The Unix Heritage Society mailing list
 help / color / mirror / Atom feed
* [TUHS] Spacewar at Bell Labs
@ 2020-01-14  8:54 Lars Brinkhoff
  2020-01-14 16:59 ` Jon Steinhart
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 13+ messages in thread
From: Lars Brinkhoff @ 2020-01-14  8:54 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: tuhs

Hello,

https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/spacetravel.html says:

> Later we fixed Space Travel so it would run under (PDP-7) Unix instead
> of standalone, and did also a very faithful copy of the Spacewar game

I have a file with ".TITLE PDP-9/GRAPHIC II VERSION OF SPACEWAR".  (I
hope it will go public soon.)  It seems to be a standalone program, and
it's written in something close to MACRO-9 syntax.  I'm guessing the
Bell Labs version would have been written using the Unix assembler.

Best regards,
Lars Brinkhoff

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread

* Re: [TUHS] Spacewar at Bell Labs
  2020-01-14  8:54 [TUHS] Spacewar at Bell Labs Lars Brinkhoff
@ 2020-01-14 16:59 ` Jon Steinhart
  2020-01-14 17:15   ` Lars Brinkhoff
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 13+ messages in thread
From: Jon Steinhart @ 2020-01-14 16:59 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: tuhs

Lars Brinkhoff writes:
> Hello,
>
> https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/spacetravel.html says:
>
> > Later we fixed Space Travel so it would run under (PDP-7) Unix instead
> > of standalone, and did also a very faithful copy of the Spacewar game
>
> I have a file with ".TITLE PDP-9/GRAPHIC II VERSION OF SPACEWAR".  (I
> hope it will go public soon.)  It seems to be a standalone program, and
> it's written in something close to MACRO-9 syntax.  I'm guessing the
> Bell Labs version would have been written using the Unix assembler.
>
> Best regards,
> Lars Brinkhoff

I have a copy of double-sun space war (sorry, just the binary) for the
PDP-15/GRIN-2 on DEC fan-fold paper tape with the boot loader written
in octal on the leader.  Not sure if it's of any use but it's a nice
historical artifact from the BTL explorer scout days.

Jon

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread

* Re: [TUHS] Spacewar at Bell Labs
  2020-01-14 16:59 ` Jon Steinhart
@ 2020-01-14 17:15   ` Lars Brinkhoff
  2020-01-14 17:19     ` Jon Steinhart
  2020-01-14 17:25     ` Clem Cole
  0 siblings, 2 replies; 13+ messages in thread
From: Lars Brinkhoff @ 2020-01-14 17:15 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Jon Steinhart; +Cc: tuhs

Jon Steinhart wrote:
> I have a copy of double-sun space war (sorry, just the binary) for the
> PDP-15/GRIN-2 on DEC fan-fold paper tape with the boot loader written
> in octal on the leader.  Not sure if it's of any use

I'm very interested in this!  Is the paper tape readable somehow?

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread

* Re: [TUHS] Spacewar at Bell Labs
  2020-01-14 17:15   ` Lars Brinkhoff
@ 2020-01-14 17:19     ` Jon Steinhart
  2020-01-14 17:26       ` Lars Brinkhoff
  2020-01-15 23:32       ` Al Kossow
  2020-01-14 17:25     ` Clem Cole
  1 sibling, 2 replies; 13+ messages in thread
From: Jon Steinhart @ 2020-01-14 17:19 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: tuhs

Lars Brinkhoff writes:
> Jon Steinhart wrote:
> > I have a copy of double-sun space war (sorry, just the binary) for the
> > PDP-15/GRIN-2 on DEC fan-fold paper tape with the boot loader written
> > in octal on the leader.  Not sure if it's of any use
>
> I'm very interested in this!  Is the paper tape readable somehow?

Now that's an interesting question.  Being paper tape, it's from the days
in which you could see a bit with the naked eye.  Another industrial
artifact that I have somewhere is a paper tape reader, but it would take
time away from skiing to get it working.  Does anybody know if the
Computer History Museum or equivalent has a DEC paper tape reader that
works?  I could probably lay it out on a scanner but that would be
tedious.  Might actually be best, it's over 45 years old and probably
fragile.

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread

* Re: [TUHS] Spacewar at Bell Labs
  2020-01-14 17:15   ` Lars Brinkhoff
  2020-01-14 17:19     ` Jon Steinhart
@ 2020-01-14 17:25     ` Clem Cole
  1 sibling, 0 replies; 13+ messages in thread
From: Clem Cole @ 2020-01-14 17:25 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Lars Brinkhoff; +Cc: The Eunuchs Hysterical Society

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 1147 bytes --]

I built a paper tape reader at one point, lord knows were it is. It's
pretty easy -- Two pieces of wood to hold the paper with a mm or 2 shaved
off the bottom of one of them the width of the paper tape. Then 9 parallel
holes and put optical transistors connected to a 5 volt supply via a series
resistor, running into a parallel port the 4th one is used as a strobe to
pick of the 8 data bits and small light bulb on the other piece of wood.
 You then just pull it through and its self strobing.   Set up a cat <
/dev/parallel > /tmp/foo
Your basically done, you'll need to pick reasonable values for the
resistors to that match your transistors to switch on/off if the light
passed through the hole.  I've forgotten what I used, it something I had in
the parts box.





On Tue, Jan 14, 2020 at 12:16 PM Lars Brinkhoff <lars@nocrew.org> wrote:

> Jon Steinhart wrote:
> > I have a copy of double-sun space war (sorry, just the binary) for the
> > PDP-15/GRIN-2 on DEC fan-fold paper tape with the boot loader written
> > in octal on the leader.  Not sure if it's of any use
>
> I'm very interested in this!  Is the paper tape readable somehow?
>

[-- Attachment #2: Type: text/html, Size: 1993 bytes --]

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread

* Re: [TUHS] Spacewar at Bell Labs
  2020-01-14 17:19     ` Jon Steinhart
@ 2020-01-14 17:26       ` Lars Brinkhoff
  2020-01-15 23:32       ` Al Kossow
  1 sibling, 0 replies; 13+ messages in thread
From: Lars Brinkhoff @ 2020-01-14 17:26 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Jon Steinhart; +Cc: tuhs

Jon Steinhart wrote:
>> Is the paper tape readable somehow?
> Does anybody know if the Computer History Museum or equivalent has a
> DEC paper tape reader that works?

I'm almost certain they do.  If you can get it to them, that's probably
the best option.  To people closer to Seattle I would recommend Living
Computers Museum.

> I could probably lay it out on a scanner but that would be tedious.
> Might actually be best, it's over 45 years old and probably fragile.

Having recently read some Whirwind paper tapes, I'm sure the CHM people
know how to handle old tapes.  Paper or otherwise.

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread

* Re: [TUHS] Spacewar at Bell Labs
  2020-01-14 17:19     ` Jon Steinhart
  2020-01-14 17:26       ` Lars Brinkhoff
@ 2020-01-15 23:32       ` Al Kossow
  1 sibling, 0 replies; 13+ messages in thread
From: Al Kossow @ 2020-01-15 23:32 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: tuhs



On 1/14/20 9:19 AM, Jon Steinhart wrote:
> Does anybody know if the
> Computer History Museum or equivalent has a DEC paper tape reader that
> works?

It does in my lab at CHM Fremont.
You near by?



^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread

* Re: [TUHS] Spacewar at Bell Labs
  2020-01-15  6:34   ` Earl Baugh
@ 2020-01-15 12:29     ` John Foust
  0 siblings, 0 replies; 13+ messages in thread
From: John Foust @ 2020-01-15 12:29 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: TUHS

At 12:34 AM 1/15/2020, Earl Baugh wrote:
>Why not build a variation of this with an Arduino?
> <https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Paper-TapePunch-Card-Maker-and-Reader/>https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Paper-TapePunch-Card-Maker-and-Reader/. You could use cardboard rather than wood if it’s just a one time job. ( or scan the tape into files and process digitally ?) 

We're so close, I wish someone would figure out a way to let
a contemporary office scanner like the Fujitsu ScanSnap to
handle paper tapes.  Reliable feed mechanism, nice scanner,
just needs a little software and maybe a guide.  And a way
to re-spool the tape.  Darn, just got complicated.  

Same thing for a new way to read a magtape.  You'd think it 
could be done with a universal read head and some software.

Nine years ago I visited <http://www.comco-inc.com/>http://www.comco-inc.com/ , perhaps
one of the last sellers and refurbishers of 9-tracks.  I dropped
off three 9-tracks I didn't need.  He seems to be surviving 
because oil survey companies still call and are willing to 
write five-figure checks for particular working hardware.

- John


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread

* Re: [TUHS] Spacewar at Bell Labs
  2020-01-15  6:17 ` Lars Brinkhoff
@ 2020-01-15  6:34   ` Earl Baugh
  2020-01-15 12:29     ` John Foust
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 13+ messages in thread
From: Earl Baugh @ 2020-01-15  6:34 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Lars Brinkhoff; +Cc: TUHS, Brian Walden

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 638 bytes --]

Why not build a variation of this with an Arduino?
 https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Paper-TapePunch-Card-Maker-and-Reader/. You could use cardboard rather than wood if it’s just a one time job. ( or scan the tape into files and process digitally ?) 

Earl 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jan 15, 2020, at 1:18 AM, Lars Brinkhoff <lars@nocrew.org> wrote:
> 
> Brian Walden wrote:
>>> Papertape reader?
>> The last Cyphercon had a paper tape reader in their badge --
>> https://hackaday.com/2019/04/12/cyphercon-badge-has-a-paper-tape-reader-built-in/
> 
> I'd be all over this if there also were a way to punch tapes.

[-- Attachment #2: Type: text/html, Size: 1260 bytes --]

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread

* Re: [TUHS] Spacewar at Bell Labs
  2020-01-15  3:32 Brian Walden
  2020-01-15  4:01 ` Jon Steinhart
@ 2020-01-15  6:17 ` Lars Brinkhoff
  2020-01-15  6:34   ` Earl Baugh
  1 sibling, 1 reply; 13+ messages in thread
From: Lars Brinkhoff @ 2020-01-15  6:17 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Brian Walden; +Cc: tuhs

Brian Walden wrote:
>> Papertape reader?
> The last Cyphercon had a paper tape reader in their badge --
> https://hackaday.com/2019/04/12/cyphercon-badge-has-a-paper-tape-reader-built-in/

I'd be all over this if there also were a way to punch tapes.

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread

* Re: [TUHS] Spacewar at Bell Labs
  2020-01-15  4:01 ` Jon Steinhart
@ 2020-01-15  4:50   ` Bakul Shah
  0 siblings, 0 replies; 13+ messages in thread
From: Bakul Shah @ 2020-01-15  4:50 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Jon Steinhart; +Cc: tuhs

On Tue, 14 Jan 2020 20:01:11 -0800 Jon Steinhart <jon@fourwinds.com> wrote:
>
> That's cool, but I'm worried about the fragility of the tape after all this
> time.

I thought paper tape lasted much longer that magtapes....

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread

* Re: [TUHS] Spacewar at Bell Labs
  2020-01-15  3:32 Brian Walden
@ 2020-01-15  4:01 ` Jon Steinhart
  2020-01-15  4:50   ` Bakul Shah
  2020-01-15  6:17 ` Lars Brinkhoff
  1 sibling, 1 reply; 13+ messages in thread
From: Jon Steinhart @ 2020-01-15  4:01 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: tuhs

Brian Walden writes:
> > Papertape reader?
>
> The last Cyphercon had a paper tape reader in their badge --
>
> https://hackaday.com/2019/04/12/cyphercon-badge-has-a-paper-tape-reader-built-in/
>
> You can proably buy one from the con https://cyphercon.com/, or the makers
> http://www.tymkrs.com/ or ebay...
>
> -Brian

That's cool, but I'm worried about the fragility of the tape after all this time.
Maybe because I got my start in the early networking era when I had to transfer
files from one machine to another by feeding the paper tape from the punch in one
ASR-33 into the reader of another :-)

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread

* Re: [TUHS] Spacewar at Bell Labs
@ 2020-01-15  3:32 Brian Walden
  2020-01-15  4:01 ` Jon Steinhart
  2020-01-15  6:17 ` Lars Brinkhoff
  0 siblings, 2 replies; 13+ messages in thread
From: Brian Walden @ 2020-01-15  3:32 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: tuhs

> Papertape reader?

The last Cyphercon had a paper tape reader in their badge --

https://hackaday.com/2019/04/12/cyphercon-badge-has-a-paper-tape-reader-built-in/

You can proably buy one from the con https://cyphercon.com/, or the makers
http://www.tymkrs.com/ or ebay...

-Brian

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread

end of thread, other threads:[~2020-01-15 23:38 UTC | newest]

Thread overview: 13+ messages (download: mbox.gz / follow: Atom feed)
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2020-01-14  8:54 [TUHS] Spacewar at Bell Labs Lars Brinkhoff
2020-01-14 16:59 ` Jon Steinhart
2020-01-14 17:15   ` Lars Brinkhoff
2020-01-14 17:19     ` Jon Steinhart
2020-01-14 17:26       ` Lars Brinkhoff
2020-01-15 23:32       ` Al Kossow
2020-01-14 17:25     ` Clem Cole
2020-01-15  3:32 Brian Walden
2020-01-15  4:01 ` Jon Steinhart
2020-01-15  4:50   ` Bakul Shah
2020-01-15  6:17 ` Lars Brinkhoff
2020-01-15  6:34   ` Earl Baugh
2020-01-15 12:29     ` John Foust

This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox;
as well as URLs for NNTP newsgroup(s).