Anyone ever use a 300/1200 baud modem using 5 1/4" floppies

   / Anyone ever use a 300/1200 baud modem using 5 1/4" floppies #131  
Dang! Y'all started out with modern equipment. My first machine was a PDP 8, paper tape, 110 baud, teletype "console" and 4k core memory. The computer center where I worked had an IBM 8k core memory, card readers, and an 18" diameter removable disk (don't remember the capacity). Also worked with one briefly that was NOT a binary machine. Y'all make me feel like an old geezer. :laughing:
 
   / Anyone ever use a 300/1200 baud modem using 5 1/4" floppies #132  
Dang! Y'all started out with modern equipment. My first machine was a PDP 8, paper tape, 110 baud, teletype "console" and 4k core memory. The computer center where I worked had an IBM 8k core memory, card readers, and an 18" diameter removable disk (don't remember the capacity). Also worked with one briefly that was NOT a binary machine. Y'all make me feel like an old geezer. :laughing:

Young Un
I used to fly overnight to Europe to *_REPAIR_* 8K memory stacks on PDP-9s.
Weird 2 1/2 D (not 2 dimensional or 3 dimensional, but 2 1/2 D) topology, but not TOO hard to figure which "steering diode" was blown.
Since replacement stacks were ~$3,000 and a couple of days away it made sense once I was there for me to just replace diodes and get back.
Doubt I have the steady hand for it now, KNOW the eyes would need some serious help (-:

re: Non binary machines;
The concept of mixed radix arithmetic was taught in lo skool; adding/subtracting yards, feet, inches and getting the carries to work.
LEO had an "excess constants" register that was loaded with sixes every four bits to make decimal addition work and carry out at 16 (the natural carry out of 4 bits) then the excess 6s were subtracted from the quartets (four bit groups) that had NOT produced a carry.
Cumbersome as all heck, but kinda neat and it DID work.
Same thing with pounds shillings and pence - (THEN, though the money there is now decimal.)
 
   / Anyone ever use a 300/1200 baud modem using 5 1/4" floppies #133  
Dang! Y'all started out with modern equipment. My first machine was a PDP 8, paper tape, 110 baud, teletype "console" and 4k core memory. The computer center where I worked had an IBM 8k core memory, card readers, and an 18" diameter removable disk (don't remember the capacity). Also worked with one briefly that was NOT a binary machine. Y'all make me feel like an old geezer. :laughing:

Young Un
I used to fly overnight to Europe to *_REPAIR_* 8K memory stacks on PDP-9s.
Weird 2 1/2 D (not 2 dimensional or 3 dimensional, but 2 1/2 D) topology, but not TOO hard to figure which "steering diode" was blown.
Since replacement stacks were ~$3,000 and a couple of days away it made sense once I was there for me to just replace diodes and get back.
Doubt I have the steady hand for it now, KNOW the eyes would need some serious help (-:

re: Non binary machines;
The concept of mixed radix arithmetic was taught in lo skool; adding/subtracting yards, feet, inches and getting the carries to work.
LEO had an "excess constants" register that was loaded with sixes every four bits to make decimal addition work and carry out at 16 (the natural carry out of 4 bits) then the excess 6s were subtracted from the quartets (four bit groups) that had NOT produced a carry.
Cumbersome as all heck, but kinda neat and it DID work.
Same thing with pounds shillings and pence - (THEN, though the money there is now decimal.)
 
 
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