November 2024 - vcf-midatlantic

Festivus, Saturday Dec. 14 @InfoAge
by Jeffrey Brace 05 Nov '24

05 Nov '24

I have successfully reserved Festivus on Saturday, Dec. 14 at InfoAge in the Sandy area (9010-D). There are no overnight stays available. So I would expect that we have to be out of there by a certain time. We can still resume in the morning. I was able to get a special rate at Atlantic Inn & Suites for Festivus for $80 per night. You have to mention Vintage Computer Federation and call directly to get the discount. We will have a mini-swap meet, food like last year, a game room. I will be sending out more information about tickets and signups for Festivus soon! For those of you new to our group read on: WHAT IS FESTIVUS? Festivus started out as a party years ago and took place 6 months after VCF East. At some point, it was officially called "Festivus" as recommended by Bernie S. It refers to the Seinfeld episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX55AzGku5Y. It is a make believe holiday around the same time as many other December holidays, but for us it is not religious, but simply Pure Vintage Computer Fun. WHAT DO YOU DO AT FESTIVUS? We barbecue hamburgers, hot dogs, perogies, etc. It is a Potluck, everyone brings a food and/or beverage item. It is vintage video game fun. We have a game room setup for Ian and others to set up their video games for everyone to play. It is a fellowship to catch up with members that we haven't seen for a while. Take care! 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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Next Repair Workshop(s)
by Jeffrey Brace 05 Nov '24

05 Nov '24

*@InfoAge* Nov. 16-17: https://vcfed.org/repair-workshops-at-infoage/ If you are looking for an inexpensive place to stay overnight, then try The Atlantic Inn & Suites: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YK1N6WorCYnZUZ7F9 *@System Source* Nov. 23-23: https://ca.syssrc.com/wp/?page_id=85&civiwp=CiviCRM&q=civicrm%2Fevent%2Finf… Take care! 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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Verizon contacts, Lucent 5ESS-2000 VCDX?
by Ethan O'Toole 04 Nov '24

04 Nov '24

Not to change the subject, but I've heard that Verizon is retiring all of their 5ESS hardware. Anyone have any contacts at Verizon regarding surplus equipment / scrap? I think it would be cool to try to build a running 5ESS VCDX system with a minimum amount of POTS circuits (64?) and trunks and all that. Compact -48v DC power supplies, Sun 1u for the emulator thing... A home sized build that can be connected to shadytel or one of the online hobbyist phone networks. Also, I don't really know that much about them. I've been reading some of the manuals that Nokia (who bought Alcatel who bought Lucent who was AT&T or whatever) has online. The facebook Class 5 group -- someone said the switch mdoule itself will take nearly a full rack, so that is interesting. Wikipedia said 3 racks. The place I worked that I think had one, it was 11 or 12racks but I never saw inside them -- no one seemed to know anything about it. Any leads appreciated. - Ethan

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Commodore 64 floppy disk exerciser
by Jeffrey Jonas 04 Nov '24

04 Nov '24

Someone brought a Commodore 64 diagnostic cartridge to a VCF workshop, long long ago, that did thorough floppy diagnostics: formatted a disk, checked RPM, seek times, etc. What was the cartridge and would you please bring it to an upcoming event? I need to qualify some drives I have. Thanks. -- jeff jonas

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clean old antistatic foam off IC pins?
by Matt Reynolds 01 Nov '24

01 Nov '24

Hi, Do any of you have any information on what is considered the best/most appropriate way to clean off petrified antistatic foam off of IC pins? I have come across some vintage ICs I want to save and try to sell to finance other parts of my hobby. These particular ones are gold plated, but that said, some of them have been corroded through regardless, while some are just ugly looking. I've been using IPA, drafting eraser, and Xacto knife to clean the majority of the crud off, but very few of the pins are looking particularly shiny. I don't want to get too aggressive and break more pins off, but they don't look all that great at the moment. Matt R

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] clean old antistatic foam off IC pins?
by Matt Reynolds 01 Nov '24

01 Nov '24

ooh, good idea. I'll give that a shot. Thanks, Matt On Fri, Nov 1, 2024 at 3:49 PM Tony Bogan via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > I’ve used a fiberglass pencil to clean the pins on ICs. Have not dealt > with gold plated ones myself so I cannot speak to them. > > Tony Bogan > > > > On Nov 1, 2024, at 3:45 PM, Matt Reynolds via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > > Hi, > > > > Do any of you have any information on what is considered the best/most > > appropriate way to clean off petrified antistatic foam off of IC pins? I > > have come across some vintage ICs I want to save and try to sell to > finance > > other parts of my hobby. These particular ones are gold plated, but that > > said, some of them have been corroded through regardless, while some are > > just ugly looking. > > > > I've been using IPA, drafting eraser, and Xacto knife to clean the > majority > > of the crud off, but very few of the pins are looking particularly shiny. > > I don't want to get too aggressive and break more pins off, but they > don't > > look all that great at the moment. > > > > Matt R >

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