MITS Altair... [??? Was Re: Computer repair shop]

[Carl Helmers]

Ben,

Minor quibble from one who was there at the time...

The MITS Altair 8800 was a circuit board machine :-)> 

It had no wire wrap. I doubt there was ever a widely marketed
wire wrapped early PC kit in those days when Heathkits were the
paragon of general electronic kits. 

The kits I found out about after starting BYTE magazine in 1975
were all PC board based based as well:  Nat Wadsworth's 1973(?) 
8008 based "Scelbi 8H" and the Blacksburg VA  Titus/Rony group's
mid 1974  8008 based "Mark 8" that was promoted in the smaller of the
two competing NYC based newsstand electronics magazine,  /Radio 
Electronics/.  

The johnny-come-lately MITS Altair 8800 of model rocketeer/engineer Ed 
Roberts
was the first Intel 8080 machine. It was promoted in the (at that time)
largest circulation NYC based newsstand electronics magazine, /Popular 
Electronics/ .
Its first appearance was in  the January 1975 issue that "hit the 
stands" [this was pre-internet]
in December 1974.   But no wire wrap in any of the three pre-PC consumer 
computer
kits...

Live long and Prosper...

       . . . Carl

-------------------------
Carl Helmers
carl at helmers.com
www.helmers.com
5 Surrey Hill Lane
Pittsford, NY 14534-9726
585 . 624 . 9841

PS:  Re this current Dell Inspiron / Linux thread on GNHLUG,  see my 
www.helmers.com
2007 Linux writings for how you turn a defunct-display Inspiron into my 
current Linux
experimental machine running (as I type) SUSE 10.2... 

Modern consumer packaging is certainly rugged -- my  Dell Inspiron
(which I now call Ulysses) was rugged enough to survive a display-cracking
fall to the floor from a bathroom counter's height -- and sans usable 
display
sbsequently get salvaged into a perfectly usable Linux / Squeak machine by
adding a purchased LCD screen and outboard USB hard drives for 
persistent storage
between experimental Linux installations... 





Ben Scott wrote:
> On Mon, May 5, 2008 at 1:38 PM,  <VirginSnow at vfemail.net> wrote:
>   
>>  It's usually possible to solder the jack back on and epoxy it.
>>     
>
>   I've also seen hacks where people have soldered leads on to the
> existing connections inside the case, and run the wires outside to a
> new jack.  Much less elegant, but easier, and easier to do over again
> in the future.
>
>   
>> But some of the Inspirons have multi-layer motherboards.  On these boards,
>>  there are runs *inside* the fiberglass, completely covered and
>>  inaccessible to a soldering iron.
>>     
>
>   Ohhh, that's a good point.  I didn't think of that.  Pretty much all
> motherboards are multi-layer boards.  Four or six layers are common.
> Still, the fact that people have managed to perform repairs
> successfully proves that, for at least some boards, it is possible.
>
>   
>> And, yes, some designers had the dim-witted idea to run *power*
>> through these internal runs.
>>     
>
>   And how many laptop PCBs have you designed in your career?
>
>   I challenge you to find me a mass market motherboard made in the
> past ten years which doesn't do this.  They're designed to pack tons
> of technology into a small space, which is not easy.    Surface mount
> solder joints have spelled the doom of the electronics hobbyist, but
> they enable a huge increase in density.  TANSTAAFL.  You want
> something easy to do field repairs on, stick with a MITS Altair 8080.
> Somewhat less portable and powerful than a modern laptop, but those
> wire-wrap connections are oh-so-easy to service.
>
> -- Ben
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>
>
>   
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