July 2024 - vcf-midatlantic

Looking for people with expertise/equipment in data recovery
by Rich Kulawiec 25 Jul '24

25 Jul '24

[ I had a couple of conversations about this yesterday at System Source, so this is the followup. ] I'm working on a large, long-term archiving project as part of a 501(c)3. It seems increasingly likely that I'm going to have to try to recover data from (1) media I can't read, either because I don't have the equipment or because it's degraded and/or (2) files in old/obsolete formats that I can't decode/translate to something contemporary. And I'm going to need some help with both, and I know that some of you have considerable expertise in this area. If any of you are interested in helping out, I'd be glad to hear from you. What I'd like to do is put together a braintrust (now) that I can consult with you when these things come up (later). Thanks, ---rsk

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quick HOPE report
by Jeffrey Jonas 25 Jul '24

25 Jul '24

I had a blast staffing VCF's exhibit at the HOPE conference on Friday & Saturday. Many thanks to Doug, Dean, Jeff Brace for carpooling and making such an engaging exhibit. It was perfectly on-target for the audience, limited by what fits in one car. I was in my element, meeting folks I know from Unigroup (NYC Unix/Linux professional society), NJ Linux group and other circles of friends. The exhibit started with the Discrete Transistor 555 and a breadboarded 555, showing how the first chips were only dozens of transistors. The Bell & Howell chip trainer's flip-flops were wired as a binary counter next to a single chip counter doing essentially the same thing. That got a LOT of attention since it vividly illustrated how the building-blocks of logic gates makes for larger useful elements. Then the microprocessor trainers: 6502, 8080, 8085. Folks adored running the ROM demos via the hex keypads and 7 segment displays. The Apple 1 replica got a lot of attention, particularly with the SD-card cassette emulator instantly loading games and such. Some folks really enjoyed using the WOZ monitor and peeking/poking into RAM. The PET, GRID and others got a lot of love too, particularly the GRID's plasma display. Some folks were into display tech, thus the geeking out over Doug's VFD and LED demo. A really great outreach opportunity. -- Jeff Jonas

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Repair Workshop 7/27 & 728 @ InfoAge
by Jeffrey Brace 22 Jul '24

22 Jul '24

We have an upcoming repair workshop at Infoage this coming weekend. Signup is here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Rfk37BXt2tFN_VRdkitMJbyBaIaWMsfLxVF… *WHERE:* 1) Building 9059 (CDL side and Classroom side) 2) Building 9032-A (overflow room connected to main building) - Available after 1PM on Saturday. *TIME:*Saturday START time == 10 A.M. END time == 11PM. Sunday START time == 10 A.M. and END == 5 P.M. *COST:* $15 per person, per day. $25 per night for those wanting to stay overnight in the visitor center's bunk beds *OVERNIGHT*: Bring your own pillow, blankets, soap etc. We provide a bed frame and an uncovered mattress. There are showers and a kitchen for your use. - *Payments* - PayPal: @vintagecomputerfed (or paypal(a)vcfed.org) - Venmo: @VintageComputerFederation - Cash (in person) - Credit card (in person). *EQUIPMENT:* - VCF will provide a table and you can use any available electrical outlet. - Bring your own tools, power strips, power cords, and supplies etc. - If you need particular tools that you don't own or particular parts, please let others know that you need something. They may have what you need. Let them know ahead of time. - Let everyone know what project you are working on ahead of time to inspire collaboration. *DRINKS*: You should bring your own. We have a refrigerator in CDL to keep them cold. VCF will buy some water and soft drinks for member use. *FOOD*: *Saturday afternoon*: Everyone is on their own. *Saturday Night Dinner at 7PM?*: We often go out to dinner together. *Sunday Morning*: We usually meet at a diner around 9AM *Sunday Afternoon*: Everyone is on their own. *Address:* InfoAge Science and History Museums 2201 Marconi Road Wall, NJ 07719 *PARKING:* Park in the main parking lot, unless you are unloading. Don't park on the lawn. Also park on one side of the road for fire safety. *PHONE:* (7 3 2) 722 - 5015 *EMAIL: *repairworkshops(a)vcfed.org Have fun everyone! :-D Repair workshops are events which are open to the general public where members of all levels technical abilities and experience get together to help each other repair vintage computer hardware. Repair workshops are a chance to work with other VCF members to help repair your vintage artifact. *We are not there to do repairs for you*, *only to allow you the facilities and partnership to help you figure out how to repair it*. Repair workshops are held about 9 times per year at the InfoAge location in Wall. 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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WTB: Shugart SA-4008 Hard Drive
by Jonathan Chapman 22 Jul '24

22 Jul '24

As above. Looking for a 14" SA-4008 for testing with the Ohio Scientific CD-23 disk system. We're at the point with it that we can get known good data off (we see FORTH source in it) but can't boot and get errors off some of the sectors/tracks. I'd like to be able to try and initialize it, but the SA-4008 I have contains useful information that we don't want to destroy! Thanks, Jonathan

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Packard Bell and Gatway PCs cheap
by Sentrytv 22 Jul '24

22 Jul '24

Yes, you have to login. Does anybody have a link to the Facebook app page? Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device. > On Jul 22, 2024, at 9:01 AM, N. Albert via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > >

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Packard Bell and Gatway PCs cheap
by Bill Degnan 22 Jul '24

22 Jul '24

I saw this on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/1012311310532664/ Bill

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Reminder - Swap Meet this weekend!
by Ryan Burke 21 Jul '24

21 Jul '24

System Source is hosting another swap meet this weekend, find information here: https://ca.syssrc.com/wp/?page_id=85&civiwp=CiviCRM&q=civicrm%2Fevent%2Finf… The event is free for everyone, just let us know if you need to rent a physical table for $20.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Dave's Garage Allen Estate Preview
by Neil Cherry 20 Jul '24

20 Jul '24

On 7/20/24 19:11, Hopkins, Justin via vcf-midatlantic wrote: " ... so feel free to donate it to the channel" ;-) That was pretty cool -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry kd2zrq(a)linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies KD2ZRQ

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Dave's Garage Allen Estate Preview
by Hopkins, Justin 20 Jul '24

20 Jul '24

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbi-jo77M5I This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the message and any attachments from your system.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Launch of the Classical Computing Laboratory at IBM Poughkeepsie
by Dan FitzGerald 19 Jul '24

19 Jul '24

Most of the equipment in the lab belongs to Connor Krukosky; the PC Portable, PCjr, and the dot matrix printers are mine. I also did the VM/ESA configuration (I run the IBM CIO's z/VM sysprog team) while Connor did the P390 and terminal hardware configuration. He also restored the IBM Memory Typewriter and repaired the (previously professionally-restored) IBM Correcting Selectric II. Connor most definitely lifted the F50 up onto that table, but we also have furniture dollies and a nice collapsing cart. Fun fact: the VM/CMS port of Space Invaders was done by a young Mike Cowlishaw, who developed the Rexx language. Regards, Dan FitzGerald They/Them or She/Her Classical Computing Laboratory at IBM Poughkeepsie http://www.vm.ibm.com/devpages/dfitzger -----Original Message----- From: Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf- midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> Reply-To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> Cc: Dave McGuire <mcguire(a)neurotica.com> Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Launch of the Classical Computing Laboratory at IBM Poughkeepsie Date: 07/08/2024 10:19:50 AM

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