- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Looking for a terminal as prop for a kids science program
by Bill Degnan 30 Jun '18

30 Jun '18

I was approached to provide a terminal for a science program. The props guy naturally wanted something I would not be willing to part with.. https://www.vintagecomputer.net/alphacom/AlphaCom_Front1.JPG Does anyone have anything like this? It does not have to be working but you have to be willing to sell for a few hundred dollars. I am happy to pass along the lead to whomever can furnish a similar-looking unit. Contact me privately via https://www.vintagecomputer.net/contact.cfm. Bill

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Good news / please read, Re: museum network rack
by Evan Koblentz 29 Jun '18

29 Jun '18

Hey everyone. Our rack is nearing completion, we just need a little more help. - We obtained a right-sized patch panel (1u / 24 ports) and returned the 2u to Martin (we don't need 48 ports and why waste the space?) - Jason P. is bringing us a console (sliding kbd drawer + monitor) this weekend - I talked to several people who know about UPS stuff and got various opinions -- there were suggestions ranging from small consumer units to 3000va cabinets. I considered them all and decided the best thing for us is a 1500va system because it is plenty of power / battery life, and it's much cheaper than the next step up (2200va which costs more + requires a 20A circuit to be installed). Plus you still get the management software. Three companies make these: APC, Cyperpower, and Tripp-Lite. I spent a couple of weeks trying to get one donated to us, but I failed to pull it off. Then I changed gears and started looking at prices. I decided on a specific unit, the Tripp-Lite SMART1500RM2U. Funny story: I checked Amazon, CDW, Newegg, and also did a generic Google search. Guess who has the best price ..... Home Depot! It's crazy. Same basic price as the others ($522) but they do ship-to-store so you save a lot on shipping as it's 58 pounds. Steve A. and Don C. each agreed to donate $200 for this, so all we need is another $120 to buy it. If just a few people each commit to 10, 20, or 50, then we'll have it in no time. Can you help? Thanks, -Evan

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(no subject)
by Herb Johnson 29 Jun '18

29 Jun '18

> Bill Degnan: > Anyone have any SGI Octane Drive Sleds for sale/trade? I have earlier SGI sleds but not for the Octane: http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/sgi.html Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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VCF Repair workshop this weekend, high heat and humidity: re: fans
by Jeffrey Brace 29 Jun '18

29 Jun '18

It has been noted that there will be hot temperatures in the 90's and high humidity this weekend during our workshop. There is air conditioning in 9032-A where we hold our workshop and generally works well, but it has been suggest that everyone bring small personal fans because the wide open space is not the most efficient in heating and cooling. VCF has one or two small fans that can promote air flow, so we may bring them out if there will be no one in the warehouse working. -- -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Museum news / today's report
by Evan Koblentz 28 Jun '18

28 Jun '18

Everyone, I'll be at the museum most Wednesdays from now on, in addition to many weekends. This is due to a (positive!) change in my work. I went today and it was busy. Steady stream of families all afternoon. Most of them took full tours, asked good questions, and had children who were smart + well-behaved. Jeff B. stopped by to work on something and at one point he took a tour group around because I was busy with another family. After public hours ended, I fixed the Lego robot. It had two problems -- 1. the top forklift sensor was being flaky and saturating it in alcohol hadn't helped, so I replaced it; 2. One set of treads kept failing to move, which I thought meant performing robot surgery :) to replace that side's motor, but I figured out that what actually happened was a drive gear had slipped to the side and wasn't sufficiently contacting its pinion -- so I moved it back into place and inserted a spacer that will prevent it from sliding again, and did the same on the opposite side as preventative maintenance. Robot fixed!

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Anyone going to HOPE?
by Jason Perkins 27 Jun '18

27 Jun '18

Anyone from VCF going to HOPE this year? The date snuck up on me, and now the hotel Penn is full. If someone knew of a good / inexpensive place to stay for this conference I'm all ears! -- Jason Perkins 313 355 0085

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Important Info for VCF Repair Workshop June 30 & July 1, 2018
by Jeffrey Brace 27 Jun '18

27 Jun '18

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. Some people didn't realize this last workshop. This has been in effect since June 2017. Sign up quickly to guarantee a table. DATE: June 30 & July 1, 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/1n8M9h5ZVbcA4VixgDy3GHyN2HTWzSsS3fAg… > 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 me 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. - 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 first, since I will be getting there after 1pm each day: 646-546-9999 . AFter 1pm my cell is 732-759-1783. See everyone there! And have fun! -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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InfoAge closed on Wed. July 4 -- EOM
by Evan Koblentz 27 Jun '18

27 Jun '18

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Thicknet/10base5 Test Segment: The Cable is In!
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 26 Jun '18

26 Jun '18

systems_glitch via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> writes: > >Heh, yes, this roll should last for a *little* while :P As long as >you're not in a hurry, I can drop it off next time I'm up your way for >work! It'd look nice, connected to a Unibus Ethernet board :) Via an AUI, of course, as you can't connect it directly.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Extra HOPE ticket for sale (Re: Anyone going to HOPE?)
by Evan Koblentz 26 Jun '18

26 Jun '18

>> I look forward to seeing many of you there as usual. Back at ya. >> The MARCH exhibit has always been a highlight MARCH doesn't exist anymore, "Vintage Computer Federation / Mid-Atlantic Chapter" ... rolls off the tongue, don't you think? :) On Tue, Jun 26, 2018, 4:02 PM Ken via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > I have an extra HOPE ticket for sale (I paid $170), because my friend > accidentally double booked his weekend. > > Anyone wanting to come to HOPE, let me know if you'd like to buy my ticket > so I don't worry about selling it anymore! > > I look forward to seeing many of you there as usual. The MARCH exhibit > has always been a highlight, always attracting interesting/interested folks > of all ages for great teachings and reminiscings. > > - Ken > > At 6/26/2018 09:20 AM, systems_glitch via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > > >Also, the Hotel Penn isn't booked solid, try TripAdvisor. I booked rooms > >just last night, worked fine and was cheaper than when I used the Hotel > >Penn site directly two years ago (I'd been warned not to do that in the > >future). Again, though, the standard of room being provided may be > shocking > >to those who aren't familiar with NYC price/quality curves :P > > > >Thanks, > >Jonathan > > > >On Mon, Jun 25, 2018 at 5:29 PM, systems_glitch <systems.glitch(a)gmail.com > > > >wrote: > > > >> Definitely something to note: if you're not used to the standards of > >> "cheap hotel room in NYC," the Hotel Penn might be a bit of a shock to > you. > >> I've never seen evidence of bugs or rodents in rooms I've been in, and > no > >> one I personally know has either, which is about all you can say for the > >> older/cheaper rooms at the Hotel Penn. Last time Ethan and I split a > room, > >> the AC was leaking condensate all over the carpet and made it smell a > bit > >> like death in there. Fortunately I had my security bits in my toolbox > and > >> was able to open the window :P > >> > >> Beware that they will also try and stick a daily housekeeping charge on > >> your bill, after you check out. > >> > >> Thanks, > >> Jonathan > >> > >> On Mon, Jun 25, 2018 at 5:22 PM, Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic < > >> vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > >> > >>> Anyone from VCF going to HOPE this year? > >>>> The date snuck up on me, and now the hotel Penn is full. If someone > knew > >>>> of > >>>> a good / inexpensive place to stay for this conference I'm all ears! > >>>> > >>> > >>> I will be there! Crashing with a friend I know from the old school > hacker > >>> scene though, I didn't setup the hotel. > >>> > >>> From MAGFest knowledge, it might be that the HOPE Hotel block is full. > >>> Check to see if the room is available with or without the HOPE code. > The > >>> next thing is there is some 5000 club or something that gets access to > >>> nicer (meaning a normal hotel grade) room. > >>> > >>> Also more rooms might open up as the event gets closer, but it's a pain > >>> being on that line. > >

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Extra HOPE ticket for sale (Re: Anyone going to HOPE?)
by Ken 26 Jun '18

26 Jun '18

I have an extra HOPE ticket for sale (I paid $170), because my friend accidentally double booked his weekend. Anyone wanting to come to HOPE, let me know if you'd like to buy my ticket so I don't worry about selling it anymore! I look forward to seeing many of you there as usual. The MARCH exhibit has always been a highlight, always attracting interesting/interested folks of all ages for great teachings and reminiscings. - Ken At 6/26/2018 09:20 AM, systems_glitch via vcf-midatlantic wrote: >Also, the Hotel Penn isn't booked solid, try TripAdvisor. I booked rooms >just last night, worked fine and was cheaper than when I used the Hotel >Penn site directly two years ago (I'd been warned not to do that in the >future). Again, though, the standard of room being provided may be shocking >to those who aren't familiar with NYC price/quality curves :P > >Thanks, >Jonathan > >On Mon, Jun 25, 2018 at 5:29 PM, systems_glitch <systems.glitch(a)gmail.com> >wrote: > >> Definitely something to note: if you're not used to the standards of >> "cheap hotel room in NYC," the Hotel Penn might be a bit of a shock to you. >> I've never seen evidence of bugs or rodents in rooms I've been in, and no >> one I personally know has either, which is about all you can say for the >> older/cheaper rooms at the Hotel Penn. Last time Ethan and I split a room, >> the AC was leaking condensate all over the carpet and made it smell a bit >> like death in there. Fortunately I had my security bits in my toolbox and >> was able to open the window :P >> >> Beware that they will also try and stick a daily housekeeping charge on >> your bill, after you check out. >> >> Thanks, >> Jonathan >> >> On Mon, Jun 25, 2018 at 5:22 PM, Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic < >> vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: >> >>> Anyone from VCF going to HOPE this year? >>>> The date snuck up on me, and now the hotel Penn is full. If someone knew >>>> of >>>> a good / inexpensive place to stay for this conference I'm all ears! >>>> >>> >>> I will be there! Crashing with a friend I know from the old school hacker >>> scene though, I didn't setup the hotel. >>> >>> From MAGFest knowledge, it might be that the HOPE Hotel block is full. >>> Check to see if the room is available with or without the HOPE code. The >>> next thing is there is some 5000 club or something that gets access to >>> nicer (meaning a normal hotel grade) room. >>> >>> Also more rooms might open up as the event gets closer, but it's a pain >>> being on that line.

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Thicknet/10base5 Test Segment: The Cable is In!
by systems_glitch 26 Jun '18

26 Jun '18

All, A few months ago, I mentioned one of my suppliers had Belden 89880 thicknet Ethernet cable. Well, last week I finally made it down to his warehouse and picked it up! The final bits for a test segment came in today, so I set up a little link between my SPARCstation 10 and DEChub 90: https://imgur.com/a/GDUR36j Anyone interested in cable can email me directly (please change the subject line, it'll get binned into my cctalk folder otherwise). I can provide any level of "kit" from just the cable to fully ready to go. I do have a very few NOS Cabletron ST-500-01 transceiver/non-intrusive tap kits as well. Thanks, Jonathan

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(no subject)
by Bill Degnan 26 Jun '18

26 Jun '18

Anyone have any SGI Octane Drive Sleds for sale/trade? Here is an image: https://www.vintagecomputer.net/SGI/Octane/SGI_Octane_DriveSled.jpg Bill

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Looking for ISA backplane connector
by Richard Cini 26 Jun '18

26 Jun '18

Would anyone have a spare ISA slot connector (standard 8-bit) that I could buy? I’m just looking for the connector itself. If so, just contact me off list. Thanks! RichC Get Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef>

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Thicknet/10base5 Test Segment: The Cable is In!
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 26 Jun '18

26 Jun '18

systems_glitch via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> writes: > >All, > >A few months ago, I mentioned one of my suppliers had Belden 89880 >thicknet Ethernet cable. Well, last week I finally made it down to his >warehouse and picked it up! The final bits for a test segment came in >today, so I set up a little link between my SPARCstation 10 and DEChub >90: > >https://imgur.com/a/GDUR36j > >Anyone interested in cable can email me directly (please change the >subject line, it'll get binned into my cctalk folder otherwise). I can >provide any level of "kit" from just the cable to fully ready to go. I >do have a very few NOS Cabletron ST-500-01 transceiver/non-intrusive tap >kits as well. > >Thanks, Jonathan Where are the H4000s and H4005s?

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Museum report
by Tony Bogan 25 Jun '18

25 Jun '18

Sunday was the polar opposite of Evans day on Saturday. Only 4 visitors all day.....two pairs that came about 10 minutes apart after 4:00pm. The husband and wife duo were moderately interested, the father and son (adult son) were very interested. The father walked in and Immediately started to tell his son all about the Bendix in the museum and the one he used to work with....from there it was almost an hour of question and answer. I easily gained as much knowledge as I dispensed! Prior to those four visitors the day was cemetery quiet. However, I am now #5 on the high score list on PAC-Man on the NeXT cube :-) I got the VWOA room, bathroom and hallway swept, called John C from infoage who brought over some more TP for the restroom and shot the breeze for a few. I also got a little of the museum swept as well, but a leg injury from last week (carrying chairs and tables on the boats for Father's Day....another story) told me it was time to sit for awhile. Monday will be my only day off each week for the months of July and August (and most of September) so I will not be docent again for some time. Tony Sent from my iPhone

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 24 Jun '18

24 Jun '18

Cool/wet weather translated into a good amount of museum visitors today. I guess nobody wanted to be at the beach. We had about 20 people stop by throughout the day. It was all parents/kids. The best visitors were a pair of high school kids, boy and a girl, who stopped by on their own and stayed for an hour! I brought in our new 1u/24-port patch panel, returned the 2u/48-port panel (overkill for us) to Martin, did more workshop clean-up, and spent some more time preparing my HOPE demo. Our docent tomorrow will either be Jeff B. or Tony.

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Portable III keyboard foot
by Evan Koblentz 23 Jun '18

23 Jun '18

One of the feet (on the right side) on our Compaq Portable III is broken. It's the little pin that snapped off. Our parts machine in the warehouse lacks either foot. Does anyone have a spare?

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Docents for next weekend 6/23 & 6/24, 2018
by Jeffrey Brace 23 Jun '18

23 Jun '18

Expected docents for next weekend are Evan K. and myself (Jeff Brace). Not sure who will be which days yet. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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New-to-Me Zeos Pocket PC
by J. Alexander Jacocks 22 Jun '18

22 Jun '18

All, I just picked up a palmtop PC, from local Craigslist. It's a Zeos Pocket PC, which is a rebadged Tidalwave PS-1000. http://oldcomputers.net/zeos-ppc.html http://www.tankraider.com/DOSPALMTOP/zeosppc.html However, with this machine I didn't get the serial and parallel cables. Does anyone have a pinout for these? I'd like to make up some cables, so that I can transfer data to it. Any other information or resources that anyone might suggest would also be welcome. Thanks! - Alex

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A/B switch for ribbon cable?
by Evan Koblentz 22 Jun '18

22 Jun '18

Suppose I have two computers, I want to connect both of them through 20-pin ribbon cables to the same device, and I want to be able to easily swap which one is live via some kind of A/B switch. Does that exist? What's it called, so I can get one?

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] AC Cooling fan cable...
by Duane Craps 21 Jun '18

21 Jun '18

Is this it? https://www.amazon.com/AC-Infinity-Inch-Power-Plug/dp/B004YUUAJS/ref=sr_1_4… On 6/20/2018 9:38 PM, William Sudbrink via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > Martin A Flynn wrote: >> eBay: Search under "AC FAN POWER CORD" > Interesting. I searched "ac cooling fan power cable" on eBay and got nothing. Anyway, yes, thanks, your search hits. I'd still like to try to get one sooner than July 1st and maybe a little cheaper than seven bucks. > > Bill S. > > > --- > This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. > https://www.avast.com/antivirus > > -- DuaneCraps sdɐɹɔ ǝuɐnp

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AC Cooling fan cable...
by William Sudbrink 21 Jun '18

21 Jun '18

Does anyone know where to buy the little two bladed socket style cable that is commonly used on an AC cooling fan? I'm replacing a dead AC fan and it is hard wired. The replacement I got has the blades and I'd like to use them (without soldering) so that, if the fan dies again, its replacement will just be a screwdriver job. Unfortunately, the replacement came without the cable. Thanks, Bill S. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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NeXT printer emulator/bridge
by Herb Johnson 19 Jun '18

19 Jun '18

> On 06/17/2018 01:33 PM, Bill Degnan via vcf-midatlantic wrote: >> I have two next laser printers..I thought they were just >> ho laser jet II's with an adapter > > Dave McGuire wrote; > No, they are very different. HP never got their hands on > these; NeXT bought SX engines from Canon. Well.. The Laserwriter II was also based on a Canon SX engine, which was the engine for the LaserJet II. My wife still uses a LJ II or III, and I've sold LW II printers and parts for well over a decade. Wikipedia describes the lineage: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaserWriter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_LaserJet (probably an entry for neXt...) Point being, calling all these "a LJ II" is a plausible term of convenience, as LJ II's and III's were the most common of the printers discussed. Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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I'm in the area for a bit this month
by Ethan Dicks 19 Jun '18

19 Jun '18

Hi, All, I know a lot of you from many years of VCF East (and other events). It was suggested I should pop on here and say "hi" (Hi) and mention that I'm working in Downtown Philadelphia for few days this week and next. I am on foot, staying near City Hall, so any excursions would likely have to be along public transport lines or withing walking distance. If anyone is close enough to meet up the early part of this week or next week (I'm not here weekends) that could be fun. Cheers, -ethan

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The next VCF repair workshop: June 30 & July 1. Signup here.
by Jeffrey Brace 19 Jun '18

19 Jun '18

Signup: < https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1n8M9h5ZVbcA4VixgDy3GHyN2HTWzS sS3fAgX30bqINE> -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Test
by Evan Koblentz 19 Jun '18

19 Jun '18

Test test testity testosaurus

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Test
by Jeffrey Brace 19 Jun '18

19 Jun '18

-- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Scotch glasses left during VCF East
by Jeffrey Brace 18 Jun '18

18 Jun '18

Did someone staying in the dorms leave some scotch glasses? If yes, then identify them and I will give them back, the next time I see you here at VCF. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Osborne Vixen obtained!
by Lou 18 Jun '18

18 Jun '18

Oh hey Mike! I remember seeing you at East with the portable CP/M exhibit and talking with you briefly about the Vixen, now you know why! As for disk imaging I unfortunately do not have the means to do that yet as my only other system that would take 5.25 floppies is a 486 that I have been trying to get up and running for months (throwing out inconsistent POST errors) and even so I am not sure if it would be compatible with that type of format. If you want to bring any disks that you may have down that would be awesome! I plan to bring everything I have gotten from this with me including the manuals, potential problem disks and the Epson dot matrix printer that was supposed to be compatible with it. After all you do not see too many of these surface often! I should be at the next workshop at the end of June as well hopefully. -Lou

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PAL c64 - Power supply
by Jeffrey Brace 18 Jun '18

18 Jun '18

So the PAL c64 has a different type of power supply. A european two prong type. Does anyone know what it will take to convert power to American 120V? I need to start planning on how to get this machine up and tested at the next workshop June 30. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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VCFestival videos
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 18 Jun '18

18 Jun '18

Have the VCFestival videos of presentations/classes been processed and been made available for download?

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Osborne Vixen obtained!
by Lou 17 Jun '18

17 Jun '18

One of the big things which I have been eagerly waiting to share about I finally can. As of yesterday I am officially an owner of an Osborne OCC4 "Vixen". The previous owner and I have been in talks about the purchase for awhile now and finally having a good day to go out for the 2+ hour drive I finally have my hands on this awesome piece of hardware. A few things to also note from this is that it came with a box of disks and what seem to be the original manuals/documentation for the system, while the system is in good cosmetic condition there seem to be some cracks at the hinges of the system which I am currently thinking of ways to repair in a form of lightly applied epoxy or something more unnoticeable, I do not want to do any massive changes to the look/feel of the system more so just want to clean it up and fix any potential weak points. Finally the previous owner mentioned that some disks might not work which he is not sure is related to disk rot or maybe the floppy drive heads need cleaning, Because of that I was thinking on bringing it to the next Workshop for that reason. Aside from those issues the system is quite immaculate, comes with the original back panel still and I even obtained an Epson dot matrix printer that was fitted to work with it. I cannot wait to dive into this system and I hope that any little bit of help from others who know of the system or may actually have the system (Such as Mike L. or DJ) could share any tips for maintaining the system long term and what to watch out for. Here's hoping a fun start on a unique system. -Lou

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Free VCF t-shirts
by Jeffrey Brace 17 Jun '18

17 Jun '18

There are a number of t-shirts leftover from previous VCF. The latest VCF t-shirts XIII are still for sale for $15 each. We don't have any X-Large or Large. We have S, M, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL, 5XL in limited quantities. T-shirts from "old" VCF East and West are free for the taking. Keep in mind that there are limited size selections. We will not ship them. You must pick them up. I will have them available at the next two workshops. Anything not taken by the end of August will be donated to charity. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Museum Report June 17, 2018
by Jeffrey Brace 17 Jun '18

17 Jun '18

I had a decent number of visitors today, especially since it is father's day. Highly interested people with some background or interest in vintage computers. I spent 30 to 40 minutes giving a tour to each of two groups of three people. There were other casual visitors that went through as I was giving tours. I would say a good turnout for a sunny great weather day and father's day. I worked on cleaning dust from my modern 2011 Aurora R2, and assessing the physical condition of my newly acquired PAL C64. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] NeXT printer emulator/bridge
by Brian L. Stuart 17 Jun '18

17 Jun '18

On Sun, 6/17/18, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > On 06/17/2018 01:33 PM, Bill Degnan via vcf-midatlantic wrote: >> I have two next laser printers..I thought they were just ho laser jet II's >> with an adapter > > No, they are very different. > > HP never got their hands on these; NeXT bought SX engines from Canon. > > The engine is modified to do 400DPI, from its default of 300DPI. No > rasterizer/video driver board is present, and the raw engine video and > timing handshake signals are brought out from the SX engine's DC > controller to the interface. Sun did something similar with their SPARCprinter back around 1990-ish. Not a bad printer for the time, but they got to where they wouldn't feed the paper correctly. When ours got to where it was more trouble than it was worth, we replaced it with a pretty nice Lexmark. BLS

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NeXT printer emulator/bridge
by Thomas Fuchs 17 Jun '18

17 Jun '18

Hi everybody! I’ve a NeXTstation computer that is hooked up to my local home network. I wonder if there’s a piece of software (for Mac ideally) that can act as a printing server for it bridging to printers connected to the Mac (directly or LAN). (Essentially emulate a NeXT printer so the NeXT machine can print on a modern printer.) Best, Thomas F.

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New list email address
by Evan Koblentz 17 Jun '18

17 Jun '18

The list is back! Its email address is no longer vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org .... now it's vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org. Basically what happened is our web hoster decided to change some DNS recordkeeping and didn't bother telling us. :( Fortunately the support people at the list company were awesome and walked me through what I needed to tell the web hoster to get it fixed. ________________________________ 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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New list email address
by Herb Johnson 17 Jun '18

17 Jun '18

> After completion any email to > vintagecomputerfederation would have no routing instructions. Since I access the maillist by Web, I discovered that http://vintagecomputerfederation.org was simply *gone*. An IP address which did not resolve to a hosted server. (shrug) Glad I finally got the memo from Evan. Thx. Hope this email gets to the new list. Herb "Testing" Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 17 Jun '18

17 Jun '18

I was museum docent today. Jeff B. was supposed to be at the IA front desk, but one of their own volunteers arrived so he came to the museum too. Two groups of visitors -- an older couple who wanted the full tour and stayed for 90 minutes, and then a family with kids who knew a little about programming. Fewer visitors recently as the weather improves. More people are enjoying the outdoors. Jeff and I worked on various projects. The most important: we installed four shelves in the workshop locker, so now its contents are neatly organized (gasp!) instead of just piled in there.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] New list email address
by Bill Degnan 16 Jun '18

16 Jun '18

> > > >> Basically what happened is our web hoster decided to change some DNS > >> recordkeeping and didn't bother telling us. :( Fortunately the support > >> people at the list company were awesome and walked me through what I > >> needed to tell the web hoster to get it fixed. > >> > >> ________________________________ > >> > > > > More than just DNS record keeping. This means they totally changed our > > master slave set up and did not take any mail server process into > account. > > Do they run this ISP out of their apartment? Ha ha > > What is wrong with that and what effect would it have on DNS? > > Ben > > > My guess is that vintagecomputerfederation.org <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> was rolled into vcfed.org as a slave A alias top free up an IP address, The master DNS record was removed. After completion any email to vintagecomputerfederation would have no routing instructions. They could have made this domain be an email routing MX alias but they did not. Probably better that they standardized things. This is the 2nd time DNS effected the hosting account, hopefully the last. Bill

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Computer terminal in WarGames
by William Sudbrink 15 Jun '18

15 Jun '18

Alexander Pierson wrote: > That is very much not a Votrax SC-01A. It's far too intelligible > to be an SC-01A. > > I'm almost certain that the WOPR's voice wasn't synthesized at all, > and instead was made from modified voice recordings. > -Alexander 'Z' Pierson Wikipedia agrees: "John Wood as Dr. Stephen Falken and the voice of Joshua/WOPR" Bill S. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Computer terminal in WarGames
by William Sudbrink 15 Jun '18

15 Jun '18

Alexander Pierson wrote: > That is very much not a Votrax SC-01A. It's far too intelligible > to be an SC-01A. > > I'm almost certain that the WOPR's voice wasn't synthesized at all, > and instead was made from modified voice recordings. > -Alexander 'Z' Pierson Wikipedia agrees: "John Wood <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wood_(English_actor)> as Dr. Stephen Falken and the voice of Joshua/WOPR" Bill S. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Computer terminal in WarGames
by Jonathan Gevaryahu 15 Jun '18

15 Jun '18

From what I recall, WOPR's voice was made by having a person (John Wood, same actor as who played Dr. Falken) read back the lines to be said with the words in reverse sentence order, then the recordings were spliced back into the correct order and a bunch of filters (vocoder?) applied to them. I'm not sure if the words were spoken in monotone and pitched up down by varying the recording speeds or not, or if the vocoder did this? -- Jonathan Gevaryahu jgevaryahu(a)gmail.com jgevaryahu(a)hotmail.com

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Computer terminal in WarGames
by Richard Cini 15 Jun '18

15 Jun '18

Does anyone know what terminal was used as the operators’ console terminal in McKittrick’s office in WarGames? It’s the terminal that’s near the window that overlooks the war room. It has some words on the front but I can’t make them out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCWKZWieMSY If you fast forward to about the 4-minute mark you can see it. Thanks! Rich -- Rich Cini http://www.classiccmp.org/cini http://www.classiccmp.org/altair32

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Computer terminal in WarGames
by Bill Degnan 15 Jun '18

15 Jun '18

On Thu, Jun 14, 2018 at 9:47 PM Alexander Pierson via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > That is very much not a Votrax SC-01A. It's far too intelligible to be > an SC-01A. > > I'm almost certain that the WOPR's voice wasn't synthesized at all, and > instead was made from modified voice recordings. > -Alexander 'Z' Pierson > > > You can't be saying that movies aren't real, are you? *life belief system shattering sound* :-) > >

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Looking for Seattle Computer Products 300 S-100 board
by Ethan O'Toole 13 Jun '18

13 Jun '18

Howdy! I picked up a SCP 200B 8086 CPU board, and there is a companion board called the 300 board that contains bootstrap code, a serial port and a few other functions. By any chance does anyone know where I might find one? - Ethan

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Mr. Pierson's Cactus on Hackaday...
by William Sudbrink 13 Jun '18

13 Jun '18

https://hackaday.com/2018/06/13/vcf-east-cactus-retro-because-it-wants-to-be / --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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Announcement: VCF Midwest 2018!
by Jason T 13 Jun '18

13 Jun '18

Hello East-coasters! I met many of you at my first visit to VCF East last month and talked everyone's ear off about our little Midwest gathering and promised further details when I got back home. At long last, here they are. Hope to see some of you out here in September! --- Summer is almost here and that means it's time to get it in gear and start planning our next Vintage Computer Festival Midwest. Astute readers will note that this announcement comes many weeks later than in past years, but rest assured there is still plenty of time remaining to make your travel plans, reserve a table or get yourself into the mood for a full weekend of classic computing fun. Here are the necessaries: What: The Thirteenth Vintage Computer Festival Midwest When: September 15-16, 2018 (note that that's one weekend later than the usual dates!) Where: The Holiday Inn Elk Grove Village, Elk Grove Village, Illinois - about 30 minutes west of Chicago with a free shuttle bus from ORD! URL: http://vcfmw.org More info for the uninitiated and VCFMW veterans alike: - We do not charge admission. Thus, we are a community-supported show, so we humbly beg your kind donations, which can be made via two different links at vcfmw.org, or at the show. - Always an entertaining spectacle, there will once again be an auction! This is the other way we fund the show, so your donation of old computers (or anything even marginally related) is greatly appreciated. If it's a little too nice to put in the Free Pile, please consider donating it as an auction item. - Typical show hours are 9am Saturday 'til late night, and then 9am-4pm on Sunday (clean-up begins around 3pm). Early load-in is usually available on Friday afternoon, hours at the hotel's discretion. - The show really begins on Friday night, at least for exhibitors. We typically go for an informal group dinner and return to the hotel to complete setup. Don't worry if you're getting into town late, you can still set up Friday night (until 11pm or so). If you're arriving Saturday morning, your table will still be reserved. - Tables fill up quickly! If you'd like to exhibit, please fill out the table reservation form at http://vcfmw.org/signup.html. If the form is closed, it's because the buffer filled up and we're still processing requests. We don't want to reserve space we don't have! - Hotel rooms at the Holiday Inn are available at the group rate of $92/night via the link at vcfmw.org, or by calling the hotel at the number listed on our site. If the online room block is full, please try calling the hotel directly. - There is an on-site restaurant in the hotel that serves breakfast through dinner and a bar that is open late-ish. Consensus seems to be that they have good food and not having to leave the hotel to eat is a big plus. Feel free to forward this email or post its contents to your favorite forum. We'll see you in September! -j Twitter: https://twitter.com/vcfmidwest Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/248644859019545 ---

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Weekend project
by Eric Rangell 12 Jun '18

12 Jun '18

Hi all, This weekend I had the thrill of a 1976 experience of spending hours soldering a computer kit and it didn’t work. I worked on a Replica 1 Plus (functionally equivalent to an Apple 1). The power came on but the video test failed. When I put the rest of the chips in, the power LED went off shortly after power-on. I will bring it to Kansasfest so I can learn how to troubleshoot the problem. If Henry or anyone else has logic probe readings for a working model let me know. I also put together a Ramworks IIII card for my Apple //e. When I install it and go into 80 columns, there are quote marks in various spots on the 80 column text screen which do not go away. Another problem (I mean Opportunity) to learn troubleshooting. The best part of the weekend was the time I spent with Bill D. where he showed me how to launch missiles from the Univac. (Well, he explained how the radar and targeting systems were integrated with AD converters that translated 50V signals into numbers, and ran some blinky lights). It is fascinating to learn how the Navy got things done with what they had at the time. I’m wondering if a demo can be created using batteries to supply various analog voltages into the ports that would have received voltages from the ship systems. Also, several people at VCF East had detailed exhibits with a lot of info on displays that would be nice to preserve, or put the material online for people who’d like to learn more. I’m also enjoying the Kim Uno and Raspberry Pi 3 that I bought from Jeff G. Thanks, Eric

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