August 2020 - vcf-midatlantic

Museum Report 2020-08-16
by Jeffrey Brace 16 Aug '20

16 Aug '20

Slow day today with only 2 visitors, but extremely high interested visitors who had been here before and wanted more hands on use of the computers. They spent 2 and 1/2 hours using various working machines in the museum. Covid-19 procedures are working well with controlling the number of people in the museum and disinfectant procedures, etc. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783

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Museum Report 2020-08-09
by Jeffrey Brace 16 Aug '20

16 Aug '20

Better late than never. About a 15 people that day (last Sunday). A group of 2 about 3PM and a dozen about 4:40PM. Moderate interest level, but it shows that there are people interested in visiting InfoAge as a whole and VCF in particular. It's good to have the museum back up and running. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783

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"base 2" dot matrix printer available
by William Dudley 16 Aug '20

16 Aug '20

This is a dot matrix printer that I've owned for decades. It's in its original packing material, with the manual. It's apparently rare, as a google search turns up *nothing*. Pictures here: https://www.dudley.nu/forsale/#base2 Free to a good home, probably. Printer is in NJ. I might be convinced to ship as it's already in a good box. Bill Dudley Jackson, NJ This email is free of malware because I run Linux.

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Qume "daisy wheel" printer available
by William Dudley 16 Aug '20

16 Aug '20

I just found another cache of stuff that I have been storing forever, and I'd like to find homes for it. First item that I've photographed is a Qume "daisy wheel" printer. It's pristine. Last used in the early 90's, when I managed to get my CPM system to talk to it. Photos here. https://www.dudley.nu/forsale/#qume Free to a good home, unless this thing is stupidly valuable. Bill Dudley This email is free of malware because I run Linux.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Needed 5-1/4” Cleaning Floppy
by Herb Johnson 16 Aug '20

16 Aug '20

> Alexander Jacocks said: > Unfortunately, I have a bunch of drives that came to me dirty. So, cleaning disks is good, but doesn't directly address the need. The discussion has branched between "cleaning floppy diskettes" and "cleaning floppy drives". And "cleaning disks" is ambiguous; what's to be cleaned?. I myself, do not care for minimalist posts. Here's a primer on floppy drive issues of "dirt". A floppy drive is a mechanical mechanism. They get dirty because they are exposed to desktop environments but rarely cleaned. Drive mech's oils produce sticky surfaces. To clean a drive one has to remove dirt and debris. Age causes greases to turn hard; greases must be removed and replaced. Age damages flexible plastics and turns them to goo or hardens them: they must be removed and if necessary for function they must be replaced. Some things wear out from abrasion - head pads, rotating mechs. And: the drive heads are little electromagnets with a coating of epoxy. In time the epoxy wears off, the magnetic gap starts to open. Magnetic particles in that gap "short out" the magnetic signal, increasing read and write errors. Drives have other problems: read the fine ancient drive manuals if the manual for your drive doesn't discuss diagnosis and details of function. In any event, material can gather on the read-write head - that's bad. Very bad. It will scour magnetic coatings off the diskette. And the debris will "infect" other diskettes. So #1 priority is to keep the heads CLEAN and to clean them as soon as you observe diskette scouring or hear a "screeeeeeech" (not to be confused with noises from the disk head hub as it rotates, a similar sound). As has been discussed, one Q-tips the heads or uses a cleaning diskette (noun), either with an alcohol solution. regards, Herb Johnson -- 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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Apple IIgs “safe mode”
by Richard Cini 16 Aug '20

16 Aug '20

I’m trying to prep my old //gs for possibly getting rid of it. It’s been sitting for a while but it passes internal diagnostics. It seems to be barfing on loading GSOS from the external SCSI so I was wondering if there’s a way to force it to boot from the floppy disk so I can reformat the drive. Thanks! Rich Get Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef>

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Needed 5-1/4? Cleaning Floppy
by Herb Johnson 16 Aug '20

16 Aug '20

http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/clean_disks.html There's any number of Web pages about dirt and cleaning dirt on magnetic media. My site has collected what I think are reasonable practices. I've not discussed 3D printed "disk cleaning frames" as they did not exist until recent years; I'll add that information. Regards, Herb Johnson -- 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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Sunday Breakfast Order @ Repair Workshop
by Jeffrey Brace 15 Aug '20

15 Aug '20

Anyone interested in getting a bagel Sunday morning for 10AM delivery should look at this website: https://www.deliciousbagelspointpleasant.com/ And then fill out this Google Sheet with your order: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_aDSVj1BSJG1W_ynn-F2eHWx2CgqtxqymtG… Bill Inderrieden will pick up the bagels. VCF will buy a Dunkin Donuts Box-o-Joe and a dozen donuts. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783

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Museum Report: 12 August 2020
by svcatitc＠aol.com 15 Aug '20

15 Aug '20

Opened museum 1p. It is a bit ironic considering the deluge of "carwash" rain we got today that we had as many visitors as we did. Busy day. Four (4) groups of 3-4 people came in, (2 groupswere families) starting around 2p. Just a mild interest in the technology, however it was theparents that listened with intent. The last visitor was a repeat customer, an older gent withexperience on electronic cash register and associated equipment, working forNCR. Closed at 5p Bill Inderrieden

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Repair Workshop Info 8/15 & 8/16, 2020
by Jeffrey Brace 15 Aug '20

15 Aug '20

Remember the spaces are first come first serve to the CDL space. We have a limit of how many we can fit in there. Otherwise members will have to go to the 9032-A where we used to have our workshops. The workshop is $10 *per* person, *per* day. This is InfoAge's rule and not our decision. So that means for two days it is $20. Sign up to guarantee a table. DATE: August 15 & 16, 2020 LOCATION (two locations): InfoAge: 2201 Marconi Road, Wall Township, NJ 1) Building 9059 (CDL Hackerspace - Formerly IXR) AND 2) Building 9032-A (Old workshop area in main building) TIME: Saturday START time == 10 A.M. END time == 11PM. Sunday START time == 10 A.M. and END == 5 P.M. SIGNUP: < https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1L3Jc_RIHiBG08kZOOAgzvqjf8G0ox9ZRa6B… > Workshop area is limited to 10 people per building and facemasks are required. Hand sanitizer is available. COST: - $10 per person, PER day. This is required by InfoAge for us to pay for renting the space. - $25 for those wanting to stay overnight (Money goes to InfoAge). Please pay ME (Jeff Brace) upon arrival. Cash or PayPal is acceptable as payment. Ask ahead of time if you need to use a credit card. OVERNIGHT: Bring your own pillow, blankets, soap etc. We provide a bed frame and an uncovered mattress. There are showers and a kitchen for your use. - You can pay via PayPal to paypal(a)vcfed.org. or to me via cash or credit card in person. EQUIPMENT: - VCF will provide a table and you can use any available electrical outlet. - Bring your own tools, power strips, power cords, and supplies etc. - If you need particular tools that you don't know or particular parts, please post to the list for those going. They may have what you need. Let them know ahead of time. - Please bring an extra power strip to lend to someone that forgot. DRINKS: You should bring your own. I would recommend bringing a cooler of some type. FOOD: Saturday afternoon: Pizza from Attilios (Tinton Falls) Saturday Night: Brick House Tavern and Tap OR MJs (Le me know if you are interested) Sunday Morning: Bagel order from Delicious Bagels ( https://www.deliciousbagelspointpleasant.com/) Fill out Order here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_aDSVj1BSJG1W_ynn-F2eHWx2CgqtxqymtG… Sunday Afternoon: Wawa order GATE: Please close the gate behind you at all times. We want to discourage random strangers from wandering the campus. We have had this happen numerous times. PARKING: Park in the main parking lot, unless you are unloading. Don't park on the lawn. QUESTIONS? Contact Jeff: 732-759-1783 jeffrey(a)vcfed.org Have fun everyone! -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org Attachments area

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