[Simh] Sounds

[Johnny Billquist]

Hi.

On 2017-02-20 21:12, Lars Brinkhoff wrote:
> Johnny Billquist wrote:
>> Not sure how meaningful sound is. In general, I would not be able to
>> tell one computer from another.
>
> We may not miss those sounds now, but I figure it could be a bit like
> other historical items.  Things were considered unimportant and thrown
> away, but now we miss some of those dearly.

Maybe I'm "spoiled" by the fact that I've spent literally years in 
computer halls...

> Consider cool-retro-term.  It looks like a silly gimmick, but I use it
> often and I think it adds something to the retro experience.  No, it
> doesn't get work done any better, but it kinda *feels* more authentic.
>
> Ok, fans are not that interesting.  But consider disk drives, tape
> drives, paper puches, teletypes, keyboard clicks, terminal bells and
> beeps.  They all have their distinctive characteristics, and I'm sure
> some of them could throw people right into a fit of nostalgia.

The thing is, you can't really hear the disk drives over the sound of 
the fans in the computer, and the cooling systems. You can hear, if you 
happen to have a tape drive with vacuum colons, but otherwise not. Paper 
readers you need to almost put your ear against to notice. Punchers make 
more noise. I can demonstrate that as well.

Terminals... Well, if you use them outside of the computer hall, you can 
hear them. :-)
Of course, in this case, it is mostly sounds that are easy to reproduce, 
with the exception of the BEL on a VT-52...

>> Ping me if you are near Uppsala at the end of July, beginning of
>> August, and I can take you to a couple of big machines running
>> (PDP-11/70 and VAX-8650).
>
> Thanks, I'd like that, though I'm not sure I can make that specific
> window.  Would that be the Update facilities?

Yes, it would. There are others who can show you around at other times. 
It's just that I'm only in Sweden during that window. But let me (or 
someone else) know if you are around at some other time, and I'm sure 
you can get a tour. And the PDP-11/70 is up and running 24/7. The 
VAX-8650 is currently shut down. I'm not doing much on it at the moment. 
I use it for NetBSD development, but I've currently sortof lost the 
interest in NetBSD... But you only need to turn the key to boot it.

	Johnny

-- 
Johnny Billquist                  || "I'm on a bus
                                   ||  on a psychedelic trip
email: bqt at softjar.se             ||  Reading murder books
pdp is alive!                     ||  tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol