January 2020 - 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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Hayes 300bps SmartModem for museum exhbit?
by Adam Michlin 27 Feb '20

27 Feb '20

Hi Everyone, We're building a museum exhbit on historical modems. RIght now we have: Acoustic USR 300 bps USR Dual Standard Courier 14.4kbps (Sysop badged) Telebit T2500 Hayes 9600 bps USR Sportster V.92 The idea is feature the beginnings (acoustic) and ends (USR V.92) and several important modems in both the hobbyist space (the Dual Standard being very popular with BBSs) and the business space (Telebit). We'd like to replace the Hayes 9600 with a Hayes 300 SmartModem so people can see the modem that birthed the Hayes command set. Research indicates that the 300 is the first with the Hayes AT command set, but any corrections are welcome. Does anyone have a 300 they would be wiling to donate or lend? Museum exhibits will be changed much more frequently, although not on any set schedule as of yet, so any loan will most certainly be for less than one year. I'll add that, as it stands, this is a behind glass exhibit. There certainly is the possibility of connecting some of these (or other) modems to machines as we consider possible infrastructure capabilities on the museum. Thanks! -Adam

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Repair Workshops February 2020
by Jeffrey Brace 14 Feb '20

14 Feb '20

February 15 & 16, 2020: Hunt Valley, MD at Bob Roswell's System Source: < https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cVBh27hzT1P53BCorZXcK3cZQVwPtwWLLX6… > The Vintage Computer Federation and the System Source Computer Museum are hosting a vintage computer workshop on Saturday February 15th and Sunday February 16th 2020 at: System Source Computer Museum 338 Clubhouse Road, Hunt Valley, MD 21031 Plenty of free parking, short walk from Baltimore’s light rail (Gilroy Road Stop) We will open at 10AM on Saturday February 15th, 2020 and will lock up by midnight. We will open at 10AM on Sunday February 16h and lock up at 6:00PM Accommodations: Try https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g41196-Hunt_Valley_Maryland-Hotels.html Feel free to talk with others about sharing a room. Food: There are plenty of restaurants within a short drive. We will have catered Indian buffet on Saturday at cost ($12.00?) and catered Barbecue ($12.00?) on Sunday for those who sign up. We will feature tours of the museum throughout both days and several mini-workshops: - Retrobright workshop (bring your yellowed plastics) - Pre-industrial computing class - Learn to use a slide rule, and various types of Abaci - Hot Metal Typesetting (3500 lb word processor) If you need a machine to work on, please let me know. We have lots of computers awaiting restoration! If you have unusual needs, (220 Volts, fork lift, etc please email Bob Roswell at museum(a)syssrc.com Bob Roswell broswell(a)syssrc.com https://museum.syssrc.com 410-771-5544 x 4336 Here is the signup sheet: < https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cVBh27hzT1P53BCorZXcK3cZQVwPtwWLLX6… > ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Help with Tandy 1000 TX
by David K 30 Jan '20

30 Jan '20

I have a Tandy 1000TX. It works - I have played some Infocom and other games on it. I recently got a copy of Leather Goddesses of Phobos and have been unable to get it to load/work. The reference card mentions the game "is not self-booting". (I've attached a copy of the reference card) It appears you need to make a copy of the original game disk and the directions start by saying "Insert your IBM (or compatible) DOS disk in drive A" I do not have a copy of DOS for IBM (the game says you need version 2.0 or higher). Can anybody help me obtain this? I do not have the ability or capacity to load something online and get it onto a floppy disk. I've looked on eBay and seen either higher DOS versions (I am unsure which versions I can use on my Tandy) or crazy prices. I'm hoping not to waste money on buying the wrong thing. My Tandy has both a 5.25 and 3.5 disk drives. Thanks, David K.

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Lots of Heath/Zenith Equipment in Winchester, VA
by Alexander Jacocks 30 Jan '20

30 Jan '20

Does someone with lots of Heath/Zenith knowledge have time to look over some pictures that I was sent, and to help me determine what this equipment s worth? I'm not really interested in keeping most of it, so it'd be available to anyone interested once I pick it up. Thanks! - Alex

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Apple ][ disk ][ floppy drives
by Sentrytv 30 Jan '20

30 Jan '20

I am working on some Apple II DiskII floppy drives and I'm looking for someone who has experience in aligning these units, Who is able to help with a few pointers. Specifically with the mechanical adjustments. I have one drive that has a bad head which I will have to find. I have another that won't read track 22, after that it reads fine on a sequential read. I am by no means a experienced user with Apple but I am very much mechanically inclined. (I have made no adjustments to this drive yet) Mike Rosen Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.

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Fwd: [IBM1130] Print Punch: Artefacts from the Punch Card Computing Era
by Bob Flanders 29 Jan '20

29 Jan '20

This may be interesting to some ... ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Patrick Fry <frypatrick(a)gmail.com> Date: Wed, Jan 29, 2020 at 6:11 AM Subject: [IBM1130] Print Punch: Artefacts from the Punch Card Computing Era To: <ibm1130(a)googlegroups.com> Hi all, We have just released our new book which covers the visual history of the computer punch card. I thought this might be of interest to the group. Some of you have generously helped us with images and information already. The book features over 200 punch cards, 150 archival images and essays by Steven E Jones, Sandra Rendgen and John L Walters. You can see shots of the book on my <http://www.patrickfry.co.uk/printpunch/>site <http://www.patrickfry.co.uk/printpunch/> and more info on the CentreCentre site <https://centrecentre.co.uk/>, with a press release attached. We would love to spread the word about this book to anyone who might be interested. Please let me know if you’d like to know more. Thanks, Patrick Patrick Fry — www.centrecentre.co.uk www.patrickfry.co.uk www.instagram.com/mrpatrickfry — 215a Kingsland Road London E2 8AN +44 (0)7877 132 499 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "IBM1130" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ibm1130+unsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ibm1130/CAKDb6wsi5oXvYccTcRYWtG%3DjV%3Dm8… <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ibm1130/CAKDb6wsi5oXvYccTcRYWtG%3DjV%3Dm8…> .

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Update on the Xerox 8010 (Star)
by Adam Michlin 28 Jan '20

28 Jan '20

David Geisswein was so kind to take a look at one of our Xerox 8010 (Star) machines at the recent workshop. It turns on... counts to 10 on the LEDs, and then does nothing else. But, as you know, that's a huge first step. The Star is now in the musuem and is slated for further repair as soon as possible. Hands on use will happen! But we have a mystery: https://www.instagram.com/p/B72OuuBn4D2/ Our donor provided two Xerox 8010s (Stars, if you prefer) and one Xerox 6085 (aka Daybreak) and only one mouse. Neither machine seems to have a port that matches the connector the pictured mouse. Maybe we're missing a piece, though? You shouldn't need an Instagram account to view the pictures, but let me know if that is causing problems and I can upload them elsewhere. Best wishes, -Adam <https://www.instagram.com/p/B72OuuBn4D2/>

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VCF's entry in the /r/retrobattlestations "Not x86" contest
by Adam Michlin 26 Jan '20

26 Jan '20

Did someone say Not x86 Week contest? We thought we'd put in a last minute entry and you should be able to upvote until midnight (1/26/2020). https://www.reddit.com/r/retrobattlestations/comments/euduzy/univac_1219b_m…

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Sunday Breakfast OB Diner 9AM
by Jeffrey Brace 25 Jan '20

25 Jan '20

We will be meeting at the OB Diner at 9AM. Address is: 1519 Richmond Avenue Point Pleasant, NJ -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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