September 2023 - vcf-midatlantic

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] New Post cast and first episode we talk about VCF-East
by Jeffrey Brace 08 Sep '23

08 Sep '23

On Fri, Sep 8, 2023 at 6:09 PM Ryan Stapleton via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Hello All, > > I hope this is ok here. A friend of mine and myself started a podcast and > in our first episode we talk about VCF East. This is both of our first > times at VCF East and actually and VCF event. > Nice! Congrats! I will listen to it later on my way to VCF MidWest. Glad to hear that you liked our show Jeff Brace > You can listen on Apple Podcast: > https://podcasts.apple.com/.../r-n-r-does-stuff/id1706233662 > > Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Bdprr684vfBdFfOMhcTxB > > Our website is: http://www.rnrdoesstuff.com <http://www.rnrdoesstuff.com/> > > Thank you and happy Friday! > > -Ryan

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New Post cast and first episode we talk about VCF-East
by Ryan Stapleton 08 Sep '23

08 Sep '23

Hello All, I hope this is ok here. A friend of mine and myself started a podcast and in our first episode we talk about VCF East. This is both of our first times at VCF East and actually and VCF event. You can listen on Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../r-n-r-does-stuff/id1706233662 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Bdprr684vfBdFfOMhcTxB Our website is: http://www.rnrdoesstuff.com <http://www.rnrdoesstuff.com/> Thank you and happy Friday! -Ryan

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Happy Start Trek Day!
by Sentrytv 08 Sep '23

08 Sep '23

Too All! Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.

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Hawley wheel mouse on Ebay
by Christian Liendo 07 Sep '23

07 Sep '23

This is a rather rare mouse, I don't think I ever saw one. https://www.ebay.com/bfl/viewbids/374917612212

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I Adore my 64 documentary fundraiser
by Jeffrey Brace 07 Sep '23

07 Sep '23

Someone is raising funds to produce a documentary on the Commodore 64. Goal is $25,000 and the deadline is October 4. Look here for more information: https://seedandspark.com/fund/iadoremy64film Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner VCF Mid-Atlantic Event Manager Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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who was talking of QIC tape/drive restoration?
by Herbert Johnson 07 Sep '23

07 Sep '23

>> Several folks at a recent VCF workshop were discussing ways to restore QIC >> drives with new rollers. >> Who was that, and has anyone made recent progress? Summary for the impatient: old tape drives have "rubber" rollers that turn to goo. Tape drives need rollers to pull the tape at constant speed. Find companies that either sell replacements, or custom-repair your old roller. Tapes are still a thing, moreso for audio. This is an old problem, with any cartridge tape-driver "pressure roller". The rubber (silicone) either turns to goo or becomes hard and brittle. The rubber roller presses against the tape capstan. The capstan is the metal roller that rotates at constant speed. Rubber wheel and capstan, pull the magnetic tape past the heads at constant tape speed for recording/playback. I show some of this technology. Web search "tape drives site:retrotechnology.com". Digital tapes are out of favor, but there's always someone producing some kind of digital tape drive. There's always a need to read old tapes. The repair solutions are: 1) buy a capstan of correct size and bearing from a company that sells them for your brand/model of tape drive. or 2) send your roller to a company, that molds new silicone around your old roller's bearing; milled to the correct diameter. Web-search for "cartridge tape drive rollers". Pinch rollers, drive wheels. In principle, one could mold 2-part silicon to reproduce a roller. Possibly, find some other roller and transfer the rubber part. Few know how to do such work, err, successfully. It's a discussion topic (witness this thread). These companies are mostly supported by audio tape enthusiasts, but also by customers operating old digital cartridge-tape drives. There's other applications. Regards Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA https://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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who was talking of QIC tape/drive restoration?
by Jeffrey Jonas 05 Sep '23

05 Sep '23

Several folks at a recent VCF workshop were discussing ways to restore QIC drives with new rollers. Who was that, and has anyone made recent progress? I have many full size QIC cartridges I didn't copy-up in time. ALL my drives (Wanktek, Archive Viper) have failed with gummy rubber rollers :-( And some cartridges have "relaxed" tension bands. Are there any SIG/BOF or "discussion groups" for folks to continue such projects? Has anyone seen such discussion elsewhere: VCF-nationwide, Computer History Museum, etc? -- jeff jonas

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EEPROM burners in the early 1980s?
by John Heritage 05 Sep '23

05 Sep '23

How common and costly were EEPROM burners in the early 1980s? I’m watching Adrain’s Digital Basement where he covers the Apple II clones. Was it pretty cheap to buy large enough blank EEPROMs and then copy them yourself or were the burners expensive back then?

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Potentially lost media/art
by Dmitry _ 05 Sep '23

05 Sep '23

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] EEPROM burners in the early 1980s?
by Jeffrey Jonas 05 Sep '23

05 Sep '23

If you're talking about ultraviolet-erasable programmable read only memory, that's EPROM. EEPROM is electronically-erasable programmable read only memory, which I believe was pioneered by General Instrument in the early 80s. As to programmers, my college had none at the time. Clever classmates made their own: a box of toggle switches for address & data, all the required power supplies and a one-shot timer for the programming pulse. Very tedious, no read-back or verify. Circuit Cellar, Popular Electronics, BYTE, Nuts and Volts were the hobbyist periodicals of the day. They had advertisements for the low-end programmers (parallel port, ISA bus) and medium price "economy" programmers. ProLog made the high end gang programmers that handled several at once. Steve Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar published build-your-own EPROM programmer kits. UV EPROM erasers are easy to get as germicidal lamps, still sold for Covid precautions. -- jeff jonas

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