September 2016 - vcf-midatlantic

Last call for those coming to workshop 9/17 & 9/18
by Herb Johnson 16 Sep '16

16 Sep '16

I can't provide an SE/30 case or working motherboard, sorry. I contacted you privately but I'm posting this in case that email fails. Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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PC speakers needed
by Jeffrey Brace 16 Sep '16

16 Sep '16

So Dan R. and I are planning on eventually converting from Commodore 1702 monitors to LCD monitors to connect to our Commodore 64s. We have a special adapter that we bought that connects them. But we apparently need PC speakers to produce sound from the monitors. If anyone has any extras that they want to give us or know of a place where we can get them inexpensively, then please let us know! We just need tiny ones, nothing too big by the way. -- Jeff Brace - ark72axow(a)gmail.com

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Interesting local artifact
by Evan Koblentz 16 Sep '16

16 Sep '16

There was a quasi-famous computer store in Manhattan called Tekserve. They specialized in Apple and closed recently. The owner auctioned a lot of the assets and collectibles. Someone in California bid on their outdoor neon sign as a joke. He never expected in a million years to win, but that's what happened. Then he realized it's 13 feet long, two feet high, weighs 80 pounds, and isn't easy to ship to the west coast! He contacted several museums in NYC and they all ignored him or declined to take it. Then he contacted me. I told him to try to NY Hall of Science or NYC Resistor, and if they decline then we'll take it. Maybe it can hang in our museum during the next big move in another few years. Meanwhile, it was costing him a fortune to store in NY, so he's having it UPS'd to us. I told him we can store it for a few weeks until he finds a home for it or donates it to us. It's being delivered Saturday. We will keep it safe in the warehouse.

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Lego + Logo
by Evan Koblentz 16 Sep '16

16 Sep '16

Ben G. loaned us his Lego kit for the Apple II and IBM PC. We used the IBM PC part for HOPE and we're using the Apple II part for World Maker Faire next month. The IBM version had some issues. Its initialization program was buggy, which Jon C. fixed. One of the commands to turn off a port still didn't work. Jon thinks it is because (at least in part) that the Compaq 386 we used is too fast; the kit is made for an IBM PC. Anyway, the kit lacked the Apple II card, but we had the schematics so Jon built one (see his email thread from Tuesday). He mailed it to me and it arrived today. I've only tried some minimal commands but it works great so far. One thing I love about it is the speed control command -- "setpower (1-7)". The BASIC version doesn't do that so I had to build a Lego gear reduction which was fun but shouldn't be necessary. What should I build? There are two motors, four lights, one optical sensor, and one touch sensor. Lego documentation lists many examples such as the classic Turtle (follow the line, draw, etc.) but I'd like to do something different. Ideas so far: - Robot arm. Programmatically move it around, grab stuff, release. Not unlike the Radio Shack "Armitron" but programmed instead of just moving levers. - "Ping-Pong Ball Enlarging Machine". Use simple robot arm to put a ping-pong ball into a hole in a box, then watch kids get surprised when a trap door opens and a Wiffleball pops out. Convince them it's the same ball, just enlarged. :) - A car game that involves programming it to accomplish tasks. Certain direction to hit a sensor, certain speed to jump a gulf, etc. Any other ideas? It's VITAL to remember that the families/children at Maker Faire have short attention spans. We cannot take time to give every visitor a programming lesson. The past couple of years our booths were in loud locations and we regularly had 10-20 people waiting their turn to see us at any time.

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Thank you -- mini fridge benefactor
by Evan Koblentz 15 Sep '16

15 Sep '16

Thank you to the person donating funds for a mini-fridge to go in our museum workshop. He asked to remain anonymous.

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Last call for those coming to workshop 9/17 & 9/18
by Herb Johnson 15 Sep '16

15 Sep '16

I will likely come sometime Saturday, to visit with a few of the participants. I will not need a table. I have competing events to attend thru the weekend. Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Here's the new display case
by Evan Koblentz 15 Sep '16

15 Sep '16

Our new display case for Univac artifacts is set up: http://vcfed.org/evan/univac_case.jpg The top item is a Univac 1 manual. We will put it upright on a stand. Soon we're getting an electric desk fan that John Mauchly brought home from work for his daughter. That will also go in the case. We will put in signs for each item/shelf. Another artifact goes on the left side, so all those wires etc. are hidden. The case has a glass rear panel. We installed a piece of lauan wood with black felt on the front. It looks great in person and creates a semi-mirror effect.

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Last call for those coming to workshop 9/17 & 9/18
by Jeffrey Brace 15 Sep '16

15 Sep '16

1) Jeff Brace - Capsela and C64? 2) Evan Koblentz - Lego BASIC/LOGO stuff for Maker Faire 3) Ian Primus - Fix everything 4) Dean, Drew - TBD 5) Dromgoole, Bill - Univac 6) Jeff Jonas - Ferreting around 7) Bill Deg - SGI and other stuff 8) Steven Toth - Amiga stuff 9) ? 10) ? Last call. Those that don't let me know by tomorrow are not guaranteed a table. Don't complain if you don't have one. Last month was packed and I had to be creative for those who didn't let me know that they were coming. -- Jeff Brace - ark72axow(a)gmail.com

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Last call for those coming to workshop 9/17 & 9/18
by Todd George 15 Sep '16

15 Sep '16

12) Todd George - Saturday Only I'll be there, Saturday only. Not sure what I'll be working on. I'll likely drag some Amiga stuff because of Stephen, maybe a Macintosh or two just because that's what I'm currently interested in. I think there was some discussion from Jeff about testing a card on my AT&T PC 6300. I'll likely be travelling light, might skip bringing my EEPROM burner and disk imaging workstation, they don't seem to get much use anyway. Of course the one time I don't bring them is when people will need stuff. :-/ See you there!! -Todd

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OT (mostly) - World Maker Faire in NY
by chrisjpf33＠gmail.com 15 Sep '16

15 Sep '16

If you aren't exhibiting and just want to go to Maker Faire for a day, and you don't want to drive into the city, and you can get to Allentown, PA, then consider signing up for a bus trip organized by my Maker Space. We did this last year and it was great. We will have a chartered bus with A/C and a restroom, so it is very comfortable. Share with anyone who you think might be interested. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/world-maker-faire-2016-with-make-lehigh-valley…

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