March 2018 - vcf-midatlantic

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] About Bill's message
by Dave McGuire 06 Mar '18

06 Mar '18

You wrote: > I know I've seen 3D printed switches for mini's show up a few times. > Back in 2015, Christopher Parish had a handful of 3D printed > replacement switche paddles for his HP minicomputer. > While I can't put my finger on it, I seem to recall seeing similar > ones for the PDP-8/e but maybe that's a fig newton of my imagination. > Am I remembering this right? (Alex, man, I love ya like a brother, but for the love of God PLEASE fix your mail client) Vince Slyngstad has designed a number of things for the DEC world, including front panel switches: http://so-much-stuff.com/pdp8/cad/3d.php I've printed a few of these with good results. There are three 3D printers here in my lab. I use them with some frequency to make random replacement parts, and quite a lot for customer prototyping applications. I.e., "real work". These are not toys. For all of the assertions in this thread about them being so fiddly, etc, that's really not the case today. These are all Monoprice-branded models (one each of their Mini, Plus, and Ultimate models), and they are essentially plug-and-go, right out of the box. This is not news. I am not a 3D printing "hobbyist" or "hacker". I have enough time-sinks in my life and I do not need or want another. I do, however, need to get work done, which occasionally means making parts, without screwing around, as I have no time to waste. With today's affordable 3D printers this is very much a practical thing, and I do it all the time here with excellent results. Yes, you do need to learn how to use them properly. But the same goes for any tool, even a hammer or a screwdriver. But I would expect a mailing list full of computer people, i.e. thouse with a significantly higher I.Q. than the average slob on the street, should be able to figure that out. Sometimes it's not for work purposes. I messed up my thumb pretty good a few days ago and needed a splint. I found a thumb splint on Thingiverse, and...less than half an hour later, my thumb was in a splint. Nay-say all you want, folks, but it's here. Come see if you don't believe me. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA

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About Bill's message
by Evan Koblentz 05 Mar '18

05 Mar '18

Bill Deg. wrote: >> I keep giving away good ideas and then they're taken without giving me credit The short comment is, "He's right." And that should be rectified. Since day 1 of MARCH -- around fall 2004 -- Bill has been my top adviser. Various MARCH and then VCFed officers have come/gone, but Bill's always been there to give us great ideas and help me understand ways to improve my own ideas. Repair workshops were Bill's idea. (I said they wouldn't succeed.) The holiday party was Bill's idea. (I said nobody would go.) A sales area at VCF East was Bill's idea. (I said it would be too difficult.) Hands-on restorations of the museum items were largely Bill's idea. (I said we couldn't pull it off.) The list goes on... I hope to learn my lesson one of these decades, which is "Listen to Bill." Creating a library of open-source vintage computing parts * IS * a good idea. Bill: if you'd like to lead the effort then you have my support.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Mac OS 7.1 Terminal Emulator & BBS software
by Joseph Oprysko 05 Mar '18

05 Mar '18

Oh, my mistake, it’s not 1.5 mb, it’s 8mb. But my hard drive sounds very gummy. Where it’ll slow down and stop spinning occasionally. I haven’t opened it up to see which model hard drive to see if there’s something I can do to clean up the spindle motor/bearings On Sun, Mar 4, 2018 at 3:20 PM Ben Greenfield via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > > > > On Mar 4, 2018, at 2:29 PM, Dean Notarnicola via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > > > > I've got 128MB (unofficial maximum) installed in mine. Makes a big > > difference. > > > Wow! I have got to try that, > > > > > > > On Sun, Mar 4, 2018 at 1:42 PM Herb Johnson via vcf-midatlantic < > > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > > > >>> on my SE/30,... (running 7.1) as I only have 1.5mb of Ram. > >> > >> What? An SE/30 has eight 30-pin SIMM slots. Get some 4MB SIMM's! Fill > >> that puppy *up*! - Herb > >> > >> -- > >> Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA > >> http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net > >> > > -- 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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Mac OS 7.1 Terminal Emulator & BBS software
by Herb Johnson 04 Mar '18

04 Mar '18

> on my SE/30,... (running 7.1) as I only have 1.5mb of Ram. What? An SE/30 has eight 30-pin SIMM slots. Get some 4MB SIMM's! Fill that puppy *up*! - Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Mac OS 7.1 Terminal Emulator & BBS software
by Joseph Oprysko 03 Mar '18

03 Mar '18

I’m trying to “dial” out on my WiFi232 modem to various Telnet BBS Systems. I currently have Red Ryder as a terminal emulator. On VT100 mode, once it reaches the bottom of the screen it stops scrolling. Any suggestions for software that might work better? Also, I’m considering setting up a BBS on my SE/30, what’s a good BBS package that would work with it (running 7.1) as I only have 1.5mb of Ram. Thanks Joe -- 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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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] You might wanna read this message :)
by Duane Craps 03 Mar '18

03 Mar '18

On 3/1/2018 7:08 PM, Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > Ahem: > http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/vcf-east-keyno… Yea Bill! No dash in 1219B. Never heard artillery used in reference ti guided missile systems. -- DuaneCraps sdɐɹɔ ǝuɐnp

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Is it just me or.....
by Joseph Oprysko 03 Mar '18

03 Mar '18

The quest for technology appears cyclic. All technologies go through their growing pains. Right now, one of the potentially disruptive consumer technologies is rapid prototyping, more commonly referred to as 3D printing m. 3D Printing in various forms has been a technology used by corporations and in engineering firms for years. The roots of which date back to the early 1980’s. I see the current environment around 3D printing in a consumer aspect appears to closely mimic the growth of the personal computer industry in the 70’s and 80’s. One difference I see is that in the late 70’s and early 80’s, the Open Source movement was also in its infancy, while now, a large share of the hardware and firmware involved in the current growth of 3D Printers embrace open source initiatives. But in contrast, many of the closed source 3D printer manufacturers often appear to have a more consumer friendly product. So this I suppose from a very high level is a good “test” of the open source ideology. Just as many early Linux users and developers thought that the majority of PC’s would be running open source software. (I’m intentionally separating the Personal Computers from mobile devices and infrastructure) While there are a good number of users of open source operating systems, it’s a highly splintered group, with many of the operating systems based on various major distributions of the software and operating system. The open source initiatives have forced the hands a lot of major players in various industries to embrace, or at least utilize openness in parts of their products, sometimes it may be a front end UI, sometimes the firmware or other components. Often there will be a mix of proprietary systems and open source systems to create a device. So, where will the 3D printing industry end up? What is your opinion on this? -- 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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[OT] Anyone Interested in an HP 5325a Universal Counter?
by J. Alexander Jacocks 02 Mar '18

02 Mar '18

All, I have an HP 5325a Universal Counter, and the original Manual. The counter is fully functional, and is rather attractive, in my opinion, due to the rugged design combined with the Nicie tube display. I’m bringing it to the workshop, this weekend. Please drop me a note if interested. Thanks! - Alex

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Needed for museum: temporary UPS
by Evan Koblentz 02 Mar '18

02 Mar '18

I'm working with someone at Schneider Electric (which owns the APC brand) to get a small rackmount UPS donated. This is necessary because apparently IA volunteers sometimes turn off the power without any notice. That won't fly if we are running a server. Until we get good one, can someone (preferably someone coming to the workshop tomorrow) bring a small UPS for us to borrow?

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NJ Maker Day (March 10)
by Evan Koblentz 02 Mar '18

02 Mar '18

We were invited to have a table for NJ Maker Day (Saturday, March 10) at the Liberty Science Center. I accepted and I'll bring the Apple II (Laser 128) + Lego robot demo. Can't get enough of that :), it makes our point well, and kids love it! https://lsc.org/explore/today/makers-day I emailed the LSC people to ask if they can give us any extra passes to distribute. Waiting to hear back.

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