April 2019 - vcf-midatlantic

Museum Report 2019-04-06
by Jeffrey Brace 06 Apr '19

06 Apr '19

Tony did the first shift from 1 to 3. He had 4 highly interested visitors. I tool from 3 to 5 because I had leadership training at Taekwondo. I also had 2 groups of 2 highly interested people. A nice day. More people coming now that the weather is getting warmer. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Anyone have any info on the Sun 511 box?
by Ethan Dicks 06 Apr '19

06 Apr '19

Hi, All, I'm dusting off old Sun gear for VCF East and I ran across a shell of a Sun 511 box on my shelf. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any docs online about what would have been stuffed into it back in the day. Lots of Sun info still out there but the 511 box is not well represented. I suspect that's because I think it's a late Sun 2/early Sun 3 device. The best description is here: http://www.obsolyte.com/sunFAQ/X11_case/ Better photos at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SunShoebox_Front.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun-2#/media/File:SunShoebox_Rear.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun-3#/media/File:Sun3_60_Disk_Tape.jpg Mostly I'm curious about mounting plates/brackets, etc. I don't have the original PSU so if I use this box, I'll have to find something modern anyway. I also have some more modern (late Sun 3/early Sun 4) tape/disk shoeboxes. I haven't found any pictures online but they are tall enough to hold a full-heigh 5.25" disk over a 5.25" half-height tape drive on a half-height bracket with the PSU to the rear. Those are ready to stuff with disks so I'll probably start there. If only I had more than one DD50-P Sun SCSI cable... Alas, the "joy" of vintage machines, when it's hard to find parts that fit. -ethan

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The Grey Wall
by Jameel Akari 06 Apr '19

06 Apr '19

https://hartford.craigslist.org/zip/d/colchester-open-vms-manuals/685800286… If there is SERIOUS interest I can arrange a rescue mission. Chances are it's all on Bitsavers or archive.org but there's something to be said for a legit Grey Wall O' VMS. -- Jameel Akari

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Repair Workshop Wrap-up 3/30 & 3/31
by Herb Johnson 06 Apr '19

06 Apr '19

... and it's a two-fer of appreciation, with Bill Dromgoole's report on how the Univac repairs "get done". Some of the failures you describe - gradual loss of function across cards - suggests to me general problems like power-supply voltages. YOu found a suspect supply, I see. There's some really cheap little DC digital voltmeter boards from China for a few dollars. Putting a bunch of those on your DC lines may allow you to monitor them as you do repairs, look for sagging DC. Your "real" voltmeter can confirm the voltage; these widgets aren't that accurate but don't have to be. YOu might also 'scope out the DC, look for noise and glitches. As you know you need a lot of bandwidth to see DC spikes and dips which can trigger logic incorrectly. Also, chemical changes occur in board contacts as current flows. Corrosion over decades may create a bit of chemistry. Then when current is applied, chemistry (corrosion) may increase resistance between boards and their edge-sockets. Removal/insertion will fix that, for awhile. I've had good results with DeOxIt chemicals - even with those IC's with "black leads". A swipe of the DeOxIt brush across the board edge may work. I often follow that with some scrubbing with a white papertowel, to remove the oxide while maintaining that chemical coating. You can see dark-stuff come off. If there are pin contacts, a soft used toothbrush is a good scrubber. YOu don't want to "scrape", that removes gold and nickel! But you know these things. Point being: never underestimate the problems with "contacts". Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Repair Workshop Wrap-up 3/30 & 3/31
by Herb Johnson 06 Apr '19

06 Apr '19

David, thank you for your repair work and reportage on the VCFed straight-8. Beyond the value of your efforts, reporting on details of failure, diagnostics and repair provides essential information for other's restoration of PDP-8's, and in repair techniques in general for transistor/diode logic of the 1960's. Thanks for showing us how it's done. Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Supercomputers, revisited
by Matt Patoray 05 Apr '19

05 Apr '19

Evan, How about a complete "Never Obsolete" E-Machines Celeron for that old VAX :) I'll get you the address, just don't send it Estes freight :) On Mon, Apr 1, 2019 at 2:41 PM Sentrytv via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > NICE ONE! > > Sent from: > My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device. > > > On Apr 1, 2019, at 2:07 PM, Ian Primus via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > > I'll make you a deal - I'll trade you a *working* Packard Bell Pentium > > 1 system, with the matching monitor, keyboard and mouse for it. I know > > that's the machine you really wanted all along. > > > > -Ian > > > > On Mon, Apr 1, 2019 at 11:25 AM Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic > > <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > >> > >> I'm starting to have buyer's remorse about the VAX 9000. Maybe we should > >> offer it as the mother of all surplus items at VCF East. Thoughts? > > -- Matt Patoray Owner, MSP Productions KD8AMG

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Supercomputers, revisited
by Evan Koblentz 05 Apr '19

05 Apr '19

I'm starting to have buyer's remorse about the VAX 9000. Maybe we should offer it as the mother of all surplus items at VCF East. Thoughts?

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Slightly OT - Favorite computer movie
by Ken 05 Apr '19

05 Apr '19

At 4/1/2019 12:07 AM, Jeffrey Golas via vcf-midatlantic wrote: >Whats your favorite "computer" movie? Can be current or ancient, modern or mainframe. A one liner about why you chose it would be cool too. Electric Dreams (1984). Here, the 80's computer store scene to drool over: https://youtu.be/rcLcxAwdjmo?t=4m23s - Ken

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] VCF East consignment - anybody interested in these items?
by Evan Koblentz 05 Apr '19

05 Apr '19

You can save time by downloading and completing the form. It's on the VCF East website. "Friday night" depends on the availability of our specific volunteers who are running the consignment booth. Nothing can be dropped off until it's processed/recorded, which is a people-intensive job. On Fri, Apr 5, 2019, 9:28 AM Peter Fletcher via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > I have some stuff I am considering taking to the consignment. Do I just > bring it on Friday night or is there some sort of pre-registration > procedure? > > > > On Apr 5, 2019, at 9:23 AM, Andy Diller via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > > Sell or trade these at the repair days. It's a great way to get people > to attend and it's an easy way to get rid of stuff. > > > > > > - andy diller > > > > > >> On Apr 5, 2019, at 7:50 AM, Glenn Roberts via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > >> > >> Very useful. Thanks Corey. This will help me plan the weekend. Sure > wish I could just be there the whole time! > >> > >> > >> > >> Hope I can make something happen (and hope I can attend some of VCF!). > I’ve got a lot of stuff in the storage unit and would like to lighten my > load, and give some VCF’ers new “toys”! Of course, I understand the need > to pick up any unsold items by the end of the event… thanks again! > >> > >> > >> > >> * Glenn > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> From: corey cohen <coreyvcf(a)gmail.com> > >> Sent: Friday, April 05, 2019 6:14 AM > >> To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> > >> Cc: Glenn Roberts <glenn.f.roberts(a)gmail.com> > >> Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] VCF East consignment - anybody > interested in these items? > >> > >> > >> > >> Glenn, > >> > >> > >> > >> I’m not sure consignment will be ready for drop off on Friday > morning, we can wait for Evan to chime in, but by Friday at 5:00pm people > will be dropping off. You don’t have to be here all weekend for > consignment, but if your unsold stuff isn’t out by 7:00pm on Sunday it will > go in the dumpster (unless it’s a Cray or PDP-10, which will be given away > to the person who offers the most beer). VCF does not want to keep > people’s unsold items. > >> > >> > >> > >> For pricing, you set your price at the beginning, VCF takes 15%, but > covers all credit card/PayPal fees which allows people not to carry so much > cash. If your onsite, you can change your prices on Sunday morning and at > 3:00pm Sunday. This keeps people from going crazy changing prices all > weekend. If your exhibiting or leave your mobile on your consignment > sheet, we can let people call your mobile to ask questions, but for if they > bargain with you and you want to change the price for them, VCF would like > you onsite to confirm in person the price was changed. > >> > >> > >> > >> I hope that explains it all, > >> > >> Cheers, > >> > >> Corey > >> > >> > >> > >> corey cohen > >> uǝɥoɔ ʎǝɹoɔ > >> > >> Sent from my iPhone > >> > >> > >> On Apr 4, 2019, at 8:55 AM, Glenn Roberts via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> > > wrote: > >> > >> Can someone say a bit about the rules for the consignment area? As > luck would have it, I need to go get my son from college that weekend so I > may miss much (nearly all?) of VCF but I have some items that I'd like to > put out at consignment if that could work. It would literally be a > drive-by/drop-off on the way north (e.g. Friday AM?). I am hoping I could > at least salvage part of Sunday as a day to attend VCF (plan details still > TBD) on the way back home. > >> > >> Is it pretty much a requirement that the seller be on premises during > the whole event? People post fixed prices? No negotiation? I'm sure > there's a requirement to be there at the end to reclaim any unsold > merchandise of course. Would it even be workable for me to have > merchandise in consignment and not be there Friday and Saturday? > >> > >> Any other rules of the consignment area would be most useful to know. > Sorry, last year was my first at VCF and I didn't get to experience much > at the consignment area. > >> > >> Thanks > >> > >> - Glenn > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> -----Original Message----- > >> > >> From: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic-bounces(a)lists.vcfed.org <mailto: > vcf-midatlantic-bounces(a)lists.vcfed.org> > On Behalf > >> > >> Of corey cohen via vcf-midatlantic > >> > >> Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2019 8:09 AM > >> > >> To: vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org <mailto: > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> > >> > >> Cc: corey cohen <coreyvcf(a)gmail.com <mailto:coreyvcf@gmail.com> > > >> > >> Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] VCF East consignment - anybody interested in > >> > >> these items? > >> > >> > >> > >> So I’m starting to think what I’d like to get rid of to make more room > at > >> > >> home. > >> > >> > >> > >> Would anyone be interested in the following items? > >> > >> > >> > >> BTW: I know people will say, depends on price, well that part I will > think > >> > >> about so it’s fair not fire-sale pricing, this is more of should I drag > this stuff > >> > >> down question. Some of you know I recently broke my shoulder blade > falling > >> > >> off a ladder so I will have to have someone bring these items for me > since I > >> > >> can’t carry a lot, so I don’t want to drag them down for nothing. > >> > >> > >> > >> - Sony 42” plasma computer monitor (no screen burn) circa 1999 with Dual > >> > >> VGA input, composite and component/BNC composite input Actually works > >> > >> with Apple II+. No stand since it never had one, only included wall > mount. > >> > >> > >> > >> - ADM 5 terminal with service manual. Fully working. > >> > >> > >> > >> - Decitek high speed paper tape reader (parallel interface), works also > as > >> > >> normal reader without reels, I had this connected to my ALTAIR Parallel > card > >> > >> using a latch of simple TTL chips to handle the strobe and data lines. > >> > >> > >> > >> - Vectrex with multi-cart cartridge (cartridge has every vectrex game > they > >> > >> made and also has a really good asteroids arcade knock off which also > gets > >> > >> the audio right) > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> Let me know what/if I should bring down to VCF East. > >> > >> > >> > >> Thanks, > >> > >> Cheers, > >> > >> Corey > >> > >> > >> > >> corey cohen > >> > >> uǝɥoɔ ʎǝɹoɔ > >> > >> Sent from my iPhone > >> > >> > >> > >

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VCF East consignment - anybody interested in these items?
by corey cohen 05 Apr '19

05 Apr '19

So I’m starting to think what I’d like to get rid of to make more room at home. Would anyone be interested in the following items? BTW: I know people will say, depends on price, well that part I will think about so it’s fair not fire-sale pricing, this is more of should I drag this stuff down question. Some of you know I recently broke my shoulder blade falling off a ladder so I will have to have someone bring these items for me since I can’t carry a lot, so I don’t want to drag them down for nothing. - Sony 42” plasma computer monitor (no screen burn) circa 1999 with Dual VGA input, composite and component/BNC composite input Actually works with Apple II+. No stand since it never had one, only included wall mount. - ADM 5 terminal with service manual. Fully working. - Decitek high speed paper tape reader (parallel interface), works also as normal reader without reels, I had this connected to my ALTAIR Parallel card using a latch of simple TTL chips to handle the strobe and data lines. - Vectrex with multi-cart cartridge (cartridge has every vectrex game they made and also has a really good asteroids arcade knock off which also gets the audio right) Let me know what/if I should bring down to VCF East. Thanks, Cheers, Corey corey cohen uǝɥoɔ ʎǝɹoɔ Sent from my iPhone

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