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echo: c_echo
to: Bill Birrell
from: Roy J. Tellason
date: 2003-08-20 20:01:48
subject: Joining the C echo

Bill Birrell wrote in a message to Roy J. Tellason:

 > "terminal" was a DecWriter.  We moved after that to a
 > dual 8" floppy drive that stored a whole 256,256 bytes
 > on each floppy,  and that was a big step up.  

 BB>     Yup. The basis of the Cromemco System 3. 

I _have_ one of those!  Problems with the drives,  though...

 BB> Later they introduced a double sided, then a double density 8" 
 BB> disk. Had the same capacity as a modern 3.5" HD floppy.

Voice-coil activated,  even.  But they used *light bulbs* for index sensors
and such,  where newer drives used LEDs.  I'm thinking that's likely part
of the problem with it.

 BB>     I managed to write a proportionally spaced driver for a 
 BB> daisywheel printer on one of those. Of course it needed a PS
 BB> daisywheel. :-)

I have one of those,  too.  Used to have a few,  but some of them ended up
being scrapped out.  Serial interface,  no sheet feeder.

 BB>     Day before yesterday I received a 3" CD with the drivers for a
 BB> PCMCIA USB 2.0 hub (the new one). It worked, too. Capacity used was
 BB> about 1.8MB. :-) 

I have one of those here too,  maybe 20MB or so of stuff on it...   Not all
of the drives here care for it too much,  particularly the 4x4 changers. 
They don't know quite how to handle it.

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