- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

VAX 11-780 Rack Available
by W2HX 07 Sep '20

07 Sep '20

Hi friends. This rack is available for free. I am located in 10510 happy to drive, up to say 1.5 hours to meet up to transfer vehicles? https://w2hx.com/ForSale/DEC%20Rack/20200719_114742.jpg https://w2hx.com/ForSale/DEC%20Rack/20200719_114751.jpg it is in very nice condition. Comes with wheels/casters, no panels. It is, I believe 24" wide, but it has a set of vertical rails at 19" in addition to 24" I think the space on the right would carry cables etc? Regardless, it will work fine with 19" equipment. Just the perfect think you need to complete your DEC VAX or other DEC set up! Contact me directly. 73 Eugene W2HX PS Please pass onto any other list you may belong to that might have an interest in this rack. Thank you

3 2

VCF East 2020 Exhibitor Deadline September 13, 2020
by Jeffrey Brace 07 Sep '20

07 Sep '20

If you want to do a virtual exhibit (or in-person) for VCF East 2020's Virtual Show, then you need to let me know by September 13, 2020. At this point there are very few slots available because the schedule has filled up. So there is no guarantee that there is a spot left. So act quickly. If you already confirmed with me, then your video is due by September 23 to allow proper time to process. Sign up here: https://forms.gle/DHF7FqezwVSNe3nZA Any questions? Send me an e-mail. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783

1 0

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] SOT: Any dBase fans here?
by David Gesswein 07 Sep '20

07 Sep '20

I don't need the dBASE III stuff though thought I would reminisce some. I did work in dbase II with Clipper compiler starting on our TI PC. The family raised show rabbits and I wrote programs in it for keeping track of rabbits and printing pedigrees and running shows. We sold the programs to other rabbit people. Used dBASE III a little at work. Purchasing was oriented to production so engineering orders weren't tracked well. I used terminal emulator on a PC to screen scrape the MIS system running on the VAX, KEDIT (IBM XEDIT like editor) with REXX scripting language to reformat into files that could be read in by dBASE and merge the information from the files to print a report with status of parts to go bug purchasing/receiving. Did get KEDIT to run on the TIPC by editing the binary to adapt to the slightly different video hardware on the TIPC. I had the TIPC running this software at VCF 2016. On Sun, Sep 06, 2020 at 06:21:30PM -0400, Jim Scheef via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > Date: Sun, 6 Sep 2020 18:21:30 -0400 > From: Jim Scheef <js(a)sdf.org> > To: 'vcf-midatlantic' <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> > Subject: SOT: Any dBase fans here? > X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook 16.0 > > As I clean out my basement, I'm getting rid of some cool stuff. Before I try to give it away on eBay, I want to offer it here. > Once upon a time (mid-80's), I developed a few applications in dBase III. For our own productivity we used a dBase clone called dbXL for coding and QuickSilver, a compiler, to make the resulting code run faster and easier to distribute. Conveniently, both products, produced by Wordtech Systems, use the same dBIII-compatible index files. QuickSilver produces an object file which requires a linker. So, I'm including my copy of P-Link86. So far this is the manual only; still looking for the media. > Both of these products are free (f.o.b. my driveway*) to a good home. Included are the manuals and several versions of media floppies for both products. > As a bonus, this deal includes another dBase compiler called FORCE. I don't recall anything about it, but I do have both the manuals and media. > The manuals are typical of the era, loose-leaf and weigh several pounds so shipping would cost some actual money. Normally I would sell or give these away at VCF East. > At this point, you know what to do if you are interested. > Jim > * my driveway is located in western CT north of Danbury.

2 1

SOT: Any dBase fans here?
by Jim Scheef 06 Sep '20

06 Sep '20

As I clean out my basement, I'm getting rid of some cool stuff. Before I try to give it away on eBay, I want to offer it here. Once upon a time (mid-80's), I developed a few applications in dBase III. For our own productivity we used a dBase clone called dbXL for coding and QuickSilver, a compiler, to make the resulting code run faster and easier to distribute. Conveniently, both products, produced by Wordtech Systems, use the same dBIII-compatible index files. QuickSilver produces an object file which requires a linker. So, I'm including my copy of P-Link86. So far this is the manual only; still looking for the media. Both of these products are free (f.o.b. my driveway*) to a good home. Included are the manuals and several versions of media floppies for both products. As a bonus, this deal includes another dBase compiler called FORCE. I don't recall anything about it, but I do have both the manuals and media. The manuals are typical of the era, loose-leaf and weigh several pounds so shipping would cost some actual money. Normally I would sell or give these away at VCF East. At this point, you know what to do if you are interested. Jim * my driveway is located in western CT north of Danbury.

1 0

Nice Coco 3 in PA on Craigslist
by Alexander Jacocks 06 Sep '20

06 Sep '20

I don’t have any knowledge of the listing, but I just saw this: https://lancaster.craigslist.org/sys/d/new-holland-tandy-128/7190677582.html - Alex

2 1

Project of the day - Windows 3.11 386Enh on a floppy
by Richard Cini 06 Sep '20

06 Sep '20

Not really sure what applicability this really has, but today’s challenge was to get Windows 3.11 Enhanced Mode running from a single 1.44MB floppy disk. There are easy ways to get Standard mode running, including using files from “precopy.cab” on Windows 95 or 98, but this was way more challenging. I started from a full install and pared it down using a guide I found (which was a two-disk solution). The boot files and required extras (HIMEM, PKUNZIP and a very small ramdrive driver) took about 300K, leaving only about 1.2MB (1.156MB to be exact) for a complete install. A normal no-frills install is about 3-ish megabytes. There are significant compromises – no virtual memory, no networking, no multimedia, only system fonts, and only a few apps, but once running you could run them from another floppy. I discovered that 386Enh won’t put a temporary swapfile on a RAM drive, so it runs without it. I guess you could call this the 1992 version of PortableApps :-) Rich -- Rich Cini http://www.classiccmp.org/cini http://www.classiccmp.org/altair32

2 6

B205 tape drive (reduced)
by Mike Loewen 06 Sep '20

06 Sep '20

The Burroughs B205 tape drive in South Carolina has been reduced to $500: https://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-BURROUGHS-B205-CORPORATION-ELECTRODATA-COM… This was originally part of Claude Kagan's B205 system. Mike Loewen mloewen(a)cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/

1 0

Make You Outdoor Swap Space Reservations Now for Kennett Classic 9/26/20
by Bill Degnan 05 Sep '20

05 Sep '20

Kennett Classic 9/26/20 - Make Your Outdoor Swap Space Reservation Now Anyone interested in reserving a space for the outdoor swap, please contact me directly here: https://www.vintagecomputer.net/contact.cfm Cost per space $15 6 ft x 6 ft per space. Load In Before 9AM 9/26. Thanks Bill Degnan

1 0

1st Annual Kennett Classic September 26th 2020 9a-5p+
by Bill Degnan 05 Sep '20

05 Sep '20

*1st Annual Kennett Classic is still a GO…* RSVP HERE: https://www.meetup.com/Kennett-Classic/events/268442992/ The weather couldn't be better in late September in Kennett Square, so we have decided to move our one year anniversary event outside to avoid the issues associated with COVID-19. We have a private parking lot behind our building that we will use to set up a smaller outdoor party for gathering while we host small group tours of the museum gallery. We look forward to expanding the event in a post-covid time but hope to provide a safe exhibition for all who join us. You can count on: - New exhibits, *including a new room*, will be open to guests (metered for social distance capacity). We have almost doubled in size since we opened a year ago. - *Outdoor swap meet/vendor spaces* (please contact Bill to reserve a space) - Refreshments - Individually packaged snacks, soda and spirits... - After hours dinner event (please RSVP so we can best plan) - Kennett Square closes State street each day so that outdoor seating and dining for our group is feasible. - Make a day of it here in Kennett Square! We are within walking distance to the shops, bars, restaurants and galleries. All are open with special outdoor dining and actively adhere to covid-19 capacities. There are several other local attractions nearby as well. Longwood Gardens, Winterthur and the Brandywine River Art Museum all offer timed admission tickets, so you can plan your day. If you’re interested in helping, please contact Karen or me, asap. Parking is available all along the square block that surrounds the building, at the nearby parking garage, and across the street. We hope to see you! RSVP HERE: https://www.meetup.com/Kennett-Classic/events/268442992/ Watch our facebook page for regular updates: https://www.facebook.com/kennettclassiccomp Best, Bill CONTACT: https://www.kennettclassic.com

1 0

Monitor doors
by Martin Flynn 05 Sep '20

05 Sep '20

Ran off one of them - will put in CDL in the top of the tool box.

1 0

Putting the Federation in Vintage Computer Federation
by svcatitc＠aol.com 04 Sep '20

04 Sep '20

Putting the Federation in Vintage Computer Federation Adam Michlin: amichlin at swerlin.com wrote: Sun Aug 30 18:03:18 EDT 2020 "And if you want to come to a workshop and work on something bigger, make a proposal. Bill Inderrieden, for example, has been doing meticulous and awe inspiring work in documenting the Wang Minicomputer in the museum and hopefully getting it up and running." Thank you Adam for the "shout out". As long as we have now highlighted that subject, some updates are in order. All the circuit cards have been sequentially pulled out of the respective card files and photographed. The pictorial documentation is now complete. Because there is no schematic documentation currently available, I now have to make an assembly drawing of the card file chassis for each drawer in the rack. I am taking a break from this project because it is "brain intensive" on organizing the documentation. Once the initial doc's are done, I plan on reaching out to our contact on the West Coast who is familiar with Wang calculator equipment to get his overall view of things. One diversion from this is getting back on the restoration of the EAI TR20, and it's peripherals. But that is a whole 'nother story. Thanks again Adam; Bill Inderrieden

1 0

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Museum Report: 2 September 2020
by Neil Cherry 03 Sep '20

03 Sep '20

On 9/3/20 12:08 PM, Bill Inderrieden via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > All visitor traffic was dead by 3pm. > Added, from my collection, a Rockwell 6809 uP to the processor display as requested by Dean N. Rockwell 6809 uP? I didn't know Rockwell made a 6809. Found this on Wiki: Second sources A common requirement for manufacturing companies was to require two or more sources for every part in the products they made. This ensured they could get parts if a supplier had financial problems or a disaster. Initially Motorola selected American Microsystems Inc (AMI) as a second source for the M6800 family. Hitachi, Fujitsu, Fairchild, Rockwell and Thomson Semiconductors were added later. Rochester Electronics was Authorized by Freescale/Motorola in 2014 to continue manufacturing any of the 8-bit peripherals and 8-bit processors of this era. Rochester specializes in fully authorized device duplication. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_6800 I've seen Hitachi and Thomson, Knew about Rochester (might have purchased a few) but I didn't know about the rest -- 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

1 0

Museum Report: 2 September 2020
by svcatitc＠aol.com 03 Sep '20

03 Sep '20

Opened up around 1p. Fairly busy day. Had a Mom and her 2 sons come in with one of the InfoAge B of D's as an escort. (Don't know his name and whether it was a relative.) Older son was very much interested in the micro section. Mom took an interest as well. InfoAge escort (Drexel grad) helped with the explanation of keypunch cards on the IBM 1130. He explained how "spaces" in your program can screw everything up for the Program Admin. Second Mom and her daughter came in with a nice interest in the tail end of the miro (8 bit) aisle. All visitor traffic was dead by 3pm. Added, from my collection, a Rockwell 6809 uP to the processor display as requested by Dean N. Bill Inderrieden

1 0

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Commodore 1702 door
by RETRO Innovations 03 Sep '20

03 Sep '20

And, given the ubiquity of the lack of door on the 1702 in today's collections, I've even considered selling the doors off some of the units I have since I always leave the door open on units in use anyway :-) Jim -- RETRO Innovations, Contemporary Gear for Classic Systems www.go4retro.com store.go4retro.com

5 7

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Commodore 1702 door
by Jeffrey Brace 02 Sep '20

02 Sep '20

Sounds like an Outer Limits episode where the world was taken apart and remade every moment and sometimes they made mistakes which is why when you lose your keys you find time in a place that you already searched. <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> Virus-free. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> On Wed, Sep 2, 2020 at 1:28 PM Jeff G via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Funny story about the 1702 and door. I have a 1702, that at some point gave > away to a buddy of mine. When I gave it to him, the door was missing. Also > to note, I had a box truck I was using for storage at the time, and its > likely the monitor did time in the truck. > > Years later, he eventually decided he didn't want it anymore and asked if I > wanted it back, with "h-- yeah" as the answer. > > Not too long after that, I cleaned out the box truck to get rid of it, and > lo and behold, I'm not sure where it came from, but I found the missing > door from that monitor. > > So YEARS and even owners apart, yet somehow managed to reunite monitor and > door! The door has the typical broken hinge but I used masking tape to keep > it on for now. > > The end! > > -- JeffG (aka Bags) > -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783

1 0

Re: Commodore 1702 door
by Jeff G 02 Sep '20

02 Sep '20

Funny story about the 1702 and door. I have a 1702, that at some point gave away to a buddy of mine. When I gave it to him, the door was missing. Also to note, I had a box truck I was using for storage at the time, and its likely the monitor did time in the truck. Years later, he eventually decided he didn't want it anymore and asked if I wanted it back, with "h-- yeah" as the answer. Not too long after that, I cleaned out the box truck to get rid of it, and lo and behold, I'm not sure where it came from, but I found the missing door from that monitor. So YEARS and even owners apart, yet somehow managed to reunite monitor and door! The door has the typical broken hinge but I used masking tape to keep it on for now. The end! -- JeffG (aka Bags)

1 0

RIP Jack Richard
by John Heritage 02 Sep '20

02 Sep '20

Founder of Boardwatch magazine among many other things.. https://www.semissourian.com/story/2831878.html

2 1

Modem banks
by Richard Cini 02 Sep '20

02 Sep '20

All — Long ago I had a MultiTech POTS rack modem bank that I got when I cleaned out part of Temple University’s “elephant graveyard”. Of course, I don’t have it any longer, but I have a project I’m working on that could use one. If anyone has one of these, or the Hayes equivalent, and wants to get rid of it, keep me in mind. It would just have to have at least 8 modem cards. Thanks! Rich http://www.classiccmp.org/cini Long Island S100 User’s Group Get Outlook<https://aka.ms/qtex0l> for iOS

4 7

RIP Curt Vendel
by Jonathan Gevaryahu 02 Sep '20

02 Sep '20

Curt Vendel passed away unexpectedly yesterday, according to Marty Goldberg: https://www.facebook.com/groups/105586892805903/permalink/3497579150273310/ Also see Jason Scott's twitter thread at https://twitter.com/textfiles/status/1300515595788713989 I know many people from VCF East have seen him at prior events or were in communication with him. -- Jonathan Gevaryahu jgevaryahu(a)gmail.com jgevaryahu(a)hotmail.com

7 6

CRX Commodore Expo - This Weekend
by Alexander Jacocks 02 Sep '20

02 Sep '20

All, There’s a virtual Commdore expo going on, this weekend, and it’s free: https://crxevent.com Come join me! - Alex

7 14

Dysan PAT-2+ floppy disk tester/exerciser schematic needed
by Jeff Galinat 01 Sep '20

01 Sep '20

Hi all, I am trying to repair a non-functional Dysan PAT-2+ tester/exerciser thay I got off off eBay and a schematic would go a long way in helping me repair the device. The user manual is online on bitsavers but I have been unable to find a schematic yet. Can anyone help?? Please contact me if you have a lead on the schematic for the PAT-2+.. The schematic for the PAT 1 units are online but the units are very different. Thanks! Jeff Galinat

1 0

Putting the Federation in Vintage Computer Federation
by Adam Michlin 31 Aug '20

31 Aug '20

Hi Everyone, So much has happened in the last 6+ months, all of which has been eclipsed by the pandemic. To start, you can email all of the Steering Committee (SC) Members at: <steering_vcfma(a)vcfed.org> A while I spoke about what a Federation does and I wanted to share with everyone what has been going to make the Federation even more of a Federation. Some of this will be formally documented in the upcoming by-laws and some is just cool news of all the collaborations going on between various vintage computer groups and our progress towards opening up VCF resources to the membership at large. Artifact Sale and Checkout: We are very aware that much of the equipment in the warehouse needs a significant amount of TLC. To that end, we have set up a system where anyone can request an artifact for checkout. Checkout can be for repair, restoration, or just because you need to borrow it for some reason. In all cases, checking out an artifact will require a reasoning, approval of a majority of the 5 member SC and you will have to sign something. The SC will consider the nature of the request, the purpose of the request, and the person requesting. For obvious reasons, we cannot guarantee a yes to every request. We are also doing everything in our power to protect any repaired/restored artifacts from the elements in the warehouse when they are returned as the most commonly asked question we get is "why clean it if it is just going back to the dirty warehouse?". This makes official an unofficial policy we've been experimenting with over the last few months. Ian Primus and Bill Lange, in particular, are doing some great work restoring terminals (ADM-2 and Teletype (CRT) Model 40) and Atari equipment (most notably Atari Mega STe now on display in the museum with keyboard provided by Dean Notarnicola) respectively. And if you want to come to a workshop and work on something bigger, make a proposal. Bill Inderrieden, for example, has been doing meticulous and awe inspiring work in documenting the Wang Minicomputer in the museum and hopefully getting it up and running. A whole host of people who will be named later in this post have been getting one of our Xerox Stars working. Feel free to think big! We felt sale of artifacts deserves a higher burden, so sale of artifacts requires a SC supermajority vote (4/5). Note, this is to purchase something that has not already been designated as surplus since surplus is already approved for sale. It will be a lot... and we mean a lot... more difficult to get non-surplus items to purchase from the warehouse since we are working very hard to proactively identify surplus equipment for sale. For obvious reasons, it should be expected the answer will most commonly be no for these requests, but everyone is allowed to make a request. You'll also see a lot more stuff naturally coming up for sale as surplus, though. If you are interested in buying, repairing, restoring , or just borrowing something, email one or all of the Steering Committee members and we will take it from there. The Warehouse: As some people have heard, we are directing all funds generated by surplus sale to an account dedicated to climate controlling and otherwise updating the warehouse. This project has been a dream for so many of us for years and it is starting to become a reality. Donations to this end are most graciously appreciated, too. Other Groups: So many great things. I stopped by System Source in Maryland (you must go!) on the way down to South Carolina and we now have someone (Ryan Schiff) who is interested in restoring the Cray in the museum (owned by LSSM and Dave McGuire - on loan to us - he has approved the initial investigation). How cool will it be to even possibly have a working Cray in the museum? Power, you say? First world problems we will deal with! And to have people from three museums involved!? We're working on a deal to swap an extra Apple II+ and Mac 512K with the Homecomputermusuem in the Netherlands for an Exidy Sorcerer and a ZX Spectrum. Two machines common in the US that we are swapping for two machines common in the UK that we don't have. Hopefully the first of many trades as one of the things we lack are non US computers (most of the international machines in the museum are on loan from members). A Xerox Star mouse has been found through a private party connected to us via the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. The person donating wishes to remain anonymous. I personally am most excited by this (and the work done by David Gesswein, Ian Primus and countless others to get the thing to work in the first place!). A working Xerox Star in a museum where museum goers can put hands on. Mind blowing. And, finally, which I think I've posted on already, this all started with the loan of working Canon Cat (sitting in a plastic bin in the warehouse - boo!) to Kennett Classic (on display for people to use - yay!). Our general philosophy going forward is that we can't display everything, so it makes much more sense to loan out artifacts for the world to see (and repair!) than to have artifacts sit in the warehouse (climate controlled or not). Everything is now backed by a formal process, though, so we have checks and balances and really want to encourage people and organizations who have never asked before to consider asking. Is there something we haven't thought of? Let us know! Best wishes, -Adam

4 3

VCF East 2020 Classroom Instructors Needed
by Jeffrey Brace 31 Aug '20

31 Aug '20

We still have room for classroom instructors. Signup now to reserve your spot. They are filling up fast: < https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfaLdF8TOlIicNw9Qwi7Bkfz8OjCZm4YWl… > The class will be a maximum of 30 minutes. We are going to be doing a virtual hybrid show on October 10 & 11. *CLASSES* Classroom instructors will teach something like "How to repair a CRT", or "Commodore 64 assembly programming". Here is an example class for "Advanced 6502 Assembly Programming for the Apple II" by Stephen Edwards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXElw_3t-rM&t=21s If you are interested in being a classroom instructor, then please fill out this form: Availability is limited. You have the choice of: 1) A prerecorded video with a maximum 30 minutes. Submitted video of your class by September 21. This will be shown via YouTube live and then there will be live Q & A for 10 minutes. 2) An in-person presentation of 30 minutes on site at InfoAge with 10 minutes live Q & A. I will send more details if you are interested. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783

1 0

Museum Report 2020-08-30
by Jeffrey Brace 31 Aug '20

31 Aug '20

A handful of people came today, but there was a highly interested family. The father really liked and remembered a lot of the machines that were there. The children enjoyed many of the micros. I let one boy make a greeting card for his mom on The Printshop on the C64 and print out on the dot matrix printer. Kids love to be able to print and take this home. Take home things like this are a hit. I also turned on the screen blanker on the 3B1. It's a very useful function. Besides that I worked on VCF East 2020 organizing for the virtual show, connecting prospective exhibitors, instructors, etc. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783 <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> Virus-free. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> <#m_7257872769276981605_DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>

1 0

Museum Report 2020-08-29
by Jeffrey Brace 30 Aug '20

30 Aug '20

3 VCF volunteers (Dylan Servilla, Kenneth Gober and myself) met up with Martin early Saturday morning to help him with ethernet wiring up the Model Train museum and the Women's bunkroom. We started at 9AM and went to 3PM. We got most of the job done, but ran out of time, so we will be finishing up the job next Saturday. The wiring in the women's bunkroom will provide wired, stable internet when we do VCF East or any other event in that room. This will be very important for VCF East 2020's virtual show. Dennis was docent at the museum and we had about 10 visitors with moderate interest. A good turn out for a day that started out with downpouring rain. I showed Dennis and Dylan the windowed type environment on the 3B1 which they didn't know about. At the same time I setup the screen saver for the 3B1. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783 <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> Virus-free. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>

2 1

Update on Me
by Adam Michlin 29 Aug '20

29 Aug '20

Hi Everyone, As I previously, rather obliquely, mentioned, I have relocated to Charleston, SC for job reasons. The super short version is I am now at a school where I can teach *a lot* more students 6502 Assembly. When I was first approached to be a member of the Mid Atlantic Steering Committee, my immediate response was that I wanted to run in an election. Circumstances dictated that such an election was not possible at the time and I agreed to serve with the agreement that my position would be put up for election in December 2020. At the time, I fully intended to run for re-election (well, election), however, in light of my relocation, I have made the decision that I cannot fully function as a Steering Committee member from South Carolina and, as such, will not be seeking (re-)election. My regular work in the warehouse will also have to stop, for obvious reasons, although I'm planning to visit a few times each year to do what I can do to help. I will, however, continue to work as the national (paid an insanely modest sum which I will not disclose) Social Media Specialist and will continue working with both the National Board and the MA Steering Committee in a non-voting capacity. Dean Notarnicola and I are working on the MA Steering Committee bylaws (at little late.. but, well, pandemic), so at this point, please hold any questions about how the election will actually happen. What I'm hoping to do with this email is to get people thinking about running for the Steering Committee for an election in December. If you think the Steering Committee is doing things well and want them to continue in that direction, consider running. If you think the Steering Committee is running things into the ground, you definitely need to run. My dream has always been an organization by the people for the people. Elections are the only way to make this truly happen. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to email me at this email or my VCF email (which reaches me quicker) <adam.michlin(a)vcfed.org> if you have any ideas, questions, complaints about either social media or the goings on of the MA Steering Committee and *especially* if you are thinking about running for the Steering Committee and want to know more. I and the other Steering Committee members are also more than happy to answer questions about the position here publicly. And, of course, be sure to follow VCF at: https://www.facebook.com/vcfederation/ https://twitter.com/vcfederation https://www.instagram.com/vcfederation/ Yeah, I know, new fangled crazy social media.... But you're missing a lot of cool content! -Adam

2 1

Museum Report: 26 August 2020
by svcatitc＠aol.com 28 Aug '20

28 Aug '20

Opened up around 12:45p after checking in at "Hotel". Only one young couple visited with only mild interest. In talking privately with Tony Bogan, it was pointed out that "auto-loading" Windows 3.1 on the IBM PS2 defeats the purpose of illustrating that Windows of that era was not a stand-a-lone application and must be loaded over top of DOS. With that in mind, I reversed my "DOH" boo boo by editing of the AUTOEXEC.BAT, but with a twist. I used the CHOICE.COM command and added a "choice" of whether you want to load Windows right away, or not [Y,N], or allow the option to time out in to a DOS prompt. Once that happens, CLS or the clear screen command clears the screen and echos: "Load Windows at any Time by typing WIN". This gives more options. Bill Inderrieden

1 0

Saturday network wiring help @ InfoAge
by Jeffrey Brace 27 Aug '20

27 Aug '20

Martin and I need help with network wiring around museum building this Saturday 9/29 from 9AM onwards. Anyone available? Hoping to get outside work done before rain in the afternoon. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783

1 0

Sound blaster 16 with IDE interface
by Sentrytv 27 Aug '20

27 Aug '20

I’m looking for an old ISA sound blaster 16 with IDE interface, not the PNP version, but the one with the jumpers for settings. Driver disk with it would also be helpful. If anybody has a working one that’s a reasonable price, please let me know. I’m in Edison NJ about 45 min from museum. Mike R. Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.

1 0

Wanna VCF 2020 t-shirt?
by Jeffrey Brace 27 Aug '20

27 Aug '20

There is still time to order a VCF 2020 t-shirt for pickup at The VCF Museum. Cost for t-shirts is $20. Then I will send you a PayPal invoice. Fill out this Google Form to order one: https://forms.gle/a8PzyP9xuipgD8bL8 They come in Amber or Green. You can look here for pictures of them here: http://vcfed.org/wp/t-shirts If you want to order and have it delivered to your home, then do that here: http://vcfed.org/wp/t-shirts. Ordering from here is expected to continue to the end of the year, but may stop at any time. Cost is $20 + shipping. Deadline for ordering is September 17, 2020. Expected delivery date will be October 3 (a week before VCF East 2020). -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783

2 1

IBM Selectic
by Andrew Diller 27 Aug '20

27 Aug '20

https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/selectric/ <https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/selectric/> Just came across that and it looked interesting. Dean- I know you recently got a nice one, and I just got a nice Selectric II (thanks DaveR) - but mine needs some cleaning. It powers on but random ghost keypresses ensue and it's either in need of contact cleaning or it's haunted and warning me to get out of my house... Anyone have some good leads on resources they can share to clean and lube up these guys? -andy

3 2

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] The good old days of user groups.
by Jeffrey Jonas 27 Aug '20

27 Aug '20

replying to Herb Johnson: A major offshoot of user groups/clubs was shareware. SIG/M was a library of over 100: 8" floppies freely shared by the CP/M groups. There were IBM 1130 groups in the 70s that shared software and newsletters. SHARE was for IBM mainframe folks to share software, libraries, documentation, etc. Science Fiction fandom and anime clubs were similar with APAs, newsletters and fanzines (fan published magazines), being slow to adopt all electronic forums due to the digital-divide (many members had no computer access). -- jeff jonas

4 4

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Repair workshop wrap-up 7/11 & 7/12, 2020
by Jeffrey Brace 27 Aug '20

27 Aug '20

On Wed, Aug 26, 2020 at 6:29 PM laurakid via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Just getting the data would be great. If possible the image files i might > want cross platform because I have a dual 2G Powermac and the Adobe > Creative Suite. I figure I may as well see if i can use that setup for art > photography/design rather than forking out money each month for > subscription. > Next workshop is September 12 & 13. Bring it to the workshop. > > > Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone > > > On Wednesday, August 26, 2020, 3:31 PM, Ian Primus via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > Recovering drives, as in, getting the data off unknown Mac hard > drives? If you want, I can bring along stuff to image them - convert > to a file on a PC which you can then mount and pull files out of or > use in an emulator. Making a full block image of a drive is a great > way to preserve it and ensure you can get whatever you need out of it. > Or are you just trying to get drives working with a Mac? > > -Ian > > On Wed, Aug 26, 2020 at 4:15 AM laurakid via vcf-midatlantic > <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > > I really need help recovering hard drives from several old macs . I > have external drives also but honestly I was always terrible at labeling > anything. If anyone can help me at the workshop, that would be awesome. > It seems to be on topic this time around? > > > > > > Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone > > > > > > On Wednesday, August 26, 2020, 12:13 AM, Jeffrey Brace via > vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > > On Tue, Aug 25, 2020 at 9:20 AM Jeff Salzman via vcf-midatlantic < > > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > > > At the August Workshop, someone asked me about the brushed metal > ZoomFloppy > > > case I had, and I forgot who asked me about it. The person I bought it > from > > > still has more of those cases available. If you're still interested in > > > getting one for yourself, I can pass contact information around. > > > > > > > I asked you about it. Send me the info please. > > > > > > > > > > Thanks, > > > Jeff Salzman > > > > > > > > > On Mon, Jul 13, 2020 at 6:41 PM Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < > > > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > > > > > We had 10 people come to our repair workshop. It was very successful > and > > > > everyone enjoyed it. We seem to have a pattern that works for > everyone, > > > so > > > > we will repeat it for the next workshop on August 15 & 16. > > > > > > > > I worked on recovering data from a modern hard drive Jonathan and Ian > > > > helped), which I will detail in another email. I also was successful > in > > > > repairing a Rev A Commodore 64 board. Alex Jaccocks and Jonathan > Sturges > > > > helped me. It had bad Character RAM (U6), Character ROM (901225) and > a > > > bad > > > > U1 chip (6526). This Rev A board has a ceramic VIC 6567 chip too! > > > > > > > > Bill Dromgoole successfully repaired the museum's Ohio Scientific > > > computer. > > > > There were 3 keys that needed replacing. > > > > > > > > Ian fixed one of his black and white TVs and worked on many other > things > > > > with others. > > > > > > > > Neville worked on his Kay Pro. I'm not sure how he made out with his > > > > repairs. > > > > > > > > Mike Rosen worked on Commodore 1541 repairs. > > > > > > > > Ian and Jason Perkins also worked on scanning some documents from the > > > > museum warehouse for preservation. > > > > > > > > Don't know what Alex Jaccocks and Jonthan Sturges were working on. > > > > > > > > Bill Indereidden continued to document and work on the Wang 4000. > > > > > > > > Maybe everyone can tell what they were working on and their progress. > > > > > > > > Next workshop is August 15 & 16: Sign up here: > > > > > > > > > > > > https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1L3Jc_RIHiBG08kZOOAgzvqjf8G0ox9ZRa6B… > > > > > > > > There will be a limit to 10 people in the workshop area. If more > want to > > > > come, then there is room for 2 or 3 people in the museum workshop > space. > > > > Face masks are required for this gathering. > > > > -- > > > > ========================================= > > > > Jeff Brace > > > > Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner > > > > Vintage Computer Federation > > > > http://www.vcfed.org/ > > > > jeffrey(a)vcfed.org > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > ========================================= > > Jeff Brace > > Vice President & Board Member > > Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner > > Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity > > http://www.vcfed.org/ > > jeffrey(a)vcfed.org > > cell: 732-759-1783 > > > > > > > > > -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783

2 1

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Repair workshop wrap-up 7/11 & 7/12, 2020
by Ian Primus 26 Aug '20

26 Aug '20

Recovering drives, as in, getting the data off unknown Mac hard drives? If you want, I can bring along stuff to image them - convert to a file on a PC which you can then mount and pull files out of or use in an emulator. Making a full block image of a drive is a great way to preserve it and ensure you can get whatever you need out of it. Or are you just trying to get drives working with a Mac? -Ian On Wed, Aug 26, 2020 at 4:15 AM laurakid via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > I really need help recovering hard drives from several old macs . I have external drives also but honestly I was always terrible at labeling anything. If anyone can help me at the workshop, that would be awesome. It seems to be on topic this time around? > > > Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone > > > On Wednesday, August 26, 2020, 12:13 AM, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > On Tue, Aug 25, 2020 at 9:20 AM Jeff Salzman via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > At the August Workshop, someone asked me about the brushed metal ZoomFloppy > > case I had, and I forgot who asked me about it. The person I bought it from > > still has more of those cases available. If you're still interested in > > getting one for yourself, I can pass contact information around. > > > > I asked you about it. Send me the info please. > > > > > > Thanks, > > Jeff Salzman > > > > > > On Mon, Jul 13, 2020 at 6:41 PM Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < > > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > > > We had 10 people come to our repair workshop. It was very successful and > > > everyone enjoyed it. We seem to have a pattern that works for everyone, > > so > > > we will repeat it for the next workshop on August 15 & 16. > > > > > > I worked on recovering data from a modern hard drive Jonathan and Ian > > > helped), which I will detail in another email. I also was successful in > > > repairing a Rev A Commodore 64 board. Alex Jaccocks and Jonathan Sturges > > > helped me. It had bad Character RAM (U6), Character ROM (901225) and a > > bad > > > U1 chip (6526). This Rev A board has a ceramic VIC 6567 chip too! > > > > > > Bill Dromgoole successfully repaired the museum's Ohio Scientific > > computer. > > > There were 3 keys that needed replacing. > > > > > > Ian fixed one of his black and white TVs and worked on many other things > > > with others. > > > > > > Neville worked on his Kay Pro. I'm not sure how he made out with his > > > repairs. > > > > > > Mike Rosen worked on Commodore 1541 repairs. > > > > > > Ian and Jason Perkins also worked on scanning some documents from the > > > museum warehouse for preservation. > > > > > > Don't know what Alex Jaccocks and Jonthan Sturges were working on. > > > > > > Bill Indereidden continued to document and work on the Wang 4000. > > > > > > Maybe everyone can tell what they were working on and their progress. > > > > > > Next workshop is August 15 & 16: Sign up here: > > > > > > > > https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1L3Jc_RIHiBG08kZOOAgzvqjf8G0ox9ZRa6B… > > > > > > There will be a limit to 10 people in the workshop area. If more want to > > > come, then there is room for 2 or 3 people in the museum workshop space. > > > Face masks are required for this gathering. > > > -- > > > ========================================= > > > Jeff Brace > > > Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner > > > Vintage Computer Federation > > > http://www.vcfed.org/ > > > jeffrey(a)vcfed.org > > > > > > > > -- > ========================================= > Jeff Brace > Vice President & Board Member > Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner > Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity > http://www.vcfed.org/ > jeffrey(a)vcfed.org > cell: 732-759-1783 > > >

2 1

Found treasure - Fluke 9010A
by Richard Cini 26 Aug '20

26 Aug '20

I was looking in the attic for something and a box I thought was empty actually contains a Fluke 9010A debugger with an 8080 pod. I used it for one of my first projects debugging my Altair -- 15 years ago I’m guessing. I thought I sold it, but I guess not ☺ My wife, unfortunately, doesn’t share my gleeful exuberance… If anyone has a Z80 or 8086 pod for it, keep me in mind! Rich -- Rich Cini http://www.classiccmp.org/cini http://www.classiccmp.org/altair32

3 5

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] The good old days of user groups
by Herb Johnson 26 Aug '20

26 Aug '20

Jeff jonas says: > giving them the false sense of entitlement > that Internet access is a "right". > No, like driving, it is a PRIVILEGE. "The Internet" was many things at many points in time. The ARPAnet was VERY privileged - for national defense and research. So it was something, then it became something else. Technology which was once scarce, but becomes a commodity, does that. My recent post described "scarcity" of personal computing technology. Many people lament the loss of the past. But this forum is not a political or social-action arena. So a discussion of the politics of the Internet is likely off-topic. I am not in charge so that's merely my working opinion. I will not debate rights versus privileges here, except to say Internet access is such an essential service to live and work in this country, that I think calling it a "privilege" and thus revocable is less than optimal. As for the past of social behavior, yeah, many people behave poorly these days on da Internets, and we also get access to that along with everything else we get. I don't think that's new. Imagine if you had to sit on a streetcorner in a busy city, and see *every single thing that happened there*. Now imagine, someone else feeds you views of the worst of it - for "free" (free access so your name is sold to people who want to sell you stuff). Who do we blame for that, eh? > The burning of the library of Alexandria pales in comparison > to the information and personal effort destroyed > every time a hard drive fails or a major web page does down. I don't know that. "It's harder to delete than it is to save". Stuff gets lost over time but there's services that preserve some of it and there's a lot of duplication. And a lot of stuff is very "forgetable". The Alexandria library was like destroying HALF "the internet" of the era (the other half being held in other cultures). A value of vintage computing is to preserve history, in various forms. People are telling their stories, they are informative and are being preserved by telling. I'm a technologist by training, I preserve physical stuff, but it has human meaning and a context of development and use. I have stumbled into history. 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 retrotechnology DOT info

2 1

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] The good old days of user groups
by Jeffrey Jonas 26 Aug '20

26 Aug '20

When I was an undergrad at the Cooper Union Computer Center [78-82], we were fortunate to be an early adopter of Unix version 6 on a PDP11/45. We were INTERACTIVE in a day when most other colleges were still mainframe batch via punched cards. But we were isolated. No modem or links to the outside world. When I consulted to AT&T in the mid to late 80s, I finally had USENET access. Yea, there were already "flame wars" but back then people were /mostly/ accountable for their actions. Students could lose computer access. Employees could get reprimanded by their boss. AOL's "perpetual September" ruined all that when subscribers could PAY for Usenet & Internet access, giving them the false sense of entitlement that Internet access is a "right". No, like driving, it is a PRIVILEGE. Back then, there were "net personalities". Kind folks who set a wonderful tone. Larry Lippman was a noted chemist whose replies were always fun to read and taught us something. "have your hugged your cat today" was his .sig Jeff Meyer @ Fluke was famous for his monthly net.comics "Moriarty reviews", as was jmb (Jerry Boyajian). The successful systems fostered a sense of community. I was late to understand that, thus missing out on some wonderful BBS fandoms such as Elfquest's Electronic Holt and early anthropomorphic fandom BBSs. My main FurryMuck character was Created Jan 1994. The "old guard" is still there having more fun than IRC since the system provides environment, ambiance and programmable characters to foster more imaginative interactions. replying to others: Dave McGuire gripes: > The Internet is presented to people as a "you can GET this, you can GET that!" > "Get get get!" ...not "participate", not "communicate" ... Tom Lehrer said it best "Life is like a sewer: what you get out of it depends on what you put into it" The Internet is seen as a source for entertainment, just like television/radio/cable-TV. A place to tune in and zone out. This is furthered by the way ISPs cheat us by taking away personal web spaces. The demise of systems such as Geocities destroyed countless man-YEARS of effort. Delphi forums died. Yahoo groups died. The burning of the library of Alexandria pales in comparison to the information and personal effort destroyed every time a hard drive fails or a major web page does down. Neil Cherry: > Except on AOL ... ;-) I even think Genie users > had more technical background than most Internet users. I was on GEnie and lurked on the round-tables. I didn't have much to say back then. I seem to recall that GEnie used a decent interface that worked on "dumb terminals" thus giving a full screen of content, vs Prodigy or AOL's user-coddling barely-almost GUI that barely give 1/4 screen of content. Ethan O'Toole: > The Internet has a ton of people sharing information. > I mean, look at youtube. How to fix cars, HVAC, build things ... > It far exceeds the old days millions times over. Agreed, but it took many years to reach that critical mass of GOOD content and ways to find it. Recent YouTube videos taught me how to fix my car, garage door and other stuff. But it's still outweighed by insipid videos from wobbly cellphones. On the bright side, it's a channel for tech folks to share and even earn some money, such as ladyada's Adafruit, Fran Blanche, Jeri Ellsworth, Nixie Pixel, Dave Jones' eevblog, Big Clive, Julian Ilett BradH the Vintage Computer Aussie, Techmoan, Andreas Spiess, The Ben Heck show, Great Scott Lab, Add Ohms, Christopher Barnatt's Explaining Computers, RetroManCave, LGR: vintage computers, The 8-Bit Guy, 8-Bit Show And Tell, Dr. Scott M. Baker's web site, among others. and so it goes -- Jeff Jonas

2 1

Repair workshop wrap-up 7/11 & 7/12, 2020
by Jeffrey Brace 26 Aug '20

26 Aug '20

We had 10 people come to our repair workshop. It was very successful and everyone enjoyed it. We seem to have a pattern that works for everyone, so we will repeat it for the next workshop on August 15 & 16. I worked on recovering data from a modern hard drive Jonathan and Ian helped), which I will detail in another email. I also was successful in repairing a Rev A Commodore 64 board. Alex Jaccocks and Jonathan Sturges helped me. It had bad Character RAM (U6), Character ROM (901225) and a bad U1 chip (6526). This Rev A board has a ceramic VIC 6567 chip too! Bill Dromgoole successfully repaired the museum's Ohio Scientific computer. There were 3 keys that needed replacing. Ian fixed one of his black and white TVs and worked on many other things with others. Neville worked on his Kay Pro. I'm not sure how he made out with his repairs. Mike Rosen worked on Commodore 1541 repairs. Ian and Jason Perkins also worked on scanning some documents from the museum warehouse for preservation. Don't know what Alex Jaccocks and Jonthan Sturges were working on. Bill Indereidden continued to document and work on the Wang 4000. Maybe everyone can tell what they were working on and their progress. Next workshop is August 15 & 16: Sign up here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1L3Jc_RIHiBG08kZOOAgzvqjf8G0ox9ZRa6B… There will be a limit to 10 people in the workshop area. If more want to come, then there is room for 2 or 3 people in the museum workshop space. Face masks are required for this gathering. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

9 14

Help Wanted: InfoAge Part Time
by Jeffrey Brace 26 Aug '20

26 Aug '20

Mike Ruane is looking for: Someone who wants to work part time for 8-10 hours per week. The person would work with Gloria (Mike's Administrative Assistant) and be able to back her up when she is out. The schedule would be two days at 4-5 hours per day depending on what schedule they work out and the salary would be $15.00 per hour. Computer skills and knowing Excel would help. If you know anyone, please contact Mike Ruane: thejamesthomasgroup(a)comcast.net -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783

1 0

First Exhibitor Video received! VCF East 2020
by Jeffrey Brace 26 Aug '20

26 Aug '20

Eric Rangell is first place to submit his exhibitor video! Who will be second place? Deadline is: September 21! Submit your exhibit idea here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfSyp3A7yzPJw77Sc_gl0erV4a7QTN8x7W… We are looking for exhibitors for our virtual hybrid show. The format that we propose is that exhibitors create a short video about 5 to 10 minutes long to show off your exhibit. Send to us by September 21. During the event we would show your video which will stream to YouTube followed by 5 to 10 minutes of questions and answers live. The other option would be for you to show off your exhibit on InfoAge’s campus live on site and in person followed by live questions and answers. Don’t delay slakers! -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783

1 0

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] The good old days of user groups.
by Herb Johnson 25 Aug '20

25 Aug '20

[I wrote this but I put it aside, because who wants to hear what boomers did in the 1970's? But the discussion thread seems to be rooted in the 1980's when computers were things you bought at Sears and there were actual *computer stores* around, and BBS's you could dial up, and local computer clubs aplenty in any good sized town. There was a time before all that, you know. Except: most people I hear from, don't "know that". Things then, were very different from the times in ongoing discussion; and from times today. So, here it is. Pardon the length, this is unfamiliar to most who would read it, so I have to give background.- Herb] The generation of "computer clubs" of the mid 1970's, are of a period before most of the clubs and groups in discussion. I co-started one of the first such clubs in Columbus OH; attended others as they were created. Chronologically: Clubs & groups exploded in size and number once personal computers became production items and then commodity items, in and through the 1980's. BBS's in the period, reduced the need for physical meetings at clubs. By the 1990's there were: widespread dial-up Internet; with sufficient bandwidth and graphics and modem speed; and generic computers easily bought at stores (or online) fast enough to support Internet browsing. So the physical groups dissipated in size and number going through the 1990's and pooped out by 2000 or so, approximately. In the early days of the mid-70's, we got together because there was no other means to obtain and share computing devices and figure them out. The providers were, electronic kits or parts or surplus One bought from ads in electronics magazines. Or that surplus-store some towns had. Or surplus/trash from someone's company or a local university. We were our own tech support; and whatever kit-producing-engineers we got LETTERS and phone calls from; and again, the magazines. There were no personal computers in production in that early era; just things people built, or one bought used minicomputers and their terminals and printers. Then there were these new microprocessors that some technical people were buying to play with, or beginning to use professionally, or learn about in college. As a host of microcomputer items were produced, we'd buy 'em and compare notes. Same with things like terminals, modems, other categories of software and hardware. All these transactions are described, by the surviving computer-club paper newsletters one can find online. Some clubs *didn't even meet*: they were pure correspondence; newletters were contents of member's letters about their projects, reports on software and hardware. Most people did not have a lot of money to spend; most computer things were not cheap; technical skills were essential, not optional. Clubs let people pick each other's brains, share and trade "tech". Even when personal computers were more common, there would be clubs or sections of clubs about specific software: databases, word processing, business. There was no other institution to learn this stuff; otherwise one read "books" or "magazines" or "da manuals and schematics". These clubs that met, were much like other hobby clubs to this day. They printed newsletters and postal mailed them monthly (mimeograph or photocopies). We met at a home or sometimes an institution (university, library, museum). There was a meeting with minutes and resolutions and other business, then a presentation. People stayed a bit to chat before or after. Members also met at each other's homes to work on their own computers and to trade. Sometimes there was a meeting to trade things. There were dues, to pay for postage and printing, snacks, rent for the meeting space. The legacy these groups left behind, are the newsletters with technical content; the archives of software and manuals, which get mined often; and the survivors, who continue their vintage computing interests in varying degrees. Radio Amateur clubs today still do most of these things, by the way. And in these early years, computer-clubs used hamfests to obtain and trade scarce equipment. Dealers at hamfests were either "computer" or "radio", generally. The Hams got to tap this tech, and developed lots of ham computing tech; they supported early microcomputing. Some hams were unhappy about this alliance, which peaked in the 1990's when PC's were common. Computing stuff is now largely gone from hamfests. I know many other hobbies still operate as clubs as I've described. There is a social dimension to these organizations that all the online click-to-get activities cannot provide. And many clubs have activities which require multiple people to participate physically in some way. No mailed newsletters today, usually. However, all these clubs today which operate as I've described, seem to be predominantly run by and populated with "old people". There's a generational change in culture, as well as the technological changes I described. That would be another lecture: one today is enough. 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 retrotechnology DOT info

1 0

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Off-Topic:What is the most accurate large 48"ish plotter
by Dave Wade 25 Aug '20

25 Aug '20

Most pen plotters plot to 0.01" accuracy, so a big HP or Roland if you can find one. Dave From: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic-bounces(a)lists.vcfed.org> On Behalf Of Ben Greenfield via vcf-midatlantic Sent: 25 August 2020 20:57 To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> Cc: Ben Greenfield <ben(a)cogs.com> Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] Off-Topic:What is the most accurate large 48"ish plotter

1 0

Off-Topic:What is the most accurate large 48"ish plotter
by Ben Greenfield 25 Aug '20

25 Aug '20

Hey All, Sorry for the noise but I did label it:) Say I want to print shapes on plywood size paper is there a printer that prints an inch long line in CAD that actual measure an inch? ( or milimeter) I would be ok with accuracy somewhere betwen a 1/6th and a 32nd. Wash your hands, Ben

1 0

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] The good old days of user groups.
by RETRO Innovations 25 Aug '20

25 Aug '20

On 8/24/2020 8:33 PM, Alexander Pierson via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > The article mentioned TPUG, the Toronto PET Users Group. These days, they exist in part as a Discord group (however, I'm sure someone like Leif Bloomquist can speak to the nature of their current existence better). I think that's pretty cool. They still have regular meetings as well. > > The bulk of my interaction these days with vintage computer enthusiasts is done on that platform (though the VCFed Discord is rather... quiet). The youth of the hobby have found a home there, either on smaller manufacturer-specific servers, or larger generalist servers with plenty of cross-pollination between minis, micros, homebrews, etc. of a variety of makes and models. The SNR varies between servers of course, which can be jarring. What better to approximate the message bases of BBS systems :-) I remember logging into some back in the day and finding nice technical treasures message after message. Then, another BBS with local events were a hotbed of name calling and childish put downs. Ah, BBSes :-) And, if you *REALLY* want that traditional experience, some of the Telnet BBS systems are pretty active. jim -- RETRO Innovations, Contemporary Gear for Classic Systems www.go4retro.com store.go4retro.com

4 4

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] The good old days of user groups.
by Ethan O'Toole 25 Aug '20

25 Aug '20

For me growing up a lot of the groups were centered around BBS systems which I suppose followed specific platforms. 30 years later some of my best friends are still from the BBS systems back then. - Ethan

10 15

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] The good old days of user groups.
by Tony Bogan 25 Aug '20

25 Aug '20

I can neither confirm nor deny any activities involving telephone lines, computers, BBS or AE lines. PS. check out the Sider 10 meg drive for some great warez, and the T-File directory has new trashing techniques and Black and Red Box how-to filez as well!!

1 0

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] The good old days of user groups.
by Ethan O'Toole 25 Aug '20

25 Aug '20

[NON-Text Body part not included] One potential issue with the discord space is that the knowledge isn't captured for easy search outside that platform in the way that forums do. - Ethan

1 0

CRX2020 - Commodore Retro eXPO this weekend
by Andrew Diller 24 Aug '20

24 Aug '20

I'm posting this because it looks interesting, I'm not involved with it (it's this weekend): ------------------- https://www.crxevent.com/news.htm August 28-30, 2020 - HOSTED VIRTUALLY Due to world events we have opted to make this a FREE event, hosted virtually. -----------------------

1 0

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Atari XE game system (David K)
by David K 24 Aug '20

24 Aug '20

For what it is worth here is what I heard from someone off-list: "The OS ROM chip is notorious for going bad in the XEGS. Star Raiders has a flag that bypasses a lot of the OS startup routines and jumps right to the game code, so it is more likely to "try" to work on a failing system. The OS ROM can be directly replaced with an appropriately programmed 27256 type EPROM, but your existing one is most probably soldered directly to the motherboard so will take some effort and care to cleanly desolder it, replace with a socket and EPROM."

2 1

PC Jr In Original Box (not working)
by Alexander Jacocks 24 Aug '20

24 Aug '20

All, There’s a PC Jr in its original boxes, near me: https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/sys/d/damascus-pcjr-computer/718288… If anyone is interested, let me know, and I’d be happy to pick it up for you, if you work out a deal with the seller. The price is “best offer.” Thanks! - Alex

1 0