- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Leftover VCF event shirts
by Evan Koblentz 09 Aug '18

09 Aug '18

We have some leftover t-shirts from this year's VCF East (orange) and VCF West (gray). They're the same design. Sorry, we don't have any leftovers from Pacific-Northwest (green). We'll sell these for $10 each between now and Festivus. The sizes are limited/assorted. No, we can't make an inventory or check if your size is available, and no we won't ship these .... first-come, first-served, cash/PayPal accepted.

1 0

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] IMPORTANT INFO: VCF Repair Workshop August 11 & 12, 2018
by Jonathan Sturges 09 Aug '18

09 Aug '18

Jeff B., Remember at a recent workshop -- early June maybe -- we talked about trying different brew pubs in the area for dinner? I liked the one that weekend... what's next on the list? -Jonathan S.

1 0

Urgent -- music editing
by Evan Koblentz 07 Aug '18

07 Aug '18

Who here is an expert on editing digital music and can do a medium-sized job for us right away? The need is very urgent. Contact me strictly off-list, this is not for public discussion.

1 1

IMPORTANT INFO: VCF Repair Workshop August 11 & 12, 2018
by Jeffrey Brace 07 Aug '18

07 Aug '18

Evan will be running the workshop this weekend. I have grad studies to focus on As a reminder the workshop is $10 *per* person, *per* day. Sorry this InfoAge's rule and not our decision. So that means for two days it is $20. Sign up quickly to guarantee a table. DATE: August 11 & 12, 2018 LOCATION: InfoAge Building 9032A - (2201 Marconi Road, Wall Township, NJ) TIME: Start about 10 A.M. on Saturday and ends whenever we go to sleep. End about 5 P.M. on Sunday. (Starts around 10 A.M. Sunday morning) SIGNUP: <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ 16qE67nTXghKCRYaUKLOZltq8lLG2mfB3yb6XycSfFbM/edit?usp=sharing> COST: - $10 per person, PER day. This is required by InfoAge for us to pay for renting the space. - $25 for those wanting to stay overnight (Money goes to Sandy recover group and InfoAge). Please pay Evan when you get there so that I don't forget. 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. - You can pay via PayPal. Ask me for the info at the workshop. 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 know or particular parts, please post to the list for those going. They may have what you need. Let them know ahead of time. - Please bring an extra one or two power cords as these are often forgotten by people. DRINKS: You should bring your own. I would recommend bringing a cooler of some type. FOOD: You provide your own. We usually order pizza, subs or go out to a dinner and everyone pays their own way. Usually, we make a decision when everyone gets hungry. GATE: During the hours from 1 pm to 5 pm close the front gate behind you. We want museum visitors to go to the front lobby and not wander through the middle of the campus. Outside of those times, you can feel free to leave the gate open. PARKING: Park across from 9032 or 9010A on any blacktop area. InfoAge doesn't like us parking on the lawn anymore. QUESTIONS? Contact Evan , since I will be busy that weekend: 646-546-9999 or evan(a)vcfed.org. Have fun everyone! -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

1 0

Update on Dan R.'s health
by Evan Koblentz 07 Aug '18

07 Aug '18

Everyone, Here is an update about Ragooman (with his permission; I talked to him by Facebook messenger this afternoon). Dan joined the former MARCH with a list posting on February 19, 2005. That puts him among the first dozen-ish members. The post: "Hi, I'm glad to find a newsgroup here that's very active in the classic computers. I've been collecting off and on for a number of years. I'm originally from Long Island, but after a few jobs I'm now in Pittsburgh. One of my first computers I built while in high school was the ELF. Now that I'm settled here, I like to get back into dusting off my machines, unbox them all and get them fired up and running again. I hope this the place to get any valuable info. I noticed there's some event coming soon ? , the TCF, not sure what that is, but if somebody has a link to this, please send it. I might me be able to make it there one time. Thanks for letting me join. thanks, Dan" Some of you know that Dan recently went into home hospice care due to advanced cancer. About a dozen of us took turns going to visit him in Pittsburgh during the last few weeks. Dan made it crystal clear that nothing brightens his spirit more than seeing us and reminiscing about the old days. I started a private email list to arrange visits. I invited about 40 people who I think know Dan pretty well. But after seeing how much he likes visits from us, I realized there may be others who want to join and so our regular list is the best way to get out that message. If you want to be on the private list, then let me know. Dan's adult daughter (Mindy) is also on that list and she has final say about when visits can happen. Do not fear visiting him: seeing us is what he wants!!! Also, his family has been awesome to all of us. They're treating us like one of their own. Feel free to email me privately. Of course you can also email Dan (ragooman(a)gmail.com) but do not overwhelm him, don't ask anything too personal, and understand that his replies may be slow. Facebook messenger is another good way to communicate with him. Don't call unless he tells you otherwise. Finally, remember that Dan may be reading this -- and while is clock speed is reduced these days, his sarcasm circuit is strong. :) -Evan

1 0

August 11-12 workshop signup
by Evan Koblentz 07 Aug '18

07 Aug '18

The next workshop (probably the last one at the museum for a few months) is August 11-12. Here is the signup link: https://tinyurl.com/y7mm872f Jeff B. and I decided to have this workshop in the event room down the hallway from the museum, not in the usual large room. Summer workshop attendance seems to be low, so it's kind of a waste to reserve the large room. Also it is convenient to be right near the museum, and the new/smaller room has better air conditioning. The room can fit about a dozen tables. PS. I'm leading this workshop because Jeff is busy with his grad school stuff.

4 8

Who is Chet Reha?
by Evan Koblentz 07 Aug '18

07 Aug '18

Someone named Chet Reha signed up for the workshop. Happy to have a new member, but ... who is it? Chet, if you're reading this, then please reply and introduce yourself. Thanks....

2 2

Maker Faire demo sign-up
by Evan Koblentz 06 Aug '18

06 Aug '18

World Maker Faire is September 22-23 at the N.Y. Hall of Science (Queens). We applied for a 10x20 demo booth. Our theme is "Cool hacks for old computers." Any cool hacks will do! Modern, vintage, hardware, software, etc. **** IMPORTANT >>>> Let's avoid redundancy. Sign up here for what you'll bring: https://tinyurl.com/ybb3729w We have a hotel room for Saturday the 22nd. There are two beds. I get dibs for one bed. Jeff B. has first right of refusal for the other. Anyone's welcome to crash on the floor, etc. There will be several tickets available. I don't have an exact number. As always, the tickets are for people who put serious hours into staffing our booth and bringing demos. They're not for general freebies (unless we have extra at the last minute).

2 1

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] please unsubscribe me.
by Neil Cherry 06 Aug '18

06 Aug '18

You can try : https://lists.vcfed.org/mailman/options/vcf-midatlantic mailto:vcf-midatlantic-request@lists.vcfed.org?subject=unsubscribe Which means send email to: vcf-midatlantic-request(a)lists.vcfed.org with the subject: unsubscribe and it should unsubscribe you. -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry(a)linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies

3 2

please unsubscribe me.
by Joe Herdler 06 Aug '18

06 Aug '18

Please subscribe me. Thank you. Joe

1 0

Museum report
by Dean Notarnicola 06 Aug '18

06 Aug '18

Delayed museum report for Saturday: The promised rain and gloom stayed away, unfortunately keeping much of the public away as well. However, the were two very interested groups of visitors. One was an elderly French-Canadian couple who were very interested in the older machines. They slowly lost interest as we came to the micros, but appreciated the connection to the evolution of computing. That was it until 4:45, when a retired couple who both worked for RCA back in the 1802 days arrived. They were extremely interested in the micros and were very engaged in discussing how and why the early micro market evolved into the Intel/ARM virtual duopoly we see today, and how some decendents of early CPUs and microcontrollers survive in modern embedded systems. Big thank you to Tony for dropping by and helping me get the micros up and running for the day, and keeping me from being alone the first couple of hours.

2 1

Australian vintage computer warehouse
by Herb Johnson 04 Aug '18

04 Aug '18

an Australian Computer Museum warehouse; their lease is up and they have to get rid of their "inventory". A video walkthrough tour, matey! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK4M8dv4NNU Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

4 4

DEC KDF-11 question
by Richard Cini 03 Aug '18

03 Aug '18

All — I’m looking for a working M8186/KDF-11 dual-height CPU card, mostly as an experiment to see if it would work in place of the LSI-11 (11/03) card in my Heath H-11 for the purposes of getting BSD 2.11 working. Not sure if that’s even possible, so maybe let’s start with that. Will BSD run on a KDF-11 (11/23) if I have sufficient RAM? Thanks! Rich Get Outlook for iOS Get Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef>

5 5

Anyone in San Diego?
by J. Alexander Jacocks 03 Aug '18

03 Aug '18

All, I'm in San Diego on business, and I finished early. Does anyone live nearby and want to meet for dinner? Alternately, does anyone have suggestions of good geeky places to go? Many thanks! - Alex

4 3

Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 01 Aug '18

01 Aug '18

Very busy! Lots of visitors all day long. We took in a couple of $$ donations plus a very thorough Heathkit H-8 system (terminal, computer, two drives, accessories, manuals, user group notes, etc.) ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, executive director Vintage Computer Federation a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org facebook.com/vcfederation twitter.com/vcfederation instagram.com/vcfederation

1 0

HP back in time
by Mike Loewen 01 Aug '18

01 Aug '18

I accomplished something this evening that I haven't done since 1988: I loaded a HP3000 system from tape! :-) I have a 9-track FOS tape (Fundamental Operating System) which I picked up on Epay 5 years ago, which contains MPE/V release G.A3.09 (circa 1990). I imaged the tape in SIMH format, and used HPDrive (pretending to be a 7974 tape drive) to load the FOS tape and configure the operating system on my Series 37. Back in the day, this was part of the delivery and setup of a new system for a customer. The final responsibility of a CE was to install MPE/V from the FOS tape, and get to the system signon. After that, it was the customer's system. Mike Loewen mloewen(a)cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/

2 1

New robot
by Evan Koblentz 01 Aug '18

01 Aug '18

I got all I could out of the Lego tank/forklift hybrid. There are no more events at which to demo it and no more ways to improve the software. It's time for something new! I'm going to disassemble it (insert Johnny #5 joke...) and build an R2-style droid. Lighter weight, spinning head, many lights, more sound effects. Jeff B. says I work best with a deadline :) so there is one already existing: I've got to have the droid ready for Maker Faire.

4 4

TDL SMB Repair Writeup
by systems_glitch 01 Aug '18

01 Aug '18

Last October, I traded Herb Johnson for two TDL SMB boards that had been stripped of all socketed parts, and even some of the soldered-down ones! Here's my writeup on the repair process: http://www.glitchwrks.com/2018/07/31/tdl-smb Both boards had an etch error that shorted the +5V rail to ground! This is presumably why they ended up in the TDL boneyard. Herb had acquired them stripped of all parts from a former TDL employee, presumably someone plugged it in, noticed the power draw, and moved on to the next board. I found the short by stripping one board of its sockets and bisecting the +5V rail with trace cuts. The short was hidden under silkscreen, making it invisible. In the process, I did two things that will probably be useful to other people here: I designed a replacement board for the SEMI 4804 SRAMs, which are unobtainium, and I reproduced the Interface One and Interface 2 I/O breakout boards. All will be available through my Tindie store as I get time to photograph and list them, but if you're in need of them now, send me an email! The writeup also covers the cuts and jumps necessary to use 2716 EPROMs instead of the mask ROM that TDL originally supplied with the SMB. There are pictures of my modifications, with the cut areas circled for clarity. Thanks, Jonathan

2 2

Folks at VCF West & DEFCON
by Alexander Pierson 31 Jul '18

31 Jul '18

VCF West is this weekend! I'm excited, since this is my first time flying out to experience it. I put together a protective case to fly the Cactus out there in one piece: http://commodorez.com/img/pelicancase.jpg I'm curious, will there be anyone else from the Mid-Atlantic crowd in attendance? I haven't seen much chatter about it here (which makes sense, based on our geographic concentration). I lucked out, and managed to swing a trip to DEFCON through work the following week, which means I will have the Cactus in tow. A friend convinced me to submit a presentation on it to the Hardware Hacking Village -- I mean, if I've got it with me in Las Vegas, might as well, right? To my surprise, they accepted it. If anyone from our crowd just so happens to be at DEFCON, and you have the time/inclination, I'll be presenting at 4PM on 8/11 in some subdivision of the Forum ballroom. Anyway, I'll hopefully see at least one familiar face out west. -Alexander 'Z' Pierson

2 1

OT: Anyone interested in a short duration WordPress gig?
by Kelly Leavitt 30 Jul '18

30 Jul '18

Contact me off list and I'll get you in touch with the client. I just don't have time to devote to yet another project. This is a FOR PAY job, but I don't know the details. Kelly

1 0

12th HOPE - Impressions?
by Ethan O'Toole 30 Jul '18

30 Jul '18

What was everyone else's impressions of HOPE this year? For me, I was pretty exhausted. Guy I roomed with snored a bunch and I drank too much caffeene making it hard to sleep. I took the DC Metro and Amtrak up which was a new experience (though I have used both before, not both in this manner.) That was neat, and NYC is usually fun. Event wise, I thought the variety of talks was pretty awesome. I only saw some talks (Will watch videos later of others I was interested in) and it's always hit or miss but no complaints. And the schedule was packed! The hotel... yea check in was horrible, the room was horrible. HOPE has a cool DIY feel in it's space but the rest of the venue is bad. I like a few aspects of the space but hate other aspects of the space. Having one track 19 floors away from the other track generates lots of cross traffic and elevator needs. I couldn't get a feeling how well attendance went. It felt like it was down from 2016. But Manning talk filled all the rooms I think? 2nd floor seemed pretty dead. Segway thing is 10 years old or more now. There was the soldering area, which is cool but the floor was so bright -- if some of the lighting done in the talk rooms was done on the 2nd floor it would have been a bit better. Having seen so many neat things on 2nd floor in the past there just wasn't much new stuff this year. I'm not knocking VCF or ToooL or Tommy's Holograms. But I dunno. Zero new. And the hammocks... eeeek. Price point got a bit high this year, I understand it's the big city and inflation and all that. At the end of the day, I realize it's the hotel that makes most of the money not the event. I tell myself I go to see friends, and always that is the best aspect of it. But I dunno it seems like something was missing. Maybe it's the elaborate logos and designs of years past weren't present? Dunno, just curious other's opinions. Maybe I was just really tired :-)

5 6

Busy weekend
by Evan Koblentz 29 Jul '18

29 Jul '18

I was at the museum both days this weekend (stayed overnight). Lots of visitors all weekend, and last night I represented VCF at InfoAge's annual "Wall of Honor" dinner. Our own Nick Lordi was there too. ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, executive director Vintage Computer Federation a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org facebook.com/vcfederation twitter.com/vcfederation instagram.com/vcfederation

1 0

WTB: Data I/O 351A-070, 071, 072 Socket Adapters
by systems_glitch 27 Jul '18

27 Jul '18

All, I'm looking for any or all of the following Data I/O Socket Adapters: 351A-070 (8741, 8748, etc) 351A-071 (8751) 351A-072 (8755A) Thanks, Jonathan

1 0

AOL 4.0 on Ebay
by Herb Johnson 23 Jul '18

23 Jul '18

The AOL 4.0 CD ebay auction referenced, has a starting bid of $575, and one bidder. That bidder has ZERO rating and bidding history only 6 days old. I smell a RAT!. An ebay search for AOL CD's sold recently (months) shows most selling for several dollars to under $20, or in sets at those prices. There's stories years old on the Web, about this or that AOL CD or floppy selling for thousands; but not much since 2015. Now, that's just a modest and incomplete survey, looks over about an hour of time. But I'm not seeing any comprehensive collector's discussions and marketplaces. For items worth thousands, I'd expect to see more. In any event, there's no clear and obvious venue to determine likely value. That makes it hard to sustain interest in high prices, when you can't validate what you have (or are about to) spend. I imagine someone might tell me "blah blah blah, put it on eBay and take what you can get, what someone pays is what it's worth". I don't find that a satisfactory explanation, that's called "the greater fool". If there's any persistant value to AOL disks or CD's, I'd expect to find something - or have someone tell me "go *here* and see for your self". Herb Johnson lesser fool -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

3 2

AOL 4.0 on Ebay
by Bill Degnan 23 Jul '18

23 Jul '18

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-America-online-disc-for-internet-4-0-WITH… The last one sold for $10,000+. I think an AOL 2.5 diskette in original package with the Thompson Twins on the package went for $75,000 Bill

6 5

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] AOL 4.0 on Ebay
by Jeffrey Golas 23 Jul '18

23 Jul '18

I think I would wet myself if Prodigy came back in any iteration! Jeff

1 0

HOPE
by Evan Koblentz 23 Jul '18

23 Jul '18

HOPE was great! Chris F., Mouse, Dmitry (a newish member), and I all worked the VCFed booth -- huge thanks to them!! Many other members were at the show. Jim, Rolf, Jason P., Kenzo, Brian Stuart, Jason Scott, Connor, Jonathan, Amy .... sorry to anyone I forget to mention. Chris L. didn't make it but he joined some of us for Saturday night dinner. My talk this morning went pretty well. Unfortunately it started 10 minutes late due to elevator problems (for everyone, all weekend long!) and so I had to stop before the audience Q&A. But the robot performed well and I was happy with all the recent code improvements. Next stop, Maker Faire! I'll start a thread about it this week. (Please don't fork this thread.)

2 2

F/S ALTAIR Complete starter kit
by johnp＠exhilaronics.com 23 Jul '18

23 Jul '18

F/S Original Altair, many MITS boards, more than 50 (fifty) other s-100 boards, OEM 8"disk drives, Lab equipment, large selection of chips and other parts, selection of Cromemco Cyclops parts including S100 interface pair and original camera boards and cases. Cleaning out all my stock because of illness. MUST BE PICKED UP IN SOUTHERN NH AND CANNOT BE BROKEN UP OR SHIPPED! Will sell to best reasonable offer. For complete inventory email jparsonsnh at gmail dot com

1 0

Arrival ETA tomorrow
by Evan Koblentz 20 Jul '18

20 Jul '18

Looks like Chris F. and I won't be there to set up the VCF table until around 10:00-10:30 tomorrow. We planned to be there by 9ish, but my 20-pin female/female ribbon cable broke tonight. I have to stop at the local electronics shop here and get a replacement made. They open at 9am.

1 0

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Discounted HOPE ticket for partial sale (Friday & Saturday)
by Evan Koblentz 19 Jul '18

19 Jul '18

>> (This could be by you giving it to an i.e. vcf-midatlantic friend when you leave on Saturday who'll still be there on Sunday, and I call the person on Sunday morning and they come downstairs to bring me the extra badge.) We can have someone here at the VCF booth take care of that for you.

1 0

Discounted HOPE ticket for partial sale (Friday & Saturday)
by Ken 19 Jul '18

19 Jul '18

Know anyone in the following situation? - Wants to go to HOPE - Doesn't have ticket yet - Wants to be assured entrance in case the event sells out - Wants to go Friday and/or Saturday, but not Sunday - Wants to save some money - Wants to help someone else out (me!) in complementary situation I have a ticket (they're no longer for sale online, will cost more at the door, and might sell out). I can now only go on Sunday. I'd love to share it with someone, for whatever price split seems nice. The catch is, we have to find a way for you to hand off the badge to me when you're done with it. (This could be by you giving it to an i.e. vcf-midatlantic friend when you leave on Saturday who'll still be there on Sunday, and I call the person on Sunday morning and they come downstairs to bring me the extra badge.) Longshot? I figure I'd try. :) - Ken On Tue, Jun 26, 2018 at 4:01 PM, Ken via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: >I have an extra HOPE ticket for sale (I paid $170), because my friend accidentally double booked his weekend. >Anyone wanting to come to HOPE, let me know if you'd like to buy my ticket so I don't worry about selling it anymore! >I look forward to seeing many of you there as usual. The MARCH exhibit has always been a highlight, always attracting interesting/interested folks of all ages for great teachings and reminiscings. > >- Ken

1 0

HOPE dinner plans
by Evan Koblentz 19 Jul '18

19 Jul '18

Instead of me trying to round up everyone Saturday afternoon (July 21), what if we (gasp!) make plans? First thing: what's the best time to meet for dinner? I'm guessing late-ish because we would be leaving our demo tables unstaffed, so we want to wait until attendance goes down. (VCF owns a pair of huge tarps with grommet holes. What we usually do overnight is drape those over our tables and tie around the bottom with rope.)

9 11

Osborne 1A auction
by Mike Loewen 18 Jul '18

18 Jul '18

This might be an opportunity for someone to own an Osborne 1A: Ebay 323356336033 I'm not saying that there might not be more problems with the machine, but one of the reasons the display doesn't work is because the video jumper connector is missing from the front panel. You can easily make one from a 20-pin (2x10) edge card connector. Mike Loewen mloewen(a)cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/

1 0

LOGO help?
by Evan Koblentz 18 Jul '18

18 Jul '18

Who's very good at LOGO programming? I hit a snag. Looking for real-time phone assistance. No time to post code on the list and start a million emails.

1 0

Microsoft references David Gesswein. Thats just too cool
by Christian Liendo 18 Jul '18

18 Jul '18

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/commandline/2018/06/20/windows-command-lin…

3 3

Museum report (Sunday)
by Evan Koblentz 16 Jul '18

16 Jul '18

Chris F. and Doug were our museum docents yesterday. Chris (who is preparing for our HOPE demo) said: "I tested one of my new Commodore SD card readers, and over a dozen NTSC demos that I downloaded. A few don’t work despite the fact that they work on an emulator in NTSC mode, but I have plenty of good ones that do work on real hardware. Looking for my good speakers with subwoofer so that the demos are audible at the event better than the small speakers I used previously." Doug said: "Good day overall! We drove over in pouring rain but it was over pretty much when we arrived. Folks seem to bail on the beach and tour InfoAge, as we might expect. There was a steady flow of people from about 1:45 to closing." ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, executive director Vintage Computer Federation a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org facebook.com/vcfederation twitter.com/vcfederation instagram.com/vcfederation

1 0

Northern Telecom Displayphones
by Paul Rickards 16 Jul '18

16 Jul '18

Hi All, I recently acquired a couple of Northern Telecom Displayphones. They're neat little telephone terminals with a 7" black and white CRT, 80x24 ANSI text, built in 300 baud modem, and a RS-232 port that goes to 9600 baud. I've looked around and haven't found much technical info on them so I started a site to gather any extra info I can locate. See link below. http://biosrhythm.com/?p=1628 If you have a Displayphone model and can dump the EPROMs, I'll add them to the site. What I've dumped so far is available to download there. My Plus model is non functional so I'm not sure if the ROM dump is valid. I have the manual to the Plus model that I will be scanning soon. Hope this helps some folks. Cheers, -p

1 0

Can someone get me a signature from VCF West?
by Christian Liendo 16 Jul '18

16 Jul '18

I am not able to attend VCF West this year. I did last year and I got a signed shirt from Steve Russell. I'm wondering if anyone can do this for me for a friend? I will send you money for the shirt and for the assistance on this. Please let me know

2 1

Head align Tape
by Duane Craps 15 Jul '18

15 Jul '18

>>> 7 track or 9 track? The Univacs are pretty old even for "vintage". Head alignment tapes are not track specific. They have one track the width of the tape and are used to adjust time delays to time align the bits coming off the read head when reading the alignment tape. Then a "scratch tape" is used while writing all ones to adjust the write delays while looking at the read amps. We used the same alignment tape for 7 and 9 track units. Duane On 6/17/2017 11:40 AM, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > 7 track or 9 track? The Univacs are pretty old even for "vintage". On 6/17/2017 11:40 AM, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > On 06/17/2017 11:37 AM, Herb Johnson via vcf-midatlantic wrote: >>> UNIVAC 1540 Magnetic Tape Unit...I wonder if anyone has a 800 BPI, >>> NRZ Master Head Alignment Tape (skew tape) to donate to VCF. >> 7 track or 9 track? The Univacs are pretty old even for "vintage". >> >> Also, as Dave McGuire noted, a lightly-used tape from a known-good drive >> will be useful. In the floppy-disk world, I use several diskettes each >> from a known good drive to validate "alignment". > That wasn't me. But yes, that can be useful for rough validation. > >> Seems to me, there's likely several boxes of mag-tapes in the inventory. > Yes, I brought a few boxes several years ago. > > -Dave > v

4 3

OT: Sussex NJ Hamfest Sunday
by Kelly Leavitt 13 Jul '18

13 Jul '18

August 15th. I know a lot of you folks like to go to this one. Stop by the kitchen and say hi. http://www.scarcnj.org/hamfest.html NJ Staite Fair grounds. 37 Plains Rd, Augusta, NJ Directions: https://njstatefair.org/html/maps.cfm Kelly

2 2

early (original?) Dartmouth BASIC documentation
by Glenn Roberts 12 Jul '18

12 Jul '18

I've been helping a friend clean out some closets after her husband died - he was like many of us and had a lot of history in computing. While he had already gotten rid of early hardware I did find some interesting artifacts in his bookshelves. One book that caught my attention is "a manual for BASIC" by John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz (Dartmouth). It is copyrighted 1965 by Dartmouth and appears to be the original manual for Dartmouth's BASIC. The preface acknowledges an NSF grant for funding the language development. Includes diagram/instructions for using the Model 33 teletype and paper tape! Anyway, just thought I'd share with this group. I imagine there aren't too many copies of this left around. Google search turned up some hits but I didn't see any scans of the book. It's pretty short (63 pp.) Nice keepsake from the earliest days of BASIC... - Glenn

2 1

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Known-good IBM joystick?
by Bill Degnan 11 Jul '18

11 Jul '18

Bob/All, In IBM systems one typically needs the drivers, controller card, and joystick to all be designed to work together. Also, the software often expects one of a few model joystick to be available. So, in Evan's case he needs to look at the software and documentation of the program that will use the joystick to see what kind of joystick it's looking for. It may be that the original IBM PC "Game Control Adapter" is an option, in which case you'd need something compatible with that. May be easy and you can get away with a serial port joystick. And so on. From there, find something compatible, install the drivers into autoexec.bat and config.sys and go from there. Newer machines often pair a soundcard like SoundBlaster with a Microsoft joystick. Evan may have working joysticks that "don't work" because the drivers are not yet loaded. Bill On Tue, Jul 10, 2018 at 8:38 AM Bob Aviles via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Hi, > I have an IBM joystick, look at the picture and tell me if it works on > your systems. > > Bobby On Tuesday, July 10, 2018, 1:20:45 AM EDT, Evan Koblentz via > vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > I'm having issues with the VCF supply of Kraft joysticks, and there is > no time to fix them before HOPE. Does anyone have a tested and > fully-working / known-good IBM (or other non-Kraft) joystick which I > could borrow? I need it by Friday in order to test it at the museum this > weekend. Dean said he may have one, but in case he doesn't.... > > My backup plan is to program for keyboard control instead of joystick > control, but that's not nearly as much fun. > >

7 22

2u blanking panel?
by Evan Koblentz 11 Jul '18

11 Jul '18

Before I buy one: does anyone have a solid (non-vented) 2u blanking panel? We need one to complete our network rack.

3 8

Re: Known-good IBM joystick? (Evan Koblentz)
by mike willegal 11 Jul '18

11 Jul '18

A quick note on reading the Joystick ports on an Apple II. The circuit uses a RC timer to discharge a capacitor to measure the resistance of the potentiometer (resistor). If you do multiple PDL reads back to back, you may get a faulty reading the second time. This is because the capacitor needs time to recharge before the second read. It's best to put some other code in between the paddle reads in order to give the capacitor time to fully charge. regards, Mike Willegal

1 0

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Museum report: terminals (Ethan Dicks) (Michael Thompson)
by Earl Baugh 11 Jul '18

11 Jul '18

> > We had a VT14 at the RICM that had cataracts. We used dental picks to > remove the silicone holding the metal mounting band to the CRT. We planned > on using a hot wire to cut the PVA, but when we started picking at the > edges of the PVA we found that very little PVA was adhered to both the CRT > and the shield. Cleaning up the PVA was tedious, but not difficult. > > We were concerned about putting a CRT without the PVA in a public place in > the museum. We had images of a young visitor breaking the CRT and glass > flying everywhere. > > We bought some 0.093" thick Lexan at Home Depot, waited for my wife to go > shopping, and put the Lexan on top of the glass shield in the oven. When > the temperature hit 325F the Lexan conformed to the glass shield. We > trimmed the Lexan to the same size as the glass shield, and use silicone to > hold everything together. This is probably a lot safer than the original > PVA and won't degrade. > > There are pictures and a description of what we did here: > http://www.ricomputermuseum.org/Home/equipment/dec-pdp-12/ > dec-pdp-12-restoration > > I love that you clearly pointed out the most important step in this repair --- waited for my wife to go shopping --- :-) Earl

1 0

Workshop report
by Evan Koblentz 10 Jul '18

10 Jul '18

Various notes about the workshop follow... - Jeff G. is almost done making one good/working IMSAI from the two parts machines that were formerly Roger Amidon's. When it is totally done, then we will make a video to show it is fully working and we'll sell the computer on eBay. This is to maximize its value because the proceeds will be donated to Roger's family. Jeff had some (remote) help from Herb (documentation) and Glitch (ZPU board). - Ian repaired VCF's PET 2001 (replaced the magic smoke!) and IBM 5150 (disconnected a faulty memory expansion board that was causing trouble). He and Dean also repaired the modern(ish) PC that we're going to use as a BBS server -- I couldn't get any video from it; turns out the CF card adapter that Dean installed as an SSD (8GB was fine because it's only running DOS) was being pushed down by another component and bending the motherboard! We improved the other component by cutting out an infringing piece of metal bracket. :) He also helped Tony with a CRT issue and helped Jeff B. with one of Jeff's 64s. - We have a new member, Marco (15 yrs. old), who brought in his iMac. It needed a lot of work + CRT repair. Ian helped him and used parts from one of our spares. - Jason Perkins brought in a very nice/modern rack console for us and showed me how to install it. - I ordered the wrong patch panel. Got the correct one coming soon. - Mike Lowen worked on VCF's Zorba portable computer. It needs more TLC than he could do at the workshop, so I let him take it home for further repair. Mike got his own HP-3000 working! Exciting stuff. - Bill Drom. got the UNIVAC running more reliably and taught me, Tony, and Dean how to turn it on + do a quick 1-minute demonstration (it tests all of the CPU's 102 instructions and tests 40K of core memory). I will show other docents. - Bill and Mike helped me troubleshoot + repair the Compaq Portable III that I need working for my HOPE lecture. Lego card wasn't talking to the interface box. Turns out the problem was a dirty connector between the computer and its "backpack" card expansion module. Deoxit solved that. - Dean helped me learn how to use the STICK and STRIG (presumbably derived from "Stick Trigger") commands in Compaq's flavor of IBM/MS BASIC. Different from the Applesoft that I know, where stick control is PDL(0)/PDL(1) and reading the buttons is PEEK(49249) and PEEK(49250). - I'm not sure what else Jason, Jeff J., Tony, and Ian worked on.

6 11

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Known-good IBM joystick?
by Evan Koblentz 10 Jul '18

10 Jul '18

No. Everything is great with the Apple branded joystick connected to our Laser 128. Where I'm having trouble is with a dual Apple/IBM stick connected to a Compaq luggable. Anyway it sounds like Tony is bringing one into the museum later this week, which I can test on Saturday. On Tue, Jul 10, 2018, 12:42 PM Bob Aviles via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Question, what you need is an Apple joystick? because I have some. > Bobby > On Tuesday, July 10, 2018, 12:40:07 PM EDT, Evan Koblentz via > vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > >> The BASICs are 100% compatible? You just had one change and it works > on > the IBM? > > Pretty much! I also changed the joystick button code. Applesoft uses a PEEK > to check for button presses, BASICA uses the STRIG command. Everything else > is the same. > > On Tue, Jul 10, 2018, 12:32 PM Bill Degnan via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > On Tue, Jul 10, 2018 at 11:53 AM Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic < > > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > > > I'm using a Compaq Portable III (286). I forgot the card brand but I > > > vaguely recall it might also be Kraft. I'm programming in the BASICA > from > > > the correct Compaq-branded boot disk. I use the STICK command; not > > > PEEK/POKE. > > > > > > I can test the same joystick against the Apple side tomorrow. > > > > > > In a test program, I was only getting a range of about 5 to 195, vs. > > 0-255. > > > > > > To "port" the code from Apple to IBM platform, I replaced the Applesoft > > > PDL(0) and PDL(1) commands with STICK. > > > > > > The way my code works is, when I move the stick beyond a neutral range > > > (say, within 75 of either end), then it turns on the robot motors on > the > > > correct directions. > > > > > > The logic is fine: works with the Apple joystick on the Laser 128, and > > as I > > > said I'll test that again with the Kraft tomorrow on the Laser. > > > > > > But when I tried it on the Compaq, only two of the directions work > > > correctly. It was something like left and forward; I forget exactly. > One > > > other direction turns on the wrong bits (1 and 4, same as its opposite > > > direction, rather than 2 and 3 which it should be), even though I'm a > > > million percent certain the code is right. Another direction works > (bits > > 2 > > > and 4) if I move the stick to its extreme edge, but while en route it > > turns > > > on bit 3 for a second. That makes no sense! That's why I think the > stick > > > might be funky or somehow misadjusted even if it does work on the Apple > > > side. > > > > > > > > > > > The BASICs are 100% compatible? You just had one change and it works on > > the IBM? > > b > > > >

2 1

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Museum report: terminals (Ethan Dicks)
by Michael Thompson 10 Jul '18

10 Jul '18

> From: Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks(a)gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Museum report: terminals > On Mon, Jul 9, 2018 at 12:27 PM, Jonathan Gevaryahu via > vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > On 7/9/2018 11:39 AM, Herb Johnson via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > >> > >> I saw many "moldy" CRT's - that's when the front of the CRT has a > >> transparent cover that's separating from the glass. Repair means > replacing > >> the CRT, which can take most of an hour depending. > > AFAIK, it's bubbles in the PVA layer between the face of the CRT and > the implosion protection screen. > > > These CRT tubes don't have to be replaced, the CRTs can be very carefully > > heatgunned to remove the front protective glass cover and scrape out the > > 'cataract' goo. I think Ian has done it to a few of them already? > > I've done it with a VT220. You can use a heat gun or a hot wire to > cut the PVA to free the shield from the tube, then it's all cleanup. > You do need to re-install the shield because otherwise the CRT clamps > don't fit really well and the tube slides around. I used dots of a > thick (1mm?) silicone "tape" on the corners and it worked well. Just > a small airgap in front of the face of the tube instead of a layer of > what is supposed to be optically clear PVA. > > -ethan > We had a VT14 at the RICM that had cataracts. We used dental picks to remove the silicone holding the metal mounting band to the CRT. We planned on using a hot wire to cut the PVA, but when we started picking at the edges of the PVA we found that very little PVA was adhered to both the CRT and the shield. Cleaning up the PVA was tedious, but not difficult. We were concerned about putting a CRT without the PVA in a public place in the museum. We had images of a young visitor breaking the CRT and glass flying everywhere. We bought some 0.093" thick Lexan at Home Depot, waited for my wife to go shopping, and put the Lexan on top of the glass shield in the oven. When the temperature hit 325F the Lexan conformed to the glass shield. We trimmed the Lexan to the same size as the glass shield, and use silicone to hold everything together. This is probably a lot safer than the original PVA and won't degrade. There are pictures and a description of what we did here: http://www.ricomputermuseum.org/Home/equipment/dec-pdp-12/dec-pdp-12-restor… -- Michael Thompson

1 0

Known-good IBM joystick?
by Evan Koblentz 10 Jul '18

10 Jul '18

I'm having issues with the VCF supply of Kraft joysticks, and there is no time to fix them before HOPE. Does anyone have a tested and fully-working / known-good IBM (or other non-Kraft) joystick which I could borrow? I need it by Friday in order to test it at the museum this weekend. Dean said he may have one, but in case he doesn't.... My backup plan is to program for keyboard control instead of joystick control, but that's not nearly as much fun.

3 3

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Known-good IBM joystick?
by Bill Degnan 10 Jul '18

10 Jul '18

Typically you match the sound card to the joystick. So what is the computer and sound card within? What is the bus type and OS? You will need driver disk and load via autoexec.bat/config.sys. This will help you find a compatible device...you need to communicate the complete environment. B On Tue, Jul 10, 2018, 7:02 AM Tony Bogan via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > On Jul 10, 2018, at 1:20 AM, Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > > I'm having issues with the VCF supply of Kraft joysticks, and there is > no time to fix them before HOPE. Does anyone have a tested and > fully-working / known-good IBM (or other non-Kraft) joystick which I could > borrow? I need it by Friday in order to test it at the museum this weekend. > Dean said he may have one, but in case he doesn't.... > > > > My backup plan is to program for keyboard control instead of joystick > control, but that's not nearly as much fun. > > PS - I can't test the IBM connector but if the apple connector works > that's a start! Then you can try the other half :-) > Tony

1 0