October 2017 - vcf-midatlantic

FS: ADM-3A and ADM-5 Terminals at Festivus
by systems_glitch 28 Oct '17

28 Oct '17

All, Over the summer, I picked up a large lot (17) of ADM-3A and ADM-5 terminals, in various states of "probably not working." Most of them DO NOT have screen rot, and very few have bad burn-in. I paid $100 each, plus van rental to go get them, gas, etc. I'd like to sell some of the OK condition ones, for drop-off at Festivus, for $150 or trade. Contact me off-list if you're interested. Thanks, Jonathan

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Cyclops page (Popular Electronics and Cromemco)
by William Sudbrink 25 Oct '17

25 Oct '17

Hi, In case anyone is interested, I have finally cobbled together a web page that documents the construction of the Popular Electronics Cyclops camera that I exhibited at the 2016 VCF East. It also documents my work to produce a Cromemco S-100 Cyclops that I hope to exhibit at the 2018 VCF East. The page is here: http://wsudbrink.dyndns.org:8080/cyclops/index.html The Cromemco S-100 Cyclops starts down the page a bit. Bill S. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] IBM PC near-compatibles
by Herb Johnson 25 Oct '17

25 Oct '17

Thanks to Joseph Oprysko & Alexander Pierson for their responses about PCJr and Sanyo MBC-550 respectively. also the posts on Tandy 2000. But their responses - and the lack of other responses about near-compatibles, spin-offs to other topics - kinda confirms my points. That's OK. I asked the question to get confirmation. The Sanyo video was interesting because it showed a game and some video modes. (Not my interest but other's interests.) The PCJr is a narrative about a failure for a notable brand. Tandy by brand, draws interest; and the 2000 has/had a base of owners or is at least known-to-be. So for "interest", these near-compatibles have to have a feature, a brand, a story. And they have to be owned by some number of people today, to become a collective interest. And old PC's are not-of-interest (or negative interest) among many classes of vintage computerists. Otherwise they are simply "not". Hard to establish an interest in a bunch of "not's". But one more thing. On an "Antiques Roadshow", I recall an item. It was a kerosene powered fan! A flame, provided hot-air flow, to rotate a fan. This was an actual product in the early 20th century. It makes no sense today, and stopped making sense when electricity became available, at the same time. Thus all those fans were scrapped, unsold. But now....they are so rare, they have a bit of value! And are a source of amusement, as I've described. So may go, some PC near-compatibles. Herb "not my technology" Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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IBM PC near-compatibles
by Herb Johnson 25 Oct '17

25 Oct '17

As vintage interest increases in the early IBM PC era computers, and in 386/486 PC's, I have a question. Is there any current interest in the early semi-compatible PC's? I mean of course, the 8088/88 systems near and after the IBM PC of 1981, where a number of manufacturers made MS-DOS systems which had most of the IBM PC hardware, some PC functionality (or better!) but was not 100% hardware compatible. It took some years for the "market" to decide, IBM PC software HAD to use every hardware trick to gain performance, and it could only do that if EVERY "PC" had the same IBM PC hardware. And, hardware HAD to be IBM PC and ISA compatible so it would run with minimal grief in PC's of the day, and their software. Eventually, the "Tiawan clones" came out, which were 100% PC compatible, and cheaper, and thus "PC compatible" became a redundant phrase. I know there's some interest in say Compaqs, which at times led the way over IBM. But those were pretty compatible too. But that leaves a bunch of S-100 systems, some Heath/Zenith systems, brands like Victor and God-knows how many others, who produced those semi-compatible systems, which were soon abandoned. Now, S-100, I can deal with and those catch some people's interest. In fact there's a lot of 3rd party PC hardware for the Heath/zenith Z-100 (Z-120 series). But Zenith 150-series systems, with five boards in some super-ISA backplane? Forgedabotit. I show some of the Zenith 151-s on my Web site, and of course Z-100's; so I get inquiries, like today, where someone has a Z-151 to offer. I tell them "sorry, no one cares". Comments? Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] estate planning
by jaj＠totallyamused.com 25 Oct '17

25 Oct '17

-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] estate planning From: william degnan via vcf-midatlantic Date: Tue, October 24, 2017 3:59 pm >>Herb's comments about estate planning as it relates to the unique aspects >>of vintage computing hoards has come up a few times lately including the >>IBM PC near-compatibles thread. I created this new thread per his request. >>Estate Planning >>Most likely your collection is not worth as much as you think it is, when >>you take sales labor into account. Spouses and family often don't care and >>consider vintage computers junk, and when you go so will your collection >>(junk pile) Lately how a lot of us acquire our systems, eh? Family >>members looking to "donate" the items is a nice way of saying dump them, >>let's face it. These things are NOT like an inheritance of gold coins and >>one can't just sell them. One has to figure out what they have etc. Most >>people don't want to do that or can't. Very true. Often a collection is worth more in pieces - especially on a market like eBay. I've always just told my wife that if something happens to me to call Bill Degnan. But then what? Ideally a few pieces he would hold on to and then direct the sale and/or donation of the remaining via some on-line sellers/brokers. It wouldn't be about a windfall of money for my family, but more about putting it into the hands of others that have a need or want for it -- even if the overall transaction was just break even. Bill, did I tell you I signed you up for this? ...and apologies in advance if this formats wonky Justin

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] IBM PC near-compatibles
by Joseph Oprysko 25 Oct '17

25 Oct '17

You can’t forget about IBM’s own IBM PC “Near Compatible”. The PCJR. IBM’s attempt to enter the home computer market. I’m a big fan of the PCJR, but I could be biased because I had one when growing up. IBM dropped ISA compatibility completely with it. Each slot in the system was for a specific type of card, each with different pin counts and slot types. Yes, they provided for 3rd party expansion through the use of side-cars. But every port built into the PCJR is specific to the PCJR. On Tue, Oct 24, 2017 at 9:52 PM Alexander Pierson via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > If you count the Sanyo MBC-550/555's as not-quite-PC compatibles, then I > may have a video that fits that bill. Time Bandit is the only game I've > ever seen mentioned for the MBC-555. It also is the only demonstration of > the color modes I've witnessed. It's mighty impressive, if you ask me. > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN2wnCBQ1uo > > -Alexander 'Z' Pierson > > On Tuesday, October 24, 2017, 4:35:48 PM EDT, Jason Howe via > vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> > wrote: > > On 10/23/2017 09:55 PM, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > > If someone like us has a spouse like that (not referring to your wife > > here Jason, but the rest of the paragraph), then, respectfully, this is > > treating the symptom. The problem is a spouse that's simply > > incompatible at a very fundamental level. I've come across so many > > miserable people in that situation, and I just sit and wonder why. > > > > -Dave > > > > I completely agree and would never have married a woman who didn't > respect my hobbies, as that would mean she didn't respect me. Seriously > WTF would spend the rest of their life with that!? But, people do it > all the time for whatever reason. Anyway, it's not for me to tell > people how to live their lives -- I can only suggest how they can end > it...erm...you know what I mean! > > --Jason > > -- Normal Person: Hey, it seems that you know a lot. Geek: To be honest, it's due to all the surfing I do. Normal Person: So you go surfing? Normal Person: But I don't think that has anything to do with knowing a lot... Geek: I think that's wrong on a fundamental level. Normal Person: Huh? Huh? What?

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estate planning
by william degnan 24 Oct '17

24 Oct '17

Herb's comments about estate planning as it relates to the unique aspects of vintage computing hoards has come up a few times lately including the IBM PC near-compatibles thread. I created this new thread per his request. Evan was talking to Bob Roswell about possibly doing a talk at VCF next year on this subject. Insurance: I can tell you that I had insurance with a company called Collectibles Insurance Services but I let it lapse because in my case it was better to just lump in with my business as inventory insurance. It's easier to add a rider in for vintage computers as business inventory in my case. Persons who don't have an incorporated business might want to contact Collectibles Insurance Services about their own collections. It may be "cold" to say this but the best thing that can happen at least financially is to get the big payoff from a fire or flood. It saves you the trouble of listing, packing, shipping should a disaster hit your collection. You'll get replacement value, which is a lot more than actual sales value when you add in man hours to make the sales. Estate Planning Most likely your collection is not worth as much as you think it is, when you take sales labor into account. Spouses and family often don't care and consider vintage computers junk, and when you go so will your collection (junk pile) Lately how a lot of us acquire our systems, eh? Family members looking to "donate" the items is a nice way of saying dump them, let's face it. These things are NOT like an inheritance of gold coins and one can't just sell them. One has to figure out what they have etc. Most people don't want to do that or can't. Reality For these reasons describe above it's best to distribute what you have before it's too late. Sell it slowly as a small retirement savings or 2nd income. Or start your museum while you're still young and have the energy for such things. You can't take it with you. Bill

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Photos of Downstairs floor, Large Scale Computer Museum
by william degnan 23 Oct '17

23 Oct '17

http://www.vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=702 I only had my phone camera and I completely forgot to take pictures while I was upstairs (doh!) but what I have is what I have. The downstairs has the large systems (Cray, SUN, SGI, DEC, IBM, Interdata, HP, Burroughs), the upstairs has the micros, portables and trainers (Many quite rare and historic items to see) . There is something for everyone here. I need to return soon to take better photos.. I did not get a good-enough photo of everything so some systems are missing. We had a great time at the museum, plus dinner at the Penn Brewery. Dave, Matt, and Corey are excellent docents. Evan, Jeff and I were quite impressed by the quality (and quantity) of exhibits on display. It was great to see Dan and Autumn too. It's hard to take it all in just one weekend. I think my brain is still processing everything. I heartily recommend the trip. Bill

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taking microvax3100.vintagecomputer.net offline for now
by william degnan 20 Oct '17

20 Oct '17

Thanks everyone who helped test this server. I am taking microvax3100.vintagecomputer.net offline for the weekend. Bill

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] VMS question
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 20 Oct '17

20 Oct '17

william degnan via vcf-midatlantic writes: >I noticed when I logged in today a file / info dump printed to the >screen but when I logged out and in again it was gone. Perhaps that's >what you're talking about? > >Understand that I did not write SYSLOGIN.COM or any of this >configuration ... I would not have imagined someone would have a messed >up SYSLOGIN.COM to cause the issue you described. There may be another >explanation. No, that's the only explanation. Poorly written DCL logic and a really stupid premise too. When somebody logs into VMS, they are granted the privileges defined in the UAF record. They then execute ALL subsequent DCL with the persona (privileges, rights, UIC, etc.) defined in the UAF record. There's no way to elevate privileges via ANY DCL command! The author of that SYLOGIN seemed to believe otherwise. >I am trying to "take over" from where they guy that set this machine up >left off and learn how this particular server was set up and why. I >want to fix, but I also know System administration tends to reflect the >personality of the admin, people have reasons for things. I am making >the assumption that given this was a production system there must be >some reasons for things. Eventually I can try to improve. Never make assumptions!!! I have seen more systems in production in my career that look like they were managed and or configured by brain-dead chimps. I see people that when told "don't do this" will "do this" and then, contact me and want their error corrected. I tell them "you did what I told you not to do" and "don't do it again!" Guess what? They do it again and again and again. I have one case now (large gov't organization) that have been told NOT to do something. Not only have they NOT heeded my advice but they have "institutionalized" what I told them NOT to do in they're procedures to startup the system. Why??? Here's a gun. Here's a bullet. There is your foot. Don't shoot yourself in the foot. Oops! "Hello, Brian? I shot myself in the foot. Can you help?" >When I log in using Evan's account, I can get in but I have a disk quota >exceeded error when I try to generate an email message. > >MAIL> mail To: SMTP%"evan(a)snarc.net" Subj: VAX USERN/PASS >%MAIL-E-OPENOUT, error opening >COBK$DATA:[COBK.PERSONAL.EKOBLENTZ]MAIL_0128_SEND .TMP; as output >-RMS-E-CRE, ACP file create failed -SYSTEM-F-EXDISKQUOTA, disk quota >exceeded The disk that his account has been assign to IS the system disk. If you look, it's very verly low on disk space. If I were you, I'd move his account and any other user accounts (save SYSTEM, FIELD, SYSTEST) OFF OF THE SYSTEM volume. Personally, if you really are hell bent on keeping the system as it was delivered, I'd suggest you backup all the volumes and then, init and start from stratch. Then, once you know how it all works, you can go back and see what a mess the prior system's owner(s) left you.

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