June 2018 - vcf-midatlantic

HOPE dinner plans
by Evan Koblentz 19 Jul '18

19 Jul '18

Instead of me trying to round up everyone Saturday afternoon (July 21), what if we (gasp!) make plans? First thing: what's the best time to meet for dinner? I'm guessing late-ish because we would be leaving our demo tables unstaffed, so we want to wait until attendance goes down. (VCF owns a pair of huge tarps with grommet holes. What we usually do overnight is drape those over our tables and tie around the bottom with rope.)

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Head align Tape
by Duane Craps 15 Jul '18

15 Jul '18

>>> 7 track or 9 track? The Univacs are pretty old even for "vintage". Head alignment tapes are not track specific. They have one track the width of the tape and are used to adjust time delays to time align the bits coming off the read head when reading the alignment tape. Then a "scratch tape" is used while writing all ones to adjust the write delays while looking at the read amps. We used the same alignment tape for 7 and 9 track units. Duane On 6/17/2017 11:40 AM, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > 7 track or 9 track? The Univacs are pretty old even for "vintage". On 6/17/2017 11:40 AM, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > On 06/17/2017 11:37 AM, Herb Johnson via vcf-midatlantic wrote: >>> UNIVAC 1540 Magnetic Tape Unit...I wonder if anyone has a 800 BPI, >>> NRZ Master Head Alignment Tape (skew tape) to donate to VCF. >> 7 track or 9 track? The Univacs are pretty old even for "vintage". >> >> Also, as Dave McGuire noted, a lightly-used tape from a known-good drive >> will be useful. In the floppy-disk world, I use several diskettes each >> from a known good drive to validate "alignment". > That wasn't me. But yes, that can be useful for rough validation. > >> Seems to me, there's likely several boxes of mag-tapes in the inventory. > Yes, I brought a few boxes several years ago. > > -Dave > v

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MOBIDIC model
by Mike Loewen 04 Jul '18

04 Jul '18

This may be of interest to the group: Ebay 263784983409 Not associated with the seller. Mike Loewen mloewen(a)cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/

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OFF TOPIC
by Martin A Flynn 30 Jun '18

30 Jun '18

OFF TOPIC WARNING!! I need advise on 3D printing 10" tall letters to be used as cores for sand casting aluminum versions. Anyone with a printer want to take this on? martin

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Good news / please read, Re: museum network rack
by Herb Johnson 29 Jun '18

29 Jun '18

The good news about buying a new unit, is new batteries. Any donated unit would have old or no batteries, you'd have to buy new ones for use. Typically gel-cell batteries are tens of dollars each plus tens of dollars shipping, bigger cost more. Your unit (reading the manual) probably uses three 12V 7Ah batteries; those are common enough, probably about $100 to replace. Probably replace every two-three years depending on how many times they get discharged (extended power failures). When they get cooked, they swell up, it's visible. Good luck! My $10 worth Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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This weekend VCF Repair Workshop June 30 and July 1
by Jeffrey Brace 29 Jun '18

29 Jun '18

There is still room to sign up for the workshop this coming weekend: < https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1n8M9h5ZVbcA4VixgDy3GHyN2HTWzSsS3fAg… > Also can someone bring a dead test cartridge for C64? I have to locate mine in storage and might not have time. 1 Thanks -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Looking for a terminal as prop for a kids science program
by Bill Degnan 29 Jun '18

29 Jun '18

I was approached to provide a terminal for a science program. The props guy naturally wanted something I would not be willing to part with.. https://www.vintagecomputer.net/alphacom/AlphaCom_Front1.JPG Does anyone have anything like this? It does not have to be working but you have to be willing to sell for a few hundred dollars. I am happy to pass along the lead to whomever can furnish a similar-looking unit. Contact me privately via https://www.vintagecomputer.net/contact.cfm. Bill

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Good news / please read, Re: museum network rack
by Evan Koblentz 29 Jun '18

29 Jun '18

Hey everyone. Our rack is nearing completion, we just need a little more help. - We obtained a right-sized patch panel (1u / 24 ports) and returned the 2u to Martin (we don't need 48 ports and why waste the space?) - Jason P. is bringing us a console (sliding kbd drawer + monitor) this weekend - I talked to several people who know about UPS stuff and got various opinions -- there were suggestions ranging from small consumer units to 3000va cabinets. I considered them all and decided the best thing for us is a 1500va system because it is plenty of power / battery life, and it's much cheaper than the next step up (2200va which costs more + requires a 20A circuit to be installed). Plus you still get the management software. Three companies make these: APC, Cyperpower, and Tripp-Lite. I spent a couple of weeks trying to get one donated to us, but I failed to pull it off. Then I changed gears and started looking at prices. I decided on a specific unit, the Tripp-Lite SMART1500RM2U. Funny story: I checked Amazon, CDW, Newegg, and also did a generic Google search. Guess who has the best price ..... Home Depot! It's crazy. Same basic price as the others ($522) but they do ship-to-store so you save a lot on shipping as it's 58 pounds. Steve A. and Don C. each agreed to donate $200 for this, so all we need is another $120 to buy it. If just a few people each commit to 10, 20, or 50, then we'll have it in no time. Can you help? Thanks, -Evan

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(no subject)
by Herb Johnson 29 Jun '18

29 Jun '18

> Bill Degnan: > Anyone have any SGI Octane Drive Sleds for sale/trade? I have earlier SGI sleds but not for the Octane: http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/sgi.html Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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VCF Repair workshop this weekend, high heat and humidity: re: fans
by Jeffrey Brace 29 Jun '18

29 Jun '18

It has been noted that there will be hot temperatures in the 90's and high humidity this weekend during our workshop. There is air conditioning in 9032-A where we hold our workshop and generally works well, but it has been suggest that everyone bring small personal fans because the wide open space is not the most efficient in heating and cooling. VCF has one or two small fans that can promote air flow, so we may bring them out if there will be no one in the warehouse working. -- -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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