Fry’s Electronics permanently closes all stores nationwide

[BassWrangler]

The Z80 had an extended enhanced instruction set based on the 8080 instruction set. It was created by Zilog and was their first product. The first CPU I ever used was a Z80 with all the connections wire wrapped on perf board. That was back in around 1979 I believe. I still have it... I used it to make a touch tone speed dialer where you could press the # sign and two digits on any touch tone phone in your home to speed dial a stored number... I wrote the code in machine language on grid paper... I didn't have access to a computer or an assembler at that time... So I have fond memories of the Z80...

OH, good heavens, wire wrap. The first real product I ever created was an electronic device to read the plastic cards used in Malcom Ving mechanical locks. I wire wrapped the prototype. You would connect one wire, and another one would break. I vowed "never again".

But that's a cool project you describe there. My first job out of college was doing telephony hardware and software.  I personally have zero fond memories of any of the Intel ISA chips. But in that first post-college job I did a lot of assembly, mostly DSP, but some CISC stuff too. For CISC chips I have worked with Motorola 680x0, 6502, and 6809 chips. For DSP I worked with the Motorola 56K, and the Analog Devices 2101/2105. Really loved the 2101 in particular.

[Cyber Liberty]

The Z80 had an extended enhanced instruction set based on the 8080 instruction set. It was created by Zilog and was their first product. The first CPU I ever used was a Z80 with all the connections wire wrapped on perf board. That was back in around 1979 I believe. I still have it... I used it to make a touch tone speed dialer where you could press the # sign and two digits on any touch tone phone in your home to speed dial a stored number... I wrote the code in machine language on grid paper... I didn't have access to a computer or an assembler at that time... So I have fond memories of the Z80...

I did machine language back in tech school...1981.

[thackney]

I did machine language back in tech school...1981.

Mid 80s for me.  One class was enough to know that was NOT the route for me.  Worse advice my advisor ever gave me and taught me to ignore her.

[roamer_1]

I did machine language back in tech school...1981.

I always kicked myself for not learning ASM. So elegant, efficient, and light weight. Always admired them little 64k firecrackers that can still probably do more than most modern stuff.

[corbe]

   Thanks for the great memories my fellow Briefers.

[Hoodat]

I did machine language back in tech school...1981.

I always equated machine language with the noise on the cassette.  Never knew there was an interface to write it.  There was a physics teacher at my high school (nicknamed Moon Mullins) who dabbled in all of that.  He created some sort of space game (TRS-80) on what seemed to be an endless 3-dimensional matrix where all the special characters stood for an object in the game.  When I finally made it to high school, I was so looking forward to taking his class my senior year.  But at the end of my junior year, he got laid off due to budget cuts, and Physics was turned over to an 8th-grade Earth Science teacher who had more seniority.

$&%#!@ teachers unions.

[Elderberry]

I had picked up my SYM-1 the summer of 81 for the first offering of a Micro Programming course, that fall, using the SYM that everyone had to buy. There wasn't much literature on it. It was based on the MOS Commodore KIM-1( the first single-board computer). I found the Wumpus game in a KIM-1 book and was able to hack it to get it to run on the SYM.

[BassWrangler]

I had picked up my SYM-1 the summer of 82 for the first offering of a Micro Programming course, that fall, using the SYM that everyone had to buy. There wasn't much literature on it. It was based on the MOS Commodore KIM-1( the first single-board computer). I found the Wumpus game in a KIM-1 book and was able to hack it to get it to run on the SYM.

Ah, Wumpus! That brings back some memories.

[BassWrangler]

I always equated machine language with the noise on the cassette.  Never knew there was an interface to write it.  There was a physics teacher at my high school (nicknamed Moon Mullins) who dabbled in all of that.  He created some sort of space game (TRS-80) on what seemed to be an endless 3-dimensional matrix where all the special characters stood for an object in the game.  When I finally made it to high school, I was so looking forward to taking his class my senior year.  But at the end of my junior year, he got laid off due to budget cuts, and Physics was turned over to an 8th-grade Earth Science teacher who had more seniority.

$&%#!@ teachers unions.

That would suck. In college I took awesome elective on the topic of Science Fiction. The class was taught by Bud Foote, who in addition to being a full professor was a published, although lesser-known, sci-fi author. The course was taught at a local bar, and consisted of reading assignments which you would then discuss over beers at the bar. Half-way through the class, the college lawyers decided this was a bad idea, and the class was cancelled. We all got an "A" in the class, but it sucked because this was one class everyone looked forward to.

[Cyber Liberty]

I always equated machine language with the noise on the cassette.  Never knew there was an interface to write it.  There was a physics teacher at my high school (nicknamed Moon Mullins) who dabbled in all of that.  He created some sort of space game (TRS-80) on what seemed to be an endless 3-dimensional matrix where all the special characters stood for an object in the game.  When I finally made it to high school, I was so looking forward to taking his class my senior year.  But at the end of my junior year, he got laid off due to budget cuts, and Physics was turned over to an 8th-grade Earth Science teacher who had more seniority.

$&%#!@ teachers unions.

When I was in High Screwl they eliminated Advanced Chemistry right before I qualified to take it, after a year I took both Physics and Chemistry for that reason.

[corbe]

When I was in High Screwl they eliminated Advanced Chemistry right before I qualified to take it, after a year I took both Physics and Chemistry for that reason.

   They figured yall would make LSD. 

[Elderberry]

My last semester of Jr. High the Chem teacher left and a biology teacher taught the class. She didn't have a clue. Daily discussion was " who wants to show their homework on the board. No labs at all. Now my college Organic Chem lab was Righteous! It was scheduled as a six hour lab once a week and I don't think I ever got finished under 4-1/2 hrs.

[PeteS in CA]

...
Some good brands are Seasonic, Corsair, EVGA. There are others, but those are three of the most popular, reputable brands.

In OEM computers, e.g. HP, Dell, etc. Delta Products (a former employer, BTW), Lite On, and AcBel are good brands.

I've even had "Top of the Line" power supplies fail right out of the box. But I had no problem getting a replacement. It only cost me time and frustration.

What is really frustrating is when you replace a bad power supply with another brand new also bad power supply. American named companies with Chinese made products.

Computer power supply companies are mostly or all Asian. And their manufacturing is done in Asia. Delta does some medium volume production in Thailand.

I do remember, from the late 80s, a Korean power supply company with an English name that probably had a different cultural connotation in Korean than it did in English, "Torch".

[Cyber Liberty]

   They figured yall would make LSD. 

Good point.  We had one guy distilling silver from old photography negatives, one who distilled apples until he got something 175 Proof, while I worked on contact explosives.  I tarnished the crap out of my white gold class ring with Chlorine that way....

I was more likely to cook up DMT than LSD, anyway......

[PeteS in CA]

The Zilog Z80 was based on the Intel 8080. ...

Mot's uPs were the 6800 (8-bit) and 68000 (16- and 32- bit) series. The Deciduous Fruit Computer Company used to use 68000 series uPs in Macs. The original F-18 panel display used Am2900 family bit-slice processor ICs. I'm an analog guy and worked on the HUD.

Zilog's Z80 was 8-bit. They had a 16-bit Z8000 but it didn't take off. IIRC, RCA had an 8-bit uP that didn't get much market share, the 6500.

[Elderberry]

When my son was in Nuke school, he picked up a 74 vette and shortly after he had a supposedly good mechanic put a crate engine in it for him.  My son noticed a vibration driving it and just then he got his orders for a sub homeported in Guam. I stored his vette for him and I discovered that the mechanic had used the orig flexplate and harmonic  balancer from an internally balanced 454 for the externally balanced 454 crate engine. The torque conv. only has 3 bolts that tie it to the replaced flexplate so I wanted to use new bolts. I can't tell you how many auto parts and speed shops I went to and all of them only sold Chinese bolts. That was back when Counterfeit Chinese bolts was all over the news. I ended up ordering US Made bolts from McMaster-Carr. A box of 50 gr8 US bolts was cheaper than the 3 plastic bagged Chinese bolts sold by the autoparts stores.

[PeteS in CA]

Back in the early-mid 70s Honeywell used to have a surplus components warehouse/store in west Phoenix. All kinds of stuff from precision resistors to semis and more. Great for electronics students and hobbyists!

Some companies who do manufacturing in China treat their employees well ... some not so much. The latter have the kind of employee turn-over and quality you would expect from that kind of environment.

[roamer_1]

   They figured yall would make LSD. 

I got kicked out of high school chemistry.

(Redneck + chemicals)= Guess why... You'll be right.

[DB]

   They figured yall would make LSD. 

I made nitro-glycerin in my chemistry class...

[DB]

Mot's uPs were the 6800 (8-bit) and 68000 (16- and 32- bit) series. The Deciduous Fruit Computer Company used to use 68000 series uPs in Macs. The original F-18 panel display used Am2900 family bit-slice processor ICs. I'm an analog guy and worked on the HUD.

Zilog's Z80 was 8-bit. They had a 16-bit Z8000 but it didn't take off. IIRC, RCA had an 8-bit uP that didn't get much market share, the 6500.

The RCA 1802... I had forgotten about that one. I wrote some code in assembly for those at one time... If I remember correctly it used a register file where any of the math/logic operations could be applied directly to any register in the register file instead of the traditional single accumulator where everything had to be move in and out of it to operate on data. The register file was 16 registers deep I think.

[DB]

I was conversant with QuattroPro, but I supported Lotus. Till I didn't anymore (one of the last), and became an MS Office guru. I still get calls for Excel and Access. Even though I threw Office away years ago for Ooo. I just don't need office apps all that much anymore.

Anyone remember XyWrite?

[BassWrangler]

When my son was in Nuke school, he picked up a 74 vette and shortly after he had a supposedly good mechanic put a crate engine in it for him.  My son noticed a vibration driving it and just then he got his orders for a sub homeported in Guam. I stored his vette for him and I discovered that the mechanic had used the orig flexplate and harmonic  balancer from an internally balanced 454 for the externally balanced 454 crate engine. The torque conv. only has 3 bolts that tie it to the replaced flexplate so I wanted to use new bolts. I can't tell you how many auto parts and speed shops I went to and all of them only sold Chinese bolts. That was back when Counterfeit Chinese bolts was all over the news. I ended up ordering US Made bolts from McMaster-Carr. A box of 50 gr8 US bolts was cheaper than the 3 plastic bagged Chinese bolts sold by the autoparts stores.

Yeah, and that Chinese steel is often surplus metal with all kinds of contaminants in it - total crap. That's why the premium knife makers that make knives in China (via companies like We Knives) supply their own steel from outside China. China has awesome CNC machining, PCB fab, and assembly, but you have to be VERY careful to make sure counterfeit components don't slip into your supply chain and that good components don't vanish from your supply chain (i.e. theft), as well as make sure that corners don't get cut in the manufacturing. Basically you have a technically very advanced society with the ethics of 1970s era Soviets.

[BassWrangler]

Anyone remember XyWrite?

I do rember Quatro Pro, but don't think I ever used XYWrite. I do remember a program named "WordStar" (IIRC, that was the name).

Also, one of my favorite programs of all times - Micrografx Designer.

[DB]

OH, good heavens, wire wrap. The first real product I ever created was an electronic device to read the plastic cards used in Malcom Ving mechanical locks. I wire wrapped the prototype. You would connect one wire, and another one would break. I vowed "never again".

But that's a cool project you describe there. My first job out of college was doing telephony hardware and software.  I personally have zero fond memories of any of the Intel ISA chips. But in that first post-college job I did a lot of assembly, mostly DSP, but some CISC stuff too. For CISC chips I have worked with Motorola 680x0, 6502, and 6809 chips. For DSP I worked with the Motorola 56K, and the Analog Devices 2101/2105. Really loved the 2101 in particular.

My DSP experience is limited to TI 54 series parts and the TI assembler. Used them for fast acquisition in satellite demodulators where the other logic was done in FPGA. Now I do everything in the FPGA.

[BassWrangler]

In OEM computers, e.g. HP, Dell, etc. Delta Products (a former employer, BTW), Lite On, and AcBel are good brands.

Computer power supply companies are mostly or all Asian. And their manufacturing is done in Asia. Delta does some medium volume production in Thailand.

I do remember, from the late 80s, a Korean power supply company with an English name that probably had a different cultural connotation in Korean than it did in English, "Torch".

You forgot Meanwell. I've designed a few 3d-printable cases for Meanwell power supplies. They are very popular with the 3D printing community.