- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Museum letter to Festivus Claus
by Evan Koblentz 04 Dec '17

04 Dec '17

Dear Festivus Claus, Here are some things we would really like to have for the museum. We've been very good this year!!! - A long RCA cable (about 20 ft.) so we can attach the Lego demo station (Laser 128) to the big workbench monitor. - Demodulator (to attach a 2600 to RCA input on the same big monitor) - Combined DVD/VCR unit, that would save space vs. separate ones. - Fanless rack-mount switch. Martin recommended fanless versions of the Juniper EX2200 or Cisco 3010. We'd like at least 12 ports, 24 would be ideal, with PoE support. - Rack-mountable UPS with good batteries - Dark chocolate for Evan (thought I'd sneak that in!) - Rack-mountable sliding keyboard tray - Keyboard with built-in trackpad/trackball - Two matching office chairs -- black/chrome, cushioned, wheels, arm supports - One bench-height stool -- black/chrome, cushioned, wheels Perhaps some of next week's party attendees can bring us any of these items on behalf of Festivus Claus. Keep in mind it's all tax-deductible.

3 4

Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 04 Dec '17

04 Dec '17

Adam and I were at the museum from 11:00-6:30 today. - Jason H., who used to live out here and was an active MARCH member, visited today from Seattle. He hadn't seen the museum. The first words out of his mouth upon entering were, "It looks professional!" vs. our old exhibit. He hung out with us until about 5:00 and even helped clean our workbench. - Adam counted our Commodore 128s .... FIFTEEN! That's a dozen more than we need. We'll test them all another time (probably at the next workshop in January) and then figure out how to get the surplus into collectors' hands. - Adam also sorted/organized some other Commodore accessories, joysticks, etc. which were cluttering our warehouse entrance area. - We checked out a donation of a TI Professional Computer (Osborne-esque) which arrived yesterday. It looks brand new except for the keycaps, most of which are yellowed although a few random ones seem pristine. Weird! - We put aside 50-something Pickett slide rules and a new-in-box Atari Flashback 2, which as Jeff B. posted will be given away at Festivus. - We put another Flashback 2 into the museum workshop and attached it to the big monitor on the wall. It works fine but there was no audio. We determined the wires from the monitor's side-mounted speakers were damaged. Chances are high that some of the more experienced members can fix this. I'd still rather connect one of our real 2600s, but first we need to acquire a modular (not a demodulator) because the monitor doesn't have a coax input. I think Dean said he has one. - We had a slow but steady stream of museum visitors. Maybe about 20 people total. Lots of parents/children due to the InfoAge holiday train show. The highlight was a precocious and extroverted 7-year-old girl who really got into it. - We stopped at Home Depot and got a 50-pack of contractor-grade trash bags. Our warehouse supply of these was done. ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, 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

5 9

January Workshop - Vote for your choice
by Jeffrey Brace 04 Dec '17

04 Dec '17

Choose a weekend: January 6/7 January 13/14 January 27/28 Voting ends Dec. 2 Don't complain if you didn't vote!

6 6

NeXTstation
by Evan Koblentz 04 Dec '17

04 Dec '17

NeXTstation in the museum wouldn't turn on today. No idea why! This needs some TLC at the next workshop. ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, 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

3 3

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Commodore in Trooper, PA??
by Christopher Gioconda 03 Dec '17

03 Dec '17

I work in Conshohocken so if I can help in any way, I can make myself available. Christopher Gioconda cgioconda(a)gmail.com On Dec 2, 2017 12:39 PM, "Chris Fala via vcf-midatlantic" < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: I am nearby and can probably go help with this. Please let me know when others are planning to go. Chris F. On Dec 1, 2017, at 6:12 PM, William Sudbrink via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: Did anybody else catch the odd post on the VCFed forums from a guy claiming to be disposing of the contents of a "gmt plant"? Talking about wafers, blueprints, sealed games, C64s? Someone close enough to take a look? Bill S. The posting is in the For Sale: spotted on Craigslist thread for some reason, by the way. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

3 3

Stuff FS/FT at Festivus (or otherwise)
by Todd George 03 Dec '17

03 Dec '17

Hi all, My computer room and garage are bursting at the seams from the amount of vintage computing crap I've amassed of-late. I know I have more stuff than I'll ever find the time to work on and want to prioritize the process of offloading some of the excess. Problem is, I need motivation to dig into the stuff that doesn't personally interest me. In order to drive motivation, I'll list some of the things that I'm looking to get rid of. Here's the deal, the details are limited as generally I only know that I have these items, haven't documented them in-detail. If you are interested in something let me know (off list) and I'll dig whatever it is out and get more details over to you including pictures or whatnot. Alternatively, I can drag whatever it is to Festivus and you can poke at it in person, no pressure, no obligation. I'm trying to move some inventory so if you don't like a price, let me know or make an offer, maybe we can work something out or I'm just off my rocker and need some sense talked into me. Would also consider trades +/- cash for Amiga machines and accessories, Commodore stuff in general (although I'm up to my eyeballs in C64s and VIC-20s), an IBM 5140 Convertible or 5155 Portable (or other portable/transportable computing equipment), 100MB USB (or SCSI) Zip Drive, or PowerBooks/Apple Macintosh equipment. Here's the list: - Commodore 1541 Disk Drives - $25 to $35 depending on condition - Apple IIc w/Apple Monochrome Monitor IIc - Working, computer needs to be cleaned, monitor is gorgeous and has been Retrobrited, has monitor stand - $140 - Apple Monochrome Monitor IIc with stand new/unused in box, seal broken, tested - $80 - White TI 99-4/A - $35 - Commodore 64 retail boxes - $10 - TRS-80 Model III 48K - $150 - TRS-80 Model 4P (No lid!) - $175 - Tandy Color Computer 1 - $45 - Tandy Color Computer 2 ("melted keys" version) - $55 - iBook G3 (not working, video chip needs reflow/replacement) - $10 - 586 Small SBC/Single Board Computers - $50 - 13 and 19” CRT televisions - $10 each - Viewsonic E90fb 19" CRT Monitor - $40 - NEC XV17+ 17" CRT Monitor - $65 - Bondi Blue iMac - $40 - Various pizza box Macintosh LCII and LCIII computers - $30 to $60 - Apple StyleWriter 2500 - $40 - Various Star Micronics and other Dot Matrix Printers - XBox Classic TSOP Modded, no software installed - $30 For potential deals outside of Festivus, I'm located in Quakertown, PA and generally disinterested in shipping. I've got great eBay feedback, and quite a few people here know I'm a straight-shooter. Thanks all, -Todd

1 0

FESTIVUS 2017 - README.TXT (PART 1)
by Jeffrey Brace 03 Dec '17

03 Dec '17

I think one big e-mail was too much for everyone. I'm breaking it into parts spread over many days. Here is the signup list: https://docs.google.com/ spreadsheets/d/1odmPxfBK9BrR-NDZIx4_c-V2lZpt_-vU- 3fIBGiyrM4/edit?usp=sharing <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1odmPxfBK9BrR-NDZIx4_c-V2lZpt_-vU-3f…> *DATE:* December 9 & 10. *TIME:* START - 10 A.M. on Saturday and goes late into the night until everyone sleeps. END - 5 P.M. on Sunday. (Re-starts around 10 A.M. Sunday morning) *LOCATION:* InfoAge Building 9010-D - (2201 Marconi Road, Wall Township, NJ) - It will be straight ahead once you enter through the gate. The door is marked Sandy Recovery and is up the steps. *PARKING:* InfoAge management wants us to park inside the campus, in a neat orderly row, between the Festivus building and the IXR MakerSpace building. Here's is my crude map: https://drive.google.com/ open?id=1ThrnNAnAWsCz30Am7IvG8GS50YFOziHK InfoAgeMap (Park behind Q/R/S) http://infoage.org/visiting/ The holiday train show is going on, so we are discouraged from parking in the main parking lot, since they will be reserved for guests of the model train show. Do not cost IA money by leaving it open to confuse paying guests. Always close it behind you when you enter/exit, EVEN IF IT WAS ALREADY OPEN! *COST:* *PAY ME! (Jeff Brace) - **http://vcfed.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/brace-1.jpg <http://vcfed.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/brace-1.jpg>* $10 for all members attending Festivus, which VCF pays to InfoAge to renting the space and buy food and supplies. $25 if you are staying overnight. See below for details. We can accept cash. If you want to pay via PayPal, I can have a machine available.

1 0

Museum Report 2017-12-02 December 2, 2017
by Jeffrey Brace 02 Dec '17

02 Dec '17

Steve Anderson was docent today. His report: Slow to moderate day, two Marines in uniform were impressed. Two or three small families, and a couple dropped off a ti computer system Today was the first day of the holiday trains at Infoage. The museum will be busy with traffic from visitors as the month goes by.

1 0

MOBIDIC replica project
by Evan Koblentz 02 Dec '17

02 Dec '17

I want us to build a MOBIDIC replica at the museum. Background for any newer list members who aren't aware: MOBIDIC -- Mobile Digital Computer -- was a first-gen (1956) transistor computer designed by the staff of Camp Evans, which is the Army Signal Corps secret electronics R&D facility that's now the InfoAge Science Center, which hosts the VCF museum among many other groups. MOBIDIC was not the "first" mobile computer. For example, the National Bureau of Standards (today called NIST) made DYSEAC in 1953. However DYSEAC was a one-time prototype, whereas Sylvania (in Massachusetts, under contract to Camp Evans) built six MOBIDIC computers all of which were successfully used in field operations for several years. Sylvania also made two 9400 computers which were faster versions of the MOBIDIC design. "Mobile" is relative. :) Each MOBIDIC was installed in two 30-ft. trailers. One for the computer itself, one for power, cooling, etc., with the trailers attached by cables/hoses when in use. None of the six MOBIDICs or two 9400s exist today. Our museum has a beat-up scale model of the computer trailer. Computer History Museum (our friends out in California) have a better model. There are various pictures on the Internet. There are large amounts of public/private documents from the Army/Sylvania about details of the electronic design, architecture, components, programming, etc., most of (all?) of which I obtained while writing my book "Abacus to smartphone: The evolution of mobile and portable computers" published in 2015 (www.abacustosmartphone.com) From this information, I believe a replica MOBIDIC could be constructed. At least, a fullish-scale model could be made, and we could let visitors walk inside to see it. At best, someone could emulate the software so the model could "work". (I can't fathom building a complete truly "working" exact clone.) Conveniently, there are two 50s/60s-era Army-green trailers parked at InfoAge. They're under control of the electronic warfare group, whose leader (John C.) is a super-nice guy. We get along well. A while ago I asked him if we could use one trailer for this purpose. We "just" need the know-how and money to do it. So if we do this, the replica would only be of the computer trailer, not of the support trailer. I envision plenty of signs explaining to visitors that this trailer is HALF an installation. I have some ideas about how to fund the project, but there's no point getting into that until we understand how much work is really involved and what it would cost. * I wrote "fullish-scale", not full-scale, because I haven't measured the length of the available trailers. It would be close. Online images: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOBIDIC#/media/File:MOBIDIC_cutaway.jpg https://www.usarmygermany.com/Units/7th%20Army%20SUPCOM/Partials_7th%20ICC%…

10 23

Commodore in Trooper, PA??
by William Sudbrink 02 Dec '17

02 Dec '17

Did anybody else catch the odd post on the VCFed forums from a guy claiming to be disposing of the contents of a "gmt plant"? Talking about wafers, blueprints, sealed games, C64s? Someone close enough to take a look? Bill S. The posting is in the For Sale: spotted on Craigslist thread for some reason, by the way. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

4 7

¡IMPORTANTE! - README.TXT - Finale Festivus 2017 reminder
by Jeffrey Brace 02 Dec '17

02 Dec '17

Here is the detailed Festivus information. Here is the signup list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1odmPxfBK9BrR-NDZIx4_c-V2lZpt_-vU-3f… <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1odmPxfBK9BrR-NDZIx4_c-V2lZpt_-vU-3f…> *DATE:* December 9 & 10. *TIME:* START - 10 A.M. on Saturday and goes late into the night until everyone sleeps. END - 5 P.M. on Sunday. (Re-starts around 10 A.M. Sunday morning) *LOCATION:* InfoAge Building 9010-D - (2201 Marconi Road, Wall Township, NJ) - It will be straight ahead once you enter through the gate. The door is marked Sandy Recovery and is up the steps. *PARKING:* InfoAge management wants us to park inside the campus, in a neat orderly row, between the Festivus building and the IXR MakerSpace building. Here's is my crude map: https://drive.google.com/ open?id=1ThrnNAnAWsCz30Am7IvG8GS50YFOziHK InfoAgeMap (Park behind Q/R/S) http://infoage.org/visiting/ The holiday train show is going on, so we are discouraged from parking in the main parking lot, since they will be reserved for guests of the model train show. Do not cost IA money by leaving it open to confuse paying guests. Always close it behind you when you enter/exit, EVEN IF IT WAS ALREADY OPEN! *COST:* *PAY ME! (Jeff Brace) - **http://vcfed.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/brace-1.jpg <http://vcfed.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/brace-1.jpg>* $10 for all members attending Festivus, which VCF pays to InfoAge to renting the space and buy food and supplies. $25 if you are staying overnight. See below for details. We can accept cash. If you want to pay via PayPal, I can have a machine available. *EQUIPMENT:* VCF will have tables setup for food and games. We will have two full sized refrigerators and one full sized freezer to temporarily store food and drinks. We will be borrowing *my* propane grill to cook hamburgers and hot dogs outside. *DRINKS:* Everyone is encouraged to bring their own drinks and enough to share with others. Bring your favorite and put what you are bringing on the list: *FOOD:* VCF will be supplying hamburgers, hot dogs, condiments, plates, forks, napkins, cups. I sent out a list of what we need. E-mail me if you want to bring. You are encouraged to bring your own favorite good and put what you are bringing on the list: *IMPORTANT TO KEEP FOOD AND DRINKS IN THE CAFETERIA! THIS IS THE RULE OF THE FACILITY OWNERS.* *ENTERTAINMENT?* Ian: Vintage video games and boob tubes. Jeff Brace: Namco Joystick games, C64 Jostick Games, Intellivision Joystick Games, C64 with Super CPU and Metal Dust with optional PS2 controller, Cards Against Humanity!, Vectrex Evan: Will be entertaining us bad jokes and stinky farts. Bill Degnan: Live action Terrance and Philip skit with Jeff Brace. Name the farter/burper: Throughout the night there will be a contest to identify who farted or burped. Difficulty will increase when we are all in bed and it is dark. *STAYING OVERNIGHT?* Let me know if you want to stay overnight. The cost is $25. You provide your own mattress cover, blankets, pillows. There is a shower area, lounge, bunk beds, hot water for tea, microwave oven, toaster oven, keurig, coffee pot, ice machine, sink, cable TV, wi-fi. Evan will be responsible for sorting the snoring people into the "snoring room" and the non-snoring people into the "non-storing" room. To get an accurate headcount, let me know as soon as possible that you are staying overnight and how many nights. There will be coffee, milk, cream, sugar and tea bags available as well. * BUYING, SELLING, FREEBIES :* You are allowed to bring items to sell and trade with specific individuals, but this isn't a hamfest where you get a table to sell your stuff. If you want to bring your stuff, you are encourage to post to the list what you want to sell/trade and set it up ahead of time with individuals. Anything you bring in and don't sell/trade, you bring home. We can set aside a freebie table as per traditional, but you *must* take your stuff home before leaving if no one takes it. *SIGN-UP LINK:* https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1odmPxfBK9BrR-NDZIx4_c-V2lZpt_-vU-3f…

2 1

Festivus stuff already covered
by Jeffrey Brace 02 Dec '17

02 Dec '17

Some people are not looking at the list of stuff that is already covered on my Google sheet. There are certain things that are already covered and at the party site. Maybe I gotta copy and paste in e-mails? All of this is covered in my info doc as well as my shopping list etc. For example all of this is at the site already: Item Quantity Plates 130 Cups-styrofoam 10 Cups-hot 110 Solo 175 Solo-mini 15 Napkins 100 K-cups-coffee 40 K-Cups-chocolate 20 Sugar packets 300 Sucralose 500 Utensils 300 Tea 100 Coffee bags 50 Straws 50 Coffee Strainers 30 There is an ice machine there. There is a hot water dispenser. There is a "regular" coffee machine. We are bringing VCF's Keurig machine (dunkin coffee, hot chocolate, many other flavors) There is a big freezer, and two refrigerator/freezer combos. I'm bringing my grill with two propane tanks. I will send the Info doc out again and send another e-mail with what we need.

1 0

Retro Related Metal Work
by Henry S. Courbis 01 Dec '17

01 Dec '17

Anyone here know of a cheap metal solution for a small U frame or thin walled tube for a chassis project? It would need to be something about 3.5" x 2.5" x 10". I will also need an end plate with some holes cut out that can mount to the chassis. Thin steel and a break would work also I believe however I don't want to do the work. If interested in the work let me know. Thanks! Henry S. Courbis Office Toll Free: (800) REACTIVE (732-2848) Office/Mobile Direct: (856) 779-1900 www.ReActiveMicro.com <http://www.ReactiveMicro.com> - Sales, Support, and News, Our Headquarters on the Internet ReActiveMicro.com/wiki - Support, Software, Manuals, and History. Create your own page today! Facebook.com/reactivemicrousa - Our Social Media Outlet and Support

2 1

FESTIVUS: free stuff
by Jeffrey Jonas 01 Dec '17

01 Dec '17

free if anyone wants it: Panasonic R310 electronic typewriter. Stand-alone daisy wheel typewriter. NO floppy drive NO PC interface -- jeff jonas

1 0

Festivus Games being brought - In case you missed it on the list
by Jeffrey Brace 29 Nov '17

29 Nov '17

Jeff Brace will bring: 4 C64 4 1702 Monitors 4 uIEC 4 1541 2 - C64 DTV 1 - Namco Ms. Pac-man joystick 1 - Namco Pac-man joystick 1 - C64 SuperCPU 1 - Playstation to C64 joystick port connector (fresh off the boat from GB) 1 - Vectrex with cartridges Lots of C64 games on SD card Maybe Shredz 64 (Guitar Hero for C64) Ian will bring: Nintendo Entertainment System Nintendo 64 Turbografx 16 Genesis Colecovision Jaguar Atari 2600 Many boob tubes

6 13

test ignore
by Duane Craps 29 Nov '17

29 Nov '17

test -- DuaneCraps sdɐɹɔ ǝuɐnp

1 0

TBA for Festivus 2017??? Drinks and Food
by Jeffrey Brace 29 Nov '17

29 Nov '17

Drinks 10 people = Beer 7 people = Soda or Water 8 people = TBA Food 7 people = Meal food 8 people = Snacks and Desserts 6 people = TBA There are also others that are blank. Please update your TBA. Please change blank to None. I want to know what I need to buy more of. Thanks, Jeff Brace

1 0

Museum inventory
by Evan Koblentz 29 Nov '17

29 Nov '17

Mike L. posted: "It bothers me greatly that we don't have a record of our holdings. We should have pictures of each item, along with make, model, s/n and donor info, at the least. ... I urge people to move on this." The VCFed board and I completely agree. It's already underway. Adam has been our greatest asset on this project. For some sick, twisted reason that I don't understand :) he * enjoys * being alone in the warehouse and counting stuff. He already counted our different models of Apple, Atari, and Commodore gear. There are five major benefits to having a proper inventory. In no particular order: we can buy artifact insurance, better evaluate the value of our assets, know what we can deaccession as fundraising, know what we have for exhibits, and clear warehouse space. We also have to attack the library which is mostly boxed up in storage. Jeff and I would love to arrange an inventory weekend when several members show up to work on this and nothing else. It will be important that everyone follow directions :) and not waste time on the minutiae of tiny bits. Over-inventorying is a trap to avoid. We needn't count every joystick, floppy disk, and power cable. Trying to do so would be functionally impossible. Instead, we're counting computers, major peripherals, and "box of TRS-80 software" or whatever the case may be.

7 8

A holiday message from VCF
by Evan Koblentz 29 Nov '17

29 Nov '17

Here's a special holiday-season message from VCFed to you! http://vcfed.org/wp/2017/11/28/a-holiday-message-from-vcf-to-you/ I'll add to it: VCFed is an amazing thing, and I never dreamed we'd get this big and successful. Please read the complete post linked above for a summary of what we accomplished in 2017, what we're thinking about for 2018, and how you can help us get there. Thanks, Evan

1 0

FS: Cromemco D+7A I/O Box, Manual, and Some Kit Pieces
by systems_glitch 29 Nov '17

29 Nov '17

link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/272959758773 This is ONLY the box, manual, and some kit pieces for a Cromemco D+7A -- the S-100 board itself is NOT included! I got it this way, and I don't have a D+7A to go in it :) Thanks, Jonathan

1 0

FS: Unused Processor Tech 2KRO 1702A ROM Board with Manual
by systems_glitch 29 Nov '17

29 Nov '17

link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/272959751915 This board came with a lot of other Processor Tech stuff, and appears to be completely unused. It includes what appears to be the original manual, in the Zip-Loc bag it came in, with the business card of Polyhedral Systems, most likely the company that sold the board. Happy to drop off in person at Festivus! Thanks, Jonathan

1 0

Cray C90/J916 on Ebay
by william degnan 28 Nov '17

28 Nov '17

Be the first one on your block...(unless you live in Kensington, PA) Ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-CRAY-C90-J916-Super-Computer-include-48-el… Bill

7 9

Museum Report 2017-11-26 November 26, 2017
by Jeffrey Brace 28 Nov '17

28 Nov '17

Lots of visitors today about 2 dozen. I show the kids a Macintosh and tell them to run Paint. They try to touch the screen. They think it is a touch screen. Then I show them the mouse. They single click. The don't know double click that well. I have to explain to them how slow computers were and they have to wait. I show the kids BASIC, then Impossible Mission on the C64. They love it. I show them Windows 3.1 and they love Minesweeper and Solitaire. They all loved it and stayed for an hour as I showed them the different microcomputers. I actually did a lot of tours instead of the usual quick run through. Lots of interest and they learned a lot about the history of computers that they didn't know. The parents love the explanation of the progression of technology. I need to learn more about how vacuum tube computers work to give them a comparison. Spent the rest of the time inventorying supplies we have for Festivus that we have already.

8 17

OT: InfoAge model trains show
by Evan Koblentz 28 Nov '17

28 Nov '17

InfoAge is having its annual model trains show, sponsored by Garden State Central Model Railroad Club, noon-5pm on December 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, and 17. Bring the family! There will be plenty of hands-on playing opportunities for kids. I hear there's a computer museum too. :) ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, 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

2 1

Cyber Monday
by Evan Koblentz 27 Nov '17

27 Nov '17

Support VCF! Use our Amazon Smile link today: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=20MHUMX22T2S1&K=ONBFISUFZZPK&M=urn:rtn…

1 0

Small rescue needed in Cherry Hill, NJ
by Evan Koblentz 27 Nov '17

27 Nov '17

Can someone pick up a vintage laptop for us in Cherry Hill? ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, 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

2 1

Raymond Scott and Jim Henson made an IBM commercial!
by Jeffrey Jonas 26 Nov '17

26 Nov '17

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IZw2CoYztk "Paperwork Explosion" The Jim Henson Company In 1967, Henson was contracted by IBM to make a film extolling the virtues of their new technology, the MT/ST, a primitive word processor. The film would explore how the MT/ST would help control the massive amount of documents generated by a typical business office. Paperwork Explosion, produced in October 1967, is a quick-cut montage of images and words illustrating the intensity and pace of modern business. Henson collaborated with Raymond Scott on the electronic sound track. manditory viewing: the Muppets Analytical Computer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IgF6_jVaj8 Cookie Monster for IBM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RowwNXKEt4k AT&T Archives: Charlie Magnetico, by Jim Henson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuLUWQRh-po AT&T Archives: Robot, by Jim Henson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivJNNwTGDcw Jim Henson made this film in 1963 for The Bell System. Specifically, it was made for an elite seminar given for business owners, on the then-brand-new topic — Data Communications.

4 3

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Bicycle pump for VCF handcart
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 26 Nov '17

26 Nov '17

Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic writes: >Vaxman, > >I don't know if you received my message. I got a rather harsh reply from >your system claiming that I was spam. It said "SPAM BREATH". How rude! >;) It also said, "550 I Spotted you in an RBL. SPAMBREATH!" What does >that mean? RBL -- Realtime Blackhole List Whatever you're using for your email has been listed as a SPAM source. It could be the IP of one or more of the servers, or could be the DNS listing that has been flagged. Check with MxToolbox.com

3 2

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Bicycle pump for VCF handcart
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 26 Nov '17

26 Nov '17

Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic writes: >Can anyone bring a bicycle pump for the tires in the VCF handcart? The >tires are getting flat. When do you need it?

4 4

Wanted: PC with Double Density floppy support
by Jim Hart 26 Nov '17

26 Nov '17

Please ignore if this is inappropriate for this list. I am in need of a PC that supports 360k floppy disk drives. I have the drive so I just need a machine that supports them in the BIOS. I am trying to use Image Disk and Teledisk to create actual floppies. If anyone has one for sale or knows of one please contact me off list at jim(a)jimhart.org. Thank you, -Jim Hart Sent from my iPhone

1 0

January and February workshop dates, any conflicts?
by Jeffrey Brace 26 Nov '17

26 Nov '17

Are there any other events in January or February that I should avoid for planning a workshop? I want to book some dates soon.

3 3

Museum Report 2017-11-25 November 25, 2017
by Jeffrey Brace 25 Nov '17

25 Nov '17

Lots of visitors today, maybe 2 to 3 dozen. Seems to be a busy time of the year with people doing indoor activities. Various ages and levels of interest. One girl even took 30 minutes to do a really cool dragon drawing using Paint on the Windows 3.1 machine. While the "boring" adults talked about cool stuff on the Commodore 64, she was doing a really nice drawing. Dean stopped by to drop something off. I tried the SuperCPU with an Atari joystick, but it doesn't work well enough for Metal Dust. I need to find a power supply for the PSX-64 to try a Playstation controller. Or try another Atari joystick or another manufacturer of the joystick. I would love to get my Playstation Joystick controller. It is a laptop version that really works well to mash the fire button.

1 0

Galaga Challenge at Festivus
by Jeffrey Brace 25 Nov '17

25 Nov '17

I challenge anyone to a three game battle on Galaga. We each play three games and add up the scores. Highest score wins. I'm awesome at this game. I can beat anyone! Who accepts?

10 59

micros in business (was early recollections, apple /// cobol)
by Jeffrey Jonas 25 Nov '17

25 Nov '17

A friend who is a CPA bought an Apple ][+ to run his business from home. He used VisiCalc (the first "killer app"). It was a lot more versatile than the huge Burroughs that was on display for a long time. In 1982, I worked for a small company that specialized in dental office automation using a TRS80 model 2 with extension floppy drives and daisy wheel printer to print insurance forms. It also handled appointments, reminder cards, etc. Around 1984, I noticed an unused Apple Lisa 1 (with Twiggy drive!) at a client. That was my first word processor! I used it for my documentation. No manual or training needed! Just poke around and things were quite natural! Dow Jones Telerate explored using single board computers and touch-screen terminals for their newswire service. Newswire services were not afraid to make custom hardware such as ISA interface cards. This was before ALL hardware became "just a commodity". Not just COTS but downright disposible :-( A friend who worked at a large scale printer remembers Syquest drives using Apple/iMac formats were the primary media/format for submission. The artistic community still favors Apple platforms. I attended a trade show for broadcasters. Apple notebooks/tablets are now used in lieu of cameras and for video editing in the field. -- jeff jonas

2 1

Bicycle pump for VCF handcart
by Jeffrey Brace 25 Nov '17

25 Nov '17

Can anyone bring a bicycle pump for the tires in the VCF handcart? The tires are getting flat.

1 0

festivus
by william degnan 24 Nov '17

24 Nov '17

Ian, I have picked up from Fran in Balitmore a vax station 3100 that uses one of those VR 260 displays I gave you, with the special video connector. http://vintagecomputer.net/digital/VR-260/ I no longer have the display so the VaxStation is of no use to me, interested in it? If so I will bring to Festivus. Or, if you don't really care about the display bring it so I can use it here, I can give you a trade for the display, I am sure I have something we can trade. vintagecomputers are basebal cards. Bill

3 3

apple /// cobol
by Herb Johnson 23 Nov '17

23 Nov '17

> anyone use apple /// cobol, used it back when . ... Waterloo Cobol for the SuperPET There were a number of 8-bit COBOLs. CP/M versions in particular. I only used it on mainframes, and not much at that. I glanced at SuperPET stuff recently. Didn't a lot of SuperPET stuff require the 6809 card? So it "ran" as 6809 code. Pure 6809 systems (SS-50 based) were semi-popular in the era. - Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

7 9

Cards Against Humanity, Ideas for blank cards for, at Festivus, I ask you
by Jeffrey Brace 23 Nov '17

23 Nov '17

I'm soliciting ideas for what to print on all them blank cards that Cards Against Humanity provides. Any suggestions? E-mail them to me privately as this game is in the South Park realm of humor ;) Remember there are black cards (question) and white cards (answers).

1 0

Update your Festivus information
by Jeffrey Brace 23 Nov '17

23 Nov '17

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I am thankful for having all my vintage computer enthusiasts in my life! Looking forward to enjoying myself at Festivus. Please look over the signup list to make sure everything is good for your entry. I will be assessing what's what next weekend: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1odmPxfBK9BrR-NDZIx4_c-V2lZpt_-vU-3f… Thanks! Jeff Brace

2 1

Off Topic: Did someone try to text message me?
by Ian Primus 23 Nov '17

23 Nov '17

I got a text message recently, mentioning old printers. Problem is, I have no way of knowing who it's from, and no way of replying. Was it someone on this list? -Ian

3 2

apple /// cobol
by Herb Johnson 23 Nov '17

23 Nov '17

> I recently got my Uncle to write up his PDP-8 usage... > Trying to collect more first hand stories. Got one more so far. > David Gesswein Good work. This preserves the context of use for our minicomputers and microcomputers of the era. That understanding WILL be lost, is already opaque to those in the 21st century, if it's not captured and made available to read today and in the future. Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

1 0

Happy Thanksgiving
by Evan Koblentz 23 Nov '17

23 Nov '17

Gobble, gobble everyone! Hope you all have a nice holiday. Looking forward to seeing many of you at Festivus in a couple of weeks. Evan Koblentz Director, Vintage Computer Federation evan(a)vcfed.org / (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org @vcfederation

1 0

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] apple /// cobol
by william degnan 22 Nov '17

22 Nov '17

On Wed, Nov 22, 2017 at 12:40 PM, Glenn Holmer via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Glenn Holmer <cenbe(a)kolabnow.com> > To: vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org > Cc: > Bcc: > Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2017 11:40:31 -0600 > Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] apple /// cobol > On 11/19/2017 12:28 PM, Herb Johnson via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > >> anyone use apple /// cobol, used it back when > > . ... Waterloo Cobol for the SuperPET > > > > There were a number of 8-bit COBOLs. CP/M versions in particular. I only > > used it on mainframes, and not much at that. > > There were at least two COBOLs for the Commodore 64: Abacus COBOL and > Nevada COBOL for '64 with the CP/M cartridge. > > -- > Glenn Holmer (Linux registered user #16682) > "After the vintage season came the aftermath -- and Cenbe." > > OK, if there are no people who used Apple /// Cobol, who here even used an Apple /// at all *back then (1980-1985) as their main PC. I am not expecting many. I could see being a student and using it to test code before uploading to the production environment, or in some cases for small business or consultants using a micro for Cobol. There were a number of Cobol applications for micros, I just never heard of anyone using the Apple /// version. Seems like it would have been nice, but I think I would have used an IBM PC version or a Tandy CP/M version, personally. Or, if possible access my production environment using a terminal. It was very popular for people at DuPont when I worked there to take home VT 220 terminals to access the servers from home. Mostly IBM stuff where I was. Bill

1 0

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Museum report. / slide rules
by Evan Koblentz 22 Nov '17

22 Nov '17

>> Hows about sell a couple at festivus? Definitely! On Nov 21, 2017 10:53 PM, "Douglas Crawford via vcf-midatlantic" < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: Hows about sell a couple at festivus? On 11/20/2017 1:16 PM, Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > Will items from this new acquisition, or other slide-rule items already >>> >> acquired, be part of upcoming exhibits? > > Some are rare/proprietary (for calculating strange things or branded > company swag) and some are very common Pickett / K&E. General plan is to > keep most of the weird ones and a few of the common ones. Maybe we can > display them on a wall. We'll sell the rest of the common ones at VCF East. > > On Nov 20, 2017 12:57 PM, "Herb Johnson via vcf-midatlantic" < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > > John H. and his g/f Jen came for a tour along with Stefan who donated slide >> >>> rules. (He estimates there are 1,000 in the collection!) >>> >>> Also did a good amount of >> >>> cleaning and planning for some modest exhibit changes this winter/spring. >>> >>> Will items from this new acquisition, or other slide-rule items already >> acquired, be part of upcoming exhibits? - Herb >> >> -- >> Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA >> http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net >> >>

1 0

Museum report. / slide rules
by Herb Johnson 22 Nov '17

22 Nov '17

> John H. and his g/f Jen came for a tour along with Stefan who donated slide > rules. (He estimates there are 1,000 in the collection!) > Also did a good amount of > cleaning and planning for some modest exhibit changes this winter/spring. Will items from this new acquisition, or other slide-rule items already acquired, be part of upcoming exhibits? - Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

3 2

Re: Digest, Vol 25, Issue 21, Message 4 "HAASOScope"
by SVCatITC＠aol.com 21 Nov '17

21 Nov '17

Thanks Very Much Herb for the technical lecture. Us old farts will agree with you on the analog scope versatility, and I also agree with the functionality of the new "finagled" stuff out there now. The latter makes capturing and documenting the triggered event (for later analysis) easy, rather than the Polaroid coupled cameras to the old Tektronix 548 fire breathing monsters' screen of the day. This feature is great for documenting screen shots in reports to customers. I find though that you have to sometimes "help" the new technology by "presetting" the "window" where you might want to look, otherwise trigger thresholds might lose the event. You may not know exactly where to find the "glitch" in the "haystack". >From my experience, analog gives you the "widescreen view" of the disturbance and you can then "zoom" in on the area of interest. The 20 MHz luggable that I bring into the museum does not have the bandwidth to check at what frequency the TR20 power supplies are oscillating at (as an example), however as you well noted, you do not necessarily care about the exact quantity to know you have to kill the "screaming" and make a quiet supply for analog work. The analog scope sets up easy for a quick GO/NOGO check. As always, many thanks for the thought provoking insight. Bill Inderrieden In a message dated 11/21/2017 12:04:17 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, Herb Johnson writes: Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2017 13:45:42 -0500 From: Herb Johnson <hjohnson(a)retrotechnology.info> To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] Open Hardware DSO - 100 MHz/250 Msa/sec - haasoscope Message-ID: <2320de34-08fc-86ff-33dd-8635edf667cd(a)retrotechnology.info> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed I agree with my old friend and colleague, mostly. But I'd put stronger emphasis on detecting "glitches". I prefer analog scopes, because they can show in some fashion glitches even above their bandwidth. The following lecture will be technical. This matters to me, as this is work I've done for decades. "Bandwidth as twice sampling rate" is fine for detection of repeated events. It's not fine for reconstructing the signal, or finding one-off events. Digital sampling limits aren't the same as the bandwidth rolloff of an analog oscilloscope amplifier (or probe). Many 20th C. brand-name analog oscilloscopes gave (still give!) good performance well past their nameplate bandwidth. also: scope trigger circuits have to respond to events far above bandwidth! Triggering is very important. A "glitch" is a signal where a logic state changes, not because of a change in logic condition, but because of a timing event such as "propagation" or a "triggering delay". These are very short pulses, on the order of several nanoseconds in TTL circuits. Or, they may manifest as nanosecond delays in signals. Power supply lines carry glitches, caused by literal "spikes" in DC power to logic-switching circuits; large currents plus fast changes produce L di/dt or C dv/dt signals. These matter, because they can trigger logic events. If you can't see the trigger, you don't know "why" you have such events. Old TTL designs, sometimes generated glitches due to poor design. Aging components may cause glitches, by increasing capacitance, or sagging DC voltages. Dead or absent bypass caps, fail to filter out power-supply-line glitches. Look at schematics of the IMSAI front-panel. They actually CREATE "glitches" with a series capacitor to turn a logic-level change into a triggering pulse! Ugly ugly ugly design. All that said, any scope beats none. Looking at logic-level signal activity (any activity) is a go / no-go test for logic chips. Many faults can be diagnosed with a 20Mhz analog oscilloscope and probe. (Probe bandwidth matters. Not today's lecture.) But some faults are design problems that finally came due, or non-logic component failures, or "tired" chips. TTL logic responds to signals and events of several nanosecond duration - that's hundreds of megahertz "bandwidth" technically. and even a 20Mhz scope, will trigger on much faster events - that at least "detects" them. and you can guess if an analog "bump" is actually a pulse above your bandwidth. End of technical lecture. In my 20th century view, a $100ish old toolbox-sized HP or Tek 100Mhz analog oscilloscope, will show more information about pre 1990's computer chips, than most users can appreciate. But a $300 "100Mhz sampling" digital oscilloscope you can carry in your pocket, likely performs little better than a 30-40Mhz no-brand-I-remember analog oscilloscope that you leave behind at a hamfest. Will a 1Ghz modern DSO do much better? (shrug) I lack that experience, ask an owner, faster is better but.... And a DSO is conveniently tablet-sized, and likely does other things too. So the answer for you is: what's in your wallet? Buy BOTH if you can afford it, choose otherwise. Herb "race condition" Johnson retrotechnology.com

1 0

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Cobol on micro
by Jeffrey Jonas 21 Nov '17

21 Nov '17

> anyone use apple /// cobol, used it back when it was current? I did not but I think my experience with CP/M C and PL/1 are relevant. 1) I used Whitesmith's "C" compiler on CP/M in 1982. It was very slow and almost painful to use - so many phases with constant floppy disk access. And it was not quite the full language or environment. A friend gave me a substitute printf() with more options than the standard library. 2) I used PL/I "F" on IBM mainframes in high school (early 80s). The PL/I subset for CP/M was just too weak to use for much. And like the "C" compiler, was horribly s l o w to compile and link. -- jeff jonas

1 0

Open Hardware DSO - 100 MHz/250 Msa/sec - haasoscope
by Herb Johnson 20 Nov '17

20 Nov '17

David Gesswein: > It all depends on that you want to do with it. This is written assuming you > are troubleshooting old computers. > > You need sufficient bandwidth > to view your signal of interest and sufficient sample rate to make it look > reasonable. Sampling twice the frequency of a sine wave captures the > information but it doesn't look like [the original signal]. > > I think the sample rate will be the biggest limitation. You will need to > see the character of signals you will want to look at. > > For troubleshooting old equipment the degradation of the signal edges > is normally not as big an issue. The faults are normally not that subtle > but I have run across glitches on signals causing trouble that the low sample > rate can hide. I agree with my old friend and colleague, mostly. But I'd put stronger emphasis on detecting "glitches". I prefer analog scopes, because they can show in some fashion glitches even above their bandwidth. The following lecture will be technical. This matters to me, as this is work I've done for decades. "Bandwidth as twice sampling rate" is fine for detection of repeated events. It's not fine for reconstructing the signal, or finding one-off events. Digital sampling limits aren't the same as the bandwidth rolloff of an analog oscilloscope amplifier (or probe). Many 20th C. brand-name analog oscilloscopes gave (still give!) good performance well past their nameplate bandwidth. also: scope trigger circuits have to respond to events far above bandwidth! Triggering is very important. A "glitch" is a signal where a logic state changes, not because of a change in logic condition, but because of a timing event such as "propagation" or a "triggering delay". These are very short pulses, on the order of several nanoseconds in TTL circuits. Or, they may manifest as nanosecond delays in signals. Power supply lines carry glitches, caused by literal "spikes" in DC power to logic-switching circuits; large currents plus fast changes produce L di/dt or C dv/dt signals. These matter, because they can trigger logic events. If you can't see the trigger, you don't know "why" you have such events. Old TTL designs, sometimes generated glitches due to poor design. Aging components may cause glitches, by increasing capacitance, or sagging DC voltages. Dead or absent bypass caps, fail to filter out power-supply-line glitches. Look at schematics of the IMSAI front-panel. They actually CREATE "glitches" with a series capacitor to turn a logic-level change into a triggering pulse! Ugly ugly ugly design. All that said, any scope beats none. Looking at logic-level signal activity (any activity) is a go / no-go test for logic chips. Many faults can be diagnosed with a 20Mhz analog oscilloscope and probe. (Probe bandwidth matters. Not today's lecture.) But some faults are design problems that finally came due, or non-logic component failures, or "tired" chips. TTL logic responds to signals and events of several nanosecond duration - that's hundreds of megahertz "bandwidth" technically. and even a 20Mhz scope, will trigger on much faster events - that at least "detects" them. and you can guess if an analog "bump" is actually a pulse above your bandwidth. End of technical lecture. In my 20th century view, a $100ish old toolbox-sized HP or Tek 100Mhz analog oscilloscope, will show more information about pre 1990's computer chips, than most users can appreciate. But a $300 "100Mhz sampling" digital oscilloscope you can carry in your pocket, likely performs little better than a 30-40Mhz no-brand-I-remember analog oscilloscope that you leave behind at a hamfest. Will a 1Ghz modern DSO do much better? (shrug) I lack that experience, ask an owner, faster is better but.... And a DSO is conveniently tablet-sized, and likely does other things too. So the answer for you is: what's in your wallet? Buy BOTH if you can afford it, choose otherwise. Herb "race condition" Johnson retrotechnology.com -- 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

1 0

Museum report.
by Evan Koblentz 20 Nov '17

20 Nov '17

Adam and I were at the museum from 10:30 this morning to 6ish tonight. John H. and his g/f Jen came for a tour along with Stefan who donated slide rules. (He estimates there are 1,000 in the collection!) We gave them the full tour until lunchtime. In the afternoon, Adam did warehouse work and I greeted museum visitors. After closing, we replaced many of the books in the museum workshop with different ones that are more interesting. Also did a good amount of cleaning and planning for some modest exhibit changes this winter/spring. Evan Koblentz Director, Vintage Computer Federation evan(a)vcfed.org / (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org @vcfederation

1 0

Open Hardware DSO - 100 MHz/250 Msa/sec - haasoscope
by J. Alexander Jacocks 20 Nov '17

20 Nov '17

There's a newish project on Crowdsuppy that I thought the group might find interesting: https://www.crowdsupply.com/andy-haas/haasoscope It's an open hardware/open source DSO, based on an Altera MAX10 FPGA. It seems to be much more capable than the DSO Nano, and the other mini scopes that I have seen. What does anyone think? - Alex

2 2