January 2017 - vcf-midatlantic

Artist needed: VCF East shirt
by Evan Koblentz 09 Jan '17

09 Jan '17

Everyone, We need a volunteer to design this year's VCF East shirt. There is a good chance we'll use the same design for VCF West. The central theme should be something around the number "12". Our usual artiste is Ragooman. He is taking a break this year. We have some technical guidelines, there are firm/multiple deadlines to meet, and the final design will be approved by the VCFed national board. Anyone who's interested should email me at evan(a)vcfed.org. Please do NOT start a thread here about the design/themes.

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not going to be at the January workshop
by William Dudley 08 Jan '17

08 Jan '17

I misspoke, I'll be away this weekend and so miss the workshop, at which I was going to make a cameo appearance. I'll make a future workshop and drop off "The Chip" at that time. Bill Dudley This email is free of malware because I run Linux.

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Looking for an SSD to SCSI bridge compatible with DEC
by Herb Johnson 08 Jan '17

08 Jan '17

SCSI2SD seems to be a reasonable candidate for solid-state SCSI these days. I don't own one but the Web searching I've done, and the few contacts I've had in the vintage community including old Apple Macs, seems to suggest this is something that functions and is available from a few sources. I'd like to hear more about it from others in our community, and of course if it's succcessful AND when it fails. The problem with most of these hobby-class solutions, is when the person offering them or supporting them loses interest. Myself, I'm not interested in making PC boards and gathering parts, for this class of product - I want to buy it ready for use, but with software available and people working on it. With those criteria, $70 plus shipping is reasonable to me, and my impression is that it's made by a couple of people and one of them appears "commercial". For "DEC" use, find various Web communities discussing this device and look for "DEC". Herb Johnson

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What are you working on for The next great workshop is Jan 14 & 15
by Herb Johnson 08 Jan '17

08 Jan '17

Another request for goodies. On impulse I just bought a TI 99/4 on that auction site, awfully cheap. But it didn't include the AC transformer power supply. I may recieve it by Friday. If anyone can bring that TI 99/4 transformer to the Workshop for sale, that would be appreciated. I'll need the TV switchbox too but that I can probably cobble up. I may well part the thing out, but I'd like to see if it works first, go figure. For testing I presume I can borrow these items from the VCF Warehouse if they are so courteous to lend them for the day. In any event, I'd like a transformer to keep, too. Herb

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wanted: Shugart 850 or 851
by Herb Johnson 08 Jan '17

08 Jan '17

Looking for a Shugart 850 or 851 8-inch floppy drive. That's double sided, full height. Contact me privately (see my Web site) if you have one, parts or complete and what condition - and be ready to ship NOW. Remind me of your city/state so we can figure shipping to Trenton NJ 08618 area. I'll try to attend the VCF/Infoage repair event this weekend, that's an opportunity for pickup/deliver. herb johnson Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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What are you working on for The next great workshop is Jan 14 & 15
by Herb Johnson 08 Jan '17

08 Jan '17

I hope to work on an IMSAI front panel and IMSAI CPU board. I hope to bring a minimum system and do some chip-level testing and repair. I won't run anything of note or have a terminal or monitor or anything else like that. I'm keeping it simple. Weather may affect my attendance, but it looks like warm weather but rainy. I'll bring a few items requested of me by participants. If anyone is looking for something in vintage computing I might have, they should contact me PRIVATELY, check my Web site for my email address. Something I need, is a Shugart 850 or 851 8-inch floppy drive. That's double sided, full height. Working would be nice but nonworking or parts would be of interest. Again, contact me privately for details. Herb Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Last call for workshop
by Jeffrey Brace 07 Jan '17

07 Jan '17

Wednesday January 11 will be the cutoff date. We have about 16 signed up for the workshop. Please let me know if you are coming so that I can have enough tables available. If you do not let me know, then you get no table. Sorry to sound mean or blunt, but there are some people that will remain nameless that just show up and expect a table to be available. I have to make sure that they are available ahead of time and it's a headache for me for people to show up out of the blue without warning and expect to be accommodated at the last minute. We have this list for a reason and I expect that our members would read it and cooperate. Here is the singup link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1deIV8XWD8VX3t3m6ayWdEkyI-23VULUnd--… -- Jeff Brace - ark72axow(a)gmail.com

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museum report
by Evan Koblentz 07 Jan '17

07 Jan '17

The weather kicked our butts this week! Jeff Galinat and I were going to do museum work yesterday. We canceled because of the snowy forecast. Turns out the museum area barely got a dusting. So we changed to today. "2-4 inches" in the forecast was half a foot. Doh! But we drove very carefully got a full day's work in. I gave a tour to a visiting VIP from 10:30-12:30 while JG planned our new book shelves, went to Home Depot for supplies, etc. We removed an old unused radiator from the museum workshop wall. It was in the way and we checked with the powers that be for approval. The actual act of removing the radiator was easy: two bolts and two sawzall cuts. We didn't anticipate some of the pipes and the radiator itself, which was last used several decades ago, being full of dark sludge! :) The good news is no artifacts were sludge'd ... the bad news is sludge went all over the workshop floor, parts of the museum floor, and even parts of the hallway floor as we removed some components from the room. We cleaned up 99% of it. However this took a LOOOOOONG time and that pretty much killed the whole afternoon. But, we got it done, and now the workshop wall by the far windows is useful. Before we couldn't put anything there without having it jut out into the middle of the area. We moved the storage locker and the future Lego LOGO desk to that side. The wall where the bookshelves will go is totally clear now. Home Depot cut the shelves for us into four 1x8-ft. sections. So that was Saturday. Jeff B.: the museum workshop area and particular the workbench are messy. Don't panic. :) I will clean it next time.

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strange computer magazine
by Jeffrey Jonas 07 Jan '17

07 Jan '17

from boingboing_net Yugoslavian computer magazine cover girls of the 1980s-90s http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/QQjtwYKBABU/yugoslavian-c… http://boingboing.net/?p=503600

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InfoAge closed 1/7/17
by Jeffrey Brace 07 Jan '17

07 Jan '17

All InfoAge museums are closed today Saturday January 7, 2017 because of the snow in our area.

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