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Electronics Design Hack Chat with Bil Herd

Discuss computer and electronics design with expert Bil Herd

Friday, June 16, 2017 12:00 pm PT - Friday, June 16, 2017 12:30 pm PT Local time zone:
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Bil Herd joins us in the Hack Chat for Name This Puppy!
...And also chat about electronics, vintage and the other kind. (non-vintage)

Friday, June 16th at noon PDT, @Bil Herd will be hosting the Hack Chat.

A relic left from the days before we knew there were Quarks, Bil started as a self-taught long-haired electronics guy fixing CB radios and Car Stereos in exchange for Dinner or at least food. By the age of 24 he had worked his way up from working the greasy underside of television sets to the senior hardware engineer for the consumer section of Commodore Business Machines in the mid ‘80s where he designed several 8 bit computers, some sort of popular and also some not so much.

Having a varied past having been something of a hippie in the 70’s, flown with medics in the Army, and worked a Trauma center in Camden NJ, and having sold a few 10 million units over his lifetime, Bil find himself so burnt out that he can’t think of a name for his new puppy. Actually he would rather not name it but then can’t list it as a dependent in his Last Will and Testament.

So join us for the Name that Puppy contest and that other stuff involving electrons and a fading memory with someone not afraid to make stuff up when faced with questions he doesn’t know the answer to.

We'll be talking about:

  • Electronics design
  • Computer design
  • Puppies (seriously, Bil needs us to help choose a name!)

Here's the sheet to guide the discussion.

  • Electonics Design Hack Chat Transcript

    Shulie Tornel06/16/2017 at 19:42 0 comments

    Bil Herd Well the Bios says it all, burned out years ago, have some scattered memories of working for Commodore in the 1980s's. I also was licenced to fix TVs , CBs and had my Master Antenna cert (all Indiana commerce requirements) at an early age. Worked at Pennsylvania Scale and learned all about heavy duty analog, FCC, ground loops, and things that proived usefull at CBM. After CBM I did vision systems and eventually owned an ISP which turned into a Software house, been an entrepeniur/self employed last 25 years

    Morning.Star Hey all :-)

    Bil Herd Square will cause extra heating

    sfrias1 :-))))

    DL101 how much power do those 9v need?

    Bil Herd on C104

    Frank Buss or, maybe replace it with a modern low ESR cap

    Bil Herd I also was licenced to fix TVs , CBs and had my Master Antenna cert (all Indiana commerce requirements) at an early age. Worked at Pennsylvania Scale and learned all about heavy duty analog, FCC, ground loops, and things that proived usefull at CBM. After CBM I did vision systems and eventually owned an ISP which turned into a Software house, been an entrepeniur/self employed last 25 years

    DL101 can i ask nonpuppy questions on that doc?

    Sophi Kravitz Just gonna get formal for a second: Welcome @Bil Herd !

    Shulie: @DL101 Yes lol

    Sophi Kravitz @DL101 nonpuppy questions, yes please

    Bil Herd @DL101 Ya the puppy thing is an attempt at a shiny object

    Bil Herd So there are no stupid questions just stupid answers. >:)

    Frank Buss how's your Herdware going? I think I saw something on Tindie from you

    Bil Herd Puppy is eal, I have bite marks on my toes to prove it.

    Bil Herd Slow, I don't really pursue it due to workload

    Bil Herd Its more a way to capture people looking for custom

    Frank Buss there are some impressive fast loaders

    Bil Herd Also, we are releasing a new documentary at the Computer History Museum next Friday! (Sunnyvale)

    Bil HerdnIts about the story arc of Nolan Bushnell starting ATari and then finally the sale to Wrane

    Al Williams I keep pushing CHM to put in a Dr. Dobb's exhibit, but no traction :(

    Bil Herd Warner. Chevck out 8bitgeneration.com for more info, we also did the last interview of Jack Tramiel in teh Commodore Wars story.

    Jordan Bunker @Bil Herd Nice! Are you having a showing for the release?

    DL101 8bitgeneration.com’s server DNS address could not be found.

    Michael Welling bitbanging?

    Bil Herd Hey I can try again to get you a shirt now that I know they close the shop early.

    DL101 :/

    Jordan Bunker http://www.8bitgeneration.com/

    Bil Herd Yup, Friday the 23rd, Next Friday.

    Al Williams I'd appreciate that @Bil Herd

    DL101 thx @Jordan Bunker

    Bil Herd So for some reason I am the narrator

    Bil Herd The Commodore documentary is available on Steam and Vimeo

    Shulie: We have some questions on the doc! :) @DL101 asks: Why didn't commodore keep up with the pc maket?

    Bil Herd Ack, I had to refresh to see them.

    Shulie: I'll post them here for you, Bil.

    Bil Herd Commodore failed IMHO after Jack Tramiel left, we were rudderless without our leader. We had the exciting Amiga chip set and the PC was an overpriced IBM designed (overdesigned) behemouth. The guy that came in to run the engineering group (after I left) was the engineer on the PC JR and despised by all. He actually wropte a memo that said anyone calling one product the Amiga Jr would be fired. His first act was to cancel all ongoing projects and there were EXCITING projects involving ultr-high resolution with integral compression and multi processor, all in the late 80's mind you.

    Benchoff > Why didn't commodore keep up with the pc maket?

    Commodore kept up with *you*....

    Bil Herd The made Greg Berlin remove Ram and an MMU from his PC based design so next year's would sell well, end result was both years were a bust.... just as an example.

    Frank Buss how can high resolution with compression work? if you have the wrong image data, it doesn't compress

    Marko Shiva Pavlovic Bil great job you have done back then. The little fatty was great machine.

    Bil Herd PCs did well in Europe according to Chuck Peddle (6502...

    Read more »

  • Name That Puppy

    Sophi Kravitz06/13/2017 at 11:45 7 comments

    Bil has a new puppy and needs our help naming him. Leave your suggestions in the comments!

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Marko wrote 06/16/2017 at 20:12 point

fluffy head

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