[time-nuts] Reversing the 3522 OT Systron-Donner Basic

[Greg Broburg]

Any chance you have access to the operating code?

Maybe 2716s or 2732s ??

Take the bare binary code and convert it to ASCII.

With an ASCII text version of the code and a 6802 program
manual all that it takes is some perseverence to successfully
reverse engineer the little devil into some few hundreds of
lines of code. Been there done that. Fascinating to see how
tight those early writers could pack a working idea when 16k
ROMs were 10 bucks a piece.

I call em midnight cookies and milk projects. A few lines at
a time will eventually turn into a flood. Breakthroughs come
when you figure out the definitions of the RAM locations and
the write locations for data output.

Real luck would be to find a 6802 reverse compiler that
would work. That can speed it up a bunch.

Greg

On 3/20/2011 7:58 PM, EB4APL wrote:
>
> Alan,
>
> This Basic has not the reserved word USING, and by the context I'm 
> pretty sure that STYLE sets the format for subsequent PRINT's until 
> changed.  No luck playing with commas, brackets and other punctuation 
> so far.
>
> About Chuck's snippet, there is a pity that it don't make use of 
> STYLE.  By the way, probably the controller was a previous model, the 
> SD-3520, which has the same look but doesn't include a UV light eraser 
> for the EPROM program cartridges.  (And yes, I had reverse engineered 
> and built a cartridge without any sample or info on them, just 
> deducing its existence from the presence of a Centronics like 
> connector on the top, the UV eraser and the commands PROG ROM, READ 
> ROM and CART INFO).
>
> The SD-3520 also uses a previous version of Basic with some 
> differences, for example it seems that the BUS OUT command has been 
> replaced by BUS PRINT.
>
> I have to repeat my tanks to all who had sent me on the list or 
> directly their help.
> And to the ones who wonder why I'm taking so much effort for 
> resurrecting this device I can respond something that I heard some 30 
> years ago when some Nuts began to build home computers: they are as 
> useful as a golf clubs set, they are fun!
>
> Best regards,
> Ignacio EB4APL
>
>
> El 21/03/2011 1:18, Chuck Harris wrote:
>> I found a little snippet for the SD-3250 in a synthesizer manual:
>>
>> 1) BUS CLR Return            # Prepare controller for Bus operation
>> 2) BUS REM Return            # Clear the bus and command 1702 to operate
>> 3) BUS OUT GO256540 Return        # Set frequency to 25.654 MHz.
>> 4) BUS OUT GO256000 or C000 Return    # Change frequency to 25.6MHz, 2
>> methods
>> 5) BUS OUT L0555 or L3355 Return    # set level to -25.5 dBm, 2 methods
>> 6) BUS OUT MO Return            # Select AM mode
>> 7) BUS IN A Return Print A Return    # Check operating status
>>
>> Comments were added by me, and there is no indication that "#" is a 
>> valid
>> comment indicator.
>>
>> So, basically, it looks a bit cruder than even BASIC.
>>
>> -Chuck Harris
>>
>>
>>
>> Alan Melia wrote:
>>> the problem is trying to guess the syntax....I was thinking of
>>> somethings
>>> like.....
>>>
>>> Set Style ##.###   // or may be just Style ##.###  try this  
>>> "##.###" as
>>> well.
>>> Print using style, a,b,c
>>>
>>> It may be possible to define a number of styles, then it might be......
>>> style 1; ##.###
>>> style 2; #####.#
>>> print using 1; a, b:
>>> print using 2; c
>>>
>>> Once again try the ### in inverted commas.
>>>
>>> I seem to recollect a similar syntax somewhere but I dont recognise the
>>> reserved word STYLE either  you can obviously play games with the
>>> commas,
>>> colons and semi-colons to see what works. the print statements you have
>>> discovered will give a lead to that. Wrong synatx on an "immediate"
>>> command
>>> (at the prompt) should show an error straight away. If you can find one
>>> manual for any programmable instrument from S-D you will probably
>>> find an
>>> example that will show most of the command syntax.  Think of the
>>> parsing and
>>> what chars are needed as delimiters to make this easy for the 
>>> processor.
>>>
>>> I cant help there I have no S-D equipment. but there must be some 
>>> around
>>> with manuals :-))
>>>
>>> Alan G3NYK
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "EB4APL"<eb4apl at cembreros.jazztel.es>
>>> To:<time-nuts at febo.com>
>>> Sent: Sunday, March 20, 2011 9:13 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] OT Systron-Donner Basic
>>>
>>>
>>> Alan,
>>>
>>> It doesn't work, neither (####.#), "#####.#" and a lot of other
>>> combinations that I already tried.
>>> I was able to get the other commands syntax even the non "standard
>>> basic" ones even with several parameters, but this one is very 
>>> resilient
>>> to all my efforts after diving in old Basic, Fortran, Algol, etc.
>>> manuals but never found a STYLE statement.    I always get  ILLEGAL
>>> STYLE error and no other cues.
>>>
>>> Thank you anyway, I appreciate all efforts.
>>> Ignacio EB4APL
>>>
>>>
>>> El 20/03/2011 18:12, Alan Melia wrote:
>>>> Hi Ignacio try the "print like" format with ######.##  to define
>>>> decimal
>>>> places etc
>>>> Alan G3NYK
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "EB4APL"<eb4apl at cembreros.jazztel.es>
>>>> To: "Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement"
>>>> <time-nuts at febo.com>
>>>> Sent: Sunday, March 20, 2011 4:41 PM
>>>> Subject: [time-nuts] OT Systron-Donner Basic
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> This is clearly OT, but maybe somebody in this list can give me some
>>>> help.
>>>>
>>>> Recently I bought an old GPIB controller, a Systron-Donner Busser II
>>>> model 3522.  As my daughter said it looks like technology coming from
>>>> "Lost", but I want it to learn how to do some basic control of my GPIB
>>>> instruments before immersing in a more logical solution using a NI 
>>>> card
>>>> and a PC.
>>>>
>>>> For starting, I made  simple programs to record OCXO's drift and aging
>>>> against my Rb and for studying the charge and discharge of batteries.
>>>>
>>>> This device is a small 6802 based computer that runs a Basic dialect
>>>> (Systron-Donner Basic v 2.a) and while the unit came without any
>>>> documentation I was able to reverse engineer its command set and other
>>>> information.
>>>> There is only a command that resist all my efforts so far, the command
>>>> STYLE that seems to be a kind of format facility for the PRINT 
>>>> command.
>>>> Anybody was exposed in the past to this technology or remember 
>>>> anything
>>>> about a Basic command named STYLE?
>>>> I can´t find the right syntax for this command.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks in advance.
>>>> Ignacio, EB4APL
>>>>
>>>> ____
>>>
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>>
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