Government and Vintage computers - Page 2 - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

paulsherwin · 7th Aug 2021, 11:59 pm

Australia and New Zealand decimalised with a dollar equal to ten shillings. This made their cents more or less equal to pennies sterling, and their dollars roughly equivalent to US dollars.

The British decimalised around the pound because it was still an important global reserve currency at the time.

Back on topic please.

TALKINGWITHPYE · 27th Sep 2021, 11:49 am

Hello from Dave, I have been scrolling through this thread and to comment on Kelly's Eye's comment I was one who was looking for a pc with ISA slots. I did get one and it does what I wanted to do which was to program ex PMR radios from their original frequencies to the VHF/UHF amateur radio bands. The interface card was the ISA type. Yes I know my use for theese machines is for hobby purposes but I am sure there are other people would still want a machine which had ISA capabilities for more serious applications.

GeoffB17 · 27th Sep 2021, 2:37 pm

I too MUST have a pc with an ISA slot.

I have a Roland LAPC-I card, which is both my midi interface, and also a perfectly OK synth in it's own right. MT-32 compatible. It uses the 8 bit ISA connector, but is usually OK in a 16 bit slot.

The card is in a Pentium 75 at present, but I have an old 386 as well which would work, so I'm OK. Touch wood. But for how long

Geoff

27th Sep 2021, 4:56 pm

Don't forget the LPC bus (Low Pin Count) a serial ish ISA bus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Pin_Count

ortek_service · 2nd Oct 2021, 7:34 pm

I went to a talk about DEC PDP-8's and replicas a few years ago, where a retired support Engineer said he still kept some original ones going in industry (Think one was used in a mine!).

And heard that some places with v.large budgets, had to buy a used BBC computer as they still had processes that used these. Well the original Acorn system apparently evolved from a farm Milking machine project, and some factories had also used Electrons.
Although I doubt many relied on ZX81's & the wobbly RAM-pack...

7th Aug 2021, 11:59 pm	#21
paulsherwin Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 27,943	Re: Government and Vintage computers Australia and New Zealand decimalised with a dollar equal to ten shillings. This made their cents more or less equal to pennies sterling, and their dollars roughly equivalent to US dollars. The British decimalised around the pound because it was still an important global reserve currency at the time. Back on topic please.

27th Sep 2021, 11:49 am	#22
TALKINGWITHPYE Pentode Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK. Posts: 126	Re: Government and Vintage computers Hello from Dave, I have been scrolling through this thread and to comment on Kelly's Eye's comment I was one who was looking for a pc with ISA slots. I did get one and it does what I wanted to do which was to program ex PMR radios from their original frequencies to the VHF/UHF amateur radio bands. The interface card was the ISA type. Yes I know my use for theese machines is for hobby purposes but I am sure there are other people would still want a machine which had ISA capabilities for more serious applications.

27th Sep 2021, 2:37 pm	#23
GeoffB17 Tetrode Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Guisborough, North Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 80	Re: Government and Vintage computers I too MUST have a pc with an ISA slot. I have a Roland LAPC-I card, which is both my midi interface, and also a perfectly OK synth in it's own right. MT-32 compatible. It uses the 8 bit ISA connector, but is usually OK in a 16 bit slot. The card is in a Pentium 75 at present, but I have an old 386 as well which would work, so I'm OK. Touch wood. But for how long Geoff

27th Sep 2021, 4:56 pm	#24
Guest Guest Posts: n/a	Re: Government and Vintage computers Don't forget the LPC bus (Low Pin Count) a serial ish ISA bus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Pin_Count

2nd Oct 2021, 7:34 pm	#25
ortek_service Octode Join Date: May 2018 Location: Northampton, Northamptonshire, UK. Posts: 1,440	Re: Government and Vintage computers I went to a talk about DEC PDP-8's and replicas a few years ago, where a retired support Engineer said he still kept some original ones going in industry (Think one was used in a mine!). And heard that some places with v.large budgets, had to buy a used BBC computer as they still had processes that used these. Well the original Acorn system apparently evolved from a farm Milking machine project, and some factories had also used Electrons. Although I doubt many relied on ZX81's & the wobbly RAM-pack...