- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Introductions
by Mark Whittington 09 Mar '17

09 Mar '17

Hello, Evan asked me to introduce myself, so here goes! >Looks like that's your first post on the list. Please introduce yourself: how did you find us, where you live, what's your interest in vintage computing, etc. .... thanks! I discovered the list as a result of stumbling across Connor Krukosky's IBM z890 story ( https://www.reddit.com/r/IBM/comments/3relk4/i_just_bought_an_ibm_z890/) That led to the old Yahoo group which led to the current mailing list. I'm 39 and live in the Northern VA area, near Dulles. The first computer I ever touched was a C64 at around 4 years old. The first computer that I ever owned was a TI-99/4a that a neighbor gave me in the late 90's, but by then I'd already discovered the Apple IIe's and IBM PC XT's at the local library. Now I've got a 4 year old daughter and I want to introduce her to computers outside the world of her iPad, so I'm probably going to start her with an Apple II or C64 of her own. I write Python for a living, and in my spare time I like photography, amateur radio and electronics in general. I've got a quadcopter that I built, flew once and crashed and a large R/C helicopter that I've never flown. I'll be at the Northern VA Maker Faire on March 19 at the ham radio table if anyone in the area wants to stop by and say hello. Nice to meet you all. Best, -Mark

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Small Favor for VCFeXII
by Chris Fala 09 Mar '17

09 Mar '17

Does anyone have a Commodore 1551 floppy drive that I can borrow for my exhibit? I probably won't even need to power it up, but would like to have it to complete the timeline. Thanks, Chris

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] free to a good home 6809 + os/9 books + software
by Michael Kato 09 Mar '17

09 Mar '17

this has been claimed - thank you. ....maki....

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free to a good home 6809 + os/9 books + software
by Michael Kato 08 Mar '17

08 Mar '17

I have the following box of books - Ideally local pickup in Crystal City VA the whole box. I can also ship whole box media mail if you pay for it. Otherwise I'll be selling the books at TCF and Vienna Wireless. Color Computer Graphics - Willam Barden, Jr. LILbug - Monitor for the MC6801L1 - Motorola TRS Color Computer Assembly Language Programming - William Barden, Jr. OS-9 Insights 2nd Ed. - Peter Dibble Complete Rainbow Guide to OS-9 - Dale L. Puckett, Peter Dibble Complete Rainbow Guide to OS-9 Level II Volume I - Dale L. Puckett, Peter Dibble MC6809/MC6809E Microprocessor Programming Manual M6809PM/AD Motorola Programming the 6809 - Rodnay Zaks, William Labiak 6809 Microcomputer Programming & Interfacing with Experiments - Andrew C. Staugaard, Jr. The MC6809 cookbook - Carl D. Warren Two Floppies and Manual for OS-9 Level Two Operating System for Color Computer 3 I've always had deep respect for 6809 and longed to sink my teeth into OS/9, but at the end of the day I'm a Z80 man so I'm going to let this box go to someone else who can enjoy it more than I can. Please email me at the address I'm posting from if you can come pickup the box. I will also be at VCF-E, but will give preference to someone who can pickup ASAP. ....maki....

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Finished code for Lego robot
by Evan Koblentz 08 Mar '17

08 Mar '17

If anyone's interested, here is the finished code for Leinad Legobot. The new 4000 routine detects touch sensors to make the forklift stop at its upper/lower limits, rather than keep moving even though there's no place to go. We couldn't get it working with the optical sensors (various reasons) so I called an audible to switch to the touch sensors. That works much better. Kudos to Dan for perfecting the code behind this. Kudos also to Paul H. for teaching me (several versions ago) what was wrong with my joystick navigation code. Plain text version: http://www.vcfed.org/evan/lego/robot.txt Easy-on-the-eyes version: http://www.vcfed.org/evan/lego/robot.pdf My plan now is bring this to Trenton, exhibit it at Southeast, expand it into a game at Kfest (if I can go), and then make it the centerpiece of the permanent Lego learning station in our museum. I'll make a big kid-friendly flow chart poster to go with that last part. ________________________________ 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

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"Stranger Things" c64 game?
by Christopher Gioconda 08 Mar '17

08 Mar '17

This article made me chuckle, so I had to share: http://games.mxdwn.com/news/some-intrepid-developers-pitched-netflix-on-a-s… Christopher Gioconda cgioconda(a)gmail.com

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Free to a good home - my collection of MIPS workstations
by Michael Kato 07 Mar '17

07 Mar '17

I would like to give this away as a whole. Ideally local pickup in Crystal Ctiy/Alexandria VA. I'm planning on attending Trenton, and also VCF-East. If you're interested in only part, send me an email anyway. Olivetti M700-10 Deskstation Tyne(motherboard and memory and some ISA and VL-bus cards) Acer Formula1 SGI Indigo SGI Indigo2 SGI O2 Sony NSW portable MIPS workstation Mips Magnum 3000(with install tapes and boxes of documentation) http://www.prumpleffer.de/~miod/machineroom/machines/mips/magnum/index.html Cobalt Raq2 Cobalt Cube ....maki....

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OT: Video Capture
by Chris Fala 07 Mar '17

07 Mar '17

Can anyone recommend a way to take an HDMI video signal and convert it to USB so it can be recorded on a computer? I found a device that does this but it is around $300 and I wanted to find something cheaper. Thanks, Chris F.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Free to a good home - OS/2 books and software - taken
by Michael Kato 07 Mar '17

07 Mar '17

I found someone local who will be getting this. Thanks all, ....maki....

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Free to a good home - OS/2 books and software
by Michael Kato 07 Mar '17

07 Mar '17

I call this the OS/2 pro pack. Everything you'll need in order to relive the glory of OS/2. Or live it for the first time if that's what you like. The Design of OS/2 by Deitel and Kogan Inside OS/2 by Gordon Letwin Assembly Language Programming under OS/2 by Murray and Pappas Programming the OS/2 Presentation Manager by Charles Petzold Object Oriented Programming using SOM and DSOM by Christiana Lau OS/2 Debugging Handbook - Volumes 1-4 (IBM Redbooks) Binder with photocopies of the LX format specs(OS/2 executable format) IPF Editor(software) Unopened copy of OS/2 Warp V3(software) You will not find a more complete book collection on OS/2 in one convenient banker box. Offered for local pickup in Crystal City, VA or you pay shipping and I'll ship this. If no takers the box will be on sale at TCF next Saturday and if it still doesn't go it'll be offered at Vienna Wireless Winterfest next Sunday. Contact me via email(the email from which I made this post) Thanks for looking, ....maki....

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Non-vintage PC Question
by W2HX 07 Mar '17

07 Mar '17

Hi friends, Sorry for the bandwidth. I have an oscilloscope that I am upgrading (LeCroy WaveRunner 6100) which has a PC within it and runs window 2000. I have not played with the inside of a PC since the days of the 486 so I am quite rusty here, guys! First step is to upgrade the ram. It currently has 1 RAM module with 512MB. I would like to put as much ram into this baby as possible. Probably the max would be 2G as two 1G modules. Here is a picture of the label on the one module... http://w2hx.com/x/LeCroy/WR6K/0304171610.jpg I've been reading up as much as I could on this. It appears to be DDR RAM (PC-2100) Probably DDR-266. I read the following on Wikipedia... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR_SDRAM Size of the chip is measured in megabits<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megabits>. Most motherboards recognize only 1 GB modules if they contain 64M×8 chips (low density). If 128M×4 (high density) 1 GB modules are used, they most likely will not work. The JEDEC<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JEDEC> standard allows 128M×4 only for slower buffered/registered modules designed specifically for some servers, but some generic manufacturers do not comply.[7]<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR_SDRAM#cite_note-7>[verification needed<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability>] It seems 2GB might be achievable as long as I use 64MB x 8 low density? So friends, can someone help me find a product on newegg, or amazon for two modules that might work for me? The next steps for this scope will be to replace the slow IDE hard drive with a PATA SSD hard drive and then upgrade the CPU (1.70 MHz Celeron) with whatever I can upgrade it to. Much appreciated! Eugene W2HX

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Museum Report 20170305 March 5, 2017
by Jeffrey Brace 06 Mar '17

06 Mar '17

Had a guy named Russ Balliet drop off a sales training tape for AT&T PC as well as a selling guide for AT&T PC 6300. There was also an operations manual for Inspector IV MPC and a little card for RCA Spectra 70. He told me a story how he helped Johnson and Johnson help recover some data from an "old" Vax that helped with a cure for a particular type of cancer. He didn't have any deals, he was just some guy who had experience with Vax who helped the programmer there retrieve "old" data. Had a family come by with a kid who gave them his own version of the tour. This 12 year old kid took Evan's sign at the front of the museum literally "Attention children! The stuff in this room is veeeeeeeery fragile. So we've got a special assignment just for kids: Make sure your parents don't touch any of it!" So this kid said to his parents, "You can't touch anything, but I can touch everything!". I guess the message backfired ;) Anyway the parents and kid were highly interested and I helped the kid do some simple BASIC programs on the C64 and helped him with a few other computers. They really enjoyed it. I hope that they come for VCF East. Another group came escorted by Fred with a guy who used to be in the Civil Air Patrol. I highlighted different machines that he was interested such as Gorge, MOBIDIC etc. It was a quicker tour because of time, but they were very interested. Jonas printed out the signs for exhibitors and I tested his Vic-20. It will need repairs at the next workshop. -- Jeff Brace - ark72axow(a)gmail.com Sent from my Commodore 64

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Disk notcher
by Evan Koblentz 06 Mar '17

06 Mar '17

Anyone got a spare handheld disk notcher? Needed one today (for the first time in 30 years!) and had to use a hole puncher. Not ideal... ________________________________ 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

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disk notcher
by Evan Koblentz 06 Mar '17

06 Mar '17

Anyone got a spare handheld disk notcher? Needed one today (for the first time in 30 years!) and had to use a hole puncher. Not ideal...

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Fwd: Cromemco on Craigslist in Vermont
by Evan Koblentz 05 Mar '17

05 Mar '17

See below. -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Cromemco on Craigslist in Vermont Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2017 00:06:56 -0800 From: Steven Stengel via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> Reply-To: Steven Stengel <tosteve(a)yahoo.com>, General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> To: Cc <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> Cromemco on Craigslist on Vermont/ https://vermont.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=cromemco&sort=rel Victor 9000 in New Hampshire: https://nh.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=victor%209000&sort=rel Atari Mega ST in RI: https://providence.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=atari%20mega&sort=rel

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Floppy Days #70 - Interview with Michael Tomczyk, Vic-20 Commando Team
by Randall Kindig 05 Mar '17

05 Mar '17

For this episode, I interviewed Michael Tomczyk. Michael was with Commodore for some time, was an assistant to none other than Jack Tramiel, and was the leader of the team known as the Vic Commando Team. He was happy to talk about his time at Commodore and turned out to be a very interesting interview and a great guy with which to talk. http://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-70-michael-tomczyk-vic-20 Randy Kindig host Floppy Days Podcast - http://www.floppydays.com, http://floppydays.libsyn.com/rss available for download or streaming from iTunes, the Web site, Google Play, Stitcher.com

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VCF East on Trash Talk
by Evan Koblentz 04 Mar '17

04 Mar '17

List member Pete C., who's on the Tandy team for VCF East, included a several other groups members in a team discussion on his TRS-80 Trash Talk podcast: http://www.trs80trashtalk.com. The discussion starts at 53:25 and goes to about 1:30:00 in the show. It's got Pete, Dean, and Kelly, all from the Tandy team, along with Todd/Tony representing Commodore/Apple respectively. Make some popcorn and enjoy their banter. ________________________________ 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

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Museum Report - 20170304 -March 4, 2017
by Jeffrey Brace 04 Mar '17

04 Mar '17

Three couples stopped by one with high interest and the other two with medium interest. It was quite busy for a time. Worked on VCF prep stuff the remainder of the time. Roddy the artist installed tint to the workshop windows. It definitely helps when the sunlight is shining directly in the workshop. I will be back there tomorrow even though I'm fighting some cold like symptoms. -- Jeff Brace - ark72axow(a)gmail.com Sent from my Commodore 64

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Challenge: VCFed logo as ASCII art, but....
by Evan Koblentz 04 Mar '17

04 Mar '17

I want to put an ASCII version of our logo on the opening screen of the Lego robot program. Apple text screen is 40x40. I lack the artistic skills to pick the right characters and such. Can someone do this for us? ________________________________ 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

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Looking for four 16mb 30 pin non-parity SIMMs
by corey cohen 04 Mar '17

04 Mar '17

Anyone have any to spare/sell. These would be ones compatible with a macintosh or music sampler. I can't use PC or Sun ones they use parity. Thanks, Corey corey cohen uǝɥoɔ ʎǝɹoɔ

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Applesoft game programming
by Evan Koblentz 04 Mar '17

04 Mar '17

I had an idea for a game. You'd use the joystick to control the physical Lego robot against on-screen challenges such as places you must hit and other places (evil robots) you must not hit, within a certain time, in order to win. There would be penalties for going out-of-bounds (colliding with the square around the screen). I never wrote a BASIC game. This is a first for me. I figure it's a good idea to start by determining some (ahem) "basic" concepts. After all I'm using the extent of 7th-grade formal programming education combined with 30 more years of brainpower + improved understanding of programming logic. Starting by keeping it simple: sticking with Applesoft's lo-res mode. I already knew the screen is 0 through 39 horizontally/vertically (40x40) in lo-res mode. And I knew the joystick goes 0-255 each way. So, I figured 256/40 is 6.4, so if I divide the status of paddle 0 or 1 by 6.4 then I can say that's my plot point, right? Time for a science experiment... I came up with this: 10 X=PDL(0) : Y=PDL(1) 20 X=X/6.4 : Y=Y/6.4 Then I realized some positions would give me remainders. No good. Googled for how to round off numbers and discovered Applesoft's INT command. Also found a tip explaining that INT rounds off * no matter what the decimal may be *, so the trick is to always add 0.5 before doing the INT function. Okay, that makes sense. 10 X=PDL(0) : Y=PDL(1) 20 X=X/6.4 : X=X+0.5 30 Y=Y/6.4 : Y=Y+0.5 40 PRINT INT(X), PRINT INT(Y) : REM (so I get numeric confirmation in the bottom text area of the screen) 50 GR:COLOR=1 60 PLOT X,Y 70 GOTO 10 This worked fine going up and left, but not when going down and right. When I moved the joystick all the way down, the plot point turned into an exclamation mark. When I moved it all the way right, the computer beeped and said ILLEGAL QUANTITY ERROR IN 60. I have some vague ideas of what caused this, but my instinct was to fix it this way: Ran it that way. Holy moly, it worked! Thus the full code for my little experiment: 10 X=PDL(0) : Y=PDL(1) 20 X=X/6.4 : X=X+0.5 30 Y=Y/6.4 : Y=Y+0.5 40 PRINT INT(X), PRINT INT(Y) 50 GR:COLOR=1 60 IF X>39 THEN X=39 70 IF Y>39 THEN Y=39 80 PLOT X,Y 90 GOTO 10 Now I can move a plot point around the screen by using the joystick and without having to redraw a black point over the previous point each time. Then I had an epiphany... drum roll please... I ACCIDENTALLY JUST PROGRAMMED MY FIRST SPRITE! Cool. As I posted a few weeks ago when making the Lego robot code work, you guys can tease me if you like :) but this is a milestone. I stumbled onto how to code a sprite in BASIC. Granted, it's only lo-res graphics, but I would think the same exact method should work in hi-res graphics mode. Also some things aren't perfect -- when I run the program without touching the centered joystick, it reports a plot position of 18,23 -- so I'll experiment with the physical trim knobs. Low-quality video (to accompany lo-res graphics...) is here: http://www.snarc.net/EK_first_sprite.mp4 (It plays fine in VLC but appeared too tall in the default Linux Mint player.) _______________________________ 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

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K-Fest carpool?
by Evan Koblentz 03 Mar '17

03 Mar '17

I've always wanted to go to K-Fest. I may apply for one of their "golden tickets" this year, however that still involves getting one's self to Kansas City. Is anyone interested in getting together with a few people for a carpool? Obviously not in my tiny car :) but I'd be happy to split the driving and gas $$. Paying for a flight or the cost of all that gas by myself would be beyond my means right now. ________________________________ 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

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Live auctions at VCF-East?
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 03 Mar '17

03 Mar '17

Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic writes: >We can't have auctions. Requires a state gaming license and a >professiona= l auctioneer. ... and this could happen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Da2JjSEQ2Q

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Front gate worker(s) @ VCF East
by Evan Koblentz 02 Mar '17

02 Mar '17

Everyone, We need front gate workers during Saturday/Sunday (not Friday) during VCF East. It's a hard job. The person needs to be firm at times, in order to tell people "no" who are used to doing whatever they want at Infoage. The person also has to show for their scheduled hours no matter what, even if it's pouring, freezing, armageddon, whatever... We are willing to pay (modestly) for the right person(s) to do this job. Must be at least 16: this isn't a job for children, nor for people who aren't comfortable being on their feet/outdoors for long periods of times, nor for the timid. Contact me off-list if you know someone who is interested. ________________________________ 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

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Another DC-area rescue
by Evan Koblentz 02 Mar '17

02 Mar '17

We need a Cromemco Z2 picked up in Silver Spring, Maryland (the homeowner is moving in May) and delivered to the museum (no hurry). ________________________________ 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

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VCF East lodging
by Evan Koblentz 01 Mar '17

01 Mar '17

Several people asked Jeff B. and I about staying at InfoAge during VCF East. There are a certain number of beds available. To keep it fair, I sent an email tonight to exhibitors, speakers, and official show volunteers. If you are an exhibitor, speaker, or official show volunteer, and you did NOT get that email, then it's an oversight by me. Send me a private message to evan(a)vcfed.org. We are not allowed to offer lodging to people simply attending the show. ________________________________ 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

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VCF East flyer
by Evan Koblentz 01 Mar '17

01 Mar '17

A few people asked for the event flyer. Here's a link: http://www.vcfed.org/evan/eastxii.pdf .... download and share widely! ________________________________ 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

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VCF East exhibit reg is closed
by Evan Koblentz 28 Feb '17

28 Feb '17

Here's the final exhibitor list: http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/vcf-east-exhib… Anyone wishing to register an exhibit now must grovel at my feet. ________________________________ 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

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Ad space in VCF East program booklet
by Evan Koblentz 28 Feb '17

28 Feb '17

Anyone want to advertise their business in the VCF East program booklet, or know someone else who does? Cost is $400 for a full page, $200 half, and $100 quarter. Your ad will reach a few hundred tech-minded people, most of whom live with a couple of hours of here. The pages will be 5.5" wide x 8.5" tall (8.5x11 sideways folded in half). We print in color. Deadline is Friday, March 10 at midnight. Email me privately (evan(a)vcfed.org) if you're interested. ________________________________ 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

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FS: Several 1960's Raytheon Nixie Tubes and Control Boards
by Systems Glitch 28 Feb '17

28 Feb '17

I know there are several people who like Nixie tubes on this list, so: Links: http://www.ebay.com/itm/272572418459 http://www.ebay.com/itm/272572420943 http://www.ebay.com/itm/272572429330 Two sign indicators and one numeric tube. All tubes have been tested with a homebrew switchmode supply built to drive Nixie tubes. One of the sign tubes is obviously heavily used, the glass is darkened in the front. All three boards include a socket with the full pin count populated, which may actually be more valuable than the Nixie tubes, especially the sign tubes :) There's also a great mix of really old TTL on these boards. Some of it is packaged in blue plastic DIPs made by...Sprague! I didn't know they *made* ICs. Appears to be standard 7400 series TTL. The board with the numeric tube includes a white ceramic TDD1100 which appears to be compatible with the usual 7441 or 74141 Nixie driver ICs commonly found in 1970's equipment. Tubes are tested, control boards are not. Thanks, Jonathan

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Fwd: [AMPEX] Free: equipment racks in NJ
by Matt Patoray 28 Feb '17

28 Feb '17

Thought these might be of interest to some on the list. Reply directly to Tom. Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: > From: Tom Bassi via Ampex <ampex(a)lena.recordist.com> > Date: February 27, 2017 at 8:02:16 PM EST > To: Ampex Mailing List <ampex(a)recordist.com> > Subject: [AMPEX] Free: equipment racks > Reply-To: Tom Bassi <tom.bassi(a)gmail.com>, Ampex Mailing List <ampex(a)lena.recordist.com> > > 6 1/2-foot tall free-standing equipment racks, two-post variety (telco, > etc), two available. Both VG+ condition, one even has nice oak trim added > to the outside for improved aesthetics. > > Free, must pick up in central New Jersey, need them gone in about a week's > time frame. Email off list, please. > > Tom > _______________________________________________ > Ampex Mailing List > Ampex(a)lena.recordist.com > http://lena.recordist.com/mailman/listinfo/ampex > Copyright 2015 by the author of the post. > Sent: mspproductions(a)gmail.com

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Replacement VCF East speaker needed
by Evan Koblentz 27 Feb '17

27 Feb '17

Everyone, Oscar V. had to change his spring travel plans due to a family emergency. He sends his apologies, as he wanted to have an exhibit and give a Friday class about his Pi-based replica kits. We need a replacement topic/speaker. Emailed me privately (evan(a)vcfed.org) ________________________________ 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

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IM-6100 Availability (PDP-8 on a chip)
by Systems Glitch 27 Feb '17

27 Feb '17

All, I had a component supplier get back to me today -- they appear to have several *hundred* IM-6100s in stock. Looks like I'll be able to do a bulk purchase on these to at least fill OSI 560Z kit needs. Contact me off-list if you'd like to purchase some of these CPUs independent of a 560Z kit. Information: the IM-6100 is an Intersil product that implements most of a PDP-8/e on a single chip. It doesn't handle memory management like the later 6120, but you can implement it yourself. It's used in the Ohio Scientific 560Z "Processor Lab" to allow PDP-8 code to be executed on an OSI system. Thanks, Jonathan

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Fwd: [infoage volunteers] Extra hands needed
by Evan Koblentz 27 Feb '17

27 Feb '17

Everyone, Martin's been very kind to VCFed. It would be awesome if some of our members can help him back with this project for InfoAge's giant satellite dish. -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: [infoage volunteers] Extra hands needed Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2017 08:36:20 -0500 From: Martin Flynn <maflynn(a)theflynn.org> Reply-To: infoagestaff(a)googlegroups.com To: Is <infoagestaff(a)googlegroups.com> On Saturday morning, March 11, 2017, I will be installing IT cables in the 9162 attic to support another computer on the TLM-18 console. If you are available to lend a hand, please let me know. Martin Flynn -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "InfoAge Science Center Volunteers" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to infoagestaff+unsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to infoagestaff(a)googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/infoagestaff/7EC697D8-A212-4821-AFA3-425C…. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

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Virtual Computer Museum Tour and (paid) Help Wanted
by rar 27 Feb '17

27 Feb '17

As of last evening, I have the beginnings of a virtual museum ( https://museum.syssrc.com/album/pan<https://musuem.syssrc.com/album/pan> ) Enjoy! I am looking to hire an interested party to document up to 1000 objects in the virtual tour. There are two parts to the project: 1) Create a base page about an artifact. For example: a. https://museum.syssrc.com/artifact/105/ b. https://museum.syssrc.com/artifact/personal-computers/410/ I will supply pictures of the actual object. You will write the text, find videos, emulators and provide other information. All the information goes into a Django CMS 2) Tag the item on the VR tour. It requires editing an html document like this: { "pitch": -7.0, "yaw": -15.408, "cssClass": "custom-hotspot", "createTooltipFunc": hotspot, "createTooltipArgs": "Japanese Abacus - soroban (算盤, counting tray) ", "clickHandlerArgs": "https://museum.syssrc.com/artifact/early-computing/20/", "clickHandlerFunc": modalpop, All are welcome to come to Baltimore to visit the real Museum. Bob Roswell broswell(a)syssrc.com 410-771-5544 ext 4336 Computer Museum Highlights<http://museum.syssrc.com/> [syssrc-logo-label-10-9-16a]

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museum report
by Evan Koblentz 27 Feb '17

27 Feb '17

I was in our museum from 1pm-4pm today. It was quiet. I feel asleep at the chair of our office PC, so I don't know if there were any visitors! Had a meeting at 4:00 with Fred and two of the Infoage board members about improving the Infoage website. Then I went to the main Infoage staff meeting at 6:30. Only thing going on that affects us is they're having a veteran's day thing on Saturday May 20 with extended museum hours. The rest of us is normal bureaucratic baloney. :) ________________________________ 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

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 26 Feb '17

26 Feb '17

Mixed day at the museum! Totally dead from 1:00-3:00, and then very busy from 3:00-5:00. Several families came through. They all spent a good amount of time here and our teenage guests seemed genuinely interested. We had a surprise VIP: the daughter of Lloyd Christianson. Lloyd worked here in his Army days when it was Camp Evans and then co-founded Electronic Associates. I'm very happy that she discovered us, and she was very happy to see our EAI TR-20 on display and to hear that we're restoring it. I have her contact information and will definitely follow up. She didn't know much about his work, but she said her relatives might. I hope to find out what he did here, etc.

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DEC 5380 chip
by Herb Johnson 26 Feb '17

26 Feb '17

> Friends, google has not been kind to me. Looking for the datasheet > on the 5380 chip used in my PDP-8/e in the M8650 TTY board.. Run my reply past David Gesswein. But the 5380 on the M8650 schematic, looks a lot like Signetics SP380, down to the pinouts. (don't be confused by OR vs AND, use Boolean logic). you can get SP380's on eBay for several dollars. Or ask some PDP-8 owners. There's also some notes on this page: http://tronola.com/html/ram_for_pdp-8e.html which suggest the DEC S380 is your "5380". Also look at some DEC handbooks about the Omnibus. And of course, stare at your board, see the brand and number on the chips versus names in the schematic. DEC is your friend here, Google merely introduced you to them. ;) Herb Johnson stumbler with 8's -- 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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560Z Build Writeup
by Systems Glitch 26 Feb '17

26 Feb '17

Had time to do a full writeup on building the 560Z: http://www.glitchwrks.com/2017/02/26/osi-560z-build Thanks, Jonathan

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] more stuff to donate
by William Dudley 26 Feb '17

26 Feb '17

We have a winner! If you live near Jackson, NJ, you can pick it up. If you go to the museum for work sessions, we can meet there. Failing that, there's VCF East. Or I can mail it. Bill This email is free of malware because I run Linux. On Sun, Feb 26, 2017 at 2:09 PM, Peter Cetinski <pete(a)pski.net> wrote: > I'll take the H19 docs if still available. Thx. > > Pete > > > On Feb 26, 2017, at 12:48 PM, William Dudley via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > > > > 1. Notebook with ALL the documentation for the Heath/Zenith H19 Terminal. > > (I'm sorry I didn't find this when I gave away the terminal last year.) > > This is a three ring notebook, two inches thick, with everything about > the > > H19. > > > > 2. Heathkit manuals ONLY for IO-4550 Dual Trace 10MHz scope. Two > manuals, > > "Operation" and "Assembly". > > > > If no takers, I'm afraid they'll be recycled for the paper value. > > > > I will mail these if requested. > > > > Bill Dudley > > Jackson, NJ > > > > This email is free of malware because I run Linux. >

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DEC 5380 chip
by W2HX 26 Feb '17

26 Feb '17

Friends, google has not been kind to me. Looking for the datasheet on the 5380 chip used in my PDP-8/e in the M8650 TTY board (and elsewhere, surely). It appears to be a quad, dual input AND chip with inverted inputs (ie a NOR gate). Can anyone help me find this? much appreciated. Eugene W2HX

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FS: Damaged DEC H-217D 16KW Core Memory Board
by Systems Glitch 26 Feb '17

26 Feb '17

link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/272570404475 Acquired with a large lot of other boards. I know these are used in PDP-11/05s and PDP-11/10s with 16KW core as a factory configuration (my PDP-11/10 is configured as such). This one has some damage in the core plane area -- see the pictures in the listing. No idea if it's fixable or useful for anything other than the driver circuits. Figured I'd list it rather than shearing off the edge fingers and harvesting the driver ICs. Thanks, Jonathan

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more stuff to donate
by William Dudley 26 Feb '17

26 Feb '17

1. Notebook with ALL the documentation for the Heath/Zenith H19 Terminal. (I'm sorry I didn't find this when I gave away the terminal last year.) This is a three ring notebook, two inches thick, with everything about the H19. 2. Heathkit manuals ONLY for IO-4550 Dual Trace 10MHz scope. Two manuals, "Operation" and "Assembly". If no takers, I'm afraid they'll be recycled for the paper value. I will mail these if requested. Bill Dudley Jackson, NJ This email is free of malware because I run Linux.

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Ohio Scientific 560Z Board: IT LIVES!
by Systems Glitch 25 Feb '17

25 Feb '17

IT LIVES! I spent most of today hacking on the 560Z board. I got the 12-bit porthole going first, took a bit as the manual doesn't tell you that you need IC CC installed if you want to be able to write to the 4K exposed in the porthole. After that, I plugged in a Z80 and tried to get it running the test code in the manual. Turns out I had a dud Z80 :) With a good one installed the test code ran no-problem, as did a little hand written code to push data to the lamp register on the new memory board. I plugged in an IM-6100 and pretty much determined that at least the first one I tried is dead. I'll recheck the soldering on it later -- it's stuffed into a machine pin socket and soldered in, since half of the legs were rotted off by that corrosive black foam everyone loves so much. Anyway, the second IM-6100 works! And the 560Z board works! And the 12-bit RAM board works! I made a (low-res, poorly focused) video with our old digital point-n-shoot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYbGXHJST8U The IM-6100 is running a little loop that increments the accumulator and stores it to the lamp register. Storing of course clears the accumulator, but I have the lamp register mapped over RAM, so I just read the value back out of it. My first foray into PDP-8 code, it's certainly different, but it's still just machine code. Very happy that this seems to be coming fully together! Now if only I could find more IM-6100s...I'll test the remaining 3 tomorrow. Thanks, Jonathan

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Another history story
by Evan Koblentz 25 Feb '17

25 Feb '17

I wrote another history angle for TechRepublic. http://www.techrepublic.com/article/storage-class-memory-supporters-may-hee… ________________________________ 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

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mpi 91/92 disk drive manual
by William Dudley 25 Feb '17

25 Feb '17

I found a photocopy of a "product manual" for the MPI model 91/92 disk drive (5 1/4 floppy). It was part of a larger manual for a Direct 800 video terminal that I no longer have, that nobody's ever heard of, and probably even fewer had the "computer" version with the disk drives. ANYWAY, does anybody want this photocopy of the service manual? If it's rare and there aren't already scans of it on the Internet it might be useful. Any interest, lemme know, or I'll recycle the paper. Bill Dudley Jackson, NJ This email is free of malware because I run Linux.

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List check. Please disregard.
by MailmanLists Support 25 Feb '17

25 Feb '17

15.16 AEDT List check.

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SWORDFISH!
by Jeffrey Jonas 24 Feb '17

24 Feb '17

Apropos of Enigmas: https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2017/02/alan-turing-code-breaking-cocktai… A pop-up cocktail bar inspired by the life of WW2 code breaker Alan Turing is set to open in London, and the waiting list is already 7,428 people long. the subject refers to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swordfish_(password)

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next Wednesday - VCF East exhibit deadline (almost full)
by Evan Koblentz 23 Feb '17

23 Feb '17

VCF East exhibit registration deadline is March 1, however, now I must add: "Or if it fills up, whichever comes first." There are only three or four spots left, and five or six people expressed interest. ________________________________ 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

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I thought this Dilbert Cartoon was appropriate
by Christian Liendo 23 Feb '17

23 Feb '17

I figured a few people here would get a chuckle. http://dilbert.com/strip/2017-02-23?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=socialmarketin…

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