Device Technology Discovery 5 - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

jay_oldstuff · 18th May 2015, 12:35 pm

Hi all does anyone know what this devise is and that its intended use was. I acquired it many years ago and believe it came from a collage or university site that was being cleared. The rear has a couple of rom sockets two RS232 ports and a baud rated selector switch. The motherboard contains a number of roms but nothing I can identify as ram or cpu. The drive is a standard 5.25" double density unit and the build quality of the unit as a whole is excellent almost military speck. I'm as yet not sure what I'm going to do with it. The case would make a fantastic project box and I can always use the drive for one of my vintage computers but it seems a shame to brake it up especially not knowing what it's intended use was.

G6Tanuki · 18th May 2015, 12:41 pm

I'm thinking it's some sort of datalogger, or maybe a controller for something like a CNC lathe [put your floppy with the machining instructions in the drive, connect RS232 ports to CNC, and off you go].

What are the labels on the slide-switches on the front under the floppy-slot?

jay_oldstuff · 18th May 2015, 2:25 pm

I have taken some better pics of the front and rear that show all the labels. I did wonder about being for something like CNC control but as far as I can recall the institute that it came from had nothing to do with engineering. It has lots of useful parts tho including some 27c16 EPROMs that will come in handy for my Atom project also some 16k static RAM modules that look interesting to play with. Come to think of it I may pull the EPROMs and dump them to the computer see if they give any clues.

factory · 20th May 2015, 9:23 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by jay_oldstuff

The motherboard contains a number of roms but nothing I can identify as ram or cpu.

The EF6809P IC is the CPU and looks like the two D4016C are the RAM. The 6809 & 6850 are both used on the processor board of a item I repair at work.

David

SiriusHardware · 20th May 2015, 10:32 pm

A lead for you:

This (Publishing?) organisation appears to run a museum of items with associations to the printing industry. A contact email address appears on this page.

http://www.jarrold.com/what-we-do/museum.aspx

Elsewhere on the same site is a list of items that the museum holds in its collection, here:-

http://www.jarrold.com/what-we-do/museum/holdings.aspx

Under the heading of 'Books And Manuscripts' there is this promising looking item:

"Instruction book for Discovery 5 storage unit"

Unfortunately the document itself is not available to read online, but perhaps an email to the museum will elicit a sympathetic response?

18th May 2015, 12:35 pm	#1
jay_oldstuff Octode Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Hyde, Greater Manchester, UK. Posts: 1,074	Device Technology Discovery 5 Hi all does anyone know what this devise is and that its intended use was. I acquired it many years ago and believe it came from a collage or university site that was being cleared. The rear has a couple of rom sockets two RS232 ports and a baud rated selector switch. The motherboard contains a number of roms but nothing I can identify as ram or cpu. The drive is a standard 5.25" double density unit and the build quality of the unit as a whole is excellent almost military speck. I'm as yet not sure what I'm going to do with it. The case would make a fantastic project box and I can always use the drive for one of my vintage computers but it seems a shame to brake it up especially not knowing what it's intended use was. Attached Thumbnails __________________ The light at the end of the tunnel is probably the headlight of an oncoming train

18th May 2015, 12:41 pm	#2
G6Tanuki Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Wiltshire, UK. Posts: 14,007	Re: Device Technology Discovery 5 I'm thinking it's some sort of datalogger, or maybe a controller for something like a CNC lathe [put your floppy with the machining instructions in the drive, connect RS232 ports to CNC, and off you go]. What are the labels on the slide-switches on the front under the floppy-slot?

18th May 2015, 2:25 pm	#3
jay_oldstuff Octode Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Hyde, Greater Manchester, UK. Posts: 1,074	I have taken some better pics of the front and rear that show all the labels. I did wonder about being for something like CNC control but as far as I can recall the institute that it came from had nothing to do with engineering. It has lots of useful parts tho including some 27c16 EPROMs that will come in handy for my Atom project also some 16k static RAM modules that look interesting to play with. Come to think of it I may pull the EPROMs and dump them to the computer see if they give any clues. Attached Thumbnails __________________ The light at the end of the tunnel is probably the headlight of an oncoming train

20th May 2015, 10:32 pm	#5
SiriusHardware Dekatron Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, UK. Posts: 11,582	Re: Device Technology Discovery 5 A lead for you: This (Publishing?) organisation appears to run a museum of items with associations to the printing industry. A contact email address appears on this page. http://www.jarrold.com/what-we-do/museum.aspx Elsewhere on the same site is a list of items that the museum holds in its collection, here:- http://www.jarrold.com/what-we-do/museum/holdings.aspx Under the heading of 'Books And Manuscripts' there is this promising looking item: "Instruction book for Discovery 5 storage unit" Unfortunately the document itself is not available to read online, but perhaps an email to the museum will elicit a sympathetic response?