TID: Mystic BBS 1.12 A46   
   MSGID: 1:387/26 7bbb9724   
   TZUTC: -0600   
   On 22 Feb 2022, Mike Powell said the following...   
    MP> > The Altaid kit is basically another Membership Card but is based on an 8   
    MP> > CPU, as was the 1975 Altair 8800. This provides opportunity for a furthe   
    MP> > pun:   
    MP> > Altaid 8800. :)   
    MP>    
    MP> Some of these sound interesting but, since I never used one, I am not   
    MP> sure how much I would get out of it.  My first computer was a TI99/4A,   
    MP> and my second was an XT clone.  Both are sitting on the desk behind me   
    MP> and still work, although both are currently out of commission as my   
    MP> work-from-home equipment is sitting on top of them.   
      
   The membership kits would be similar to the TI, although the TMS9900 was   
   severly crippled in those models. I have one, too; have you checked out the   
   TIPI module to get yours online?   
      
   The Membership cards, at their most basic level, provide a switch/LED   
   interface by which you can toggle in programs, byte by byte, and run them.   
   However, I think that all of them also have some kind of serial interface,   
   whether RS-232 or USB-compatible TTL. At any rate, with the ROMs supplied by   
   Lee, once you connect to the computer from a terminal via serial, you are   
   presented with a menu allowing you to do things like mass-import or -export   
   ranges of memory, examine registers, change values at memory locations, reset   
   the Program Counter, etc. They also usually have some variant of BASIC that   
   you can use. For those kits that don't have storage options, capturing and   
   resending data from the terminal is the only way to save and load programs.   
      
    MP> I did see something the other day in a FB BBS group where someone had   
    MP> cobbled together a working dial-up modem.  That might get more immediate   
    MP> use here.  My supply of working, vintage modems has dwindled down to one   
    MP> or two, and I still have dial-up.  :)   
      
   That would be interesting. I've seen plenty of project to make a WiFi modem   
   with all of the traditional blinking lights and whatnot, but I haven't seen   
   any involving an actual telephone connection.   
      
    MP> I did play around with the Hercules (???) project some, and briefly had a   
    MP> "working mainframe" environment on a spare PC.  That is something I have   
    MP> some familiarity with, although the OSes I am familiar with are still   
    MP> very much copyrighted and not available to the regular hobbiest.   
      
   I have a Pi dedicated to that as well :) Although I haven't been able to   
   spend as much time on it as I'd like, I did find Moshix's Youtube videos   
   about Hercules and MVS 3.8j extremely helpful.   
      
   In addition to emulating PDP-8s and -11s, as in the PiDP projects, SiMH can   
   also emulate a VAX. HP, the owners of VMS (via Compaq) used to offer   
   yearly hobbyist licenses for VMS, but has discontinued doing so the last few   
   years.   
      
   Jeff.   
      
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