August 2022 - vcf-midatlantic

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: time to downsize
by Bob Shuster 08 Jun '23

08 Jun '23

Just added: Besides the TRS-80 Model 1 systems, Model 4, Color Computer 2 systems, plus related software and documentation that I added the other day, I’ve also now added all the TRS-80 Model 1/3/4 books that I have. I’ve had a lot of inquiries about the Model 4 - yes, it’s still available until someone commits to coming and getting it! I think I’m going to have to put it back into storage, as I’ve now been using it for days and I don’t want to get drawn back in! ;) I think once I get all the TRS-80 stuff stowed back away I’ll go back and add the assorted items that I found in my closet in the other categories *after* I did the listings. I've been regularly marking the sold and sale pending items, thank you guys so much! And once again - many thanks to those who have adopted some of my babies so far. Please let me know if I can clarify anything or if any more photos are needed. The link: http://www.theshusters.com/bobvintage.html <http://www.theshusters.com/bobvintage.html> Please don't share without asking me. Currently just open to this group - my contact info is intentionally missing from the webpages. If you can read this, you have my email. Email me with questions or offers! Please don't make offers on the list, but if you want to discuss my process and feel the group would benefit, then by all means knock yourself out! :) Bob Shuster (Original message below) ---- 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, 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'm willing to ship some of the smaller items, but in general systems or monitors 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. 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 1702 door
by svcatitc＠aol.com 21 Apr '23

21 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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8-bits and 80 columns
by John Heritage 17 Dec '22

17 Dec '22

Hey all -- Which (popular) 8-bit computers gained "easy" or even "standard" 80 column support? I know there are a ton more 8bits than I'll list below, but my understanding is: Atari 8bit -- XEP80 official accessory but almost no one bought it; used joystick ports.. slow and limited 80 column (black and white?). Atari did have a 60 column graphics/text mode IIRC. there is a software hack that uses narrow characters for '80 columns' but hard to read, and came out after the machine was no longer commerically sold. Apple II - supported via cards. If 80 column support became common, when did it become common? what was normal for color count, etc? C64 - C128 mode natively offered 80 column support; millions of these sold. So maybe common later on? 16 colors. PET - no 80 column? C Plus/4 - software hack? ZX Spectrum -- available via some clones only, not common? BBC Micro - Looks like a native mode for 80 column support? TRS-80 - no native 80 column support? Thanks! John

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VCF Swap Meet October 8, 2022
by Jeffrey Brace 02 Oct '22

02 Oct '22

*I have updated the web page*: https://vcfed.org/vcf-swap-meet/ *This is the signup form*: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeMNS0XBHc2enjQjhTYiFON-T0v2YTYAw4… *This is the flyer:* https://vcfed.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2022-VCF-Swap-Meet-Flyer-1.pdf This time we are charging $5 general admission per person to cover our costs. ========================================= 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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ATTENTION! Steering Committee NEWS!
by Chris Fala 07 Sep '22

07 Sep '22

Dear VCF Members, This e-mail is the premier edition of what we hope becomes a regular and substantive communication from the Steering Committee. We hope to keep everyone informed and better engaged in regular operations. Highlights: - New personnel structure within the Steering Committee - Look for upcoming news about the IBM 1130 Full version: The Mid-Atlantic Steering Committee is pleased to announce an exciting organization change. To provide a little background, for a few years we had been anticipating formalizing an Executive Director position. The person in this role would be the manager of regular operations of our museum, warehouse, local events, etc. After very careful consideration and a unanimous vote, we have instead chosen to institute a distributed set of management roles which together account for all the duties of the theorized Executive Director. The result is five roles which we have added to our updated by-laws, specified in section 7 (complete by-laws can be found here): https://vcfed.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/VCFMA-Charter-Jul2022.pdf One major benefit of this organizational structure is that the various responsibilities are distributed across a team rather than one person. It also enables us to staff these positions from a wide range of volunteers. The team approach also takes advantage of various skillsets from multiple people. The roles have been initially staffed as follows: - InfoAge Liaison: Steering Committee Chair, currently Chris Fala - Warehouse Manager: Doug Crawford - Museum Manager: Doug Crawford - Event Coordinator: Jeff Brace - IT Manager: Alex Jacocks In case you were wondering, not included in these responsibilities is the Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner position. That responsibility is assigned by the VCF National Board and is occupied by Jeff Brace. Jeff has also been assigned by the VCF National Board the task of managing the move of our artifacts between our old and new warehouse spaces. We hope that you are as excited as we are about the growth and refinement of our Steering Committee, a cohesive team that has accomplished so much in growing our organization. Personally, I have great optimism for the continued improvement of VCF! Please know that the Steering Committee is always open to ideas, thoughts, concerns, suggestions, etc. We are here to serve the membership, and our only goal is to help VCF to thrive. In other news, please “stay tuned” for additional information regarding our IBM 1130 computer and an exciting project! Sincerely, Chris Fala Chairman of the Vintage Computer Federation Mid-Atlantic Steering Committee

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Datanetics Keyboard
by Jeff Galinat 01 Sep '22

01 Sep '22

Hi all, I am going to be a vendor at VCF Midwest and I have a working Datanetics keyboard that I was thinking of selling. This is not the Apple II specific keyboard but it appears to use the same keyswitches with the slanted stem. This is a working KB that I cleaned up & painted the scratched up metal enclosure. I realize that these Datanetics switches are pretty rare to find. I am interested in selling the keyboard as a unit and if the buyer wants to part it out for the switches that is their business. The previous owner had installed 5v & -12v power supplies in the enclosure so the unit is self powered via a switched power cord. The -12v supply was bad when I got it so it was replaced. I tested the keyboard using a pair of TIL-311 hex displays and the proper ASCII codes are generated. I have included a link to pictures of the keyboard including pics showing the codes for ‘space’, ‘CR’ and ‘A’. <https://1drv.ms/f/s!AoxC-mzikoIggv51Pnu75fKDCMdKLw> Since the switches are rare, I was thinking $300 as a price range for this KB. This is somewhat negotiable so feel free to contact me off-list with any offers/questions. Also please be aware that I will also be in the NJ area about 10 days after VCF-MW for a meet up. Best regards, Jeff Galinat

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Laser disc player and discs
by Kelly Leavitt 31 Aug '22

31 Aug '22

Rio Grande NJ ARC thrift store. Some pictures available Get Outlook for Android<https://aka.ms/AAb9ysg>

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September Repair Workshop is cancelled
by Jeffrey Brace 31 Aug '22

31 Aug '22

I'm sorry to say that I've decided to cancel the September Repair Workshop. This is for several reasons: 1) Most of those that usually come to our repair workshops will be at VCF MidWest. 2) Others feel that it is too close to the August Repair Workshop. 3) Others are busy with family, back to school and other activities. 4) I need time to prepare for the swap meet in October. So the next repair workshop will be October 8 & 9. The swap meet is October 8. ========================================= 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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Pi Zero
by Mike Loewen 31 Aug '22

31 Aug '22

Does anyone have a spare Raspberry Pi Zero 1.3 available to sell? I need one for a keyboard adapter project for my Tandy 6000. Mike Loewen mloewen(a)cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Need an Ensonic Music Keyboard for the
by mark＠markesystems.com 31 Aug '22

31 Aug '22

I have an Ensoniq ESQ-M, which is the rack-mount version of the ESQ-1. It contains 8 of the 5503 oscillators. This particular unit “mostly” works; I had it apart once (several decades ago), and when I put it back together I had one of the connectors off by one. I corrected the issue, obviously, but now the display is very dim (still working, though), and it sounds as if one of the voices isn’t operational (random notes don’t play when sent a stream of MIDI data). Other than that, I think it’s all good (although I haven’t powered it up in quite some time – the power supply may need re-capping...). I’ve been carting this around for a while now, and would love for it to go to a good home. Let me know where to send it! ~~ Mark Moulding (tyer(a)att.net)

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