- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Workshop at System Source - March 1st and 2nd
by Ryan Burke 06 Feb '25

06 Feb '25

System Source is hosting another repair workshop in Hunt Valley, Maryland on March 1st and 2nd, please check out the link below for more information and to register. https://ca.syssrc.com/wp/?page_id=105&civiwp=CiviCRM&q=civicrm%2Fevent%2Fin… <https://ca.syssrc.com/wp/?page_id=85&civiwp=CiviCRM&q=civicrm%2Fevent%2Finf…> We are also looking for volunteers! Either for the event, or in general to help out the museum. If you'd like to help out, please send an email to rburke(a)sysssrc.com

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MARCH Newsletter January '25: better late than never!
by Thomas G 06 Feb '25

06 Feb '25

Hello all, Apologies for getting this out so late, but we've been crunching the past few weeks with some pretty intense work at the MARCH museum - read all about it in this (hastily-edited) edition of the MARCH newsletter! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T5uIs35mlFHqaoAwBlNv5kXXVaop9rXB/view?usp=… -Thomas G.

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Mid-Atlantic Retro Computing Hobbyists (MARCH) February 2025 Vintage Computer Workshop
by Jeff Salzman 06 Feb '25

06 Feb '25

Just a reminder of the next Vintage Computer Workshop on February 15 & 16, 2025. InfoAge Museum and Science Center 2201 Marconi Rd. Wall Township, NJ 07719 Please sign up here so we know how many people to provide tables for. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nHJHC4fgZdZZocCe9gkG-Vek5HlpDfyjCmG…

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OT: Netflix comes to Fort Monmouth
by Jeffrey Brace 03 Feb '25

03 Feb '25

Construction on the first four film studios is expected to start at the end of 2025. Netflix plans to open at Fort Monmouth in 2028. https://patch.com/new-jersey/longbranch/netflix-launches-website-its-fort-m… Jeff Brace

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Jesper Juul on Friday February 7 on Twitch "Too Much Fun: The Five Lives of the Commodore 64"
by Jeffrey Brace 03 Feb '25

03 Feb '25

I thought I would share with everyone this post that I just got. Join us Friday, February 7, as *ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories *hosts scholar Jesper Juul for a talk about his book *Too Much Fun: The Five Lives of the Commodore 64 Computer.* The event will be at 2PM ET on the *ROMchip *Twitch channel, https://www.twitch.tv/romchipjournal <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.twitc…> . Get tickets HERE <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ticke…> and sign up for our newsletter <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fromchip.u…> to never miss an update. **Tickets serve as calendar reminders for the event; they are not required to attend. Head to https://www.twitch.tv/romchipjournal <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.twitc…> to join the talk on Feb 7** *About the Book* *The surprising history of the Commodore 64, the best-selling home computer of the 1980s—the machine that taught the world that computing should be *fun *.* The Commodore 64 (C64) is officially the best-selling desktop computer model of all time, according to *The Guinness Book of World Records*. It was also, from 1985 to 1993, the platform for which most video games were made. But although it sold at least twice as many units as other home computers of its time, such as the Apple II, ZX Spectrum, or Commodore Amiga, it is strangely forgotten in many computer histories. In *Too Much Fun*, Jesper Juul argues that the C64 was so popular because it was so versatile, a machine developers and users would reinvent again and again over the course of 40 years. First it was a serious computer, next a game computer, then a computer for showcasing technical brilliance (graphical *demos* using the machine in seemingly impossible ways), then a struggling competitor, and finally a retro device whose limitations are now charming. The C64, Juul shows, has been ignored by history because it was too much fun. Richly illustrated in full color, this book is the first in-depth examination of the C64's design and history, and the first to integrate US and European histories. Containing interviews with Commodore engineers as well as an insightful look at C64 games, music, and software*,* *Too Much Fun* will appeal to those who used a Commodore 64, those interested in the history of computing and video games and computational literacy, or just those who wish their technological devices would last longer. *About the Author*Jesper Juul coedits the MIT Press Playful Thinking series. His previous books include *Half-Real*,*The Art of Failure*, and *Handmade Pixels*. He is Associate Professor at the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen and has taught at MIT and New York University. His first computer was a Commodore 64, on which he wrote games and demos. *Upcoming Events* February 14 @ 2PM: Tom Boellstorff and Braxton Soderman discuss their co-authored book, *Intellivision: How a Videogame System Battled Atari and Almost Bankrupted Barbie *[MORE INFO <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ticke…> ] February 22 @ 11AM-11PM ET: ROMchip Twitch Fundraiser Stream, ft Phil Salvador, merritt k, qdot, Paolo Pedercini, tinahacks, Jason Scott and more! Come through for 12 hours of games, prizes, and historical hijinks. [MORE INFO <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdonate.ro…> ]. *About ROMchip**ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.romch…>* is a free, online scholarly journal for game history. *ROMchip *develops, edits, and publishes ad-free, open access game history research for a range of audiences. It supports any discipline of work enlivening the history of games in local and global contexts, and embraces diversity in how game history is studied, documented, collected, preserved, and practiced. *ROM* *c**hip* is a donation-based organization fiscally sponsored by The Hack Foundation <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhackclub.…> (d.b.a. Hack Club), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN: 81-2908499).

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Apple II Lisa video card
by Richard Cini 31 Jan '25

31 Jan '25

All — Today I watched a video interview by the CHM of Bill Atkinson where he talks about how he prototyped the various Lisa screen elements before moving them to the Lisa dev setup. It seems he used an Apple II with a special video card to create these. I’ve done a bit of googling on this but I can’t come up with any good search results. Does anyone know what was involved in that? What was the card like? Rich http://cini.classiccmp.org/ Long Island S100 User’s Group Get Outlook<https://aka.ms/qtex0l> for iOS

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'twas the night before Festivus ...
by Jeffrey Brace 30 Jan '25

30 Jan '25

and all through the place, not a creature was stirring, only just a Brace! Finish the poem!

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Request for help from IEEE Special Projects Direct Stephan Cass
by Douglas Crawford 28 Jan '25

28 Jan '25

See below for details on the request, summarized: 1. C64 Source 2. Someone to make a program selector for three demos 3. Original USB 1.0 artifacts Please offer support, off list, if you can, thanks! Douglas Crawford ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dear VCF members, I am the special projects director of /IEEE Spectrum/—some of you may know me from my previous coverage of VCF East and retrocomputing-related topics in general (some sample links below!). In partnership with the IEEE History Center, we are developing a small travelling museum/conference exhibition based on our Chip Hall of Fame ( https://spectrum.ieee.org/special-reports/chip-hall-of-fame/ ). And we could really do with your help! The exhibition will include some sample chips as well as products based upon them, and we are also hoping to have an interactive Commodore 64 panel with a C64 hooked up to a screen. So here are my first two asks: Can I get recommendations for a seller who can supply 3 working C64s (three because we hope to make more than one copy of the exhibit and also need a spare on-hand in case of problems)? Ideally, these would be classic breadbox models. We will probably look to replace the case with clear acrylic versions. Can I get recommendations for someone who we can commission to put together and deliver 3 sets of a custom cartridge rig? We hope to have three arcade-style buttons on the exhibit that a visitor can press to load different ROM images: I'm imagining this would involve bank-switching and asserting a reset, maybe bundle the whole thing inside a microcontroller's memory, so I can kinda see how to do it, but really this would be best in the hands on someone with some C64 hardware experience, given the requirements for reliability and time to deliver. Incidentally, we are planning that one of the ROM images would show a simple "attract" demo for the exhibit, another one draw some kind of fractal (in homage to all of us who read "Chaos" back in the 1980s and lept to our home computers :) ), and a final one TBD, which we hope to be able to open up to some kind of demo competition!) And one last ask: we are also planning on including some very early USB silicon in the exhibit, from the Triton II Intel PC chipset. Think ye now to your mystery bins :) If you have a peripheral on the size scale of a computer mouse or a little larger that was built to USB 1.1 or, ideally 1.0 (I know how rare the latter is!), we'd like to talk to you about obtaining it! Thank you all for your time and attention. If you've any answers to the above, or questions about any of this, please drop me a line directly at cass.s(a)ieee.org Best, Stephen VCF coverage: https://spectrum.ieee.org/theyre-alive-vintage-computer-fans-keep-the-great… https://spectrum.ieee.org/don-eyles-space-hacker https://www.instagram.com/p/C6ZCubprsSO/ Other retrocomputing Coverage: https://spectrum.ieee.org/yugoslavia-diy-microcomputer https://spectrum.ieee.org/upcycle-a-vintage-lcd *** Stephen Cass Special Projects Director IEEE Spectrum www.spectrum.ieee.org <http://www.spectrum.ieee.org> 347 834 7384 cass.s(a)ieee.org -- Douglas Crawford VCF Mid-Atlantic Museum Mgr InfoAge Science & History Museums 2201 Marconi Road Wall, NJ 07719

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: Looking for reputable repair place for laser printer
by Sentrytv 25 Jan '25

25 Jan '25

Would it be too much trouble to take this off-line? Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device. > On Jan 25, 2025, at 10:07 AM, Bob Shuster via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > Bernie, thanks for responding! Page count is just under 19,000 pages. Good advice, but do you still service these printers? I did find one repair place in Philadelphia, Printer Repair Service in center city (17th & Market) but I haven’t yet called them to get an estimate or anything. I have a bunch of projects to finish before I can proceed in any case, and getting this very heavy printer down there will not be fun. Still looking… > > - Bob Shuster > >>> Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2025 11:56:34 -0500 >>> From: Bob Shuster <bob(a)theshusters.com> >>> To: vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org >>> Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: Looking for reputable repair place >>> for laser printer >>> I have an HP Laserjet 5200tn (close to 20 years old) that is >>> starting to have issues with paper jams, and it seems it?s a common >>> issue with the buffers on the pickup solenoids. They are however >>> difficult to access so I?m going to turn to a professional if >>> possible, and have a good cleaning done at the same time. I know >>> there are faster, quieter, and more capable laser printers out there >>> now, but this one works perfectly for me, and a new 11x17 printer is >>> expensive in any case. >>> I need a quick turnaround, but I need reliable and reputable >>> service. Any recommendations in the Philadelphia, lower >>> Bucks/Montgomery County areas? >> Bob, having serviced hundreds of HP LaserJet printers (including many >> original LaserJet 500 aka 2686D which came out in 1984) I strongly >> recommend that when you get your LJ5200TN serviced you have *all* the >> rollers (including the fusing assy) and pads replaced, and well as >> *all* the parts recommended in the HP Service Manual for PM >> (preventive maintenance). >> https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-6015518 What is the page >> count on your HPLJ 5200? >> This will cost much more than having only the failed parts replaced, >> you'll basically have a new printer and will save money on future >> repairs long-term. The older HP LaserJets with Canon engines are >> reliable workhorses (I worked on some that had a page count of over >> one million pages!) _IF_ you do the HP recommended PM. >> You could save money on the service job if you buy genuine HP/Canon >> replacement parts yourself, IF the servicer is okay with that. Some >> servicers (who would mark up the price of parts) won't allow this >> because they don't want to be on the hook if a customer-supplied parts fails. >> -bernieS

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: Looking for reputable repair place for laser printer
by Bob Shuster 25 Jan '25

25 Jan '25

Bernie, thanks for responding! Page count is just under 19,000 pages. Good advice, but do you still service these printers? I did find one repair place in Philadelphia, Printer Repair Service in center city (17th & Market) but I haven’t yet called them to get an estimate or anything. I have a bunch of projects to finish before I can proceed in any case, and getting this very heavy printer down there will not be fun. Still looking… - Bob Shuster >> Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2025 11:56:34 -0500 >> From: Bob Shuster <bob(a)theshusters.com> >> To: vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org >> Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: Looking for reputable repair place >> for laser printer >> >> I have an HP Laserjet 5200tn (close to 20 years old) that is >> starting to have issues with paper jams, and it seems it?s a common >> issue with the buffers on the pickup solenoids. They are however >> difficult to access so I?m going to turn to a professional if >> possible, and have a good cleaning done at the same time. I know >> there are faster, quieter, and more capable laser printers out there >> now, but this one works perfectly for me, and a new 11x17 printer is >> expensive in any case. >> >> I need a quick turnaround, but I need reliable and reputable >> service. Any recommendations in the Philadelphia, lower >> Bucks/Montgomery County areas? > > Bob, having serviced hundreds of HP LaserJet printers (including many > original LaserJet 500 aka 2686D which came out in 1984) I strongly > recommend that when you get your LJ5200TN serviced you have *all* the > rollers (including the fusing assy) and pads replaced, and well as > *all* the parts recommended in the HP Service Manual for PM > (preventive maintenance). > https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-6015518 What is the page > count on your HPLJ 5200? > > This will cost much more than having only the failed parts replaced, > you'll basically have a new printer and will save money on future > repairs long-term. The older HP LaserJets with Canon engines are > reliable workhorses (I worked on some that had a page count of over > one million pages!) _IF_ you do the HP recommended PM. > > You could save money on the service job if you buy genuine HP/Canon > replacement parts yourself, IF the servicer is okay with that. Some > servicers (who would mark up the price of parts) won't allow this > because they don't want to be on the hook if a customer-supplied parts fails. > > -bernieS

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Subject: OT: Looking for reputable repair place for laser printer
by bernieS 24 Jan '25

24 Jan '25

>Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2025 11:56:34 -0500 >From: Bob Shuster <bob(a)theshusters.com> >To: vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org >Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: Looking for reputable repair place >for laser printer > >I have an HP Laserjet 5200tn (close to 20 years old) that is >starting to have issues with paper jams, and it seems it?s a common >issue with the buffers on the pickup solenoids. They are however >difficult to access so I?m going to turn to a professional if >possible, and have a good cleaning done at the same time. I know >there are faster, quieter, and more capable laser printers out there >now, but this one works perfectly for me, and a new 11x17 printer is >expensive in any case. > >I need a quick turnaround, but I need reliable and reputable >service. Any recommendations in the Philadelphia, lower >Bucks/Montgomery County areas? Bob, having serviced hundreds of HP LaserJet printers (including many original LaserJet 500 aka 2686D which came out in 1984) I strongly recommend that when you get your LJ5200TN serviced you have *all* the rollers (including the fusing assy) and pads replaced, and well as *all* the parts recommended in the HP Service Manual for PM (preventive maintenance). https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-6015518 What is the page count on your HPLJ 5200? This will cost much more than having only the failed parts replaced, you'll basically have a new printer and will save money on future repairs long-term. The older HP LaserJets with Canon engines are reliable workhorses (I worked on some that had a page count of over one million pages!) _IF_ you do the HP recommended PM. You could save money on the service job if you buy genuine HP/Canon replacement parts yourself, IF the servicer is okay with that. Some servicers (who would mark up the price of parts) won't allow this because they don't want to be on the hook if a customer-supplied parts fails. -bernieS

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February MARCH Repair Workshop at InfoAge
by Jeff Salzman 23 Jan '25

23 Jan '25

Greetings! The next MARCH Repair Workshop is on February 15-16 at the InfoAge Science & History Museum in Wall Township, NJ. Some changes are being made starting this year as we transition to bigger workshop spaces on campus. Details below: Sign-up sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nHJHC4fgZdZZocCe9gkG-Vek5HlpDfyjCmG… Parking Map: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oE_yMBAnBdqNyLn4PX0iqoJha8uaLPct/view?usp=… The February Repair Workshop will be held across two buildings at InfoAge this month. The first building will be Number 11 on the linked map. This is the CDL building where we have held the Workshops for many years. The other building, officially called 9032A and labeled Number 7 on the linked map, is the new space. We are beginning to implement the use of the latter, which is about twice the size of CDL and can accommodate more people. We are anticipating a larger Workshop turnout and will focus on the use of this larger space in the future. You may choose either location to set up for the February Workshop. The CDL location has high-mounted, 2'x6' workbench tops and stool seating, with room to maneuver between rows of workbenches used by other attendees, but requires ascending several steps to get into the building. This may be an issue when bringing in large containers, boxes, and heavier equipment. The 9032 building is a little less cozy, but has more open space, desk high 2.5'x6' tables that sit lower, along with street-level thresholds into the building. This works well for the use of hand trucks and dollies for bringing in large equipment. Although it is highly suggested that you bring your own tools and equipment to these Repair Workshops if you can, the CDL building has ready access to tools and test equipment that you may use when working on your projects. MARCH is currently assembling a full stock of tools and test equipment for use by Workshop attendees setting up in 9032A. However, it might not be fully stocked for the February Repair Workshop, so choose your preferred location accordingly. Feel free to ask other attendees to borrow tools if needed. You cannot, however, go to CDL to borrow tools and bring them to 9032A. Parking for the Workshop attendees is anywhere along the areas marked by red lines on the linked map. The Workshop buildings are highlighted in orange on the map for reference. The curved red line area near Number 7 (9032A) is a grassy area. You may park in that grass just along the edge of the road surface. Do not park two vehicles deep, or anywhere deeper into the grass in that area. Please don't leave your vehicle partially parked on the road surface as there is only just enough room on the road surface for a vehicle to drive through. DO NOT park in the grass at any of the other designated parking areas. Overflow parking for 9032A is curb parking along the red line along the building where Numbers 3 and 4 are referenced on the map. When you arrive, contact any of the persons named as a "Manager" at the top of the signup sheet to pick up your wristband for the day. The Manager(s) for any given Workshop might change depending on volunteer availability. Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you at the February MARCH Repair Workshop! Jeff Salzman MARCH Events Manager MARCH Steering Committee member

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OT: Looking for reputable repair place for laser printer
by Bob Shuster 22 Jan '25

22 Jan '25

I have an HP Laserjet 5200tn (close to 20 years old) that is starting to have issues with paper jams, and it seems it’s a common issue with the buffers on the pickup solenoids. They are however difficult to access so I’m going to turn to a professional if possible, and have a good cleaning done at the same time. I know there are faster, quieter, and more capable laser printers out there now, but this one works perfectly for me, and a new 11x17 printer is expensive in any case. I need a quick turnaround, but I need reliable and reputable service. Any recommendations in the Philadelphia, lower Bucks/Montgomery County areas? Thanks! - Bob Shuster

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VCF East 2025 Volunteer Registration
by Jeffrey Brace 20 Jan '25

20 Jan '25

Volunteers are the backbone of making VCF East one of the best vintage computer shows. We are in need of volunteers in all areas. Register to become a volunteer today! <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScRIqB1ZuseQ2ANYszT2RTw2_AMnnCv0ZI…> Click here to read Volunteer FAQ <https://vcfed.org/vcf-east-volunteers-faq/>

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OT: iPad 5th gen with unknown password
by William Dudley 18 Jan '25

18 Jan '25

Not vintage computing, iPad from 2017, so apologies. I know some of you deal in used Apple devices, and it is you few people to whom I goask for help. Someone gave my wife an iPad A1822, which is of course, locked. I don't know anything about Apple devices, but some quick Googling suggests that password recovery needs a Windows or Mac computer and an Apple account, not to mention the "device is locked to an Apple account" issue. I don't know the provenance of this tablet. If it's stolen, I'd prefer to give it back to its owner. If not, I'd prefer to make is usable again (i.e. wipe it and set it up for my wife). Please respond off-list with any advice, suggestions, etc. Bill Dudley VCF contributor This email is probably free of malware because I run Linux.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] It's New Years, did you book your room yet?
by Ken 18 Jan '25

18 Jan '25

At 1/6/2025 11:59 AM, Christian Liendo via vcf-midatlantic wrote: >Reminder to book rooms. Here are the hotel blocks >https://vcfed.org/vcf-east-hotel-blocks/ Thanks for the reminder! One note: That page says Holiday Inn Express is $134/night and Atlantic Inn is $100/night (for 1 bed). But Holiday Inn price is before taxes and fees (actual price is $154/night), while Atlantic Inn price already includes them! So, perhaps adjust something here, so it's apples to apples. Thanks for having set up these blocks. Can't wait... - Ken

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Garage load of computers in WV
by Dean Notarnicola 17 Jan '25

17 Jan '25

In case anyone’s interested: https://www.facebook.com/share/1FRY3rSwtW/?mibextid=wwXIfr

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OT (off Topic) Craigslist FREE HEAVY DUTY CRATES in Midtown NYC
by Christian Liendo 17 Jan '25

17 Jan '25

I saw this on craigslist and I cannot take these. Please don't ask me to get these for you because I can't. My apartment is too small. If you have a vehicle that can take these and want them then this is the link. https://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/zip/d/new-york-free-heavy-duty-crates-ma…

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50th annual Trenton Computer Fest - March 29, 2025
by Dean Notarnicola 15 Jan '25

15 Jan '25

VCF will once again be hosting a table at TCF. It’s always nice to see our regulars there and I hope to see all of you again this year. Here are details from the TCF Facebook page, as the website has not yet been updated. Note: Ticket sales are exclusively via Eventbrite. No ticket sales at the door and sales end the day before the event, so plan accordingly. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tcf2025-tickets-1041863209907?utm_experiment=t… “We are excited to announce TCF 2025 – marking the 50th year since the first Trenton Computer Festival. TCF 2025 will be held on Saturday, March 29, 2025, from 9 am to 5:30 pm at The College of New Jersey, in Ewing. This year’s theme will be Fun with Technology, and the event will feature a notable keynote speaker and a special track with featured speakers relating to the theme. This year’s TCF is also significant in that we will have a tribute to our founders, Dr. Allen Katz and Sol Libes, who have both passed on. We hope that their memory continues to inspire new generations of technology enthusiasts to learn, to experience, to advance, and to share. Inquiries regarding presenting at TCF, or any other matters, can be directed to Larry Pearlstein, Event Chair, at pearlstl(a)tcnj.xn--edu-9o0a

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ACGNJ (Amateur Computer Group of New Jersey) - The oldest user group in the world
by Jeffrey Brace 14 Jan '25

14 Jan '25

I was just informed about this site: http://www.acgnj.org/nl Apparently VCF/MARCH has a complete set of all the newsletters from 1975-1983. Who has more information about this group? Thanks! Jeff Brace

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VCF East 2025 Exhibit Registration
by Jeffrey Brace 14 Jan '25

14 Jan '25

We are full on exhibit tables and closed the registration until we layout the exhibits. Afterwards we can see if we can fit any more and/or put people on the waiting list. This is the fastest that we have filled up tables in all our history. Celebrating the twentieth VCF East! Take care! Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President VCF East Showrunner MARCH Fundraising Manager Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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OT / Equipment pickup
by Martin A. Flynn 12 Jan '25

12 Jan '25

Anyone in the area of Reisterstown, Maryland (21136) that is willing to pickup a UPS system and transport to VCF East? APC Sine Wave UPS 120V SUA3000RM2U, 2U, weight is 100 pounds. Martin

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Seeking S-100 SCSI stuff
by Richard Cini 12 Jan '25

12 Jan '25

All — Now that I’ve finished recreating two Lomas boards (the Color Magic and the Thunder 186) I’m looking to fill-out a mass-storage option. A 2-board system will run DOS 3.31 with 256k; I added two CompuPro ram boards to get 640k. Lomas had a SCSI board (which added an RTC and 4 serial ports), and there’s a great alternative, the Lifeboat SCSI (for the Z-100 machines). But, there are various challenges that I’d like to ask for help on. On the Lomas side, I have the board and software but not a manual or schematics, and I haven’t found them on-line anywhere. I still need to reverse the PAL which is doable. On the Lifeboat, their manual has the schematics and PAL equations, but no software or ROM firmware. If anyone can help out with either of these, let me know. Thanks! Rich http://cini.classiccmp.org/ Long Island S100 User’s Group Get Outlook<https://aka.ms/qtex0l> for iOS

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OT / Equipment pickup
by Martin Flynn 11 Jan '25

11 Jan '25

Anyone on list in proximity to Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania? There's a Winsted equipment rack that's a cosmetic match for what we have deployed already that I am considering purchase of Before arranging shipping / freight, anyone nearby that might be headed to VCF East or the swap meet? Martin

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Free Cisco Cable
by Martin A. Flynn 11 Jan '25

11 Jan '25

Slightly OT - Leaving an 8 port Cisco async serial cable in the makerspace next Saturday. Will be hanging on the side of the red tool box. Looks like CAB-OCTAL-ASYNC, not 100% sure

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: FREE stuff! Palm Tungsten T, iPods
by Sentrytv 11 Jan '25

11 Jan '25

Bob, have you considered selling on Facebook? It might make it easier Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device. > On Jan 11, 2025, at 10:31 AM, Bob Shuster via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > These items have been claimed. Apologies to those I disappointed! :-) - Bob > >> On Jan 9, 2025, at 3:19 PM, Bob Shuster <bob(a)theshusters.com> wrote: >> If anyone wants these, I have a Palm Tungsten T PDA in perfect shape - other than the battery - with a stylus, case, chargers, sync base & cables, Audio Translator and 256MB storage card, and even a little Palm cinch bag to store the accessories, all in immaculate condition (mine new from 2002!) I also have two 32GB iPod Touch A1213 (first gen) units that I can’t get past the startup screen - and I suspect the batteries on those are also toast. I have one charging cable for them but a USB-A charging cube is not included. >> The Tungsten T is an interesting little piece of handheld history, designed to compete with Windows mobile and Sony PDAs of the time, and the first of the Tungsten line. Smartphones made them obsolete pretty quickly. >> I’ve never tried to repair an iPod, but batteries are readily available for the Tungsten T and easy to swap out - just not worth my time. If interested, please email me off-list! I will ship if desired, or local pickup just outside of Philadelphia in lower Montgomery County. I’ll wait a week or so then these will be recycled. - Bob Shuster

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OT: FREE stuff! Palm Tungsten T, iPods
by Bob Shuster 11 Jan '25

11 Jan '25

If anyone wants these, I have a Palm Tungsten T PDA in perfect shape - other than the battery - with a stylus, case, chargers, sync base & cables, Audio Translator and 256MB storage card, and even a little Palm cinch bag to store the accessories, all in immaculate condition (mine new from 2002!) I also have two 32GB iPod Touch A1213 (first gen) units that I can’t get past the startup screen - and I suspect the batteries on those are also toast. I have one charging cable for them but a USB-A charging cube is not included. The Tungsten T is an interesting little piece of handheld history, designed to compete with Windows mobile and Sony PDAs of the time, and the first of the Tungsten line. Smartphones made them obsolete pretty quickly. I’ve never tried to repair an iPod, but batteries are readily available for the Tungsten T and easy to swap out - just not worth my time. If interested, please email me off-list! I will ship if desired, or local pickup just outside of Philadelphia in lower Montgomery County. I’ll wait a week or so then these will be recycled. - Bob Shuster

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OT (Off Topic) Video Game Designer Dan Kitchen at Digital Press in NJ
by Christian Liendo 10 Jan '25

10 Jan '25

For the old school Atari people, Dan Kitchen will be talking about his new Atari 2600 game https://www.dankitchen.com/ https://www.facebook.com/events/1527741917889220/?acontext=%7B%22source%22:… I know there are people here that would be interested in this.

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Repair Workshop 1/11 & 1/12, 2025
by Jeffrey Brace 10 Jan '25

10 Jan '25

I know that some are concerned about snow, but it looks like in Wall, NJ we will only get about an inch on Saturday. So the repair workshop is still going ahead. We have an upcoming repair workshop at Infoage this coming weekend. Click here to signup. <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IXvycZsSKrcEqG0CHhikN3bgRwIA0tOm1hB…> *WHERE:* 1) Building 9059 (CDL side and Classroom side) 2) Building 9032-A *TIME:*Saturday START time == 10 A.M. END time == 11PM. Sunday START time == 10 A.M. and END == 5 P.M. *COST:* $15 per person, per day. When you arrive, check in with Jeff Salzman, Thomas or myself. *OVERNIGHT*: There is no more overnight stay available in the Visitor's Center - *Payments* - PayPal: @vintagecomputerfed (or paypal(a)vcfed.org) - Venmo: @VintageComputerFederation - Cash (in person) - Credit card (in person). *EQUIPMENT:* - VCF will provide a table and you can use any available electrical outlet. - Bring your own tools, power strips, power cords, and supplies etc. - If you need particular tools that you don't own or particular parts, please let others know that you need something. They may have what you need. Let them know ahead of time. - Let everyone know what project you are working on ahead of time to inspire collaboration. *DRINKS*: You should bring your own. We have a refrigerator in CDL to keep them cold. VCF will buy some water and soft drinks for member use. *FOOD*: *Saturday afternoon*: Everyone is on their own. *Saturday Night Dinner at 7PM?*: We often go out to dinner together. *Sunday Morning*: We usually meet at a diner around 9AM *Sunday Afternoon*: Everyone is on their own. *Address:* InfoAge Science and History Museums 2201 Marconi Road Wall, NJ 07719 *PARKING:* Park in the main parking lot, unless you are unloading. Don't park on the lawn. Also park on one side of the road for fire safety. *PHONE:* (732) 722 - 5015 *EMAIL: *repairworkshops(a)vcfed.org Have fun everyone! :-D Repair workshops are events which are open to the general public where members of all levels technical abilities and experience get together to help each other repair vintage computer hardware. Repair workshops are a chance to work with other VCF members to help repair your vintage artifact. *We are not there to do repairs for you*, *only to allow you the facilities and partnership to help you figure out how to repair it*. Repair workshops are held about 9 times per year at the InfoAge location in Wall. Take care! Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner VCF Mid-Atlantic Event Manager Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Repair Workshop: Windows 3 & 1/2 disk
by Jeffrey Brace 09 Jan '25

09 Jan '25

Someone needs a Windows 3 & 1/2 disk read. Presumably it is just Microsoft Word files. He doesn’t remember exactly. It’s from 2002 on a System Max computer. He lives locally and will come on Sunday. Can some bring a system where it can be read, and transferred to a cloud drive? Thanks! Jeff Brace

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CES 2025 is the 40th anniversary of the Commodore 128 — the last 8-bit PC first appeared at CES 1985
by Christian Liendo 09 Jan '25

09 Jan '25

Nice writeup on the C128 https://www.tomshardware.com/desktops/ces-2025-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-t…

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Used paper tape for craft projects
by Jeffrey Brace 09 Jan '25

09 Jan '25

Hello everyone, I received an unusual request through our museum e-mail address. Someone is looking for unneeded used paper tape. They want to use it for craft projects, i.e. making paper ribbon/bows to use on wreaths. If you know of anyone, then please let me know. She would consider making her own, but I doubt that equipment would be easy to operate for someone who isn't a technical user. In any case, let me know if you have ideas. Take care! Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President VCF East Showrunner MARCH Fundraising Manager Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Reminder: System Source Workshop on January 18th and 19th!
by Ryan Burke 08 Jan '25

08 Jan '25

The Computer Museum at System Source is hosting another repair workshop next week on the 18th and 19th. It is a great opportunity to get help with projects, see what others in the community are working on, and tour the museum. To register and find out more information, please visit the following link: https://ca.syssrc.com/wp/?page_id=85&civiwp=CiviCRM&q=civicrm%2Fevent%2Finf…

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It's New Years, did you book your room yet?
by Christian Liendo 06 Jan '25

06 Jan '25

Reminder to book rooms. Here are the hotel blocks https://vcfed.org/vcf-east-hotel-blocks/ See you guys soon

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Software forensics lay MS-DOS, CP/M controversy to rest
by Herbert Johnson 03 Jan '25

03 Jan '25

Bottom line: there is no controversy. It was resolved many years ago. The article referenced, is simply a code-analysis product developer, showing off their product at an August 2016 conference. The article writer, shows no informed knowledge of the subject. The rest of this post, reviews the context of the referenced article, the un-controversial subject is resolved, and the promotional nature of the developer's efforts is laid out- all matters of my opinion but I'm informed and I make those cases. If this matter is not important to the reader, you can stop here, my apologies for the length remaining. I have some early CP/M information and references to CP/M related litigation on this Web page, with links to other pages. Thus my interest in the subject. My Web pages were recognized by an IEEE biographer of Gary Kildall when IEEE awarded recognition to him on the 40th year of his CP/M creation. https://www.retrotechnology.com/dri/dri_16bit.html ----------------------- The beginnings of MS-DOS was an 8086 operating system that was written to support the equivalent CP/M-80 BDOS operating system calls under an 8086/88 processor. Also an equivalent 8086/88 BIOS was written closely following CP/M-80's BIOS scheme. The CP/M file system was NOT supported, instead what became the FAT-16 file system was developed. (I'm glossing over details, to make a point not a Wikipedia entry.) As for claims of outright source-code copying: inspection of source-codes by eye won't readily find copying. How do we know these things? the developer of what became MS-DOS, Tim Patterson, testified under oath to those facts, during litigation between an owner of the CP/M intellectual property (there were many at various times) and Microsoft. subsequently, Tim Patterson acknowledged his development process, on a Web site he created (which I've forgotten and I won't look up today). Patterson admitted using CP/M *documentation* to guide his development of what became MS-DOS. Repeating, documentation, not source codes. And in the general discourse about CP/M vs MS-DOS in the era, during times of litigation in particular, these facts were reported. and, simple inspection of early MS-DOS documentation shows anyone with knowledge of CP/M, that match between CP/M-80 BDOS calls and INT 21 calls of MS-DOS. as to the referenced article. The article referenced is from Aug 2016. "Software forensics lay MS-DOS, CP/M controversy to rest, By Brandon Lewis, Editor-in-Chief, Embedded Computing Design". It covers what is called a forensic review of alleged CP/M code using a toolset called CodeSuite. the review was done by the CodeSuite developer. The writer of the article makes the following claims among others: > The greatest possibility of copyright infringement came in the system calls, where, as seen in Figure 5, the numbering of the calls is almost identical across programs. For instance, in both MS-DOS and CP/M, 15 and 16 are the calls to open and close a file, respectively. Here we come to a gray area in that, while the system calls were implemented and used differently in each program, the similarities are undeniable. That being said, however, this is most likely a case of Microsoft not reinventing the wheel and sticking with the recognizable calls of the day. In copyright terms this is referred to as fair use. Did anyone buy MS-DOS as a result of the CP/M system calls? Probably not. The article ends: > As for the CodeSuite findings, Zeidman presented them earlier this month at the Vintage Computer Festival that took place at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA. He’s confident enough in his findings that he has offered a $100,000 reward for anyone that can disprove his findings that Microsoft did not copy source code from CP/M, and an additional $100,000 for anyone that can find Kildall’s mysterious secret function. > > Until someone does, I think it’s time to put these rumors to bed. So, I observe the following in the article, in my own opinions. 1) It's a lot of tech-chat about some forensic methods of this CodeSuite software. Consequently, the article is really about CodeSuite, CP/M vs MS-DOS is an excuse. 2) The article author dismisses the claim about system calls as copyright infringement. That was the issue under litigation, among others, as I recall. In modern terms: can a set of API protocols be copyrighted? There were settlements, so the claim was not entirely bogus. 3) the article author misses the point about MS-DOS as a product of its time. Because of the close alignment between CP/M calls and MS-DOS calls, 8080-coded programs under CP/M-80 could be *mechanically translated* to 8086-coded programs under MS-DOS. As revealed in litigation, that was the intent of Tim Patterson, who literally had DRI manuals at-his-keyboard (he says) as he developed what became MS-DOS. So, go figure. 4) Factually, when IBM announced and distributed their IBM-PC with MS-DOS, producers of CP/M programs performed that very task of conversion. Why? To offer their old CP/M products to the new IBM-PC under MS-DOS. So the author's question: "Did anyone buy MS-DOS as a result of the CP/M system calls?" is not "absolutely not" but "certainly so, but they didn't realize why". Persons and companies bought the IBM PC to run software reasonably compatible with software on their previous CP/M-80 computers. My contemporary memory recalls, it took a few years for that transition of software products to complete (remember this was 1981). In those few years, developers moved from the CP/M platform to the MS-DOS platform (although CP/M systems remained in use for several more years). 4) Note the end of the article. The CodeSuite producer and distributor, goes to a conference - why? *to promote his product*. How best to promote it? Stir up a contemporary controversy, inject his product into it, and produce the same finding as was already known. To spice up his presentation, he adds a bogus prize that *no one will be able to claim*. Proving a negative is the hardest proof to achieve, it requires exhaustive checking of all possibilities. But the CodeSuite developer already knows, there's no source-code copying to be found. That was already settled in litigation; and also something an informed Intel processor programmer could tell you by eyeball in a matter of hours. Thus: a bogus claim and prize. Finis Regards Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA https://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT comcast DOT net

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Software forensics lay MS-DOS, CP/M controversy to rest
by Christian Liendo 03 Jan '25

03 Jan '25

I wouldn't normally post this to the group except for this one part "As for the CodeSuite findings, Zeidman presented them earlier this month at the Vintage Computer Festival that took place at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA." I figured this would be important enough. Here is the link to the article in question. https://embeddedcomputing.com/technology/software-and-os/software-forensics…

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Guy in San Francisco getting rid of old books and manuals
by Christian Liendo 03 Jan '25

03 Jan '25

Someone is getting rid of old manuals, do we know someone near San Fran that would be interested in looking into this? The link to the reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/computercollecting/comments/1hscrgf/donation_of_ol… >From the post: "Donation of old computer manuals and textbooks from the 1970s to 2000s?" "I am cleaning out my parent’s house and I have a large assortment of old computer manuals, programs, and textbooks from the 1970s to 2000s from my father’s work. Are there any organizations that may want these to archive? Ones in the San Francisco Bay Area would be particularly good because that is where I am located. Otherwise, they are just going to get tossed."

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Happy New Year, hope to be more active in the group this year
by Jeffrey Brace 03 Jan '25

03 Jan '25

Happy New Year to you too Keith. I hope that you are more active this year as well! On Wed, Jan 1, 2025 at 12:50 PM David Keith via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Epoch time 1735689600 >

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Happy New Year and Wishing a Great 2025
by Christian Liendo 03 Jan '25

03 Jan '25

I know many of us won't be awake by midnight and so I am wishing you all a good 2025. I know there will be some great computer anniversaries to look forward to like the SWTPC, Altair and Amiga. May we be able to celebrate these and other great things next year.

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Happy New Year, hope to be more active in the group this year
by David Keith 01 Jan '25

01 Jan '25

Epoch time 1735689600

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mini computers wanted.
by Bill Degnan 31 Dec '24

31 Dec '24

DEC PDP-9 Computer Automation PDC-816 Decade DCC 70/2 EAI 640 EMR 6130 Hewlett Packard 2116B Honeywell DDP-516 Interdata Model 3 IBM 1130 Lockheed MAC-16 Raytheon 703 Scientific Control SCC-4700 SEL 810A Varian 620 i thanks. Happy to pick up. Happy New Year. Bill

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] PDP-8/L restoration
by Chris Fandt 30 Dec '24

30 Dec '24

Hey Mike, Thanks for your response! Yeah, I sure do need to catch up on stuff. Back in the 80s when I was at Bausch & Lomb Analytical Systems Division, I could quote to you specs about nearly any 8-bit and a few 16-bit CPUs extant at the time. I did digital design and competitive analysis of competitor's products and have forgotten more since then than I can recall nowadays, doggone it. Since then, I've been working in the machine tool control realm and, later till retirement, electrical contact physics at Cummins Inc. So, I want to tutor myself on FPGA tech and the available (and free :-) ) programmings apps as part of catching up, amongst a lot of other stuff. At least the ARM processor architecture is rather standardized now such that the RasPi and other modern solutions can be understood and readily adapted without spending time and financial resources on learning nuances of yet another CPU architecture. Never let yourself just sit and get 'rusty' in retirement. I'm sure I'll bug the list once in a while on some of the old hardware questions. Kind regards, -Chris F. On 12/28/2024 11:41 AM, Mike Rieker via vcf-midatlantic wrote: Hi Chris, The Zynq is a processor chip like a BCM used on a RaspberryPI but instead of simple GPIO, it has a big FGPA 'fabric' between its internal ARM processor and GPIO pins. The ZTurn is a particular board that contains a Zynq chip and brings out 90+ pins to connectors on the back. So it is well suited to interface to a processor's IO and memory busses. You can write Verilog or VHDL to program the FPGA to look like the device registers, then the ARM can do the IO simulation and update the device registers. Mike -- ================================================================ Christian R Fandt Jamestown, NY 14701 > Electrical/Electronic Collector & Historian: Radios, Early Computers, Test Equipment > Radio restorations: Pre-1970s Automotive & Home radios > Retired engineer/consultant on electrical/electronic contact physics -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com

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Book: Too Much Fun: The Five Lives of the Commodore 64 Computer
by Jeffrey Brace 30 Dec '24

30 Dec '24

I just found out about a new book released on December 10, 2024: Too Much Fun: The Five Lives of the Commodore 64 Computer by Jasper Juul. I haven't gotten the book yet, but I really like the premise. Has anyone gotten this book? Take care! Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President VCF East Showrunner MARCH Fundraising Manager Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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OT: Collective Access Software
by Martin A. Flynn 29 Dec '24

29 Dec '24

If your computer museum is using CA, please contact me off list at: martin.flynn(a)infoage.org Specifically interested in metadata configuration and if any of the profiles provided worked for your organization out of the box. https://manual.collectiveaccess.org/providence/user/editing/metadataelement… Cheers! Martin

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Update Re: A 4004 Based Microcomputer the Comstar System 4
by Herbert Johnson 29 Dec '24

29 Dec '24

Christian, you and I often disagree on things like this - what something is or isn't, how to describe it - because you and I are of different ages and have different backgrounds. These things, they happened in my early working engineering lifetime; for you they are well before you were born; i think that's a noteworthy difference. We have other differences. These are not criticisms, I'm stating empirical conditions. So you and I will not likely agree, that is a statistical estimate, again not a criticism. So: the previous posting you reference, is likely the thread of Jan 10 2024 "A 4004 Based Microcomputer the Comstar System 4". YOu and I and others posted at length. Web access to the vcf-midatlantic list will provide that content to anyone interested. Comstar apparently made a number of things. IN the prior discussion it emerged that Comstar produced a programming product, and a controlling product. That variety of items was part of the confusion about which thing is/was in discussion, and what to call those things. Whether some of them are controllers, some of them are computers, some are both? Those are just words, descriptors, given by Intel or Comstar or someone for some purpose of communicating something. We can guess at their intentions, based on content we can read retrospectively and individually interpret. From both my first-hand experiences in the 1970's, and my retrospective experiences decades later, I say the following. Lots of things in the 70's era were called "computers", because it was a shorthand way of saying some thing was making decisions and taking actions and producing some kind of information. That was in the way people of the era, were generally aware that "computers" of other sorts, were doing those sorts of things. And, those people who wrote, they wanted to get some kind of idea across to people, in few words, because it suited their purposes. We can guess at those purposes based on context - but to-my-point, I bring a different view of context to the situation, than Christian does, Likely others have their view-of-contexts, and different sets of evidence. But if you Christian insist that if Comstar or Intel calls something "a computer", that makes it a computer in some other ways? or is official in some fashion? that goes from reportage to judgement. Judgement is fine when backed by evidence. If you insist that a literal reference is conclusive, "you win", Intel and Comstar called some things computers, they are the experts, therefore it is so. That's a logic I am guessing you are employing. Myself, I have other "logics" which I consider, and other evidences and interpretations. The quote you post about the bottle-loading machine, is from an Intel ad in Electronics Magazine page 44-45. It does not name the Comstar 4 literally. The three paragraphs about Comstar's product, reference "an Intel micro computer" (more on that shortly) and "The little computer in a 6" x 6" x 1 1/2" space" which apparently is the Comstar product. Do you see a Comstar 4 named device on the photo of the bottling machine? or is the Comstar 4 item you have of that size? The three paragraphs also say "Comstar estimates the micro computer halved the cost of the control portion of this system". Does that mean that Comstar made a control-er? Or did Comstar replace a control-something with a computer-something? The ad itself, has a title in very large letters: "Intel Micro Computers". The two-page ad has four sections titled "Make point of sale terminals", "make compact business machines", "do process control", "do data communications processing". The Comstar product is under "control". Doesn't that suggest, the Comstar is a "process control-ler", if not part of a process controller? The data communications section of the ad, refers to a "Bekins controller" used by Action Communications Systems. Apparently the two companies with direct help from Intel, literally used Intel's SIM4-02 (4004 prototype boards) and "Intel micro computers" (presumably 4004 processor based). Again, Intel refers to controllers made from microprocessors, that's my reasonable interpretation. The other two sections refer to terminals made from Intel micro computers and PROMs, and a "general-purpose data processing machine" (business data entry and sorting, simple accounting) made from INtel micro computers, Intel's PROMs and RAMs. What's the point of the ad? In my opinion, based on my presence as a student electrical engineer at the time the ad was produced, and my subsequent EE knowledge thereafter: The point of the ad was that engineers can use Intel's micro computers - microprocessor chips, PROMs, RAMs, and development tools collectively referenced as MCS-4 and MCS-8 systems - to produce products of the era which previously were made from mechanical or small-scale-digital logic (TTL, DTL chips). Those products were things like point-of-sale terminals, data-processing machines, process controlling machines, and data communication systems. Intel references prior and familiar situations - people worked POS cash-registers, did data entry, ran data comm equipment, and worked in factories using process-controllers. Intel's ad, was talking to engineers of those systems. Not the end users I just mentioned, who would not be reading Electronics, a trade magazine. None of these examples - NONE - are general purpose computers used by end-users entering programs from a selection of programs, to perform a variety of tasks as determined by the end user. NONE! The end-use was determined by engineers/technicians, working for companies which sold the completed product for repetitive use only. The final products, were sold to another company, which employed people for the repetitive use. The day-to-day users of these products, did one thing only - data entry or data-communications or bottle-loading or cafeteria food-sales. Zero - Z-E-R-O - end-user "computing". So I call out the difference between some device that someone in the 1970's called "a computer" of some sort; and the idea about a class of devices that are used "as computers" in the ways I just suggested constitute "computing" by end users. That's my read, my interpretation, the contexts I considered. That's the requested help I provide under the terms given by Christian at the end of his post. I'm not categorically "better at research", that's argumentative. I did put in some time today, a few hours. I bring different things in different quantities "to the table". I regret if my views create some personal friction, which is why I am reluctant to provide them. But I have a point to make about "computers" of that era, which is of considerable interest to me. Regards Herb Johnson still not a bot > Christian Liendo cliendo at gmail.com > Thu Dec 26 21:17:24 UTC 2024 > > I posted about some research on the 4004 based computer that I found > and I remember there was some concern that what I had was not in fact > a computer, but a controller. > > So I have been digging a bit more and I think I found something > interesting to support that the Compstar was a "Micro Computer" > > Intel used the System 4 in their own advertising calling it a "Micro Computer" > > In The Intel MCS 4 User Manual Feb 1973 page 171 and in Electronics > Magazine Jan 1973, they promote the 4004 and 8008 and use the System 4 > as an example. > > http://www.bitsavers.org/components/intel/MCS4/MCS-4_UsersManual_Feb73.pdf > > https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Electronics/70s/73/Electronics-19… > >>From the sources: > > "An Intel micro computer does all the thinking for this automatic > bottle-loading machine. The micro computer, built by Comstar > Corporation of Edina, Minnesota, for Conveyor Specialities, tells the > machine how to load bottles of different sizes and when to perform > each step in the loading process. > > So I am still working on this but I don't have a lot of time. If > anyone wants to join in or knows someone who is better at research > than I would could use the help > > Thanks, Chris -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA https://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT comcast DOT net

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] PDP-8/L restoration
by Ethan Dicks 28 Dec '24

28 Dec '24

On Sat, Dec 28, 2024 at 12:14 PM Mike Rieker via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Hi Ethan, > > I am going to make some 'V2.0' Zynq boards, basically heavier drivers to > work against the 8/L's pullups... > > If you want, I can have some extras made. I have the PCB company assemble > the surface mount parts then I solder the through-hole stuff myself. Hi, Mike, I'm tentatively interested in 1-2 board sets, depending on price. I can do SMT myself but I understand that these days, the incremental cost to have things pre-stuffed is pretty low (the RK05 emulator comes with all SMT populated and the kit is adding through-hole parts). I have enough projects on my queue that ordering blank boards is a barrier to getting started. I have a drawer (and to-do spreadsheet) for PCBs on hand in various stages of construction. > The ZTurn-7020 boards come from MYIR and are around $150. Good to know the scale of the cost. Given that I've wanted to boot OS/8 on an -8/L since I was 16, I think I can allocate that level of funding. If you share some numbers I can gauge if I would want 1 or 2. Thanks! Cheers, -ethan

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] PDP-8/L restoration
by Dave McGuire 28 Dec '24

28 Dec '24

On 12/28/24 12:14, Mike Rieker via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > If you want, I can have some extras made. I have the PCB company > assemble the surface mount parts then I solder the through-hole stuff > myself. I'd have to see how much extra it costs to have more boards > made. If you want (because of my love of all things PDP-8), I'm happy to handle the surface mount parts gratis if you want to pass a run of these through me, if that would make this any easier. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] PDP-8/L restoration
by Ethan Dicks 28 Dec '24

28 Dec '24

On Thu, Dec 26, 2024 at 9:03 PM Mike Rieker via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > If anyone is interested Seriously interested! I have been trying to add mass storage to my PDP-8/L since I got it in High School in the early 80s! There were only a few options then and I never encountered any for sale at a price I could approach. > I finished a Zynq thing that plugs into the back > of my PDP-8/L to provide disk, tape, tty functionality. The thing > actually boots and runs OS/8! Outstanding! That's been my goal all along - boot OS/8 on an -8/L. > Anyway I made an Hackaday page > https://hackaday.io/project/202048-pdp-8x2fl-enhancements Nice photos. Would love to see more detail. > About all I had to do to get the PDP running was replace a few (half dozen > or so) 7400 series chips, some corroded diodes on the core stack and a > power resistor. Hasn't missed a beat since. Sure. In my years of maintaining gear from that era, I find a lot of dead 7474 and 7440 and some dead 7420 make up 90% of the bad ICs. Every once in a while, a diode. > I don't know if any of you have interest in this sort of thing. I don't > have a PDP-8/I but it might not be too difficult to adapt it to one of > those or other PDP-8s and maybe 11s. I think most PDP-8/i are negibus, and the -8/i itself is expecting to implement memory expansion to 8K internally (including using an M702 "memory detector" card in a particular slot). I have a 4K -8/i that I tried to upgrade to 8K when i was still learning (and lacking in the PDF scans we have now) that I was unsuccessful with due to my lack of deep understanding of how all the parts work (G020 -> G021 was one I totally missed as a teenager). It might be easier on an -8/i to remove the original memory parts and just use the Zynq board for all 32K (or do what was somewhat common back then, 8K with DEC parts and "external 24K" which _was_ done with non-DEC expansion boxes). I would definitely love to learn how to get one or two of these. Not as interested in the frontpanel emulators. I can see how they are handy but I'd prefer the original look. Thanks for sharing! -ethan

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] PDP-8/L restoration
by wmrieker＠nii.net 28 Dec '24

28 Dec '24

> Hi Mike, > > You wrote below: "I don't know if any of you have interest in this sort > of thing." > > Wow ... Are you kidding!!Â :-) > > I'm sure I speak for at least a few others on this list who love to hack > (in the old, more correct usage of the term) hardware and/or software in > order to non-maliciously learn stuff, restore something important, > and/or at least bring something back to life. Reverse Engineering and > creation of solutions at its best and most fun :-) > > I retired back in March (finally, at age 70) from the major USA-based > independent diesel engine maker and plan to work thru a bunch of DEC > PDP-11 gear, my DG Nova 1200, IBM 9370 w/9375-60 Processor, several > ASR-33 TTYs, plus a flock of other radio & TV restoration and ham radio > projects which have been in 'idle storage' for 10-to-50 years. This > email subject matter will definitely apply -depending, of course, upon > how my wife and I stretch our SS checks, a modest pension and random > restoration and consulting work. > > I need to catch-up on what that 'Zyng thing' is you mention and other > recent hardware/software items like this which have appeared in the last > decade or so. Hi Chris, The Zynq is a processor chip like a BCM used on a RaspberryPI but instead of simple GPIO, it has a big FGPA 'fabric' between its internal ARM processor and GPIO pins. The ZTurn is a particular board that contains a Zynq chip and brings out 90+ pins to connectors on the back. So it is well suited to interface to a processor's IO and memory busses. You can write Verilog or VHDL to program the FPGA to look like the device registers, then the ARM can do the IO simulation and update the device registers. Mike > > I personally encourage keeping activity like this going, folks! > > Thanks much and best regards, > Â Â Â -Chris F. > > > On 12/26/2024 9:02 PM, Mike Rieker via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Hey All, > > If anyone is interested, I finished a Zynq thing that plugs into the back > of my PDP-8/L to provide disk, tape, tty functionality. The thing > actually boots and runs OS/8! > > Anyway I made an Hackaday page > https://hackaday.io/project/202048-pdp-8x2fl-enhancements > > There is also a simple RasPI based board that plugs in the front panel > slot to do automated testing. > > About all I had to do to get the PDP running was replace a few (half dozen > or so) 7400 series chips, some corroded diodes on the core stack and a > power resistor. Hasn't missed a beat since. > > I don't know if any of you have interest in this sort of thing. I don't > have a PDP-8/I but it might not be too difficult to adapt it to one of > those or other PDP-8s and maybe 11s. > > Mike > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > -- > ================================================================ > Christian R Fandt > Jamestown, NY 14701 > > Electrical/Electronic Collector & Historian: Radios, Early > Computers, Test Equipment > > Radio restorations: Pre-1970s Automotive & Home radios > > Retired engineer/consultant on electrical/electronic contact physics > > > -- > This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. > www.avast.com >

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Next Repair Workshop Jan 11-12, 2025
by Jeffrey Brace 28 Dec '24

28 Dec '24

Sign up for the next repair workshop is here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IXvycZsSKrcEqG0CHhikN3bgRwIA0tOm1hB… Keep in mind that we are moving the repair workshops to 9032-A and won't be in 9059 going forward. Take care! Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President VCF East Showrunner MARCH Fundraising Manager Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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