- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Museum library
by Evan Koblentz 06 Jan '17

06 Jan '17

Bill Dud.'s post about donating his copy of "The Chip" reminded me that I've been meaning to share some good news. Jeff Galinat and I are going to do some things in the museum tomorrow, which will probably include putting up wooden bookshelves. Most of our library is in boxes in the warehouse. This is non-ideal because of climate (no HVAC) and difficulty of access. The new shelves will only hold a tiny portion of our library. Our plan is to use the shelves for our most important material. "Most important" as I see it means three main categories: historic books, historic magazines, and product manuals. What follows is a good news / bad news situation. As you read it, please keep in mind that WE'RE DOING THE BEST WE CAN WITH THE AVAILABLE RESOURCES. Sorry to shout :) but I want everyone to understand that there are topics beyond our control -- finite space, funds, etc. The good news: 1. Our most-historic books are already mostly sorted because they were boxed up when we vacated the old museum space. The most effective way to determine "most historic" is by publishing date. Thus, we previously sorted these books by 1950s, 1960s, etc., and we'll put the oldest ones on the new shelves first. We'll put as many as we can there until we run out of space. Obviously there are plenty of historic books from the 1970s and newer, but reality dictates that we're working with a blunt object not a scalpel. Two exceptions come to mind: 1., our complete-ish collection of the 1970s "Cookbook" series, and 2., our collection of DEC handbooks -- both groups are already sorted from the old museum so we'll make room for them if at all possible. 2. The vast majority of our most-important magazines are also already sorted and already in the museum (on a long shelf under the workbench). We'll move them to the new bookshelves and use the shelf under the bench for practical things. This collection includes Vol. 1, issue 1, until December 1979 of Byte, Creative Computing, DDJ, Interface Age, Kilobaud, SCCS Interface, and a couple of others I'm forgetting right now. It also includes the first several years of the ACGNJ newsletter, a full run of the (insanely rare!) People's Computer Company newsletter, a binder containing the full run of the Amateur Computer Society newsletter, and the first six years' anthology books of the West Coast Computer Faire (or maybe that's all the years? I an not sure how many anthologies they published). 3. Various manuals for systems in the museum are already on a shelf above the workbench. The bad news: The overwhelming majority of our technical books and product manuals will remain boxed up in the warehouse. We simply don't have the people, time, space, or money to change that right now.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Processors exhibit
by Jeffrey Jonas 06 Jan '17

06 Jan '17

There are several story lines for the microcontroller/processor exhibit 1) The Tyrrany Of Numbers: as computers got more complex, there were incredible problems with how to handle so many components. Thousands of tubes for ENIAC and such would not scale up. SAGE required constant maintanance, thus the dual system to keep running. see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranny_of_numbers That's happening again in a new way: pin count on the package. The 4004 was only 16 pins. 40 pins was common from the 70s to 80s with the 8008, 8080, 8086, 8088, Z80, 6502, 6800 and such. Easy for hobbyists to breadboard or hand-wire. The 68000 was 64 pins. CPUs expanded to 100. Now 1,000 or more with pin-grid array. 2) Moore's Law We're accustomed to speed and capacity doubling and redoubling and prices plummeting, thus the $5 Raspberry Pi Zero, dual/quad/octo-core processors in just about everything (desktop, laptop, even cellphones). 3) wider playing field Despite the "Intel Inside" campaign, the ARM core is in many more devices. Before the Intel/AMD duopoly, there was a wider playing field as demonstrated by all the hobbyist and pre-PC microsystems: Motorola's 6800, MOS's 6502, Zilog's Z80, RCA's 1802. There was quite the shake-out when the PC architecture "won". In a way, the maker/hacker community is aware of this thanks to the Arduio (most are Atmel AVR based), Raspberry Pi (cheap embedded Linux on the ARM core). That's another way to show how it's history repeating itself with the diversity of competing products. And how more innovation comes from people's basements & garages than large companies. The IoT (Internet of Things) is just a new face to microcontroller hackers. -- jeff jonas

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Tyranny of Numbers
by Jack Rubin 06 Jan '17

06 Jan '17

Nice summary and history, thank you, and too easy to forget that many people today aren't aware of it. I view it from a slightly different perspective, as a history of engineering progress - solving problems, advancing to the next plateau, chasing bottlenecks and moving on. There's a cyclical nature to the process but line of development in terms of overall ability to solve problems generally moves in a forward direction. At any given moment, the next challenge may be hardware, software or analytical approach. The last piece - the science part of computer science - is something that is often underexplored in popular presentations. While a multi-million transistor CPU is mind boggling, the mathematical complexity of the great ideas that drive us forward - from Babbage through Shannon and Turing to database structure, image analysis, compiler development, Big Data, etc. is even more daunting. Jack *************************************** There are several story lines for the microcontroller/processor exhibit 1) The Tyrrany Of Numbers: as computers got more complex, there were incredible problems with how to handle so many components. Thousands of tubes for ENIAC and such would not scale up. SAGE required constant maintanance, thus the dual system to keep running. see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranny_of_numbers That's happening again in a new way: pin count on the package. The 4004 was only 16 pins. 40 pins was common from the 70s to 80s with the 8008, 8080, 8086, 8088, Z80, 6502, 6800 and such. Easy for hobbyists to breadboard or hand-wire. The 68000 was 64 pins. CPUs expanded to 100. Now 1,000 or more with pin-grid array. 2) Moore's Law We're accustomed to speed and capacity doubling and redoubling and prices plummeting, thus the $5 Raspberry Pi Zero, dual/quad/octo-core processors in just about everything (desktop, laptop, even cellphones). 3) wider playing field Despite the "Intel Inside" campaign, the ARM core is in many more devices. Before the Intel/AMD duopoly, there was a wider playing field as demonstrated by all the hobbyist and pre-PC microsystems: Motorola's 6800, MOS's 6502, Zilog's Z80, RCA's 1802. There was quite the shake-out when the PC architecture "won". In a way, the maker/hacker community is aware of this thanks to the Arduio (most are Atmel AVR based), Raspberry Pi (cheap embedded Linux on the ARM core). That's another way to show how it's history repeating itself with the diversity of competing products. And how more innovation comes from people's basements & garages than large companies. The IoT (Internet of Things) is just a new face to microcontroller hackers. -- jeff jonas

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Interesting find on Craigslist
by Christian Liendo 06 Jan '17

06 Jan '17

So I saw this. Someone is selling cabinets from an older Concurrent 3280 MPS http://jerseyshore.craigslist.org/sys/5925368016.html Reading the ad I figured this is a person we may want to reach out to. Not to buy the cabinets, but as a person who may be good to know and to introduce to our group.

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IBM 34 in Pottstown, Apple, Tandy, IBM
by william degnan 05 Jan '17

05 Jan '17

The Pottstown electroics place has some interesting new items, apparently "just in" http://reading.craigslist.org/sys/5917062970.html Bill

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Briel Computers, Still a going concern?
by Systems Glitch 05 Jan '17

05 Jan '17

I've heard from a few other hobbyists that he's gone radio-silent. I believe someone on this list was working to try and get his kits going again. Thanks, Jonathan On Thu, 5 Jan 2017 18:19:23 +0000 (UTC) Stephen via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > Hi there, > > Does anyone know if this kit maker is still trading? > > http://www.brielcomputers.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=1746 > > Kindest regards > > > Stephen Walters > Professional Celebrity Photographer / G7VFY > www.facebook.com/mister35mm > Tel 07956-544202

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Briel Computers, Still a going concern?
by Stephen 05 Jan '17

05 Jan '17

Hi there, Does anyone know if this kit maker is still trading? http://www.brielcomputers.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=1746 Kindest regards Stephen Walters Professional Celebrity Photographer / G7VFY www.facebook.com/mister35mm Tel 07956-544202

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Ohio Scientific 560Z (PDP-8 Board) Preorder Open
by Systems Glitch 05 Jan '17

05 Jan '17

Preorders now open: https://services.theglitchworks.net/ng/preorders/new?project=osi_560z Even if you've contacted me about these boards, PLEASE PREORDER! That gets your name and email into my system so I can process the preorders automatically. Thanks, Jonathan

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looking to team up to exhibit
by william degnan 05 Jan '17

05 Jan '17

Hi, Is there anyone who would be interested in teaming up with me this year on an exhibit? I am doing too much else that weekend to do a full exhibit on my own, but I do want to keep my steak going. I have exhibited in every VCF E since #3. I have plenty of time before the show to work on this, my biggest contribution would be made before the actual event. I do not have a lot of transport space. I have no bias as to what hardware, era, software, or market. To me they're all just vintages of computing all worthy of an exhibit. Contact me privately vintagecomputer.net/contact.cfm or call me through my company phone # @ degnanco.net Bill

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test, ignore this
by Evan Koblentz 04 Jan '17

04 Jan '17

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 04 Jan '17

04 Jan '17

I posted this last night but it seems to have disappeared in the interweb: --------------- I was at the museum from 10am-8pm today. From 10-12 I gave a pre-scheduled tour to a VIP who works at Medium. Afterward, I went to lunch with Adam M. and then we worked in the warehouse from 1pm-8pm. Progress there is the same as the last few warehouse days -- slow but steady. A visitor would see a mess; we see less of a mess than when we started. :) Oh and here's a warehouse picture for the S-100 fans to drool over. :) http://vcfed.org/evan/s100.jpg (Not shown: our extra SOL-20, extra TDL, SCP, CompuPro, Zenith, etc.)

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Anyone up in NH want to buy a nice mug set?
by Christian Liendo 04 Jan '17

04 Jan '17

I think $100 is a lot but I know some people who might like this http://nh.craigslist.org/clt/5943731304.html

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pidp 8
by william degnan 04 Jan '17

04 Jan '17

Anyone running Deeper Thought (2) on their PiDP-8? I have both "deeper" and pidp8 on the same box. Problem is, it's hard to cleanly switch from one to the other. Anyone have a process for this. When I run systemctl to manage these do I need to reboot multiple times? Etc. Example - I had deeper running just fine, loads and runs when the system boots. Deeper is not compatible with pidp8, you can't run them at the same time. [tech explanation here]. So, if I want to switch over I have to completely halt one or the other and update init.d, there are a bunch of considerations. I am a much better Windows OS person than Debian, anyone tackle this already and can share how to change over which of the two will load on boot cleanly? What info would I have to supply? I am running Debian Jessie. Thanks BIll

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Galileo spacecraft computer documentation
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 03 Jan '17

03 Jan '17

Herb Johnson via vcf-midatlantic writes: >I've dealt with looking for Galileo spacecraft information: > >www.retrotechnology.com/galileo/galileo_1802.html >www.retrotechnology.com/memship/galileo.txt >www.retrotechnology.com/memship/1802_spacecraft.html > >...because of its RCA COSMAC 1802 processors. In the past it was a >challenge to find technical details of 20th century spacecraft, because >of fears of hacking; because it was on paper and not electronic media; >because few were interested. In the 21st century, so much info is thrown >online now, and a lot of archives get digitized. So what's not online >today, may be online tomorrow. > >I'd say, Web search from time to time. But if you have a strong >interest, find out where the former engineers for the project hang out >on the Web, and see if they can point you to more resources. Don't wait >too long: these guys/gals won't last forever. > >The Galileo spacecraft used several 1802's for its instruments, and I >believe it had a bus architecture for communicating to some other 1802's >for communications, data archiving and so on. It won't be a simple >architecture or simple software. Chances are, there were professional >journal publications in the era, which described the general >architecture. I may point to some of them on my Web pages. > >If you find a good resource, let me know, I'll add it to my Web site. http://stickershock23.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Matt-Johnson-uss-enter…

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Galileo spacecraft computer documentation
by Douglas Crawford 03 Jan '17

03 Jan '17

(The links I provided are referenced on Herb's retrotechnology site, which he previously provided)

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Galileo spacecraft computer documentation
by Douglas Crawford 03 Jan '17

03 Jan '17

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The Real Mad Men of Advertising
by Joseph Oprysko 03 Jan '17

03 Jan '17

Smithsonian Channel will be airing a show on Sunday nights at 9PM through January called The Real Mad Men of Advertising. I haven't seen the previews for it, but on the 4th week (Jan 29th), I know they're covering the 1980's, including a cameo appearance by a Mac 128k. (Provided by yours truly). Should be an interesting watch covering Advertising from the 1950's through the 1980's. -- Normal Person: Hey, it seems that you know a lot. Geek: To be honest, it's due to all the surfing I do. Normal Person: So you go surfing? Normal Person: But I don't think that has anything to do with knowing a lot... Geek: I think that's wrong on a fundamental level. Normal Person: Huh? Huh? What?

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Galileo spacecraft computer documentation
by Herb Johnson 03 Jan '17

03 Jan '17

I've dealt with looking for Galileo spacecraft information: www.retrotechnology.com/galileo/galileo_1802.html www.retrotechnology.com/memship/galileo.txt www.retrotechnology.com/memship/1802_spacecraft.html ...because of its RCA COSMAC 1802 processors. In the past it was a challenge to find technical details of 20th century spacecraft, because of fears of hacking; because it was on paper and not electronic media; because few were interested. In the 21st century, so much info is thrown online now, and a lot of archives get digitized. So what's not online today, may be online tomorrow. I'd say, Web search from time to time. But if you have a strong interest, find out where the former engineers for the project hang out on the Web, and see if they can point you to more resources. Don't wait too long: these guys/gals won't last forever. The Galileo spacecraft used several 1802's for its instruments, and I believe it had a bus architecture for communicating to some other 1802's for communications, data archiving and so on. It won't be a simple architecture or simple software. Chances are, there were professional journal publications in the era, which described the general architecture. I may point to some of them on my Web pages. If you find a good resource, let me know, I'll add it to my Web site. Herb Johnson William O'Neil Research Base Juno, Jupiter

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Semi-OT: Cheap tablets for museum
by Evan Koblentz 03 Jan '17

03 Jan '17

Everyone, We're going to use some tablets in the museum as information kiosks. I bought a fifty-dollar Amazon Kindle Fire 7. Going to return it. It's a nice tablet, but I found out that Amazon's version of Android limits a bunch of things that we would need for a kiosk mode. Nevermind the details of how/why; that's a long story. Bottom line is we need something with conventional Android. I'd like recommendations for other sub-$100 Android tablets (the more sub-$100, the better). Performance is not an issue: all they have to do is run a browser. Android 5.x and minimal hardware specs is good enough.

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Logic simulator
by Mike Loewen 03 Jan '17

03 Jan '17

What's a nice (and free) TTL logic simulator for Linux? Something you can both clock and single-step, and has the basic building block (flip-flops, gates) some higher level components like encoders/decoders. Mike Loewen mloewen(a)cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/

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Floppy Days #68 - Interview with Bill Kemper, HP Series 80 Software Engineer
by Randall Kindig 01 Jan '17

01 Jan '17

http://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-68-interview-with-bill-kemper-hp-s… <http://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-68-interview-with-bill-kemper-hp-s…> Randy Kindig host, Floppy Days Podcast http://www.floppydays.com <http://www.floppydays.com/>

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What The Dormouse Said by John Markoff
by Douglas Crawford 01 Jan '17

01 Jan '17

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Galileo spacecraft computer documentation
by Jeffrey Brace 01 Jan '17

01 Jan '17

Try Frank O'Brien from InfoAge. He know a lot about NASA especially the Apollo guidance computer. On Sat, Dec 31, 2016 at 6:55 AM Ben Greenfield via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > Hey all, > > > > I stumbled across this page and it left me wanting more. > > > > Anyone have any ideas. I tried Bitsavers but couldn’t find. I’m also not > sure how it would be listed. > > > > Thanks, > > > > Ben

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Galileo spacecraft computer documentation
by Ben Greenfield 31 Dec '16

31 Dec '16

Hey all, I stumbled across this page and it left me wanting more. Anyone have any ideas. I tried Bitsavers but couldn’t find. I’m also not sure how it would be listed. Thanks, Ben

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PiDP8
by william degnan 31 Dec '16

31 Dec '16

Started my PiDP8 project from the simH end, built up a Pi Zero and got it self-booting into simH 4.0 using directions found on the PiDP8 web site and the Google Group. What's nice about the Pi Zero is that one can get enough power right off the display to power USB keyboard and wireless dongles, to make it easier to download whatever files I want. I added a 2.54 mm 40-pin connector to attach to the soon-to-be-completed PiDP box. http://vintagecomputer.net/pictures/2016/PiDP8/ I started with the original Raspberry Pi, but quickly learned you can't use this model, it does not have a 40 pin connector. The RPi Zero does not come with a connector installed, you have to add it yourself but the advantage is that it is smaller and uses less power. I believe I will be able to run power and serial connection through the one port too. Bill

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Warehouse help this Monday
by Evan Koblentz 31 Dec '16

31 Dec '16

Got a helper -- thank you Adam M. Sorry to let down the rest of you who were all begging to spend Monday afternoon in a cold warehouse. :)

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Two last things needed for museum modern history exhibit
by Evan Koblentz 31 Dec '16

31 Dec '16

>> We need two last things for the modern history exhibit: a handheld game console (such as a GameBoy) and a pocket dictionary/thesaurus. Update -- Kelly is sending us a Gameboy. Shouldn't be hard to find a paperback pocket dictionary. :)

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Is this thing on?
by William Dudley 30 Dec '16

30 Dec '16

Are my infrequent posts getting out? I sent one earlier today advertising an oscilloscope for sale. Did anyone see that? I'm not seeing my own posts, so I'm curious. Thanks, Bill Dudley This email is free of malware because I run Linux.

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Warehouse help this Monday
by Evan Koblentz 30 Dec '16

30 Dec '16

Is anyone available from noon until early evening this Monday? I would like to do some warehouse work. Email me ASAP; don't just show up.

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Two last things needed for museum modern history exhibit
by Evan Koblentz 30 Dec '16

30 Dec '16

We need two last things for the modern history exhibit: a handheld game console (such as a GameBoy) and a pocket dictionary/thesaurus.

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mitsubishi MF501 floppy drive
by Herb Johnson 30 Dec '16

30 Dec '16

http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/mit_mf501a.jpg I'm looking for parts for this Mitsubishi MF501A 5.25" floppy drive. Details: Look at the lever, which you rotate down to "lock" after inserting a diskette. The lower right of the photo, shows the lever, attached to a metal rod, which has three black plastic cams. I need that rod, with cams intact. If you insert a diskette and rotate the lever down, and the head's don't "stay" down and the lever flips "up" - that's broken and I don't want it. Contact me privately if you have one of these. If you are going to the VCF Jan workshop maybe we can trade it there. Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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6502 assembly hack @ next workshop
by Evan Koblentz 30 Dec '16

30 Dec '16

I've been spending a lot of time lately on learning more LOGO programming for the Lego/Apple II kit. It does some very cool things, but we need it to do something new. Read on... Lego made a box that communicates between the computer and their motors, sensors, and lights. The box has eight ports. Ports 0-5 are for anything. Ports 6-7 are reserved for sensors. You can talk to any port, but oddly you can only listen to ports 6-7. There is no way to tell LOGO, "What is the status of port 3?" All you can do for ports 0-7 is switch them on/off and adjust the voltage (SETPOWER command from 1 to 7 for full power). Dean has been very helpful when I have programming questions. We tried working around the limitation by making a variable, setting it to 0 or 1, and then checking the variable instead of the port when necessary. But it doesn't work (for various reasons; no need to explain them here.) I had an idea. Why can't we hack Lego's version of LOGO to add this command? Dean said it possible. Disassemble the code, identify where the ports are turned on/off, etc. .... the existing command to read ports 6-7 is LISTENTO (and also a short version LTO) so I propose a new command LISTENPORT or the short version LTP). I will bring the setup to the January workshop and Dean (and Drew) are going to work on it. Anyone who digs Apple 6502 assembly is welcome to help.

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Semi-OT: Need help with adding NE2000 patch to DOSBox SVN
by Joseph Oprysko 30 Dec '16

30 Dec '16

I'm attempting to build a version of DOSBox with NE2000 emulation support. I'm trying to build it on the Raspberry Pi 3. I'm able to successfully compile the current SVN of vanilla DOSBox on my Pi. But I don't know how to add the patch in. There are several releases out there for Windows, but always have other additional patches/features which are not needed for my project. And I'm not able to get them to build on my Pi. This is for the BBS project I'm working on. If someone could assist, I would greatly appreciate the help. Thanks, Joe -- Normal Person: Hey, it seems that you know a lot. Geek: To be honest, it's due to all the surfing I do. Normal Person: So you go surfing? Normal Person: But I don't think that has anything to do with knowing a lot... Geek: I think that's wrong on a fundamental level. Normal Person: Huh? Huh? What?

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Oscilloscope for sale
by William Dudley 30 Dec '16

30 Dec '16

I have a pristine looking RCA model 825 Oscilloscope for sale. I have seen it also associated with Heathkit, so it may have been some kind of joint marketing thing; RCA service tech training and build your own service scope in a package. I haven't fired it up, but I would at a minimum bring it up on a Variac to try to re-form the electrolytics before applying full power. I might also suggest performing a visual inspection of parts inside to see if there are any resistors that look failed or near failure. This belongs to the widow of a friend of a friend. It's not worth much (< $50 ?) but she would like some money out of it. If there's any interest I can bring it to the January workshop (I think). The scope and I are in Jackson, NJ. I'm not particularly interested in shipping it, though I could be convinced. Bill Dudley This email is free of malware because I run Linux.

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SCELBI Oscilloscope reproduction working
by Mike Willegal 30 Dec '16

30 Dec '16

I finally have completed testing the hardware for the SCELBI oscilloscope boards and have reproduction PCBs available for sale. SCELBI produced 16 different PCBs during the short time that they were selling computer hardware and I have finally finished producing working reproductions of all of them. Note that there are NO operating original SCELBI oscilloscope interfaces known to exist. In fact, the only original oscilloscope interface that I'm aware of, is in storage at the CHM. Original software drivers can't be found and I'm working on creating new drivers using the fragmentary information that is currently available. Check out my blog for more information. Mike's Hobby Blog <http://www.willegal.net/blog/> regards, Mike Willegal

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Hiya January Workshop, Watcha workin on ? And overnight stay?
by Jeffrey Brace 30 Dec '16

30 Dec '16

I created a signup list, so add your name there if you haven't. And add what you are working on. Also put on the signup if you are staying overnight and need the $25 a night dorms in 9010-D. -- Jeff Brace - ark72axow(a)gmail.com

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List is searchable now
by Evan Koblentz 30 Dec '16

30 Dec '16

The search feature at https://lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org/pipermail/vcf-midatlantic/ wasn't working. List company fixed it.

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OT: InfoAge satellite dish crew needs cabling help
by Evan Koblentz 30 Dec '16

30 Dec '16

On Saturday, January 21st, 2016, our own Martin F. will be doing some network cabling and related work on the TIROS satellite dish starting around 10am. He could use helpers. This is open to all, but contact Martin first (off-list please) so he knows who to expect. He's at maflynn(a)theflynn.org.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Museum wireless doorbell thingamajig
by Jeffrey Jonas 30 Dec '16

30 Dec '16

In this day of IoT, this could be a FUN project Martin Flynn offered > Waveware SPS-5 transmitter with 4 pagers. That should be perfect! Pagers are retro. 4 of them mean some will always be charged and ready. But the master station needs serial input from something. Let's see - a pushbutton to the Raspberry Pi running the overhead video display, which ought to have motion and distance sensors to react to folks automatically. The "call button" could respond with a video - the cavalry is coming! Or one of a random assortment of science fiction talking computers such as the talking head from The Starlost or Red Dwarf. - the big red button on the Cray - setting the PiDP-8 console switches all "on" - the Apple ][ serial port card. Evans' Lego robot could entertain them while waiting. For movie trivia, have it say "My name is Rags! Woof woof woof" :-) -- jeffj

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January workshop ...
by Neil Cherry 30 Dec '16

30 Dec '16

Yes, I'm really looking forward toward January's workshop. I'm going to be working on the Atari 600xl's video and seeing if it's running. I have the Atari 800xl's Sam Compufacts pdf and I'll be working from that. I'll be bringing my scope in hopes of resurrecting the little beast. Do we have any folks that are good with analog? I'm sure I'll have questions. I have internet notes on how to improve the video so I intend to work on fixing and upgrading the 600xl's video so I can use it with the Commodore 1802 or the Composite to VGA converter I have. Can anyone think of anything else I'll need to bring? -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry(a)linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies

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Semi-OT: what tech gifts did you get/give?
by Herb Johnson 29 Dec '16

29 Dec '16

I gave my wife a hand-crank sewing machine from Germany, probably manufactured after the turn of the 20th century. she made that identification right after unwrapping it on late Christmas Eve. http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/german_sewing.jpg She's very knowledgeable about pre-1950's sewing machines; I also have a clue. And I have no doubt these are "technology". They are mechanical devices with precision parts which perform mechanical computations. Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Hey! January workshop. Who's going?
by Jeffrey Brace 29 Dec '16

29 Dec '16

1.Jeff B. 2.Evan K. 3.Ian P. 4.? 5.? 6.? 7.? 8.? 9.? 10.? And those questions marks aren't print statements neither! :P -- Jeff Brace - ark72axow(a)gmail.com

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Teacher needed: power supply repair class @ VCF East
by Evan Koblentz 29 Dec '16

29 Dec '16

Everyone, We're going to have a bunch of new topics for VCF East tech classes (Friday, March 31) next spring, however there are three topics we plan to repeat because of demand: power supply repair, CRT repair, and computer cosmetics. CRT repair is (we hope!) Ian's gig, and computer cosmetics is Corey's deal. Who would like to teach power supply repair?

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the GE 225 mainframe
by Jeffrey Jonas 29 Dec '16

29 Dec '16

BoingBoing just noted how Steven Spielberg's father was a pioneer of the GE 225 mainframe. My dad mastered that machine in the early 60s, making it run efficiently under COBOL at the Girl Scouts National Headquarters. He still vividly remembers the details of the Analex printer and how using it offline saved a lot of computer time. Even the card reader had quirks. But back then, it wasn't hackers who focused on such optimization, it was every programmer and operator's job to understand such things. Ft Monmouth had some too. They were available for training courses my dad took. I hope some of those Ft. Monmouth folks are on this list. the main article: http://www.gereports.com/jurassic-hardware-steven-spielbergs-father-was-a-c… the short article: Arnold Spielberg (Steven's dad) developed the first computer to run BASIC in 1964 http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/gPNulCvMi_U/arnold-spielb… http://boingboing.net/?p=502025 Arnold Spielberg (Steven's father) developed the computer that first ran the BASIC programming language on May 1, 1964. Here's an interview with 99-year-old Arnold on the exciting early days of computers. Long before GE started connecting machines to the Industrial Internet, one Arnold Spielberg helped revolutionize computing when he designed the GE-225 mainframe computer in the late 1950s. The machine allowed a team of Dartmouth University students and researchers to develop the BASIC programming language, an easy-to-use coding tool that quickly spread and ushered in the era of personal computers. Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs all used the language when they started building their digital empires. Arnold Spielberg will be 100 years old in February 2017.

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Museum wireless doorbell thingamajig
by Evan Koblentz 29 Dec '16

29 Dec '16

I'm looking for an innovative (read: simple and cheap) way for museum visitors to press a button in order to alert our docents who may be elsewhere, such as working in the warehouse or visiting other InfoAge exhibits. There are video doorbell products from Ring.com and others ranging from $120-$300. These have cameras connecting to smartphone apps. That way range isn't an issue and you can have video conversations. These products are awesome but expensive. What's a cheaper solution? There is no easy way to run a wire from our museum to the warehouse. Video is not necessary, but a simple "house phone" approach would work (such as in an office building or hotel) or even just a buzzer. Or maybe some kind of pager. This is a project I'd like to get done very soon, not just someday. Most of all, if people have proposals that require engineering, then we need to see "I'll do it" not "Here's what someone should do".

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NOS PC parts at Green Brook Electronics
by Dean Notarnicola 27 Dec '16

27 Dec '16

Saw these today in case anyone is interested in building a P4 system. They also have sound blasters for $9.

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More about Friday talks @ East XII
by Evan Koblentz 27 Dec '16

27 Dec '16

For those who may be interested: the Friday technical talks at VCF East don't have to be simply "how to fix xyz". They could be other topics such as how you did some cool project, how to use certain modern or vintage peripherals, etc. .... almost anything as long as it's educational, on-topic, and technical (not historical) in nature. Please send me your ideas.

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Reliable volunteers needed: East XII consignment booth
by Evan Koblentz 27 Dec '16

27 Dec '16

We need two or three ultra-reliable people to lead the consignment booth for VCF East next spring. One person to be the room leader and a couple of assistants. This is a very important job so whomever volunteers must be reliable as (censored), on-the-ball with money/transactions, and represent VCFed professionally at all times. I will waive all show expenses for the people who do this job.

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VCF East flyers for MAGFest?
by Ethan 26 Dec '16

26 Dec '16

Heya, I volunteer with a Video game music and video gaming festival called MAGFest that happens off of the DC Beltway in Maryland. It's in it's 15th year or something and brings around 20,000 people. The division I mostly deal with is arcade machines, but we spawned a computer museum section in the arcade a few years ago that now has it's own room. The guy that ran the entire event from 2nd event to 9th event is a chiptune artist who is big into retro computing and retro computing music (Inverse Phase is his chiptune name.) The computer museum is 3000 square feet and mostly plastic micros and DOS machines. Kaypro, Osbourne, etc. Some early Macs and other technology makes it on display, as well as rare and odd console gaming systems. Not exactly 1:1 with what VCF is but still it's a pretty wide audience. I actually just found out that a new Amiga documentary is being premiered at 'fest in the movie area about the Amiga and a few early Amiga people are going to be there. Anyways, if there is a flyer for VCF East in PDF form or something I'll print out a bunch and make sure they're at event so that people coming to the museum (and Arcade) learn about VCF East. 1/2 a page is best, but I also have a large format printer (36" wide) and am willing to run off a big sheet or two. The people that handle the museum room (who are also into the arcade thing) are long time friends, they actually came to VCF East 2016 with me and probably will come again to 2017. Anywho, figure I'd put it out there :-)

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Jan workshop RSVP
by Jeffrey Jonas 26 Dec '16

26 Dec '16

++jeffj

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