HP 98046b serial interface

[sleibson]

Happy to help, Tom. I'm glad that Filtronet interface card finally has an appreciative home. There used to be a cavernous building here in San Jose just filled with old HP gear called Crisis Computer. It looked like that scene in Indiana Jones where the government stored the Ark of the Covenant. They kept old DoD weapons programs running long after the people who developed those systems went away. I think some 9825 systems were performing automated tests on Tomahawk missiles, for example. I think Crisis is long gone but they do sell off parts on eBay still from time to time. I bought a Systems Programming ROM there. Bought it on eBay and picked it up in person.

Yes, I did design the 9878 I/O expander. It was my first project for HP, in 1975 right after I graduated. I had a blast designing that box. In theory, it doesn't work. In practice, it does. I was the only EE on the project and Jerry Nichols was the only mechanical engineer. You don't find many projects at HP with one EE and one ME these days. Things are way too complex.

Also, glad you like the 9825.com site. It was a work of love.

--Steve