TI Related -- Ebay / Heads Up Notice

[GDMike]

300 bucks is better than$999

https://www.ebay.com/itm/224512957834?hash=item344603dd8a:g:1fIAAOSwBalg2Mak

[pixelpedant]

And apparently one sold already.  Not a huge surprise I guess.  Pretty steep for what it does, but I guess collector value is high.  I'm mostly just holding on to mine because messing around with Barry Boone’s MBX routines could be fun if I ever get around to it - and because somebody else much more capable of doing so might get around to it likewise, one day. 

[+FarmerPotato]

On 6/30/2021 at 8:17 AM, OLD CS1 said:

Console system including TI monitor and a bunch of carts (nothing out of the ordinary.)  Sans PEB but still a nice starter configuration if the price holds.  Even shipping is not terrible (at least to me.)

 

https://ebay.com/itm/334055958480

 

 

That's a nice looking TI 10" color monitor. And compare it to the other one currently on eBay, where the seller wants $250 for one with the color knob stuck on green.

 

[+FarmerPotato]

On 7/1/2021 at 6:55 PM, GDMike said:

Need a 9900 book

https://www.ebay.com/itm/194221269139?hash=item2d387d6093:g:G1oAAOSwSD9g22ck

I bought the 13 books. I like having originals on my bookshelf.

 

Some of these were not even in the TI archive at SMU.

But I don't need the not-9900 data books. Seen too many of those.

 

[+arcadeshopper]

I bought the 13 books. I like having originals on my bookshelf.
 
Some of these were not even in the TI archive at SMU.
But I don't need the not-9900 data books. Seen too many of those.
 

Gone

Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk

[Airshack]

4 hours ago, FarmerPotato said:

I bought the 13 books. I like having originals on my bookshelf.

 

Some of these were not even in the TI archive at SMU.

Great find man! 

[+acadiel]

11 hours ago, FarmerPotato said:

I bought the 13 books. I like having originals on my bookshelf.

 

Some of these were not even in the TI archive at SMU.

But I don't need the not-9900 data books. Seen too many of those.

 

If any of these aren’t scanned, please do so

[+FarmerPotato]

10 hours ago, acadiel said:

If any of these aren’t scanned, please do so

Will do.

 

The only ones I don't see in bitsavers.org are:

 

TMS 9911 Direct Memory Access Controller May79
TMS 9940M 16-Bit Microcomputer
TMS99532 Single-Chip Bell 103 Compatible MODEM

But 99532 is partially covered (3 pages) in TI Telecommunications Circuits Data Book.

Not in whtech either.

All 3 were in the SMU archive.

 

http://bitsavers.org/components/ti/_dataBooks/

http://bitsavers.org/components/ti/TMS9900/

https://ftp.whtech.com/datasheets and manuals/Datasheets - TI/

 

 

 

 

 

[+Ksarul]

Here's a copy of the 9911 data book (without the covers). I think I may have a physical copy of the 99532 manual somewhere. I'll look for it and scan it if I find it.

TMS9911_datasheet.pdf

[+OLD CS1]

Bruh.  Are you fraking serious??

 

https://ebay.com/itm/144101866322

 

 

[+dhe]

At least thanks for the screen grab, we've all seen that before!

Oddly, I've seen it alot with carts that aren't making good connections.

[GDMike]

Damn Russian TI

[+Ksarul]

The seller is definitely confused when it comes to the value of a dead TI. . .and they have several dead ones for sale in that same general price range.

[+FarmerPotato]

On 7/3/2021 at 8:44 PM, Ksarul said:

Here's a copy of the 9911 data book (without the covers). I think I may have a physical copy of the 99532 manual somewhere. I'll look for it and scan it if I find it.

TMS9911_datasheet.pdf 1023.85 kB · 5 downloads

@Ksarul Thanks for saving me the scanning time. 

I'll photograph the original cover when it arrives.

 

Rather than the eBay thread, let's post new scans on https://atariage.com/forums/topic/248687-ti-99-docs-manuals-ebooks-lost-found/

 

I'll collect the new items and upload to archive.org. There may be some issues before offering them to bitsavers.org (they want minimal pdfs only with uncompressed tiff inside?)

 

@arcadeshopper I'll ask you to add them to ftp.whtech.com when I have them ready.

 

 

 

Edited July 5, 2021 by FarmerPotato

[+FarmerPotato]

On 7/3/2021 at 12:09 AM, Airshack said:

Great find man! 

@GDMike found them!

 

 

On 7/3/2021 at 5:33 PM, FarmerPotato said:

The ones I don't see in bitsavers.org are:

TMS 9911 Direct Memory Access Controller May79
TMS 9940M 16-Bit Microcomputer
TMS99532 Single-Chip Bell 103 Compatible MODEM

All 3 were in the SMU archive.

 

http://bitsavers.org/components/ti/_dataBooks/

http://bitsavers.org/components/ti/TMS9900/

https://ftp.whtech.com/datasheets and manuals/Datasheets - TI/

 

I received the 12 data books today. They are excellent copies--no cracking spines, no blemishes. The seller used sealed bubble mailers inside a tape-proofed box. Lucky thing, because it was raining all week. The box got a soggy bottom, but the contents were perfect.

 

It will be a shame to destructively scan them.

 

[jbdigriz]

19 hours ago, FarmerPotato said:

It will be a shame to destructively scan them.

 

Here is one solution to that problem:

 

[jbdigriz]

On 7/5/2021 at 12:58 PM, FarmerPotato said:

@Ksarul Thanks for saving me the scanning time. 

I'll photograph the original cover when it arrives.

 

Rather than the eBay thread, let's post new scans on https://atariage.com/forums/topic/248687-ti-99-docs-manuals-ebooks-lost-found/

Seconded.

Quote

 

I'll collect the new items and upload to archive.org. There may be some issues before offering them to bitsavers.org (they want minimal pdfs only with uncompressed tiff inside?)

 

@arcadeshopper I'll ask you to add them to ftp.whtech.com when I have them ready.

 

 

 

bitsavers submission format:

"The preferred form for any contributed text scan is as a collection of lossless
Group 4 fax compression (ITU-T recommendation T.6) images saved as TIFF
files with a minium scan resolution of 400 dpi.

Lower scan resolutions produce noticable artifacts if a page needs to be
straightened in post-processing.

Lossy compression formats, such as JPEG, should NEVER be used to save pages
of text, since the compression format destroys edge resolution and contrast
would make it difficult to OCR in the future. "

 

I believe Al is currently preferring 600 dpi or better. This allows for better OCR so docs are searchable.  But check with him on before submitting, in any case. Be aware he's been on a holy tear all week scanning and postprocessing over 150 DEC manuals, so he may take a minute to get back to you.

 

I believe archive.org actually has similar recommendations. Personally I'd submit to bitsavers first, since it is doably mirrorable, far more complete within its scope, and much easier to navigate and search. Then whtech, then archive.  Archive does seed torrents, but those would mostly go away for lack of seeding if the archive itself were gone. I believe it's backed up to ipfs now, too, but I haven't checked that out. Bitsavers is not going to be interested in most of the stuff you would normally upload to whtech, but definitely compenent datasheets, databooks, and similar items. Archive.org appears to be willing to host just about anything, but how long can Brewster afford to do that, and what would happen if he were gone? Look what happened with LCM+L.

 

I would definitely like to see whtech set up rsync and an official mirror system. Anything I can do to that end, relevant parties can let me know.

 

I would include the library at SMU, for anything they want, but I'll wait until that becomes more clear.

 

jbdigriz

 

 

Edited July 11, 2021 by jbdigriz

[+FarmerPotato]

2 hours ago, jbdigriz said:

Here is one solution to that problem:

<book scanner>

 

Yeah, those are nice. I saw one built at the Hackerspace. They used two GoPro Hero cameras. 

 

I just have a flatbed (14"x8.5" or so)

 

With the thin data books, I can remove the staple. So that's what I'll do for the 9940M book. It does have some new material in it.

 

The TMS99105A/110A databook has a spine, and it is in perfect shape. But there are already two good scans of it  I've had a print-out of this on my desk perpetually, so I really value this orange databook copy.

 

I didn't ask if the DeGolyer library had a book scanner. The public areas had largish flatbed scanners for use, but you can't take archive materials out of the reading room. The scan fee for the archives was something like $1/page, so the curator recommended I use my phone.

 

 

[+FarmerPotato]

2 hours ago, jbdigriz said:

Seconded.

bitsavers submission format:

"The preferred form for any contributed text scan is as a collection of lossless
Group 4 fax compression (ITU-T recommendation T.6) images saved as TIFF
files with a minium scan resolution of 400 dpi.

 

I believe Al is currently preferring 600 dpi or better. This allows for better OCR so docs are searchable.  But check with him on before submitting, in any case. Be aware he's been on a holy tear all week scanning and postprocessing over 150 DEC manuals, so he may take a minute to get back to you.

 

Al got back to me in 30 seconds  He wanted to check his backlog, to see if he has those books on paper.

I'll start using 600dpi, tiff, pdf container from now on.

 

OCR on my phone photos is working pretty well. Though you lose the formatting.

 

Quote

I would definitely like to see whtech set up rsync and an official mirror system. Anything I can do to that end, relevant parties can let me know.

 

@arcadeshopper recalled when we last did a torrent seed for whtech. Eh, that was 10 years ago. I still have that copy on my laptop which is why I often think that whtech doesn't have X that I'm looking for...

 

We should do the whtech torrent continuously.

 

 

Edited July 11, 2021 by FarmerPotato

[+OLD CS1]

4 hours ago, jbdigriz said:

Here is one solution to that problem:

 

 

Was good enough for the C.I.A.

 

 

[+FarmerPotato]

I see a manual for the Insight 10 production model (see 99/7 thread for history)

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124320699983?hash=item1cf217564f:g:ATMAAOSwGs9fTos3

 

 

[jbdigriz]

@OLD CS1The trick is to get the pages to lie flat as close to the spine as possible. Can be difficult.

Edited July 11, 2021 by jbdigriz

[jbdigriz]

50 minutes ago, FarmerPotato said:

I see a manual for the Insight 10 production model (see 99/7 thread for history)

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124320699983?hash=item1cf217564f:g:ATMAAOSwGs9fTos3

 

 

Somebody  should snag that. Unfortunately it won't be me right now. Maybe in a few days.

Edited July 11, 2021 by jbdigriz

[+OLD CS1]

11 minutes ago, jbdigriz said:

@OLD CS1The trick is to get the pages to lie flat as close to the spine as possible. Can be difficult.

Yeah, I see some flaws in the design shown in the movie sequence, but it was originally used for computer reading not archiving as is our intention.  (I was told by a friend's uncle who worked in a government agency that the machine shown in the sequence was real.)

[jbdigriz]

4 hours ago, FarmerPotato said:

We should do the whtech torrent continuously.

 

Is that up to us, though? I mean, I wouldn't want to set up a public mirror or torrent if it wasn't cool. Not sure who exactly is maintaining whtech these days, even. Guidance appreciated here.