Security & Theft Securing tractor from theft

gemini5362 · Oct 15, 2008

texasjohn said:
Well, bless my little BCD heart.... there's a fellow who knows how to

1 read a card (from 100 to 179 on a 1401)
2 punch a card (from 200 to 279 on a 1401)

with a little word mark here and word mark there
an early card read here and early card write there
he knows how to get the best thruput anywhere

If some of y'all don't understand the above, it's OK... GS and I are in our own little world

yep you are and it is a reallllllly old world

GilaSlim · Oct 16, 2008

Well, guys, I can't really claim much experience on the 1401. I swiped the paper tape from the vault after the 1620/1401 had been replaced by a S/360 Mod 30 (with hardware 1401 emulator) and a Mod 40. My first assignment as a programmer was to learn 1401 Autocoder, and convert it to COBOL D. About 150 programs still running on the emulator. Took me a while to realize guys had erased the init code at low core and reused it for data. Oh the limits of a 4K machine!

We did stuff with the S/360s that IBM said would not work. We made it work to their surprise. Cabled 2401 tapes, 2311 disks and 2540 Datacells to both machines at the same time. Just had to be sure one didn't access the same physical drive the other machine was using. Crash!

GS

Soundguy · Oct 16, 2008

There are lots of old hardware tricks that manufacturers didn't support.. that machines were capable of.

For kicks back inthe day when vic 20 and C-64's were out.. a friend of mine and myself used to soup them up.. you could crystal them to 2mhz usually.. up from about 1, ( had to add a fan! ) and you could add another SID chip to give them stereo sound.. You could address otherwise protected space in memory not normally used for program emmory via software patches. On the card slot expansion port there was a hobby kit RS-232 pack you could get, AND a parallel port pack.. those 2 items opened up worlds of possibilities. Also.. for the serial drive interface.. we had 2 of the low density 1541 drives, and 2 of the high density ( 1 meg! ) sd1001 drives.. neat little hardware trick for addressing on those. originally a 300bps data set was available for the card slot.. but thru the rs232 pack you could use a ( wow ) 2400bps standard pc modem.

I actually ran a dial in bulleting board system using a setup like that back in the late 80's.. Had a frined who did something similar with a COCO.. trs80slant4 and kludged winchester hard drives For the hobby adventurist.. lots of things were possible.

soundguy

gemini5362 · Oct 16, 2008

soundguy I believe I still have my commodore 128 and hard drive in the attic.

patrick_g · Oct 17, 2008

Store bought appliances!!! PETUEY!!!!

Well maybe an IMSAI 8080 (like used by Mathew Broderick in War games") or the little Timex computer.

Preferably a home brew or maybe a self built Heathkit H-8 with H-19 terminal and extra mem cards at 4-16K, or the last dieing gasp was a 64K card LIKE WOW!

Boat anchors.

Wanna scramble your brain? At one time in 1985-6 I had 6 different operating systems in my computer room (spare bedroom.) PC-DOS, MS-DOS, H-DOS, CP/M 80, Xenix (MS port of 16 bit UNIX to MOTO 68K chip), and TRS DOS. At the same time I used DEC's VMS at work on a VAX and IBM VM-CMS in Grad school.

I recall a couple times when I just sort of locked up trying to remember how to do something as simple such as a file deletion... lets see, erase, del, rubout, rm, or what? Once under a CPM-80 emulator program on a VAX 11-785 I was running BASIC 80 and forgot the command "SYSTEM" to get out of BASIC.

Peanut... full size nut... I must be an XXL nut!!!

Pat

Soundguy · Oct 17, 2008

I used to have a timex sinclair.. had a external 16K ram pack.. and I had a hand held mini tape recorder to use as an external storage device. Z80 chip ran it I believe.

soundguy

gemini5362 · Oct 17, 2008

OK i have seen people accuse someone of getting off topic and I belive I have even seen them accused about discussions that did not involve tractors but I believe this thread has gone pretty much where no tractor thread has gone before.

firemanpat2910 · Oct 17, 2008

I had forgotten all about my old heath kit!!!! I bet I still have the manuals some where.

Danno1 · Oct 17, 2008

.

I still got an Apple II in the cellar..................

.

intel · Oct 17, 2008

WOW, guys i thought i was a geak

Egon · Oct 17, 2008

Anyone still using a Khipu for record keeping?

RWolf · Oct 17, 2008

Cut my teeth on S-360 30/40, Trash 80 etc. Even worked with a hobby group that built their own system. I've always been a hardware guy. Made my TRS-80 switchable from it's standard speed to load cassette tapes to a whopping 4mhz and able to do it without crashing the CPU. Load, switch and have fun. Did a little programming with the IBM stuff but preferred the hardware. Anybody remember micro-code? Hint it doesn't have a thing to do with any operating system or programming. I'm still a network admin for a few more years. Bad thing is I won't work on computers outside of work anymore except for my own and then it might take me six months to get to it.

denmansoft · Oct 17, 2008

Didn't anyone else here hand build an S-100 from kits and wire wrap?
6Mhz Z-80 with 256K ram and Dual PerSci 8" floppies.
That thing would heat my whole basement....

Back to the real thread...
400mhz transmitter idea with lack of response triggering the alarm is most foolproof, except for false positives, caused by power failures and equipment failures. Most electronics don't really like the environment my tractor has to survive in.

I agree the best spent money is probalby insurance even though I HATE insurance.
I tried to get insurance for my tractor but could only get coverage for when it is in a secured building.

gemini5362 · Oct 17, 2008

RWolf said:
Cut my teeth on S-360 30/40, Trash 80 etc. Even worked with a hobby group that built their own system. I've always been a hardware guy. Made my TRS-80 switchable from it's standard speed to load cassette tapes to a whopping 4mhz and able to do it without crashing the CPU. Load, switch and have fun. Did a little programming with the IBM stuff but preferred the hardware. Anybody remember micro-code? Hint it doesn't have a thing to do with any operating system or programming. I'm still a network admin for a few more years. Bad thing is I won't work on computers outside of work anymore except for my own and then it might take me six months to get to it.

I went to college at the university of southern colorado. One of my classes was on microprogramming. We built a 4 bit processer out of discrete components then wrote the microcode to run it. Probably the best computer class I have ever taken.

denmansoft · Oct 17, 2008

That sounds as much fun as the QM-1 research machine we played with in school.
All wire-wrapped. You had to load in nano-code to run your microcode to run you base machine. It could handle anywher from 6 to 38 bit data words. Interesting excersize but I always wanted to interface the computers to the real world.

Salmon, eagles, elk, cougars, cars, trucks, alzheimers, autistic kids. Most of the trackers I have worked on developing could be easily hidden on the smallest CUTs.

gemini5362 · Oct 19, 2008

Ok since we are getting into old computers. The first computer I worked on was an analog machine it used synchros and resolvers and resistor banks to make computation. It only computed a small set of analog outputs from several inputs.

The second computer I worked on was made by Univac. You had to manually enter in address locations to boot it up. Then you fed it a paper tape to load the program you needed. It replaced the analog computer and was a bit slower.

I have worked a bit on some world war 2 analog computers. They were not my primary job but I helped the guys that worked on them once in a while.

patrick_g · Oct 19, 2008

gemini5362 said:
Ok since we are getting into old computers.

My first computer training came during an 8 month series of courses at Chanute Field in Rantoul, Illinois. It was all analog. The Link brand instrument flying trainer (Link model C-11-c) which was a mockup of a T-33 trainer complete with sliding canopy. Everything about it was analog computers. It used both position and rate servos, synchros, selsyns, autosyns and so forth in all TUBE TYPE circuitry. It used shaped card potentiometers to model things like air density vs altitude and such. Only solid state electronics in it were rectifiers and some of those were selenium (which we used to call selenium rectum fires because of their foul smell when they burned up.)

It was quite a collection of interacting analog computers which continuously solved the equations of Newtonian mechanics relating to flight. Such things as alpha and beta, the angle of attack and true flight path elevation angle. There was even sound simulation including the engine, slipstream, landing impact, static on the radio from atmospherics and lightning. These training devices were used through the sixties and on.

While on vacation passing through Fayetteville, Arkansas several years ago we spotted an air museum and stopped to have a look. When we entered and started the self-guided tour the first exhibit was, dare I say it, a Link C-11-c instrument flight trainer (inoperative.) This was one of the first times I FELT OLD.

As we departed I commented to the docent, a retired USAF bird colonel, that I had been trained on that exact machine. He said some electronic types had looked at it and declared it unfixable. I think they just didn't have the specialized knowledge required to understand what it did and how it did it. Unfortunately during an earlier rash of cleaning house my personalized copies of all the schematics for it were tossed out as not possibly needed for anything. With them I could have got it flying, albeit with some serious searching for tubes and or solid state substitutes. Ahh... kick the tires, light the fire, and blast off! (Condensed preflight checklist.)

Pat

John47 · Oct 19, 2008

I'd be careful in using anything that operates within the 420mhz-450mhz band, as it's the amateur radio band used as a shared band with the US government, ie military. Check with FCC rules to find out if the equipment is legal first. If not, you could be slapped with a fine double what your tractors worth and or a spot in club fed!
They don't take kindly to intentional interference!
There's so much RF equipment being imported that doesn't have FCC approval, it's well worth checking to find out if the retailer is selling approved equipment, and cheaper in the long run.
AND don't take the word of the retailer, the FCC won't listen to your argument if your arrested. Check the FCC's site and if what your looking for isn't there, email them.

patrick_g · Oct 19, 2008

John, There are other considerations as well. Using a "SHARED" frequency allocation is not conducive to peace of mind regarding the reliability of your alarm system. If for example you are using a "walkie talkie" and there is QRM and or QRN (interfering transmissions or noise) that temporarily gives you difficulty it is no big deal. With an "I'm OK" sort of alarm setup temporary noise or on freq interference can cause a false alarm. Sufficient false alarms will render a system useless.

When I was 13-14 I helped a WW II vet pilot (B-25 in Pacific theater) build and fly RC model planes. In one plane we used a simple regenerative receiver with escapements to control flight surfaces. This particular plane was rudder only control with a "bang-bang" escapement (powered by twisted rubber bands. The receiver was tuned to 27.255 MHz (if I recall correctly) and if anyone transmitted close to that frequency with enough power to interfere with our signal then our plane would end up in a vertical dive cork screwing toward the ground. IF the radio user unkeyed his mike before we crashed then the plane would shoot a few loop the loops bleeding off excessive airspeed and resume normal flight. If not then we bored a hole in the ground.

CB was not all that universal at the time but that freq was in the CB band. A local chiropractor or doctor had a "diathermy" therapy machine that operated in that band too and we had to stay away from his location because he would interfere with us as well.

Pat