April 2020 - vcf-midatlantic

VCF 2020 T-shirts For Sale!
by Dean Notarnicola 22 Apr '20

22 Apr '20

VCF 2020 is postponed until October, and while we can’t be there (yet), we can feel like we are, and make others envious at the same time! VCF 2020 T-shirts are on sale now and they are looking good! You’ll cut quite the fine figure working on your vintage gear in one of these quality shirts! See this page for detailed pics and size/color options: http://vcfed.org/wp/t-shirts/ - Order through this Google form: https://forms.gle/NkFnsyC8knS6E1fD6 - US addresses only for the moment Socially distance in style! Support VCF and improve your wardrobe at the same time!

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Earth Day 50th
by Herb Johnson 22 Apr '20

22 Apr '20

http://www.retrotechnology.com headlines the 50th anniversary of Earth Day today, with my Flag of Earth from 40 years ago; for the reasons noted on my home page. Thought I'd share my thoughts of the day and of recent events. Details on the Flag itself are at the link given. http://www.retrotechnology.com/earthday2020.html regards, Herb -- 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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Retrofair 2020 - Virtual VCF PNW 2020
by Jeffrey Brace 22 Apr '20

22 Apr '20

I'm not sure how many knew this, but after VCF PNW 2020 was cancelled in March, an individual allowed exhibitors to post their own videos to this website http://www.retrofair2020.com/ As I see the original date of VCF East and VCF Italia approach I feel sad and hope that this can help others feel some joy in seeing some vintage computer goodness! -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Dan Laskowski's C64 Midi interface program
by Jeffrey Brace 22 Apr '20

22 Apr '20

Dan Laskowski was supposed to be one of our exhibitors at VCF 2020 and is still expected to exhibit in October. Here is a preview of what he has done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWQyMnFSINM -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Computer People for Peace
by Bill Degnan 22 Apr '20

22 Apr '20

I was reading through some People's Computer Company newspapers and came upon a reference to a group called the Computer People for Peace. I did some research and found that they were active from 1969-1973 and they put out their own newsletter, based out of Brooklyn, NY. So, for you who care about MidAtlantic history, here is a link to the archive and articles I compiled. http://www.vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=761 Some of you may not know exactly how militant they were against IBM back then. Someone bombed one of their offices back during this time. I have a 1968 ComputerWorld article about it. The late 60's have a rich computer history if you care to explore beyond the 80's :-) I plan to make an exhibit of some of this at Kennett Classic some day, after the current exhibits are done. Bill

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Gallery talk about Univac 490
by rar 21 Apr '20

21 Apr '20

The System Source Computer Museum has been closed due to Covid 19, so we started making video gallery talks. The first one is about our Univac 490 real time computer from 1963. It is about 10 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq7aVCc2GP8 Bob Roswell https://museum.syssrc.com museum(a)syssrc.com<mailto:museum@syssrc.com>

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How's Everyone Doing
by svcatitc＠aol.com 21 Apr '20

21 Apr '20

Nowthat Mke Ruane has extended the closure of IA until June, I figured it would be a goodtime to continue the shout out that Jeff Brace started and see how everyone’sdoing. Stuffhere in Brick is moving like Ground Hog Day, although business paperwork seemsto keep me focused if not only for a little bit of time and I have to come backto it later. Waitingon shipments of PCMCIA stuff for the HP660LX so I can play further. Anybodyworking on interesting stuff? BillInderrieden

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OT: HP 660LX Color Palmtop PC available
by svcatitc＠aol.com 19 Apr '20

19 Apr '20

HP 660 is up and running. Amazingly, for the age, the NiCd packs charged up fine. Now I am looking for PCMCIA memory for the thing so as to bring over other files and programs, from the main PC's. Once you get used to the stylus operation, it is a neat little thing. Thanks again to Bob Shuster for all his assistance. Bill Inderrieden svcatitc at aol.com svcatitc at aol.com Tue Apr 7 09:23:07 EDT 2020 - Previous message (by thread): [vcf-midatlantic] ACM digital library is free thru 30-June - Next message (by thread): [vcf-midatlantic] Wanted: Disk Jockey 2D/B - Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] So that the final disposition of the HP palmtop is not in question, it has been spoken for. Many thanks to Bob Shuster for his assistance. Bill Inderrieden ---------- Original Message ---------- Jim Scheef js at sdf.orgTue Mar 31 23:21:59 EDT 2020 The HP660 is eminently collectible along with the other four or five models in the HP palmtop product line based on WinCE. The DOS-based palmtops starting with the 95lx are even more interesting although not as 'rare'. Hopefully someone will take Bob's offer.Jim

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] ADM-3A display problem
by Garrett Nievin 19 Apr '20

19 Apr '20

This project finally got popped of the stack and finished, and I wanted to "close the loop" on it. The culprit turned out to be C112, a 47uF 50V in the monitor section. Ian nailed it. Thank you! Cheers, Garrett On Fri, 26 May 2017 15:22:48 -0400 Garrett Nievin via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > Hi, Ian! > > http://imgur.com/a/Z4s7V > > Here is the image on imgur. I turned the brightness way up, put a > loopback on the serial port, and typed all these characters. Everything > seems to work correctly except for this negative video drive. > > I'll definitely check those caps. I replaced the 2.2 uf tantalums just > because I had some on hand, but haven't replaced any other caps yet. > > Thank you! > > Cheers, > Garrett > > > > On Fri, 26 May 2017 08:36:31 -0400 > Ian Primus via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > > > I've been really busy lately - sorry I didn't see this earlier. The > > picture did not come through - the list doesn't support attachments, > > could you upload it to imgur or something? > > > > IIRC, there isn't a way to invert the video on the ADM3A with a > > switch, it sounds like you have a failure in the monitor section. It > > is very possible for a component failure to drive the video negative > > like that. Check C119 and C112. > > > > -Ian > > > > On Sun, May 21, 2017 at 4:07 PM, Garrett Nievin via vcf-midatlantic > > <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > > > I'm restoring a Lear Siegler ADM-3A, and I'm not the most CRT-savvy guy > > > around (but I did really enjoy Ian's excellent class at the most recent > > > VCF-E). > > > > > > Attached is a photo of the issue. If I crank the brightness to clearly > > > see the raster, I can see that the text is actually displaying as dark > > > instead of bright. > > > > > > Pointers? > > > > > > Cheers, > > > Garrett > > > > > > > > > > > > > >

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Collection of Commodore items for sale in Facebook Group
by Christopher Gioconda 18 Apr '20

18 Apr '20

Sharing this to everyone because it’s a private group on Facebook and folks may not be members- there’s a pretty impressive collection of Commodore items being sold up in Schenectady NY, but it sounds like the owners aren’t aware of the value of the collection. https://www.facebook.com/groups/2006480029587942/?ref=share is a link to the group. There’s a CMD RamLink, SuperCPU, CMD hard drive, SX-64 amongst others. Good luck, and hope everyone is staying healthy. Chris

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