June 2016 - vcf-midatlantic

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] vcf-midatlantic Digest, Vol 8, Issue 28
by mark＠markesystems.com 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

>>I am in the SF Bay Area, until Thursday, for a conference, so I figured >>that I should check out the Computer History Museum, which I have never >>seen, >>to my shame. But then I found out that it is closed on Mondays and >>Tuesdays, which pretty much makes it impossible for me, as I have customer >>meetings all day Wednesday and Thursday. >> >>Does anyone else have suggestions of things worth doing, other than the >>standard Weird Stuff/Halted visits? Sorry I didn't see this earlier - hopefully you still have time for a couple more stops, both in Sunnyvale: First is Weird Stuff Warehouse - sort of a last stop before recycling for corporate cast-offs. You never know what you'll find there, and a lot of it is stuff at the bottom of the market (48-port managed Ethernet switches, etc.), but I saw an HP-2000 Access system go through there a few years ago, and there's frequently a least some bits and pieces from that era. Another fun place is Halted Specialties. Vintage test equipment, odd laboratory equipment, tons of components (new, surplus, and reclaimed) - and again, you'll never know what you'll find. I'm a lucky man in that my wife likes this place almost as much as I, so we've spent a lot of hours (and a bit of money, too) there over the years. They moved recently, after a gazillion years in the same location, and I'm not sure the new location has quite the _cachet_ of the old, but still a fun place. > FYI - My old band is playing at Slim's in San Fran the Thurs night before > VCF West, I will be there, but I have not played with the band in many > years, I will not know any of their songs to sit in unless they do some of > the oldies from my days with the band. It will be fun to pop in though, a > surprise. > > http://spindriftwest.com/wp/shows/ I'll definitely make a plan to see them - and you, if our paths cross. It would be great to meet you in person. ~~ Mark Moulding

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Bendix G-15 was Re: Univac, our first real work!
by Brian L. Stuart 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

On Sun, 6/26/16, David Riley <fraveydank(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Agreed on all points. I'd be highly interested in working on that, if > only I had more time... a drum emulator should be extremely simple > to make in principle, the interface will probably be the hardest > part. I've done a little thinking about that in a different context, and I think the best way to conceptualize the interface is to think in terms of two separate power domains with the interfacing being done with optoisolators. The timing aspects of the interface won't be as difficult as one might guess. The main clocking for the machine comes from the drum, so the whole machine is slaved to the drum for timing. As a result, we wouldn't have to worry about getting the data rates exact as long as simultaneity is preserved. _If_ such a restoration were to ever be attempted, I'd suggest approaching it as four tasks: 1) Develop a full emulation of the machine in such a way that the drum emulation and the rest of the machine are connected through the same interface used on the real machine. For example, using one Raspberry Pi to emulate the machine's logic and another to emulate the drum. That way the drum emulator can be developed against an emulation of the machine and the major functionality of it can be developed before attempting to tie to the real machine. 2) Restore the power supplies. Of course, we're mostly all familiar with that by now from other projects. The good news is that tube electronics of that era generally had relatively simple power supplies when compared with the complex switchers we've been using the last 40 years. 3) Set up a test bench with fixtures for testing all the tubes and all the plug-in modules. Then one-by-one go through every module in the machine, replacing tubes and repairing modules as needed. 4) Restore the original drum. Once Tasks 1, 2, and 3 are completed, we could integrate the drum emulator and would have a running G-15. I'd recommend doing Task 1 first as a proof of feasibility and competence. Then if the machine's owner were amenable, Tasks 2 and 3 could be undertaken concurrently with relatively little risk. Finally, only if it were decided to be worth the risk would any attempt be made to touch the drum. Of course, we'd want to carry out any such effort using the same level of preservation as the CHM PDP-1 project, documenting every step, preserving and labeling replaced components, etc. But I know what you mean about available time. I've been meaning to do an emulator anyway for some time, but other projects keep getting priority. What I should do is force myself to spend a Christmas break doing an emulator. Then if a restoration project were ever approved, I could try to spend most of a summer when I'm not teaching on it. Of course, the same thing applies to restoring George. BLS

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[OT] In the Bay Area...On the Wrong Day
by J. Alexander Jacocks 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

I am in the SF Bay Area, until Thursday, for a conference, so I figured that I should check out the Computer History Museum, which I have never seen, to my shame. But then I found out that it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, which pretty much makes it impossible for me, as I have customer meetings all day Wednesday and Thursday. Does anyone else have suggestions of things worth doing, other than the standard Weird Stuff/Halted visits? - Alex

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] [OT] In the Bay Area...On the Wrong Day
by Erik Klein 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

> > Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2016 13:34:52 -0400 > From: "J. Alexander Jacocks" <jjacocks(a)gmail.com> > To: vcf-midatlantic > <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> > Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] [OT] In the Bay Area...On the Wrong Day > Message-ID: > <CAF-r0Y0v3Ufh2FN1A8pke85FCL_=_BhBkrBvsgUk+5CNy4GG= > g(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > I am in the SF Bay Area, until Thursday, for a conference, so I figured > that I should check out the Computer History Museum, which I have never > seen, to my shame. But then I found out that it is closed on Mondays and > Tuesdays, which pretty much makes it impossible for me, as I have customer > meetings all day Wednesday and Thursday. > > Does anyone else have suggestions of things worth doing, other than the > standard Weird Stuff/Halted visits? > > - Alex > The CHM has hours (10-5) on Tuesday's all summer long. You can get in and tour the place today. Enjoy! -- ----- Erik Klein www.vintage-computer.com - My personal collection www.vcfed.org - The Vintage Computer Federation www.vcfed.org/forum <http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum> - The Vintage Computer Forums marketplace.vintage-computer.com - The Vintage Computer and Gaming Marketplace

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] [OT] In the Bay Area...On the Wrong Day
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

william degnan via vcf-midatlantic writes: >*June 22, 1966The Jefferson Airplane at the Avalon Ballroom.* > > >*June 24, 1966 Lenny Bruce and the Mothers of Invention appeared in >concert at Fillmore Auditorium.* > >*KFRC Presents the Beach Boys Summer Spectacular at the Cow Palace. >Other acts included the Jefferson Airplane, Lovin' Spoonful, Chad and >Jeremy, Percy Sledge, The Byrds, and Sir Douglas Quintet,* > > >*June 26, 1966Sopwith Camel opened for the Rolling Stones in performance >at the Cow Palace. Jefferson Airplane also performed.* Camel, Stones and Airplane! If only I had a DeLorean with a flux capacitor.

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CEBOT (Camp Evans Base Of Terror) Volunteers needed
by Jeffrey Brace 27 Jun '16

27 Jun '16

For those that don't know InfoAge holds an annual event at Camp Evans every Friday and Saturday in the month of October. It is basically a haunted walk. This is the biggest money maker for InfoAge and helps to repair buildings, pay the electric bill and support the operations of InfoAge. They are looking for volunteers to help with crowd control. It is a very simple job where you hold off groups of people until the actors reset their area. All other groups have volunteers participating. It would be helpful if our group also had some volunteers. Our group really hasn't volunteered much for this event over the years and it always makes us look bad. The time needed would be 7PM to 11PM any Friday or Saturday in October. You can do one night or all nights. I will be there. So who can volunteer in October? Jeff Brace

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] [OT] In the Bay Area...On the Wrong Day
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 27 Jun '16

27 Jun '16

william degnan via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> writes: >On Mon, Jun 27, 2016 at 1:57 PM, Brian Schenkenberger via vcf-midatlantic < >vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > >> "J. Alexander Jacocks via vcf-midatlantic" writes: >> >> >I am in the SF Bay Area, until Thursday, for a conference, so I figured >> >that I should check out the Computer History Museum, which I have never >> >seen, to my shame. But then I found out that it is closed on Mondays >> >and Tuesdays, which pretty much makes it impossible for me, as I have >> >customer meetings all day Wednesday and Thursday. >> > >> >Does anyone else have suggestions of things worth doing, other than the >> >standard Weird Stuff/Halted visits? >> >> Put some flowers in your hair and stand around the neighborhood of Haight- >> Ashbury. >> >> >then he'd be two days and 50 years late for that, too. What happened then?

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VCF West XI August 6 & 7 - Who's Going?
by Jeffrey Brace 27 Jun '16

27 Jun '16

7 weeks to go. Corey, Evan and I are helping to organize. There are going to be great speakers and exhibitors! Check it out! http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west-xi/ Jeff Brace

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] [OT] In the Bay Area...On the Wrong Day
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 27 Jun '16

27 Jun '16

"J. Alexander Jacocks via vcf-midatlantic" writes: >I am in the SF Bay Area, until Thursday, for a conference, so I figured >that I should check out the Computer History Museum, which I have never >seen, to my shame. But then I found out that it is closed on Mondays >and Tuesdays, which pretty much makes it impossible for me, as I have >customer meetings all day Wednesday and Thursday. > >Does anyone else have suggestions of things worth doing, other than the >standard Weird Stuff/Halted visits? Put some flowers in your hair and stand around the neighborhood of Haight- Ashbury.

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Museum Report for Sunday, June 26th 2016
by Todd George 27 Jun '16

27 Jun '16

Slow day at the museum. One visitor today. He was a fellow InfoAge volunteer, came into the museum to chat, visit and soak up some A/C after mowing the lawns around an IA building or two. Worked on the Amiga monitor, no video/HV at all, all caps check out. Did not figure out the issue even after a nearly full tear-down of the monitor. Reassembled to leave it for next time. Also did a quick overall health check on the Amiga 500 power supply, all caps and voltages check out. All clear on that front, monitor is still dead though. :( The Macintosh was up and running early on, but developed a case of collapse part way through the day. Didn't get a chance to look into it, but it's only showing a vertical line now. I chose to just shut it down for the day. I also spent some time organizing the museum workbench. :) -Todd

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