Entering HEX programs with the front panel

[Curto]

I am struggling a little bit here.

Say I wanted to enter this program via the front panel:

https://deramp.com/downloads/altair/sof ... r/ECHO.PRN

Converting from HEX to Octal is very tedious for me. Is there a trick, method or application to make it easier?

Thanks,

Curt.

[Curto]

I guess I've been overthinking it. Just enter every two HEX digits as a byte on front panel. Ignore the OCTAL boundaries on the front panel.

I think I understand, but let me know if there is more...

[AltairClone]

You got it!

It was not unusual for people to group the switches and lights into groups of four for hex instead of octal. E.g., http://www.computercloset.org/MITSAltair8800.htm

[BillO]

I've seen some put small diameter colored heat shrink on the switch toggles in groups of four. I've also seen slip-on vinyl covers for these switches in different colors. We used to use those back in the day for audio mixing console I used to work on. There may even be a post on here where I asked about them and got reply about recent availability - or not here, can't remember. Search "CKN10599-ND" on Digi-Key. Not especially cheap but might be worth it.