news@daver.bungi.com (05/29/90)
1) whether the pc532 can get by without a fan (if not, what's recommended air flow ?) 2) how much trouble a pc532 causes with respect to EMI (Is a tightly sealed metal chassis necessary, or can I get away with a chassis built from popsicle sticks ?) The only working pc532 I've seen (Jon Loeliger's) was surrounded by so many other EMI generators that it was almost impossible to gather any meaningful data regarding EMI. 3) unexpected problems during assembly and troubleshooting ? I've seen a few mentioned on this list, but given the apparently low percentage of pc532 owners with significant hardware experience, it seems likely that there are some tales worth telling. If nothing else, I'd expect at least a few DOA chips, given the total number of components installed in pc532 systmes to date. 4) Anyone have recommendations/sources for the misc. stuff (power supply, fan, chassis, terminals, cables, disks, etc.) that's not been included in the group parts buys ? I'd be especially interested in comments about what to look for re power supplies. I suspect there's a fair amount of junk on the market, and would prefer not to find out the hard way. If you recommend suppliers, please include address and phone number. Thanks!
loeliger@convex.com (Jon Loeliger) (05/29/90)
> 2) how much trouble a pc532 causes with respect to EMI > (Is a tightly sealed metal chassis necessary, or can I get away with > a chassis built from popsicle sticks ?) > The only working pc532 I've seen (Jon Loeliger's) was surrounded by so > many other EMI generators that it was almost impossible to gather > any meaningful data regarding EMI. Now, now, now, he explained, tongue firmly planted in cheek, I used to have this classic hacker scene on my desk. You know, a real *distributed* computing environment, everything kludged together, nothing packaged, loose wires and cables all over the place, the hip-bone connected to the thigh-bone and the turbo charger installed. That was back when it worked. Now-a-days, I've got it neatly packaged in an AT case, my own, unborrowed power supply, almost proper cabling, and no extra trash. It looks real clean. That's when the disks stopped working... > 3) unexpected problems during assembly and troubleshooting ? I've seen a > few mentioned on this list, but given the apparently low percentage of > pc532 owners with significant hardware experience, it seems likely that > there are some tales worth telling. If nothing else, I'd expect at least > a few DOA chips, given the total number of components installed in pc532 > systmes to date. Not exactly an answer to the queston, but, perhaps it is time to drag the updated version out of fluxes and distribute it so you know who to bug directly! Here's Jon's definitive list of claimed working systems: The Few, The Proud, The Living ------------------------------ Who Really Who --- ---------- John Connin tarpit!manatee!johnc Sverre Froyen mips!fesk.seri.gov!sverre Bdale Garbee bdale@col.hp.com Jordan Hubbard jkh@meepmeep.pcs.com Ron Irvine ron@hcr.com Robbin Johnson rjohnson@kiwi.mpr.ca Jon Loeliger loeliger@convex.com Peter P pp@prosys.se Dave Rand dlr@daver.bungi.com Fred's Schneider K0YUM Karl Swartz uunet!apple!zygot!ditka!kls George Scolaro george@wombat.bungi.com Desmond Young des@dtg.nsc.com Bruce Culbertson culberts@hplwbc.hpl.hp.com> some other German board noted by Jordan (who's?) As usual, if you aren't on the list and you want to be and your board suddenly springs to life one dim 3 AM, send me a piece of mail or post your exuberance to the pc532 list and I'll add you to the list of The Few, The Proud, The Living. jdl
bdale@col.hp.com (Bdale Garbee) (06/02/90)
> Here's Jon's definitive list of claimed working systems: > The Few, The Proud, The Living > ------------------------------ > Who Really Who > --- ---------- > John Connin tarpit!manatee!johnc > Sverre Froyen mips!fesk.seri.gov!sverre > Bdale Garbee bdale@col.hp.com > Jordan Hubbard jkh@meepmeep.pcs.com > Ron Irvine ron@hcr.com > Robbin Johnson rjohnson@kiwi.mpr.ca > Jon Loeliger loeliger@convex.com > Peter P pp@prosys.se > Dave Rand dlr@daver.bungi.com > Fred's Schneider K0YUM Fred is reachable as k0yum%winfree.uucp@col.hp.com, though the packet radio link that forwards his mail to him is down right now. He and I have been getting together pretty regularly on Sundays to dink with things... Bdale
bdale@col.hp.com (Bdale Garbee) (06/05/90)
> 1) whether the pc532 can get by without a fan > (if not, what's recommended air flow ?) We mounted our PC532 boards in PC tower cases, which normally have fans on the power supply only, exhausting air from high in the box. The CPU/FPU seemed to be running warm, so I added a 12V, about 25CFM fan to the bottom front of the box, in a space apparently intended for this purpose (holes in the right places, physical perfect fit between the sheet metal of the case and the plastic front, etc), and everything runs *much* cooler now. I would suggest some form of airflow inducement over the CPU/FPU combo. > 2) how much trouble a pc532 causes with respect to EMI > (Is a tightly sealed metal chassis necessary, or can I get away with > a chassis built from popsicle sticks ?) > The only working pc532 I've seen (Jon Loeliger's) was surrounded by so > many other EMI generators that it was almost impossible to gather > any meaningful data regarding EMI. Ditto for mine, plus I've not yet run it with the cover on, and am not likely to in the near future... my "Bit Basement" is an RF nightmare anyway, with transmitters on at least 3 amateur radio bands going 24hrs/day, and loads of computer gear... > 3) unexpected problems during assembly and troubleshooting ? I've seen a > few mentioned on this list, but given the apparently low percentage of > pc532 owners with significant hardware experience, it seems likely that > there are some tales worth telling. If nothing else, I'd expect at least > a few DOA chips, given the total number of components installed in pc532 > systmes to date. No DOA chips on the two boards I have been involved with (mine and Fred Schneider's)... but as reported earlier, we did get some bad 50Mhz oscillators. That was easy to find, as the first thing I checked when nothing worked was the osc, and it was flatlined... am running a 40Mhz osc right now, no incentive yet to buy a 50Mhz part. In my case, at least, there's lots of hardware knowledge. But the design of the board is good enough that it's a non-issue. Other than a bad osc, we used my normal board assembly practices, and everything just works great! > 4) Anyone have recommendations/sources for the misc. stuff (power supply, > fan, chassis, terminals, cables, disks, etc.) that's not been included > in the group parts buys ? I'd be especially interested in comments about > what to look for re power supplies. I suspect there's a fair amount of > junk on the market, and would prefer not to find out the hard way. > If you recommend suppliers, please include address and phone number. Buy a PC tower case with supply, and you're set. Any of the AT cases and power supplies should work fine. Bdale
levy@nsc.nsc.com (Jonathan Levy) (06/05/90)
In article <9006042014.AA14006@hpcsbg.col.hp.com> bdale@col.hp.com (Bdale Garbee) writes: >> 1) whether the pc532 can get by without a fan >> (if not, what's recommended air flow ?) >We mounted our PC532 boards in PC tower cases, which normall. In all >power supply only, exhausting air from high in the box. The CPU/FPU seemed >to be running warm, so I added a 12V, about 25CFM fan to the bottom front of I have worked with systems which incorporated the 532, GX32, and GX320 (yes, the newly announced CPU, code name Barracuda). In all the CPU/FPU tend to get very hot to touch, but none the less, work flawlessly at room temperature with no fan. The 532 on my desk used to work for days on end at 30Mhz with no problems. We also have a GX32 system running MicroSoft/Bauer Postscript compatible PDL at 30Mhz with no fan. This system is very reliable. This is not to say that a fan is not a good idea, but to reasure you that it is quite normal for the 532/381 to get hot. Jonathan
gs@vw25.chips.com (George Scolaro) (06/06/90)
[In the message entitled "Re: anyone have thoughts re ..." on Jun 5, 16:37, Jonathan Levy writes:] > > and GX320 (yes, the newly announced CPU, code name Barracuda). In > > Jonathan Why not tell us more about the new chips - I wont even call it advertising! Besides, I'm sure you're dying to..... thanks, -- George Scolaro (gs@vw25.chips.com) Chips & Technologies +1 408/434-0600 X4556 work 3050 Zanker Road San Jose, CA 95134