January 2022 - vcf-midatlantic

Recovery of RD53 image data
by Jeffrey Brace 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

Someone in northern Maryland near the PA state border is looking for the following: He has a DEC PDP-11/73 with a non-functional RD53 hard drive, and several RSX-11M installation and backup tapes on TK50 tape cartridges. He would like to migrate the RD53 image to modern media so that he can (initially) utilize it via simh, and (eventually) use it in his 11/73 via a hardware drive simulator. Failing recovery of the RD53 data, He'd like to migrate the data from one of the TK50 tapes to modern media. Anyone ready, willing and able to do this? ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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FREE: Dell Precision 690 Workstations @ System Source Workshop
by Jonathan Chapman 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

All, We've got four Dell Precision 690 workstations we'd like to offload. No desire to deal with shipping them. I'll be at the System Source workshop and can bring them up. We have not tested these, but they look good and came out of an engineering workgroup. They don't appear to have cap problems. Hard disks pulled. Thanks, Jonathan

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OT - incandescent bulbs
by John Heritage 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

Just curious - I bought a (new to me) home and I am finding and replacing old Edison bulbs :). 200w and smaller incandescents. Does anybody here want the old bulbs ? I know some people prefer the light so just figure I'd ask.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: time to downsize
by Bob Shuster 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

Just an update, at Jeff’s (and others) suggestions, I am putting together a Google Sheets list with asking prices, descriptions, and links to photos. I will post this to this list when I get a little further along. It’s both fun and challenging to go through my systems one by one and trying to remember how to connect displays and such, even if it's for the last time. So please be patient! Also, make sure if you want to inquire about a purchase to send to me directly and not to the list, please? Not only does it clog up the list (sorry!) but I only get the digest version so I won’t see your message until the next morning. Bob Shuster

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Recovery of RD53 image data
by Herb Johnson 25 Jan '22

25 Jan '22

> FWIW on the tape baker, Chuck Guzis always used to recommend a 25W bulb in a cardboard box for a few days. Should be easy enough if you have any old 25W bulbs still kicking around. - Dave Riley Home Depot offers 15W and 25W incandescent bulbs. The heat produced may depend on the size of the box. Dave Riley, do you recall details? Maybe a temperature set-point? I think I could design a relay and a 555 as a controller. But for warm environments, people use things like rice-cookers, crock-pots, dish warmers; thrift store items. My wife dyes fabrics overnight in a bowl, inside a covered container with a layer of water, on a dish-warmer. A stable, but wet, environment. Pebbles could provide dry thermal mass, seems to me. - 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 comcast DOT net

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OT: time to downsize
by Bob Shuster 25 Jan '22

25 Jan '22

Well, folks, I’ve gotten to the age where I need to seriously downsize my hobbies and collections, not wanting to leave it to my children to have to deal with in later years. (I had to do that recently for a relative.) On the electronics side, I’ve decided to concentrate on my vintage video game systems - and therefore sell off most of my vintage computer stuff. My collection includes mostly 8-bit stuff: TRS-80 Models I, IV, M100, etc. - Atari 400, 800, Stacy, Portfolio, ST, etc. - C64/VIC20 - T/S1000 (including an unbuilt kit), Apple II, II+, IIe, IIe Platinum, IIgs - Wang WLTC - Mattel Aquarius - TI-99/4A - many others that I still have to dig out - plus lots of peripherals, disks, manuals, etc. Also have some newer Macs starting with a Mac Plus in an Apple carrying bag. I’m starting with you guys before trying to list elsewhere, although I may hit some of the dedicated FaceBorg pages (such as for Aquarius and Apple II.) I may be willing to ship some of the software, but in general anything else will need to be picked up here (near the Fort Washington exit of the PA Turnpike) or nearby, and cash or PayPal for payment. I may also consider trades for some of the video game stuff I’m looking for. So - I’m not sure how to start with this. Does the group have a For Sale page where I can post photos, etc.? I’ll need to dig out each of the systems (carefully stored in my heated/cooled workshop) and test and figure out prices, but I will definitely entertain offers. For specific inquiries please email me, but for discussion of how to go about reducing my collection [and assuming the admins agree that it’s on-topic] that can be on-list. It pains me to do this, but the clutter is getting out of hand, and I haven’t touched most of these in years. It’s time for someone else to enjoy. Bob Shuster

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Commodore Computer Museum in New Zealand
by Christian Liendo 25 Jan '22

25 Jan '22

Disclaimer: I'm not posting this to ask anyone to donate. In fact I don't know what to think of it. I couldn't find anything else other than this KickStarter that discusses it. I am just sharing it because it is interesting and we have a lot of Commodore enthusiasts here. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/commodoremuseum/commodore-computer-mus…

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This 22-Year-Old Builds Chips in His Parents’ Garage
by Christian Liendo 23 Jan '22

23 Jan '22

I believe this is relevant to this group This 22-Year-Old Builds Chips in His Parents’ Garage Sam Zeloof combines 1970s-era machines with homemade designs. His creations show what’s possible for small-scale silicon tinkerers. https://www.wired.com/story/22-year-old-builds-chips-parents-garage/

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Braving the 20 degree weather for great internet
by Jeffrey Brace 22 Jan '22

22 Jan '22

Doug Crawford, myself, Joe Gilberti, Ken G from VCF and Martin and Neil from CDL all met earlier today at InfoAge. We installed the fiber between CDL (9059) and Building 9032. We also deployed a started a setup for a new IT rack in the 9032. And the brackets for Wi Fi access points in 9032. So when we are done that room will have fantastic wi-fi! The wi-fi in that room has always been terrible, but now that we are halfway done working on getting it done. We will wrap it up at a future work day. Internet and wi-fi has always been sketchy at InfoAge, but slowly, but surely it is becoming fantastic with the transition from cable to fiber. Thanks to Martin and all the other volunteers who have been working on this project for months! ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner VCF Mid-Atlantic Executive Director Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Bell Labs Org Chart
by Christian Liendo 22 Jan '22

22 Jan '22

I had to share this. I'm curious what precision graphics is. https://neil.computer/notes/bell-labs-org-chart/

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