September 2020 - vcf-midatlantic

Festivus December 12 & 13, 2020
by Jeffrey Brace 27 Sep '20

27 Sep '20

I've been thinking about how we can make Festivus work while keeping safe with Covid-19. We have been very successful in keeping safe during our repair workshop with up to 20 people and using two different buildings. I have a few ideas that I'm developing: In addition to Festivus outdoor grilling: Festivus Swap Meet Repair Workshop Game Room My current plan is to use two (and possibly three) different areas: CDL (repair workshop, xbox lan party with Dan Jacobs) Sandy Area (Festivus Swap Meet, Food, game room) The date scheduled for Festivus is December 12 & 13. Signup is here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lkvcwSpdy_c67MJQTiUEDspim2PrcIjM1Of… I'm hoping to make Festivus happen with modifications to keep everyone safe. I will update you as I figure it out. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783

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Why we do what we do - Cub Scout Pack 113 visits the VCF Museum
by Adam Michlin 27 Sep '20

27 Sep '20

Sorry for the FB link, but it should work without a FB account. Cub Scout Pack 113 visits the VCF Museum: https://www.facebook.com/cubpackfun/posts/2723468621260446 Bravo, Jeff! -Adam

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Museum Report 2020-09-26
by Jeffrey Brace 27 Sep '20

27 Sep '20

A very busy day! We started out with a scheduled cub scout group of 20 children and adults. We broke them up into two groups with one group watching the model train museum down the hall and the other with me in the VCF museum. High interest people with one kid who was a repeat visitor who knew lots of things already was happy to see a Commodore 64 in action! He was so happy to get a The Print Shop printout to take home! I couldn't give one of those to everyone because it takes 6 minutes for each page. Instead I gave them a papertape punch out with their name on it from the PDP-8. They could type their name and the program would punch out the holes and it was a great souvenir for them to take home. I started the tour with the microchip section, but also showed them the difference between a vacuum tube, transistor and microchip. Kids seem to really like King's Quest on the PCjr. I have to sit down and figure out how to play that game. I get stuck at a certain point. It was fun to ask them questions like: "Do you know who Bill Gates is?", "Do you know who Steve Jobs is?", etc. After the tour there were still about a dozen total people coming through the museum with high interest. It was nice to have a busy day after a few weeks of lackluster attendance. I had to leave at 3PM, so Dennis and Dylan took over. Dylan helped me by talking with Jason Perkins to get the Xerox Star ready for demo at VCF East 2020's Virtual show in less than two weeks (Oct. 10 & 11). -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783

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recap kit for Mac Classic analog board
by Herb Johnson 26 Sep '20

26 Sep '20

As the subject suggests, I'd like to buy a recap kit for the Macintosh Classic analog board (power supply) model 630-0525. I'd think there would be more than one source. And I might use them for other analog Mac repairs. Does anyone know of a reliable vendor for capacitor kits? I see "console5.com" offers one kit for $20 + ship, a plausible amount for sourcing all the parts of the right size and specs for a few sets. They have other kits too. But has anyone dealt with them? Asking "the google" comes up with "review sites" that say awful things; but those could be scam-sites. Ebay? nope, except for a Russian site. why order overseas? Web search only yields a few recapping services, someone in Australia, and then some radio recapping services (https://hayseedhamfest.com/ looks good but not for Mac computers). If I were a part of some vintage Mac discussion groups, maybe I'd find something. But searching them from the inside or the outside is difficult. So: I did some homework to find a vendor. These are my results. Maybe Mac owners just order individually from Digikey and hope they get parts that fit well? - 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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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] I'm going to Kennett Classic's event this Saturday, how about you?
by Blatboy 26 Sep '20

26 Sep '20

This sounds like a great excuse to get out of the city. I sent an RSVP in - I know I’m last minute... I'm hoping to get a gist of the whole thing, as next time I may want to get a table. My stuff is so horribly organized at the moment, I'd need another week to figure out what I'd bring haha. I should get there 11ish. And if anyone has any 2MB or 4MB SIMMs rated 100ns or faster, I’ll be in the market haha. Thanks, and looking forward. - Walter ++++++++++++++++++++++ https://jwalterhawkes.com like to know where/when I'm playing? Click here <https://jwalterhawkes.com/contact> to sign up for my list, and let the babble begin. -- Https://www.jwalterhawkes.com Sent from the Blat-o-phone. Please excuse txtspeak and other grammatical inaccuracies.

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Microsoft's 20HAL uploader
by Richard Cini 26 Sep '20

26 Sep '20

All – I’ve done a quite a bit of work with my Gazelle, and doing some work on 86DOS and its comparison to PC DOS 1.0 (at the code level, a very high correlation). Partially related to that is a program called “20HAL” which was a code uploader Microsoft used in the late stages to get code to IBM in Boca Raton, FL. I did a little write-up on it here (http://www.classiccmp.org/cini/hal.htm) There are some holes in the analysis – I think it’s pretty close, though -- but I’d really like to get some more details on it. Unfortunately, it’s 40-year-old code at this point and how many people remember how they used a file transfer utility that long ago. Anyway, enjoy the read. If anyone sees any corrections that need to be made, let me know. Rich -- Rich Cini http://www.classiccmp.org/cini http://www.classiccmp.org/altair32

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OT - The InfoAge Space Exploration Center (ISEC) monthly lecture series has gone virtual
by Martin Flynn 26 Sep '20

26 Sep '20

*Due to social distancing requirements, The InfoAge Space Exploration Center (ISEC) monthly lecture series has gone virtual!* * * *Video of the lectures hosted by our NASA Space Ambassador in residence, Frank O'Brien can found on the ISEC website at: **https://isec.space/lectures/ <https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fisec.space%2Flectures%2F%3Ffbc…>*

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Kennett Classic weather today
by Bill Degnan 26 Sep '20

26 Sep '20

All..the weather forecast says 20%, 35%, 30% etc chance of rain each hour, but overall it should be occasional/light. It is raining now however a little but tailing off. So, bring a tarp to cover your stuff just in case. Think dry thoughts. We have a light tent set up for our outdoor supplies/snacks Bill

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Any DC area folk going to Kennett Classic (need favor)?
by Crawford Griffith 26 Sep '20

26 Sep '20

Folks, Bill Dromgoole has fixed one if my 8" floppy drives. Bill's attending Kennett Classic event this weekend, but I'm stuck in a wedding in WA state. Is anyone from DC metro going who would be willing to ferry the disk back for me? I can pick it up at your house next week. Thanks, Crawford Griffith

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Anyone from the Northern VA area going to Kennett Classic?
by Mark Whittington 25 Sep '20

25 Sep '20

All: I'd hoped to attend Kennet Classic this weekend but I have other obligations that I can't adjust. Is anyone from the Northern VA area planning to attend who could pick up the TI-99/4A and PEB that Mike Loewen is selling? Thanks very much. Mark

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