Ursus Posted July 10, 2021 Author Share Posted July 10, 2021 1 hour ago, FarmerPotato said: Same photo is used in http://shawweb.myzen.co.uk/stephen/tihistory.htm (I love that article by the way) Don Bynum built the Z80 Rangers in response to the TI-99/4. Then his name appears on the two terminals: L00142 (1980 ?, T&P Division of Data Systems) and L00143 (1981). At the end of 1980 he became the head of the TI Home Computer Division. The TI-99 / 4A is launched on the market. And the TI-99/2 and TI-99/8 would also have come onto the market under his leadership. Amazing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted July 10, 2021 Share Posted July 10, 2021 There are actually a couple of those Cyclops prototypes in the wild too. I had a long conversation their owner about them two years ago (and no, they aren't for sale). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbdigriz Posted July 10, 2021 Share Posted July 10, 2021 Speaking of the 765 terminal, there is a decent looking one in Weatherford TX on Ebay right now. Starting bid $70, ~$20 shipping. No bids and It's been relisted once already. I'm tempted but I have too much on my plate already and can't justify the expense, so... Perhaps the seller would consider local pickup if asked, too. Those old case plastics don't always ship well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FarmerPotato Posted July 11, 2021 Share Posted July 11, 2021 Here's a Insight 10 manual on eBay https://www.ebay.com/itm/124320699983?hash=item1cf217564f:g:ATMAAOSwGs9fTos3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbdigriz Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 (edited) Just for reference, here's what a 765 looks like: https://www.ebay.com/itm/255058436258?hash=item3b62aae0a2:g:LrUAAOSwZI1g2gt0 (Somebody got a good deal on that, btw) 745 is very similar. 765 has offline storage in the form of bubble memory. The Insight 10 case appears to be modified from or inspired by the 99/4, as has been noted. Recreating a 99/7 aka SR70 might be an interesting project. Edited July 30, 2021 by jbdigriz 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grtarrant Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 My dad. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 2 hours ago, Grtarrant said: My dad. Awesome, he doesn't happen to have a load of good documents about the TI related stuff does he? I'd like to see more info on that Double Density controller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbdigriz Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Cool. Is that an Explorer Odyssey board on the right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 Here's all the data we have on the DSDD Controller. . .I rebuilt the schematic a few years back to help troubleshoot the boards I have. A3-TI DSDD-FDC-P1.pdf A3-TI DSDD-FDC-P2.pdf TI DSDD FDC Manual and DSDD FDC GPL Interface Manual.pdf 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary from OPA Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 I still have my official TI dsdd controller in one of my pe-boxes 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbdigriz Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 (edited) The TIPC speech board was well ahead of the curve. Yet another reason TI had a better PC, as well as Home Computer. Edited January 22 by jbdigriz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FarmerPotato Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 22 hours ago, RickyDean said: Awesome, he doesn't happen to have a load of good documents about the TI related stuff does he? I'd like to see more info on that Double Density controller. Anecdotally, the DSDD controller was called "Lewisville" after a TI facility. Perhaps 250 PCBs were distributed, perhaps among TI Employees. The DSDD floppies didn't read on anything else, unless possibly the HexBus floppy drive. One time this complicated our Front Range 99ers newsletter production, as the editor had one of these DSDD and handed off a floppy. I found a bare board "Lewisville" in my dad's stuff. Don't recall where it is now. Coincidentally-- wasn't it using the NEC 765 floppy controller chip? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FarmerPotato Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 On 1/21/2024 at 11:03 AM, Grtarrant said: My dad. Is your dad still alive? Can we set up an interview? It would be amazing to hear his stories. I recognize the name from reading about bubble memory. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 1 hour ago, FarmerPotato said: Coincidentally-- wasn't it using the NEC 765 floppy controller chip? I'm pretty sure your right. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff White Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 4 hours ago, FarmerPotato said: Coincidentally-- wasn't it using the NEC 765 floppy controller chip? Yes, the TI DSDD controller used a 765 and 16 sectors per track for DD, like the original DSR for the Myarc DDCC. A feature of the 765 — like the SMC9234 of the Myarc HFDC — was that it could not handle the shorter post-index gap that the Western Digital 177x and 279x could create. I learned this when my HFDC could not read the Myarc supplied MDM5 disks. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 6 hours ago, FarmerPotato said: Anecdotally, the DSDD controller was called "Lewisville" after a TI facility. Perhaps 250 PCBs were distributed, perhaps among TI Employees. The DSDD floppies didn't read on anything else, unless possibly the HexBus floppy drive. One time this complicated our Front Range 99ers newsletter production, as the editor had one of these DSDD and handed off a floppy. I found a bare board "Lewisville" in my dad's stuff. Don't recall where it is now. Coincidentally-- wasn't it using the NEC 765 floppy controller chip? I know that a number of kits were provided to (sold to?) members of the TI Engineering Users' Group in Dallas. My first encounter with one of the DSDD controllers was when I bought a kit from this group on eBay back in late 2000 or early 2001. The DM3 cartridge for the kit even had a special splash screen, IIRC. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary from OPA Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 On 1/21/2024 at 7:55 PM, Ksarul said: Here's all the data we have on the DSDD Controller. . .I rebuilt the schematic a few years back to help troubleshoot the boards I have. A3-TI DSDD-FDC-P1.pdf 217.86 kB · 10 downloads A3-TI DSDD-FDC-P2.pdf 201.07 kB · 7 downloads TI DSDD FDC Manual and DSDD FDC GPL Interface Manual.pdf 3.33 MB · 8 downloads going thru my cards, i had my DSDD out, so i took some pictures of it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 (edited) 34 minutes ago, Gary from OPA said: going thru my cards, i had my DSDD out, so i took some pictures of it. Lookin Good !! Is it possible to remove that shield and finish getting photos, without damaging the controller? Edited February 3 by RickyDean added content Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 I've seen that particular monster of an aluminum heat sink on a couple of these boards now. Based on the literature I've seen describing the boards through the years, this board had a serious overheating problem. I'm wondering if one of the newer solid-state regulation solutions would eliminate that issue. . .I may have to get one and try it out with one of the two I have here (I bought one as a completed board and the other was purchased as one of the kits sold to the Dallas TI Engineering Users' Group that I found for sale on eBay in the early 2000s). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 27 minutes ago, Ksarul said: (I bought one as a completed board and the other was purchased as one of the kits sold to the Dallas TI Engineering Users' Group that I found for sale on eBay in the early 2000s). Could you posts high resolution photos of the board itself from the kit? Be interesting to see if I can build one on your protoboard or the Bunyan board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 8 hours ago, RickyDean said: Could you posts high resolution photos of the board itself from the kit? Be interesting to see if I can build one on your protoboard or the Bunyan board. I actually built that board about 15 years ago, so I no longer have access to it in unbuilt form. I did take a couple of scans from it before I built the board, but they were lost in a disk corruption incident on the Windows 98 machine they were stored on a couple of weeks after I made the scans (and before I had done one of my monthly backups on the disk). I was a bit annoyed about that. The scans may still exist, but not in my possession. I made them originally for Michael Becker, as he was interested in the board back then. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary from OPA Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 9 hours ago, Ksarul said: I've seen that particular monster of an aluminum heat sink on a couple of these boards now. Based on the literature I've seen describing the boards through the years, this board had a serious overheating problem. I'm wondering if one of the newer solid-state regulation solutions would eliminate that issue. . .I may have to get one and try it out with one of the two I have here (I bought one as a completed board and the other was purchased as one of the kits sold to the Dallas TI Engineering Users' Group that I found for sale on eBay in the early 2000s). Problem is the current draw, the amount of chips on the board it is drawing too much for that little regulator. I have issues just running it on fully stock PEB with all 8 card slots full and two half-height floppy drives, the voltage drop on the PEB lines starts to hit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FarmerPotato Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Here's the only photo I have of the Lewisville controller. Taken 2018. Dunno where it is now. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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