April 2016 - vcf-midatlantic

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] HERO batteries
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 26 Apr '16

26 Apr '16

Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic writes: >> I've already polled the Hero robot owners group about what modern >batteries a Hero 1 can use > >My inclination is to remove the HERO battery, open it up (nearly >Dremeling is necessary), and have it rebuilt by Batteries Plus using >comparable NiCads with modern amperage. That's what I did for an IBM >Simon phone last year and it worked fantastically well. Rebuilt the two >halves of the pack with epoxy and then sanded it flat. > >Alex, let's talk (off-list) about when you can make another trip up >here. http://www.mogixaccessories.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/battery-super-ma…

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HOPE -- who's going?
by Evan Koblentz 26 Apr '16

26 Apr '16

Who already purchased or plans to purchase HOPE tickets? We anticipate being there Saturday/Sunday. It would be helpful if we can make scheduled shifts and actually stick to that plan :) so that we don't have to get expensive hotel rooms or leave our stuff unguarded overnight.

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SpaceCommand test, Multi-Screen, Multi-Player network game[video]
by Dan Roganti 25 Apr '16

25 Apr '16

SpaceCommand test [video] I promised some of you that I would let you know this This is the first test of Multi-Screen feature on this Multi-Player network game After a few months of glitches and brain-farts, this is working This is basically one step above Multi-Player This allows you to interact with any player in this virtual world The virtual world is 8x screen wide on the C64 = 2560 pixels One of the biggest glitches I came across was using Broadcast packets. The problem slowed me down for a couple months. that's why it was only 90% done All of the network communication is done with UDP. I found out eventually, that you can't use a consumer grade network switch Because they don't let you provision the server to prevent loopbacks So the server was getting inundated with it's own broadcast packets. Almost as if there was a DDoS on the server. So much so, the network lag in the game from the Server to the Players, was as long as 2min - we had to time to believe it :) I still have another glitch with Players 6,7,8 The missile can only fly on 5 screens at the moment There's an issue with receiving packets on those players And there's some anomaly on the Y axis when the missile flies in each screen There's some jitter as if it's dropping the LSB bit somewhere. The player screens are small cause the screenshot extend over 2 monitors I'll have to make another video later with my tablet so I can zoom in closer I turned off the soundfx for now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr1F8PMQd9I Dan

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VCF's HOPE exhibit
by Evan Koblentz 25 Apr '16

25 Apr '16

HOPE is July 22-24 at its usual spot -- the Hotel Pennsylvania, in New York City. VCF will have an exhibit there. For the exhibit, I would like to show vintage computer robotics. Alex P. pledged to help us fix up our HERO. I remember Bill S. said he's got a Minimover arm, so hopefully we can beg/borrow/steal one of those. :) We also have a robot kit for the Commodore 64. Have to see if it works. Are there any other products we should consider for this exhibit? It should be limited to 70s/80s (assuming there's nothing for the PDP-8!)

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Commodore Pet in pop music video? Or proptronics
by Ethan 25 Apr '16

25 Apr '16

Popular music video has what I think is a Commodore Pet that has been rebadged, or is it one of those plastic proptronics things that the furniture stores used? I see a classic mac in the video as well. Pet Keyboard looks real but I don't think they did ANSI graphics right? Capital Cities / I sold my bed but not my stereo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXqqWbnboJ0

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Kaypro 2X boot disk?
by Steven Michelsen 25 Apr '16

25 Apr '16

I just bought a Kaypro 2X on ebay - of course it comes with NO boot disk! Does anyone have a compatible boot floppy for this machine? I would be more than glad to send blank disks to you and a self addressed stamped envelope! Thanks! Steve

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museum report
by Evan Koblentz 24 Apr '16

24 Apr '16

I went to the museum today for normal operating hours. Happy to report that I didn't do anything at all :) except clean our workbench and generally spruce things up a little. There's already a decent list of stuff that needs building and/or fixing. We will start working on that stuff in a few weeks. For now, we all deserve plenty of rest!

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June Workshop - June 11
by Jeffrey Brace 24 Apr '16

24 Apr '16

June 4 & 29 are unavailable. And June 19 is Father's Day. So unless someone objects with some good reason, I will put in the reservation for June 11/12 for the workshop. --- Jeff Brace

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MMJ cables for cheap
by David Hoelzer 24 Apr '16

24 Apr '16

If you are in need of DEC MMJ cables, I have some good news and bad news. First, the good news: http://www.amazon.com/Flat-Modular-Cable-RJ12-6x6MMJ/dp/B000AA2SL4?ie=UTF8&… <http://www.amazon.com/Flat-Modular-Cable-RJ12-6x6MMJ/dp/B000AA2SL4?ie=UTF8&…> The picture is definitely an offset key (MMJ) six strand cable, 7 feet long, for only $3.92. The bad news… It’s not actually an MMJ, it’s just a regular MJ (Modular Jack). Even so, there’s still good news. With some strategic dremeling it is completely possible to trim one side of the MJ down so that it will fit quite well into a DEC MMJ socket. :)

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LSSM event announcement
by Dave McGuire 23 Apr '16

23 Apr '16

[I'm sending this around to several mailing lists] Most of you have heard of the Large Scale Systems Museum, a public museum in the Pittsburgh area that is focused on minicomputers, mainframes, and supercomputers. LSSM opened its doors to the public for the first time in October of 2015, coinciding with a city-wide festival. We have been doing tours by appointment since then, averaging 3-4 tours per month. On April 30th, there will be another such festival here in town, called "New Kensington Better Block". It's a large block party that will encompass much of the downtown area. There will be more than sixty street vendors offering food, handmade crafts from local artists, and just about everything else you can think of. There will be two stages' worth of live music, games, a beer garden featuring great brews from the historic Penn Brewery, lots of kids' activities like face-painting and caricature artists, drawings and raffles, the grand openings of three new businesses, and lots of other great stuff. Another star of the show, Pittsburgh-based C/PMuseum, as a guest of LSSM, will also be returning to Better Block with a special exhibit this time covering the history of the world's largest technology company, Apple Computer. From the humble beginnings of two friends named Steve, through today, Apple's 40th anniversary. See running examples of the actual machines that launched Apple in the 1970s and 1980s. In addition, the gaming wing of C/PMuseum will feature a display with running examples of game consoles from the earliest generations through the most modern 3D immersive virtual reality. Where else can you start out playing on a Magnavox Odyssey, and end up inside the VR world of an HTC Vive? The C/PMuseum pop-up at New Kensington Better Block, that's where! The LSSM will be participating in that event just as we did last October, by being open to the public all day. (I'm aware that this is very short notice; for that I apologize) Many of the Very Large Computers here will be running and demonstrated on a rotation throughout the day. Come and hack on DEC PDP-8, PDP-11, and VAX systems, IBM System/36s, and everything in between. See Cray supercomputers, DECsystem-20s, IBM System/370 and System/390 mainframes, and real rarities such as a Symbolics Lisp Machine, and minicomputers from the 1960s such as an HP 2116B (one of their first!) and a Varian 620-L. See a Heath H-1, a tube-based analog computer from 1956. See nearly all of the IBM "midrange" line. See how SSP, the operating system from the IBM System/36, can run in a virtual environment on an AS/400. See what an 800-pound hard drive looks like. All are invited! The LSSM is located at 924 4th Avenue, New Kensington, PA 15068, right in the middle of the block party area. New Kensington is about ten minutes' drive from the Allegheny Valley exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Exit 48. It's a very easy area to reach, and there are a number of decent and inexpensive hotels nearby. I hope you can make it. Once again I apologize for the short notice. And of course if you cannot make it, feel free to contact the LSSM via email to info(a)lssmuseum.org or on Facebook (search for "Large Scale Systems Museum") to set up a visit at your leisure. You can also see some photos of our first big public opening on that page. Please feel free to forward this message to anyone whom you think might be interested. Thanks, -Dave McGuire President/Curator, LSSM -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA

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