[comp.sys.hp] Wanted information about ancient HP system: HP-125

lewj@csusac (James Lew) (01/09/91)

Hello, I am posting this for a friend at CSUS in California.  I have someone
who is trying to work a HP-125 and he needs some specs on the computer and
if there is possibility some help on figuring out how to get the disk drive
unit working ( needs a special? cable).  This HP-125 system is composed
up of a huge monitor and moveable keyboard, with a seperatbox unit holding
the CPU? and disk drives.  It has a port for the floppy control and a GPIB
port.  It was made sometime in the early 1970's. 

Any information about the above system would be greatly appreciated.

Please send all pointers and letters to lewj@athena.ecs.csus.edu.

Thanks.

another wise man say:  Ancient Machines which die suddenly
also take their operators with them.

stanb@hpnmdla.HP.COM (Stan Bischof) (01/09/91)

In comp.sys.hp, lewj@csusac (James Lew) writes:

>Hello, I am posting this for a friend at CSUS in California.  I have someone
>who is trying to work a HP-125 and he needs some specs on the computer and
>if there is possibility some help on figuring out how to get the disk drive
>unit working ( needs a special? cable).  This HP-125 system is composed
                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
          not really- just basic GPIB for either the 9121 floppy or
                      91xx winchester

>up of a huge monitor and moveable keyboard, with a seperatbox unit holding
>the CPU? and disk drives.  It has a port for the floppy control and a GPIB
   
    Actually I believe that the CPU is inside the 'monitor'!

>port.  It was made sometime in the early 1970's. 

    Not quite that ancient. Late seventies- early eighties, I believe.

>Any information about the above system would be greatly appreciated.

>Please send all pointers and letters to lewj@athena.ecs.csus.edu.

>Thanks.

>another wise man say:  Ancient Machines which die suddenly
>also take their operators with them.

   Check with your local Office of Education. Many school districts used
   HP125 for a number of years and chances are they still have info on
   them - maybe even some hardware you could get.

   If this doesn't pan out send me message at    stanb@hpnmdla.hp.com
   and I will get you in touch with some locals who still use 125's!

   Stan Bischof
   HP-NMD

************************************************
Any info here is strictly my personal opinions and in no way
reflects the opinions of Hewlett Packard company.
************************************************

tombb@hpsad.HP.COM (Tom Babb) (01/12/91)

> / hpsad:comp.sys.hp / lewj@csusac (James Lew) /  7:00 pm  Jan  8, 1991 /
> Hello, I am posting this for a friend at CSUS in California.  I have someone
> who is trying to work a HP-125 and he needs some specs on the computer and
> if there is possibility some help on figuring out how to get the disk drive
> unit working ( needs a special? cable).  This HP-125 system is composed
> up of a huge monitor and moveable keyboard, with a seperatbox unit holding
> the CPU? and disk drives.  It has a port for the floppy control and a GPIB
> port.  It was made sometime in the early 1970's. 
>
> Any information about the above system would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Please send all pointers and letters to lewj@athena.ecs.csus.edu.
>
> Thanks.
>
> another wise man say:  Ancient Machines which die suddenly
> also take their operators with them.

----------


The HP 125 was HP's first PC/word processor. Its operating system is CP/M.
The CPU (an Intel 8086 I beleive) is contained on the motherboard in the large
monitor. The HP 125 has four rear-panel ports. Port 1 is a serial printer port
that requires a special cable from HP. Port 2 is a standard RS232 serial port.
The other two ports are HP-IB (GPIB) for connecting the disc drive (a dual
5.25" floppy) and the connector for the keyboard. 

The HP 125 has 128k of RAM, 64k for the user application. The word 
processor used was HPWord125, a variation of "Spellbinder" by Lexisoft, Inc.
At the time it was a pretty good word proccessor, but its 27k text limit
soon forced it out of use.

Regards

Tom

______

     -----------------------------------------------------------
     | Tom Babb                   |  Hewlett Packard Company   |
     | tombb@hpsad.HP.COM         |  Signal Analysis Division  |
     | Tel: (707) 794-3526        |  1212 Valley House Drive   |
     | FAX: (707) 794-4620        |  Rohnert Park, CA  94928   |
     -----------------------------------------------------------
      -- "On a clear disk, you can seek forever." -- 

jack@cscdec.cs.com (Jack Hudler) (01/12/91)

In article <228@km4ba.UUCP> alan@km4ba.UUCP (Alan Barrow) writes:
>
>The 120/125 were CP/M machines built ontop of HP262x terminals.
>
>They had 2 64K memory banks, and maybe even 2 Z-80 cpu's.
>(One for the terminal, one for the computer.)
>
>There were a few SW pkgs that HP ported:
>
>Charting Graphics (I forget the name)

Picture Perfect from Computer Support, Thank you.

>
>My recomendation:
>    sell the 120/125 & disk to a broker or someone who could
>    use the terminal & disk. (Should get $100-300)

Agree'd!
-- 
Jack           Computer Support Corporation             Dallas,Texas
Hudler         Internet: jack@cscdec.cs.com

wentzel@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM (Kevin Wentzel) (01/15/91)

re: Spellbinder...  There was a version of Wordstar that ran very well on the
125.  It even used the keyboard function keys.

Memory etc:  64K for the CPM processor, Only 16K for the terminal.  The machine
was essentially, a 64K CPM computer and an HP 2621 terminal on the same board.
It used 2 Z80 processors, one for the computer and one for the terminal.
Disk (+ printer and plotter) access was via the HPIB (GPIB) port.  The 
machine also had two serial ports which could be used for communication or
a printer.  The whole computer is in the "terminal" case.  The external box
is the disc drive.  8, 5.25 and 3.5 floppy discs were available.  5-15MB hard
discs were also available.  The machine was released to the market in 1981, one
week before IBM released the original PC.  For a CPM machine it was quite good
but ... 

Kevin Wentzel

jkell@utkvx3 (Kell, Jeff) (01/15/91)

In article <1991Jan9.030018.16217@csusac.csus.edu>, lewj@csusac (James Lew) writes...
>Hello, I am posting this for a friend at CSUS in California.  I have someone
>who is trying to work a HP-125 and he needs some specs on the computer and
>if there is possibility some help on figuring out how to get the disk drive
>unit working ( needs a special? cable).  						
The HP-125 was a CP/M machine, more or less.  Don't recall if it was 8086 or
what chip, but the cable you want is an HP-IB cable (there is an IEEE equiv).