In a message dated 96-05-17 10:16:45 EDT, you write:
 
>Does anyone have any info/websites/manuals/pictures/stories/etc about
>hp2000 systems?
>
>I cut my computing teeth on a couple of them back in the 70s, and I am
>getting a bit nostalgic when
>thinking about them.
 
Psst,
 
Do not tell anyone, but I worked on an HP 2000 in 1976-1977.  It was running
a BASIC operating system from company called TimeShare Corp.  This was
located in a corner office on the 8th floor of a building overlooking the
Metropolitan boulevard at the corner of St-Laurent in Montreal.  At least
that is what I remember.
 
We had 20  one-meg disc drives which we finally replaced with a 50 meg,
HP7920, the one with the window on top.  The console was a TTY and we booted
the system via paper tape.  We also did updates to the OS via paper tape.
 The backup was done on an HP7970.  It took 3 tapes to do the backups and
each tape had to be read completely after being written.  It took over 3
hours to do the backup. I know, because I came in on Saturdays to do the
backup.
 
We ran a (what else?) time sharing operation from that box and customers
would dial in at 110 or 300 baud and do their books.  We did have one
customer who had a 1200 leased-line!  When I went on-site for repairs or
training, I was really happy to go to that site.  I had an LA-30 printing
terminal at my apartment, over a 300 baud modem.
 
Our system printer :-) was an LA-120 printing terminal.  If we wanted to
print a program listing, we would have to list the program to a file and then
run another program to read the file at the printer (the beginnings of
SPOOLING).  Since the OS interface was all interpretive BASIC we had to write
everything, including SORTs, MERGEs and file systems.
 
I was only too happy to leave behind that system and move to an HP3000 in
late 1977, to use SORT/3000, IMAGE/3000, QUERY/3000, BASIC/3000, SPL/3000 and
. . . EDIT/3000.
 
Kind regards,
 
Denys. . .