March 2017 - vcf-midatlantic

Commodore Inside Story Kickstarter Funded
by John Heritage 19 Mar '17

19 Mar '17

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/469255657/commodore-the-inside-story/d… Looks like the "Commodore: The Inside Story" told by David Pleasance is already fully funded :) I've watched a few of this guys interviews and he seems to be a no-BS kinda leader from Commodore.. I'm looking forward to the book..

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help dumping rom of rare coin-op arcade game
by Herb Johnson 18 Mar '17

18 Mar '17

> The CPU is a Signetics 2650 and the ROM > looks to be a Signetics N82S115N (it's the only socketed chip on the board > that I can see). Google tells me 82S115 is a 512 X 8 TTL bipolar PROM, by finding datasheets. Most ordinary and old PROM programmers don't support that whole class of PROMs to program. But reading it is a different matter. http://www.retrotechnology.com/restore/fuse_bipolar_prom.html Build a reader. Or fake a common 5V EPROM and read THAT. It's doable. You're welcome. Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Seattle Gazelle question
by Richard Cini 18 Mar '17

18 Mar '17

All – Back in 2014, I posted a message to the group about the Seattle Gazelle. I don’t have one, but I was basically trying to re-create it using the boards I had in-stock. Jim Scheef sent me a reply back then, but I wanted to follow-up with the whole group on this since I only just located the needed support board (300F model). I think I have all the pieces now: SCP 8086 board, SCP 300F support board, CompuPro RAM22 (128k), and the Cromemco 16FDC controller. I’m using the 16FDC because the source code for the v1.5 SCP BIOS has a compilation switch for it (the other options are Tarbell, SCP and Northstar) and I didn’t have the others. All of the board jumpers are “default” per the manual, other than disabling the RDOS on the 16FDC. This week, I put everything together and the boards work individually but not together (the 16FDC tests OK with the built-in RDOS and a Z80 board). I’ve confirmed basic things like port locations and the like match the v1.5 ROM. I’ve also done some manual testing – I can turn the drive motor on and off by outputting port I/O commands from the monitor, for example, so I know that intra-board communications work. For drives, I have available to me TM100-2A (5.25” DSDD) and Qume QT242 (8” DSDD). The drives test good with a PC using the default jumpers (I use a floppy adapter board from DBIT for the 8”; I now have MSDOS 6.22 on an 8” disk ☺). Straight floppy cables; DS0 strapping. The TM100 (SSSD version) is mentioned specifically in the Cromemco manual, but the Qume is not. When issuing the “B” (boot) command in the SCP ROM, there is no drive activity at all. Controller-specific code is in two places – the monitor ROM (for the bootstrap) and in the DOSIO module. The ROM version I have is for the Cromemco board, so it should work. I also have disk images so eventually I can make a bootable 8” disk if I can fix the rest of it. So, maybe a few basic questions: · Have I missed anything in the above? · What drives were used in the Gazelle and did SCP really use a controller other than the SCP one? · In the system VCFMA has, what drives and controller are used? Thanks again for any help. Rich -- Rich Cini http://www.classiccmp.org/cini http://www.classiccmp.org/altair32

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Commodore Inside Story Kickstarter Funded
by Steven Michelsen 18 Mar '17

18 Mar '17

I am really looking forward to reading that. On the kickstarter page, I like how it's noted that the book "will be 236 pages in length." Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy S7. -------- Original message --------From: John Heritage via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> Date: 3/18/17 9:21 AM (GMT-05:00) To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> Cc: John Heritage <john.heritage(a)gmail.com> Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] Commodore Inside Story Kickstarter Funded https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/469255657/commodore-the-inside-story/d… Looks like the "Commodore: The Inside Story" told by David Pleasance is already fully funded :) I've watched a few of this guys interviews and he seems to be a no-BS kinda leader from Commodore.. I'm looking forward to the book..

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OT: free ATAPI/IDE CD drives
by Jeffrey Jonas 18 Mar '17

18 Mar '17

I salvaged way too many ATAPI/IDE interface CD drives: read to 52x, read/write too. Free if you take them at VCF. I didn't think of it soon enough for Trenton :-/ -- jeff jonas

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a fellow's doing a 68030 homebrew board
by Jeffrey Jonas 18 Mar '17

18 Mar '17

just forwarding the reference, unsure if it has merit Newsgroups: comp.sys.m68k Subject: 68030 home brew computer From: xagdin(a)gmail.com Injection-Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2017 10:42:24 +0000 Looking for people interested in getting a 68030 board & build and test https://www.retrobrewcomputers.org/doku.php?id=boards:sbc:gryphon_68030:sta… https://www.retrobrewcomputers.org/forum/index.php?t=msg&th=64&start=0& 100% open source home brew 68030 project

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Where to find us at Trenton tomorrow
by Evan Koblentz 17 Mar '17

17 Mar '17

Trenton regulars know, but for any newcomers: we'll have a couple of tables in the second-floor lobby of the education building. All visitors welcome! You can pick up one of our shiny new brochures. ________________________________ 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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some Capsela for sale
by William Dudley 17 Mar '17

17 Mar '17

I found this Capsela Robot Discovery Toy (plus or minus some bits) and wish to sell it. It looks mostly complete (I assembed the robot from the instructions, I *think* it's all there but I'm not sure if there are missing spacers on the leg drives. Anyway, I know there are people on this list who are using Capsela. Here's a picture: http://www.dudley.nu/capsela.jpg Any interest? All offers entertained. Bill Dudley Jackson, NJ This email is free of malware because I run Linux.

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Wednesday helpers @ VCF East
by Evan Koblentz 17 Mar '17

17 Mar '17

Everyone, We will need helpers on Wednesday, March 29 to help set up for VCF East. To be clear: WEDNESDAY'S TASKS ARE PHYSICAL LABOR. We need to schlep and set up around 50 tables and a couple of hundred chairs. Obviously I cannot do it alone. I need people to commit to being there, bring your work gloves, be ready to sweat. Bounty is pizza and a snazzy VCF t-shirt. ________________________________ 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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help dumping rom of rare coin-op arcade game
by Andrew Molloy 17 Mar '17

17 Mar '17

I've got this rare bowling coin-op game from 1977 that isn't yet in MAME, and it seems there are no known dumps of the ROM. It's a cocktail cabinet by Mirco called Strikes & Spares. The CPU is a Signetics 2650 and the ROM looks to be a Signetics N82S115N (it's the only socketed chip on the board that I can see). Would a cheap eeprom reader such as this one do the job? https://www.amazon.com/Signstek-Universal-MiniPro-Programmer-Support/dp/B00… Here's some pictures of the game. I still have to remove and photograph a smaller circuit board that attaches via two ribbon cables to the mainboard. https://goo.gl/photos/4Kv2njjy18ZGxBpr5 Thanks, Andy

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