June 2016 - vcf-midatlantic

Signed Apple ][
by Mike Loewen 15 Jun '16

15 Jun '16

What's with the VCF Apple ][ on Ebay? It was over $4,000 and now it's only $1,340. Mike Loewen mloewen(a)cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/

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Auction update
by Evan Koblentz 14 Jun '16

14 Jun '16

Bidding on the Apple II passed $4,000 and there are three days remaining. Sol-20 is beyond $2,000. Evan can be a pain in the ass,

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Computer History Museum seeking Lotus + Prentice Hall software
by Evan Koblentz 14 Jun '16

14 Jun '16

Everyone, CHM contacted me. They're seeking copies (or better yet, original disks) of Lotus Development’s Executive Briefing System for the Apple II and Prentice-Hall’s VCN ExecuVision for the IBM PC. Contact: dbrock(a)computerhistory.org -Evan

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Univac, our first real work!
by Evan Koblentz 14 Jun '16

14 Jun '16

Hey everyone, Our workshop this past weekend had the usual highlights -- we repaired all sorts of 8-bit stuff, monitors, did some programming, enjoyed plenty of nerdly shenanigans -- but by far the highlight was when Duane C. and Bill Drom. told me the Univac 1532 I/O console (paper tape + Model 35 teletype) was ready for its first power up! Background: We acquired a complete-ish Univac 1219-B mainframe about six years ago. One tape drive was on display for a few years in our old museum, and much of the full system was on display as one of the VCF East shows, but mostly the computer lived in our warehouse. That changed this spring when we opened the new museum: its double doorway enabled us to put the computer on permanent public display. We cleaned it on the outside. Bill Drom. and Duane, who both used this model of Univac in their Navy days, jointly approached me ahead of this past workshop and asked if they could start technical work by modifying one of the console units for a modern power supply. They assured me it's safe and easily reversible to the original configuration, so I said yes. A summary from Duane about what they actually did: >> The +/- 15 and -4.5 switching supplies fit in the space we removed the 400 Hz. transformer-diode assembly. The -28 volt supply wound up in the air channel at the bottom. We bypassed the 400 Hz. power on relay and have to turn on with a external switch. Does anyone have a feel of what 60 Hz. voltage would pick a 115 Volt 400 Hz. relay? if it is a straight inductance problem it would be 17.25 volts . We left that for a future visit when we have a variac to play with. We did not have time to trouble shoot all the problems the 1532 had. at first the logic was so crazy that we put in a logic drawer from another unit. turns out the display unit was missing cards. The rubber on the reader capstan had turned to a gooey mess and peeled off onto the tape we tried. If none of their consoles has a usable pinch roller they will have to send it off to a service that does that sort of thing. Maybe we could try some of the liquid rubber that is made to dip tool handles in. The punch is punching extra bits. The oil on the TTY was all dried up and at first the TTY would not do anything. It took about an hour of oiling and moving stuff by hand until it gradually came to life. The tape chute has the bracket that holds it up under the punch broken so the tape gets snarled coming out of the punch. It will be easier to swap out the tape drawer than to try to swap the chute. I put in a new one once and it took me about a hour to figure out how to get it in without bending it. << Saturday night, when only the power supply was installed, about a half-dozen of us went into the museum room and observed the first power-up. Here's the video... well actually it's take two; the first time I idiotically recorded it with my phone in portrait mode. :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQCSGF5Suxo We have three more of these console units in storage, along with one extra CPU and one extra tape drive, which is all very helpful for parts-swapping. This is an exciting milestone for us! I'm going to send a note to the nice people who gave us the system as well.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Univac, our first real work!
by william degnan 14 Jun '16

14 Jun '16

On Tue, Jun 14, 2016 at 8:16 AM, Joe Herdler via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Joe Herdler <joe.herdler(a)yahoo.com> > To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> > Cc: > Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2016 12:16:06 +0000 (UTC) > Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Univac, our first real work! > What model TTY do you have? If it is a 28, I know a former TTY / > Western-Electric engineer who works on those and restores them to life. He > restored my TTYs and might be willing to travel if asked nicely. > I have three 28 units in my own collection all running on a three way loop > with a tube based FSK generator/reader. (The 28 series was the > flash-Cadillac of the TTY world.) > Best, > Joe > Consciousness affects the medium. Think happy, be happy, and happiness > will follow you. > > I believe it's discussed in more detail in the video, but the 1532 = Teletype model 35. The teletypes need lubrication and standard maintenance but otherwise they are in nice shape and should be able to restore. We also have boxes of parts. I checked out all of the 1532's on site. Some are even nicer than the one we have in the museum. http://vintagecomputer.net/pictures/2016/InfoAgeWorkshops/vcfed_univac_1532… Bill

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Burroughs indicator module
by Mike Loewen 13 Jun '16

13 Jun '16

On Mon, 13 Jun 2016, Bill Sudbrink wrote: > Mike Loewen wrote: >> I'm flipping through the pictures, get to the last one, and started >> LMAO. Looks familiar. :-) Apparently there aren't many BUIC pictures >> online. > > So what does the gold cord on the shoulder signify? > > Bill S. I was playing in the Keesler Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps while I was there for tech school. The "rope" was worn by student leaders: green, yellow and red (highest). I was the Bugle Sergeant, in charge of the horn section. This was in 1982. Mike Loewen mloewen(a)cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/

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Burroughs indicator module
by Mike Loewen 13 Jun '16

13 Jun '16

So, I'm browsing Epay and I see a Burroughs indicator module, supposedly the same module that was used in the BUIC system: #272273278989 I'm flipping through the pictures, get to the last one, and started LMAO. Looks familiar. :-) Apparently there aren't many BUIC pictures online. Mike Loewen mloewen(a)cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/

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I spoke too soon (ISA/USB)
by Evan Koblentz 13 Jun '16

13 Jun '16

The $30 ones are ISA cards that give you USB slots. Not at all what I need. There's a $150 thing that does what I need. Too expensive.

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What's this part called?
by Evan Koblentz 13 Jun '16

13 Jun '16

The picture at http://snarc.net/board.jpg shows the inside of a PS/2 Model 30. As you can see, it's missing the daughter board for the ISA slots. What is that board called? Anybody have one that I could borrow from now through mid-July?

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Happiness is...
by Mike Loewen 13 Jun '16

13 Jun '16

...powering up a Tandy 6000HD which hasn't been run for at least 2 years, and having it boot right up to Xenix 3.2! I'm thinking of exhibiting it at VCF Midwest with my 1986 BBS software. Mike Loewen mloewen(a)cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/

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