FRONT.jpg


Front View


PC1 SIDE.jpg


Side View


pc1-back.jpg


Back View


PC1 PS.jpg


Power Supply Top View


PC1 PLUGS.jpg



Inside Case Plugs View


PC1 SPEAKER1.jpg


Metal Speaker Bracket


PC1 SPEAKER2.jpg


Metal Speaker Bracket
 
Continued...

PC1 CO PRCR.jpg


Check out this clean CO Processor the paper handle is perfect. Another great find.


3.jpg


Complete MB as I received it


PC1 MB1.jpg


Motherboard today


PC1-MB2.jpg


Motherboard BIOS today


PC1-MB3.jpg


Motherboard memory today

bios-1.jpg


The original non working 5700051 BIOS before I replaced it.


PC1 INSIDE COVER.jpg


Numbers on the inside cover.


PC1 Drive A.jpg


Slight differences in the floppies I feel the 2nd one was dealer installed.


PC1 Drive B.jpg



PC1-CGA-CARD.jpg


CGI Card with wide black bracket


PC1-CGA-END.jpg
 
Re: test

pc1-ram-card-256K.jpg


Off Brand RAM Card with wide black bracket


PC1-RAM-CARD-BACK.jpg


PC1-WIDE-BRACKET.jpg


PC1-FLOPPY-CARD.jpg


Original floppy card with wide black bracket


PC1-CGA-END.jpg


PC1 DOS1.jpg


DOS 1.1 boot


PC1 CHKDSK.jpg


Check Disk CHKDSK showing drive size and RAM on board.


PC1-MS1.jpg


MS Flight Simulator #1.00 Yes, I have an original disk and it still works.


PC1 MSFLTSIM 1.jpg


Flying and taking pictures should not be allowed :)

framer
 
I posted this on another forum but thought a few nerds here might like a look.

framer
 
I remember (and not fondly) those RAM cards and the pain of installing zillions of chips to add memory. And mess up one little pin and take forever to find the culprit.

You may be right about the floppy. I remember some with a single drive.
 
Will have to show this to my hubby. I think the thing he first learned with was called Fortran?
At Berkeley, back in the 70's. He's been doing the bookkeeping at work for several months,
and he says their system is so old it still has advice on how to survive Y2K. He also knows
how to program PLC's (programmable logic computers?) and sat around the house for
several days this winter writing a bunch of ones and zero's in a spiral notebook before putting
the program to work on one of their machines. His son is a computer engineer in Portland
who often does PLC work for Intel, so I guess that apple didn't fall far from the tree. Not
that Dirk is an engineer, mind you. He can just do some programming.

Sorry so rambly. Will show him, & you'd likely prefer his one word responses to mine. :smiley:
 
shayla said:
I think the thing he first learned with was called Fortran?
Click to expand...

Fortran was my first programming language. We used it on a corporate timeshare network back in the mid 70s. Fortran was never big in the PC world. The earliest languages for the PC were Basic (YUK) and 'C'.

I remember doing 'C' programming on one of the first suitcase Compaq portable - one of these - all 30 pounds worth. Lugging one of those things home was fun.

compaqI.JPG


We used the Lattice 'C' compiler which later would become the basis for all Microsoft 'C' and beyond.

I remember (not fondly) trying to cram the compiler, support files, editor and programming files on the two disks. We had to modify a bunch of the 'h' files so that they would fit on the floppies. Getting our first 10 Meg HD was so wonderful.
 
My earliest was Assembler, COBOL, Mark IV and, of course, JCL.

Working for the federal government, I'd have to lug steel drawers of punch cards to a computer centre on Parliament Hill to get them compiled and onto the /360s.

The first PC was shocking. I was into accounting by then, and the other finance guys almost started a fight, waiting to get at the spreadsheet program - what was it- Multiplan? anyone remember?

edit: Lotus!!
 
tedh said:
The first PC was shocking. I was into accounting by then, and the other finance guys almost started a fight, waiting to get at the spreadsheet program - what was it- Multiplan? anyone remember?
Click to expand...

My first spreadsheet was VisiCalc on an Apple II, then Lotus 1-2-3 on an IBM PC
 
My first PC computer was an IBM word processor. Bought it used from the corp my wife worked for at the time. They were getting rid of them in favor of the new PC's. It had twin 7" floppies, and you had to load the software every time you fired it up. It was little more than a glorified electric typewriter with a memory. As I remember they were crazy expensive when they first came out, $30-40K. I picked it up for $100.00.
Prior to that (1970) I had some experience on an IBM main frame at Glidden Paint Co. As a HS junior we were taught the fundamentals of FORTRAN and were tasked with writing a program for determining prime numbers. Unfortunately that knowledge is gone.
 
I have one almost like this too, from 1981 or 1982, but it has a hard drive installed. It still works perfectly, and has been on SINCE the early 1980s. They dont make things meant to last like that any more!

Mike
 
And one of our assignments was to write, in Assembler, the code to figure out GBL.

I have no idea how I passed that course.
 
It's amazing to see how far computer technology has advaced in just a few decades.

My first computer was a used Compaq notebook, which came with a touch screen and special stylus; quite advanced for its time. The screen size is probably about 13". The computer store that sold it to me recommended I buy an upgrade to Windows 3.1, so I did. As I recall, it came with a 32 MB hard drive and 4 MB of RAM, but I upgraded to (I think) 8 MB of RAM. I haven't looked at it in years, but still have this computer in its original box and it still works, as far as I know, but I'm sure the battery is hopeless.
 
I got my first personal computer ( if you can call it one) when I was 18 yrs old. It was a Commodore 64.
For storage, I used a cassette recorder/recorder and for a monitor I used an old blank and white TV.
I then moved on to the TRS80 with floppy drives. How time flies.
 
I had a big word processor that I thought was uber-cool at the time. It had a built-in daisy wheel printer.:p When that sucker got fired up it used to move across the desk and I had to secure all loose objects in the vicinity.

I didn't finally get a proper PC until '99. 2x2gb HDs. :popc: Not all that long ago...... :icon11:
 
My first computer was the vic20. I think it had a whole 6k ram. I then upgraded to an Amstrad CPC464. Then it was PC until 9 years ago when i finally made the switch to APPLE. Now i have 3 imacs, 2 mac airs, ipad, 4 iphones, Nothing ever seems to break down with them. previuosly i was replacing a pc or phone every 2 years.
Good to see you still have and old PC that works, although i don't think there would be anything i could think of that i would want to run one for.
 
My a first computer language was FORTRAN. Had to punch the cards, send them by bus to Boulder, (from Denver), then wait for it them to come back the next day. The computer was a CDC11-70.

I remember entering "1H1" for a line break, instead of "1H0". Well 1H1 was a page break. I got back about 100 pages of paper with 1 line of info on each page, and a nasty note from the computer center.

Then they eventually came out with the Apple. Then the Apple 3 for business work. I had one at work, but once IBM came out with the PC, apple decided they did not want to compete directly with IBM in the business world, and didn't support it; they went then to the MAC which was more of the graphic..

How times have changed.
 
I still have the disc for Lotus Smartsuite in my computer drawer and only stopped using 123 spreadsheets because my new computer runs Windows 7 which cannot handle Lotus.

My first computer was an Apple Mac and although it had a built-in modem the connection then was so slow it could take several minutes to load a single J-peg. I think Telstra were using two tin cans tied together with string to transmit data then.
 
Oh my goodness, I did not see this...

I have a room full of old gear, software (PS 2.5 deluxe for PC was never opened, the Mac version we had was plain 2.5 I think) and other great things I will explore again one day. The oldest would be a Commodore 64 from my lot though, still works too, Enhancer 2000 5.25" turbo drive.... Oh the days.

& now I'm going to play in mud.
 
troyveluz said:
I got my first personal computer ( if you can call it one) when I was 18 yrs old. It was a Commodore 64.
For storage, I used a cassette recorder/recorder and for a monitor I used an old blank and white TV.
I then moved on to the TRS80 with floppy drives. How time flies.
Click to expand...
C64 was my first puter too. I think about 1984? Then went to a Commodore 128C with a floppy disk drive. Then a Commodore 128D with built in disk drive! I just threw out all my floppy disks a few weeks ago.

I wasn't into programming much. Learned a little about basic. I programmed my own POS system on the D128D using Superbase. No programming as sophisticated as some of you guys!
 
I was right about Dirk being less vocal than myself.

I gave him the laptop and he s-l-o-w-l-y scrolled through all the photos,
reading every post. His only comment, when he saw the photo of the
old monitor was 'Hmmm....' lol...bet some folks here wish I could get
a transfusion of whatever he's made of. :icon11:

Granted, he had just spent half an hour talking about his views of the
current liberal/conservative situation....
 
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