- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

a fellow's doing a 68030 homebrew board
by Jeffrey Jonas 18 Mar '17

18 Mar '17

just forwarding the reference, unsure if it has merit Newsgroups: comp.sys.m68k Subject: 68030 home brew computer From: xagdin(a)gmail.com Injection-Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2017 10:42:24 +0000 Looking for people interested in getting a 68030 board & build and test https://www.retrobrewcomputers.org/doku.php?id=boards:sbc:gryphon_68030:sta… https://www.retrobrewcomputers.org/forum/index.php?t=msg&th=64&start=0& 100% open source home brew 68030 project

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Where to find us at Trenton tomorrow
by Evan Koblentz 17 Mar '17

17 Mar '17

Trenton regulars know, but for any newcomers: we'll have a couple of tables in the second-floor lobby of the education building. All visitors welcome! You can pick up one of our shiny new brochures. ________________________________ 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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some Capsela for sale
by William Dudley 17 Mar '17

17 Mar '17

I found this Capsela Robot Discovery Toy (plus or minus some bits) and wish to sell it. It looks mostly complete (I assembed the robot from the instructions, I *think* it's all there but I'm not sure if there are missing spacers on the leg drives. Anyway, I know there are people on this list who are using Capsela. Here's a picture: http://www.dudley.nu/capsela.jpg Any interest? All offers entertained. Bill Dudley Jackson, NJ This email is free of malware because I run Linux.

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Wednesday helpers @ VCF East
by Evan Koblentz 17 Mar '17

17 Mar '17

Everyone, We will need helpers on Wednesday, March 29 to help set up for VCF East. To be clear: WEDNESDAY'S TASKS ARE PHYSICAL LABOR. We need to schlep and set up around 50 tables and a couple of hundred chairs. Obviously I cannot do it alone. I need people to commit to being there, bring your work gloves, be ready to sweat. Bounty is pizza and a snazzy VCF t-shirt. ________________________________ 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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help dumping rom of rare coin-op arcade game
by Andrew Molloy 17 Mar '17

17 Mar '17

I've got this rare bowling coin-op game from 1977 that isn't yet in MAME, and it seems there are no known dumps of the ROM. It's a cocktail cabinet by Mirco called Strikes & Spares. The CPU is a Signetics 2650 and the ROM looks to be a Signetics N82S115N (it's the only socketed chip on the board that I can see). Would a cheap eeprom reader such as this one do the job? https://www.amazon.com/Signstek-Universal-MiniPro-Programmer-Support/dp/B00… Here's some pictures of the game. I still have to remove and photograph a smaller circuit board that attaches via two ribbon cables to the mainboard. https://goo.gl/photos/4Kv2njjy18ZGxBpr5 Thanks, Andy

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VCF East -- Sunday night clean-up + beer
by Evan Koblentz 16 Mar '17

16 Mar '17

We'll need a hard-working, reliable crew of people to help clean up Sunday night when VCF East ends. There will be lots of hard work: don't volunteer if you're going to stand around and chat. VCFed will pick up the bar tab after. Email me off-list to volunteer. ________________________________ 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

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I guess another Apple 1 is up for Sale
by mike willegal 16 Mar '17

16 Mar '17

When I first started the registry, remarkably few Apple 1s had been powered up in any recent timeframe. Since then, a lot more have been turned up, so to speak. I started just logging the most recent time each one had been known to be operated. Since replacement components are still available, I currently consider the number kind of meaningless, since with little to a lot of effort, any one of them could be operated. It's not like some vintage airplanes or cars, where some key components may not be available to repair a broken unit. regards, Mike Willegal

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Fwd: 10 times the donation, one-day only
by Evan Koblentz 16 Mar '17

16 Mar '17

Buy stuff on Amazon today: we get a bigger-than-usual small piece. :) -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: 10 times the donation, one-day only Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2017 10:09:13 +0000 From: Amazon.com <store_news(a)amazon.com> To: info(a)vcfed.org Amazon Celebrate Amazon's #1 ranking in customer satisfaction. <https://smile.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=3BLXWMWSKGGS7&K=A3CY796Z8VGVDO&R=SEESE…> smile.amazon.com <https://smile.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=3BLXWMWSKGGS7&K=A3CY796Z8VGVDO&R=SEESE…> Dear Vintage Computer Federation, Great news. We have an upcoming 1-day opportunity to drive additional AmazonSmile donations for Vintage Computer Federation Inc. The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) surveyed over 10,000 customers to measure perceptions of quality and value across retailers nationwide, and Amazon ranked #1. In celebration of this recognition—and to say thank you to our customers for their support—on Thursday, March 16 only, Amazon will donate 5% (10 times our usual donation rate) of the price of eligible products customers purchase at smile.amazon.com <https://smile.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=3BLXWMWSKGGS7&K=A3CY796Z8VGVDO&R=SEESE…>. This offer begins at 12:00 AM Pacific Time, and expires at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. On Thursday, March 16, share the message below on social media, your website, and in email to increase donations to Vintage Computer Federation Inc. (Please do not share this promotion outside your organization until Thursday, March 16.) /Amazon is celebrating its #1 ranking in customer satisfaction by the ACSI! Today, March 16, Amazon will donate 5% (10 times the usual donation rate) of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to Vintage Computer Federation Inc. Get started at smile.amazon.com/ch/47-4133714 <https://smile.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=3BLXWMWSKGGS7&K=A3CY796Z8VGVDO&R=SEESE…>./ Today, your support goes 10 times further. <https://smile.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=3BLXWMWSKGGS7&K=A3CY796Z8VGVDO&R=SEESE…> You received this e-mail because you are the registered contact of an organization enrolled in AmazonSmile. If you would like to view or change your organization's AmazonSmile account, please visit: org.amazon.com <https://smile.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=3BLXWMWSKGGS7&K=A3CY796Z8VGVDO&R=SEESE…> © 2017 Amazon.com <https://smile.amazon.com/gp/r.html?C=3BLXWMWSKGGS7&K=A3CY796Z8VGVDO&R=SEESE…>, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Amazon, Amazon.com <https://smile.amazon.com/gp/r.html?C=3BLXWMWSKGGS7&K=A3CY796Z8VGVDO&R=SEESE…>, the Amazon.com <https://smile.amazon.com/gp/r.html?C=3BLXWMWSKGGS7&K=A3CY796Z8VGVDO&R=SEESE…> logo, Prime, Kindle Fire, and 1-Click are registered trademarks of Amazon.com <https://smile.amazon.com/gp/r.html?C=3BLXWMWSKGGS7&K=A3CY796Z8VGVDO&R=SEESE…>, Inc. or its affiliates. Amazon.com <https://smile.amazon.com/gp/r.html?C=3BLXWMWSKGGS7&K=A3CY796Z8VGVDO&R=SEESE…>, 410 Terry Avenue N., Seattle, WA 98109-5210. Reference: 230604120 Please note that this message was sent to the following e-mail address: info(a)vcfed.org

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this is CRAZY
by Evan Koblentz 15 Mar '17

15 Mar '17

Someone is selling a pair of untested twiggy drives. Bid is up to $20K. http://www.ebay.com/itm/122383386508 ________________________________ 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

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EP385
by Mike Loewen 15 Mar '17

15 Mar '17

Although not as famous as the R.E.S.I.S.T.O.R.S. group in NJ, Explorer Post 385 in State College, PA was an early enabler of computer programming education to a large group of high school students from 1968 onwards. That is where I learned FORTRAN on an IBM 360/67, along with PL/1 and IBM 360 Basic Assembler Language. Here's a Town & Gown article from November, 1970 that talks about us: http://q7.neurotica.com/Town+Gown.pdf If you like, you can skip the cheesy science fiction short story and go directly to page 7. :-) Mike Loewen mloewen(a)cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/

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check out the VCFed brochure
by Evan Koblentz 15 Mar '17

15 Mar '17

Drew N. designed a trifold brochure for us. We ordered a few zillion of 'em printed on glossy paper. Here are some pictures: http://vcfed.org/evan/brochure/front.jpg http://vcfed.org/evan/brochure/flap.jpg http://vcfed.org/evan/brochure/inside.jpg http://vcfed.org/evan/brochure/back.jpg We will distribute these everywhere the Federation goes: the museum, Festival(s), off-site demos, etc. .... thus we'll have some at Trenton this weekend. These brochures are Federation-wide, not just for our chapter. We'll send a big stack to our people our west and such. ________________________________ 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

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] this is CRAZY
by Jason Perkins 15 Mar '17

15 Mar '17

Lisa stuff has just gone up and up in value. If you want another shock, look up how much Lisa mice sell for. I've never seen a complete one go for less than $300. It took me over 10 years to find mine because I can't justify those prices. On a similar vein, the IR remote for the radio in my Mercedes gets an asking price of $200+ whenever one comes up. I know it's uncommon... but geeze! It's just a remote.... -J On Wed, Mar 15, 2017 at 5:20 AM Ben Greenfield via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > I think the important thing is how to identify a twiggy drive from other > drives? > > > > On Mar 15, 2017, at 5:16 AM, Joseph Oprysko via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > > > > OMG. That really is frigging ridiculous. > > On Wed, Mar 15, 2017 at 1:05 AM Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic < > > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > > > >> The drives sold for $32,000. > >> > > -- > > 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? > > -- Jason Perkins 313 355 0085 Sent from my iPhone

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I guess another Apple 1 is up for Sale
by Christian Liendo 15 Mar '17

15 Mar '17

The Article mentions Mike Willegal http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4311980/Working-Apple-1-auct…

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Off the Hook
by Evan Koblentz 15 Mar '17

15 Mar '17

I'll be on 2600's Off the Hook radio show on Wednesday, March 29 to talk about VCF East. The station is WBAI (Long Island). You can stream it at www.wbai.org. ________________________________ 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

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8-Bit Generation - Jay Miner (and friends) devices
by John Heritage 14 Mar '17

14 Mar '17

I just watched the 8-bit generation video finally, narrated by the excellent Bil Herd :). Whoever here had a hand in putting that together, thank you so much! .. One take-away I have from this video I haven't seen/read elsewhere is that it seems like the only "Jay Miner engineered device" that was ever properly marketed by parent company was the Atari 2600? i.e. - Original Atari/Bushnell wanted to kill the 2600 kinda early - Warner Atari did a big marketing push in 1980-1981 and that made the 2600 super successful. - Neither Bushnell nor Warner seemed to know what to do with the Atari 400/800. You can see this in the initial high price, and also in locking out the system to developers early on (which imo is why it lost to the Apple II). - We all know the story of how Commodore didn't know what to do with the Amiga 1000.. And if you count the 3DO with RJ Mical and others as a descendant device, that too could have been handled better... Am I off the rocker here? There is some irony that the only Jay Miner device that was properly marketed was handled by "New York Blue Shirts"... I know the Amiga was a mis-managed device but I often feel like the Atari 400/800 deserves that award just as much as it was the first home computer to show the real benefit of custom chips, and at launch in 1979-1980 was way more powerful and capable than contemporaries.. John

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museum report
by Evan Koblentz 13 Mar '17

13 Mar '17

I started around 10 today. Dean couldn't make it, so I called Bill Dudley (he lives nearby). Fortunately he was able to come over for a few hours and help. Android itself and the kiosk app both had oddities which took us a while to understand. After emailing the app developer we finally got useful explanations. Now, all the tablets are running the kiosk app using a volume license key and they're all configured exactly the same (but I'll double-check that next weekend). Bill is going to come back one day this week and do some prep work on the steel mounting plates to prevent rusting. Next weekend, post-Trenton (Saturday afternoon), I'll bolt the plates to the shelf posts. Then we'll run the power cords, connect to the magic web page, and things will be golden. We kept busy with the tablet software all day; meanwhile there were some visitors. Two men in their 50-60s stopped by around 4pm and stayed until closing. They both did punch card processing in their college days. ________________________________ 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

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Trenton update
by Evan Koblentz 12 Mar '17

12 Mar '17

Trenton Computer Fest is this Saturday at The College of New Jersey from 9am-5pm. Jeff B. and I are planning to arrive at 8am to set up the group table (or two) with our robot demos. Looking forward to seeing many of you there as we do every year. ________________________________ 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

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Univac 1 memory
by Mike Loewen 12 Mar '17

12 Mar '17

We need this for the museum: www.ebay.com/itm/Univac-vintage-large-computer-Parts-only-AS-IS-/1624287669… Mercury delay memory from a Univac 1. Mike Loewen mloewen(a)cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 11 Mar '17

11 Mar '17

I arrived at the museum around 11 today. Tony stopped by to loan us his Laser 128 as a backup in case ours acts grumpy at Trenton next weekend. Martin also visited to give us the CNC'd mounting plates for our tablets. Jeff B. came over at noon. We made a plan for the outdoor VCF East signs. We also did recon around campus for tables/chairs to use at the show. Jeff brought over our new full-color trifold brochures. First time we ever had these. They look incredible. Huge thanks to Drew for designing them. Jeff then spent a few hours checking out some Commodore inventory in the warehouse. I stayed in the museum to clean the workbench area and play tour guide. There were three groups of visitors today: a couple with five or six kids, an older couple, and a father/son. The kids in the first group stopped to read every sign: I told them the signs will being replaced by tablets and they seemed excited about it. The husband in the second group said he was a Tektronox field technician for 20 years and that he'd met the founder Howard Vollum (who got his start at Camp Evans; for newer list members that's the Army base which now is the InfoAge Science Center, where our museum resides!). Father of the third group was a guy like many of us, mid-40s, who grew up on 8 bits and whose son learned Scratch. Naturally we showed him BASIC on the same computer his father hadn't seen in 30 years (C-64). Jeff and I went to Home Depot for sign materials and then to dinner. I spent another hour or two in the museum and began assembling the tablet mounting brackets. Each plate has two sets of brackets. Turns out a single set would have been plenty. Now we know. I'm staying over here at InfoAge tonight. Dean and Drew will be here tomorrow to help with tablet setup and stuff. ------------------------- 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

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Sick Laser 128
by Jeffrey Brace 11 Mar '17

11 Mar '17

tlhIngan Hol Dajatlh'a'? On Fri, Mar 10, 2017 at 7:08 PM Christopher Blackmon via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > taH Pagh taHbe' > > > From: william degnan via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> > To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> > Cc: william degnan <billdegnan(a)gmail.com> > Sent: Friday, March 10, 2017 7:06 PM > Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Sick Laser 128 > > On Fri, Mar 10, 2017 at 5:48 PM, Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > > > and so it begins. > >> > > > > What's that supposed to mean? > > > > Shakespere > > > > -- Jeff Brace - ark72axow(a)gmail.com Sent from my Commodore 64

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Sick Laser
by Evan Koblentz 11 Mar '17

11 Mar '17

Someone on VC Forum pointed out something so brilliant that I wish I'd thought of it! The computer worked when I reassembled it, and the only difference was a left-out screw, therefore we can conclude the problem the screw was defective. Makes perfect sense. :) "If she weighs the same as a duck..."

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Sick Laser 128
by william degnan 10 Mar '17

10 Mar '17

Evan, The plan is to start with the big stuff and work from there. Test the voltages, see if anything is way off and obvious, burned out or completely dead (0V). I have found that for me, I have to get the schematic and measure everything on the board, compare with the schematic. I am not an engineer, it takes me 4x as long to figure out what's wrong. Mostly I am persistent and I just keep at it. I get more work done at home than at the workshops, I guess because I have everything here as I like it. B

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Sick Laser 128
by Evan Koblentz 10 Mar '17

10 Mar '17

I used the Laser 128 twice today. It worked fine. Now, there's no start-up beep and it displays junk text. Help! ________________________________ 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

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Live auctions at VCF-East?
by Joseph Oprysko 09 Mar '17

09 Mar '17

Evan, I believe I suggested this idea last year, but I don't recall for sure. One ''event" I'd like to see at VCF-East would be a live auction event. There's often items that are either complete systems, or certain rare items that I know I would rather see performed as an auction as opposed to just 'for sale' in the normal sales room. I don't know if it would be too late to do that now for this year or not. I know I have a number of items I'd rather 'auction' off to either members or visitors to VCF-East. The specifics of the auction would likely be left up to the board to decide. (Lot size, percentage taken by VCF for facilitating the auction, etc.) I know there was times where I heard that 'someone will be selling X item' in the consignment room, only to get over there after getting my tables setup, etc, and see it's already been picked over like a corpse by a buzzard. But by setting a specific time, with a viewing of lots prior to the auction. It gives people a chance to purchase the specific item/lot. Thanks, Joe -- 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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Info Needed: DATARAM DR-111 PDP-11 Unibus 16KW Core Memory
by Systems Glitch 09 Mar '17

09 Mar '17

Looking for any information and/or documentation on DATARAM DR-111 (assembly 61101) 16Kx16 core memory boards for the Unibus. I've got four in unknown condition, one with a clearly destroyed 8T37. I have a large format scanner with ADF and can digitize print sets if necessary. Thanks, Jonathan

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Introductions
by Mark Whittington 09 Mar '17

09 Mar '17

Hello, Evan asked me to introduce myself, so here goes! >Looks like that's your first post on the list. Please introduce yourself: how did you find us, where you live, what's your interest in vintage computing, etc. .... thanks! I discovered the list as a result of stumbling across Connor Krukosky's IBM z890 story ( https://www.reddit.com/r/IBM/comments/3relk4/i_just_bought_an_ibm_z890/) That led to the old Yahoo group which led to the current mailing list. I'm 39 and live in the Northern VA area, near Dulles. The first computer I ever touched was a C64 at around 4 years old. The first computer that I ever owned was a TI-99/4a that a neighbor gave me in the late 90's, but by then I'd already discovered the Apple IIe's and IBM PC XT's at the local library. Now I've got a 4 year old daughter and I want to introduce her to computers outside the world of her iPad, so I'm probably going to start her with an Apple II or C64 of her own. I write Python for a living, and in my spare time I like photography, amateur radio and electronics in general. I've got a quadcopter that I built, flew once and crashed and a large R/C helicopter that I've never flown. I'll be at the Northern VA Maker Faire on March 19 at the ham radio table if anyone in the area wants to stop by and say hello. Nice to meet you all. Best, -Mark

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Small Favor for VCFeXII
by Chris Fala 09 Mar '17

09 Mar '17

Does anyone have a Commodore 1551 floppy drive that I can borrow for my exhibit? I probably won't even need to power it up, but would like to have it to complete the timeline. Thanks, Chris

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] free to a good home 6809 + os/9 books + software
by Michael Kato 09 Mar '17

09 Mar '17

this has been claimed - thank you. ....maki....

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free to a good home 6809 + os/9 books + software
by Michael Kato 08 Mar '17

08 Mar '17

I have the following box of books - Ideally local pickup in Crystal City VA the whole box. I can also ship whole box media mail if you pay for it. Otherwise I'll be selling the books at TCF and Vienna Wireless. Color Computer Graphics - Willam Barden, Jr. LILbug - Monitor for the MC6801L1 - Motorola TRS Color Computer Assembly Language Programming - William Barden, Jr. OS-9 Insights 2nd Ed. - Peter Dibble Complete Rainbow Guide to OS-9 - Dale L. Puckett, Peter Dibble Complete Rainbow Guide to OS-9 Level II Volume I - Dale L. Puckett, Peter Dibble MC6809/MC6809E Microprocessor Programming Manual M6809PM/AD Motorola Programming the 6809 - Rodnay Zaks, William Labiak 6809 Microcomputer Programming & Interfacing with Experiments - Andrew C. Staugaard, Jr. The MC6809 cookbook - Carl D. Warren Two Floppies and Manual for OS-9 Level Two Operating System for Color Computer 3 I've always had deep respect for 6809 and longed to sink my teeth into OS/9, but at the end of the day I'm a Z80 man so I'm going to let this box go to someone else who can enjoy it more than I can. Please email me at the address I'm posting from if you can come pickup the box. I will also be at VCF-E, but will give preference to someone who can pickup ASAP. ....maki....

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Finished code for Lego robot
by Evan Koblentz 08 Mar '17

08 Mar '17

If anyone's interested, here is the finished code for Leinad Legobot. The new 4000 routine detects touch sensors to make the forklift stop at its upper/lower limits, rather than keep moving even though there's no place to go. We couldn't get it working with the optical sensors (various reasons) so I called an audible to switch to the touch sensors. That works much better. Kudos to Dan for perfecting the code behind this. Kudos also to Paul H. for teaching me (several versions ago) what was wrong with my joystick navigation code. Plain text version: http://www.vcfed.org/evan/lego/robot.txt Easy-on-the-eyes version: http://www.vcfed.org/evan/lego/robot.pdf My plan now is bring this to Trenton, exhibit it at Southeast, expand it into a game at Kfest (if I can go), and then make it the centerpiece of the permanent Lego learning station in our museum. I'll make a big kid-friendly flow chart poster to go with that last part. ________________________________ 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

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"Stranger Things" c64 game?
by Christopher Gioconda 08 Mar '17

08 Mar '17

This article made me chuckle, so I had to share: http://games.mxdwn.com/news/some-intrepid-developers-pitched-netflix-on-a-s… Christopher Gioconda cgioconda(a)gmail.com

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Free to a good home - my collection of MIPS workstations
by Michael Kato 07 Mar '17

07 Mar '17

I would like to give this away as a whole. Ideally local pickup in Crystal Ctiy/Alexandria VA. I'm planning on attending Trenton, and also VCF-East. If you're interested in only part, send me an email anyway. Olivetti M700-10 Deskstation Tyne(motherboard and memory and some ISA and VL-bus cards) Acer Formula1 SGI Indigo SGI Indigo2 SGI O2 Sony NSW portable MIPS workstation Mips Magnum 3000(with install tapes and boxes of documentation) http://www.prumpleffer.de/~miod/machineroom/machines/mips/magnum/index.html Cobalt Raq2 Cobalt Cube ....maki....

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OT: Video Capture
by Chris Fala 07 Mar '17

07 Mar '17

Can anyone recommend a way to take an HDMI video signal and convert it to USB so it can be recorded on a computer? I found a device that does this but it is around $300 and I wanted to find something cheaper. Thanks, Chris F.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Free to a good home - OS/2 books and software - taken
by Michael Kato 07 Mar '17

07 Mar '17

I found someone local who will be getting this. Thanks all, ....maki....

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Free to a good home - OS/2 books and software
by Michael Kato 07 Mar '17

07 Mar '17

I call this the OS/2 pro pack. Everything you'll need in order to relive the glory of OS/2. Or live it for the first time if that's what you like. The Design of OS/2 by Deitel and Kogan Inside OS/2 by Gordon Letwin Assembly Language Programming under OS/2 by Murray and Pappas Programming the OS/2 Presentation Manager by Charles Petzold Object Oriented Programming using SOM and DSOM by Christiana Lau OS/2 Debugging Handbook - Volumes 1-4 (IBM Redbooks) Binder with photocopies of the LX format specs(OS/2 executable format) IPF Editor(software) Unopened copy of OS/2 Warp V3(software) You will not find a more complete book collection on OS/2 in one convenient banker box. Offered for local pickup in Crystal City, VA or you pay shipping and I'll ship this. If no takers the box will be on sale at TCF next Saturday and if it still doesn't go it'll be offered at Vienna Wireless Winterfest next Sunday. Contact me via email(the email from which I made this post) Thanks for looking, ....maki....

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Non-vintage PC Question
by W2HX 07 Mar '17

07 Mar '17

Hi friends, Sorry for the bandwidth. I have an oscilloscope that I am upgrading (LeCroy WaveRunner 6100) which has a PC within it and runs window 2000. I have not played with the inside of a PC since the days of the 486 so I am quite rusty here, guys! First step is to upgrade the ram. It currently has 1 RAM module with 512MB. I would like to put as much ram into this baby as possible. Probably the max would be 2G as two 1G modules. Here is a picture of the label on the one module... http://w2hx.com/x/LeCroy/WR6K/0304171610.jpg I've been reading up as much as I could on this. It appears to be DDR RAM (PC-2100) Probably DDR-266. I read the following on Wikipedia... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR_SDRAM Size of the chip is measured in megabits<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megabits>. Most motherboards recognize only 1 GB modules if they contain 64M×8 chips (low density). If 128M×4 (high density) 1 GB modules are used, they most likely will not work. The JEDEC<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JEDEC> standard allows 128M×4 only for slower buffered/registered modules designed specifically for some servers, but some generic manufacturers do not comply.[7]<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR_SDRAM#cite_note-7>[verification needed<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability>] It seems 2GB might be achievable as long as I use 64MB x 8 low density? So friends, can someone help me find a product on newegg, or amazon for two modules that might work for me? The next steps for this scope will be to replace the slow IDE hard drive with a PATA SSD hard drive and then upgrade the CPU (1.70 MHz Celeron) with whatever I can upgrade it to. Much appreciated! Eugene W2HX

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Museum Report 20170305 March 5, 2017
by Jeffrey Brace 06 Mar '17

06 Mar '17

Had a guy named Russ Balliet drop off a sales training tape for AT&T PC as well as a selling guide for AT&T PC 6300. There was also an operations manual for Inspector IV MPC and a little card for RCA Spectra 70. He told me a story how he helped Johnson and Johnson help recover some data from an "old" Vax that helped with a cure for a particular type of cancer. He didn't have any deals, he was just some guy who had experience with Vax who helped the programmer there retrieve "old" data. Had a family come by with a kid who gave them his own version of the tour. This 12 year old kid took Evan's sign at the front of the museum literally "Attention children! The stuff in this room is veeeeeeeery fragile. So we've got a special assignment just for kids: Make sure your parents don't touch any of it!" So this kid said to his parents, "You can't touch anything, but I can touch everything!". I guess the message backfired ;) Anyway the parents and kid were highly interested and I helped the kid do some simple BASIC programs on the C64 and helped him with a few other computers. They really enjoyed it. I hope that they come for VCF East. Another group came escorted by Fred with a guy who used to be in the Civil Air Patrol. I highlighted different machines that he was interested such as Gorge, MOBIDIC etc. It was a quicker tour because of time, but they were very interested. Jonas printed out the signs for exhibitors and I tested his Vic-20. It will need repairs at the next workshop. -- Jeff Brace - ark72axow(a)gmail.com Sent from my Commodore 64

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Disk notcher
by Evan Koblentz 06 Mar '17

06 Mar '17

Anyone got a spare handheld disk notcher? Needed one today (for the first time in 30 years!) and had to use a hole puncher. Not ideal... ________________________________ 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

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disk notcher
by Evan Koblentz 05 Mar '17

05 Mar '17

Anyone got a spare handheld disk notcher? Needed one today (for the first time in 30 years!) and had to use a hole puncher. Not ideal...

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Fwd: Cromemco on Craigslist in Vermont
by Evan Koblentz 05 Mar '17

05 Mar '17

See below. -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Cromemco on Craigslist in Vermont Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2017 00:06:56 -0800 From: Steven Stengel via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> Reply-To: Steven Stengel <tosteve(a)yahoo.com>, General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> To: Cc <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> Cromemco on Craigslist on Vermont/ https://vermont.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=cromemco&sort=rel Victor 9000 in New Hampshire: https://nh.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=victor%209000&sort=rel Atari Mega ST in RI: https://providence.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=atari%20mega&sort=rel

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Floppy Days #70 - Interview with Michael Tomczyk, Vic-20 Commando Team
by Randall Kindig 05 Mar '17

05 Mar '17

For this episode, I interviewed Michael Tomczyk. Michael was with Commodore for some time, was an assistant to none other than Jack Tramiel, and was the leader of the team known as the Vic Commando Team. He was happy to talk about his time at Commodore and turned out to be a very interesting interview and a great guy with which to talk. http://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-70-michael-tomczyk-vic-20 Randy Kindig host Floppy Days Podcast - http://www.floppydays.com, http://floppydays.libsyn.com/rss available for download or streaming from iTunes, the Web site, Google Play, Stitcher.com

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VCF East on Trash Talk
by Evan Koblentz 04 Mar '17

04 Mar '17

List member Pete C., who's on the Tandy team for VCF East, included a several other groups members in a team discussion on his TRS-80 Trash Talk podcast: http://www.trs80trashtalk.com. The discussion starts at 53:25 and goes to about 1:30:00 in the show. It's got Pete, Dean, and Kelly, all from the Tandy team, along with Todd/Tony representing Commodore/Apple respectively. Make some popcorn and enjoy their banter. ________________________________ 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

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Museum Report - 20170304 -March 4, 2017
by Jeffrey Brace 04 Mar '17

04 Mar '17

Three couples stopped by one with high interest and the other two with medium interest. It was quite busy for a time. Worked on VCF prep stuff the remainder of the time. Roddy the artist installed tint to the workshop windows. It definitely helps when the sunlight is shining directly in the workshop. I will be back there tomorrow even though I'm fighting some cold like symptoms. -- Jeff Brace - ark72axow(a)gmail.com Sent from my Commodore 64

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Challenge: VCFed logo as ASCII art, but....
by Evan Koblentz 04 Mar '17

04 Mar '17

I want to put an ASCII version of our logo on the opening screen of the Lego robot program. Apple text screen is 40x40. I lack the artistic skills to pick the right characters and such. Can someone do this for us? ________________________________ 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

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Looking for four 16mb 30 pin non-parity SIMMs
by corey cohen 04 Mar '17

04 Mar '17

Anyone have any to spare/sell. These would be ones compatible with a macintosh or music sampler. I can't use PC or Sun ones they use parity. Thanks, Corey corey cohen uǝɥoɔ ʎǝɹoɔ

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Applesoft game programming
by Evan Koblentz 04 Mar '17

04 Mar '17

I had an idea for a game. You'd use the joystick to control the physical Lego robot against on-screen challenges such as places you must hit and other places (evil robots) you must not hit, within a certain time, in order to win. There would be penalties for going out-of-bounds (colliding with the square around the screen). I never wrote a BASIC game. This is a first for me. I figure it's a good idea to start by determining some (ahem) "basic" concepts. After all I'm using the extent of 7th-grade formal programming education combined with 30 more years of brainpower + improved understanding of programming logic. Starting by keeping it simple: sticking with Applesoft's lo-res mode. I already knew the screen is 0 through 39 horizontally/vertically (40x40) in lo-res mode. And I knew the joystick goes 0-255 each way. So, I figured 256/40 is 6.4, so if I divide the status of paddle 0 or 1 by 6.4 then I can say that's my plot point, right? Time for a science experiment... I came up with this: 10 X=PDL(0) : Y=PDL(1) 20 X=X/6.4 : Y=Y/6.4 Then I realized some positions would give me remainders. No good. Googled for how to round off numbers and discovered Applesoft's INT command. Also found a tip explaining that INT rounds off * no matter what the decimal may be *, so the trick is to always add 0.5 before doing the INT function. Okay, that makes sense. 10 X=PDL(0) : Y=PDL(1) 20 X=X/6.4 : X=X+0.5 30 Y=Y/6.4 : Y=Y+0.5 40 PRINT INT(X), PRINT INT(Y) : REM (so I get numeric confirmation in the bottom text area of the screen) 50 GR:COLOR=1 60 PLOT X,Y 70 GOTO 10 This worked fine going up and left, but not when going down and right. When I moved the joystick all the way down, the plot point turned into an exclamation mark. When I moved it all the way right, the computer beeped and said ILLEGAL QUANTITY ERROR IN 60. I have some vague ideas of what caused this, but my instinct was to fix it this way: Ran it that way. Holy moly, it worked! Thus the full code for my little experiment: 10 X=PDL(0) : Y=PDL(1) 20 X=X/6.4 : X=X+0.5 30 Y=Y/6.4 : Y=Y+0.5 40 PRINT INT(X), PRINT INT(Y) 50 GR:COLOR=1 60 IF X>39 THEN X=39 70 IF Y>39 THEN Y=39 80 PLOT X,Y 90 GOTO 10 Now I can move a plot point around the screen by using the joystick and without having to redraw a black point over the previous point each time. Then I had an epiphany... drum roll please... I ACCIDENTALLY JUST PROGRAMMED MY FIRST SPRITE! Cool. As I posted a few weeks ago when making the Lego robot code work, you guys can tease me if you like :) but this is a milestone. I stumbled onto how to code a sprite in BASIC. Granted, it's only lo-res graphics, but I would think the same exact method should work in hi-res graphics mode. Also some things aren't perfect -- when I run the program without touching the centered joystick, it reports a plot position of 18,23 -- so I'll experiment with the physical trim knobs. Low-quality video (to accompany lo-res graphics...) is here: http://www.snarc.net/EK_first_sprite.mp4 (It plays fine in VLC but appeared too tall in the default Linux Mint player.) _______________________________ 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

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K-Fest carpool?
by Evan Koblentz 03 Mar '17

03 Mar '17

I've always wanted to go to K-Fest. I may apply for one of their "golden tickets" this year, however that still involves getting one's self to Kansas City. Is anyone interested in getting together with a few people for a carpool? Obviously not in my tiny car :) but I'd be happy to split the driving and gas $$. Paying for a flight or the cost of all that gas by myself would be beyond my means right now. ________________________________ 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

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Live auctions at VCF-East?
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 03 Mar '17

03 Mar '17

Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic writes: >We can't have auctions. Requires a state gaming license and a >professiona= l auctioneer. ... and this could happen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Da2JjSEQ2Q

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Front gate worker(s) @ VCF East
by Evan Koblentz 02 Mar '17

02 Mar '17

Everyone, We need front gate workers during Saturday/Sunday (not Friday) during VCF East. It's a hard job. The person needs to be firm at times, in order to tell people "no" who are used to doing whatever they want at Infoage. The person also has to show for their scheduled hours no matter what, even if it's pouring, freezing, armageddon, whatever... We are willing to pay (modestly) for the right person(s) to do this job. Must be at least 16: this isn't a job for children, nor for people who aren't comfortable being on their feet/outdoors for long periods of times, nor for the timid. Contact me off-list if you know someone who is 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

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Another DC-area rescue
by Evan Koblentz 02 Mar '17

02 Mar '17

We need a Cromemco Z2 picked up in Silver Spring, Maryland (the homeowner is moving in May) and delivered to the museum (no hurry). ________________________________ 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

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