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Ernie TECH's
About Me
About Me
Update 6-2026: After many months of inactivity, I'm back and updating the site.
Where have I been? Working again!
My tech gig continues but I'm trying to get back into the mainframe swing!
I have been an enthusiastic computer user, programmer and tech historian ever since I got a Radio Shack TRS-80 many years ago. I've owned Apples, Timex Sinclairs, Commodores and everything in between.
I have become fascinated with mainframe computers and using emulation software like Hercules, Sim390 and SimH to explore the many mainframe operating systems like McGill University's MUSIC/SP, the Michigan Terminal System and IBM's venerable MVS 3.8. All available freely available on the Internet.
I'm sharing my exploration and learning adventures via my Youtube channel. It's a never-ending journey and is much more fun than I anticipated.
my VIDEOS
my VIDEOS
Link to Youtube videos
MY links
MY links
Hercules VM/370ce-tk5
The VM/370 Community Edition - VM/370, released in 1972, is a System/370 re-implementation of the earlier CP/CMS operating system. The "Community Edition" aims to keep VM/370 alive, allowing people to experience and learn about this important piece of computing history. VM/370ce runs on the Hercules instance provided in the VM370CE-tk.zip file.
The linked 'VM370CE-tk.zip' turn-key file was kindly provided by Dr. Rene Ferland.
McGill University's MUSIC/SP Multi-User System for Interactive Computing / System Product
Download MUSICSP-tk.zip (Update 3/10/25)
The easiest way to get started with Mainframe emulation on your Windows PC.
MUSIC/SP was developed at McGill University in the 1970s from an early IBM time-sharing system called RAX and used by over 200 educational institutions.
This is the ready-to-use , Turn-Key version using Dave Edward's Sim390 mainframe emulator.
Download and unzip to a directory and run the Sim390 .exe file.
Michigan Terminal System
The 2nd easiest way to get started with Mainframe emulation on your Windows PC.
The Michigan Terminal System (MTS) was created in 1967 at the University of Michigan for use on IBM S/360-67, S/370 and compatible mainframe computers. It was used by universities in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. MTS runs on the Hercules instance provided in the MTS-tk.zip file.
User Guide Overview
The place to learn how to get MTS up and running on Hercules is Rupert Lane's Try-MTS website
Another good MTS resource and guide
MVS-tk5 by Rob Prinz
Multiple Virtual Storage - MVS, is the most commonly used operating system on the System/370, System/390 and IBM Z IBM mainframe computers. IBM developed MVS as a successor to OS/360. Version 3.8 is freely available to the public. MVS-tk5 runs on the Hercules instance provided in the MVS-tk5.zip file.
Support Docs & Slides
User Guide Overview
Rob Prinz has created version 5 of the MVS3.8j 'turnkey' Hercules system
SDL Hercules 4.7 Hyperion
Download Link
Hercules 4.x Aethra
Hercules is an open source software implementation of the mainframe System/370, ESA/390 architectures and z/ architectures
The Aethra version is maintained by Jay Maynard
Support Docs & Slides
This is the Hercules emulator without an operating system.
Download and double-click the .msi file to install. Compatible with any mainframe OS usable with Hercules.
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