February 2016 - vcf-midatlantic

DNS changes happening NOW
by Evan Koblentz 13 Feb '16

13 Feb '16

Our main DNS changed from GoDaddy to the new company a few minutes ago. Let's see if this list still works....

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museum move report
by Evan Koblentz 13 Feb '16

13 Feb '16

Last week, we (me, Tony, Steve A.) cleared the first two of the old museum rooms (consumer/business micros). Today, we (me, Tony, Jeff B.) cleared 90% of the homebrew-era room. It took longer than the other rooms because there were more loose things to pack and a lot of stuff under the tables. Next weekend, we'll finish the homebrew room and hopefully get everything except computers/display cases out of the mainframe room.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Side panels for our PDP-8
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 13 Feb '16

13 Feb '16

Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic writes: >>> Shaming me into making it by publicly asking where we can get one >made= . It seems to work for my wife to get me to fix things so maybe >they spok= e on how to motivate me. > >I can neither confirm nor deny that. :) Are the none smoked plexiglass parts not make of aluminum? Somebody with a CNC router or, perhaps, a 3D printer could produce those parts to integrate with the plexiglass formed piece. A little painting detail could make the CNC routed or 3D printed parts look close to the authentic real deal.

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OT: Bass or Guitar Players?
by william degnan 13 Feb '16

13 Feb '16

I am looking to get another 5 string bass, something good. I have a Taylor 414CE or a vintage computer(s) to trade. I am looking for something like an original Tobias, a nice Fender Jazz, etc. I prefer someone local to Phila/Balt. area. -- @ BillDeg: Web: vintagecomputer.net Twitter: @billdeg <https://twitter.com/billdeg> Youtube: @billdeg <https://www.youtube.com/user/billdeg> Unauthorized Bio <http://www.vintagecomputer.net/readme.cfm>

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Side panels for our PDP-8
by Evan Koblentz 13 Feb '16

13 Feb '16

Rich's posts about his H-11 made me wonder: can anyone recommend a business where we can have replica side covers made for the PDP-8? We have both of the original covers. One is intact and in good shape. The other is broken into multiple pieces and there's a whole piece missing. I looked a few years ago, but failed to find any local businesses that could make replica covers. The covers don't have to be * exactly * like the originals, they just have to evoke the originals.

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OT: F/S: Chromebook
by Evan Koblentz 12 Feb '16

12 Feb '16

Anybody want my Asus Chromebook? It's a 2014 model. I am very happy with it, just looking to get the kind that folds into a tablet. Minor cosmetic issues on the case. Screen is in perfect condition. $100 Pictures: http://www.snarc.net/cb/ $100

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Received H11-a shipping mess!
by Herb Johnson 12 Feb '16

12 Feb '16

Rich, congrats on your H11 purchase, sorry to hear about the shipping problems but thanks for describing them in this discussion group. The subject of packing is significant to me, and you've provided a cautionary tale. I spend a lot of time and effort in packing stuff I sell, and I go to great pains to explain to my customers why that's necessary. Some number of them simply don't understand what packing is about, or seem to have awareness of how fragile some vintage computers can be. That's especially true for old CRT monitors, more so for color CRT monitors - their plastic cases just crumble under stress. Rich, would you mind giving some further information about the packing if you can, privately or in public reply? Did the seller pack themselves, or did the seller ask a shipping service to pack? And can you give some idea of how little packing material there was? A simple metric would be the thickness of any styrofoam between chassis and box, if it was "peanuts" or solid styrofoam, etc. Some may think these are boring, nit-picky questions. Rich would likely disagree that it's a boring subject. I'm trying to learn from his experience. herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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WIn 3.1 gaming - source for gamepad drivers
by william degnan 12 Feb '16

12 Feb '16

[repost from vintage-computer.com] Does anyone have a win 3.1 driver for any of the following game pads? I searched the web, found nothing matching yet. 1. microsoft sidewinder game pad 2. radioshack gamepad 3. Interact pc propad 4 I tried here: http://www.vogonsdrivers.com/index.php?catid=29 ...but there were no matches for Win 3.1, DOS 1.44 drive. -- @ BillDeg: Web: vintagecomputer.net Twitter: @billdeg <https://twitter.com/billdeg> Youtube: @billdeg <https://www.youtube.com/user/billdeg> Unauthorized Bio <http://www.vintagecomputer.net/readme.cfm>

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Received H11-a shipping mess!
by Richard Cini 12 Feb '16

12 Feb '16

All — I got a hold of a Heathkit H11, which arrived today and the person I got it from did everything wrong when shipping it. First, the good…it actually has more boards than I thought it did. It has the M7270 CPU, an H11-5 serial board, and two WHA-11-16 16kw x 16bit memory boards. Now, the bad…there was inadequate packaging so it got bounced around by UPS. The CPU board was dislodged and the other three were shoved down one notch in the cage so that a board was plugged into row 1 but it sat in row 2’s card edge guide. It must have been dropped or thrown because the side panel threaded inserts cracked the case. Looks like I need some epoxy to as to re-anchor the threaded screw inserts. The chassis has serial #00744 but no other serial number stickers. No console cable was provided but I have the manual for the serial board, so I’ll make one up (looks like 3-wire plus two for a paper tape). There is a massive Sprague capacitor on the PS, so I removed all boards and disconnected the PS from the backplane. I’m going to put it on a variac with lightbulb current limiter and bring it up over a few hours — maybe 15v/hour or something like that. It’s a two-switch front panel with a 3rd toggle switch connected to two posts on the power supply board — function unknown since I don’t have the manual. The front panel was painted with flat black paint, but it’s chipping in spots so I might be able to get it off (would need recommendations for non-damaging paint remover). The CPU has 5 40-pin chips (two purple ceramic and three PDIP). Supposedly the H11 has a monitor PROM or something like it, but I don’t see anything like a PROM on the board. Guess I have to wait until I get it running! Is there anything else I should know about the H11 while bringing it up? Thanks! Rich -- Rich Cini Collector of Classic Computers Build Master and lead engineer, Altair32 Emulator http://www.classiccmp.org/cini http://www.classiccmp.org/altair32

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Interest in Lawrence Livermore Labs MST-80 Intel 8080 Trainers?
by Systems Glitch 12 Feb '16

12 Feb '16

All, One of my parts/test equipment suppliers has contacted me with an offer on 6 or 7 Lawrence Livermore Labs MST-80(B?) trainers. These are 8080 trainers in a briefcase -- I brought mine to VCF East a few years ago. They have a keypad and three hex displays and can be controlled via a ROM monitor. Expansion is really simple, and the MST-80 provides DIP headers for address/data/control signals, as well as onboard I/O ports and 10 LEDs. The manuals are available online (IIRC Doug Crawford scanned his manual and that's the copy most people have), I don't yet know if any of these come with a hardcopy of it. What I'd like to know from list members is: - What would you pay for a repaired/tested/working unit? - What would you pay for an "as is" but not trashed unit? (cosmetically OK, all bits present, just untested) - What would you pay for just the board, in the event the briefcases are torn up? (haven't seen them yet) I'm trying to figure out what a fair offer is. They will of course be made available to VCFers if I purchase them! Thanks, Jonathan

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