- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

VCF West 2020 is going virtual - call for class instructors
by Jeffrey Brace 31 May '20

31 May '20

VCF West has decided to go virtual due to the uncertainty of being able to have large gatherings at the Computer History Museum where the show normally takes place. We are looking for class instructors to submit a 30 minute video on a how-to subject which will be shown to the virtual audience and be followed by a live Q&A session. Deadline for the video will be July 1. The virtual show will be August 1 from 10AM to 6PM Pacific Time. You can send me a private message with questions. Or you can send an e-mail to Erik Klein with your idea for a class: erik(a)vcfed.org -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

1 1

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] First PS/2 style IBM display
by Bill Degnan 30 May '20

30 May '20

Rare items get more $$ On Sat, May 30, 2020, 1:07 PM Bob Aviles via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Wow! that's seem a lot? > On Friday, May 29, 2020, 12:30:23 AM EDT, Bill Degnan via > vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-5144-Monochrome-Monitor-greenscreen/3033093690… > > not easy to find these. If you have an IBM Convertible (LCD 8086 laptop), > this was the rare external monitor that went with it. Kind of like the > Apple IIc of IBMs. > b > >

1 1

First PS/2 style IBM display
by Bill Degnan 30 May '20

30 May '20

https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-5144-Monochrome-Monitor-greenscreen/3033093690… not easy to find these. If you have an IBM Convertible (LCD 8086 laptop), this was the rare external monitor that went with it. Kind of like the Apple IIc of IBMs. b

2 1

Two old CRTs to retire ..
by John Heritage 28 May '20

28 May '20

Hey folks, I have two old CRTs I want to 'get rid of'. Before I figure out how to recycle these properly, I just wanted to see if anyone here wanted them. I can send pics, but they are: Hitachi CT1396VM - Composite input (and passthrough) output only. Has some screen burnin - not visible on brighter screens, but definitely visible on darker screens. A RCA/Thomson Consumer Electronics T09082 small color TV and VCR combo. has Composite and Audio in on the side (+ a "ear" jack), and RF on the back. No burn-in, and the last time I tested the VCR (decade ago) it worked. The outside cases are in good shape for their age .. Let me know if you want pics or want the screens.. John

1 0

TI DS990/1 OS - Request from VCF Italia
by Jeffrey Brace 27 May '20

27 May '20

A member from VCF Italia is looking for an operating system for the Texas Instruments DS990/1 with 8" FD1000 floppy drive. Can anyone tell me where I might be able to find it for him? -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

3 8

Rediscovering Raymond Scott
by Jeffrey Jonas 26 May '20

26 May '20

Everyone knows Raymond Scott music. It's in our DNA because Carl Stalling wove it into so many cartoons. But Raymond Scott was an electronic music pioneer who worked with Moog and others on analog computers and some digital techniques. Here's a recent 3 hour retrospective about Raymond featuring his son and many key musicians: https://www.facebook.com/asmac.org/videos/3072223136194116/ Here's a free PDF book for download: https://www.raymondscott.net/artifacts/ To hear more, there's "Raymond Scott Radio" on Pandora

1 0

RetroMagazine - New Online Vintage Computer Magazine
by Jeffrey Brace 25 May '20

25 May '20

Just heard about this new online Retro Computer Magazine. At first glance it seems that it has been written in Italian for many months and this is the first English language version. Looks pretty good: https://www.retromagazine.net/download/RetroMagazine_00_eng.pdf -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org <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

FANUC A860-0056-T020 Powering and Industrial Papertape Reader Component Independently
by Bill Degnan 25 May '20

25 May '20

More detail to earlier post. https://www.vintagecomputer.net/FANUC/ Reader Part number A860-0056-T020 http://vintagecomputer.net/FANUC/FANUC%20A20B-0004_pwr-connect1.jpg http://vintagecomputer.net/FANUC/FANUC%20A20B-0004_250WV-AC-cap.jpg Here is the control board on the reader which has 50-pin tape in and punch out ports: http://vintagecomputer.net/FANUC/FANUC%20A20B-0004_IO-board.jpg http://vintagecomputer.net/FANUC/DOSTEK-440a-BTR.jpg The 50pin rainbow cable coming off the punch port is connected to a behind the tape reader (or "BTR"). The BTR converts the signals and sends them to a computer's serial port so they can be captured into a tape image. This is what they made when indudstrial processes converted from using actual tape readers and tapes to saved tape images. The BTR was the gateway between the reader and a computer. This FANUC 6 hardware manual, which includes this model of tape reader as part of a larger system, references the part numbers found on the reader, which is how I learned what I learned about it. http://cncmanual.com/download/1646/ I am working to safely power it up. Not in a rush to fry it.

1 0

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Paper Tape readers from CNC machines
by W2HX 24 May '20

24 May '20

If it doesnt know which way it wants to start, then it might be an AC motor in need of a starting capacitor. http://www.capacitorguide.com/motor-starting-capacitor/? 73 Eugene W2HX ________________________________ From: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic-bounces(a)lists.vcfed.org> on behalf of Jeff G via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2020 7:28 PM To: VCF Cc: Jeff G Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Paper Tape readers from CNC machines

1 0

Re: Paper Tape readers from CNC machines
by Jeff G 23 May '20

23 May '20

So update on my end, it seems I got my tape reader (at least the reader itself) mostly working. Turns out it was defective; had 2 bad 4049 ICs; one had dead outputs so only 4 bits were working, the second seemed to be noisy/flaky, so replacing both got me solid data output. So I have solid confirmation of the strobe pins (one inverted) and the data pins. I still don't have solid motor control, I know Duane and others mentioned 24v, but the motor sounds much happier around 15v, yet its flaky in that while it mostly runs fine, the motor seems to not know what direction it wants to go in. On occasion the motor doesn't want to start, and using what I think is a reverse pin only "usually" works. I'm really half tempted to believe this really wants 24 volts AC, but not sure I want to try that just yet.Theres 4 diodes in the motor control section. Theres 2, maybe 3 pins on the IDC plug, and 2 pins on the power connector that seem to be for motor control. One seems to slow it down (although it just stops instead, almost like a "hold", one seems to "usually" reverse the motor, and the last seems to be a step pulse. This all sounds to me like half the waveform it would get from a 24v AC input is missing. I cannot find datasheets for the stepper control ICs anywhere, seems they are Fujitsu MB14275 and MB14276. Anyhow...since it mostly works I can see if I can actually get this thing to read some data! Also if I can verify the motor control wiring, I'll post up a full pinout. BTW This is a Sanyo Denki 2401C-1 tape reader, likely from a Yasnac 2000G CNC controlled somethin rather, likely a Mori lathe. Jeff aka Bags

1 0

Do something useful with your C64
by William Dudley 22 May '20

22 May '20

https://www.crowdsupply.com/amigastyle/zeus-lt CrowdSupply is an interesting platform -- they make and sell all kinds of interesting computers for developers. Bill Dudley This email is free of malware because I run Linux.

1 0

TPUG Toronto PET Users Group on Zoom tonight 7:30PM Eastern
by Jeffrey Brace 21 May '20

21 May '20

The Toronto PET Users Group meets online now for their monthly meeting. They usually meet the third Thursday of the month at 7:30PM. They are using Zoom due to Covid-19, so this is an opportunity for us from far away to join their meeting. Here is the info: ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Leif Bloomquist <leif(a)schemafactor.com> Date: Wed, May 20, 2020 at 12:36 AM Subject: [torontocbm] Toronto PET Users Group May 21st 2020 *Online* To: torontocbm(a)freelists.org <torontocbm(a)freelists.org> Hi all, We are going to try another online virtual meeting for this month. Thursday May 21st 2020 at 7:30 PM. Open to any topic, though there may be some C64-based music happening. The video link will be posted at this page, as well as Discord and on TorontoCBM soon before the meeting starts. https://www.tpug.ca/2020/05/may-2020-meeting-online/ Of course, Discord chat is always open, see you there! https://discord.gg/V5DHgR3 -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org <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>

1 0

LINC-EIGHT pictures
by Herb Johnson 21 May '20

21 May '20

Congrats on acquiring the LINC/8 system. I saw it go by on eBay and I thought: who had these machines? I'm sorry to hear it was Charles Lasner, who passed a month ago from CoVid. Two years ago in September, he contacted me and other LINC and DEC owners, about reviving his last version of P?S/8, and reading off his old backups. Whatever tapes and notes remain, I hope you and the subsequent LINC owners can recover. We will not see the likes of people like him again. And we won't see old tech like this again, either, in surprisingly good condition even as it delaminates! 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 retrotechnology DOT info

1 0

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] How To Geek article on floppy data recovery
by Herb Johnson 20 May '20

20 May '20

Reply to David Gesswein: Sorry for the delay in reply, I work offline from this discussion group, and don't read it daily as most do. I always appreciate the informed views of my good friend David. Especially so in this case because, as he points out, he is a producer of similar tech, for MFM hard drive data recovery *and* emulation. He knows more than I. I acknowledge the value of lower cost. But it creates a market where more costly solutions are discouraged. He discusses cost AND time, as user issues. Some people give up their time, to save costs; some give up costs to save their time. But more buy cheap, and sometimes audience matters. A consequence of inexpensive items is that most do not stick around long. that's why I brought it up! But others can try to recreate them when they aren't available (reliably). Thus the "blue pill" Greaseweasel saga, seems to be, to either build a more reliable one (use the proper CPU chip); or to build one on a better CPU (to move forward). My thanks to Jeff Jonas for passing along some Facebook/greaseweasel info, that is where they congregate. "the projects don't cooperate" is a problem, as David describes. I agree. Developers tend to redevelop rather than rework. Also, old stuff gets lost, or may be hard to recover for redevelopment. This is true in most technology; it's ironically true in vintage computing, but thankfully not always. "most of the value is in the decoding code". The value is split, between the enabling hardware to do the read; and the enabling software to decode the sampled flux-patterns. The historic example of the Catweasel series, is that the hardware producers did not make popular decoding software; others did. I did not determine if the FOUR or FIVE developers of Catweasel decoders, cooperated much or not. Each grabbed some piece of vintage computing disks by brand & model (TRS-80 for instance). http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/s_drives_howto.html#catweasel "I image with real hardware when I have it". Yes, that was the ultimate solution for Intel M2FM disks, which at one point were imaged by Catweasel. The images were reproduced as floppies, and read again on Intel systems! I'll contact David privately for more information about his imaged disks, to route his results to active INtel Multibus owners. http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/m2fm.html Of course, we in vintage computing are generally interested in "real hardware". But I get pushback often, in advocating use of period PC-compatibles to image conventional diskettes (made with Intel/NEC/WD floppy disk controller ICs) with Dunfield IMAGEDSK tools. "I hate old PC's!" is the most terse way to describe that. Thus the value of microcontroller based floppy drive emulators and floppy recovery hardware. Well, each of us chooses our areas of vintage interest. ---------------- I had private discussions of the topic, with "Gordon S." AKA gsteemso. He was of a mind, that some kind of vintage-hardware solution for floppy recovery had some merits. I think it will be a challenge to make such a thing at the price of a few tens of dollars, like the other microcontroller solutions. But a solution like the Greaseweasel is a $200 built-for-you solution; some floppy emulators sell for that price. So: a re-vintaged solution is conceivable, but I don't think it would be simple. At this point, the discussion is a matter of specifics and techie details. A little too much so, for general email discussion lists like this, I believe, and the thread seems to have died down. If that's because I didn't reply and took some discussion privately, my apologies. I hope those participating were informed as I was, and those interested can find more information as they see fit. 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] Paper Tape readers from CNC machines
by Bill Degnan 20 May '20

20 May '20

On Tue, May 19, 2020 at 6:47 PM Jeffrey Golas via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Bill, let me know how you make out but it looks like Duane gave you the > info on the Fanuc model. > > Duane I saw one of those cases on ebay and thought it was cool! If you > have notes/info on the 2702 please pass them along, as its likely the same > as the 2701. > > On the 2701, one side of the ribbon connector is almost completely ground, > on the other side pins 1-5 appear to be control (possibly outputs like > strobe), the next 8 pins are bits, the next 3 may be Fwd/reverse control, > one after that is ground and not sure about the last 3-4. This is a 40 pin > connector. > > Mine has a seperate screw terminal on the opposite side for power, > although it may take 3 voltages, not sure. Motor is 12v but judging by the > MASSIVE ceramic resistor it may be set up for 24v. > > Jeff > > Jeff, I have everything I need now to get started but I still need to look up how to power the reader hardware definitively. I see where the +5V power input goes. The two power input leads labeled "100B" and"100A". Here is a pic of the board I need to power: https://www.ebay.com/itm/GE-FANUC-Tape-Recorder-Board-A20B-0004-0280-Used-2… Who here specifically has worked with the FANUC A20B-0004 reader or something FANUc from the early 80's? This FANUC 6 manual, which includes this model of tape reader as part of a larger system, references the part numbers found on the reader http://cncmanual.com/download/1646/ >From the manual (starting from page 320 or so) it looks like inputs 100A and 100B are both/shared (?) 24V inbound, and the 24V DC is brought down to 18V (?). 1Amp. I will document the process onto vintagecomputer.net once I have some progress reading tapes. I am thinking I should attach a 24VDC and 5V DC to the board. Bill

1 0

Re: Okuma Reader
by Jeffrey Golas 20 May '20

20 May '20

Interesting, so thats a slightly different design with mostly the same stuff. I’m working on mine and it seems to function with ~18v and 5v, but the motor control seems to be scatterbrained, sometimes it powers up stuck, other times it picks a direction and runs. I also notice only one led in the array is lit up, but since they seem to be in series im suspecting theyre all infrared. Just brought in the oscope to confirm signals. Attaching a pic of mine. Jeff > On May 19, 2020, at 8:11 PM, Duane Craps <duaneb.craps(a)cox.net> wrote: > > Jeff, > > Attached is Photos of my reader project. I can control it from the Arduino serial monitor or the front panel switches. The data scrolls into the serial monitor's input window, and I cut and paste it into a file. There is a similar unit on ebay that has a metal case vice the nice plastic on on my unit. Either it was an earlier model or someone made a replacement after the plastic one was broken. They were used in machine shops and the case looks home made.. > > MY notes: > > PIN 1-8 -- Bits 0-7 > > Pin 11 -- strobe > > pin 20 -- run > > Pin 13 -- reverse > > I put a mean well +24/+5 volt supply And A Teensy micro controler in the case. Thought it might have been too much to run the logic from the USB > > -- > Duane Craps > sdɐɹɔ ǝuɐnp > > <20180912_105647.jpg> > <20181012_115146.jpg>

1 0

Re: Paper Tape readers from CNC machines
by Jeffrey Golas 19 May '20

19 May '20

Bill, let me know how you make out but it looks like Duane gave you the info on the Fanuc model. Duane I saw one of those cases on ebay and thought it was cool! If you have notes/info on the 2702 please pass them along, as its likely the same as the 2701. On the 2701, one side of the ribbon connector is almost completely ground, on the other side pins 1-5 appear to be control (possibly outputs like strobe), the next 8 pins are bits, the next 3 may be Fwd/reverse control, one after that is ground and not sure about the last 3-4. This is a 40 pin connector. Mine has a seperate screw terminal on the opposite side for power, although it may take 3 voltages, not sure. Motor is 12v but judging by the MASSIVE ceramic resistor it may be set up for 24v. Jeff

1 0

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Paper Tape readers from CNC machines
by Neil Cherry 18 May '20

18 May '20

Not yet, I have one but I haven't found the time to figure it out. -- 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

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Paper Tape readers from CNC machines
by Duane Craps 18 May '20

18 May '20

Jeff, The Fanuc unit I have is an old pinch roller unit with a 50 pin connector. It Uses +24 V0lts and +5 for logic 24 volts seems to be standard for machine tool servos. Pins 23-24 are +24 Volts 22-21 are +5 Volts Pins 1-8 are Bits 0-7 Pin 9 is the Data strobe I think pin 10 is the run/stop but It had a manual switch on the unit and used that I have pin 12 written as ground but am not sure as I jumpered to a capacitor on the board The control signal is high-active so it should take off running with the supplies energizes The other UNIT is an sanyo demki 2702 in an OKUMA case that had a round connector to plug into the machine tool. I put in power supplies and aTeency Arduino clont to convert it to USB It has a standard 44 pin edge connector on the logic board. It was on EBAY and I noticed that no one was bidding so I got it for $4.50 I have some pictures but I dont think the list allows. If you want the signals on the 2702 board let me know. Good luck. On 5/18/2020 12:44 PM, Jeff G via vcf-midatlantic wrote: -- Duane Craps sdɐɹɔ ǝuɐnp On 5/18/2020 12:44 PM, Jeff G via vcf-midatlantic wrote: -- DuaneCraps sdɐɹɔ ǝuɐnp

1 0

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Paper Tape readers from CNC machines
by Bill Degnan 18 May '20

18 May '20

Jeff, I have one coming to me in the mail today...FANUC A860 with a A20B-0004-0270 controller, so I am right there with you. I have found that what you need to dump tapes from one of these is a "behind the tape reader" (BTR) that attaches to the punch / OUT port of the reader. You can buy a used BTR compatible with the reader or create your own with an arduino. In my case the DOSTEK-440A appears to be the ticket, but there are others out there. New ones are pricey so I can see why people make them with Arduino's. Reader --> punch port--> BTR --> PC RS232 port. There are a few vendors out there but they're not too helpful to the vintage computing enthusiast IMHO....so I learned everything I needed to through a few hours of Google. DOSTEK is a program that runs on the PC that can manipulate tape images, but I am sure TeraTerm and a HEX editor would also work. Bill On Mon, May 18, 2020 at 12:45 PM Jeff G via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Hey all, some of you may have grabbed one (or more) of the paper tape > readers readily available on ebay that likely have come from CNC machines. > I was just wondering if anyone has actually made these work? > > It seems many of these have a standard pinout/spec depending on what CNC > controller they were connected to.I had one I bought some time ago, a > Sanyo-Denki 2401 model, and it seems this was often used on a Yasnac 2000G > controller, and has a 40pin ribbon cable connection, whereas others use a > 50pin ribbon cable (on Fanuc controllers). > > Just wondering if anyone has ever gotten one of these running, or perhaps > knows anything about them? I spent a couple hours with mine yesterday and > determined most of the pinout, but I don't know what voltages the power > input should be. > > I have a bunch of notes and the data side is relatively simple, its the > control side I'm struggling to sort out. > > Jeff aka Bags >

1 2

Paper Tape readers from CNC machines
by Jeff G 18 May '20

18 May '20

Hey all, some of you may have grabbed one (or more) of the paper tape readers readily available on ebay that likely have come from CNC machines. I was just wondering if anyone has actually made these work? It seems many of these have a standard pinout/spec depending on what CNC controller they were connected to.I had one I bought some time ago, a Sanyo-Denki 2401 model, and it seems this was often used on a Yasnac 2000G controller, and has a 40pin ribbon cable connection, whereas others use a 50pin ribbon cable (on Fanuc controllers). Just wondering if anyone has ever gotten one of these running, or perhaps knows anything about them? I spent a couple hours with mine yesterday and determined most of the pinout, but I don't know what voltages the power input should be. I have a bunch of notes and the data side is relatively simple, its the control side I'm struggling to sort out. Jeff aka Bags

1 0

OSI Floppy diagnostics
by David Gesswein 18 May '20

18 May '20

At the last workshop my machine was having problems with B drive and two other OSI machines people brought the floppy drives weren't working at all. I didn't find any floppy diagnostics for the OSI so I wrote on. http://www.pdp8online.com/osi/osi-floppy-test.shtml With some floppy testing info here http://www.pdp8online.com/osi/floppy-repair.shtml If you try it let me know how it goes. Bill got his machine working before I finished this. Jeff, hows your machine doing?

2 2

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] LINC-EIGHT pictures
by Michael Thompson 17 May '20

17 May '20

> > > From: David Gesswein <djg(a)pdp8online.com> > Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] LINC-EIGHT pictures > Some pictures are here. > > http://www.pdp8online.com/linc-eight/linc-eight.shtml > > Nothing I have seen looks too bad but will still take a lot of time to > go through and get working. > The foam between the FlipChip handles keeps the air from the cooling fans flowing between the FlipChips. Our PDP-9 has the same. We had one flexprint cable to the front panel of the PDP-9 that looked like your flexprint cables. I replaced the cable with modern ribbon cable and it works fine. -- Michael Thompson

1 0

OSI floppy diagnostics
by Crawford Griffith 17 May '20

17 May '20

David, First, congrats on the Linc-8, I look forward to helping you load it for VCFE if you ever decide to do that. Second, thanks for the OSI disk diagnostics. My 8” drives are giving me issues, and Bill Dromgoole has been coaching me via email on them. We both want to get our 8” drives working with a data separator (Klyball D-13). Bill got his working with a Gotek/Flashfloppy emulator also. Hope all is well with everyone, and you stay safe! -Cr

1 0

LINC-EIGHT pictures
by David Gesswein 17 May '20

17 May '20

Some pictures are here. http://www.pdp8online.com/linc-eight/linc-eight.shtml Nothing I have seen looks too bad but will still take a lot of time to go through and get working.

2 1

FREE DISCs
by Christian Liendo 15 May '20

15 May '20

Not my add figured someone may be interested https://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/zip/d/brooklyn-free-floppy-discs-for-old…

2 1

My new toy
by David Gesswein 13 May '20

13 May '20

Now that I have possession of it might as well end the wondering about who got the first LINC-EIGHT. I was the lucky one. This one was the machine Charles Lasner used in his home office though not any time recent. Charles was well known to the PDP-8 community and passed beginning of April.

8 9

VE 75th anniversary: a piece of the puzzle
by Jeffrey Jonas 12 May '20

12 May '20

Honoring those in the crypto section who pioneered traffic analysis: https://www.gchq.gov.uk/information/the-brown-network The BROWN Story To mark 75 years since VE Day, GCHQ Historian Tony Comer tells the story of the final messages of a German communications network at the very end of the war in Europe

3 2

Atari promotional video from 1983
by Jeffrey Brace 12 May '20

12 May '20

I thought the Mindlink interface was fascinating. Too bad it was never released. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EphW6DjNEEk -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

4 3

How To Geek article on floppy data recovery
by Herb Johnson 12 May '20

12 May '20

Jeff Brace suggests: https://www.howtogeek.com/669331/how-to-read-a-floppy-disk-on-a-modern-pc-o… A link to a literally geeky article, mostly on using USB devices that happen to operate certain floppy drives. Then it gets to real methods: find an old PC or Mac, read your disks, transfer the results (somehow). The article finishes up its review of USB devices to read common PC 3.5 / 5.25 diskettes and Mac 3.5" diskettes, with this wise advice for REAL floppy diskettes: "Luckily, there are other resources if you require something more complex, like accessing an 8-inch floppy drive that contains CP/M files. http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/s_drives_howto.html Herb Johnson maintains an impressive site full of technical data on various floppy disk systems if you’d like to learn more about how they work." http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/s_drives.html I couldn't have said it better myself. ;) The real meat on floppy drives and diskettes is: http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/drive.html I was going to post a more considered response to the article Jeff linked to. But Jeff only posted a link, why should I post a lecture in reply? I'll just say, that description and the modern items it references, versus the ancient things it references; simply reminds me of the gulf between 21st century consumer-digital-users, and 20th century computer owners and those who restore those systems and objects today. And, the kinds of junk that's sold which pretends to be some kind of "USB to floppy drive" device. I'm glad to find, my Web site still has utility; and why that's so. 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 retrotechnology DOT info

5 4

How To Geek article on floppy data recovery
by Herb Johnson 12 May '20

12 May '20

> There are a number of newer tools, for imaging of disks, for preservation. > > I've been closely watching this one [called Fluxengine] > http://cowlark.com/fluxengine/index.html > > The author is working on support for a lot of common formats, and > additionally, a number of the 80s-90s dedicated word processor formats. > It's a simple and rather nifty solution. > > Also, of course, it's 100% opens source hardware and software, which always > makes me happy! - Alex This reply is long, because I'm arguing in opposition, and that means I have to make a case about, and explain about. But I'll save some people, some time. I"m going to fuss about these microcontrollers becoming obsolete. If you don't care about that, save time and stop reading here. ----------- Well, I read some of the support information on the Fluxengine. Also I looked recently, at the Greaseweasel. Both these methodologies use some kind of $10 - $20 commodity microcontroller; and that's their problem in my opinion. Those interested can look up both and size them up, so I won't talk about details and features. The Greaseweasel uses a STM32 microcontroller chip on a board called "a Blue Pill". Problem with that (in my opinion) is, that chip isn't just one chip produced identically. There's knockoffs and fakes, that is less-featured chip versions remarked or not remarked. And since that "product" is more than five years old apparently, it's somewhat out of favor (that's my conclusion, it seems hard to find except on eBay). Bottom line, it's not now produced by bigger named hobby or industrial companies; they all seem to come from ebay/Amazon small producers. At literally a few dollars each, the only way to make more money from these, is to use cheaper components or reduced feature components. For instance: the 3.3V regulators fail because they are undersized for power. When I looked around Amazon for these, the reviews per seller were all "these are fakes because". This is not just Herb Johnson's problem. The Greaseweasel support page on github, has a section on how to recognize fakes with performance and visual tests. It does not have, a section on where to buy these. Apparently one has to join a Facebook group to get answers and further support. I won't do that, but someone offered to look there for me, to see if they discuss suppliers. No word yet on that. "Why is this a problem?" Specifically: some of the knockoff boards fail, apparently, because their 3.3V regulators burn up. Others, lack some useful features or even critical features (enough memory for instance). And in the longer term, the ability to obtain these items at all, may end. In between, the means to (say) assemble the code or download the code into the device, may become obsolete or unavailable. In general, the problem with end-of-production items is this: Because you and I are dealing with *vintage computing*. We deal with technology that's *decades* old, not last month. When products fall out of production, how do you get more? When things break, how do you fix them? When you can't get the programming debugging tools from the manufacturer (or producers), you have to find old archives of them. In the real world, this stuff is normal. Things don't persist. You just move on to what's current and throw out the old. We in vintage computing, can't do that by definition. OK? If you disagree, stop reading here, sorry I wasted your time fussing about stuff getting old. ----------------------- I described at length the problem with Greaseweasel hardware, because I'll make the same argument as a *prediction* for Fluxengine. It uses a "Cypress PSoC5LP CY8CKIT-059 development board" for $10. That's apparently some ARM processor with FPGA (programmable logic). At this point, Cypress (a leading chip producer) is selling them direct. Let's check... yep, $10 from cypress.com or $20 from major distributors, plus shipping. One expects delays due to Coronavirus disrupting manufacture and shipping except from USA stocks. I have another objection, to programmable logic. All those PLD's are unique by model and brand. They simply don't stay in production for many years. Worse, the software tools needed to program those specific devices, become unsupported in several years. There's no standards for such tools and software, other than some data formats, so you are stuck with that brand's tool-set. This is, of course, an intended consequence. Figure that out. I checked the datasheets for the product: they date from early 2015. That's about the same age as the "Blue Pill". But this is still produced (or at least offered as current) by Cypress. Also: since this has a very particular programmable-logic set-of-features, it may be hard to knock-off the chip by an unlicensed company. That's my guess. So: looking at Amazon, they only sell a book. Looking at eBay, There's a couple units from the UK for $28-$33 with shipping. I'd not buy from Europe right now... a few are US sold but essentially it's left-over stocks. So: again in my opinion: while this product is still in manufacturer's production, it suffers from being too proprietary - Cypress will lose interest someday soon. Also, there's that unique-programming problem, figuring out how-to-program those PLA's. If you aren't gonna reprogram one of these puppies, I guess that doesn't matter, until there's a Fluxengine update you can't update. And in closing .... The reason I'm familiar with this kind of "these go obsolete" arguments, is because I've seen this show before. Over the last few decades, various modern means to read ancient floppy diskettes have been produced. They have become in-favor and discussed and distributed. Then the developers lose interest; then the users lose interest; and they go out of production and use. Over geologic time (several years), these things simply come and go. So the vintage computers remain, but these modern devices do not. That's about as simple as I can put the argument. 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

5 10

Gowanas E-waste Warehouse shutting down
by Jeffrey Brace 11 May '20

11 May '20

The Gowanus E-waste Warehouse which for the past (8 years?) has taken in electronics waste including vintage computers is shutting down. Most likely it is due to Covid-19 and a decrease in sales. They had a "store" where they sold used items which they sometimes refurbished. In any case you can call to make an appointment for 30 minutes to see what they have and there is a limit of 2 people inside at a time. You must wear a face mask and gloves. Here is their number: (718) 858-8777. Address: 469 President Street At Nevins Street Brooklyn, NY, 11215 Here is a YouTube of what they had 2 years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTWx3bIN7qs Here are photos from 1 week ago: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1W3kr346ayyvOcw5eQ03JM5e4q83W5wgT?us… There is no telling what they have available now without going there in person. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

5 6

is there any way to archive / read Facebook offline?
by Jeffrey Jonas 11 May '20

11 May '20

I understand this circumvents Facebook's revenue model but I need a way to archive (or at least take a snapshot) of a facebook group's page. My google-fu is lacking: I found no stand alone utility, web site or browser plugin. Any clues or hints? Doing a "save page" resulted in a page that does not render properly.

1 0

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] How To Geek article on floppy data recovery
by gsteemso 10 May '20

10 May '20

Hi all, >> On May 8, 2020, at 2:45 PM, Herb Johnson <hjohnson(a)retrotechnology.info> wrote: > > So, Gordon S. writes, something like this. He buys-in, that these > floppy-recover solutions, are made from currently available hardware, > but that hardware goes away over time. So, he says, why not implement on > widely available and well-sourced hardware? Yep, pretty much. > Well, I reject the limitation "cheaply". > That constrains any modern > solutions to the hell of rapid obsolescence and proprietary solutions. > That's the current strategy. I'm being blunt but brief. At $10, $20 > single-board single-chip solutions, how does any hobbyist outdesign > *that* with more persistent hardware? *cough* Uh. I must apologize -- I was a bit sloppy in my wording, and should have written "inexpensive" there. By "cheap" I only meant "less expensive than buying, restoring, configuring, and operating an obsolete peecee for the same purpose". I quite agree that trying to do anything worthwhile with inadequate materials is a fool's errand. > The vintage hardware interface, is either a floppy drive for data > recovery; or a floppy drive controller, for diskette emulators (not > discussed but the complimentary device). Well, po-TAE-toe, po-TAUGHT-oe, > to a first order. That's not the hard part. I was fairly certain that would be the case, but it never hurts to check my assumptions. As you point out, if you go back a few years floppy controllers were not monolithic -- which (I infer) meant they did not necessarily present a wholly consistent interface to whatever host system was involved. A bit further back than that, there wasn't even a standard interface to the _drive_. How flexible _does_ a floppy controller have to be for maximal usefulness? > On FPGAs, and the hard part. [...] it comes down to the design practice, of massive > oversampling of floppy data streams, to extract arbitrary-rates of > binary data relatively fast. [...] So: one ether > borrows cheep ARM-class devices that do that, or cheep FPLA devices > which do that, or both. Because of that "cheap" constraint. Shrug. > > [...] the cheat is to sample like hell and let > post-1990's computers sort out the results in software. Fair enough. True. This all looks simpler in my eyes than I've been getting the impression is assumed, though. If the goal can truly be reduced, in hardware terms at least, to recording a high-resolution image of the disk's magnetic state -- why in the heck is that considered so challenging? Please check my reasoning here... I figure that current incarnations of 6502 and z80 CPUs are more than an order of magnitude faster than the first ones were. A parallel I/O chip to bit-bang the stepper motor controls is a _commodity_ item, as are ADCs to digitize the signal from the drive head. The rest is just dumping the digitized data into a buffer, and we all know that widely-used disk-image formats can remain actively supported for decades. Put a dirt-simple, old-school serial port on the wretched thing to control it -- they've been introducing "better" replacements for 40 years, and we still have RS232 et al because they were ubiquitous -- and voila. What am I overlooking, here? > I appreciate Gordon's point, that functionality in modern devices is a > matter of programming, and reprogramming. That's fine, for those who > enjoy modern embedded programming. This! This right here. Why is _every_ solution to this stuff I've seen done with some microcontroller? In a case like this, simpler is, well, _simpler_. We have, and maintain, and in many cases can _build_ hardware that works exactly the same as it might have 40 years ago, at four or five orders of magnitude lower cost. Is there really any hardware tinkerer on this mailing list who would resist designing something around (say) a 65C02, on the basis that there'd be no support for it in 5 years? Try and say _that_ about the FPGA of the week. > But when the hardware to be > programmed changes "too much"; the old software becomes obsolete. > Yesterday's FPLAs can't be programmed with today's FPLA tools. The codes > are changed too. The binaries are useless, even proprietary. That was my > point! And mine! This sort of conversation has been called "being in violent agreement" by a friend of mine. *grin* > [...] The 1990's solution - the Catweasel, an ISA or PCI > bit-sampling controller on PC's? Last I checked, there were five-six > "installation solutions" for running that puppy. Surprisingly, each > developer came up with their own software to drive it. Go figure. [...] That thing sounded great in principle... but getting one _and_ a host system which could actually run it was far beyond my means at the time, and the entire project was long-out-of-production unobtainium by the time that changed for me. The whole experience left a very foul taste in my mouth. > So: walk through this with me. What floppy control hardware is pretty > much standardized, available, and stable; year after year and even into > decades? and what software to support what software to drive it, has > those qualities? Answer: XT/AT/386 class PC's and MS-DOS. And that's why > solutions like "Imagedsk" / MS-DOS / ISA floppy controllers / IMG files > just keep on workin'. Yep. But if you never used one, never had a reason to get used to them, and really don't enjoy fighting with one to keep it operational, I personally feel that an imaging station built around one does not enhance the fun of retrocomputing. YMMV. > But they don't work for 68K Mac disk formats, Apple II disk formats, > etc. etc. Well, mostly. There are a handful of really clever programs that basically take over an older pc's floppy controller at the lowest possible level and do unnatural things to it, with impressive results; I vaguely recall using one called "Omniflop", or something to that effect, that was able to read & write Commodore 1581 floppies and -- IIRC -- read but not write an 800K Mac floppy. If you had a compatible FDC the thing could do a surprising amount -- though, as you point out, not everything. > [...] Sorry for the long lecture, I got a real question and it took time to > answer it. Hope this did that. It did indeed! Like all good explanations, it got me to think through just what my assumptions are -- and, potentially, what assumptions I ought to make instead. Regards, Gordon S.

1 0

Geeks, retro-geeks and curmudgeons - a reply to Dr. S100
by Jack Rubin 09 May '20

09 May '20

Hi Herb - Hard to reply directly to your post since I only get the vcf digest, but a couple of points re new modes of disc (I'm an HP fan) imaging. 1) The flavor-of-the-day MCU or whatever isn't as important as maintaining accessible disk images and metadata. Flux level transcriptions weren't really practical when Dave Dunfield was building his ImageDisk system, so we should be thankful for all the extra CPU cycles available to us today, especially in a $15 package. 2) The approach is a little different but the philosophy is the same - for ImageDisk stuff, I still have a Dell 486 with all the right stuff, including an FDADAP and a Thinker Toys 8" floppy, but I also have a couple virtual machines with the proper toolchains installed to control a few Arduinos and PSoCs for the new stuff that demands a full software ecosystem beyond the hardware. More important, today's cutting edge developers can still read (and write?) .imd files. I was thinking about this last night as I was installing and configuring all the stuff necessary to start working on my first Verilog project. It took me a lot longer to get the point where I could blink a light on the demo board than it would have to reconfigure a CP/M bios for a new serial card and sysgen a new system. Be well and stay safe, Jack

2 1

speaking of end times
by Bill Degnan 08 May '20

08 May '20

Ebay listing for an Commdore C128D "new in box" (more or less) https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Commodore-128D-Personal-Computer-NEW-IN-BO… $1600 and rising. Also there is a DEC LINC 8 north of $9000 right now. Bill

6 10

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] A sign of the End Times ...
by Christian Liendo 08 May '20

08 May '20

Well my 6501 cost me a lot of money, my 4004s not so much On Fri, May 8, 2020 at 1:59 PM Bill Dromgoole via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > 6501’s? > > > From: Christian Liendo via vcf-midatlantic > Sent: Friday, May 8, 2020 1:16 PM > To: vcf-midatlantic > Cc: Christian Liendo > Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] A sign of the End Times ... > > Still cheaper then 6502s > > https://www.ebay.com/itm/Early-MOS-MCS-6502-cpu-chip-white-ceramic-gold-leg… > > https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-white-MOS-MCS-6502-cpu-chip-with-gold-legs-Us… > > Seriously though something happened where they all shot up in price. >

1 0

A sign of the End Times ...
by Herb Johnson 08 May '20

08 May '20

https://www.ebay.com/itm/c4004-intel-central-processing-unit-vintage-cpu-1s… What other captions could one write, about this auction of nine ceramic-gold 4004 processors? Regards I guess, 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 retrotechnology DOT info

8 7

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] How To Geek article on floppy data recovery
by gsteemso 08 May '20

08 May '20

On May 8th, 2020, Herb J. wrote: > This reply is long, because I'm arguing in opposition, and that means I > have to make a case about, and explain about. But I'll save some people, > some time. I"m going to fuss about these microcontrollers becoming > obsolete. If you don't care about that, save time and stop reading here. [Herb's cogent argument elided here] > And in closing .... > > The reason I'm familiar with this kind of "these go obsolete" arguments, > is because I've seen this show before. Over the last few decades, > various modern means to read ancient floppy diskettes have been > produced. They have become in-favor and discussed and distributed. Then > the developers lose interest; then the users lose interest; and they go > out of production and use. Over geologic time (several years), these > things simply come and go. > > So the vintage computers remain, but these modern devices do not. That's > about as simple as I can put the argument. I can't materially dispute any of this; in fact, it neatly lays out something that has bothered me for years without my having been able to work out why. The obvious next question, then, is -- to borrow the words of Charles Schultz -- "Now that we know that, what do we do?" It looks to me as though the common thread, amongst all of these unintendedly ephemeral solutions, has been their use of "easily available" hardware which failed to stay that way. Obviously, then, solutions of this type must be implemented on hardware which is widely available from multiple independent sources, _and_ will be straightforward to substitute for when that eventually does change. We use this stuff in support of systems which remain usable, if not always all that use_ful_, for decades. We already know what stays around, or at least remains well-documented and -supported. By sheer weight of installed base, it would be very hard to lose all support for x86 or 6502 software. Equally, despite their clumsiness, I find it very difficult to believe that we will suddenly become unable to substitute newer devices for EPROMs; hell, such substitutes are already made by at least two unrelated sources just amongst the retrocomputing community, let alone industry at large. The only real irritant, then, becomes working out how to cheaply do whatever it is these other projects are using FPGAs for. Those are the parts that get updated whenever someone works out a better technique, but... as a general rule, the interface to whatever vintage hardware is more or less invariant, correct? That would mean the alterable functions can be carried out in software rather than in (redefinable) hardware. Flash updates are still flash updates, regardless of whether they contain computer programs or FPGA configuration files. Can anyone poke holes in this? Gordon S.

1 0

Virtual Computer Museum Docents Wanted!
by rar 06 May '20

06 May '20

Did you ever want to be a museum docent or curator? Here is your chance! We are making a virtual tour of the System Source Computer Museum. Here is the beginning: https://museum.syssrc.com/tour/index.html I have tagged a handful of objects. Would you create (or submit) great audio, video, or web pages about any of the artifacts in the museum? I'll review and post! Thanks. Also, save the date for a VCF repair workshop November 14th and 15th in Hunt Valley MD. Bob Roswell broswell(a)syssrc.com<mailto:broswell@syssrc.com> 410-771-5544 ext 4336 Computer Museum Highlights<http://museum.syssrc.com/> [syssrclogo_38years]

3 2

How To Geek article on floppy data recovery
by Jeffrey Brace 02 May '20

02 May '20

https://www.howtogeek.com/669331/how-to-read-a-floppy-disk-on-a-modern-pc-o… -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

1 0

Zenith I/O board
by Mike Loewen 30 Apr '20

30 Apr '20

I have what looks like a Zenith 4-port serial I/O S100 board: http://q7.neurotica.com/Zenith_front.jpg The Z100 Technical Manual mentions a Z-204 Multiport Input/Output board: could this be the one? Does anyone have a manual? Mike Loewen mloewen(a)cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/

2 1

Another C64 Fastfingers MIDI Demo
by Jeffrey Brace 29 Apr '20

29 Apr '20

Dan Laskowski posted another video on his C64 MIDI software demo: https://youtu.be/QLgzjaVQE34 -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

1 0

OT: Digitizing Magnetic Audio Tapes
by Jeffrey Brace 29 Apr '20

29 Apr '20

I recently found some old family audio reels with voice recordings: Cavalier Sound Magic 1807, Cavalier Sound Magic 905, Plastic-base audiotape. Pictures found here: < https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jxGDi4grZqLLeqWe2-9ygWwezVK9DdCQ?us… > What I want is to digitize these magnetic audio tapes to a modern audio format. I no longer have the player. I know that there are services that can digitize them, so if anyone has actually used a service, then let me know. Otherwise, maybe someone has a player and some mechanism to digitize them? -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

2 2

Anyone in NJ want to take a crack at this?
by Dean Notarnicola 26 Apr '20

26 Apr '20

https://www.facebook.com/138645462866451/posts/3045688845495417/?d=n

2 1

UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supplies) was: How's Everyone Doing
by Herb Johnson 25 Apr '20

25 Apr '20

I'm surprised by all the interest in UPS's. I have generations of them, myself, in the few to several hundred watt range. Every digital device in my home has a small UPS on it, always has. Just makes sense. When I get a power hit, the birdies sing from each one. The older household buy-at-Staples ones work fairly well, when batteries are replaced every handful of years. They appear at thrift stores for several dollars; the salvage value of the gells is about a few dollars. Avoid the very smallest units, only buy units that take standard sized cells. Funny, some units WILL take standard sized cells, if you chop out the ribs molded into them, that hold SMALLER batteries - so they can sell them cheaper. That's my kind of 'creative destruction'. I have some old 1990's APC rack-mounters that I haven't populated in several years, 3000 watt. And some other floor models in the few thousand watt range, which need those larger 17VA batteries, not the several VA 12V common sized gell-cell units. I just scrapped two giant UPS's, 3-phase units, that took four car battery sized lead-acid cells. They also went back to the 1990's. Wiser heads told me "those are too old and inefficient for today's use". The steel went on the curb and disappeared. Anyone need 60 Hertz ferro-resonant chokes and transformers? Hey, I can use them for exercise equipment - if I don't mind losing a toe if I drop one! ;) If interest persists to when we get together again, I'll bring some around for purchase. Batteries not included. Regards, Herb "Amps" Johnson PS: does this still count for "how's everyone doing"? Do we all run on batteries now, or what? ;) -- 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] How's Everyone Doing
by Ethan O'Toole 25 Apr '20

25 Apr '20

[NON-Text Body part not included] > Anybodyworking on interesting stuff? > BillInderrieden It's kind of a bummer when I look at my phone and it shows the calendar date for VCF East coming up that isn't going to happen. Shortly after the last how's everyone doing email the customer I work for laid off most of the workforce and went into Chap 11. Pretty crazy! They were building a low earth orbit satellite network to deliver internet around the world. Funding issues. Ooops! I still have a job though, and I am thankful for that. NERD WISE... SO.. MUCH.. NERD!! 1. Amiga 600 repair. Years ago a friend gave me an Amiga 600, and it worked and was awesome. Then capacitors leaked and damaged the board. Been working to fix it, kind of hit a wall where I made progress now I'm lost. Found some awesome resources, check out https://www.amigapcb.org/ ... The 600 has a lot of surface mount stuff, that site lets you walk around with the mouse and see the source/destination of every trace and signal line! And English Amiga board, and DiagROM. 2. Repaired a Yamaha Motif midi module. LCD went out. Bought new LCD, didn't fix. Fixed it though. 3. Managed to edit a video for youtube (channel is telmnstr) on Blackmagic Davinci Resolve. This was my first time taking a stab at a modern editing system doing HD stuff. I usually use Blackmagic production switcher so I don't have to edit. But yea, I got the hang of it and really enjoyed doing the project on it. Was quick, and I will do more. 4. Going to fix a APC UPS for a friend. Needs new caps. 5. Trying to track down a driver for my old Yamaha C1 midi portable 286-10mhz computer. I fixed the base functionality but now need to make more progress. 6. Finally finishing a CNC machine I started in 2012. Actually made some progress but then had to order a bunch of parts. No idea how long it will take ball screws to arrive from China. Going to get fasterns from local fastenal. 7. Started toying with OBS, a software video switcher. All the geek video conferences going on -- I had to try it and test out some other capture hardware that I had picked up for an event a friend and I were supposed ot do video / audio / gaming / vintage computers for (B-Sides Charm.) Have been really impressed, to the point that I'm planning to potentially sell my BMD ATEM TVS hardware rig. 8. 3d printing cases and enclosing some hardware for the laser projector controllers. Also hope to get around to rebuilding two laser projectors, but it will probably require a bunch of parts. 9. Listing some crap on ebay. And it's selling? Mostly arcade / pinball parts and broken consumer A/V stuff. 10. rebelted a cassette deck I found at a thrift store in NC. It's working 90%, and there is a random screw left over. 11. IRC, Slack, Discord, etc. I plan to jump int othe IMSAI 8080 again. Have an Atari 800XL to fix. And plan to start pulling out some systems and test thru them / cut interesting software disks to go with them. Mainly Apple IIGS, Apple IIc, Apple IIsomething, NeXT Slab, Atari 8bits (need to mod the floppy emulator with a 74LS07 IC or something so it still works with floppy drives), Atari ST, and maybe sort out stuff on Amiga. Right now the 600 is kicking my butt though. The Yamaha laptop did for 3 years until I had an idea randomly. Also need to recap an Amiga 4000T motherboard. Eeeek! So much to do! Some friends are going SCUBA diving on the weekends near Richmond VA, staying isolated. I might try to get wet soon. Some parts on order for this. The water is like 50F-60F which is pretty cold, though. Would be nice if it was 70's out and not 60's. If anything, I'm getting a lot of stuff done that has been in the backlog!! Hope everyone else is safe and okay and if it's your thing progress on projects!

10 20

VCF Italia 2020 Virtual Show Friday April 24 3:30PM EDT
by Jeffrey Brace 24 Apr '20

24 Apr '20

VCF Italia was cancelled due to Covid-19, but they are doing an informal show. The plan is for the following to talk: VCCI board of directors and our VIP guests among whom there should be Lee Felsenstein, Allan Alcorn, Liza Loop and maybe even Sophie Wilson. Date: Friday, April 24 Time: 3:30PM EDT https://mmnet.webex.com/mmnet/onstage/g.php?MTID=e0a83e848f2edd3c0bca59beba… <https://mmnet.webex.com/mmnet/onstage/g.php?MTID=e0a83e848f2edd3c0bca59beba…> Event number: 841 509 662 Password: VCFI It will be recorded for those that can't make it live. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org <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>

1 1

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] How's Everyone Doing
by Jeffrey Brace 24 Apr '20

24 Apr '20

On Tue, Apr 21, 2020 at 11:03 AM Bill Inderrieden via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Nowthat Mke Ruane has extended the closure of IA until June, I figured it > would be a goodtime to continue the shout out that Jeff Brace started and > see how everyone’sdoing. > > Stuffhere in Brick is moving like Ground Hog Day, although business > paperwork seemsto keep me focused if not only for a little bit of time and > I have to come backto it later. > > Waitingon shipments of PCMCIA stuff for the HP660LX so I can play further. > > Anybodyworking on interesting stuff? > I am finishing up working on The Print Shop C64 exhibit in the 80's bedroom exhibit in the museum. It took some effort to figure out how to backup original Print Shop disks so that I can return them to the lender. I had to find an old copy program called Kracker Jax that had parameters on the disk to make the backups useful. VCF owns two copies of The Print Shop disks, but they were unusable. I'm also working on the Commodore 128 exhibit in the museum to put GEOS 128 on the machine. The current plan is to use a 1541 Ultimate drive to run the software. This is a fun activity because I have primarily used the Commodore 64, and rarely used the C128 in 128 mode. I have used GEOS 64, so it will be fun to get GEOS 128 working. I was able to track down various disk images for applications for GEOS 128. I think I will also add a RAM expander to the machine to make it work a little better and faster. My other plan is to go through my two storage lockers that I am renting and consolidate into one. So I will be selling items once I get a list. My first item will be a Coco drive (new in box). > > BillInderrieden > > -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org <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>

1 0

VCF 2020 T-shirts For Sale!
by Dean Notarnicola 23 Apr '20

23 Apr '20

VCF 2020 is postponed until October, and while we can’t be there (yet), we can feel like we are, and make others envious at the same time! VCF 2020 T-shirts are on sale now and they are looking good! You’ll cut quite the fine figure working on your vintage gear in one of these quality shirts! See this page for detailed pics and size/color options: http://vcfed.org/wp/t-shirts/ - Order through this Google form: https://forms.gle/NkFnsyC8knS6E1fD6 - US addresses only for the moment Socially distance in style! Support VCF and improve your wardrobe at the same time!

2 1