December 2019 - vcf-midatlantic

Kennet Classic Workshop 1/4/2020
by Bill Degnan 19 Dec '19

19 Dec '19

All, Politics aside we have computers to restore, people. This is a reminder about the Kennett Classic workshop on 1/4/20-, mark your calendars. https://www.kennettclassic.com/events/ A lot of you have signed up on the meetup.com site, including new people from the local area (Kennett Square). Some will need help, experts are welcome. Seating preference will go to those who sign up on meetup.com or RSVP to me via the web site contact form. We can host about 20. Here is a blast from the past (workshop) ten years ago at my old office: http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=310 (Dan Roganti and I organized a CP/M-themed workshop) Bill

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] I'm resigning
by Glenn Roberts 19 Dec '19

19 Dec '19

The governance structure of the VCF 501c3 is on the web: http://vcfed.org/wp/about/governance/ I agree it would be great to see more transparency from the board on governance topics for the group - vision, priorities, budgets, investments and other decisions. Before retiring I served for almost 20 years as a research director for a large non-profit (also a 501c3) research and engineering company in Northern VA. I can say from that experience that communication, transparency and input from constituents are critical elements of organizational governance. I also served in a voluntary capacity for a number of organizations (FIRST Lego League, Boy Scouts of America, and our local Homeowners Association) and I found those volunteer efforts to be much more stressful, so I fully sympathize with what I imagine Evan may be going through. Though, by chance, Evan and I still haven't had an opportunity to meet in person, from what I know from these postings and observing a few of the VCF events he has been consistently a strong leader and a passionate proponent of our cause. I certainly hope that the Board fulfills its duties and works to resolve any personal differences within its ranks. We all share a passion for the preservation of computing history. I truly believe that, but for the efforts of groups like VCF, much of this critical history would be lost forever. Our mission is too important to be jeopardized by personal disagreements. * Glenn From: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic-bounces(a)lists.vcfed.org> On Behalf Of Ben Greenfield via vcf-midatlantic Sent: Thursday, December 19, 2019 6:57 AM To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> Cc: Ben Greenfield <ben(a)cogs.com>; Evan Koblentz <evan(a)vcfed.org> Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] I'm resigning

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] I'm resigning
by jaj＠totallyamused.com 19 Dec '19

19 Dec '19

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] I'm resigning
by Evan Koblentz 18 Dec '19

18 Dec '19

Fifteen years of blood, sweat, and digital tears ... totally unappreciated by various people in recent changes to VCF so-called leadership. Ben, you changed my life for the better when you loaned your Lego robotics kit. I thank you for that. Anyone can reach me at evan(a)snarc.net. Anyone who wants to know why I feel driven out could ask the other "leaders" who think they know better than me. Basically there is no point in staying if it stopped being fun and too many other people want to fuck with the vision. Maybe one day I will start a new endeavor. On Wed, Dec 18, 2019, 4:14 PM Ben Greenfield via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Evan, > > This is horrible news and we deserve a better resignation/explanation then > this. > > I have no doubt it was a lot of work… > > Thank you, > > Ben > > > On Dec 18, 2019, at 4:10 PM, Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > > So long and thanks for all the fish. > >

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I'm resigning
by Evan Koblentz 18 Dec '19

18 Dec '19

So long and thanks for all the fish.

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How to best store vintage ICs
by Herb Johnson 18 Dec '19

18 Dec '19

Henry S. Courbis (and others) suggest "antistatic foam is better than nothing" and suggests sealed antistatic bags to store the antistat'ed ICs. Also suggested are antistatic IC tubes, which Bill Degnan correctly states are superior. But many people (including Henry, myself) end up, piling chips in black anti-stat foam "in a shoebox", as he posts. I'm not ragging on Henry; everyone has these problems and uses the solutions reasonably available. Or we inherit collections of chips stored this way. Due to my age it's clear to me, these are serious problems over a few decades. Since many vintage computers and components are 40, 50 or more years old, it's a more serious problem for those things. Some science and engineering of materials comes into play when dealing with old IC's and their storage. If such discussions are not of interest, stop reading here. http://www.retrotechnology.com/restore/res_ithaca.html I don't have a specific Web page, about problems with "black rust" AKA "silver oxide". But many have observed that certain TI (Texas Instrument) IC's from the 1980's 90's have had IC pins turn black and become brittle. In sockets these IC's must be replaced; soldered in they seem to mostly perform OK (until they don't). Other ICs in general may suffer similar brittle-rust-pin problems. I don't have a factual scientific finding on the chemistry of the problem But there's no doubt problems occur for certain runs, brands, and eras of IC's. Solutions to the old chips that rust-out? one simply avoids them. They now stand out with their black and sometimes brittle "legs". My expedient (described on the Web page cited) was to use De-Oxit per pin and socket and pray. Antistatic-plastic tubes are available and not overly expensive in bulk. One accumulates these or just buys them. Replacement every few decades is simply a fact, because they *break up* otherwise. Other than the tube's decay, I'm not aware they cause other problems. I and others have seen chips, stored for decades in antistatic foam, fall apart when pulled out. We have all seen such foam become dust or mud. So, it's a problem. I'll detail what I know. I did some research several years ago about the nature of black antistatic foam. I had to recover chips stored since the 1970's in black foam in a cardboard box; others were packaged in individual little hard-plastic containers, also with black foam. The classic conductive material in these foams, appears to be carbon-black. Some carbon-black is produced by burning (with acids I believe) *sugar*. Consequently, some resulting carbon black contains sugar and acid. Over time and in the presence of oxygen and moisture, these contribute to *corrosion*. And over decades, the base material of anti-static "foam" degrades, as does almost any plastic. When these anti-static foams are cheaply produced, these problems seem to occur sooner. Antistatic foam is intended to be a temporary storage, generally, for transport. I'm sure someone with more industrial knowledge, can inform me about long-term storage methods. I'm generally aware, those involve sealed plastic and antistatic or conductive baggies. There's likely other and better (or worse) materials used in storage in recent years. Among the decades-old ICS, I observed there was much less damage among the individual containers than in the "black foam in a box" items. I hypothesize that the somewhat sealed containers reduced oxygen and moisture exposure. I left those items alone. The chips stored in sheets of crumbling black foam? As an expedient, I repackaged them in "aluminum wool" sheets and sealed anti-stat bags. "aluminum wool" is like steel wool, only made from aluminum. It was awful, cheaply made, crumbly stuff. But it wont' rust or induce rust in other metals, and it provides conductive protection. Instead of 'cardboard boxes" I used acid-free archival boxes. Most cardboard is full of acids, from the paper-making process. Again - these choices were an expedient of time and cost. I didn't and don't have cheap solutions to these "black-foam" problems; but I've not looked lately. I'm glad the subject came up for discussion (if anyone has read this far). I don't know of a better and relatively cheap material to use as an antistatic embedded "pad", than the black (and pink) foamed plastics in current use. It seems prudent to replace the foam every several years, and to sealed-bag such things: yet I don't follow my own advice out of convenience. Conductive tubes are reasonable for batches of like chips; inconvenient for individual chips. IF somone has factual/engineering data about some modern material alternatives, I'd love to hear about it. Don't forget the material facts. Regards, Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT info

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] How to best store vintage ICs
by Jeffrey Jonas 18 Dec '19

18 Dec '19

I'd say tin boxes are best. Naturally conductive. I use AOL tins but they're no longer free in your mailbox :-/ Altoid/mint tins are fine, after cleaning. After that, consider chip rails. That's what the manufacturers use. Never any residue or chip fouling. JUST SAY NO TO FOAM! Bad foam damaged my vintage chips by corroding the pins so much that some fell off :-( -- jeff jonas

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How to best store vintage ICs
by John Heritage 17 Dec '19

17 Dec '19

Hey folks, I'm looking for some advice. I have a number of old CPUs -- 8088s, a few 286's, some 486s and early Pentiums sitting in a box stuck in some packing foam from years ago. I'd like to store these a little better as some now have bent pins and they're a little haphazardly in the box. I kept most of these because these (at least pre-Pentium) CPUs were keepsakes from my BBS that didn't go to Microsoft and Novell when they raided my BBS :). What's a better way to store these? I assume just get some anti static foam of some kind from Amazon or another source (Mouser?). I see some plastic boxes with anti static foam in them that seem like a decent idea for keeping them protected.. Thanks.. John

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3.5" Floppy Belts
by Ryan Burke 17 Dec '19

17 Dec '19

Hi all, I have some internal laptop 3.5" floppy drives that need belts, and I can't seem to find any. Does anyone have any suggestions of where to find them? Thanks, Ryan

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Repair Workshops January 2020
by Jeffrey Brace 16 Dec '19

16 Dec '19

Signup Sheets: January 4, 2020 : Kennett Square, PA. at Bill Degnan's Kennett Classic Let him know that you are coming: Website: <https://www.kennettclassic.com/> January 25 & 26, 2020: InfoAge CDL Hackerspace building 9059 < https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LmYNLLK6CEOLCeOQCClhe1J20gpmVlyzmSs… > -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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