July 2019 - vcf-midatlantic

Kfest
by Tony Bogan 10 Jul '19

10 Jul '19

All, the original plan for getting stuff out to Kfest to help keep the garage giveaway alive has fallen through. If anyone is heading to Kansas Fest and has room to transport computers please contact me off list. I’m in NJ near Infoage but could easily drive an hour+ or so in any direction to meet up with someone. I do not have any days off between now and Monday so my availability is also limited. I was originally planning on sending about a dozen machines (CPUs only, no monitors. Some 100% working, some needing minor work like keyswitches, power supplies etc, some just cosmetically wanting but otherwise working) but if that’s too much I’d send whatever was feasible. I had not reached out prior to tonight as I believed transportation was not an issue. Unfortunately, things happen and the person arranging transport can no longer do it. Tony Sent from my iPhone

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Signup for July Workshop
by Jeffrey Brace 07 Jul '19

07 Jul '19

Here is the link to signup for the July workshop: < https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WC20hnriY5alKGteeWoWq5jXT3ZOjzA6h-u… > -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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fly me to the moon ... (50th anniversary)
by Jeffrey Jonas 06 Jul '19

06 Jul '19

https://mitmuseum.mit.edu/LunarDay July 20, 2019 We are especially thrilled to welcome the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) Restoration Team to the Museum, and see the results of their multi-year effort to restore the AGC #14 used for ground testing and man-rating of the Lunar Module in Houston. Unless you are an Apollo astronaut or part of the team that worked on the AGC and its software, this is the first time ever, to see this computer in action! A display will be open all day, and presentations at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. will allow for a deeper dive into how the computer works, and the challenges of restoring it.

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 06 Jul '19

06 Jul '19

Got to the museum at 11 today to meet with a local Bell Labs alum who heard about us and wanted to donate a straight Apple II. It's a rev. 3 or 4, very clean, but it was last turned on 30 years ago so I'll let Ian, Tony, or Corey evaluate it at the next workshop. I did not want magic smoke. This is only our second original Apple II. The guy used it as part of a Bell Labs field trial of cell phone infrastructure in Chicago in the late 1970s -- that's historic! Then the place was dead from 1-3, and there were tons of visitors from 3-5. Coincided with rain outside -- mostly tourists who left the beach, I suppose. Mike P. (a member who brought his kids to VCF East and some of our workshops) stopped by too. I didn't leave until 5:30 because of an enthusiastic tour group. I also tried to set up our new LTE modem; it's supposed to be more reliable than the old one. I got the modem itself working, but I need help to get the wireless/Ethernet bridge connected to our network. Dean, Jason, Neil, Alex J, etc. could all help with this.

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RL01 Platter Removal?
by W2HX 06 Jul '19

06 Jul '19

Hi all, I have a crashed RL01 disk (very crashed). I'd like to remove it from the plastic cover to display it. I opened up the case but cannot figure out how to remove the platter? I took 4 philips screws out which only served to remove a metal ring. It seems that the handle is somehow attached to the platter and seems it is preventing me from removing the platter. Whats the trick? Thanks Eugene

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[OT] 14" Atari ST/Amiga CRT recommendations
by John Heritage 03 Jul '19

03 Jul '19

Greetings Offtopic - so please reply privately as to not clog up the list; I was curious what people would recommend for a CRT monitor that could support either or/both an Atari ST (1040STf, Mega STE) and/or an Amiga 500/1200. Ideally I'd like something 14" in size, but larger (if reasonable/easy to use) recommendations are appreciated. Thanks! John

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Honeywell tape reading?
by Evan Koblentz 02 Jul '19

02 Jul '19

Someone wants to know if we can restore data off Honeywell tapes labeled "High Density 555". Anyone have know-how and equipment to do this? Evan Koblentz Executive Director, Vintage Computer Federation evan(a)vcfed.org / (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org @vcfederation

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Museum report
by laurakid 02 Jul '19

02 Jul '19

Should I just leave the group? Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone On Monday, July 1, 2019, 1:18 AM, laurakid via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: please let me know when I can volunteer again. thanks Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone On Saturday, June 29, 2019, 9:35 PM, Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: InfoAge had about 15 visitors today; half of them made it to VCF-land. One guy introduced himself as Jason Howe's cousin. So that was exciting. :) Bill I. came by to visit us.

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FTAGH: BK Precision Model 1431 scope
by David Riley 02 Jul '19

02 Jul '19

Hi all, My recently deceased uncle left me with a number of things that I’d like to re-home because now I have too many of them. One is this oscilloscope. It seems to be a pretty run-of-the-mill older analog scope with some noisy pots and a PL-259 input connection; I can also supply a 50-ohm PL-259 cable and N connector adapter. The screen seems to be in pretty good shape, with a decently bright trace and no burn-in that I can see. I don’t have the right combination of adaptors to hook this up nicely to a signal generator, so I’d have a hard time testing the vertical amp, but the sweep seems fine and the level controls seem to work. Anyone interested? I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it to any upcoming workshops, but I should be able to make Festivus. You can also pick it up if you’re reasonably local to Philly. Contact me off-list for a picture, since pictures don’t seem to come through well and I can’t be arsed to put it up on a server. - Dave

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help with sun 3/50 video
by Andrew Diller 01 Jul '19

01 Jul '19

Hello: I picked up a Sun 3/50 that works fine but I need a mono crt for it. I'm wondering if anyone here has experience with them and remembers if other monitors work or what the specs are with them. I have a keyboard and am getting a mouse. thanks, -andy

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