February 28, 201511 yr Hey hey hey, don't trash my HotCoCo (aka TRS-80 color computer) ... ... now you gone made me dig this up: I'm not sure if any of you actually read the ATC transcript in Robin's screenshot. Let's just say that if Mr Ainscough is coding Radar Contact 5, I think I'm going to pass. Then again, if you can find a copy of my Vic 20 flight simulator there's a fair chance you'll be underwhelmed by the FDE...as I'm not sure actually understood how the whole plane thing worked back in 1983. On a serious note, I suspect that some of the rest of you will agree - it was an amazing privilege to present at the birth of the home computer. Such amazing times, so much hope for the future. Everything we have today seems so much more special when you know how simply it all began. Oz Sim Rig: MSI RTX3090 Suprim, an old, partly-melted Intel 9900K @ 5GHz+, Honeycomb Alpha, Thrustmaster TPR Rudder, Warthog HOTAS, Reverb G2, Prosim 737 cockpit. Currently flying: MSFS: PMDG 737-700, Fenix A320, Leonardo MD-82, MIlviz C310, Flysimware C414AW, DC Concorde, Carenado C337. Prepar3d v5: PMDG 737/747/777. "There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."
February 28, 201511 yr Let's just say that if Mr Ainscough is coding Radar Contact 5, I think I'm going to pass. Ha ha ... yeah no kidding ... but at Age 17 when I didn't know the world of ATC, didn't know aircraft, was self taught (high school had no CS program until I helped start one my senior year) ... heck I was still trying to find me a girlfriend for the Prom (didn't want to be that nerd that didn't go). But it all worked out in the end, CS degree, good job, enjoy my work. But I agree, it was good to be around and actively involved in birth of the PC to the masses. Some good times and appreciation for the growth of the industry. Cheers, Rob.
February 28, 201511 yr Moderator Gee - you guys had sophisticated systems. MY first computer was an IMSAI 8080 kit. INput was done through paddle switches on the front, one byte at a time. output was displayed one byte at a time in hex on front panel. Brings to mind the old taglne: Real programmers use Copy con myprogram.exe Vic RIG#1 - I9 14900K MSI Pro z790 RTX 5070Ti 40" 4K Monitor 3840x2160
February 28, 201511 yr Moderator Brings to mind the old taglne: Real programmers use Copy con myprogram.exe Ha! "Real programmers use edlin..." *1,6L 1: Edlin: The only text editor in early versions of DOS. 2: 3: Back in the day, I remember seeing web pages 4: branded with a logo at the bottom: 5: "This page created in edlin." 6: The things that some people put themselves through. ;-) * Fr. Bill AOPA Member: 07141481 AARP Member: 3209010556 Avsim Board of Directors | Avsim Forums Moderator
February 28, 201511 yr Moderator Yes, I remember edlin, and Cp/M and Mp/M and 300 baud acoustic modems. LOL I even had a 5MB Shugart HDD that ran on 120Vac and weighed about 10 lbs. How far we have come and how spoiled have we become! Vic RIG#1 - I9 14900K MSI Pro z790 RTX 5070Ti 40" 4K Monitor 3840x2160
February 28, 201511 yr You guys are getting far too advanced lol. On a school trip to Jodrel Bank to see the large radio telescope, after gawking at the size of the thing we went to the visitor centre. Inside we formed an orderly cue to see the 'computer' wow all those valves! I think you Americans call them 'tubes.' The highlight of the visit was being given a foot long strip of punched tape used to programme the beast. That was inspiring, It's kinda a good job we don't have to have reels of punched paper tape to run our flight sims as finding a bug (or should I say hole) would be a nightmare.
March 1, 201511 yr Moderator It's kinda a good job we don't have to have reels of punched paper tape to run our flight sims as finding a bug (or should I say hole) would be a nightmare. Can you even imagine having to load Prepar3Dv2.5 from cassette tapes? READY CLOAD P3D eight days and 4623 cassette tapes later... ERROR P3D READY Fr. Bill AOPA Member: 07141481 AARP Member: 3209010556 Avsim Board of Directors | Avsim Forums Moderator
March 1, 201511 yr Can you even imagine having to load Prepar3Dv2.5 from cassette tapes? READYCLOAD P3D eight days and 4623 cassette tapes later... Naw....load it from punch cards! 2 weeks and 3 18-wheeler trailer loads of cards later...selection screen. Regards, Steve DraGet my paints for MSFS planes at flightsim.to here, and iFly 737s hereDownload my FSX, P3D paints at Avsim by clicking here
March 2, 201511 yr Author bit of an enjoyable diversion from my OP but, loading all those truck-loads cards (or 50 miles of tape from cassette?) Punched tape? Typical IBM 360 mainframe of that card reader period mid '60s had 512 or 1024 Kb of main memory - would have given some serious VAS/OOM problems - and as for speed - DYOR :huh: . Would have had trouble balancing on the desk - and as for the golf-ball typewriter input!. What monitor? Cassette tapes still to come (and i must say that responses have shown that the majority seem pretty happy with 2.5 as i have been, it's nice to see the silent majority!)
March 11, 201511 yr Ha! "Real programmers use edlin..." Real programmers used TECO, of which edlin was a very poor clone :ph34r:
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