February 2025 - vcf-midatlantic

VCF Mid-Atlantic Steering Committee Nominations
by Jeff Salzman 03 Sep '26

03 Sep '26

Members of the VCF MidAtlantic Mailing List, Another year has passed by, and it's time for the VCF-MA annual Steering Committee elections There are currently four seats becoming vacant. Jeff Salzman, Dave McGuire, Doug Crawford, and Ian Litchfield have either reached the end of their appointed terms or have resigned. Nominations to fill those positions are now open. The election will be held according to sections 4 and 5 of our published by-laws, listed at the end of this email and linked below. https://vcfed.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/VCFMA-Charter-Jul2022.pdf) Anyone who directly receives this message and has been a member of the VCF Mailing List for at least 30 days is eligible to vote. There is no 30-day restriction to mailing list membership to be nominated as a candidate. Current members of the mailing list in good standing are eligible to submit nominations for Committee member candidates. Nominations can be made by simply communicating the nomination via e-mail to a current Committee member: Thomas Gilinsky - thomas.gilinsky(a)vcfed.org, Dave McGuire - dave.mcguire(a)vcfed.org, Douglas Crawford - douglas.crawford(a)vcfed.org, Ian Litchfield - ian.litchfield(a)vcfed.org, or Jeff Salzman - jeff.salzman(a)vcf.org) Members of the mailing list may also self-nominate. To be eligible for the election, the prospective nominee must then accept the nomination by replying in the affirmative to the nomination email. One nomination per member can be made. Nominations will close on November 23nd at 11:59PM. An updated list of eligible nominees will be published regularly. Nominees are also encouraged to provide a position statement, which will be posted to the VCF-MA website for prospective voters to read. Voting will commence on November 30th, and will close at 11:59pm on December 13. Winners will be announced on December 14 during the Town hall event at our annual VCF Holiday celebration. Thank you, Jeff Salzman Chairman - VCF-MA Steering Committee ---------------------------------------- 4. COMMITTEE ELECTIONS Steering committee membership includes representation of VCF membership, as determined by the VCF governing board and VCF-MA sponsored elections. - The committee membership will be determined by elections to be held on a yearly basis (currently November). - Committee membership is ideally comprised of five people but may vary due to changing circumstances. Any committee vote to determine an increase in committee members shall be held within six months after a new election cycle. - A minimum of one seat will be up for election in every cycle, unless additional vacancies create the need for additional seats to be filled, in which case all vacant seats will be up for election in that cycle. - In the event of a tie, a two-week runoff election will be held. - If a tie still exists after the runoff, the non-running committee members will determine a winner. - In the event of a committee tie, the current chairperson or chair delegate will determine the winner. - Nominations for committee members can be made by current members in good standing simply by communicating the nomination to a committee member. One nomination per member can be made. Said members may also self-nominate. - In the case of off-cycle vacancies, the committee may move, without a public election, to appoint by simple majority vote new committee members to fill the seats until the next scheduled election. - A committee chairperson will be appointed by the committee members within 30 days of each completed election cycle. At that time a recording secretary will be selected. - Prospective committee members should be knowledgeable in some aspect of computing, preferably vintage computers, and show a demonstrated interest in vintage computing, computing history, and museum management and governance. - In order to be sufficiently aware and have proper perspective of museum and warehouse issues, prospective committee members should be able to physically attend VCF events at least quarterly and attend meetings regularly. 5. VCF MEMBERSHIP VCF general membership is open and granted to anyone who joins the mailing list. Voting rights will be granted to active list members who join no less than 30 days before an election.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: time to downsize
by Bob Shuster 03 Sep '25

03 Sep '25

I’ve finally gone through all the old Apple “i“-devices I’ve accumulated, but I haven’t listed them on the website as they definitely don’t fit the “vintage” moniker. That being said, perhaps some of you might also collect these or want them for parts/nostalgia? There are a couple of 1st gen iPads, a 1st gen iPad mini, various iPods, and a handful of iPhone 5 and 6 phones. Drop me an email if you want any more details. And still plenty of other stuff left - although I’ve been slowly selling off bits and pieces on eBay. - Bob Shuster > 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 > > 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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MARCH contact info (Dayton Microcomputer Association)
by Herbert Johnson 13 Mar '25

13 Mar '25

> I'm a member of a Dayton Ohio user group > [might start] a master listing of computer clubs around the world or country > I had suggested that APCUG www.apcug2.org set up a master list o For what it's worth, I looked over the Dayton Microcomputer Association (DMA) Web site and glanced at some of their activities. My review was brief but informative. https://dma1.org/sigs/ They seem to have interests in older computing and microprocessor computing, through their SIG's (subgroups) which meet in several Dayton areas. The club began in the very vintage era (as did I). So there's some overlap among my vintage computing interests. I spent some time in Ohio, and Dayton is the location of world's largest hamfest (and one of the oldest-active hamfests). One of the SIGs meets at a Dayton radio amateur location. I'm saying, there's stuff going on there in Dayton OH. Separately: The DMA is a member of a "club of clubs" called APCUG www.apcug2.org which seems to be an affiliation of computing-related clubs. MOst of course deal with modern or recent computing, some do not. How VCF Inc. responds to the posted request is up to the VCF inc. officers. But it may be useful to open lines of communications to these groups and see if there's common interests. And of course, it's an opportunity to inform them about MARCH and VCF events. Also, MARCH members outside of New Jersey may be interested in organizations near to them, such as may be found within the APCUG, or have interest in the DMA of Dayton OH. Regards Herb Johnson -- 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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VCF-East 2025 Consignment Vendor Access Ready to Go
by Jeff Salzman 28 Feb '25

28 Feb '25

Vendor access to Consignment is now open for VCF-East 2025. Who are the vendors? YOU are the vendors! If you plan on attending VCF-East this year April 4-6, 2025 at InfoAge in Wall Township, NJ, and you have vintage computer-related goods stuff you want to sell, you can do so by registering your "inventory" on the VCF-East Consignment system. Many attendees in the past have used the Consignment option to sell their goods, and even earn enough to pay for their trip. Consignment at VCF-East has been a very popular feature of the event for almost an entire decade. VCF will keep 18% of the sale price of items sold on your behalf in the Consignment room. The remaining amount of your net sales will be paid to you at the end of the VCF-East event on Sunday, March 6. If you were a vendor last year, your account is still accessible, along with your previous inventory. For new vendors this year, you will need to set up a free account on our POS system. The POS system is available here: POS — VCF Consignment <https://nexopos.vcfed.org/> Use the Sign-in button if you are a former vendor. Use the Register button if you're new to the VCF Consignment system. When you're logged in, you can click on Consignment Home, then My Items. Use the "+" button to add your items one at a time. You should fill in a short name for the item, the price you want to sell it for, the quantity you have, then fill out a small description. Click Save to save the item into inventory. If it doesn't save for you, check your item Name. There's a limit of 25 characters for the Name. For former Vendors who want to sell items that you entered into the Consignment system that didn't sell last year, find your item in your inventory list and change the quantity. No need to re-enter the item. All quantities of last year's event have been zeroed out. You just need to change the quantity to make it available again for sale. Also for former vendors, any items that are still in the system with a zero quantity when VCF-East 2025 starts will be purged from the Consignment system. Thank you, Jeff Salzman

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Painting of 2x4 section of plywood
by Martin A. Flynn 27 Feb '25

27 Feb '25

Can someone paint the 2x4 section of plywood in the 9059 furnace room black? It's leaning on the chimney behind the door. Both sides and edges need to be painted so it does not warp in the attic of 9036 Martin

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fufu - I think I caught a Ghost! :-D, <fufu.flexusergroup.com>
by Neil Cherry 27 Feb '25

27 Feb '25

Yes Dave you are seeing this again, different list. ;-) Bid and won on a Gimix Ghost. Not sure what's in it but at least now I have a Ghost. Might have a hard drive interface and a video card in addition to other cards. I was spoiled rotten with a fully loaded Gimix that we used for development work (1984?). We ran 5 users on it until we got 3 new developers and then the C compiling kinda slowed things down a bit. 😉 I have no drive in it but do a few boards. Lets see what condition this thing is in. I do have some of Bob's Corsham boards and Fredrics Peripheral Technologies boards (he still makes them). Thomas, I'll spend some time later this year putting something together for the Ghost and the SWTPC we spoke about yesterday. -- 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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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Looking for a DOS-era laptop for VCF East
by Benjamin Krein 27 Feb '25

27 Feb '25

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Looking for a DOS-era laptop for VCF East
by Benjamin Krein 27 Feb '25

27 Feb '25

I'm looking for an inexpensive DOS-era laptop (8088-80486, maybe Pentium I or II) in working condition that I can use at the FujiNet table for showing off the latest developments of the RS232 version of FujiNet. Unfortunately what I currently have is either unreliable or unpresentable & I need something better. I prefer a laptop for portability/built-in display if possible. Floppy & serial port is a must, hard drive would be nice (I have a CF card adapter for IDE). Working display & keyboard is important. I'm happy to clean something up so if it's dirty that's fine. I'm going to be at the System Source repair day this weekend if anyone has something & wants to meet me there. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks! -- - Benjamin Krein

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Leading Edge Model M and Mitsubishi 1982
by Bill Degnan 26 Feb '25

26 Feb '25

Anyone have a 1982 Leading Edge Model M? "M" for Mitsubishi parts. Not easy to find them. So I was wondering if there might be a 1982 Mitsubishi PC sold in Japan....? There is the 1982 Mitsubishi Multi16 - a CP/M computer:(16 bit? but it's not MS DOS) https://www.reddit.com/r/cassettefuturism/comments/1fi249f/mitsubishi_elect… Anyone have either of these computers? Mitsubishi could have put out a PC of their own but they chose to partner with Leading Edge instead. As many of you know the Japanese stayed with CP/M longer than the US. Or maybe Mitsub. sold Leading Edge Model M's as "Mitsubishi" OEM in Japan but no one has written about it, low sales. Interesting. Bill

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FAQ: MARCH Hack-a-Thon, March 8-9, 2025
by Jeff Salzman 26 Feb '25

26 Feb '25

Since starting this *NEW* idea of Hack-a-Thon events at MARCH, at the InfoAge Science Center, questions have been asked. Here is a FAQ covering details for the upcoming Hack-a-Thon on March 8 and 9, 2025, and for future Hack-a-Thon events that get scheduled. FAQ Is this a real event? Yes, it's real. It's new for us, but not necessarily new for others. Events like this have been held in all sorts of other locations and venues. While this is our first attempt to host an event where we task contestants to use their favorite vintage computing platform in a themed challenge, there are plans to host several Hack-a-Thons each year. Is it called MARCH Hack-a-Thon, or VCF Hack-a-Thon??? VCF, or Vintage Computer Federation, is an organization that grew from the original MARCH (Mid-Atlantic Retro Computer Hobbyists) organization. Since then, and for quite a few years, all events hosted at InfoAge Science Museum in Wall Township, NJ that involved vintage computing were done under the VCF moniker. The VCF moniker has been applied to many vintage computer events all around the world, namely the Vintage Computer Festival (East, West, Southwest, MW, etc.). Since VCF (the festival) and VCF (the Federation) have created confusion with VCF (the moniker), it was decided that all lesser vintage computer events, such as the workshops, museum, and now the Hack-a-Thons that take place at the InfoAge Science Center in Wall Township, NJ will be run under the adopted former name of the group that started there in the first place, MARCH. Other than Vintage Computer Festival - East, along with the VCF Swapmeets, Workshops, and Hack-a-Thons at this location will be called MARCH Workshops and MARCH Hack-a-Thons. Will the Hack-a-Thon events always be programming challenges? No. The first event will be a programming challenge, but even the details of the challenge won't be released until the start of the event. Future Hack-a-Thon events could still be programming challenges based on specific themes, or they could be hardware challenges. Perhaps even both as any particular theme will allow. Why are you doing Hack-a-Thons now? For a long time, MARCH (in its present and former name) has been hosting vintage computer workshops, where anyone can bring their vintage computing equipment into an event space shared by others in order to learn how to use, repair, or recondition their equipment. This became a popular social event where like-minded collectors could meet up to get their collections repaired with the help of others who may be familiar with these systems. Or to simply have an open workspace to work on something they may not have the resources, tools, or space to work on at home. But there's more to just fixing these systems. The Hack-a-Thons were created under the concept that people might not need to repair their systems but would want to meaningfully engage in the use of these systems. During a Hack-a-Thon, you have the chance to put your knowledge to use and give your system(s) a good workout while competing for a goal. These are sanctioned events to allow you to use your vintage computers among other like-minded collectors, or even if you simply enjoy working with your systems in a shared creative environment. Are the listed systems for the first Hack-a-Thon the only choices? No. The primary challenge is to use an 8-bit era system. The list provided in the initial announcement are examples, not limitations. When you enter the Hack-a-Thon contest, you are given the option to put a different system than those listed. Your submission will be considered for its relation to the 8-bit era theme before it is approved. That being said, systems like Altair 8800, IMSAI, PDP systems, etc., and even certain 16-bit systems, would most likely be allowed. All you have to do is ask. "But there's no way my ZX-81 can compete with a Commodore 64. The C64 does so much more. How could I possibly win?" Nonsense! The grading of the competition is not based solely on a superficial "wow factor" of one system compared to the next. Part of the grading rubric will include how the contestant made their computer system do something unique and creative within the scope of the system's own capabilities. For example, if the Hack-a-Thon theme was "Show us what you can do with your computer's graphics capabilities", the judges know that a PET 4032 does not have the same graphics capabilities as a Commodore 64, and would take that into account. By using some real-world examples to explain this, if a Hack-a-Thon contest were to allow the use of modern custom hardware, an example like the PET 4032 that was on exhibit at VCF-East years back which took live video, digitized and converted it to PETSCII characters that displayed real-time on the PET display would probably score very high against an Atari 800XL which was running a cool looking player/missile graphics demo on its own. That's just one example. The point is, that the judges are looking at what you can make your system do in alignment with the output expected by the contest theme... a theme which won't be announced until the start of the event. Is it too late to enter? Not yet. The cutoff for online entry is March 7, 2025. Although we *might* make an exception for those who just show up at InfoAge to enter the contest, we are not obligating ourselves to do so. Pre-registration allows us to have a proper headcount so we can provide location resources to set up your equipment. https://vcfed.org/2025/02/13/march-hack-a-thon/ Can we work this Hack-a-Thon contest at home? Not at this time. The Hack-a-Thon intends to bring like-minded people together in a shared environment. And since the rules of this particular contest state that period correct hardware and software are only to be used, and not emulation, modern IDE environments, cross-compilers, etc., in-person participation allows the contest rules to be properly adhered to and managed. There may be a future Hack-a-Thon theme that could be considered a "work from home" contest, but if so, will be rather infrequent.

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