January 2019 - vcf-midatlantic

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Museum report - 12/16/18
by Douglas Crawford 04 Jul '20

04 Jul '20

Again? This isn't getting through. On 12/17/2018 12:28 PM, Douglas Crawford wrote: > Great day at the museum. Visitor flow was non stop in the afternoon. > I am grateful for the assistance of Chris and Tony, with their help we > cycled > through the visitors and gave everyone good attention. > Its fun to docent in teams! > > The museum looked sharp and with Tony's help we had most everything > running that is > demo-able.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] BeBox for the Museum
by Michael Kato 25 Aug '19

25 Aug '19

> > > Message: 7 > Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2019 22:09:22 -0500 > From: Evan Koblentz <evan(a)vcfed.org> > To: Christian Liendo <cliendo(a)gmail.com> > Cc: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> > Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] NeXT(s) f/s in Maryland > Message-ID: > < > CADAdoY7HSnf9efqXOmPrpf7K6OQVafFPer0ytzg+adA8c3hCyw(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" > > Someone please get it for us!! We don't have one. :( > Evan, Let's talk. I have one in working order, and I might be ready to donate. ....maki....

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WTD: PDP-11 tape drive?
by W2HX 07 Mar '19

07 Mar '19

Hi friends, I am building my first PDP-11. It is a 11/23+ It is a nice set up with 4 RL02's lots of boards, two half-height racks, spares, you name it. I would really like to get a real-to-real 9-track tape drive, the manual loading kind. I see many autoloading types but they just don't have the panache of what I used to use in the 80's and 90's at my places of work. I have been watching on ebay for a while and those few that come up seem expensive. I did locate these (not cheap but cheaper than others). https://www.ebay.com/itm/192745726868 and https://www.ebay.com/itm/264099860161 The first one says "wiltec" but I am guessing that wiltec was just the reseller. It looks very similar (if not identical) to the second one which is listed as a fujitsu M2444AC. For some reason the "wiltec" one is cheaper. It seems to have some nice connectors on the back. The fujitsu is more expensive, has rack mounting hardware (a plus) but no back connectors. It isn't obvious how to connect this to something. Also shipping for some reason, is $100 more. I found a manual to this on bitsavers (thank you to whomever did this). It says it the fujitsu has 3 modes of operation. MODE A: CDC 9218S COMPATIBLE MODE MODE B: CIPHER F880 COMPATIBLE MODE MODE C: PERTEC FSlOOO SERIES COMPATIBLE Can they be made to interface with a PDP-11 Qbus system? Anyone have any opinions on these? I should also ask if anyone has an open-real tape drive they would like to part with (preferably known working) let me know. I am in NY, willing to drive a few hours or pay for shipping. Your thoughts are appreciated. 73 Eugene W2HX

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WTB: Looking for several Intel manuals
by systems_glitch 11 Feb '19

11 Feb '19

All, I'm looking for hardcopy of: * Intel MCS-80 System Design Kit User's Guide * Intel MCS-8 Manual (8008) * Intel PROMPT-48 Microcomputer User's Manual I've got PDFs of these, but I like original dead tree format when I can find it. Thanks, Jonathan

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Feb Repair Workshop - 2019
by Jeffrey Brace 05 Feb '19

05 Feb '19

It seems that the permissions on the signup spreadsheet weren't set correctly. I kept getting requests to get access. The permissions should be fixed now. Please signup for the February 2019 VCF Repair Workshop which will be February 9 & 10. < https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11Iy1jqPJqVzY1gnGRrHfLfIcx5IQ82QkkaB… > -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Minor little East keynote ;)
by Evan Koblentz 02 Feb '19

02 Feb '19

KEN THOMPSON!!! Who shall be interviewed on stage by another dude some of you may know, a Mister Brian Kernighan. Aaaaaaaand, I am working on arranging a couple of other minor little surprises. But they're not yet ready to be announced.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Friday classes @ VCF East
by Evan Koblentz 02 Feb '19

02 Feb '19

"Ask the expert" panel is a great idea! Definitely will do that. Having people bring in their own systems is a no-go. Insurance liability. On Sat, Jan 19, 2019, 4:23 PM Jeffrey Golas via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org wrote: > Rather than a restoration class on a particular model or brand, how about > an “ask the expert” panel with a panel of peeps who specialize in a > particular brand/era of machine? Perhaps even two, one for 8-biters and > another for different era machines or big iron. > > My other idea is along the same line, but almost like a mini workshop with > tables set up with experts on various machines, people can bring in their > machines to ask questions, etc. Not a full blown soldering/repair thing, > but perhaps basic troubleshooting and cosmetic stuff. > > Jeff (aka Bags)

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AppleSauce
by Evan Koblentz 31 Jan '19

31 Jan '19

John Morris donated the deluxe version of his new-ish "AppleSauce" disk imaging hardware to us (it should arrive in a week or so.) We (Ian, Alex J., etc.) can build it at the next workshop. It requires a Mac with OS version 10.11 or newer. John said that's pretty much any Mac from mid-2009 or newer. So everyone is welcome to bring uncracked Apple II disks to the next workshop, and this thing should be able to make exact working copies. Wish I had that in 7th grade! Got in trouble for trying to copy Newsroom. :) Copy II+ wasn't up to the task.

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 30 Jan '19

30 Jan '19

A bunch of 20-somethings are staying at IA this week for volunteer programs. Several of them passed through our museum today, so it was nice to have visitors despite the bad weather. IA management then decided to close at 4pm when it started snowing. -- Evan Koblentz, executive director Vintage Computer Federation www.vcfed.org evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 VCF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Hello Introduction
by Bob Flanders 29 Jan '19

29 Jan '19

Hi Bryan. Welcome to VCF. I live in NoVA -- Fairfax, actually. Great to have you. Best Regards, Bob On Tue, Jan 29, 2019 at 1:32 PM W. Bryan Caudle via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > As a new member to the list, I am looking forward to meeting some other > vintage computer enthusiasts and collectors and hopefully contribute to the > conversation in the future. > > My whole work life has in some way involved technology, and my interest in > computers goes back to elementary school with the TRS-80 model I and Apple > II. I grew up with Commodore machines at home, followed by TRS-80's and PC > Clones later on. I worked for Compuadd Corp in the 90's, then a local PC > shop, then started my consulting business in 1994. Most recently my full > time gig has been in infrastructure and architecture for a couple of global > non-profit organizations. When I am not at work or spending time with > family, my time is split between the computer collection and aviation. > > I have been intentionally collecting and restoring vintage hardware since > 2006 with the future aspiration of having them on public display in some > form either connected with an existing museum or starting something new. I > am located in central Virginia, and we currently have around 100 machines > in the collection, with the majority dating from the mid '70s through 90's, > and cover a broad range of home computers, business computers, portables, > and gaming consoles. I am happy to say that approximately 90% of them are > functional. In addition to the usual suspects, some of our less common > items include an IBM System/32, Basic Four Minicomputer, Acorn Electron, > NeXT workstation, Xerox 1108 Lisp Machines, and the Commodore PC-10 IBM > clone. > > I enjoyed my first visit to the VCF East last year and am looking forward > to returning this year. I am considering participating in some sort of > exhibition at the festival, either on my own or in cooperation with others > and Evan suggested that I join this list to see where my ideas might fit in > with what others are doing. > > Much of our collection is documented here if anyone is interested: > > http://www.vacomputermuseum.org<http://www.vacomputermuseum.org/> > > Thanks for your time! >

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