- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Wanted: Dead ST-506
by Jason Perkins 07 Oct '17

07 Oct '17

Does anyone have a dead or otherwise very unhealthy ST-506 or ST-412 they'd want to get rid of for small / reasonable $$? I want to research replacing the bearing(s) in one of my Apple Profiles, and need a drive to experiment on. One with very noisy bearings and a snapped off head would be perfect! I do have a PC ST-506 mechanism that I think is working, but I've never tried it. The bearing sounds fine spinning it by hand. I lost the board that attaches to the bottom, but I don't want to destroy a possibly working drive. Thanks! -- Jason Perkins 313 355 0085

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[OT] Anyone Want to Carpool to Tandy Assembly?
by J. Alexander Jacocks 06 Oct '17

06 Oct '17

I’m looking for anyone who wants to carpool to Tandy Assembly, in the DC/southern PA area? I live near Frederick, MD, and am flexible on departure time, though I would like to attend for most, if not all, of Sunday. I have a large car, and am willing to drive it. Just looking for company, really. - Alex

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Fwd: More Free Dec (Mostly) Stuff Baltimore Maryland USA
by Evan Koblentz 06 Oct '17

06 Oct '17

-------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: More Free Dec (Mostly) Stuff Baltimore Maryland USA Date: Fri, 6 Oct 2017 15:03:16 -0400 From: Fran Smith via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> Reply-To: Fran Smith <fsmith(a)ladylinux.com>, General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org Hiya, Purge continues I have 4 Dec "Pizza Box" Xterms A couple smaller Dec Dot Matrix Printers An Apple Imagewriter A Dec Repeater 200 A later Storage Works Pizza Box Slab A set of hard copy Open VMS documentation (Soft Bound) A ratty beat up PDP 11/03 ?? Backplane and Power supply (Appears to be like a 11/780 bootstrap console) All of these treasures are FREE!!! And if you want I have some interesting stuff for sale cheap and likely will give you more stuff free or cheap to haul away. Save me from this madness!! No shipping. Its just not worth shipping. Will hit the trash/recycle bin if not picked up within a week. -- Kindest Regards, Fran Smith Webology Hosting --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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Free PDP full size rack to good home
by Andrew Molloy 05 Oct '17

05 Oct '17

I have a full size DEC rack looking for a new owner. It used to hold a PDP 11/34a and various drives that I have since given to the museum. Anyone want it? It's in Syracuse NY and you'd have to pick it up (I'd treat you to lunch if you made the trip). It's a heavy beast and probably 6 feet high. It has various rails too, plus a fan on top. I can provide pix if anyone is interested. Thanks, Andy

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Test, ignore
by Evan Koblentz 05 Oct '17

05 Oct '17

Nothing to see here.

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S-100 CCS long mobo
by Herb Johnson 04 Oct '17

04 Oct '17

Someone asked me for docs, for a California Computer Systems (CCS) S-100 motherboard, with 18 or 19 slots, model 2502. I've never seen one of those puppies. It's got circuits for reset, power-fail, and some kind of active termination, not sure what else. The CCS 2501 is smaller and much simpler. Here's a link to a photo of the board. Any docs would be appreciated. - Herb http://www.retrotechnology.com/z/ccs_2502.jpg -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Collection downsizing
by Evan Koblentz 04 Oct '17

04 Oct '17

> Evan, since you make all of us introduce ourselves when first posting to the list, an unsigned email from a generically named email address (“VCF Gmail <evan(a)vcfed.org>”) comes off as extremely weird; can we ask you to sign your emails? > > Thanks! > > David Sorry about that. It's fixed now. (It was a temporary thing while I moved 56,600 messages from a POP3 folder to an IMAP folder. My computer started its task at 3:30AM and finished 15 minutes ago. Impressive that it went the whole way without any hiccups.)

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FS: GW-OSI-RAM1 Ohio Scientific Universal RAM Boards, Prototype, Tested/Working
by systems_glitch 03 Oct '17

03 Oct '17

link: https://www.tindie.com/products/10621/ These are the last of my prototype run of GW-OSI-RAM1 Universal RAM boards. Listed in Tindie since eBay has decided that external links are against TOS, which means I can't even link the PDF manual! Thanks, Jonathan

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Univac tape drive
by Evan Koblentz 03 Oct '17

03 Oct '17

Here's a phone video from our last workshop. Bill Dromgoole demonstrating progress on one of the Univac tape drives. https://www.instagram.com/p/BZxg7e7DJ3r/ ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, 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

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Switching to Tindie, eBay Disallows Links to Documentation Now
by systems_glitch 29 Sep '17

29 Sep '17

All, I'm moving all of my open source hobby kits/projects to Tindie. I received a nastygram from eBay last night that I needed to remove all external links to my project descriptions and GitHub repos or my listings would be deleted. What good is selling a bare PC board without a link to the documentation and design files?! Anyway, my Tindie store can be found at the following address: https://www.tindie.com/stores/glitchwrks/ So far, Tindie seems to be better in all ways than eBay, except for of course viewership. Hopefully people will use it rather than shying away from an unknown. The focus at Tindie is DIY/hobby/maker projects, often open source, and often one hacker's hobby efforts. At least the "suggested items" will likely be relevant :) I did call eBay's customer service, and after wasting an hour wading through tech support hierarchy, I did get a non-call-center manager who understood the problem, but basically said, "your business is important to us, but not *that* important" -- he admitted that not having links to documentation basically made my eBay listings useless, but also admitted that there are no exceptions because eBay is scared someone will sell a $10 item outside of eBay once in a while. Thanks, Jonathan

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OT: Please volunteer for Infoage Halloween event (all October)
by Evan Koblentz 27 Sep '17

27 Sep '17

"Camp Evans Base of Terror" is Infoage's biggest annual fundraiser. It starts this Friday (September 29) and runs every Friday/Saturday night from 7pm-11pm) through October 28. They urgently need more volunteers for all sorts of roles. They're short for almost every night. Just like at VCF East, it is vital that they get firm commitments -- it's useless (if not completely counterproductive) to get responses from the "I'll try to stop by" or the "wish I could but..." people. Jeff B., Bill Drom., Duane, I are each volunteering for a few of the dates. Is anyone else available to be a volunteer for this event? If so, then which dates? Feel free to email me privately. ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, 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

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Commodore Fans - what is this case for?
by John Heritage 26 Sep '17

26 Sep '17

I have a soft case for a commodore product, that I inherited when picking up a bunch of Atari stuff from a friend. What is this for? https://imgur.com/hL3HzMU https://imgur.com/hom82N4 https://imgur.com/WC04CSX It's not very thick - so I don't think it would fit any kind of a floppy drive, but I may be wrong.. similar 'feeling' as to whether it would hold a casette player for the c64 or something.. Anyway I'd appreciate any knowledge on this :)

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jade z80 cpu card
by william degnan 26 Sep '17

26 Sep '17

Quick show of hands....anyone have a working Jade Z80 CPU card that they use? Are these nice worth working to restore? I got one that came with a California Computer Systems S-100 computer. 8 years ago I tested it with an in-circuit emulator that seemed to indicate it was at least able to initiaize but I have not gotten it to talk nicely to an I/O card, garbles characters. I dropped the project to move onto something else. Thinking of returning to it to see if I could make more progress. BIll

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FS: Jade Bus Probe in Original Box w/ Manual, Tested/Working
by systems_glitch 26 Sep '17

26 Sep '17

All, I'm thinning out more S-100 stuff and have an extra Jade Bus Probe. This one is in the original shipping box, with an original manual. It's tested and fully working. Pictures: https://imgur.com/a/YDprP Asking $500/best offer plus shipping. Thanks, Jonathan

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World Maker Faire report
by Evan Koblentz 25 Sep '17

25 Sep '17

Hey everyone. World (NYC) Maker Faire was fantastic. The show was maybe 10% smaller than past years, but just as busy and the crowd was great. Special thanks to booth helpers Jeff B., Dean, Drew, Adam, and Mouse. Special thanks also to Jeff for driving Adam/I and most of the equipment + booth stuff; to Dean for bringing us a cooler; and Tony for loaning us Apple/Amdex color monitors + extra //c power supplies. We did something new this year: we brought VCFed's 100-inch portable screen, put in the back of our 10x20 booth, and set up a project front/center. That way the back/center of our booth was one massive screen. We displayed our logo on the right half of the screen and an emulated Apple II in a window on the left half of the screen. We put large dark tarps above and to the side of the booth to keep out sunlight. It worked well: the booth was dark enough to clearly/sharply see our logo and the emulated Apple II display, but light enough that it didn't bother anything. We had three live demo stations (//c) along the back for kids to learn BASIC and a front desk to greet visitors. I couldn't take any pictures: dropped my phone Saturday morning when we arrived and broke its screen. Got it fixed today. $159 "stupid tax". Spotted visiting us: Chris F., Rolf, Stephen E.; David S. from the Trenton event; the 2600/HOPE crew; Stephen C. from IEEE Spectrum; Eric L. who donated the Lego robotics kit last year, and at least a dozen other friends-of-VCF. I could not possibly remember/list them all. ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, 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

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OT - PC related
by Martin A Flynn 23 Sep '17

23 Sep '17

OT Our host, InfoAge has a really old Dell desktop pc running the motion control system for the TLM-18 (the big white antenna up the road from the VCF museum). This is due to the I/O boards requiring 5 volt PCI slots (not PCI-e or PCI-X). I am building InfoAge a new computer, using an MSI MS-98A9 motherboard, which supports the I/O boards they have. Here's the request: Anyone have an i5Sandy Bridge Series CPU (LGA 1155 socket) floating around that they can donate? Can be anything out of that cpu family as the requirements are pretty low. Martin Flynn

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Maker Faire discount tickets
by Evan Koblentz 22 Sep '17

22 Sep '17

Maker Faire is this weekend. They gave us five extra one-day discount tickets. These are $30 each vs. regular price of $50 each. Email me off-list to get one. Limit one per person, in the name of being fair to everyone. But I might post otherwise later today if they are still available. No point wasting them. (Our booth staff -- me, Brace, Adam, Mouse, Dean, Drew -- are using our allotment of free tickets.) ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, 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

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Museum report
by Herb Johnson 20 Sep '17

20 Sep '17

>....excellent condition Ithaca InterSystems DPS-1. I exhibited two of these at VCF-East 2016. They are nice S-100 machines. But the chips get "rusty" in an odd way, the leads turn black. HEre's how I fixed mine: http://www.retrotechnology.com/restore/ith_feb16_repairs.html Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Free Serial Logitech Steering Wheel and Pedals
by John Heritage 20 Sep '17

20 Sep '17

Hey I have an old Logitech Wingman Force steering wheel and pedals if anyone wants it. It's a serial port model, and includes a power supply. While I'm selling it on Ebay if anyone on this list wants it, it's free if you would just pay shipping charges. (local pickup would be near King of Prussia, PA). Here's my listing with pictures: http://www.ebay.com/itm/202059824348?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p398… It's been sitting around so long I have no idea if it works, and I don't know how modern software drivers work with this via the serial port anyway. Message me if interested. John

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Tandy Assembly
by Peter Cetinski 20 Sep '17

20 Sep '17

Does everyone here know about Tandy Assembly in October? http://www.tandyassembly.com/ It's going to be the largest gathering of Tandy Radio Shack enthusiasts since the 1980s! Disclaimer: This is not a VCF event so apologies if I'm being improper with the list. Pete

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Let's help Lee Felsenstein
by Evan Koblentz 20 Sep '17

20 Sep '17

Lee Felsenstein -- of Free Speech Movement, Community Memory, Homebrew Computer Club, Pennywhistle Modem, Processor Technology SOL-20, and Osborne fame -- is starting a Patreon. He's also been an avid supporter of the vintage computing hobby (including VCF West and once went out of his way to visit one of our NJ museum workshops!) Everyone should help him if you can. http://www.patreon.com/lfelsenstein ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, 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

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semi OT: BBC micro:bit on sale at Microcenter
by Jeffrey Jonas 19 Sep '17

19 Sep '17

I know it's a hard sell compared to the $5 Raspberry Pi zero, but http://microbit.org/ The BBC micro:bit is a pocket-sized codeable computer with motion detection, a built-in compass and Bluetooth technology, which was given free to every child in year 7 or equivalent across the UK in 2016. A collaboration between 29 partners, the BBC micro:bit is the BBC's most ambitious education initiative in 30 years, with an ambition to inspire digital creativity and develop a new generation of tech pioneers. They are on sale at Microcenter. $10 is the bare board. The kit includes battery holder, USB cable. The edge connector seems to be hard to get :-( http://www.microcenter.com/product/480031/MicroBit Element 14 Micro:Bit now $9.99 (was $12.99 SAVE $3.00) 10+ in stock at North Jersey / Paterson Store http://www.microcenter.com/product/480034/MicroBit_Go_Kit Element 14 Micro:Bit Go Kit 10+ in stock at North Jersey / Paterson Store now $11.99 (was $16.49 SAVE $4.50)

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Inventor of Unix Chroot?
by Evan Koblentz 19 Sep '17

19 Sep '17

Help me with a research thingamajig. I want to find out who made Chroot. Wikipedia -- purely as a starting point -- shows a comment in the Chroot talk page stating, "This system call was present [in] AT&T versions of Unix well before 1982. This citation should be changed to point to an AT&T version. Indeed, Research's UNIX V7 sources (usr/sys/sys/sysent.c dated May 7th, 1979) has an entry at position 61 for chroot(2); the fact is even noted under the article about V7..." See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AChroot#Bill_Joy_did_not_invent_chroot I know many of you are old-school Unix users/developers and some of you worked at AT&T. Who can help me find out which specific people (I need names) actually invented Chroot? ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, 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

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 18 Sep '17

18 Sep '17

Mixed bag today. There were very few visitors but a lot of good things happened! Howard B., of the ACGNJ + TCF old days, brought us a donation of an excellent condition Ithaca InterSystems DPS-1. He said it's perfectly working including the 8" drives and external HDD. He included boot disks, backups, all the cables, manuals, and even spare paddle switches. He's still working on the terminal and will bring us that in due time. This is a very nice donation! Our other DPS is in poor shape. He has other things to donate soon. Steve A. also brought a donation of a nice tape drive. I spent a couple of hours packing things for Maker Faire next weekend.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] FW: Free Alpha Server 2100 (USA Mid Atlantic)
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 18 Sep '17

18 Sep '17

Paul Birkel via vcf-midatlantic writes: >Contact Fran Smith <fsmith(a)ladylinux.com> > >-----Original Message From CCTALK ----- Sent: Monday, September 18, 2017 >1:06 PM Subject: Free Alpha Server 2100 (USA Mid Atlantic) > >Hiya, > >Free as in Beer come and get it. Its complete including disk drives and >other than dusty is in pretty good shape. I am in the Baltimore City >area and it must be gone by this weekend. Or I will break it down >Saturday and recycle the rest. > >Also I have some other stuff that is related I might throw in. > >I lied about the Free but not the Beer. But I would love it if a six >pack of nice Autumm Craft beer was dropped off. > >Fran FWIW, I have a HUGE stockpile of Alpha systems from AlphaStation 200s to ES40s. If anybody is interested, let me know. I can provide you an itemized list if you ask and I can bring them to the Winter get together.

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FW: Free Alpha Server 2100 (USA Mid Atlantic)
by Paul Birkel 18 Sep '17

18 Sep '17

Contact Fran Smith <fsmith(a)ladylinux.com> -----Original Message From CCTALK ----- Sent: Monday, September 18, 2017 1:06 PM Subject: Free Alpha Server 2100 (USA Mid Atlantic) Hiya, Free as in Beer come and get it. Its complete including disk drives and other than dusty is in pretty good shape. I am in the Baltimore City area and it must be gone by this weekend. Or I will break it down Saturday and recycle the rest. Also I have some other stuff that is related I might throw in. I lied about the Free but not the Beer. But I would love it if a six pack of nice Autumm Craft beer was dropped off. Fran

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Ebay International Shipping Improvement
by william degnan 18 Sep '17

18 Sep '17

If you're like me, you use Ebay to sell vintage computers to make space or for extra cash (so you can buy other vintage computers...). It's a nice efficient way to sell. Given the dollar exchange rate has declined 30% this year prices are cheaper to an international buyer. You maximize profit if you sell internationally and given you are hit with 10% fee you want to maximize the sales price. Problem *was* there are too many variables and taxes to track, custom forms, insurance, etc. International shipping has always been a problem because it's so hard to predict the actual cost, and I have been burned a few times with shipping costs. Slowly Ebay has been working to make this better. Recently Ebay has made available a new shipping option called "Global Shipping Program" that allows a person to ship their internationally-sold items to a hub in the US (Kentucky), and after that I guess the buyer deals with the shipping the rest of the way. A lot of people bust on Ebay, but this is really a nice feature and it really reduces the hassle for the seller. In short, now everything I sell is treated like domestic shipping, no customs no guessing. 25-50% of my sales are international. I don't want to get into a big thing about whether Ebay is good/bad but in this case - Ebay: Well done. Bill

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C128 computer
by william degnan 18 Sep '17

18 Sep '17

I always liked the c128, being it was my first Commodore. I have a pretty good GEOS 128 setup and I use it to connect to IRC chat. Because it c128 is also essentially a c64, I feel that the modern dongle for tcp/ip finally put the c128 over the top compared to a c64 as far as desirability goes. In fact, I rately use a c64. Anyone else have the same perspective? And, I am testing c128's at the moment, they hold up well. I have 4 or 5 working systems to put up on Ebay soon, leaving me with plenty others. I bet many c128's will still work in 30 years. Very solid (state) computers. Bill Degnan twitter: billdeg vintagecomputer.net

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semi OT: microcenter sale includes $5 Raspberry Pi Zero Wireless
by Jeffrey Jonas 18 Sep '17

18 Sep '17

microcenter has a sale until 10/1. This seems to be part of it: $5 Raspberry Pi Zero Wireless (usually $10, limit 1 per person per day) SKU: 240424

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] [OT] DC-Area Workshop - September 16th and 17th - Middletown, MD
by alex bodnar 16 Sep '17

16 Sep '17

Alex J, hopefully you will be sending out directions ;-)) Alex B. At 07:07 PM 9/14/2017 -0400, you wrote: >Alex, > >Nope, nobody is coming Saturday. We're definitely on for Sunday, as Jason >is coming, too. > >Thanks! >- Alex > >On Thu, Sep 14, 2017 at 1:45 PM, alex bodnar via vcf-midatlantic < >vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > >> Alex J, >> >> is there anyone else who said they would come over on saturday?? >> if not, i will make it sunday and let you and the family have all day at >> Andrews AFB. >> >> Alex B. >> >> >> At 11:42 AM 9/12/2017 -0400, you wrote: >> >All, >> > >> >So, after discussing it with my wife, we'll still host the workshop, for >> >anyone who wants to come, this weekend. >> > >> >Given the small attendance (or none, at this point?), we will play it by >> >ear, on the schedule. Jonathan Sturges and I will be there, and anyone >> >else who wants to come is welcome. I think that we are going to go to the >> >Air Show at Andrews AFB, some time on Saturday afternoon, and anyone who >> >wants is welcome to join us. >> > >> >So, if you're coming, let me know, and I'll make sure that there is space >> >for you. >> > >> >Thanks! >> >- Alex >> > >> >On Mon, Sep 4, 2017 at 6:45 PM, J. Alexander Jacocks <jjacocks(a)gmail.com> >> >wrote: >> > >> >> I'm starting to think that September isn't a good time, as I only have >> 1+ >> >> confirmed. >> >> >> >> So, unless I hear differently in the next day, I'll reschedule this for >> >> another time. >> >> >> >> Thanks! >> >> - Alex >> >> >> >> On Sun, Sep 3, 2017 at 14:56 Jason Perkins via vcf-midatlantic < >> >> vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: >> >> >> >>> We'll be at Poolsville Drive Electric Day on the 16th, but I should be >> >>> able >> >>> to make it on the 17th. >> >>> >> >>> On Wed, Aug 30, 2017 at 5:04 PM J. Alexander Jacocks via >> vcf-midatlantic < >> >>> vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: >> >>> >> >>> > All, >> >>> > >> >>> > Since VCF can't do a workshop, due to facilities usage conflicts, >> this >> >>> > fall, I'd like to offer to host a smaller workshop, at my house, in >> >>> > Middletown, MD. >> >>> > >> >>> > I have a 3-car detached garage of about 960ft^2 that we can use for >> the >> >>> > purpose. There is air conditioning, and a refrigerator, for >> drinks. I >> >>> > have plenty of power, and some table space. >> >>> > >> >>> > Please bring yourselves, your projects, folding chairs, folding >> tables >> >>> (if >> >>> > you have them), and anything else that you might want. We will >> provide >> >>> > some drinks (but feel free to bring your favorite), and are willing >> to >> >>> > order lunch, based on the requests of the attendees. >> >>> > >> >>> > We have very limited space in the house, but talk to me, if you want >> to >> >>> > stay the night. There are hotels not so very far away. >> >>> > >> >>> > Date: September 16th and 17th, 2017 >> >>> > Time: Starting 10:00am Saturday, ending Sunday around 5:00pm >> >>> > Place: Alex's house, Middletown, MD >> >>> > >> >>> > Please RSVP, so that I know who is coming, and when. I'll provide >> >>> > directions directly to the attendees. >> >>> > >> >>> > I asked Evan, before posting this, to make sure that this wasn't >> going >> >>> to >> >>> > conflict with VCF needs, as this is definitely NOT an official VCF >> >>> event. >> >>> > >> >>> > Hope to see you here! >> >>> > - Alex >> >>> > >> >>> -- >> >>> Jason Perkins 313 355 0085 <(313)%20355-0085> Sent from my iPhone >> >>> >> >> >> > >> Alex M. Bodnar >> amateur Radio: K3CIM >> Emergency Services: ARES/RACES >> > Alex M. Bodnar amateur Radio: K3CIM Emergency Services: ARES/RACES

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Circa late 90s PC peripheral boxes
by John Heritage 15 Sep '17

15 Sep '17

Hey folks - As part of cleaning up, i found some circa-late 90s PC Peripheral boxes all in pretty good shape. If anyone is interested in any of these let me know otherwise i'll recycle them next Thursday: - Onstream 50GB Tape Drive - Western Digital "3.5 enhanced IDE" Ultra ATA/66 HDD - 20.4 GB! - Digital Research 50X SUPERFAST cdrom - Linksys Instant Etherfast 10/100 3 port print server - Linksys Etherfast 10/100 LAN Card - Linksys Etherfast 10/100 8-port workgroup switch - Linksys Etherfast 10/100 Dual Speed 8-port workgroup switch - ABIT Mainboard Box (no model listed on box, no manuals inside), PCI bus logo on front. - Creative Live X-Gamer box If you want pics just email me. No cost for the box(es) of course we just have to figure out how to get them to you cheaply.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] COBOL: vintage vs. legacy code
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 15 Sep '17

15 Sep '17

"Joseph S. Barrera III via vcf-midatlantic" writes: >On Mon, May 22, 2017 at 7:53 PM, Jeffrey Jonas via vcf-midatlantic < >vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > >> Java and all its variants and environments, > > >I've been writing Java for almost 20 years and fully expect to be >writing in it for another 10. I've been writing assembly for 40+ years and fully expect to be writing it for another 10+. ;)

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Testing 4164/41256 RAM Chips
by Herb Johnson 15 Sep '17

15 Sep '17

Responding to various suggestions for old DIP-chip RAM testing. cheap EPROM programmers that test things like TTL or RAM, are not likely to be better than go / nogo. THey won't test at anything like access speed. Commercial grade RAM testers are likely better, but few have those. Vintage computer designs for DRAM were not always very good, and many of them aged poorly. (Changes to the other components make the DRAMs work marginally.) What chips may work in one brand/model, may not work in another. And frankly, prices for old 16K and 64K and 256K chips (IBM PC class) are fairly cheap - buying them is simpler than extracting and testing. Now, if someone needs an exact brand/model/datecode of DRAM chip, then more effort is warranted. Otherwise, there's not much incentive to work hard to test these chips. One puts them in the application hardware and runs such tests as they can. Some of these old circuits not only need component repairs, they need in-field circuit changes. This is hard work that few do. Also: specific brand model owners probably have known-fixes and specific suggestions about DRAM selection. But for some vintage systems, one can choose static RAM and have better luck than with DRAM. Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Testing 4164/41256 RAM Chips
by John Heritage 15 Sep '17

15 Sep '17

Hey folks, I've come across an old PC XT motherboard that's sat in a dirty warehouse for a long time. It has 18 x 41256 and 18 x 4164 (640KB total + parity) RAM chips. Knowing that i've needed some of these in the past to repair my old Atari computers, I'd like to test these individual RAM chips somehow, but preferably without abusing the old sockets on my Atari's.. Does anyone know of a relatively simple circuit I can build to test these chips directly? The 4164s come on the Atari 600XL, 800XL, 1200XL and 130XE, and the 41256 come on the 4-chip versions of the 130XE. The micron 4164's that came on a lot of old Atari's are just flat out dying (I had 3 x 800XLs out of 7 that had bad ram), so these are handy for that or other communities. Thanks! John

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] [OT] DC-Area Workshop - September 16th and 17th - Middletown, MD
by alex bodnar 15 Sep '17

15 Sep '17

Alex J, is there anyone else who said they would come over on saturday?? if not, i will make it sunday and let you and the family have all day at Andrews AFB. Alex B. At 11:42 AM 9/12/2017 -0400, you wrote: >All, > >So, after discussing it with my wife, we'll still host the workshop, for >anyone who wants to come, this weekend. > >Given the small attendance (or none, at this point?), we will play it by >ear, on the schedule. Jonathan Sturges and I will be there, and anyone >else who wants to come is welcome. I think that we are going to go to the >Air Show at Andrews AFB, some time on Saturday afternoon, and anyone who >wants is welcome to join us. > >So, if you're coming, let me know, and I'll make sure that there is space >for you. > >Thanks! >- Alex > >On Mon, Sep 4, 2017 at 6:45 PM, J. Alexander Jacocks <jjacocks(a)gmail.com> >wrote: > >> I'm starting to think that September isn't a good time, as I only have 1+ >> confirmed. >> >> So, unless I hear differently in the next day, I'll reschedule this for >> another time. >> >> Thanks! >> - Alex >> >> On Sun, Sep 3, 2017 at 14:56 Jason Perkins via vcf-midatlantic < >> vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: >> >>> We'll be at Poolsville Drive Electric Day on the 16th, but I should be >>> able >>> to make it on the 17th. >>> >>> On Wed, Aug 30, 2017 at 5:04 PM J. Alexander Jacocks via vcf-midatlantic < >>> vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: >>> >>> > All, >>> > >>> > Since VCF can't do a workshop, due to facilities usage conflicts, this >>> > fall, I'd like to offer to host a smaller workshop, at my house, in >>> > Middletown, MD. >>> > >>> > I have a 3-car detached garage of about 960ft^2 that we can use for the >>> > purpose. There is air conditioning, and a refrigerator, for drinks. I >>> > have plenty of power, and some table space. >>> > >>> > Please bring yourselves, your projects, folding chairs, folding tables >>> (if >>> > you have them), and anything else that you might want. We will provide >>> > some drinks (but feel free to bring your favorite), and are willing to >>> > order lunch, based on the requests of the attendees. >>> > >>> > We have very limited space in the house, but talk to me, if you want to >>> > stay the night. There are hotels not so very far away. >>> > >>> > Date: September 16th and 17th, 2017 >>> > Time: Starting 10:00am Saturday, ending Sunday around 5:00pm >>> > Place: Alex's house, Middletown, MD >>> > >>> > Please RSVP, so that I know who is coming, and when. I'll provide >>> > directions directly to the attendees. >>> > >>> > I asked Evan, before posting this, to make sure that this wasn't going >>> to >>> > conflict with VCF needs, as this is definitely NOT an official VCF >>> event. >>> > >>> > Hope to see you here! >>> > - Alex >>> > >>> -- >>> Jason Perkins 313 355 0085 <(313)%20355-0085> Sent from my iPhone >>> >> > Alex M. Bodnar amateur Radio: K3CIM Emergency Services: ARES/RACES

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Davy Jone's Locker Wall Street Journal Article
by John Heritage 15 Sep '17

15 Sep '17

I'm one of those 'was busted by the feds' for running a Pirate BBS people.. (DeadBeat BBS).. Anyway, I've been cleaning out some old boxes of stuff, and came across a Wall Street Journal article I had a copy of discussing Davy Jone's Locker legal case.. Attached is pic copy..

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Oracle finally kills off Sun
by Jeffrey Jonas 15 Sep '17

15 Sep '17

I consulted to clients who were all-Sun, even in y2k. One was ISO 9001 certified for their software process so I guess running Solaris on Sun hardware was part of that. They liked using 2 Sun 1000 servers with the serial ports criss-crossed so one machine could access the other's serial console and reboot it, dropping to firmware mode if required. None of this switched outlets of remote reset-switches. I'm frustrated with the way Sun never fulfilled their potential. The SunRay "thin client" terminals could have beaten the pants off of today's room of Windows machines had the servers been properly maintained with the latest software. Too many web pages simply didn't work on the Sun terminals. And security was much better with the built in SmartCard reader. -- Jeff Jonas

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Museum report / Atari Party
by Evan Koblentz 14 Sep '17

14 Sep '17

Mixed bag today. Infoage hosted an NJIT alumni event around lunchtime, so we had many visitors from 1-3ish. Then it was dead. I closed early around 4 and went to Bill Lange's "Atari Party" at his home in central NJ. Couple of dozen people there enjoying videogames and food/drink. Glad to see many friends: Bill and his wife Lucy, Pete F., Amiga Bill W., and others who'd been to VCF East or who knew of us.

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OT: Hurricane Harvey Relief
by Joseph Oprysko 14 Sep '17

14 Sep '17

To my friends in the VCF; My brother Jim who lives in Lumberton, TX and had everything he owned washed away and destroyed. His house was submerged under the flood waters for 4 days. He just got back to his property today. His home will need to be demolished and rebuilt from the ground up. He is literally rebuilding his life from scratch. He's a long time computer user and lost everything, including the loss of a number of vintage systems as well. I'm reaching out to my friends and compatriots, in hopes we can help him some. My sister and I setup a gofundme account to at least be able to help him with some of the necessities. While his vintage systems are probably the furthest from his mind right now, I'm hoping that we can come together and help someone in need. The most immediate needs are support so he's able to get food and medicine for himself, his wife, and his fur babies. (His pets). His house was covered by 119" for almost 4 days. (Yes, almost ten feet of water.) There is little, if anything salvageable. If you're able to help, please do. https://www.gofundme.com/household-recovery-fund Thank you, Joseph Oprysko -- Normal Person: Hey, it seems that you know a lot. Geek: To be honest, it's due to all the surfing I do. Normal Person: So you go surfing? Normal Person: But I don't think that has anything to do with knowing a lot... Geek: I think that's wrong on a fundamental level. Normal Person: Huh? Huh? What?

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[OT] DC-Area Workshop - September 16th and 17th - Middletown, MD
by J. Alexander Jacocks 14 Sep '17

14 Sep '17

All, Since VCF can't do a workshop, due to facilities usage conflicts, this fall, I'd like to offer to host a smaller workshop, at my house, in Middletown, MD. I have a 3-car detached garage of about 960ft^2 that we can use for the purpose. There is air conditioning, and a refrigerator, for drinks. I have plenty of power, and some table space. Please bring yourselves, your projects, folding chairs, folding tables (if you have them), and anything else that you might want. We will provide some drinks (but feel free to bring your favorite), and are willing to order lunch, based on the requests of the attendees. We have very limited space in the house, but talk to me, if you want to stay the night. There are hotels not so very far away. Date: September 16th and 17th, 2017 Time: Starting 10:00am Saturday, ending Sunday around 5:00pm Place: Alex's house, Middletown, MD Please RSVP, so that I know who is coming, and when. I'll provide directions directly to the attendees. I asked Evan, before posting this, to make sure that this wasn't going to conflict with VCF needs, as this is definitely NOT an official VCF event. Hope to see you here! - Alex

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Maker Faire -- helpers?
by Evan Koblentz 14 Sep '17

14 Sep '17

Jeff B., Dean/Drew (part of the time), Mouse, and I are staffing the VCF table at World Maker Faire on September 23-24 in the NY Hall of Science (Queens). We won Make Magazine Editor's Choice awards there in 2014 and 2016. :) This year we're making a BASIC learning lab. We are setting up four computers (Apple //c, for convenience) and we'll guide kids through a script every 30 minutes in a formal presentation. We even bought a small amplifier and wireless microphone (thanks Jeff B. for doing the research). It'll be pretty cool. We could use more helpers. People who are extroverts, good teachers, good with kids, will represent us professionally, and are reliable. In exchange you get a free full-weekend Maker Faire ticket. Email me off-list if you're interested. ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, 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

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Oracle finally kills off Sun
by Adam Michlin 12 Sep '17

12 Sep '17

Dear List, Long since barely even a shadow of what it once was, but it seems Oracle has finally officially killed off Sun. Particularly saddening is the decision to not open source Solaris. RIP Sun Microsystems.... https://meshedinsights.com/2017/09/03/oracle-finally-killed-sun/ -Adam

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OT: Source for IBM mainframe part
by Ethan 11 Sep '17

11 Sep '17

Howdy, Have a friend looking for an IBM mainframe part: It's for an IBM DS6800 1750-511. It is a controller card with an IBM part number of 22R6154 Any pointers on a where to look for such an item used? Any leads appreciated! - Ethan

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Zynq Projects
by Support 10 Sep '17

10 Sep '17

I am in need of a programmer to help with some Xilinx Zynq based projects. Think Z-turn Lite connected to ISA bus. One ARM will run Linux and one without OS to allow real time processing. The idea being to allow services in Linux or devices on the Z-turn to be connected and passed to the ISA bus using code on the ARM. Pays a few hundred dollars per step in the proof of concept projects. Not a huge amount if you do this professionally, but I'd much rather give the funds to someone here than someone on freelancer.com. If interested reply off list. Thanks! Henry S. Courbis Office Toll Free: (800) REACTIVE (732-2848) Office/Mobile Direct: (856) 779-1900 www.ReActiveMicro.com <http://www.ReactiveMicro.com> - Sales, Support, and News, Our Headquarters on the Internet ReActiveMicro.com/wiki - Support, Software, Manuals, and History. Create your own page today! Facebook.com/reactivemicrousa - Our Social Media Outlet and Support

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semi-OT: caps with a fuzz layer on them
by william degnan 09 Sep '17

09 Sep '17

Generally I assume when you see leaking or bursting it could very well have gone bad or it's on the way out... Take a look at the attached photo. Note how the rest of board's components are clean, but a number of the 103K50 caps (10x10^3 pF) have a white fuzz. I never saw this kind of leaking before. Hope it's not too toxic. I am going to test one to confirm and then remove them all and replace them all. BTW - this is an logic control board for a foot synthesizer that I am repairing. Bill

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Re: [OT] DC-Area Workshop - September 16th Digest, Vol 23, Issue 7
by SVCatITC＠aol.com 08 Sep '17

08 Sep '17

Sorry Alex; I have conflicts that weekend. I wished I could attend, however, VCF chores are still tied to the EAI TR-20 restoration in the museum. I would have brought the beginnings of my exhibit for ' East 2018 in May, however that also is a bit slow to get off the ground. Too many components to rifle out of the warehouse on such short notice. Many other 'life' stuffs more important to do. Sorry again. Bill Inderrieden Message: 1 Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2017 12:04:07 -0400 From: "J. Alexander Jacocks" <jjacocks(a)gmail.com> To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] [OT] DC-Area Workshop - September 16th and 17th - Middletown, MD Message-ID: <CAF-r0Y1yDhDcX-R2bSo4Jt_YvUXPSejWVfuR5dN5W_ECJzzjLw(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Anyone else interested? I still have 1+ confirmed. I haven't heard from most of the usual DC area folks. If you can't come, can you tell me why, so that I can tailor this better, in the future? Is it: 1. too far (Middletown, MD) 2. bad date choice 3. not interested in a non-Infoage workshop 4. other, please specify Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! - Alex

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4116 DRAM
by Mike Loewen 07 Sep '17

07 Sep '17

If any VCF Midwest attendees have some spare 4116 dynamic RAM, I could use a couple. Anything 200ns or faster should work. Please reply off-list. Thanks! Mike Loewen mloewen(a)cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/

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Save 20% on Raspberry Pi3 at Arrow.com
by Support 07 Sep '17

07 Sep '17

>From Arrow.com: This week only, save 20% on Raspberry Pi 3 at Arrow.com. Plus, all orders over $20 qualify for free OVERNIGHT shipping. While supplies last. Use code PI20 at checkout to save. [END] Unlike eBay these tend to be known good units with some actual vendor backing if there's an issue. The free shipping isn't a bad deal either IMHO. Henry S. Courbis Office Toll Free: (800) REACTIVE (732-2848) Office/Mobile Direct: (856) 779-1900 www.ReActiveMicro.com <http://www.ReactiveMicro.com> - Sales, Support, and News, Our Headquarters on the Internet ReActiveMicro.com/wiki - Support, Software, Manuals, and History. Create your own page today! Facebook.com/reactivemicrousa - Our Social Media Outlet and Support

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[OT] DC-Area Workshop - September 16th and 17th - Middletown, MD
by Herb Johnson 06 Sep '17

06 Sep '17

I was also considering attending but I had conflicting events. Herb, near Trenton/Princeton NJ -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Commodore B500 for Sale of Ebay
by william degnan 04 Sep '17

04 Sep '17

I am setting this: https://youtu.be/zysYRpM7u_o Here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/272834135066? I probably don't need to tell anyone this here but the B500 is very a rare machine, the rarest of the B Series computers. I don't know if they actually sold the B500's in stores (US version, not to be confused with the European B-500) before naming them "B128-80". If you buy this also need drives and cables, let me know, I did not include in the auction but I have them too. Pickup welcome. Landenberg, PA Bill

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