Irinikus wrote on 2023-07-07, 15:40:

To be honest, myself as well as most of my colleagues are not into home flight simulation! […]
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acl wrote on 2023-07-07, 07:16:

Looking at your profile, i'm surprised to not see a flight sim setup !

Very impressive SGI collection. Do you have a personal history using these professionally? Or is it just an interest that came from nowhere? Because it's very "niche" and a quite an unusual collection for sure !

To be honest, myself as well as most of my colleagues are not into home flight simulation!

When I did pilots course back in 2003, all of the flight simulators (cockpit procedural trainers) at our central flying school were powered by SGI computers and that's pretty much where my interest in them started.

Here are some pics of our old dual cockpit sim for the Pilatus PC-7 MKII (Our basic trainer), which was powered by an SGI Onyx back in 2003: (The aircraft have since been upgraded to full glass cockpit rendering this simulator obsolete)

PPL student, i'm literally dreaming of flying one of these turboprop beauties one day. But I know it's out of reach for most private pilots.

I did not knew that SGI was in the professional flight sim market back then but that totally make sense. They were basically leading the 3d computer graphics market.

Former SGI employees formed 3dfx and other formed ArtX that is credited for the Radeon r300 design after ATI bought the company. So SGI is really something in computer graphics history.

The second well known story for retro enthusiasts is Real3D that came from Lockheed Martin / Martin Marietta and laid the foundation for Intel 740 and later intel IGP.

I really love your story and how aviation lead you to computer graphics. Thank you very much for sharing.

acl wrote on 2023-07-07, 18:50:

PPL student, i'm literally dreaming of flying one of these turboprop beauties one day. But I know it's out of reach for most pri […]
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PPL student, i'm literally dreaming of flying one of these turboprop beauties one day. But I know it's out of reach for most private pilots.

I did not knew that SGI was in the professional flight sim market back then but that totally make sense. They were basically leading the 3d computer graphics market.

Former SGI employees formed 3dfx and other formed ArtX that is credited for the Radeon r300 design after ATI bought the company. So SGI is really something in computer graphics history.

The second well known story for retro enthusiasts is Real3D that came from Lockheed Martin / Martin Marietta and laid the foundation for Intel 740 and later intel IGP.

I really love your story and how aviation lead you to computer graphics. Thank you very much for sharing.

It's great to hear that you're doing your PPL, as I believe that everyone should take up flying if possible, as it challenges you in ways in which most other things don't, especially military flying! (You grow as a person, as you live or die by the decisions you make!!!)

Back in those days SGI was the only type of system which could effectively run the environments together with the flight models (Physics Models) required for accurate flight simulation. (That dual cockpit simulator was installed back in 1996 when we first received the PC-7 MK II's, so pretty much at the peak of SGI's reign!)

Here's a look at my retro setup! Been on a collecting spree the last few years reconnecting to systems from my past and others I never have experienced before.

A quick look at the systems and some interesting features (from bottom to top):

• Generic Clone System: 386DX-40 + Sound Blaster 2.0 (I enjoy a good 386 as it was in my family's first PC)
• HP Vectra VL: Evergreen 200MHz Upgrade + Sound Blaster 16 + ATI Rage XL PCI
• HP Vectra 486/66XM: 486DX2 @ 66MHz + Sound Blaster Pro 2.0 + External SCSI CD Drive
• US Logic System: AMD 5x86 @ 160MHz + Sound Blaster AWE64 Value + S3 Virge/DX
• Compaq Presario 2200: Cyrix MediaGXi @ 180MHz (my first PC as a teenager)
• IBM ThinkPad 600: Pentium II @ 500MHz + Docking Station with Gameport
• Generic Black Tower Case: Super Socket 7 build + AMD K6-2+ @ 550MHz + Nvidia MX4000 PCI + AMD Interwave (Soundrage 32) Sound Card

The super socket 7 build is special to me since it's the motherboard from my second ever PC. I'd like to switch out the GPU at some point since I don't think the MX4000 is the best fit. But it has no AGP though. That was always a sore spot for me back in the day!

And I can't forget the PCjr on the side! This was a surprise find that I didn't spend much on. It's got some nice upgrades like a second floppy drive and extra memory.

Pavane wrote on 2023-07-28, 03:01:

Here's a look at my retro setup! Been on a collecting spree the last few years reconnecting to systems from my past and others I […]
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Here's a look at my retro setup! Been on a collecting spree the last few years reconnecting to systems from my past and others I never have experienced before.

20230727_192449.jpg

A quick look at the systems and some interesting features (from bottom to top):

• Generic Clone System: 386DX-40 + Sound Blaster 2.0 (I enjoy a good 386 as it was in my family's first PC)
• HP Vectra VL: Evergreen 200MHz Upgrade + Sound Blaster 16 + ATI Rage XL PCI
• HP Vectra 486/66XM: 486DX2 @ 66MHz + Sound Blaster Pro 2.0 + External SCSI CD Drive
• US Logic System: AMD 5x86 @ 160MHz + Sound Blaster AWE64 Value + S3 Virge/DX
• Compaq Presario 2200: Cyrix MediaGXi @ 180MHz (my first PC as a teenager)
• IBM ThinkPad 600: Pentium II @ 500MHz + Docking Station with Gameport
• Generic Black Tower Case: Super Socket 7 build + AMD K6-2+ @ 550MHz + Nvidia MX4000 PCI + AMD Interwave (Soundrage 32) Sound Card

The super socket 7 build is special to me since it's the motherboard from my second ever PC. I'd like to switch out the GPU at some point since I don't think the MX4000 is the best fit. But it has no AGP though. That was always a sore spot for me back in the day!

And I can't forget the PCjr on the side! This was a surprise find that I didn't spend much on. It's got some nice upgrades like a second floppy drive and extra memory.

nice space with everything at hand, i like the way systems are stacked by the desk - very neat looking while also keeping everything close together

Pavane wrote on 2023-07-28, 03:01:

Here's a look at my retro setup! Been on a collecting spree the last few years reconnecting to systems from my past and others I never have experienced before.

Isn't the room for mouse too cramped?

I'll add my habitat since I just posted my build-log (The Black Owl) in a separate post:

Ok, you guys with such clean desks.. Where do you keep your STUFF?

Heh yah, my "daily driver" desk gets snowed under with bills, paid bills, receipts and all manner of household management crap. I need to have a banker boxing and shred fest with my actual filing cabinets which mostly have decade old stuff, to get room to put it away properly. Then my retro fiddling area, I seem to need to have everything I'm recently interested in in "arms reach" despite it having a place to be stored, so yah that doesn't stay tidy looking at all either.

appiah4 wrote on 2023-08-04, 13:39:

Ok, you guys with such clean desks.. Where do you keep your STUFF?

I digitized most of it. The rest gets trashed or put into cabinets/wardrobes.

I have a bit of OCD, the functional, positive kind 😉

d3vilsadvocate wrote on 2023-08-04, 13:24:

I'll add my habitat since I just posted my build-log (The Black Owl) in a separate post:

What kind of desk is that? Is it IKEA?

I noticed you're hanging at least 1 PC from it, so it must be sturdy?

I'm currently using some of the cheap cardboard core IKEA tabletops and started to look for something more solid..

mrzmaster wrote on 2023-08-04, 20:51:

What kind of desk is that? Is it IKEA? […]
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d3vilsadvocate wrote on 2023-08-04, 13:24:

I'll add my habitat since I just posted my build-log (The Black Owl) in a separate post:

What kind of desk is that? Is it IKEA?

I noticed you're hanging at least 1 PC from it, so it must be sturdy?

I'm currently using some of the cheap cardboard core IKEA tabletops and started to look for something more solid..

It’s the IKEA karlby. Been hanging there for 3 years and still only a little sag. The monitor is close to the left legs though with the monitor arm and all. If you place a computer on it you should do it close to the sides and not in the middle of course.

Through no fault of my own, my computing area currently finds itself much less chaotic than usual, so I documented the occasion:

My current retro desk area. My Victor 300SX/33 from my childhood. I will be starting a work log on it soon.

2 Dell 9020's, 2 Lenovo Think Center m900s and a Beelink SER5 Pro that run the homelab. Backup is a Synology DS220j. The G5 Dual 1.8ghz is a slated to get Debian and a new PC to Mac converted video card as soon as I get my Dos PCs up and running and can do bios flashing again.

My dream upgrade, 30 years delayed, from a 486DX2/66 with 4MB RAM (my first PC) to the Pentium 200 MMX with 128MB RAM shown below. It's a bit of an overcorrection, but now I can finally run those games requiring 8MB RAM. My 12-year-old self would have been ecstatic.

While researching, I stumbled onto Vogons and went down the rabbit hole. I discovered the Roland MT-32, which I had previously only seen in setup.exe files. I couldn't stop at one MIDI module, so I got the SC55, then a mixer. I caught myself hunting for MIDI keyboards and MPU-401s with the idea of setting up midi-in for Voyetra to link with the Roland SP-404MK2 and S1, and I had to draw the line... for now.

Thanks, everyone, for the knowledge and experience shared, and for sharing the pics of your setups.

PurpleOzone wrote on 2023-11-26, 20:43:

My dream upgrade, 30 years delayed, from a 486DX2/66 with 4MB RAM (my first PC) to the Pentium 200 MMX with 128MB RAM shown below. It's a bit of an overcorrection, but now I can finally run those games requiring 8MB RAM. My 12-year-old self would have been ecstatic.

While researching, I stumbled onto Vogons and went down the rabbit hole. I discovered the Roland MT-32, which I had previously only seen in setup.exe files. I couldn't stop at one MIDI module, so I got the SC55, then a mixer. I caught myself hunting for MIDI keyboards and MPU-401s with the idea of setting up midi-in for Voyetra to link with the Roland SP-404MK2 and S1, and I had to draw the line... for now.

Thanks, everyone, for the knowledge and experience shared, and for sharing the pics of your setups.

That's a lovely setup, compact yet brimming with audio goodness. 😁

What is that mixer you have? Looks slick.

Shponglefan wrote on 2023-11-26, 21:27:

That's a lovely setup, compact yet brimming with audio goodness. 😁

What is that mixer you have? Looks slick.

Thank you, the mixer is a Vivanco MX760, a lucky find while scrolling aimlessly through the audio section of a local auction site. I had never heard of this company before. It's a 4-channel German mid-80s device with pretty little backlit VU meters, 4 stereo channels, and a very convenient headphone out for monitoring. Best of all, I didn't realize it was the exact same width as the Roland until I stacked them – priceless.

PurpleOzone wrote on 2023-11-26, 20:43:

My dream upgrade, 30 years delayed, from a 486DX2/66 with 4MB RAM (my first PC) to the Pentium 200 MMX with 128MB RAM shown below. It's a bit of an overcorrection, but now I can finally run those games requiring 8MB RAM. My 12-year-old self would have been ecstatic.

While researching, I stumbled onto Vogons and went down the rabbit hole. I discovered the Roland MT-32, which I had previously only seen in setup.exe files. I couldn't stop at one MIDI module, so I got the SC55, then a mixer. I caught myself hunting for MIDI keyboards and MPU-401s with the idea of setting up midi-in for Voyetra to link with the Roland SP-404MK2 and S1, and I had to draw the line... for now.

Thanks, everyone, for the knowledge and experience shared, and for sharing the pics of your setups.

That's a great setup and yes Midi modules can be quite the rabbit hole to go down. Also welcome to VOGONS!!!

PurpleOzone wrote on 2023-11-26, 20:43:

My dream upgrade, 30 years delayed, from a 486DX2/66 with 4MB RAM (my first PC) to the Pentium 200 MMX with 128MB RAM shown below. It's a bit of an overcorrection, but now I can finally run those games requiring 8MB RAM. My 12-year-old self would have been ecstatic.

While researching, I stumbled onto Vogons and went down the rabbit hole. I discovered the Roland MT-32, which I had previously only seen in setup.exe files. I couldn't stop at one MIDI module, so I got the SC55, then a mixer. I caught myself hunting for MIDI keyboards and MPU-401s with the idea of setting up midi-in for Voyetra to link with the Roland SP-404MK2 and S1, and I had to draw the line... for now.

Thanks, everyone, for the knowledge and experience shared, and for sharing the pics of your setups.

is that a cassette player/recorder down there? what one, out of interest?

gerry wrote on 2023-11-27, 22:00:

is that a cassette player/recorder down there? what one, out of interest?

Yes, indeed it is. The model is Elta Slimline Model 5000

I use it with the 8bit Pravetz 8D below the monitor on the pic.

I was so sure that it was an Acorn Electron. The profile from that angle is very similar.