- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Rescue needed here in central NJ
by Evan Koblentz 21 Aug '18

21 Aug '18

We need someone with an SUV, minivan, etc. to rescue the Counterpoint systems here in central NJ. It's three CRTs and several components that are PC-sized. Contact me off-list if you can help. ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, executive director Vintage Computer Federation a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org facebook.com/vcfederation twitter.com/vcfederation instagram.com/vcfederation

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] AT&T Technical Workstation / Counterpoint C-19
by Lou 21 Aug '18

21 Aug '18

Nice finds! Always great to uncover more UNIX systems. Are you getting everything from within the warehouse for the museum or only the bulk of the systems? Either way I cannot wait to see what these systems look like in person!

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Interest in a Workshop at System Source, in Hunt Valley, MD?
by Lou 20 Aug '18

20 Aug '18

You mentioned something about this at the last workshop right? Out of both dates November seems more grounded in the reality for me, but as always I cannot make any promises with how the Missus can be!

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 20 Aug '18

20 Aug '18

A typical rainy summer Sunday: steady flow of families all day long. Not crazy like last weekend, but still good. ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, executive director Vintage Computer Federation a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org facebook.com/vcfederation twitter.com/vcfederation instagram.com/vcfederation

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Re: Museum Report
by Tony Bogan 19 Aug '18

19 Aug '18

I've been guilty of that many times in my life as my friends and I often referred to them as Trash 80s. We had them in high school in our computer lab and were not happy (tape drives) It's a habit I've tried to break since I became involved with VCF, so when I hear people say that at the museum I smile and say "I've heard that name before...." and then Segway into my "1977 triad of personal computing" and talk about the Apple II, PET and TRS 80 and how important those three machines were etc etc. Tony (Recovering TRS 80 basher) Sent from my iPhone > On Aug 18, 2018, at 7:28 PM, Peter Cetinski <pete(a)pski.net> wrote: > > My son Alex and I were at the museum today. The first couple of hours were quiet but then things picked up. We had 4 or 5 families come through all with mild interest. One guy was a dead ringer for Denzel Washington but I didn’t ask. Another laughingly referred to the TRS-80 as a Trash-80 and I held my tounge and did not respond. > > Pete > > Pete

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AT&T Technical Workstation / Counterpoint C-19
by Evan Koblentz 19 Aug '18

19 Aug '18

I got an email from someone who met us at Maker Faire last year. He told me he's got some never-released AT&T computers, so I took a ride to his storage locker today (here in central NJ) to see for myself. There are about a half-dozen Counterpoint C-19 computers with drive units, monitors, and various parts. I never heard of these. The guy said he worked for Bell Labs in early 1980s. He said Counterpoint made these as Unix workstations and delivered thousands of them to an AT&T warehouse. Then AT&T canceled the project and (supposedly) bulldozed the warehouse contents. He said the ones in his storage locker may be the only ones remaining. He also said some famous AT&T folks (K.; Ritchie, Korn) all used such systems. They run Unix System V. A few of them looked to be in very clean condition. Lastly, he said they were also planning to use the name "AT&T Technical Workstation" rather than the C-19 name. Google shows no results for either search term. We're definitely accepting these for the museum collection. Hopefully we can make a few running units from the various components. Anyone ever heard of it?

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Museum Report
by Jeffrey Brace 18 Aug '18

18 Aug '18

Pete, Thanks for being docent today! It's nice to rotate docents and give others a break. Sorry that it wasn't so busy. You never know from day to day how it will be. I think this weekend had better weather expected whereas last weekend not so much. I hope that you enjoyed being docent and were able to occupy with fa un vintage experience. ==Jeff Brace On Sat, Aug 18, 2018 at 7:28 PM, Peter Cetinski via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Peter Cetinski <pete(a)pski.net> > To: vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org > Cc: > Bcc: > Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2018 19:28:50 -0400 > Subject: Museum Report > My son Alex and I were at the museum today. The first couple of hours > were quiet but then things picked up. We had 4 or 5 families come through > all with mild interest. One guy was a dead ringer for Denzel Washington > but I didn’t ask. Another laughingly referred to the TRS-80 as a Trash-80 > and I held my tounge and did not respond. > > Pete > > Pete > -- ======================================================= Jeff Brace =======================================================

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Museum Report
by Peter Cetinski 18 Aug '18

18 Aug '18

My son Alex and I were at the museum today. The first couple of hours were quiet but then things picked up. We had 4 or 5 families come through all with mild interest. One guy was a dead ringer for Denzel Washington but I didn’t ask. Another laughingly referred to the TRS-80 as a Trash-80 and I held my tounge and did not respond. Pete Pete

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Demo Video New MITS RF-Effect Music from VCF East
by Bill Degnan 17 Aug '18

17 Aug '18

I made an imperfect video that demos the new music I compiled for the Altair using the RF Interference effect. The video is from VCF East this past spring youtu.be/tSO2ofz4gD4 <https://t.co/jbF2d4bij9> Details http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=720 Bill

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an unexpected mainframe experience
by Dave McGuire 17 Aug '18

17 Aug '18

Earlier this week, I traveled to a large factory in a small, sleepy town in western NY. One of my clients is having some equipment built there, and he asked me to help resolve a production problem with a control board. What he's having built there is not computer related. The factory is a contract manufacturer; they make things for many different customers, primarily doing metal fabrication and coatings. When I walked out onto the production floor, I very nearly tripped over my own feet when I saw this: http://www.neurotica.com/misc/20180816_100638-sm.jpg Now, it was first thing in the morning (I'm not built for mornings, I'm up at the crack of noon most of the time) and I hadn't slept all that well in the hotel, but I knew damn well that those were, unmistakably, front doors for IBM z14 mainframes. In the course of my work addressing my client's control board problem, I had a bit of time during which I was waiting for one thing or another, so I chatted with the staff a bit. It turns out that this company has been making racks and doors for IBM for decades. Somewhat embarrassingly, several people gathered around me excitedly when the word spread that there was a visitor in the building who actually works on the machines for which they build the enclosures. They all knew they were making stuff for IBM, and that they were for some big computer thing, but most of them were very confused about what they really were. ("How is THAT a computer? Where's the mouse?") These folks were fascinated to hear about where the big metal racks and doors they build and paint eventually end up. I told them a bit about what the machines are, how they work, and what they're used for. They all listened with great interest, and some were very excited about it. They told me their stories too...they remembered every model number ("Hey Mary, do you remember the z890 with that beautiful copper trim on the front?" "Oh yes Jim, I loved that one!") and they told great stories about the fun they'd had building them all. Interestingly, the front and back doors of the machines are shipped straight from that factory to the customer when a mainframe is ordered. IBM never sees them. So there's great trust there, because those doors have to be flawless. The frames and racks get sent to IBM in Poughkeepsie to be built out, but the doors go straight from this factory out to the customer every time IBM sells a mainframe. I was asked to be very careful about what I say about what I saw there, but I will say this: There were A LOT of z14 doors being made there. Many people believe that the production volume of these machines is small. Nothing could be further from the truth. Seriously, I was shocked. I'm told there was a "secret area" in another part of the building where they're making chassis for prototypes and machines that haven't been released yet; I wasn't allowed to see that. Overall the access control there was pretty tight. I wasn't allowed to take many pictures, those that I did take were carefully audited by my escort, and some were deleted. They take their customers' security very seriously there, but they were still human beings, people who love their jobs (pretty unusual in this day and age), many of whom had worked there for decades. They take great pride in the things that they build there, and there was a universal feeling that they wondered where it all eventually went, and a hope that they'd gotten the machines off to a good start. It was a wonderful experience that I will not soon forget. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 16 Aug '18

16 Aug '18

Lots of people came to the museum today. There was a large group from some camp or school. They divided into four groups of 5-6 kids and one adult. Each group visited us for about 30 minutes and then rotated to other museums on campus. There were also a bunch of regular visitors.

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Anyone know of a bulk way to test MK4027 dram chips
by mike willegal 15 Aug '18

15 Aug '18

Depends upon if you are interested in testing for speed, as well as for simple good/bad bits and good/bad addressing. Here are some stray thoughts, if you are just interested in good/bad bits. 1) I think you might be able to take an Apple II language card and possibly run 4027s in them, perhaps without mods. Change out the sockets to ZIF sockets and modify the 6502 memory tester to test 8 chips at a time in the language card. The Apple version of the language card has space for a ROM, so you could possibly burn the test program into an PROM and have it run automatically. Probably turn out to be an involved project. 2) Might be easier to just replace one bank of DRAM sockets on an early II plus motherboard (one with the memory jumper blocks) with ZIF sockets and use the aforementioned memory test. 3) Another idea would be to enhance the SCELBI based 1101/2102 tester, to support refresh and CAS/RAS addressing. Probably turn out to be an involved project. regards, Mike Willegal

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Anyone know of a bulk way to test MK4027 dram chips
by corey cohen 15 Aug '18

15 Aug '18

I’m looking for some sort of hardware tester. The closest I have come to is an s100 ram card stuffing it with chips and running a memory test program. Not the most portable solution and I’d like to double check the 40+ suspect chips out of my 64 chips I was testing today. Ideas??? Product I should be looking at? Thanks, Cheers, Corey corey cohen uǝɥoɔ ʎǝɹoɔ Mobile: +1 917 747 1408 Sent from my iPhone

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Introduction
by Herb Johnson 14 Aug '18

14 Aug '18

Adding my welcome to Nicholas Fiore, who makes a point about his age (18) and his Apple/Mac collection and future interest in "vintage PC and Commodore stuff". I know little about Commodores and there's many members already encouraging you about those; so I'll say nothing about that. I'm considerably older than you, so "vintage" means something different to me, I'd guess. I was going to elaborate, but that ended up being a lecture on the history of personal computing. That's too long and wasn't called for. It might start a fight on "what is vintage" or "what is a PC". So I'll make it simple - a short lecture, he he. Nicholas, I see your list is mostly computers after the late 1980's; your oldest machines are the Apple Mac SE and 512K, from the mid-1980's. And you have some 90's or later Windows-class computers. That's fine - in fact I think it's good that people are starting to collect and preserve those. I say "those", because as an older person, 1) I think of "vintage" as 1980 or earlier, often MUCH earlier and 2) I myself don't associate "PCs" with "personal computing" in general. Age kind-of speaks for itself. If you are 60 today, you'd be your age in 1980. So computers before 1980 would be kind of "normal"; now they'd be vintage, like *me*. That's simple. To many of us old people, personal computing began in the 1970's, with either experiences on minicomputers from an earlier time, or with the CP/M, S-100 and Apple II and other computers available before (and after) the IBM PC of 1981. Also: many of us have industrial or academic computing history. In 1980, those institutions were using mini-computers, from DEC or IBM or HP or a host of other brands nobody even remembers now. Those are refrigerator-sized computers; still, some people own them today. Fewer of us, even have some "mainframes" around. The 80's and 90's also had some industrial desktop computers; SUN, SGI and other brands. Those became desirable "vintage" computers in the 2000's for their graphics; then IBM-type PC's became faster and cheaper with better graphics and those lost favor. I think interest is coming back now, just because they are old. There's a lot of kinds of vintage computers; this is just a taste. But not all "PC's", were Windows or MS-DOS (or Mac OS); vintage goes pretty far back in computing. The points I'm making, Nicholas, are two. 1) don't worry much about "being allowed to join" because you are younger that most in this list. That's fine with me; you will have more interest in stuff *I'm* not interested in, it's "too new" - that's good! You will preserve it while I work on something else. 2) Give some consideration to even more "vintage" stuff than what's in your experiences, and on your list. That old stuff, led to the stuff of interest to you. So we both have good reasons, to support each other. Welcome aboard. Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT info

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Recommendation wanted: Books on the birth of UNIX
by Jeffrey Brace 14 Aug '18

14 Aug '18

Before I start an Amazon search, can anyone recommend a good book on the creation and development of UNIX? -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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VCF West XIII - My experience
by Jeffrey Brace 14 Aug '18

14 Aug '18

In no particular order: Got to meet Jeri Elseworth. Haven't seen her for almost 6 years since she went to a World Maker Faire in 2012. Got to see the usual suspects: Jason Scott, Brian from Hackaday, Sellam, etc. Got to meet Steve Russell who created Space War and have him sign a Space War t-shirt. Didn't even know the guy was a docent there or what he looked like. I saw him in the bathroom and held the door open for him as he uses a walker, then later sat down for lunch and found out who he was. You never know who you run into there. I watched the PDP-1 demo and got to play Space War on it. I beat my "young" opponent. Watched the movie on General Magic which I knew nothing about. It was a great movie and good for me to know this computing history. I worked in consignment and it was a hopping place. Lots of sellers and buyers. A packed room. Also worked the front desk and nice to interact with the people coming in. I was glad to have new volunteers to help out so that I could take breaks and see the museum a little. Lots of great exhibits. I didn't get a lot of time to go through them one by one, but took many pictures. I didn't get to attend any talks, but a lot of people seemed to like them. We recorded all of the, so I will be glad to see them later. Lots of new Pokémon in that area that I never saw before. So it was great to add to my Pokédex. Loved the dryness there as it is unbearably humid here in New Jersey. Fun driving around looking at all the business signs in Silicon Valley. Good to see Alexander Pierson from our east coast branch as well as two other frequent exhibitors Monster 6502 and Michael Hill. I will post my pictures later. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Introduction
by Dean Notarnicola 13 Aug '18

13 Aug '18

Right on, Tony! Tandy / TRS-80 is cool, but when you come to your senses as video game fan, we'll also be glad to help you delve into the magical world of Atari, especially with the 40th anniversary of the 400/800 coming up next year ;-) Dean On Mon, Aug 13, 2018 at 6:53 AM Tony Bogan via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Welcome! Since you've already found enlightenment with your apple II and > Macintosh collection, it's only natural that you'd want to see how the > "other half" lives. > > There's always an attraction to the seedier side of things, so don't feel > bad about looking into those commodore and pc machines. Everyone goes > slumming once in awhile! ;-) > > Seriously though, Chris and Doug are two great people to put you on the > commodore path for sure, and if you ever have any questions or needs from > the apple side, feel free to reach out to me at any time. I believe we > spoke when you were at VCF, I had the apple II display in the center isle > at the event. > > Kelly and Dean would even tell you about the TRS/Tandy machines, although > I'm not sure why you'd want to know :p > > So much knowledge and experience here in this list about so many different > things, you will find most every question you can think of answered and > answered beyond your satisfaction! > > Video game consoles are my second passion so I'm right there with you! > > Tony Bogan

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Introduction
by Nicholas Fiore 13 Aug '18

13 Aug '18

Hello! CJ and Lou suggested for me to introduce myself since I’m new to the VCF community… I’m Nicholas Fiore. I had wanted to go to VCF East for the past couple years ever since I found out about it, and finally this year I was able to and had an absolute blast. I met a couple people whom I knew from online at the event as well, being Lou, Ian, CJ, and Z. I also realize that I'm younger than more than half of you, only being 18, but I’ve been into vintage and retro tech since I was pretty young. In late 2014, I started collecting computers and since then have amassed 74 computers in my collection :D . I mainly collect Apple/Macintosh-related items, with 52 of my machines being Apple/Macintosh computers. As of lately, however, I’d like to focus on getting more and learning more about vintage PC and Commodore stuff. Besides computers, I also collect and enjoy video games consoles. I currently own every Nintendo console except for the Virtual Boy and GameBoy Color, an Atari 2600, and as of lately I’ve been focusing on acquiring Sega consoles. Thank you for allowing me to join the group. Its awesome to be around others that share similar interests. I had an absolutely fantastic time at VCF East this year and plan to attend next year as well, and other evens as my schedule permits. - Nicholas P.S. For anyone who is interested, here is my complete inventory list of my collection: https://pastebin.com/QCywc4QM

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Museum / workshop report
by Evan Koblentz 13 Aug '18

13 Aug '18

Today was an ordinary one at the museum, ordinary amount of visitors ... but yesterday was great! We had about 40-50 people come through, mostly due to the poor beach weather. It was the most people we ever had on a day without any special events happening on campus. Workshop-wise, we had good attendance this time around. VCFed things: Drom worked on the UNIVAC, Alex B. inventoried our Heathkit items, Adam did more warehouse sorting, Ian fixed minor issues with the PET/Amiga, and I disassembled the Lego forklift robot / started building a new R2-style droid.

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Looking for S100 video board
by Richard Cini 12 Aug '18

12 Aug '18

I’m trying to line up projects for the fall, so I’m looking for a CompuPro PC-Video or Lomas Color Magic for my Gazelle replica. Versions of DOS for the Gazelle didn’t natively support a video board so I thought it would be a good project. Let me know off-list if you have one of these you’d be willing to part with. Thanks! Rich Get Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef>

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Important workshop reminder: parking
by Evan Koblentz 11 Aug '18

11 Aug '18

Remember NOT to park on the grass field this weekend. Rain + Halloween construction! Park on the street leading up to it. I'll be there around 10am to open up. Bring your umbrella....

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Leftover VCF event shirts
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 10 Aug '18

10 Aug '18

Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> writes: > >We have some leftover t-shirts from this year's VCF East (orange) and >VCF West (gray). They're the same design. Sorry, we don't have any >leftovers from Pacific-Northwest (green). > >We'll sell these for $10 each between now and Festivus. > >The sizes are limited/assorted. > >No, we can't make an inventory or check if your size is available, and >no we won't ship these .... first-come, first-served, cash/PayPal >accepted. I'll take an XL if there is one. Send me PayPal info and I'll pick up the shirt one weekend or at the party gathering.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Leftover VCF event shirts
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 10 Aug '18

10 Aug '18

Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> writes: > >The orange shirts don't have any L, or XL. There is S, M, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL, >5XL, but I can't guarantee quantities. Picture of orange short: front: ><https://drive.google.com/open?id=12374_36CI6OY2YJSdsvK4yDvRzmRPvPA> >back: ><https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qsWto40-GtTpvXtTRanfpSSdRfhKs9uh> I'm kind partial to the orange color. A 2XL will do if that's the only size in orange. Let me know where to PayPal.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] IMPORTANT INFO: VCF Repair Workshop August 11 & 12, 2018
by Jeffrey Brace 10 Aug '18

10 Aug '18

On Thu, Aug 9, 2018 at 8:07 PM, Jonathan Sturges via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Jonathan Sturges <jonathansturges(a)yahoo.com> > To: <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> > Cc: > Bcc: > Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2018 00:07:11 +0000 (UTC) > Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] IMPORTANT INFO: VCF Repair Workshop August > 11 & 12, 2018 > Jeff B., > Remember at a recent workshop -- early June maybe -- we talked about > trying different brew pubs in the area for dinner? I liked the one that > weekend... what's next on the list? > > -Jonathan S. > Well Evan is running the workshop, but if you want something other than Brick House Tap and Tavern, then here are a few: Asbury Festhalle & Biergarten: http://www.asburybiergarten.com/menus - It's in Asbury Park, so parking may be tight, but I hear great things about this place. Boathouse Bar & Grill: http://www.boathousebarandgrill.com/ - Right there in Belmar Beach Haus Brewery https://beachhausbeer.com/, but they don't serve food, so you can eat right nearby at 10th Avenue Burrito: http://tenthaveburrito.com/ Jughandle Brewery http://www.jughandlebrewing.com/, but they don't serve food so you can eat in the same plaza (Italian: http://www.attiliospizzanj.com/ Mexican: https://www.reynasmexicanrestaurant.com/, Chinese: http://tunghingkitchennj.com/) Clancy's Tavern (where we eat for VCF East: https://clancystavernjerseyshore.com/) -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Leftover VCF event shirts
by Evan Koblentz 10 Aug '18

10 Aug '18

We have some leftover t-shirts from this year's VCF East (orange) and VCF West (gray). They're the same design. Sorry, we don't have any leftovers from Pacific-Northwest (green). We'll sell these for $10 each between now and Festivus. The sizes are limited/assorted. No, we can't make an inventory or check if your size is available, and no we won't ship these .... first-come, first-served, cash/PayPal accepted.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] IMPORTANT INFO: VCF Repair Workshop August 11 & 12, 2018
by Jonathan Sturges 10 Aug '18

10 Aug '18

Jeff B., Remember at a recent workshop -- early June maybe -- we talked about trying different brew pubs in the area for dinner? I liked the one that weekend... what's next on the list? -Jonathan S.

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Urgent -- music editing
by Evan Koblentz 08 Aug '18

08 Aug '18

Who here is an expert on editing digital music and can do a medium-sized job for us right away? The need is very urgent. Contact me strictly off-list, this is not for public discussion.

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IMPORTANT INFO: VCF Repair Workshop August 11 & 12, 2018
by Jeffrey Brace 08 Aug '18

08 Aug '18

Evan will be running the workshop this weekend. I have grad studies to focus on As a reminder the workshop is $10 *per* person, *per* day. Sorry this InfoAge's rule and not our decision. So that means for two days it is $20. Sign up quickly to guarantee a table. DATE: August 11 & 12, 2018 LOCATION: InfoAge Building 9032A - (2201 Marconi Road, Wall Township, NJ) TIME: Start about 10 A.M. on Saturday and ends whenever we go to sleep. End about 5 P.M. on Sunday. (Starts around 10 A.M. Sunday morning) SIGNUP: <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ 16qE67nTXghKCRYaUKLOZltq8lLG2mfB3yb6XycSfFbM/edit?usp=sharing> COST: - $10 per person, PER day. This is required by InfoAge for us to pay for renting the space. - $25 for those wanting to stay overnight (Money goes to Sandy recover group and InfoAge). Please pay Evan when you get there so that I don't forget. OVERNIGHT: Bring your own pillow, blankets, soap etc. We provide a bed frame and an uncovered mattress. There are showers and a kitchen for your use. - You can pay via PayPal. Ask me for the info at the workshop. EQUIPMENT: - VCF will provide a table and you can use any available electrical outlet. - Bring your own tools, power strips, power cords, and supplies etc. - If you need particular tools that you don't know or particular parts, please post to the list for those going. They may have what you need. Let them know ahead of time. - Please bring an extra one or two power cords as these are often forgotten by people. DRINKS: You should bring your own. I would recommend bringing a cooler of some type. FOOD: You provide your own. We usually order pizza, subs or go out to a dinner and everyone pays their own way. Usually, we make a decision when everyone gets hungry. GATE: During the hours from 1 pm to 5 pm close the front gate behind you. We want museum visitors to go to the front lobby and not wander through the middle of the campus. Outside of those times, you can feel free to leave the gate open. PARKING: Park across from 9032 or 9010A on any blacktop area. InfoAge doesn't like us parking on the lawn anymore. QUESTIONS? Contact Evan , since I will be busy that weekend: 646-546-9999 or evan(a)vcfed.org. Have fun everyone! -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Update on Dan R.'s health
by Evan Koblentz 07 Aug '18

07 Aug '18

Everyone, Here is an update about Ragooman (with his permission; I talked to him by Facebook messenger this afternoon). Dan joined the former MARCH with a list posting on February 19, 2005. That puts him among the first dozen-ish members. The post: "Hi, I'm glad to find a newsgroup here that's very active in the classic computers. I've been collecting off and on for a number of years. I'm originally from Long Island, but after a few jobs I'm now in Pittsburgh. One of my first computers I built while in high school was the ELF. Now that I'm settled here, I like to get back into dusting off my machines, unbox them all and get them fired up and running again. I hope this the place to get any valuable info. I noticed there's some event coming soon ? , the TCF, not sure what that is, but if somebody has a link to this, please send it. I might me be able to make it there one time. Thanks for letting me join. thanks, Dan" Some of you know that Dan recently went into home hospice care due to advanced cancer. About a dozen of us took turns going to visit him in Pittsburgh during the last few weeks. Dan made it crystal clear that nothing brightens his spirit more than seeing us and reminiscing about the old days. I started a private email list to arrange visits. I invited about 40 people who I think know Dan pretty well. But after seeing how much he likes visits from us, I realized there may be others who want to join and so our regular list is the best way to get out that message. If you want to be on the private list, then let me know. Dan's adult daughter (Mindy) is also on that list and she has final say about when visits can happen. Do not fear visiting him: seeing us is what he wants!!! Also, his family has been awesome to all of us. They're treating us like one of their own. Feel free to email me privately. Of course you can also email Dan (ragooman(a)gmail.com) but do not overwhelm him, don't ask anything too personal, and understand that his replies may be slow. Facebook messenger is another good way to communicate with him. Don't call unless he tells you otherwise. Finally, remember that Dan may be reading this -- and while is clock speed is reduced these days, his sarcasm circuit is strong. :) -Evan

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August 11-12 workshop signup
by Evan Koblentz 07 Aug '18

07 Aug '18

The next workshop (probably the last one at the museum for a few months) is August 11-12. Here is the signup link: https://tinyurl.com/y7mm872f Jeff B. and I decided to have this workshop in the event room down the hallway from the museum, not in the usual large room. Summer workshop attendance seems to be low, so it's kind of a waste to reserve the large room. Also it is convenient to be right near the museum, and the new/smaller room has better air conditioning. The room can fit about a dozen tables. PS. I'm leading this workshop because Jeff is busy with his grad school stuff.

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Who is Chet Reha?
by Evan Koblentz 07 Aug '18

07 Aug '18

Someone named Chet Reha signed up for the workshop. Happy to have a new member, but ... who is it? Chet, if you're reading this, then please reply and introduce yourself. Thanks....

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Maker Faire demo sign-up
by Evan Koblentz 06 Aug '18

06 Aug '18

World Maker Faire is September 22-23 at the N.Y. Hall of Science (Queens). We applied for a 10x20 demo booth. Our theme is "Cool hacks for old computers." Any cool hacks will do! Modern, vintage, hardware, software, etc. **** IMPORTANT >>>> Let's avoid redundancy. Sign up here for what you'll bring: https://tinyurl.com/ybb3729w We have a hotel room for Saturday the 22nd. There are two beds. I get dibs for one bed. Jeff B. has first right of refusal for the other. Anyone's welcome to crash on the floor, etc. There will be several tickets available. I don't have an exact number. As always, the tickets are for people who put serious hours into staffing our booth and bringing demos. They're not for general freebies (unless we have extra at the last minute).

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] please unsubscribe me.
by Neil Cherry 06 Aug '18

06 Aug '18

You can try : https://lists.vcfed.org/mailman/options/vcf-midatlantic mailto:vcf-midatlantic-request@lists.vcfed.org?subject=unsubscribe Which means send email to: vcf-midatlantic-request(a)lists.vcfed.org with the subject: unsubscribe and it should unsubscribe you. -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry(a)linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies

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please unsubscribe me.
by Joe Herdler 06 Aug '18

06 Aug '18

Please subscribe me. Thank you. Joe

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Museum report
by Dean Notarnicola 06 Aug '18

06 Aug '18

Delayed museum report for Saturday: The promised rain and gloom stayed away, unfortunately keeping much of the public away as well. However, the were two very interested groups of visitors. One was an elderly French-Canadian couple who were very interested in the older machines. They slowly lost interest as we came to the micros, but appreciated the connection to the evolution of computing. That was it until 4:45, when a retired couple who both worked for RCA back in the 1802 days arrived. They were extremely interested in the micros and were very engaged in discussing how and why the early micro market evolved into the Intel/ARM virtual duopoly we see today, and how some decendents of early CPUs and microcontrollers survive in modern embedded systems. Big thank you to Tony for dropping by and helping me get the micros up and running for the day, and keeping me from being alone the first couple of hours.

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Australian vintage computer warehouse
by Herb Johnson 04 Aug '18

04 Aug '18

an Australian Computer Museum warehouse; their lease is up and they have to get rid of their "inventory". A video walkthrough tour, matey! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK4M8dv4NNU Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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DEC KDF-11 question
by Richard Cini 03 Aug '18

03 Aug '18

All — I’m looking for a working M8186/KDF-11 dual-height CPU card, mostly as an experiment to see if it would work in place of the LSI-11 (11/03) card in my Heath H-11 for the purposes of getting BSD 2.11 working. Not sure if that’s even possible, so maybe let’s start with that. Will BSD run on a KDF-11 (11/23) if I have sufficient RAM? Thanks! Rich Get Outlook for iOS Get Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef>

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Anyone in San Diego?
by J. Alexander Jacocks 03 Aug '18

03 Aug '18

All, I'm in San Diego on business, and I finished early. Does anyone live nearby and want to meet for dinner? Alternately, does anyone have suggestions of good geeky places to go? Many thanks! - Alex

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 01 Aug '18

01 Aug '18

Very busy! Lots of visitors all day long. We took in a couple of $$ donations plus a very thorough Heathkit H-8 system (terminal, computer, two drives, accessories, manuals, user group notes, etc.) ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, executive director Vintage Computer Federation a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org facebook.com/vcfederation twitter.com/vcfederation instagram.com/vcfederation

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HP back in time
by Mike Loewen 01 Aug '18

01 Aug '18

I accomplished something this evening that I haven't done since 1988: I loaded a HP3000 system from tape! :-) I have a 9-track FOS tape (Fundamental Operating System) which I picked up on Epay 5 years ago, which contains MPE/V release G.A3.09 (circa 1990). I imaged the tape in SIMH format, and used HPDrive (pretending to be a 7974 tape drive) to load the FOS tape and configure the operating system on my Series 37. Back in the day, this was part of the delivery and setup of a new system for a customer. The final responsibility of a CE was to install MPE/V from the FOS tape, and get to the system signon. After that, it was the customer's system. Mike Loewen mloewen(a)cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/

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New robot
by Evan Koblentz 01 Aug '18

01 Aug '18

I got all I could out of the Lego tank/forklift hybrid. There are no more events at which to demo it and no more ways to improve the software. It's time for something new! I'm going to disassemble it (insert Johnny #5 joke...) and build an R2-style droid. Lighter weight, spinning head, many lights, more sound effects. Jeff B. says I work best with a deadline :) so there is one already existing: I've got to have the droid ready for Maker Faire.

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TDL SMB Repair Writeup
by systems_glitch 01 Aug '18

01 Aug '18

Last October, I traded Herb Johnson for two TDL SMB boards that had been stripped of all socketed parts, and even some of the soldered-down ones! Here's my writeup on the repair process: http://www.glitchwrks.com/2018/07/31/tdl-smb Both boards had an etch error that shorted the +5V rail to ground! This is presumably why they ended up in the TDL boneyard. Herb had acquired them stripped of all parts from a former TDL employee, presumably someone plugged it in, noticed the power draw, and moved on to the next board. I found the short by stripping one board of its sockets and bisecting the +5V rail with trace cuts. The short was hidden under silkscreen, making it invisible. In the process, I did two things that will probably be useful to other people here: I designed a replacement board for the SEMI 4804 SRAMs, which are unobtainium, and I reproduced the Interface One and Interface 2 I/O breakout boards. All will be available through my Tindie store as I get time to photograph and list them, but if you're in need of them now, send me an email! The writeup also covers the cuts and jumps necessary to use 2716 EPROMs instead of the mask ROM that TDL originally supplied with the SMB. There are pictures of my modifications, with the cut areas circled for clarity. Thanks, Jonathan

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Folks at VCF West & DEFCON
by Alexander Pierson 01 Aug '18

01 Aug '18

VCF West is this weekend! I'm excited, since this is my first time flying out to experience it. I put together a protective case to fly the Cactus out there in one piece: http://commodorez.com/img/pelicancase.jpg I'm curious, will there be anyone else from the Mid-Atlantic crowd in attendance? I haven't seen much chatter about it here (which makes sense, based on our geographic concentration). I lucked out, and managed to swing a trip to DEFCON through work the following week, which means I will have the Cactus in tow. A friend convinced me to submit a presentation on it to the Hardware Hacking Village -- I mean, if I've got it with me in Las Vegas, might as well, right? To my surprise, they accepted it. If anyone from our crowd just so happens to be at DEFCON, and you have the time/inclination, I'll be presenting at 4PM on 8/11 in some subdivision of the Forum ballroom. Anyway, I'll hopefully see at least one familiar face out west. -Alexander 'Z' Pierson

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OT: Anyone interested in a short duration WordPress gig?
by Kelly Leavitt 30 Jul '18

30 Jul '18

Contact me off list and I'll get you in touch with the client. I just don't have time to devote to yet another project. This is a FOR PAY job, but I don't know the details. Kelly

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12th HOPE - Impressions?
by Ethan O'Toole 30 Jul '18

30 Jul '18

What was everyone else's impressions of HOPE this year? For me, I was pretty exhausted. Guy I roomed with snored a bunch and I drank too much caffeene making it hard to sleep. I took the DC Metro and Amtrak up which was a new experience (though I have used both before, not both in this manner.) That was neat, and NYC is usually fun. Event wise, I thought the variety of talks was pretty awesome. I only saw some talks (Will watch videos later of others I was interested in) and it's always hit or miss but no complaints. And the schedule was packed! The hotel... yea check in was horrible, the room was horrible. HOPE has a cool DIY feel in it's space but the rest of the venue is bad. I like a few aspects of the space but hate other aspects of the space. Having one track 19 floors away from the other track generates lots of cross traffic and elevator needs. I couldn't get a feeling how well attendance went. It felt like it was down from 2016. But Manning talk filled all the rooms I think? 2nd floor seemed pretty dead. Segway thing is 10 years old or more now. There was the soldering area, which is cool but the floor was so bright -- if some of the lighting done in the talk rooms was done on the 2nd floor it would have been a bit better. Having seen so many neat things on 2nd floor in the past there just wasn't much new stuff this year. I'm not knocking VCF or ToooL or Tommy's Holograms. But I dunno. Zero new. And the hammocks... eeeek. Price point got a bit high this year, I understand it's the big city and inflation and all that. At the end of the day, I realize it's the hotel that makes most of the money not the event. I tell myself I go to see friends, and always that is the best aspect of it. But I dunno it seems like something was missing. Maybe it's the elaborate logos and designs of years past weren't present? Dunno, just curious other's opinions. Maybe I was just really tired :-)

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Busy weekend
by Evan Koblentz 30 Jul '18

30 Jul '18

I was at the museum both days this weekend (stayed overnight). Lots of visitors all weekend, and last night I represented VCF at InfoAge's annual "Wall of Honor" dinner. Our own Nick Lordi was there too. ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, executive director Vintage Computer Federation a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org facebook.com/vcfederation twitter.com/vcfederation instagram.com/vcfederation

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WTB: Data I/O 351A-070, 071, 072 Socket Adapters
by systems_glitch 27 Jul '18

27 Jul '18

All, I'm looking for any or all of the following Data I/O Socket Adapters: 351A-070 (8741, 8748, etc) 351A-071 (8751) 351A-072 (8755A) Thanks, Jonathan

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AOL 4.0 on Ebay
by Herb Johnson 23 Jul '18

23 Jul '18

The AOL 4.0 CD ebay auction referenced, has a starting bid of $575, and one bidder. That bidder has ZERO rating and bidding history only 6 days old. I smell a RAT!. An ebay search for AOL CD's sold recently (months) shows most selling for several dollars to under $20, or in sets at those prices. There's stories years old on the Web, about this or that AOL CD or floppy selling for thousands; but not much since 2015. Now, that's just a modest and incomplete survey, looks over about an hour of time. But I'm not seeing any comprehensive collector's discussions and marketplaces. For items worth thousands, I'd expect to see more. In any event, there's no clear and obvious venue to determine likely value. That makes it hard to sustain interest in high prices, when you can't validate what you have (or are about to) spend. I imagine someone might tell me "blah blah blah, put it on eBay and take what you can get, what someone pays is what it's worth". I don't find that a satisfactory explanation, that's called "the greater fool". If there's any persistant value to AOL disks or CD's, I'd expect to find something - or have someone tell me "go *here* and see for your self". Herb Johnson lesser fool -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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AOL 4.0 on Ebay
by Bill Degnan 23 Jul '18

23 Jul '18

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-America-online-disc-for-internet-4-0-WITH… The last one sold for $10,000+. I think an AOL 2.5 diskette in original package with the Thompson Twins on the package went for $75,000 Bill

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] AOL 4.0 on Ebay
by Jeffrey Golas 23 Jul '18

23 Jul '18

I think I would wet myself if Prodigy came back in any iteration! Jeff

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