- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Items available
by Jeffrey Brace 29 Jan '22

29 Jan '22

Someone's father passed away and contacted InfoAge. They are looking to donate any of the following items. If there is interest, then let me know: *ITEM LIST* Antique Newsletters Video Display for NBC from the 80's National NC Tuning Boards Sunshine Master 2810 CGN Old IEEE papers Old IBM Tech Reference Books Lots of Microsoft magazines and papers Coil Repair manuals Electronic Handbooks ICF Handbooks Volume 1 & 2 Introduction to Micro Computers RCA Boards with "the light things on them" Lots of manuals of all kinds. ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Another T-Shirt Rescue (DEC Alpha)
by Adam Michlin 29 Jan '22

29 Jan '22

Hi Everyone, After leaving Amdahl, my father went to a couple of other companies including Synopsys, Cadence, and Transitive Technologies (which made the original dynamic binary translation software for Apple's PowerPC to x86, aka Rosetta, a story for another time). Some time in there, he gave me a tshirt he got from who knows where that DEC was using to promote the then new Alpha chip. I was so excited because I had just read about the Alpha in Byte magazine and was in the middle of the study of computer architecture and knew this was going to be the next great thing (oh well). I've been wearing it up until about a year ago when it had all but become tatters. I never did get to play with an Alpha machine, but so it goes... Dean Notarnicola was nice enough to scan it and Javier Rivera cleaned it up for reprinting. Neither Dean, myself, or I (or VCF) receives any money from the sale and yeah, we know DEC (now owned, I believe, by HP) might copyright strike us so get it while you can. https://www.8bittees.com/product/alpha-two-sided-tee/ Best wishes, -Adam

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Swap meet
by Sentrytv 28 Jan '22

28 Jan '22

Here’s a question for anybody who can answer it. Does the VCF Midwest host a swap meet? I posted the VCF East swap meet on “vintage computer site” on Facebook. Many people are wondering why it seems there is no swapmeet in the Midwest area or central states? Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Swap meet
by Bill Degnan 28 Jan '22

28 Jan '22

VCF MW *is* a swap meet among other things. b On Fri, Jan 28, 2022 at 4:16 PM Sentrytv via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Here’s a question for anybody who can answer it. > > Does the VCF Midwest host a swap meet? > > I posted the VCF East swap meet on “vintage computer site” on Facebook. > > Many people are wondering why it seems there is no swapmeet in the Midwest > area or central states? > > > > Sent from: > My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device. >

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Swap meet
by Andrew Diller 28 Jan '22

28 Jan '22

I thought all of Midwest _was_ a giant swap-meet? I have not been, just seen pictures. So, yes they do host a swap-meet. It's called VCF MidWest. -andy > On Jan 28, 2022, at 4:16 PM, Sentrytv via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > From: Sentrytv <sentrytv(a)yahoo.com> > Subject: Swap meet > Date: January 28, 2022 at 4:16:07 PM EST > To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org>, Jeffrey Brace <jeffrey(a)vcfed.org> > > > Here’s a question for anybody who can answer it. > > Does the VCF Midwest host a swap meet? > > I posted the VCF East swap meet on “vintage computer site” on Facebook. > > Many people are wondering why it seems there is no swapmeet in the Midwest area or central states? > > > > Sent from: > My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device. > >

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WTB: Apple M0100 Mouse
by Jonathan Chapman 27 Jan '22

27 Jan '22

All, Looking for an old style DE9 Apple mouse. Figured I'd check here before hitting eBay. Thanks, Jonathan

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ot: looking for ddr3 and lga2011 cpu
by skogkatt007＠yahoo.com 27 Jan '22

27 Jan '22

E5-4600 v2 series. Ease contact offlist.

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Another interesting first
by ☼ wil lindsay ☼ 27 Jan '22

27 Jan '22

This came across the game-history feed that is my inbox. I'm not sure if folks follow this list, but here is another interesting female contribution to computer history: https://if50.substack.com/p/hutspiel-and-dr-dorothy-k-clark For those looking for the quick summary: One of the many examples pointed to recently as "the first computer game" is a 2-player military simulation called "HUTSPIEL" that ran on the Goodyear Electronic Differential Engine (circa 1955). The real news here is that a recent tour through paper archives uncovered that the game was designed by Dr. Dorothy K. Clark. I'm rather taken with the image in the article of two people playing the game by reading output from ammeters. --not your typical game interface!

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InfoAge closed this weekend
by Jeffrey Brace 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

InfoAge will be closed this Saturday and Sunday January 29 and 30 due to impending snow storm.-- ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: For Sale or Trade - Tektronix 465 Oscilloscope
by Bob Shuster 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

Followup: The oscilloscope has been claimed and headed to a new home! Bob

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT : I need help.
by Jeff Galinat 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

I think you are combining 2 different threads here, Al's & Bob's. Regards, Jeff On Wed, Jan 26, 2022, 12:46 PM skogkatt007--- via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > I had offered to come by and take photos, but others had previously > offered, besides Jeffrey. Obviously someone can photo-catalog his stuff, > and a spreadsheet can be made with Bob's desired prices. Nothing > revolutionary about the suggestion. From there people can contact him or a > family member and drive over there. Or arrange for another party to pick > items up. >

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT : I need help.
by Jeffrey Brace 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

On Wed, Jan 26, 2022 at 2:12 PM Al Hartman via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > My health has declined and I had to sell my home. I am in long-term > nursing care. > My family needs help finding homes for my large number of computers and > other technological items. There is too much for me to list here. > Can someone contact me off-line if VCF can help me with this. > Al, Someone from the Steering Committee will contact you off-list shortly. Thanks and take care! Jeff Brace > I'd like to sell as much as possible for a decent price to avoid having it > go into a landfill. > Thanks! > Al Hartman >

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT : I need help.
by John Heritage 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

Take care Al. On Wed, Jan 26, 2022, 2:13 PM Al Hartman via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > My health has declined and I had to sell my home. I am in long-term > nursing care. > My family needs help finding homes for my large number of computers and > other technological items. There is too much for me to list here. > Can someone contact me off-line if VCF can help me with this. > I'd like to sell as much as possible for a decent price to avoid having it > go into a landfill. > Thanks! > Al Hartman >

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] cut off for vendor signup
by Jeffrey Brace 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

On Wed, Jan 26, 2022 at 1:27 PM skogkatt007--- via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Is there a cutoff date? > Yes. It is April 1st. Look here for more info: https://vcfed.org/wp/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/vcf-east-vendors/

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OT : I need help.
by Al Hartman 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

My health has declined and I had to sell my home. I am in long-term nursing care. My family needs help finding homes for my large number of computers and other technological items. There is too much for me to list here. Can someone contact me off-line if VCF can help me with this. I'd like to sell as much as possible for a decent price to avoid having it go into a landfill. Thanks! Al Hartman

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Recovery of RD53 image data
by jsalzman＠gmail.com 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

Not to mention fully rendering a tasty finished product from an Easy Bake Oven! On Wed, Jan 26, 2022, 10:19 AM Sentrytv via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Incandescent Lightbulbs are a good tool for technicians servicing > equipment that Have power issues. > > Mike R. > >

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cut off for vendor signup
by skogkatt007＠yahoo.com 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

Is there a cutoff date?

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World Computer Day - 2022 Theme: 6502 Chip!
by Jeffrey Brace 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

Not sure if anyone had heard about this, but very cool: https://worldcomputerday.org/ I never even knew that there was a World Computer Day! ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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OT: time to downsize
by Herb Johnson 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

Bob Shuster: > So - I’m not sure how to start with this. Does the group have a For Sale page where I can post photos, etc.? I’ll need to dig out each of the systems (carefully stored in my heated/cooled workshop) and test and figure out prices, but I will definitely entertain offers. For specific inquiries please email me, but for discussion of how to go about reducing my collection [and assuming the admins agree that it’s on-topic] that can be on-list. > in general anything else will need to be picked up [at a PA location] I think Bob has a reasonable question; nobody replied exactly to it so far. I read "does the VCF-Midatlantic group have a for-sale Web resource for private, on-site, local-only sales?" Not shipping to, not bring-to-sell-at, as some responded. As Bob replied, it's just impractical for some of us, in some cases, to ship. Or to bring volumes of materials to an event, or even to attend an event. I think it's fair to say, it's "unwieldy" to post at length here, or repeatedly, about numerous items one wants to sell. Bob asked for discussion, asked for "the admins". Maybe, some resource could be offered and supported, like the vcfed.org national/international for-sale forum, but "local" to central New Jersey? Maybe, something like that "want to buy/sell Google spreadsheet" for the VCFed-Mid swap meets, but more permanent, maintained? As I wrote a reply, Jeff already offered to make Bob a Google Drive folder. That would also be a good for-local-sale general resource, as long as sold items are culled out. Regards, Herb Johnson Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT comcast DOT net

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Recovery of RD53 image data
by Jeffrey Brace 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

Someone in northern Maryland near the PA state border is looking for the following: He has a DEC PDP-11/73 with a non-functional RD53 hard drive, and several RSX-11M installation and backup tapes on TK50 tape cartridges. He would like to migrate the RD53 image to modern media so that he can (initially) utilize it via simh, and (eventually) use it in his 11/73 via a hardware drive simulator. Failing recovery of the RD53 data, He'd like to migrate the data from one of the TK50 tapes to modern media. Anyone ready, willing and able to do this? ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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FREE: Dell Precision 690 Workstations @ System Source Workshop
by Jonathan Chapman 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

All, We've got four Dell Precision 690 workstations we'd like to offload. No desire to deal with shipping them. I'll be at the System Source workshop and can bring them up. We have not tested these, but they look good and came out of an engineering workgroup. They don't appear to have cap problems. Hard disks pulled. Thanks, Jonathan

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OT - incandescent bulbs
by John Heritage 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

Just curious - I bought a (new to me) home and I am finding and replacing old Edison bulbs :). 200w and smaller incandescents. Does anybody here want the old bulbs ? I know some people prefer the light so just figure I'd ask.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: time to downsize
by Bob Shuster 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

Just an update, at Jeff’s (and others) suggestions, I am putting together a Google Sheets list with asking prices, descriptions, and links to photos. I will post this to this list when I get a little further along. It’s both fun and challenging to go through my systems one by one and trying to remember how to connect displays and such, even if it's for the last time. So please be patient! Also, make sure if you want to inquire about a purchase to send to me directly and not to the list, please? Not only does it clog up the list (sorry!) but I only get the digest version so I won’t see your message until the next morning. Bob Shuster

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Recovery of RD53 image data
by Herb Johnson 25 Jan '22

25 Jan '22

> FWIW on the tape baker, Chuck Guzis always used to recommend a 25W bulb in a cardboard box for a few days. Should be easy enough if you have any old 25W bulbs still kicking around. - Dave Riley Home Depot offers 15W and 25W incandescent bulbs. The heat produced may depend on the size of the box. Dave Riley, do you recall details? Maybe a temperature set-point? I think I could design a relay and a 555 as a controller. But for warm environments, people use things like rice-cookers, crock-pots, dish warmers; thrift store items. My wife dyes fabrics overnight in a bowl, inside a covered container with a layer of water, on a dish-warmer. A stable, but wet, environment. Pebbles could provide dry thermal mass, seems to me. - regards Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT comcast DOT net

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OT: time to downsize
by Bob Shuster 25 Jan '22

25 Jan '22

Well, folks, I’ve gotten to the age where I need to seriously downsize my hobbies and collections, not wanting to leave it to my children to have to deal with in later years. (I had to do that recently for a relative.) On the electronics side, I’ve decided to concentrate on my vintage video game systems - and therefore sell off most of my vintage computer stuff. My collection includes mostly 8-bit stuff: TRS-80 Models I, IV, M100, etc. - Atari 400, 800, Stacy, Portfolio, ST, etc. - C64/VIC20 - T/S1000 (including an unbuilt kit), Apple II, II+, IIe, IIe Platinum, IIgs - Wang WLTC - Mattel Aquarius - TI-99/4A - many others that I still have to dig out - plus lots of peripherals, disks, manuals, etc. Also have some newer Macs starting with a Mac Plus in an Apple carrying bag. I’m starting with you guys before trying to list elsewhere, although I may hit some of the dedicated FaceBorg pages (such as for Aquarius and Apple II.) I may be willing to ship some of the software, but in general anything else will need to be picked up here (near the Fort Washington exit of the PA Turnpike) or nearby, and cash or PayPal for payment. I may also consider trades for some of the video game stuff I’m looking for. So - I’m not sure how to start with this. Does the group have a For Sale page where I can post photos, etc.? I’ll need to dig out each of the systems (carefully stored in my heated/cooled workshop) and test and figure out prices, but I will definitely entertain offers. For specific inquiries please email me, but for discussion of how to go about reducing my collection [and assuming the admins agree that it’s on-topic] that can be on-list. It pains me to do this, but the clutter is getting out of hand, and I haven’t touched most of these in years. It’s time for someone else to enjoy. Bob Shuster

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Commodore Computer Museum in New Zealand
by Christian Liendo 25 Jan '22

25 Jan '22

Disclaimer: I'm not posting this to ask anyone to donate. In fact I don't know what to think of it. I couldn't find anything else other than this KickStarter that discusses it. I am just sharing it because it is interesting and we have a lot of Commodore enthusiasts here. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/commodoremuseum/commodore-computer-mus…

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This 22-Year-Old Builds Chips in His Parents’ Garage
by Christian Liendo 23 Jan '22

23 Jan '22

I believe this is relevant to this group This 22-Year-Old Builds Chips in His Parents’ Garage Sam Zeloof combines 1970s-era machines with homemade designs. His creations show what’s possible for small-scale silicon tinkerers. https://www.wired.com/story/22-year-old-builds-chips-parents-garage/

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Braving the 20 degree weather for great internet
by Jeffrey Brace 22 Jan '22

22 Jan '22

Doug Crawford, myself, Joe Gilberti, Ken G from VCF and Martin and Neil from CDL all met earlier today at InfoAge. We installed the fiber between CDL (9059) and Building 9032. We also deployed a started a setup for a new IT rack in the 9032. And the brackets for Wi Fi access points in 9032. So when we are done that room will have fantastic wi-fi! The wi-fi in that room has always been terrible, but now that we are halfway done working on getting it done. We will wrap it up at a future work day. Internet and wi-fi has always been sketchy at InfoAge, but slowly, but surely it is becoming fantastic with the transition from cable to fiber. Thanks to Martin and all the other volunteers who have been working on this project for months! ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner VCF Mid-Atlantic Executive Director Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Bell Labs Org Chart
by Christian Liendo 22 Jan '22

22 Jan '22

I had to share this. I'm curious what precision graphics is. https://neil.computer/notes/bell-labs-org-chart/

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Slightly OT, but workshop relevant!
by Martin Flynn 22 Jan '22

22 Jan '22

Three of the first four new benches are assembled! Will setting up the soldering re-work station (Hakko SMD-BGA hot air rework station, Hakko FM-205 De-soldering & Soldering Station, and PanaVise 333 board holders) on a dedicated bench http://compdecon.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/first_bench.jpg http://compdecon.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/bench_drawing.jpg Martin

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Repair Workshop @ System Source - Jan 29 & 30, 2022
by Jeffrey Brace 22 Jan '22

22 Jan '22

Reminding everyone to sign up for the repair workshop at System Source which next weekend 1/29 & 1/30. I'm going and hope that I will see you there! Signup here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wHIQ-T8EnZdNkUWN_f-rG2hApgCEDqwwdjn… <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__docs.google.com_spread…> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/338%0D%0A+Clubhouse+Road,+%0D%0A+Hunt%0D…> The Vintage Computer Federation and the System Source Computer Museum are hosting a vintage computer workshop on Saturday January 29th and Sunday January 30th 2022 at: System Source Computer Museum 338 Clubhouse Road, <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.google.com_maps_se…> Hunt Valley, MD <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.google.com_maps_se…> 21031 <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.google.com_maps_se…> Plenty of free parking, short walk from Baltimore’s light rail (Gilroy Road Stop) ON SATURDAY we will open at 9:00 AM and will lock up by 7:30 PM. ON SUNDAY: We will open at 9:00 AM and lock up at 5:00 PM *Accommodations:* Try https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g41196-Hunt_Valley_Maryland-Hotels.html <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.tripadvisor.com_Ho…> Feel free to talk with others about sharing a room. Food: There are plenty of restaurants within a short drive. We will have a catered Indian buffet on Saturday at cost ($12.00?) and catered Barbecue ($12.00?) on Sunday for those who are interested. We will feature tours of the museum throughout both days and several mini-workshops: · Retrobright workshop (bring your yellowed plastics) · Lots of New vintage computers from the DigiBarn Collection · Hot Metal Typesetting (3500 lb word processor) ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner VCF Mid-Atlantic Executive Director Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OpenVMS 6.2 DNS Support
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 22 Jan '22

22 Jan '22

Christian Liendo via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> writes: > >I'm sorry to send a message to the VCF Group. >When I send it to VAXman(a)tmesis.org, I get a bounce back. One of googles servers must be on a RBL again. That's be the only reason that the server at .org would have rejected the message. >I was told there is no "$ TCPIP SHOW VERSION" as this is UCX. > >UCX> show version > > DEC TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS AXP Version V4.0 - ECO Level 1 on a >"AlphaStation 200 4/233" running OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 > >UCX> show interface > Packets Interface IP_Addr Network mask Receive >Send MTU WE0 xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx 255.255.254.0 87417308 >84098223 1500 LO0 127.0.0.1 255.0.0.0 >1 1 65535 UCX> Here is a URL for the TCPIP service V6.2 (UCX) http://odl.sysworks.biz/disk$axpdocsep022/network/tcpip42/cmd_ref/6527pro_c… You should find all you need.

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Wanted: Casing for Apple Profile II
by Joseph Giliberti 22 Jan '22

22 Jan '22

Greetings! One of my regular systems in a nicely decked- out Apple //e system, including a working Profile II hard drive. However, an unfortunate fall practically shattered the plastic shell. Might anyone have a dead drive or perhaps just a case which they could spare? Thanks! Joe Giliberti

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Omnitec Accoustic Coupler Manual?
by Jeff G 21 Jan '22

21 Jan '22

Hey all! I have an Omnitec 701 acoustic coupler, with both an RS-232 and TTY jack on the back. Would anyone happen to have any manuals or schematics for this? As far as I can tell its not working, but it may be that I need to get a handshake tone specific to a 300 baud modem to get it to do something. I'd also like to see how it hooks up to a TTY! Thanks, Jeff

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OpenVMS 6.2 DNS Support
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 21 Jan '22

21 Jan '22

Christian Liendo via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> writes: > >Can someone help me with this. Does OpenVMS 6.2 support DNS/BIND? > >I wm being told the following: > >"Correct the OpenVMS 8.4 support the DNS we are running OpenVMS >V6.2-1H3" > >"It is running older TCP/IP from Digitial call UCX" > >I looked up UCX and I see a DNS config, but I cannot tell if it is >supported in a newer or older version. > >Does anyone know? Yes. Thanks for asking. :P Get the output of this command for starts. $ TCPIP SHOW VERSION

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OT: Vintage Heathkit, Not Computers
by Chris Fala 21 Jan '22

21 Jan '22

I wish I had the discretionary funds to throw at this, even though I would never use it. It's just so pretty! https://www.ebay.com/itm/133994743821

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OpenVMS 6.2 DNS Support
by Christian Liendo 20 Jan '22

20 Jan '22

Can someone help me with this. Does OpenVMS 6.2 support DNS/BIND? I wm being told the following: "Correct the OpenVMS 8.4 support the DNS we are running OpenVMS V6.2-1H3" "It is running older TCP/IP from Digitial call UCX" I looked up UCX and I see a DNS config, but I cannot tell if it is supported in a newer or older version. Does anyone know?

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Bill von Hagen, computer scientist and Pittsburgh punk pioneer, dies at 66
by Christian Liendo 19 Jan '22

19 Jan '22

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/obituaries/2022/01/18/Bill-Von-Hagen-bore… Some people might know him as he too was into vintage computing http://www.vonhagen.org/ Very sad to hear.

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[OT] light bulb collector/museum
by Herb Johnson 19 Jan '22

19 Jan '22

Chris Fala: > To the collector in us all. [link to YouTube video] The cited YouTube clip was from a CBS news feature by David Pogue (that guy who used to host PBS Nova episodes by playing dumb about technology). So Pogue asks the collector, "light bulbs? really?" - because of course modern bulbs are not only dirt-common, but obsolete, and therefore uninteresting twice. The collector starts to explain their historic significance as the video shows various bulbs and sockets and accessories. I stopped watching at that point, I know the drill. Later in the thread, Jeff Jonas suggests the point I was about to make, so I'll join his thread. Vintage "light bulbs" is not a trivial subject or some personal oddity. It was an advanced technology that was initially exciting, became necessary, and then invisible. Just like personal computing. And it happens, it's history relevant to New Jersey where VCFed-Midatlantic resides. In the terminology of vintage computing: the incandescent electric lamp, was the "killer app" for the distribution and personal and industrial use of electrical power at the turn of the 20th century. Edison did much of his electrical work and production in New Jersey. What makes a light bulb even interesting? Electrical distribution didn't exist until around 1900. Why electrically wire up a city, in an era of ZERO commercial or consumer electrical devices? To provide smokeless, fireless, constant illumination; for work and safety and entertainment. Cities were in constant risk from fire, used for heating and cooking and illumination (natural gas, coal, wood, kerosene). And all that smoke filled rooms and cities with haze - and of course created carbon monoxide and gas poisoning. Illumination of streets at night, extended business hours and increased safety. Electric illumination was celebrated as a miracle of modern technology - much like computing was half a century later, and personal computing a century later. It was a centerpiece of expositions (public tech shows). And it was one of many technologies pursued by powerful rich people, who financed the "electrical wizards" of the day - Edison, Tesla, JP Morgan. All this played out in the newspapers of the day (their "information highway"). With electric light to provide a revenue stream and incentive to wire cities, electric motors became a replacement for steam. Later, small electric motors over large steam engines. For awhile, electric cars challenged gasoline cars. And Edison's General Electric and Westinghouse fought the AC/DC "current wars" in courts and newspapers. Remind you of Microsoft vs Apple? There's a few Edison museums in New Jersey, one near Edison NJ (yeah), At East Orange NJ is the Edison National Park (his research facility and nearby his mansion). If you are a techie, and you were thrown back in time to 1900, what research facility would YOU build? Edison beat you to it, in East Orange, go look at it. So. The "light bulb" represents early personal electricity, just as vintage computers represent early personal computing. The YouTube video about light-bulb collecting, "illuminates" what most people today think about common technology turned vintage - "huh?". And it shows what a few people are doing to preserve and curate it. Regards, Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT comcast DOT net

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] [OT] light bulb collector/museum
by Jeffrey Jonas 18 Jan '22

18 Jan '22

Chris Fala noted this interview with a light bulb collector: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5EOHEWJCxs My take is that the interviewer was somewhat condescending. Worst of all: no links or information on how to visit the museum in the video or the accompanying text. I was hoping to follow up because I'm curious about other lighting technologies such as The Nernst lamp: didn't require a vacuum! https://edisontechcenter.org/NernstLamps.html The "Moore lamp" refers to a neon bulb used in a Nipkow disk, and long Carbon Dioxide tubes that first lit a NJ store: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_McFarlan_Moore The Cooper-Hewitt mercury lamp was an early technology that photographers loved despite the odd color: http://www.lamptech.co.uk/Documents/M6%20Cooper%20Hewitt.htm Jason Perkins noted > I used to have a collection of burnt out lamps > of all different kinds and sizes. Annoyingly, > I added the pram battery from an original Mac > to the bin at one point, which leaked and off gassed, > ruining all the bases of the lamps. I'm having similar problems with things stored as properly-as-possible. Some plastics, rubber or foam deteriorates into dust, or just cracks when flexed. Equipment rubber feet love to turn into a gooey slime that ruins anything beneath it. I even had a drafting template outgass and destroy all those near it. -- jeff jonas

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Internal Amdahl T-Shirt preservation
by Adam Michlin 17 Jan '22

17 Jan '22

Hi Everyone, As some of you know, my father worked at Amdahl from 1984 to 1993. He held many roles, including Product Planning. Director of Design Automation, and ultimately Director of Storage, before moving on to other things. He has a t-shirt that was produced for internal usage only (it was not traditional swag) that Dean Notarnicola was kind enough to scan and Javier Rivera was kind enough to clean up for reprinting. Javier is also making it available for purchase, although neither Dean nor I receive any funds. I absolutely love Javier's store (check it out even if you aren't interested in Amdahl!) and look at it as my small contribution to support him. My only concern was making sure the history lived on. Here's the t-shirt: https://www.8bittees.com/product/amdahl-5990-tee/ And here's the history behind the shirt in my father's own words (although we're still trying to figure out the significance of the bees): --- The Story of the Amdahl 5990 During the 1970s era it took roughly 7 years from the time a mainframe project was initiated until the product actually shipped to customers. The technology of the time required advancing the semiconductors, then advancing the packaging and cooling, then advancing the architecture based on them, then tuning an operating system to support them and finally going through a tortuous bring-up and test process to assure that the mainframe – at prices ranging from $1 million or so up to perhaps $9-10 million – didn’t fail in embarrassing ways on a customer’s data center. This 7-year cycle applied to both IBM itself and Amdahl, its major plug-compatible competitor, and both knew it. Therefore each felt fairly secure in the competition to market their high end mainframes without fear of any short term surprises. But Amdahl was a partner, both technologically and financially with Fujitsu, a Japanese company. Fujitsu was offering mainframes of its own design under its own brand. They were sold mostly in the Japanese market and didn’t compete with IBM products as directly as Amdahl did. If Fujitsu needed to field a product directly competing with IBM, it offered an Amdahl. Japanese mainframe users often valued fast numerical (floating point) performance for scientific programs, and Fujitsu tended to design with this in mind. By contrast, American users were running more commercially oriented workloads, and IBM was known for designing to this requirement. Amdahl’s key competitive claim was high performance for various workloads including both scientific and commercial. So it came to pass that Fujitsu was well along in developing its next mainframe at a time when Amdahl and IBM were each only a year or two into their 7-year cycle. On a visit to Japan, Amdahl engineers learned about the coming Fujitsu product and decided that with some work to make it meet Amdahl’s “100% IBM plug-compatible” promise, it could compete with IBM in the U.S. And it would be a huge surprise since it would enter the market years before anyone expected a new, higher performance product from Amdahl, or IBM. As a result, it was treated as a top secret within Amdahl and quietly perfected under the code name “Hawk.” As it progressed from an engineering project toward seeing the light of day as a full fledged Amdahl product, it looked more and more promising, and secrecy became more and more critical. At one point as the code name “Hawk” seemed to be leaking, the project name was changed to “Lynx.” The rest is history. Hawk/Lynx was announced and shipped as the Amdahl model 5990. It was a big surprise to IBM and a market success, especially for scientific users. As a memento of the project, participants received a custom T-shirt, a common Silicon Valley tradition. The words on this T-shirt said “Amdahl 5990,” and the image combined a bird of prey – a Hawk – and a Lynx – a relatively large and wild bobcat. And those who had worked on the secret project knew exactly what it referred to. JM: 1/10/2022 --- Best wishes, -Adam

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Off Topic But Relatable
by Jason Perkins 16 Jan '22

16 Jan '22

I used to have a collection of burnt out lamps of all different kinds and sizes. Annoyingly, I added the pram battery from an original Mac to the bin at one point, which leaked and off gassed, ruining all the bases of the lamps. -J On Sun, Jan 16, 2022 at 1:35 PM Sentrytv via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > At least this guy had the bright idea of collecting bulbs! > > Sent from: > My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device. > > > On Jan 16, 2022, at 12:25 PM, Chris Fala via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > > To the collector in us all. > > > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5EOHEWJCxs > > -- Jason Perkins 313 355 0085 Sent from my iPhone

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Totally Worth it
by Bill Degnan 16 Jan '22

16 Jan '22

https://www.ebay.com/itm/313742149778 For $60 you too can have no idea what you just bought.

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Off Topic But Relatable
by Chris Fala 16 Jan '22

16 Jan '22

To the collector in us all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5EOHEWJCxs

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Flyers and paraphernalia from Vintage Computer Festival Past
by Jeffrey Brace 14 Jan '22

14 Jan '22

I'm looking for flyers, program books and other paraphernalia from Vintage Computer Festivals. I have them from the past 5 years, I'm looking to preserve the history of the show and the organization. The organization has been around 17 years and hopefully for a long time so it's a good idea to preserve the history for posterity. The founders had no idea of what the organization would become and how long it would last. I'm hoping that those who have been around "since the beginning" can send me a scan of items. If you have anything, then please let me know privately and we will take it from there. Thanks! ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner VCF Mid-Atlantic Executive Director Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] GTE XT 300 - Information
by jsalzman＠gmail.com 14 Jan '22

14 Jan '22

If they just scanned the document today, then it won't be available for download until tomorrow at the earliest. On Fri, Jan 14, 2022, 7:36 PM skogkatt007--- via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > OK. CHM was able to find the manual and now it is online: > https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102638857 > > No option to download, unless I'm doing something wrong (a given :). > > >

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GTE XT 300 - Information
by Jeffrey Brace 14 Jan '22

14 Jan '22

Someone is looking for information on the GTE XT 300 computer. Here is an ad for it: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19OfZY5biuA4acft4Y5jQdt8uakpPsm-d/view?usp=… If anyone has any more info, then please let me know. Thanks! ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner VCF Mid-Atlantic Executive Director Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Add-on card edge fingers for mock S-100 boards
by Herb Johnson 14 Jan '22

14 Jan '22

> Jonathan Chapman > > retrobrewcomputers.org > > Their boards are high-quality modern production with proper hard gold edge plating ... It wasn't clear if they (Goodman) is offering what they call "unbuffered" or "plain" S-100 prototype boards. The buffered board is apparently expected to be memory or I/O, not a processor board or bus-controlling board such as a new-designed 8080 board as Joe Giliberti may be considering. And without detailing the differences, there's different flavors of S-100 bus; Joe may desire the earliest kind for IMSAI/MITS operation. Prices at "auction" for old-stock S-100 prototype boards with no layouts, as old stock commercial products, seem to be in the $25-$50 range plus shipping. The newly produced bare boards at retrobrew, seem to be in that range also. The cheapest possible least-desired old S-100 cards touch that range also, as I've observed. Thus I'd call that range "the bottom" for S-100 boards of any sort. And it's hard to find S-100 connectors below $10 a pop, for that matter, they are often more. It's not appreciated, that S-100 PC mount connectors came in two pin-widths between the two rows. Different brands of backplanes used one or the other. It's a gotcha to buy the wrong width connectors for a particular unpopulated backplane. So much for "standard" S-100. ;) Regards, Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT comcast DOT net

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S-100 protoboards
by Herb Johnson 14 Jan '22

14 Jan '22

>> It's not appreciated, that S-100 PC mount >> connectors came in two pin-widths between the two rows. Different brands >> of backplanes used one or the other. It's a gotcha to buy the wrong >> width connectors for a particular unpopulated backplane. >> >> Regards, Herb Johnson > > It was my understanding that only the Altair backplane had a different row > spacing for it's connectors. Everything that I have seen since (IMSAI, > Ithaca, TEI, CompuPro, Cromemco) used the same .250 row spacing. > > Regards, Jeff Well, maybe I didn't state the situation clearly. It takes a little longer to do so, I didn't want to go off on details, on side issues to another topic that has already ended. So I'll make a simple point. There's all kinds of 100 pin connectors one might buy, which won't likely be labeled "S-100". You have to measure the pin spacing anyway - which for all S-100 cards is 8 pins per inch. .125 inches apart. So you may as well, check *your particular motherboard* that you are buying connectors for, *just* to be sure the the particular connectors you are buying, match the pin row-width also. That will be, whateverthehell it is, because there were any number of S-100 card-producers, who made backplanes, with whatever connectors they purchased. Just check all your measurements, to avoid getting the wrong part. That's all I was saying. It's factually been a problem. Regards again, Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT comcast DOT net

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Minerva's Machine - women and computing
by Herb Johnson 14 Jan '22

14 Jan '22

> George Washington University has it in their library which is over in the > City. West Chester PA has it, WVU. One in Allentown as well. > > If you can't find it anywhere I might be able to reach out to GWU about > what it takes for a non-student to check it out ... There's something called "inter-library loan" that most local public libraries and universities support. Typically your local tax dollars pay for the library services you get (once you register). Contact your local library system for details. They will perform the loan request, obtain the item for your pickup, and return it when you return the item to the local library. Regards, Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT comcast DOT net

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