February 2021 - vcf-midatlantic

Commodore 1702 door
by svcatitc＠aol.com 20 Apr '23

20 Apr '23

Jeffrey Brace jeffrey at vcfed.org Writes:Wed Sep 2 13:48:24 EDT 2020 Sounds like an Outer Limits episode where the world was taken apart and remade every moment and sometimes they made mistakes which is why when you lose your keys you find time in a place that you already searched. I thought this was a Spielberg "Amazing Stories" episode, obviously not. The episode is: "A Matter of Minutes" is the third segment of the fifteenth episode from the first season (1985–86) of the television series The Twilight Zone. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Matter_of_Minutes I remember that scene where the couple is in the "Void of White Space" and the "Supervisor of the Maintenance of Time" says: (paraphrasing) "Ya know how you go back to look for something you know is supposed to be there multiple times and then it finally is where you thoughtit should be? That's us. We forgot something. We are now working on moving Christmas!" I personally call them the "Minute-Ahead" men and you may hear me at a workshop cursing at them!!!! I DOOO BELIEVE! Bill Inderrieden

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PEP Modular Computer
by Neil Cherry 01 Apr '21

01 Apr '21

I have just pulled out my PEP Modular computer with a 68K KA. I think it has 1M of RAM and possibly 13 serial ports (9, 15 and 25 pin ports). I think this also has a parallel port of two but isn't broken out. I haven't tried to start it yet. I need to remove the drives, let them warm up and see if they work. There is one floppy which I think is a 800K drive and two hard drives. I'll boot the machine and see if I can get into the ROM monitor. A quick check of ebay reveals this thing cost only slightly less than it did when it was new. ;-) -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry(a)linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies

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Keep the lights on at InfoAge (GoFundMe fundraiser)
by Jeffrey Brace 09 Mar '21

09 Mar '21

Vintage Computer Federation has initiated a fundraiser for InfoAge operating expenses. As with many museums across the country InfoAge was hit hard by lower visitor numbers, yet the expenses keep coming. For those that don't know, VCF leases space for our museum and warehouse from InfoAge. So we are looking to help them as it benefits us and all the other museums under the InfoAge umbrella to stay in business. Our doors stay open as a result of the volunteers' efforts, the donations made by visitors to InfoAge, as well as grants and other fundraising efforts. As you can imagine, the long closures, limited capacity and public concerns that have come as a result of COVID-19 have seriously hurt our ability to raise money and continue to maintain and improve the Camp Evans Historical Landmark Site and the museums that occupy it's spaces. Starting with the resident non-profits, we are pooling our resources to keep the doors to our home here at Camp Evans/InfoAge open and continue to share this wonderful place with the public. But we need your help to make it through these difficult times. ANY donation will help make an impact. How will your donation help? Your donations will assist InfoAge in paying for daily operating expenses (like keeping the electricity on!) repairs and maintenance and installation of new exhibits just to name a few! Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to us. We set a goal of $10,000 and you can donate by going here: https://gofund.me/f72ab5f0 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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Upcoming VCF events
by Jeffrey Brace 03 Mar '21

03 Mar '21

*March 6 & 7* *— Repair Workshop* — Signup <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XE6z0-LwO77hg7BIhphhP6eSjbo5AhJ5Jdc…> *April 24 or 25 * — *Outdoor Swap Meet* — Information Coming soon! *May 15 & 16* *— Repair Workshop* — Signup <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17n7rQol7xt3f0dnAwA8zrMHy4vHw163xjXQ…> *June 12 & 13 **— Repair Workshop* — Signup <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11iQyGDYyrFsAFQp73YwYnL-3soQIVDGOLid…> *July 10 & 11* *— Repair Workshop* — Signup <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KROoCNqTiTWgsXvijGBqvNblZa8weS6a8hE…> *August 14 & 15* *— Repair Workshop* — Signup <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1J028DlSdvSUlh3BsrGfmalHQ9qbFfPSUQa9…> *October 8, 9, 10 — VCF East — *Information and updates coming soon! *December 11 & 12 — Festivus — * Signup coming soon! 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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Greenbar printout DONE!
by Jeffrey Brace 01 Mar '21

01 Mar '21

Much thanks to Mike Loewen for being able to printout and ship the printouts to LA! The production designer for a small independent filmmaker contacted me for a film about Margaret Hamilton's work on the Apollo 8 mission. 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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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Greenbar printout DONE!
by Andrew Diller 01 Mar '21

01 Mar '21

Here are the printers I fought at VCF: Anyone familiar with the Diablo? It powers up, is very clean but the print-head won't budge. I wonder if there is a lock-down for shipping or something I couldn't find... https://i.imgur.com/mZkjmcx.jpg <https://i.imgur.com/mZkjmcx.jpg> - Diablo https://i.imgur.com/CrcOmbA.jpg?1 <https://i.imgur.com/CrcOmbA.jpg?1> - okidata w error https://i.imgur.com/wdOMbpN.jpg <https://i.imgur.com/wdOMbpN.jpg> - okidata test print - it would print those few lines and then error.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Greenbar print
by Jeffrey Brace 28 Feb '21

28 Feb '21

On Sun, Feb 28, 2021 at 11:50 AM Glenn Holmer via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > On 2/27/21 10:58 PM, Mike Loewen via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > > On Sat, 27 Feb 2021, Jeffrey Brace wrote: > >> So someone else pointed out that dot matrix printout isn't historically > >> accurate. So what kind of printer would have actually been used for the > >> Apollo 8 code? > > > > A chain-train or drum printer, such as an IBM 1403. The CHM has a > > working 1403 on their 1401 system. > > Ugh, memories. The 1403 had a worm gear to raise the lid, and > occasionally ours would fail. If that happened, the only way to operate > the printer until the CE arrived was to prop it open with a two-by-four > like a car hood. We even had a specially measured two-by-four with a "V" > notch cut in one end for this purpose. One of the guys before me had > written on it in magic marker "IBM Butt-Whacker, Part No. ..." > LOL! Thanks for sharing Glenn! I love hearing stories like this. It's nice to hear how machines were used years ago in a production environment. > > We had this kind: https://bit.ly/2P9tC15 > > Of course, hearing loss was almost inevitable if you used it that way... > > -- > Glenn Holmer (Linux registered user #16682) > "After the vintage season came the aftermath -- and Cenbe." > > >

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Greenbar printout DONE!
by Brian L. Stuart 28 Feb '21

28 Feb '21

On Sunday, February 28, 2021, 1:29:48 PM EST, W. Bryan Caudle via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > That’s been my understanding of what line printer > means. We have one of these, rebadged for our > basic/4 mini and it does 600 lines per minute, or > used to last time I ran it: > https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.recycledgoods.com/amp/printronix-p600-600-… Now that brings back some fond memories. We had one of those on our VAX in college. One year, I whipped up a little program that would use the Hershy fonts and the dot plotting mode on the printer to do banners in callegraphic Old English. I kind of treated it as a one-off, but a couple years later someone came up to me and asked how to use the program. That was the beginning of me learning that your throw-away one-offs are the ones that everyone will want and care about, and the ones you labor over focusing on the details of the craft are the ones no one will ever pay attention to. BLS

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Greenbar printout DONE!
by Dave McGuire 28 Feb '21

28 Feb '21

On 2/28/21 1:36 PM, W. Bryan Caudle via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > Great point Dave. If a line printer was fitted with a DB9 connector > would it actually exist? If I understand your question correctly, no, I've never seen nor heard of a large printer with a DE9 connector. However, lots and lots of them have RS232 serial ports, but on standard DB25 connectors. That's how LSSM's big Genicom is interfaced; it's connected to a DECserver terminal server so that multiple systems can access it. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA

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Greenbar print
by Bill Degnan 28 Feb '21

28 Feb '21

Can you please send technical details of the printout? Ascii file? Characters per line? Is the printout file ready and all they need is a print or does thenoutput need to be formatted first? I recall you said it was roughly a hundred or so total pages? Maybe someone near the museum can look for the two DECwriter III's that might still be around the warehouse, or some other wide carriage printer there. If you put a new ribbon on one of those and attach to an old pc running word perfect paginated to 132 character lines you could at least try to print this at infoage. I bet there is some green bar in the warehouse When the file and details are available I would be happy to at least try to do of it too. Bill

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