Sperry PC/IT 286

[Chuck(G)]

A driver should fix that. If the system FDC supports 500Kb/sec data rate, it'll support 1.44M one way or the other.

 

[bolex]

I have all the original manuals, keyboard, monochrome monitor, and boxes of floppy disks.

I would be glad to borrow the manuals and floppy disks to image so they can be preserved. I live in Utah and can be quick about it and get them all back to you.

 

[Al Kossow]

when this first came up, I dug around and as far as I can tell no one ever dumped the ver 1.8 BIOS

 

[sperry_owner]

Don't have it powered yet as I'm still trying to remember what monitor configuration I had used last. I think I took out the ATI VGA card to use in the computer that replaced the IT. That card was used with a NEC MultiSync monitor.

The IT does have what may be the original video card which is an ATI EGA Wonder PN 16892 Rev 1. I've just started researching what monitors that should support. If it is the original video card it should work with the Sperry monchrome monitor for a real nostalgia trip.

Mother board BIOS is marked in my writing "IT ROM VER 1.58F" so I suppose I updated it from original. It has 2 5.25 floppies and, if I remember correctly, I changed the original 20 MB hard drive to 40 MB. (Who could possibly have wanted more than that?)

 

[sperry_owner]

The EGA graphics card switches were configured for multisync so I connected a NEC MutliSync II and powered it up. Passes all power up test and displays the batch file driven menu that I created over 20 years ago. Selected WP from the menu and it opens Word Perfect 5.1 (for DOS).

I though I was going down a bottomless rabbit hole but it wasn't deep at all.

 

[sperry_owner]

Who remembers the Cheryl Tiegs clock (for DOS)?

 

[sperry_owner]

Sperry IT graphics card. Don't remember if this is the original that was used with the Sperry monochrome monitor.

 

[sperry_owner]

I would be glad to borrow the manuals and floppy disks to image so they can be preserved. I live in Utah and can be quick about it and get them all back to you.

Thanks for the offer, but I think shipping them twice would expose them to far greater risk than keeping them at my house.

The "System Diskettes" box includes 3 original Sperry floppies -

DOS 3.1, BASIC 3.0 DISK 1 of 2
DOS 3.1, BASIC 3.0 DISK 2 of 2
DIAGNOSTIC 3.1

In the same box I have unoffical backups of the originals plus a floppy marked DOS 3.2.

The offical documentation comprises of 3 boxed ring binders -

Sytem Installation Guide
MS-DOS User's Guide
BASIC User's Guide

If there is any interest I would be willing to scan or photograph parts of the documentation. I don't think I have any means of copying the floppies to modern media. Many years ago I used a work computer to transfer 5.25 to 3.5 then another computer to transfer 3.5 to CD.

 

[sperry_owner]

Sperry IT graphics card. Don't remember if this is the original that was used with the Sperry monochrome monitor.

I had to dig through another layer of dust but I found the EGA Wonder Operation Manual and the box the card was sold in. Inside the box was the original monochrome board for the Sperry IT.

 

[sperry_owner]

The lighting is a bit better on this image: