December 2017 - vcf-midatlantic

Bernie S at Festivus 2017
by Herb Johnson 04 Dec '17

04 Dec '17

>> Bernie S of 2600 magazine fame...[has some wire recordings to >> retrieve from the Radio museum and will stop by Festivus] >> Wire recording predated magnetic tape, and was used by the 1950 SEAC >> computer for data storage. Early microprocessor computers, and some later video-gaming home computers, used audio data cassettes for data storage. We in this list know this. But recent experience I've had with 21st century young adults, is that such use is a complete surprise to them. and, a lot of modern computerists, work far harder than necessary, to digitally extract data from those old audio recordings. So, it's a surprise to me, that the earliest wire-recorders, were also used with some computers of the 1950's. If he has more information on that use, I suggest that VCFed try to obtain some information from Bernie "S" - does he have a last name or is his identity confidential for some reason? - and make that information available and archived. Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Bernie S at Festivus 2017
by Jeffrey Brace 04 Dec '17

04 Dec '17

Bernie S of 2600 magazine fame will be attending Festivus. He said: "Btw, Saturday I'll be stopping by the Radio Technology Museum to retrieve some restored wire recordings from the 1940's that my late father made. Wire recording predated magnetic tape, and was used by the 1950 SEAC computer for data storage. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEAC_%28computer%29 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEAC_(computer)>" <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEAC_(computer)>If anyone is interested in seeing this 1940's wire recording technology demonstrated on Saturday, then let Evan or myself know. Bernie would be happy to demonstrate it at the Antique Radio Technology Museum. -- Jeff Brace

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Museum letter to Festivus Claus
by Evan Koblentz 04 Dec '17

04 Dec '17

Dear Festivus Claus, Here are some things we would really like to have for the museum. We've been very good this year!!! - A long RCA cable (about 20 ft.) so we can attach the Lego demo station (Laser 128) to the big workbench monitor. - Demodulator (to attach a 2600 to RCA input on the same big monitor) - Combined DVD/VCR unit, that would save space vs. separate ones. - Fanless rack-mount switch. Martin recommended fanless versions of the Juniper EX2200 or Cisco 3010. We'd like at least 12 ports, 24 would be ideal, with PoE support. - Rack-mountable UPS with good batteries - Dark chocolate for Evan (thought I'd sneak that in!) - Rack-mountable sliding keyboard tray - Keyboard with built-in trackpad/trackball - Two matching office chairs -- black/chrome, cushioned, wheels, arm supports - One bench-height stool -- black/chrome, cushioned, wheels Perhaps some of next week's party attendees can bring us any of these items on behalf of Festivus Claus. Keep in mind it's all tax-deductible.

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 04 Dec '17

04 Dec '17

Adam and I were at the museum from 11:00-6:30 today. - Jason H., who used to live out here and was an active MARCH member, visited today from Seattle. He hadn't seen the museum. The first words out of his mouth upon entering were, "It looks professional!" vs. our old exhibit. He hung out with us until about 5:00 and even helped clean our workbench. - Adam counted our Commodore 128s .... FIFTEEN! That's a dozen more than we need. We'll test them all another time (probably at the next workshop in January) and then figure out how to get the surplus into collectors' hands. - Adam also sorted/organized some other Commodore accessories, joysticks, etc. which were cluttering our warehouse entrance area. - We checked out a donation of a TI Professional Computer (Osborne-esque) which arrived yesterday. It looks brand new except for the keycaps, most of which are yellowed although a few random ones seem pristine. Weird! - We put aside 50-something Pickett slide rules and a new-in-box Atari Flashback 2, which as Jeff B. posted will be given away at Festivus. - We put another Flashback 2 into the museum workshop and attached it to the big monitor on the wall. It works fine but there was no audio. We determined the wires from the monitor's side-mounted speakers were damaged. Chances are high that some of the more experienced members can fix this. I'd still rather connect one of our real 2600s, but first we need to acquire a modular (not a demodulator) because the monitor doesn't have a coax input. I think Dean said he has one. - We had a slow but steady stream of museum visitors. Maybe about 20 people total. Lots of parents/children due to the InfoAge holiday train show. The highlight was a precocious and extroverted 7-year-old girl who really got into it. - We stopped at Home Depot and got a 50-pack of contractor-grade trash bags. Our warehouse supply of these was done. ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, director Vintage Computer Federation a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org facebook.com/vcfederation twitter.com/vcfederation instagram.com/vcfederation

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January Workshop - Vote for your choice
by Jeffrey Brace 03 Dec '17

03 Dec '17

Choose a weekend: January 6/7 January 13/14 January 27/28 Voting ends Dec. 2 Don't complain if you didn't vote!

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NeXTstation
by Evan Koblentz 03 Dec '17

03 Dec '17

NeXTstation in the museum wouldn't turn on today. No idea why! This needs some TLC at the next workshop. ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, director Vintage Computer Federation a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org facebook.com/vcfederation twitter.com/vcfederation instagram.com/vcfederation

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Commodore in Trooper, PA??
by Christopher Gioconda 03 Dec '17

03 Dec '17

I work in Conshohocken so if I can help in any way, I can make myself available. Christopher Gioconda cgioconda(a)gmail.com On Dec 2, 2017 12:39 PM, "Chris Fala via vcf-midatlantic" < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: I am nearby and can probably go help with this. Please let me know when others are planning to go. Chris F. On Dec 1, 2017, at 6:12 PM, William Sudbrink via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: Did anybody else catch the odd post on the VCFed forums from a guy claiming to be disposing of the contents of a "gmt plant"? Talking about wafers, blueprints, sealed games, C64s? Someone close enough to take a look? Bill S. The posting is in the For Sale: spotted on Craigslist thread for some reason, by the way. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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Stuff FS/FT at Festivus (or otherwise)
by Todd George 03 Dec '17

03 Dec '17

Hi all, My computer room and garage are bursting at the seams from the amount of vintage computing crap I've amassed of-late. I know I have more stuff than I'll ever find the time to work on and want to prioritize the process of offloading some of the excess. Problem is, I need motivation to dig into the stuff that doesn't personally interest me. In order to drive motivation, I'll list some of the things that I'm looking to get rid of. Here's the deal, the details are limited as generally I only know that I have these items, haven't documented them in-detail. If you are interested in something let me know (off list) and I'll dig whatever it is out and get more details over to you including pictures or whatnot. Alternatively, I can drag whatever it is to Festivus and you can poke at it in person, no pressure, no obligation. I'm trying to move some inventory so if you don't like a price, let me know or make an offer, maybe we can work something out or I'm just off my rocker and need some sense talked into me. Would also consider trades +/- cash for Amiga machines and accessories, Commodore stuff in general (although I'm up to my eyeballs in C64s and VIC-20s), an IBM 5140 Convertible or 5155 Portable (or other portable/transportable computing equipment), 100MB USB (or SCSI) Zip Drive, or PowerBooks/Apple Macintosh equipment. Here's the list: - Commodore 1541 Disk Drives - $25 to $35 depending on condition - Apple IIc w/Apple Monochrome Monitor IIc - Working, computer needs to be cleaned, monitor is gorgeous and has been Retrobrited, has monitor stand - $140 - Apple Monochrome Monitor IIc with stand new/unused in box, seal broken, tested - $80 - White TI 99-4/A - $35 - Commodore 64 retail boxes - $10 - TRS-80 Model III 48K - $150 - TRS-80 Model 4P (No lid!) - $175 - Tandy Color Computer 1 - $45 - Tandy Color Computer 2 ("melted keys" version) - $55 - iBook G3 (not working, video chip needs reflow/replacement) - $10 - 586 Small SBC/Single Board Computers - $50 - 13 and 19” CRT televisions - $10 each - Viewsonic E90fb 19" CRT Monitor - $40 - NEC XV17+ 17" CRT Monitor - $65 - Bondi Blue iMac - $40 - Various pizza box Macintosh LCII and LCIII computers - $30 to $60 - Apple StyleWriter 2500 - $40 - Various Star Micronics and other Dot Matrix Printers - XBox Classic TSOP Modded, no software installed - $30 For potential deals outside of Festivus, I'm located in Quakertown, PA and generally disinterested in shipping. I've got great eBay feedback, and quite a few people here know I'm a straight-shooter. Thanks all, -Todd

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FESTIVUS 2017 - README.TXT (PART 1)
by Jeffrey Brace 03 Dec '17

03 Dec '17

I think one big e-mail was too much for everyone. I'm breaking it into parts spread over many days. Here is the signup list: https://docs.google.com/ spreadsheets/d/1odmPxfBK9BrR-NDZIx4_c-V2lZpt_-vU- 3fIBGiyrM4/edit?usp=sharing <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1odmPxfBK9BrR-NDZIx4_c-V2lZpt_-vU-3f…> *DATE:* December 9 & 10. *TIME:* START - 10 A.M. on Saturday and goes late into the night until everyone sleeps. END - 5 P.M. on Sunday. (Re-starts around 10 A.M. Sunday morning) *LOCATION:* InfoAge Building 9010-D - (2201 Marconi Road, Wall Township, NJ) - It will be straight ahead once you enter through the gate. The door is marked Sandy Recovery and is up the steps. *PARKING:* InfoAge management wants us to park inside the campus, in a neat orderly row, between the Festivus building and the IXR MakerSpace building. Here's is my crude map: https://drive.google.com/ open?id=1ThrnNAnAWsCz30Am7IvG8GS50YFOziHK InfoAgeMap (Park behind Q/R/S) http://infoage.org/visiting/ The holiday train show is going on, so we are discouraged from parking in the main parking lot, since they will be reserved for guests of the model train show. Do not cost IA money by leaving it open to confuse paying guests. Always close it behind you when you enter/exit, EVEN IF IT WAS ALREADY OPEN! *COST:* *PAY ME! (Jeff Brace) - **http://vcfed.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/brace-1.jpg <http://vcfed.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/brace-1.jpg>* $10 for all members attending Festivus, which VCF pays to InfoAge to renting the space and buy food and supplies. $25 if you are staying overnight. See below for details. We can accept cash. If you want to pay via PayPal, I can have a machine available.

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Museum Report 2017-12-02 December 2, 2017
by Jeffrey Brace 02 Dec '17

02 Dec '17

Steve Anderson was docent today. His report: Slow to moderate day, two Marines in uniform were impressed. Two or three small families, and a couple dropped off a ti computer system Today was the first day of the holiday trains at Infoage. The museum will be busy with traffic from visitors as the month goes by.

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