October 2022 - vcf-midatlantic

Books to VCFed (Attn: Jeff Brace or Committee)
by Bill Degnan 25 Oct '22

25 Oct '22

Jeff/Committee members, Earlier when I sent an email to the list about free books a lot of people expressed interest in one or two of these books but no one wanted all of them. Seems a waste to dispose of them. Might someone VCFed be local to Jenkintown PA and be willing to retrieve these books? The volunteer could then deliver the books to VCFed for temporary storage. The books could then be given away from InfoAge, during events. There is enough here to probably make it worth it, maybe the club itself wants some of these too. https://www.dropbox.com/s/yl26qzrhiff174b/Bookstodiscard20221009%20copy.doc… If this is something that the club wants to pursue, have the volunteer contact me and I will forward his/her contact info to the donor so they can set up the pickup. Thanks Bill Degnan

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Linux-DecNet and a DEC Terminal Server model DECServer 90L+
by Gregg Levine 25 Oct '22

25 Oct '22

Hello! Since this evening was a "slow day for work" I decided to see if I could get that thing to talk to my Linux system running LAT 1.25 (from the Linux-DECNET series) via a 10BASE-T Hub that Jeff J had for sale at one of the earlier shows. Suffice to say using various incantions of tcpdump I can see the service at work and the terminal server attempting to connect. However..... that's as far as it gets. The problem is that this terminal server wears a COAX connector, and the only thing I have here (now) is that hub. Does anyone on the list have a suggestion for properly translating one format of Ethernet (COAX) to 10BBASE-T other than a Hub of unknown pedigree? ----- Gregg C Levine gregg.drwho8(a)gmail.com "This signature fought the Time Wars, time and again."

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OT - Laserjet 4P up for grabs
by Martin Flynn 25 Oct '22

25 Oct '22

I left an HP laserjet4P in the Makerspace with the parallel cable. Take it if you want it. Martin

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Fundraiser IBM 1130 Update 2022/10/24
by Jeffrey Brace 24 Oct '22

24 Oct '22

We are up to $4546! We are getting closer! Thanks to those who are contributing! ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Fwd: Nabu computers
by Mark Whittington 24 Oct '22

24 Oct '22

I inquired about the dimensions of the packaging for the Nabu computers, and I received this quite detailed info from the seller a few minutes ago. Thought others might find it useful. Best, Mark ---------- Forwarded message --------- Dear Potential Customer, * Please excuse me for the lateness of this reply.* * My life has been virtually "hijacked". (Plus, I had to compose this email.)* * For the last 3 days I have spent 20-hours moving some of the NABU Personal Computers.* * This summer I spent 6-weeks moving these computers.* ---------------------------------------- Thank you for your interest in the NABU Personal Computer. These Z80 vintage computers are perfect for projects, products, or retro computer collectors. *HARDWARE* The Computer has an attractive charcoal gray metal enclosure with a plastic front panel. The keyboard is durable plastic charcoal gray with black keys. These NABU Computers are "new old" stock (and they look mint). The Computers are in their original shipping box. Computer & Keyboard are securely packaged with Styrofoam inserts in the box. Shipping box dimensions: 22"x14.5"x10.5" weight: 20 lbs. Manufactured by Samsung, well made, a thing of 1980s beauty. Includes: NABU Computer, Keyboard, Cables, and User's Guide. I have 22 tons of these computers. I bought them for a project that never got off the ground. *SOFTWARE* There is no OS (Operating System) so code development requires an EPROM Emulator. Originally the NABU Computers ran a version of CP/M. It had as many as 100 applications and games designed for it (including Q*bert). There is no software and no disk drives. (There are BIOS routines in the 4K EPROM.) *LOCAL SALES* We currently sell units locally in person for $20. This is a Rock-Bottom price. (Originally these computers sold for $950. (Yikes!) Call so we can make arrangements for you to pick them up. Also, you can see/purchase units at the Grafton Flea Market (in building, booth 32). https://graftonflea.com/ *SHIPPED SALES* Shipped units cost $20 plus an additional surcharge of $20 for testing. The shipping & handling charge will vary accordingly. Call so we can make arrangements using PayPal for payment. (PayPal Invoice.) Prices may (will?) change (upwardly) in the future. (So, get them now!) *TESTING & PREPPING* Before shipping I do two things: 1.) Pull the computer and keyboard out of the box and test certain functions. 2.) Pull the old packaging tape off the box and replace with new tape (to withstand shipping). I do this with all the NABU Computers that I ship to avoid "issues". *NO REFUND POLICY* So far, I have seen no failures in the NABU Computers. Tests Performed: power on/off, manual reset, display video, and recognize keyboard. As these units are "new old", there is no guarantee of function or performance and there are no refunds. NO REFUND POLICY: PellMill, LLC will make absolutely no refunds at anytime. (It's new old stock that's 40 years old!) *TECHNICAL INFORMATION* To see the "NABU Technical Manual" including schematics: Go to www.PellMill.com <http://www.pellmill.com/> - click <Website Links> - click <NABU Computer> - wait 10 seconds - the manual links are on the right. This should get you started. There will be more links to manuals and pictures in the (near) future. *NABU ADAPTORS* I also have the original (matching enclosure) NABU Adaptors (think modem). It makes a great project box with its built-in +5V and +18V linear power supply. *MORE GOODIES* I also have some vintage Apple II+ motherboards. And don't forget to check out our Streaming services. James Pellegrini PellMill, LLC www.PellMill.com <http://www.pellmill.com/> Service(a)PellMill.com 1-812-448-7812 ----------------------------------------

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The Canon Cat and the Mac that Steve Jobs killed
by Christian Liendo 23 Oct '22

23 Oct '22

This is a new article about the Canon Cat and I know there are people who would be interested in this article and may have opinions https://reproof.app/blog/on-designing-a-more-humane-computer

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Z80 systems for $20.00
by Stephen A Edwards 22 Oct '22

22 Oct '22

These appear to be Nabu network PCs ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NABU_Network) that were, indeed, meant to be intelligent set-top boxes and had little to no firmware or mass storage since their software was meant to come over the cable network. Inside, they're little Z80 systems that might actually be able to run CP/M, but the home versions (of which these almost certainly are) didn't have the disk interface that would enable this http://dunfield.classiccmp.org/nabu/index.htm At the very least, some of the bigger chips (possibly the TMS9918 GPU and AY-3-8910) may be socketed and thus easy to recover. Even better, it looks like there's available technical documentation on the (meagre) firmware, memory map, etc. http://dunfield.classiccmp.org/nabu/nabutech.pdf There might even be schematics out there, although I couldn't quickly find them online. Bottom line: yes, it will be a brick when first purchased, but could lead to many interesting projects. Making it work like it did in the 1980s would be an enormous (and perhaps unrealistic) undertaking, although after seeing what the "Weather Machine" folks did at the last VCF East I've had to adjust what I think of as unrealistic. Some group actually did try to build an emulator, however https://museum.eecs.yorku.ca/nabu I maintain that at $20, they're interesting little boxes

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Update - IBM 1130 Fundraiser
by Jeffrey Brace 22 Oct '22

22 Oct '22

Just giving everyone an update on the fundraiser for the IBM 1130. With the deadline looming of Oct. 31 we have so far raised $3,476 received from 20 different people. Thank you everyone who has contributed so far! If you want to contribute towards the repair, then follow this link: https://vcfed.org/membership/contribute/transact/?reset=1&id=2 If you want to find out what we are doing and why, then follow this link: https://vcfed.org/2022/10/15/ibm-1130-repair-fundraiser/ Thanks! ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Fall 2023 VCF swap meet
by Jeffrey Brace 22 Oct '22

22 Oct '22

So I'm thinking that October 14, 2023 would be a good date for the fall swap meet. This is not Columbus Day weekend. Anyone see any potential conflicts? ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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C64 Accordion
by Jeffrey Brace 22 Oct '22

22 Oct '22

I'm sure many of you have seen or heard about this already, but just in case you didn't. Some guy from Holland made two C64 into an electronic accordion: https://linusakesson.net/commodordion/ ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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