January 2020 - vcf-midatlantic

East Exhibitor Registration Open
by Jeffrey Brace 07 Jan '20

07 Jan '20

VCF EAST 2020 Exhibitor Registration is open, so submit your exhibits now! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScbf-yC0U4Vu0zhf_1sXCKEaU1bF7PVV3u… -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation

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East Sunday Keynote - Michael Tomczyk
by Jeffrey Brace 07 Jan '20

07 Jan '20

I have confirmation of Michael Tomczyk doing the Sunday keynote at 9:30AM. About Michael Tomczyk: "Michael S. Tomczyk was responsible for guiding the development and launch of the Commodore VIC-20, the first microcomputer to sell one million units; and for his early role as a pioneer in telecomputing." -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] January workshop call to arms
by Bill Degnan 07 Jan '20

07 Jan '20

Given it's close to my house, let me know when you're going. I used to have a 8010, sold it to Vulcan Electronics some years ago. I also used to work on other Xerox workstations in various places. Bill On Tue, Jan 7, 2020 at 8:26 AM Tony Bogan via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > David, thank you for that info! > We do have one monitor, mouse and keyboard, and Andy is heading down to DE > this week to further assess the remainder of the rescue the Xerox machines > were a part of, and potentially pick up the other peripherals for these > machines in advance of completing the overall rescue. > > Tony > > Sent from my iPhone > > > On Jan 7, 2020, at 7:43 AM, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > > On Tue, Jan 7, 2020 at 7:32 AM David Gesswein via vcf-midatlantic < > > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > >> I have been in contact with Josh Dersch through my emulator project who > >> has working 8010's. Evan had expressed interest in getting one working > so > >> I > >> had checked and he said: > >> > > > > I trust Josh Dersch from The Living Computer Museum & Labs because I have > > met him at VCF PNW and VCF West where he showed off his *working* Xerox > > 8010 Information System (better known as the “Star” workstation) > alongside > > a microcode-level Star emulator developed at LCM+L named Darkstar. Come > > experience GUI history and early desktop metaphors with Viewpoint and > Star > > OS, do some hacking in Mesa on XDE, or delve into AI on Interlisp-D! > > > > > >> I have finish the 3b1 which shouldn't take too long, possible Straight 8 > >> work, haven't heard if paper tape could be loaded. Assuming spare time > >> I can assist on this. > >> > > > > I'm sorry, I didn't have time to finish checking the PDP 8 paper tape > > loading last time I was docent. And now the museum is being renovated so > I > > won't be able to get to it until the epoxy flooring part is finished > within > > the next two weeks. I will update you, but if you need to prioritize, > then > > please work on the Xerox machine before the PDP 8. > > > > > >> On Mon, Jan 06, 2020 at 10:37:30PM -0500, Tony Bogan via vcf-midatlantic > >> wrote: > >>> Date: Mon, 6 Jan 2020 22:37:30 -0500 > >>> From: Tony Bogan <thebogans(a)mac.com> > >>> To: vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org > >>> Subject: January workshop call to arms > >>> X-Mailer: iPhone Mail (16F203) > >>> > >>> All, VCF recently acquired two Xerox 8010 computers. We would like to > >> assess and repair (if needed) these machines, and are hoping to have > one on > >> display in the very near future. > >>> > >>> We are looking for anyone with the expertise and experience needed to > >> assess these machines. We are hoping to begin the process of restoring > >> these machines at the upcoming January workshop on the 25th and 26th of > >> this month. > >>> > >>> So if you???re out there (and I???m sure you are!) and you can attend > >> the workshop, please let us know! While there will be lots going on at > the > >> workshop, this is something we are hoping to be able to work on in > >> preparation for the museum remodeling (or as soon as is practical) > >>> > >>> Thanks, > >>> Tony Bogan > >>> > >>> Sent from my iPhone > >> > > > > > > -- > > ========================================= > > Jeff Brace > > Vice President, VCF East Showrunner > > Vintage Computer Federation > >

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] January workshop call to arms
by David Gesswein 07 Jan '20

07 Jan '20

I have been in contact with Josh Dersch through my emulator project who has working 8010's. Evan had expressed interest in getting one working so I had checked and he said: Honestly, they are pretty well-built machines with decent switching power supplies in them. The service manual on Bitsavers covers test points for the power supplies. Pull the boards out, clean the edge connectors, test the voltages under load. The monitors may be the weak point (apart from the stuck-heads problem on the Quantum drives) but we've had pretty good luck with them. The Quantum drive issue is here http://www.pdp8online.com/q2040/q2040.shtml I went to the warehouse with Evan at a previous workshop and we took a quick peek but didn't have time to start anything. At the time I think he said the monitor/keyboard wasn't their yet but was supposed to show up later. Do we have parts for a complete system now? I can bring my emulator so the disks can be backed up before we start working on the machine. I can also check if I can get a good image from the person in case the drives are dead. I have finish the 3b1 which shouldn't take too long, possible Straight 8 work, haven't heard if paper tape could be loaded. Assuming spare time I can assist on this. On Mon, Jan 06, 2020 at 10:37:30PM -0500, Tony Bogan via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > Date: Mon, 6 Jan 2020 22:37:30 -0500 > From: Tony Bogan <thebogans(a)mac.com> > To: vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org > Subject: January workshop call to arms > X-Mailer: iPhone Mail (16F203) > > All, VCF recently acquired two Xerox 8010 computers. We would like to assess and repair (if needed) these machines, and are hoping to have one on display in the very near future. > > We are looking for anyone with the expertise and experience needed to assess these machines. We are hoping to begin the process of restoring these machines at the upcoming January workshop on the 25th and 26th of this month. > > So if you???re out there (and I???m sure you are!) and you can attend the workshop, please let us know! While there will be lots going on at the workshop, this is something we are hoping to be able to work on in preparation for the museum remodeling (or as soon as is practical) > > Thanks, > Tony Bogan > > Sent from my iPhone

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January workshop call to arms
by Tony Bogan 06 Jan '20

06 Jan '20

All, VCF recently acquired two Xerox 8010 computers. We would like to assess and repair (if needed) these machines, and are hoping to have one on display in the very near future. We are looking for anyone with the expertise and experience needed to assess these machines. We are hoping to begin the process of restoring these machines at the upcoming January workshop on the 25th and 26th of this month. So if you’re out there (and I’m sure you are!) and you can attend the workshop, please let us know! While there will be lots going on at the workshop, this is something we are hoping to be able to work on in preparation for the museum remodeling (or as soon as is practical) Thanks, Tony Bogan Sent from my iPhone

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Whiz Kids Computer Props
by Jeffrey Brace 06 Jan '20

06 Jan '20

Someone who is a documentary producer researching 1983 TV series Whiz Kids is asking us to identify the props used in the show. Can any of you identify them? Here are the four pictures: < https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1MdZWxwpVlBdIJq3QwiYbgNb799eCA7jS?us… > Also if you cannot identify them, then can you direct me someone to someone who can? -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Chuck Peddle
by Glenn Roberts 05 Jan '20

05 Jan '20

Chuck Peddle obit is in the weekend Wall Street Journal. Unfortunately I can't share as their content requires subscription (which I don't have). Glenn

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VCF East 7 - Corvus Exhibit
by Andrew Diller 05 Jan '20

05 Jan '20

Mike Loewen --- You have a very nice collection of old VCF photos: thanks for taking and displaying them for us to enjoy. I have a question about: http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/VCF-East2011/VCF7L-IMG_2181.jpg <http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/VCF-East2011/VCF7L-IMG_2181.jpg> Do you (or any other list member) have any idea who presented the Corvus systems back in VCF 7 2011? I'm interested in tracking down info about these systems and would like to talk to that exhibitor. thanks, -andy

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VCF East 2020 Keynote speaker for Saturday 04/25/2020
by Jeffrey Brace 04 Jan '20

04 Jan '20

Announcing the first keynote speaker committed to VCF East 2020: Bill Mensch!!! -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] several things
by Kenneth Seefried 03 Jan '20

03 Jan '20

- Do some research on bit-error rate on those large drives before you commit your data to one of them. Not pretty. - I have a stack of USB "backup drives" in the 500GB-10TB ranges that in relatively short periods of storage (2-3 years) cased to function. The Western Digital units seem to be particularly bad, but that's subjective. Redundancy, storage diversity and data integrity seems to be a big part being successful here.

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