August 2022 - vcf-midatlantic

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Old Video Game Advertisements
by Jeff S 09 Aug '22

09 Aug '22

I like reading the contestant check-in stories. I watched this show religiously during its original broadcast days after my Dad bought a C-band satellite receiver and this "TBS" station (new at the time) started broadcasting their signal, along with these shows. The Starcade website has been around for quite some time. When I first discovered it, I was yearning to see every episode again, but there were only a handful of them that were converted, and the video size was tiny. It wasn't until recently that the Producer posted ALL of the available shows for online viewing, and at the best NTSC format possible. Jeff Salzman On Tue, Aug 9, 2022 at 10:19 AM Bob Aviles via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Thanks for the information, can not wait to see all the stuff they have > on the Starcade website. > Bobby > On Monday, August 8, 2022 at 04:56:42 PM EDT, Andrew Diller via > vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > well, more like 15khz - even the RGB monitors had wicked flicker.... > > > > On Aug 8, 2022, at 3:54 PM, Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > >> Yes! Amiga HAM mode! > > > > OW my eyes and that flicker headache! Who thought it was a good idea to > use a TV as a computer monitor! > > > > - Ethan > > > > >

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Upcoming repair workshops @ InfoAge
by Jeffrey Brace 08 Aug '22

08 Aug '22

@INFOAGE *August 27 & 28: * https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18cH9sUKDnstGDdedUPRqcfRj27BbTF6hLwp… *September 10 & 11* https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WzPJaOYJ0digG2SUPi6sNfOib23IkSJboha… I know that many will be going to VCF Midwest, but decided to keep it as scheduled for those that aren’t going. *October 8 & 9* https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nr1RTETci3OWWPylfinntsncswcYVA8mquB… This is the Swap Meet weekend. *November 12 & 13* https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yGntoKF6NbTq-3LjQVk0GKRbeBXuUBhYCcB… -- ========================================= 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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OT / Update
by Martin Flynn 08 Aug '22

08 Aug '22

The usual suspects addressed several projects at Camp Evans to move the various VCF projects along * The 100 pair aerial cable to support providing analog dial-tone to the VCF museum was confirmed to be dry and ready to attach to the messenger wire. * The new fiber between the makerspace and guard shack is routed through the cable entry vault to the fiber MDF. This allows a 10GB feed, should VCF want to use the guard shack as the entry point for VCE East. * The IP security cameras are programmed and on the bench in the makerspace (location and installation in the new museum space to be coordinated. * The upstream WAN switch to support the firewall cluster was installed, image at http://compdecon.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/fw_switch_swap.png Martin Flynn

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Bringing back the golden days of Bell Labs
by Christian Liendo 08 Aug '22

08 Aug '22

Established almost 100 years ago, Bell Labs made a great contribution to advancing both fundamental science and technology. Was that the result of a unique set of circumstances or is there a reproducible recipe for success? https://www.nature.com/articles/s42254-022-00426-6

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VT220 North of Boston (fwd)
by Mike Loewen 06 Aug '22

06 Aug '22

From the cctalk list. Not mine. Reply to Dave Mitton. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 6 Aug 2022 22:33:46 -0400 From: Dave Mitton via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> To: "cctalk(a)classiccmp.org" <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> Cc: Dave Mitton <dave(a)mitton.com> Subject: [cctalk] VT220 North of Boston I picked up a VT220 passing by some clean out a while ago. Green phosphor, powers up and passes self test. The keyboard has 3 broken function row keys, keycaps. Free to pickup in North Andover. Shipping would be heavy and awkward with the CRT. Dave. Sent from Mail for Windows

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Help with reading old round Mag tapes?
by Dave McGuire 02 Aug '22

02 Aug '22

On 8/2/22 18:10, David Horvath via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > Mike Loewen suggested that I join this distribution list and post my > request here. I have several old round mag tapes, likely written on > PDP-11/VAXen and CDC-Cyber, probably 1600 BPI that I'd like to try to > extract from. Old code, old docs, old stuff :-) > > I live between Wilmington DE and Philadelphia PA but get up to North NJ > fairly frequently. > > I understand the tapes may not be readable... I can assist you with this. I think we spoke about this a year or so ago but I don't recall offhand where that conversation went. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA

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Help with reading old round Mag tapes?
by David Horvath 02 Aug '22

02 Aug '22

Mike Loewen suggested that I join this distribution list and post my request here. I have several old round mag tapes, likely written on PDP-11/VAXen and CDC-Cyber, probably 1600 BPI that I'd like to try to extract from. Old code, old docs, old stuff :-) I live between Wilmington DE and Philadelphia PA but get up to North NJ fairly frequently. I understand the tapes may not be readable... Thanks in advance for your time. - David, KB3RIJ

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Lee Felsenstein at VCF West
by Christian Liendo 02 Aug '22

02 Aug '22

Wow, that is going to be a good talk. He came to NJ once and it was a great experience.

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Workshop report
by Mike Loewen 02 Aug '22

02 Aug '22

Summary: the museum's HP 2117F now runs RTE-6/VM from the hard disc, and the 7970B tape drive is working. At this weekend's VCF workshop at Infoage, I worked on the museum's HP 2117F minicomputer. The last time I was there, I had copied an OS image to the 7912 hard drive, but it wouldn't boot. After consulting with my HP guru, we decided that the problem was likely the Time Base Generator Board (TBG). I pulled a TBG from one of the warehouse hangar queens, and ran diagnostics on it. Everything passed, and the machine booted RTE-6/VM from the hard disc. The 7970B 9-track tape drive had been untested, because the 2117F lacked the two-board interface for the drive. A gentleman from Sweden donated the boards, for the cost of shipping. I installed the boards, cleaned the tape head, path, and the capstan. Bill Dromgoole provided a scratch tape to use, and the drive loaded tape without a problem. I copied over an OS image with the tape drive configured, and was able to backup and restore files to the tape drive. The 7970B is an 800bpi drive, running at 45ips. I procured a cable to connect the 2621P terminal to the 2117F. The battery which maintains the terminal configuration has turned to powder, and it should be removed and the contacts cleaned. The battery is a Mallory TR133 (4.5V, 600mah, alkaline), or equivalent. It can be purchased from several online battery outlets. Because the terminal configuration is lost at power-off, the configuration screen appears at each power-on. The only two things that need to be changed are the baud (9600) and REMOTE mode enabled. The terminal's printer works. Rick brought in an HP 2622A terminal, which he was donating to the museum. He dusted it off and I swapped it in for the console terminal. It works! There's a fair amount of screen burn, but it's perfectly useable. It needs a good cleaning, and I'll have to make another cable adapter to connect to the 2117F. It also needs a battery. In future, we'll be able to have both terminals online for demos. Currently, power to the 2117F is being fed by power strips. It needs to be split across two power strips, as the current draw will trip the breaker on a single strip. Power to the individual units is all 110V. Ideally, the original 208V 3-phase power distribution scheme should be restored. The unit splits two phases out to two internal power strips, one to each cabinet. The individual units would then be plugged into those internal power strips and their power switches left on. A single button on the front of the CPU cabinet would then power on/off all connected equipment. Bill Dromgoole said he could check the wiring on the plug and figure out the best way to wire it into the breaker panel. I will be writing up detailed instructions for the docents to demo the system. Mike Loewen mloewen(a)cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] RR's Apple1 Prototype for Auction
by Ethan O'Toole 01 Aug '22

01 Aug '22

[NON-Text Body part not included] > Wozniak was the man and always will be!!!! > Bobby Truth. - E

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