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Classic Computer for a Ham Shack
Hey Guys,
I'm a new ham radio operator, but I've been working with computers for most of my life. I'm now in the process of setting-up my first 'ham shack', and instead of going with the latest and greatest, I hope to employee several classic computers to help me along. I have quite a collection in my closet I plan on pulling out, but I'd like opinions of others on what they would use in such a situation. First, I do want to connect my radio to the computer, and many of the technologies used by ham radio operators, like slow scan TV, packet radio, etc, can be used on most of the classic computers in some form or fashion. This I don't think I'll have a problem, no matter which systemI go with. One of the main things I do want to do is have the computer on my home network. I don't need a web browser or even a GUI interface... the main thing I would really need is Telnet and FTP. I also want something with a word processor and spreadsheet program -- even Visicalc would be nice to use. And finally I want something fun.. which is the entire point of this venture :) I know some older computers still have huge repositories of software online, and whether it's a game or neat utility, I'd love to setup a classic computer I can really use and have fun with while in my 'ham shack'. Here's a list of computers I have around me now: Tandy Color Computer 2 Tandy Color Computer 3 (128K model) Commodore Amiga 500 Apple II (original, not PLUS) Mac Classic And though I don't currently own one, I'm looking at getting a Commodore 128 as well, either from a friend of possibly from ebay. Anyway, just curious what others would choose if you had to pick a computer or even a couple of older computers to use again. Also if there's any ham operators out there with experience with older systems, I'd love some feedback! Take care, and thanks in advance for any ideas. Alex |
Classic Computer for a Ham Shack
"Alex" wrote in message oups.com... Hey Guys, I'm a new ham radio operator, but I've been working with computers for most of my life. I'm now in the process of setting-up my first 'ham shack', and instead of going with the latest and greatest, I hope to employee several classic computers to help me along. I have quite a collection in my closet I plan on pulling out, but I'd like opinions of others on what they would use in such a situation. First, I do want to connect my radio to the computer, and many of the technologies used by ham radio operators, like slow scan TV, packet radio, etc, can be used on most of the classic computers in some form or fashion. This I don't think I'll have a problem, no matter which systemI go with. One of the main things I do want to do is have the computer on my home network. I don't need a web browser or even a GUI interface... the main thing I would really need is Telnet and FTP. I also want something with a word processor and spreadsheet program -- even Visicalc would be nice to use. And finally I want something fun.. which is the entire point of this venture :) I know some older computers still have huge repositories of software online, and whether it's a game or neat utility, I'd love to setup a classic computer I can really use and have fun with while in my 'ham shack'. Here's a list of computers I have around me now: Tandy Color Computer 2 Tandy Color Computer 3 (128K model) Commodore Amiga 500 Apple II (original, not PLUS) Mac Classic And though I don't currently own one, I'm looking at getting a Commodore 128 as well, either from a friend of possibly from ebay. Anyway, just curious what others would choose if you had to pick a computer or even a couple of older computers to use again. Also if there's any ham operators out there with experience with older systems, I'd love some feedback! Take care, and thanks in advance for any ideas. Alex With almost all of the ones you mention, you would probably have to buy a Multi-Mode Controller to run any of the digital modes as several of them do not have sound cards. In some cases, you would have to home brew a connection cable as I believe some of them have non-standard serial ports. Any terminal program will then suffice to run the multi-mode controller. However, Multi-Mode Controllers are rather expensive and it might be wiser to simply invest in a new computer with a sound card (which may very well cost substantially less than the multi-mode controller). Software for computers this old is almost unobtainable even via the internet. I loved the Tandy Color Computer series (had the original, then the 2 and finally the 3). But I got rid of them when the technology moved substantially past them. Loading programs from floppies or cassettes just doesn't cut it these days (no hard drive for most of these). Dee, N8UZE |
Classic Computer for a Ham Shack
On 28 Nov 2006 07:25:10 -0800, "Alex" wrote:
Hey Guys, I'm a new ham radio operator, but I've been working with computers for most of my life. I'm now in the process of setting-up my first 'ham shack', and instead of going with the latest and greatest, I hope to employee several classic computers to help me along. I have quite a collection in my closet I plan on pulling out, but I'd like opinions of others on what they would use in such a situation. First, I do want to connect my radio to the computer, and many of the technologies used by ham radio operators, like slow scan TV, packet radio, etc, can be used on most of the classic computers in some form or fashion. This I don't think I'll have a problem, no matter which systemI go with. One of the main things I do want to do is have the computer on my home network. I don't need a web browser or even a GUI interface... the main thing I would really need is Telnet and FTP. I also want something with a word processor and spreadsheet program -- even Visicalc would be nice to use. And finally I want something fun.. which is the entire point of this venture :) I know some older computers still have huge repositories of software online, and whether it's a game or neat utility, I'd love to setup a classic computer I can really use and have fun with while in my 'ham shack'. Here's a list of computers I have around me now: Tandy Color Computer 2 Tandy Color Computer 3 (128K model) Commodore Amiga 500 Apple II (original, not PLUS) Mac Classic And though I don't currently own one, I'm looking at getting a Commodore 128 as well, either from a friend of possibly from ebay. Anyway, just curious what others would choose if you had to pick a computer or even a couple of older computers to use again. Also if there's any ham operators out there with experience with older systems, I'd love some feedback! Take care, and thanks in advance for any ideas. Alex YOur best bet would be to get the ARRL CDs for QST magazine; get the one for the 1970s and the one for the 1980s, and browse for articles on your computers. But as the other guy said, software would be awfully hard to find, unless you could find some old programs you could type out yourself. Best bet would be to simply get a cheapo more or less modern PC with a good sound card; some of the newer digital modes are pretty amazing. bob k5qwg |
Classic Computer for a Ham Shack
Bob Miller wrote: On 28 Nov 2006 07:25:10 -0800, "Alex" wrote: Hey Guys, I'm a new ham radio operator, but I've been working with computers for most of my life. I'm now in the process of setting-up my first 'ham shack', and instead of going with the latest and greatest, I hope to employee several classic computers to help me along. I have quite a collection in my closet I plan on pulling out, but I'd like opinions of others on what they would use in such a situation. First, I do want to connect my radio to the computer, and many of the technologies used by ham radio operators, like slow scan TV, packet radio, etc, can be used on most of the classic computers in some form or fashion. This I don't think I'll have a problem, no matter which systemI go with. One of the main things I do want to do is have the computer on my home network. I don't need a web browser or even a GUI interface... the main thing I would really need is Telnet and FTP. I also want something with a word processor and spreadsheet program -- even Visicalc would be nice to use. And finally I want something fun.. which is the entire point of this venture :) I know some older computers still have huge repositories of software online, and whether it's a game or neat utility, I'd love to setup a classic computer I can really use and have fun with while in my 'ham shack'. Here's a list of computers I have around me now: Tandy Color Computer 2 Tandy Color Computer 3 (128K model) Commodore Amiga 500 Apple II (original, not PLUS) Mac Classic And though I don't currently own one, I'm looking at getting a Commodore 128 as well, either from a friend of possibly from ebay. Anyway, just curious what others would choose if you had to pick a computer or even a couple of older computers to use again. Also if there's any ham operators out there with experience with older systems, I'd love some feedback! Take care, and thanks in advance for any ideas. Alex YOur best bet would be to get the ARRL CDs for QST magazine; get the one for the 1970s and the one for the 1980s, and browse for articles on your computers. But as the other guy said, software would be awfully hard to find, unless you could find some old programs you could type out yourself. Best bet would be to simply get a cheapo more or less modern PC with a good sound card; some of the newer digital modes are pretty amazing. bob k5qwg I used to use my color computer for an Antenna rotor controller. The joystick port took feed back from the rotator to tell which way it was pointing and I had built a relay board that plugged into the expansion bus. These were cool little computers to play around with and you could find them in yard sells for nearly nothing. At one time I had 8 of them all at once and probably went through about 15 of them. I remember getting an alternate OS for it and running pascal. I think the oprating system was called OS9???. They were a blast, think I still have a couple in the attic. Also had an Apple II+. Then someone gave me a whole bunch of Apple II clones, must have been 15 or 20 of them. Most didnt work when I got them but I was able to get all but 3 or 4 going. They were all fun to play with but wouldnt be my choice for a ham shack computer. The color computer did have one thing nice going for it though. It seemed to be fairly tolerant of RF in the shack. I cant say this for a lot of the other computers especially the appales. |
Classic Computer for a Ham Shack
In article .com,
"Alex" wrote: Hey Guys, I'm a new ham radio operator, but I've been working with computers for most of my life. I'm now in the process of setting-up my first 'ham shack', and instead of going with the latest and greatest, I hope to employee several classic computers to help me along. I have quite a collection in my closet I plan on pulling out, but I'd like opinions of others on what they would use in such a situation. First, I do want to connect my radio to the computer, and many of the technologies used by ham radio operators, like slow scan TV, packet radio, etc, can be used on most of the classic computers in some form or fashion. This I don't think I'll have a problem, no matter which systemI go with. One of the main things I do want to do is have the computer on my home network. I don't need a web browser or even a GUI interface... the main thing I would really need is Telnet and FTP. I also want something with a word processor and spreadsheet program -- even Visicalc would be nice to use. And finally I want something fun.. which is the entire point of this venture :) I know some older computers still have huge repositories of software online, and whether it's a game or neat utility, I'd love to setup a classic computer I can really use and have fun with while in my 'ham shack'. Here's a list of computers I have around me now: Tandy Color Computer 2 Tandy Color Computer 3 (128K model) Commodore Amiga 500 Apple II (original, not PLUS) Mac Classic And though I don't currently own one, I'm looking at getting a Commodore 128 as well, either from a friend of possibly from ebay. Anyway, just curious what others would choose if you had to pick a computer or even a couple of older computers to use again. Also if there's any ham operators out there with experience with older systems, I'd love some feedback! Take care, and thanks in advance for any ideas. Alex i didn't save any links but in the past surfing/googling at college web sites and ftp site found lots of software for those legacy computers because they just never deleted the stuff so it's mostly still up there if you can google the right string or find some of the more famous old ftp sites that slip my mind if you run 'fetch' on the newest mac it might even be in the defaults |
Classic Computer for a Ham Shack
wrote in message ups.com... Bob Miller wrote: On 28 Nov 2006 07:25:10 -0800, "Alex" wrote: Hey Guys, I'm a new ham radio operator, but I've been working with computers for most of my life. I'm now in the process of setting-up my first 'ham shack', and instead of going with the latest and greatest, I hope to employee several classic computers to help me along. I have quite a collection in my closet I plan on pulling out, but I'd like opinions of others on what they would use in such a situation. First, I do want to connect my radio to the computer, and many of the technologies used by ham radio operators, like slow scan TV, packet radio, etc, can be used on most of the classic computers in some form or fashion. This I don't think I'll have a problem, no matter which systemI go with. One of the main things I do want to do is have the computer on my home network. I don't need a web browser or even a GUI interface... the main thing I would really need is Telnet and FTP. I also want something with a word processor and spreadsheet program -- even Visicalc would be nice to use. And finally I want something fun.. which is the entire point of this venture :) I know some older computers still have huge repositories of software online, and whether it's a game or neat utility, I'd love to setup a classic computer I can really use and have fun with while in my 'ham shack'. Here's a list of computers I have around me now: Tandy Color Computer 2 Tandy Color Computer 3 (128K model) Commodore Amiga 500 Apple II (original, not PLUS) Mac Classic And though I don't currently own one, I'm looking at getting a Commodore 128 as well, either from a friend of possibly from ebay. Anyway, just curious what others would choose if you had to pick a computer or even a couple of older computers to use again. Also if there's any ham operators out there with experience with older systems, I'd love some feedback! Take care, and thanks in advance for any ideas. Alex YOur best bet would be to get the ARRL CDs for QST magazine; get the one for the 1970s and the one for the 1980s, and browse for articles on your computers. But as the other guy said, software would be awfully hard to find, unless you could find some old programs you could type out yourself. Best bet would be to simply get a cheapo more or less modern PC with a good sound card; some of the newer digital modes are pretty amazing. bob k5qwg I used to use my color computer for an Antenna rotor controller. The joystick port took feed back from the rotator to tell which way it was pointing and I had built a relay board that plugged into the expansion bus. These were cool little computers to play around with and you could find them in yard sells for nearly nothing. At one time I had 8 of them all at once and probably went through about 15 of them. I remember getting an alternate OS for it and running pascal. I think the oprating system was called OS9???. They were a blast, think I still have a couple in the attic. Yep. It was OS9. I had the Radio Shack Color Computers at one time and adored them. Now they wouldn't even be able to handle the simplest things I use a computer for. Dee, N8UZE |
Classic Computer for a Ham Shack
On 28 Nov 2006 07:25:10 -0800, "Alex" wrote:
Hey Guys, I'm a new ham radio operator, but I've been working with computers for most of my life. I'm now in the process of setting-up my first 'ham shack', and instead of going with the latest and greatest, I hope to employee several classic computers to help me along. I have quite a collection in my closet I plan on pulling out, but I'd like opinions of others on what they would use in such a situation. ++++++++++ Sounds like a bad idea. Instead of "Slow Code", you will be "Slow Baud". |
Classic Computer for a Ham Shack
"Alex" wrote in
oups.com: Hey Guys, I'm a new ham radio operator, but I've been working with computers for most of my life. I'm now in the process of setting-up my first 'ham shack', and instead of going with the latest and greatest, I hope to employee several classic computers to help me along. I have quite a collection in my closet I plan on pulling out, but I'd like opinions of others on what they would use in such a situation. First, I do want to connect my radio to the computer, and many of the technologies used by ham radio operators, like slow scan TV, packet radio, etc, can be used on most of the classic computers in some form or fashion. This I don't think I'll have a problem, no matter which systemI go with. One of the main things I do want to do is have the computer on my home network. I don't need a web browser or even a GUI interface... the main thing I would really need is Telnet and FTP. I also want something with a word processor and spreadsheet program -- even Visicalc would be nice to use. And finally I want something fun.. which is the entire point of this venture :) I know some older computers still have huge repositories of software online, and whether it's a game or neat utility, I'd love to setup a classic computer I can really use and have fun with while in my 'ham shack'. Here's a list of computers I have around me now: Tandy Color Computer 2 Tandy Color Computer 3 (128K model) Commodore Amiga 500 Apple II (original, not PLUS) Mac Classic And though I don't currently own one, I'm looking at getting a Commodore 128 as well, either from a friend of possibly from ebay. Anyway, just curious what others would choose if you had to pick a computer or even a couple of older computers to use again. Also if there's any ham operators out there with experience with older systems, I'd love some feedback! Take care, and thanks in advance for any ideas. Alex Hi Alex, You sound like a brand new no-code Tech. Welcome to ham radio. All those computers you mentioned will work fine, but if you really want to do any serious computer work you're going to want to invest in a Vic 20, or a TI-99, or a Commodore 64. Power users swear by'em. SC |
Classic Computer for a Ham Shack
I second that! The VIC-20 is awesome (and easy to write machine
language programs for it). My first ham use for the VIC-20 was a CW keyer program. I still have two VIC-20s and a C-64... Scott N0EDV Slow Code wrote: "Alex" wrote in oups.com: Hey Guys, I'm a new ham radio operator, but I've been working with computers for most of my life. I'm now in the process of setting-up my first 'ham shack', and instead of going with the latest and greatest, I hope to employee several classic computers to help me along. I have quite a collection in my closet I plan on pulling out, but I'd like opinions of others on what they would use in such a situation. First, I do want to connect my radio to the computer, and many of the technologies used by ham radio operators, like slow scan TV, packet radio, etc, can be used on most of the classic computers in some form or fashion. This I don't think I'll have a problem, no matter which systemI go with. One of the main things I do want to do is have the computer on my home network. I don't need a web browser or even a GUI interface... the main thing I would really need is Telnet and FTP. I also want something with a word processor and spreadsheet program -- even Visicalc would be nice to use. And finally I want something fun.. which is the entire point of this venture :) I know some older computers still have huge repositories of software online, and whether it's a game or neat utility, I'd love to setup a classic computer I can really use and have fun with while in my 'ham shack'. Here's a list of computers I have around me now: Tandy Color Computer 2 Tandy Color Computer 3 (128K model) Commodore Amiga 500 Apple II (original, not PLUS) Mac Classic And though I don't currently own one, I'm looking at getting a Commodore 128 as well, either from a friend of possibly from ebay. Anyway, just curious what others would choose if you had to pick a computer or even a couple of older computers to use again. Also if there's any ham operators out there with experience with older systems, I'd love some feedback! Take care, and thanks in advance for any ideas. Alex Hi Alex, You sound like a brand new no-code Tech. Welcome to ham radio. All those computers you mentioned will work fine, but if you really want to do any serious computer work you're going to want to invest in a Vic 20, or a TI-99, or a Commodore 64. Power users swear by'em. SC |
Classic Computer for a Ham Shack
What you really need is an Altair.
Dave N Scott wrote: I second that! The VIC-20 is awesome (and easy to write machine language programs for it). My first ham use for the VIC-20 was a CW keyer program. I still have two VIC-20s and a C-64... Scott N0EDV Slow Code wrote: "Alex" wrote in oups.com: Hey Guys, I'm a new ham radio operator, but I've been working with computers for most of my life. I'm now in the process of setting-up my first 'ham shack', and instead of going with the latest and greatest, I hope to employee several classic computers to help me along. I have quite a collection in my closet I plan on pulling out, but I'd like opinions of others on what they would use in such a situation. First, I do want to connect my radio to the computer, and many of the technologies used by ham radio operators, like slow scan TV, packet radio, etc, can be used on most of the classic computers in some form or fashion. This I don't think I'll have a problem, no matter which systemI go with. One of the main things I do want to do is have the computer on my home network. I don't need a web browser or even a GUI interface... the main thing I would really need is Telnet and FTP. I also want something with a word processor and spreadsheet program -- even Visicalc would be nice to use. And finally I want something fun.. which is the entire point of this venture :) I know some older computers still have huge repositories of software online, and whether it's a game or neat utility, I'd love to setup a classic computer I can really use and have fun with while in my 'ham shack'. Here's a list of computers I have around me now: Tandy Color Computer 2 Tandy Color Computer 3 (128K model) Commodore Amiga 500 Apple II (original, not PLUS) Mac Classic And though I don't currently own one, I'm looking at getting a Commodore 128 as well, either from a friend of possibly from ebay. Anyway, just curious what others would choose if you had to pick a computer or even a couple of older computers to use again. Also if there's any ham operators out there with experience with older systems, I'd love some feedback! Take care, and thanks in advance for any ideas. Alex Hi Alex, You sound like a brand new no-code Tech. Welcome to ham radio. All those computers you mentioned will work fine, but if you really want to do any serious computer work you're going to want to invest in a Vic 20, or a TI-99, or a Commodore 64. Power users swear by'em. SC |
Classic Computer for a Ham Shack
On Sun, 03 Dec 2006 10:48:14 -0600, "David G. Nagel" wrote:
What you really need is an Altair. ....or an Imsai, or an Intel SDK. 8;) -- Larry |
Classic Computer for a Ham Shack
David G. Nagel wrote:
What you really need is an Altair. An IBM-650 would probably do the job. -- 73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com |
Classic Computer for a Ham Shack
Yes, forgot about the SDK-85. Used that in tech school way back in
1981. That was a smoking little bare-bones computer system... Scott pltrgyst wrote: On Sun, 03 Dec 2006 10:48:14 -0600, "David G. Nagel" wrote: What you really need is an Altair. ...or an Imsai, or an Intel SDK. 8;) -- Larry |
Classic Computer for a Ham Shack
On Sun, 3 Dec 2006 17:07:02 UTC, Cecil Moore
wrote: David G. Nagel wrote: What you really need is an Altair. An IBM-650 would probably do the job. Any IBM PS/2 model would be perfect. They can be had for next to nothing and are well-nigh indestructible. -- "What do you mean there's no movie?" |
Classic Computer for a Ham Shack
Slow Code wrote:
Hi Alex, You sound like a brand new no-code Tech. Welcome to ham radio. All those computers you mentioned will work fine, but if you really want to do any serious computer work you're going to want to invest in a Vic 20, or a TI-99, or a Commodore 64. Power users swear by'em. SC Hi SC, Yup, I got my tech ticket a few months ago, and I'm now working on learning code and studying for the general ticket. I hope maybe January or February, but not until I can get my ham nook setup in the garage plus move my radio from the car to the garage so I can actually focus on the radio :) It's hard learning how to ragchew while on the interstate. hehe I do have a C64 on the way, and that plus what I have now should be enough to get me going. Too much fun! Take care, Alex |
Classic Computer for a Ham Shack
hi alex,
I agree. no need for latest and greatest (and most expensiveist) check out ibm site below, all these pc and laptops are just off ibm lease, most under three years old with the win o/s !! built in sound, usb, network interface and these were not made in china since they were made here in north carolina by ibm before they sold that part off to lenovo. many under $ 250-300 with free shipping ups, you just pay sales tax. we have five of them here at home for what I would have paid for a new pc. http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/st...ubject=2576394 |
Classic Computer for a Ham Shack
hi alex,
I agree. no need for latest and greatest (and most expensiveist) check out ibm site below, all these pc and laptops are just off ibm lease, most under three years old with the win o/s !! built in sound, usb, network interface and these were not made in china since they were made here in north carolina by ibm before they sold that part off to lenovo. many under $ 250-300 with free shipping ups, you just pay sales tax. we have five of them here at home for what I would have paid for a new pc. http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/st...ubject=2576394 |
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