July 2022 - vcf-midatlantic

LEGO Atari 2600 set
by Jeffrey Jonas 21 Jul '22

21 Jul '22

Vintage computing is celebrated in many other ways: https://brickset.com/article/79586/atari-2600-revealed Atari 2600 revealed! <https://brickset.com/article/79586/atari-2600-revealed!>[image: Atari 2600] <https://images.brickset.com/sets/large/10306-1.jpg?191400> LEGO has just unveiled a brick-built version of another classic video games console: 10306 <https://brickset.com/sets/10306-1> *Atari 2600* 2,532 pieces, rated 18+ $239.99 / €239.99 / £209.99 Available from 1st August at LEGO.com <https://brickset.com/click/10306> Today, the LEGO Group reveals the new LEGO Atari 2600 set, a nostalgic recreation of one of the most famous video game consoles of all time. The iconic Atari VCS/2600 was an instant hit when introduced in 1977 and the new LEGO set is based on the four-switch revision which debuted in 1980. The release of the new LEGO set also comes in celebration of Atari’s 50th anniversary.

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OT: really too many reel to reel
by Jeffrey Jonas 21 Jul '22

21 Jul '22

Is anyone into 6" reel to reel audio tape? Please speak up ASAP (private email is preferred) I have 5 boxes to give away. ASAP. I can deliver it to the upcoming workshop July 30-31. Jeff Jonas

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] New to group - Interested in Amiga
by Ethan O'Toole 20 Jul '22

20 Jul '22

>> [NON-Text Body part not included] Hello Ryan, I am also in NoVA (Chantilly area.) Just got done re-capping an Amiga 4000T a few weeks ago with great success. Have done some repairs and have an Amiga collection. I tend to rotate between systems with Atari 8bit, Amiga, Atari ST currently being the forefront but have C64, Apple II, NeXT, SGI, Mac and others. There are a few of us :-) We could easily do a meetup. We have in the past. A few of us go to Phear the LAN (It's on meetup.com) There is a meeting the first Friday of each month for Phear, but we could also do a dedicated vintage computer one or Amiga one. I don't think I will be able to make Phear the LAN next month due to a gathering of laser show hobbyists and pros up in Delaware, but could do something else and maybe get a few other locals to hang out. I need to clean up my place a little bit and could host it. Current projects on my desk: Japenese Sega Saturn laser replacement, Sharp Twin Famicom disk drive belt replacement, Roland Juno 106 synth recalibration (replaced the voice modules and wave modules), and repairing an LED video wall. Amiga parts I need: Amiga 3000 front face and floppy, Amiga 1200 floppy, keyboard and metal shields. - Ethan

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It Takes a Federation - Redux
by Adam Michlin 20 Jul '22

20 Jul '22

Hi Everyone, We've been remiss in announcing a new initiative of National VCF which aims to better deal with the increasing number of rescues that are coming to us at <info(a)vcfed.org>. A national subcommittee was formed consisting of several museums and a few members at large. This subcommittee is run by myself and Ryan Schiff of the System Source Museum in Maryland. Members include: LSSM - New Kensington, PA System Source Museum - Hunt Valley, MD VCF MA - Wall, NJ San Antonio Museum Science and Technology - San Antonio, TX Homecomputermuseum - NK Helmond, Netherlands Save the Machine Technology - North Carolina The logic is there are more and more circumstances where machines need to be rescued and no one organization is able to handle all of them. So, what happens is we get the email, Ryan and myself make a quick decision as to who to direct the donation to (which is often necessary as time constraints can be a very serious issue), and then we report to the committee (who hold us accountable). In the case of a serious debate about where things should go, we bring the decision to the committee for a vote (if time permits). Why two people? In case of any conflict of interests. To give you an example, a few months ago we got an email from someone who's father had passed away and the machines (from small to very large) had to be out within two weeks. The decision was made to have System Source make the pickup, they picked up the machines, and the machines were divided between System Source, VCF MA and LSSM. Particularly exciting is that System Source picked up an Altair 8800, dropped it off in the VCF MA warehouse at VCF East, where it safely sat until VCF MA delivered the machine to LSSM just this last weekend. Next time you're at LSSM, you'll know it took three museums to safely deliver that Altair for you to use. We also are working very hard towards sharing exhibits and artifacts and are pleased to announce the modem exhibit featured previously at the VCF MA Museum is currently being set up at LSSM. It is absolutely thrilling to be involved with the ever growing wave of collaboration in the vintage computer world! But, however, public service notice. Please please please, make and document arrangements for your collections in the event of an untimely demise. Best wishes, -Adam

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Anyone want my poor ImageWriter II for parts?
by Dan FitzGerald 20 Jul '22

20 Jul '22

I have an early model ImageWriter II that was working until I plugged the wrong cable into it before VCF East and blew out an IC on its logic board. Well, I am not used to desoldering ICs, so I'm pretty sure I damaged the logic board in the process. And ended up shredding the stupid foam under the lid. And broke a tab off the lid, which I carefully epoxied back together. This _was_ a nice printer, complete with manual, and with minimal investment and time it _could_ be a nice printer once again. I just don't want to do it as I now have an ImageWriter I that is suiting my needs just fine. If anybody wants it, I can bring it to this month's repair workshop and it can be yours for the nominal price of free! Regards, Dan FitzGerald They/Them/Theirs http://www.vm.ibm.com/devpages/dfitzger

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] A wild Cormemco appears (on CL)
by Ethan O'Toole 19 Jul '22

19 Jul '22

I am local. If you all don't figure it out I can pick it up then you can pick it up from me? I pinged seller saying if no one shows up I could possibly pick up Tuesday eve. I have pinball league tonight, and I have a vintage synth/sampler pick up on Wednesday. - Ethan

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] New to group - Interested in Amiga
by Jeffrey Brace 19 Jul '22

19 Jul '22

On Mon, Jul 18, 2022 at 8:55 PM Ryan Stapleton via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Hello All, > > I am new to the group and am in the Northern VA area and have recently > started playing with the Amiga again. > > While I have sold my machines many years ago I have been playing with > emulation as of late. > > Was wondering if anyone in the DC area still plays around with them and a > possible meet up and chat about them and in general. > > Thank you for the join of the group. > > -Ryan Welcome Ryan! How did you find out about our group? I know that there are others on this list that are into Amigas and hope that they chime in. I would highly recommend connecting with others on Amiga Bill's Discord Channel: https://discord.gg/WZ8pNexm. He also has YouTube videos on Amiga. Not sure if you do IRC, but there are some active channels there. Also lemonamiga.com is a good source. I hope that this helps! Jeff

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VCF East 2022 Videos (finally) released
by Jeffrey Brace 18 Jul '22

18 Jul '22

Sorry for the long delay. VCF East 2022 videos are being released once per day to the VCF YouTube channel. Enjoy! ========================================= 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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A wild Cormemco appears (on CL)
by Jason Perkins 18 Jul '22

18 Jul '22

I spotted this Z2, with a 68000 card on Craigslist. No affiliation. https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/sys/d/herndon-old-100-cromemco-z2-c… -- Jason Perkins 313 355 0085

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Yet another TRS-80 question
by Bob Shuster 17 Jul '22

17 Jul '22

After replacing the blown cap on the floppy power supply in my Model 4, it works great! It has a pair of 40-track DS/DD drives in the lower bay, and the upper bay is empty. (As an aside, and I don’t *think* this is relevant, the previous owner had passed a cable from the floppy connector on the bottom of the case back up inside the case to reach the upper drive bay, but it is not connected.) I connected my two external Mini Disks (26-1164 and 26-1164A) and while they seem like they are working, once connected I can’t read them *or* the internal drive 1. Disconnect them and drive 1 works perfectly. Also seems like the drive on the end of the chain (which should be drive 3 I believe?) is spinning when I access drive 0. Is this simply a cabling issue? It’s been a very long time since I used a TRS-80, and even then it was a Model I - I never had a Model 4. What am I missing? Are there jumpers that need to be set inside the drives perhaps? Any help would be most appreciated! - Bob Shuster

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