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Re: Mensuration, was Re: [Unimat] What is the 'BEST' Unimat ?
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When I got my first post-college job, the first paycheck went to a 40MB external hard drive, also for $600.? And that was a deal at the time.? The guy I bought it from was assembling kits (case/HD/PS/cables), not sure where he got the drives from (this was in San Jose), but I saved about $200 over the cost of a name brand drive. -Dave
On Saturday, September 16, 2023 at 03:09:23 PM PDT, Bill in OKC too via groups.io <wmrmeyers@...> wrote:
My experience was otherwise, on the loading of cassette tapes, and my friend that used my TRS-80 to get a job at the local Tandy Computer Center said that they were a great deal faster and more reliable than paper tape, which was about the only other option at the time for amateurs. Once floppy drives became available, you would be correct. However, IIRC, the first 10mb hard drive cost way more than my computer when they came out. That computer was a Level 1, Model 1, TRS-80, with 4k of ram. For $600. That was somewhat less than two months of my pay at the time. Seems to me that the 10mb hd was several thousands of dollars. Just downloaded the March 1980 issue of Kilobaud Microcomputing. A Perscom 40-track floppy system with 1 drive was only $400. A Northstar Horizon System with an 18mb hard drive, and two floppies was $9329, and an additional 18mb HD was another $5000. I was able to get by just fine with my cassette driver for several more years. ;) Now, I'm using my SIL's former game machine, with a 200+gb SSD, and a 4TB hard disk... But I don't program anymore. Was never all that good at it, but did put myself online with an H-89 with CP/M, two floppies & a 300 baud modem on a TurboPascal terminal program in 1988 or 89. Fun times! Pretty sure for what I spent on those, I could have bought a decent small lathe. Looked at an EMCO 5" lathe in 1984, in a department store in Wiesbaden, Germany. It was about $350, but I was TDY for medical purposes and couldn't cash a check large enough to get the Deutsch Marks to buy it. Pretty sure it would have fit in my suitcase! Saw it again (or one very like it) when I was stationed there in 1991, but by then it would have cost about $1000 due to the declining value of the US dollar... SWMBO had two of our 3 kids there, so no lathes for me.? Bill in OKC William R. Meyers, MSgt, USAF(Ret.) Aphorisms to live by: Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.? SEMPER GUMBY! Physics doesn't care about your schedule. The only reason I know anything is because I've done it wrong enough times to START to know better. Expect in one hand, expectorate in the other. See which one gets full first.
On Saturday, September 16, 2023 at 04:02:46 PM CDT, Bruce C <bruce@...> wrote:
[Even more off topic] My recollection of loading from a cassette is that it often took several
attempts, and even when successful, the programmes (using the archaic British spelling) did
very little of any practical value.
Bruce
On 14 Sep 2023 at 17:43, Andrei wrote:
>
> Damn, Bill. we had similar computers.
>
> My first PC was the Sinclair Z80, some 43 years ago. Has a whole 16kb
> of memory and had to load programs from a cassette tape.?
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX80
>
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> ZX80 - Wikipedia
>
> en.wikipedia.org
>
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>
> From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Bill in OKC too
> via groups.io <wmrmeyers@...> Sent: Thursday,
> September 14, 2023 1:38 PM To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
> Subject: Mensuration, was Re: [Unimat] What is the 'BEST' Unimat ? ?
> Nope. Half an inch is 12.7mm. That two tenths of a millimeter is
> important! Sometimes! ;) I can use either system, but I'm
> math-challenged despite decades of study, so I use a calculator
> regardless. And the only time I needed to deal with 1/128" was back
> when I got my first Vernier caliper. What I hate is things that mix
> the two systems. Chevrolet vehicles, for example. BASTARDS! :) Had to
> change out the starter on my mini-van this week. Most everything on it
> is metric except the starter bolts.?
>
> Once upon a time, digital calculators were expensive. My first was a
> TI SR-51-II, and I paid $100 for it. That was about a third of my
> monthly paycheck then. When my teaching career ended, a bit over a
> decade ago, I could get a MUCH more powerful calculator for $1, with
> more scientific functions. And the TI-86 graphing calculator was going
> for about $100, then. It used a processor based on the Z-80 chip that
> ran my first appliance computer, the TRS-80 Model 1, and had the same
> graphics capability. Unlike the TRS-80, the TI-86 fit in the palm of
> my hand. Now I have a cheap Android phone, a MOTO G7 Supra. It has
> 32gigabytes of storage, and 2gigabytes of program memory. MUCH better
> graphics capability, too. I have a .5tb or 500gb micro-usb card in it
> for additional storage. And a scientific calculator app that will
> about everything BUT graphing. Including all the normal conversions.
> And another app that will display dwg files.?
>
> THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR SUCH LACK OF PRECISION!? ;)
>
> Going through a set of drawings and trying to convert every dimension
> would be tough, though. Which means we need a means of converting on
> the fly. Digital calipers, anyone? ;)?
>
> Actually, I'll bet that if there is a method that can be used, someone
> is using it. I actually prefer to use the Imperial system, as modified
> in the USA, but can get along fine in Metric. Lived for a tad over 5
> years in Germany, and 3 in Turkey. I have bought gasoline in litres,
> and assorted foods in kilograms & grams, so I can get by.?
>
> Bill in OKC
> ?
> William R. Meyers, MSgt, USAF(Ret.)
>
> Aphorisms to live by:
> Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad
> judgement.?
> SEMPER GUMBY!
> Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome. Physics doesn't care about your
> schedule. The only reason I know anything is because I've done it
> wrong enough times to START to know better. Expect in one hand,
> expectorate in the other. See which one gets full first.
>
>
>
> On Thursday, September 14, 2023 at 09:14:11 AM CDT, Andrei
> <calciu1@...> wrote:
>
>
> I was too lazy to calculate so i just threw in the closest numbers:
> 9/16 is greater than half inch. Half inch is 12.5mm so the conclusion
> was that it is bigger than those two numbers the lazy way out Andrei
>
??
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