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VCF East 2022 videos by individuals
by Jeffrey Brace 31 May '22

31 May '22

I decided to see if I could get help finding all the videos that people made on YouTube (or elsewhere) that filmed people, events and things from VCF East 2022. Here is the Google Sheet that I created: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1--2SS5NHyNSSiI7b1KR-U-OGNBqD2uDKG7u… Please add anything that I'm missing. Thanks! ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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VCF West Exhibitor Registration ending July 4
by Jeffrey Brace 31 May '22

31 May '22

Hello everyone, I know it's a hike for a lot of you, but it's worth the trip to see VCF West on August 6 & 7. Remember there is the Computer History Museum there to see as well. Exhibitor Registration is here: https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-west/vcf-west-exhibits/ If you are interested in being a speaker, then contact Erik Klein the showrunner I will be going there along with Corey Cohen to volunteer to help Erik run the show. ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Did i read somewhere we had a DEC / PDP11 repair weekend scheduled?
by Dave Shevett 30 May '22

30 May '22

Hoping to get together with some DEC folks and get my Micro-11 up and running. I vaguely remember someone saying there was a repair weekend scheduled for DEC stuff? -d -- Dave Shevett shevett(a)pobox.com

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paging Dave Riley
by Dave McGuire 30 May '22

30 May '22

Hey Dave, I emailed you off-list, please check your spam folder. It seems that, despite perfect deliverability scores, Google is punishing me for not giving them my email to profit off of. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Anyone Interested in an Odyssey or Odyssey 2?
by Alexander Jacocks 29 May '22

29 May '22

Bob, If you’re interested, make an offer. The store doesn’t have a price on them. - Alex On Sun, May 29, 2022 at 9:02 PM Bob Aviles via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Hi, > I am interested in the Odyssey 2 in the box, how much are they asking? > ThanksBobby > On Friday, May 27, 2022, 03:15:16 PM EDT, Alexander Jacocks via > vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > All, > > My local video game store has an Odyssey and 3 Odyssey 2s, one of the 2s is > in box. > > Message me off-list if interested. > > - Alex > >

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Anyone Interested in an Odyssey or Odyssey 2?
by Alexander Jacocks 29 May '22

29 May '22

All, My local video game store has an Odyssey and 3 Odyssey 2s, one of the 2s is in box. Message me off-list if interested. - Alex

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] A lot of old computers in Stranger things
by Michael Thompson 29 May '22

29 May '22

> > From: Dave Shevett <shevett(a)pobox.com> > > I've always wanted to be in the business of providing these old machines to > movies and tv shows. I've sort of half-started putting something together > for this, but I have NO CLUE how to get onto the 'i can get this stuff for > you and make it work' radar of studios. > > -- > Dave Shevett > shevett(a)pobox.com > Getting known to movie and video people is a challenge. A lot of the set designers keep their equipment sources secret so competitive movie companies are at a disadvantage. They are also very reluctant to put "Thanks to" in the credits for the same reason. Getting your name spread in the industry is difficult. Many of the set designers just use search engines to find the equipment that they need. Some just buy what they want and sell or dispose of it when they are finished. You could create a Movie Props WWW page with pictures and descriptions of what you have. The listings need to include the year they were manufactured, the years that they were in use, and where they were used. Very little of the equipment used in movies/videos actually works. If you video a CRT you will see black bars on the screen because of the difference in the scan rate of the camera and the CRT. Usually the movie prop people disconnect the electronics in the CRT and replace the power supply and electronics with parts designed for the movie industry. The replacement electronics can synchronize the CRT scan rate to the same external source used for the cameras, so no black bars. That also lets them use modern electronics to make the images they need on the CRT. I have also seen them paste chromakey green film over the CRT, and just overlay the desired image during editing. One of my SparcStation 10 systems was used in Halt And Catch Fire. They needed a Sun workstation, and someone told them that I had a bunch of them. -- Michael Thompson

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A lot of old computers in Stranger things
by Christian Liendo 29 May '22

29 May '22

I'm enjoying all the old computers in Stranger things. So far I saw a Kaypro, an Amiga 1000 and. Tandy

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REMINDER System Source Swap Meet and Repair Workshop in 3 weeks!
by Jeffrey Brace 27 May '22

27 May '22

Don't forget to sign up for the swap meet which is in 3 weeks! Here is all the info again in case you missed it: *SWAP MEET* The *Swap Meet* runs from 8AM to 2PM on Saturday. Info on Swap Meet: https://vcfed.org/system-source-swap-meet/ Sign up for *Swap Meet* here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfLzjqF3IYIanjZx7objKJl9NxX38p6yVt… *REPAIR WORKSHOP* starts at 2PM until 7:30PM on Saturday. On Sunday the repair workshop is from 9AM to 5PM. Signup for Repair Workshop here : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZyvIhDx5QJNdgBx8XWxQTJIuxHzh6rJiHQM… <https://www.google.com/maps/search/338%0D%0A+Clubhouse+Road,+%0D%0A+Hunt%0D…> The System Source Computer Museum is hosting a vintage computer workshop on Saturday June 18th and Sunday June 19th 2022 at: System Source Computer Museum 338 Clubhouse Road, <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.google.com_maps_se…> Hunt Valley, MD <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.google.com_maps_se…> 21031 <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.google.com_maps_se…> Plenty of free parking, short walk from Baltimore’s light rail (Gilroy Road Stop) ON SATURDAY we will open at 9:00 AM and will lock up by 7:30 PM. ON SUNDAY: We will open at 9:00 AM and lock up at 5:00 PM *Accommodations:* Try https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g41196-Hunt_Valley_Maryland-Hotels.html <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.tripadvisor.com_Ho…> Feel free to talk with others about sharing a room. Food: There are plenty of restaurants within a short drive. We will have a catered Indian buffet on Saturday at cost ($12.00?) and catered Barbecue ($12.00?) on Sunday for those who are interested. We will feature tours of the museum throughout both days and several mini-workshops: · Retrobright workshop (bring your yellowed plastics) · Lots of New vintage computers from the DigiBarn Collection · Hot Metal Typesetting (3500 lb word processor) ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Anyone near Landenberg PA
by Jason Perkins 26 May '22

26 May '22

Is anyone on the list near Landenberg PA? I bought a small NEC monitor from someone on eBay, and the person who was going to pick it up for me flaked. It would be extra cool if you’re coming to the System Source event and could hand it off! Thanks, -Jason -- Jason Perkins 313 355 0085 Sent from my iPhone

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IBM EGA needed
by Dave McGuire 26 May '22

26 May '22

Hey folks, does anyone have an IBM EGA card that they'd be willing to send over to us at LSSM? We have a need for a "real IBM" EGA card for a specific piece of software that makes use of EGA features that most clones apparently didn't implement. Alternatively, if anyone has a spare clone EGA card that they believe to be more compatible than most, we'd be willing to give it a shot. Thanks, -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA

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ATTENTION - VCF Mid-Atlantic Steering Committee News - ATTENTION
by Chris Fala 25 May '22

25 May '22

Dear VCF Members, I would like to take this opportunity to let everyone know about recent changes within the Steering Committee membership. First, the sad news. Due to family commitments, Tony Bogan has stepped down. Anyone who knows Tony will understand just how much impact this will have on our team. Tony has provided immeasurable help to all aspects of VCF, as a Docent, helping organize the warehouse, with artifact rescues, setting up for festivals, workshops, swap-meets, etc., coordinating with InfoAge, other museums, and Wall Township, and in too many other ways to mention. He has been a force of nature for VCF, and on a personal note has become a valued friend to me. He has let us know that he will still be around to help with various projects as his time permits, but his duties as a voting member of the Steering Committee have ended (at least for now). The good news is that we have identified someone to fill Tony’s position (not replace him, no one could do that!). Per the Bylaws of the Committee, when a seat has been vacated in the middle of a term, the voting members of the Steering Committee will conduct a simple majority vote to select a replacement. Since I take the duties of the Steering Committee, and our commitment to the membership, very seriously, I wanted to ensure that all five members had an opportunity to contribute to the conversation, not just a simple (3-of-5) majority. After a very productive discussion and vote, Doug Crawford has been chosen to fill the vacant seat. Doug has been a member of VCF for at least 8 years. He has been a Docent at the museum, has exhibited at Festivals and other events, and has contributed in many other ways for the good of the organization. We all agree that he will be a valued member of the team. After speaking with Doug, he is very excited for the opportunity to serve. I welcome Doug and look forward to working with him! Also pursuant to the Bylaws, since this is an “emergency” replacement, Doug’s seat on the Steering Committee will be up for a vote by the general membership this November-December. All seats on the Steering Committee periodically come up for a vote based on the established cycle. Please consider this and be prepared to vote when the time comes. Eligibility to vote is determined by membership on this mailing list. New list members eligible to vote will be accepted up to a predetermined deadline (date to be announced) before the election. If you know someone who might want to participate, let them know not to wait until the last minute to join the list! Thank you for your kind attention to this matter. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to any member of the Steering Committee with any relevant questions or concerns. Thanks, Chris Fala Chairman of the Mid-Atlantic Steering Committee of the Vintage Computer Federation

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] ZX81/TS1000 with a modern TV
by Bob Shuster 25 May '22

25 May '22

Thanks for all the input! I should note that I have no issues with any of my other TV tuner based systems, including many older than the Timex/Sinclair systems! There’s definitely something different about these. I do get the K cursor, but the audio is all noise and I get no feedback that I can see from the keyboards. They can’t all be bad, and they are in virtually unused condition. I’m not going to purchase an old CRT TV just to resell it (maybe I’ll try a local request for a free one), but I’ll try running them through a VCR or old camcorder and see where that gets me. I also have a bunch of inline coax filters that I can try (not really expecting different results.). I don’t want to spend too much time on these as everyone seems to want me to get to the TRS-80 systems! Bob Shuster

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Test
by Chris Fala 24 May '22

24 May '22

New subscription test.

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ZX81/TS1000 with a modern TV
by Bob Shuster 24 May '22

24 May '22

So I have two (2) Sinclair ZX81s (US version - one is still an unbuilt kit), and three (3) Timex-Sinclair 1000s. I’ve connected them to a TV using an RCA-coax adapter and tuned to the correct channel, but I get a grey screen with the “K” cursor visible. I’m unable to get past this. This is for all four units. They seem to tune in white momentarily then switch to fuzzy grey - with the “K” still visible. This was both on a large 4K OLED set and a small HD LED TV, and I suspect they are just too new to deal with the monochrome signal. I don’t have a CRT TV to test with, just old monitors (which of course don’t have antenna connections.) Any advice? I’m selling these, so I’m not getting into modding them, just want to confirm they’re working properly. Bob Shuster

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] ZX81/TS1000 with a modern TV
by Dave McGuire 23 May '22

23 May '22

On 5/23/22 21:34, Sentrytv via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > I am 99% sure that the ZX 81 or the TS 1000 has a standard > RF modulator. It does; one of the little Astec canned modulators. At issue here, though, presumably, is the NTSC-format baseband video being fed into that modulator. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA

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WTT: J&M Systems TRS-80 5.25" Alignment Package
by Jonathan Chapman 23 May '22

23 May '22

All, I recently did some drive alignment work for a customer and ended up doing a trade for some alignment diskettes. One set is a J&M Systems, LTD. package with a Dysan 508-200 "Diagnostic" diskette, and a "DISK DRIVE ANALYZER DDA V3.3" program diskette. I stuck the Dysan diskette in a drive that had just been aligned and "explored" it a little with the oscilloscope. It's not a usual Dysan alignment diskette and does not appear to have the radial alignment patterns on it. Since I don't have any TRS-80 gear, it's not a ton of use to me. If anyone is interested, I'd like to trade for another alignment diskette in some other format I can use. Let me know what you've got! Thanks, Jonathan

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Looking for an SCA adapter
by Jason Perkins 23 May '22

23 May '22

All, I'm looking for an 80 pin SCA to 50 pin SCSI adapter.... with 16 bit termination. All the ones I can find now either don't have termination, or only have 8 bit termination. Vendors that have them listed on their sites respond that they're NLA when emailed. I have some late SCA drives, and want to use one on in a Mac SE/30. They don't seem to have any built in termination, and get upset if only half of the lines are terminated! If you have one or two of these you'd like to part with shoot me a note! Thanks, -- Jason Perkins 313 355 0085 Sent from my iPhone

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: time to downsize
by Bob Shuster 22 May '22

22 May '22

Another update - TI stuff posted! Tomorrow I’ll figure out which system to pull out next. New pages posted at: theshusters.com/bobvintage.html <http://theshusters.com/bobvintage.html> - check it out. Please read through the first page and that will answer many questions. If you're reading this list you have my email - it's intentionally not listed on the pages. And again, I'm only making this stuff available to those on this listserv for now. Once I finish going through everything (and there's still a lot more) and I've given list members time to peruse, I'll start listing elsewhere, but mainly I'd like to see the stuff go somewhere where it will be appreciated! Thanks for looking! - Bob Shuster

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FS: Early National Instruments DM8200D Comparator
by Jonathan Chapman 21 May '22

21 May '22

All, Finally listed the National Semiconductor DM8200D that Evil Mad Scientist Labs did some super macro photography of: https://www.ebay.com/itm/275320526785 An unremarkable part for its function (it's a 4-bit magnitude comparator, it does work!), but the packaging is interesting. It's in a "ceramic sandwich" DIP, which is a piece of ceramic with a hole for the die and the leadframe in it, sandwiched between two pieces of gold-plated metal. That's uncommon enough as it is, but additionally, the pins are actually rolled instead of being stamped! Pictures explain better than words, here's an imgur album with higher resolution pictures: https://imgur.com/a/TCrIxEH Anyway, I figured I'd post here more because people might not have seen the original EMSL picture thread elsewhere. It's listed for $1 starting bid, no idea what it's worth :P Thanks, Jonathan

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List of Vintage Computer Streamers and Podcasters
by Jeffrey Brace 20 May '22

20 May '22

I'm making a list of Streamers and Podcasters. I don't know all of them, so please let me know any that I'm missing: The 8-bit Guy LGR (Lazy Game Reviews) The Retro Hour The Guru Meditation Mac 84 Chicken Lips Radio Kay Savetz TRS-80 Trash Talk Bil Herd The Road Geek The Retro Shack This Does Not Compute Victor Bart - Retro Machines Tech Tangents smbakeryt RMC - The Cave Retro Spector 78 Retro Recipes Retro Hardware Psivewri Phil's Computer Lab Nostalgia Nerd Thanks! ========================================= Jeff Brace

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] List of Vintage Computer Streamers and Podcasters
by Chris Fala 20 May '22

20 May '22

Good additions. I subscribe to many of those. On Fri, May 20, 2022 at 9:21 AM W. Bryan Caudle via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > A few youtube channels that I enjoy that were not already on the list: > > CRG > EEVblog > Dave's Garage > Jan Beta > CPU Galaxy > Noel's Retro Lab > Computerphile > Retro Hack Shack > Tech Time Traveller > Mr Lurch's Things > Usagi Electric > PCRetroTech > VWestlife > CuriousMarc > Mark Fixes Stuff > Modern Classic > GadgetUK164 > Ctrl-alt-rees > Tales of weird stuff > Terry Stewart (older content) > Retro Tech Chris (another VCF supporter) > Geek with social skills > TJBChris > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic-bounces(a)lists.vcfed.org> On Behalf > Of Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic > Sent: Friday, May 20, 2022 8:25 AM > To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> > Cc: Jeffrey Brace <jeffrey(a)vcfed.org> > Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] List of Vintage Computer Streamers and > Podcasters > > Hello everyone, > > Thanks for the list. I forgot about some that I should have remembered. > Here is an updated list: > > https://docs.google.com/document/d/18NYdL084oZ53fGuwTdddjZ9URTRsUeX0zB9mfel… > > > > > On Fri, May 20, 2022 at 2:59 AM Hagstrom, Paul via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > Some more from skimming my podcatcher subscriptions. > > > > Retrocomputing Roundtable > > RetroMacCast > > Player/Missile Podcast > > ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast > > Assembly Lines Podcast > > Apple Time Warp > > Sprite Castle > > Mac Folklore Radio > > Eaten By A Grue > > Inverse ATASCII > > > > If mostly-historical (not having produced new episodes in a long time) > > counts: > > > > Open Apple > > 1MHz > > Drop /// Inches > > The Retrobits Podcast > > The History of Personal Computing > > The Culture of Tech > > Welcome to Macintosh > > No Quarter > > > > There are a number of others that often touch on vintage > > computers/tech even if that's not their primary focus. > > > > You Don't Know Flack > > Jason Scott Talks His Way Out Of It > > Next Without For > > > > There's a fair amount of crossover in people between these. I > > participate in a couple of them. I'm sure I've missed a bunch too, > > particularly among those in the no-longer-very-active category. > > > > -Paul > > > > > On May 20, 2022, at 12:29 AM, RETRO Innovations via vcf-midatlantic > > > < > > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > > > > On 5/19/2022 10:48 PM, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > > >> I'm making a list of Streamers and Podcasters. I don't know all of > > them, so > > >> please let me know any that I'm missing: > > >> > > >> The 8-bit Guy > > >> LGR (Lazy Game Reviews) > > >> The Retro Hour > > >> The Guru Meditation > > >> Mac 84 > > >> Chicken Lips Radio > > >> Kay Savetz > > >> TRS-80 Trash Talk > > >> Bil Herd > > >> The Road Geek > > >> The Retro Shack > > >> This Does Not Compute > > >> Victor Bart - Retro Machines > > >> Tech Tangents > > >> smbakeryt > > >> RMC - The Cave > > >> Retro Spector 78 > > >> Retro Recipes > > >> Retro Hardware > > >> Psivewri > > >> Phil's Computer Lab > > >> Nostalgia Nerd > > >> > > >> Thanks! > > >> > > >> ========================================= > > >> Jeff Brace > > > > > > CoCo Crew PodCast > > > > > > CocoTALK! > > > > > > Floppy Days Podcast > > > > > > 8 bit Show and Tell > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > RETRO Innovations, Contemporary Gear for Classic Systems > > > www.go4retro.com store.go4retro.com > > > > > >

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Trek War - A new Commodore PET game
by Jeffrey Brace 19 May '22

19 May '22

For those of you not on the TPUG list, there was a post by Jim Orlando who has create a lot of different Commodore PET games for fun and for free. Enjoy! Here is his post: " Hi everyone - I wrote another new PET game at a recent game jam for anyone interested - I called it TrekWar! It's kind of a combo of the Star Trek text games (you have multiple quadrants to go do things like gather dilithium and shoot Klingons) + Asteroids (top down view of your ship) + Defender (you fly around a moving map). Works on 3032, 4032 and 8032. You can download it here: https://jimbo.itch.io/ Or watch a playthrough here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8pvqtTx-N8 Jim " ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Simple Commodore drive question
by Kelly Leavitt 18 May '22

18 May '22

Is there anything special about the serial disk drive cable for the 1541s or will any straight through 6 pin DIN work? I have several drives but I don't seem to have any of the cables. Thanks, Kelly

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Repair Workshop @ System Source June 18 & 19
by Jeffrey Brace 18 May '22

18 May '22

The Swap Meet runs from 8AM to 2PM on Saturday. The repair workshop starts at 2PM until 7:30PM on Saturday. On Sunday the repair workshop is from 9AM to 5PM. Signup here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZyvIhDx5QJNdgBx8XWxQTJIuxHzh6rJiHQM… <https://www.google.com/maps/search/338%0D%0A+Clubhouse+Road,+%0D%0A+Hunt%0D…> The System Source Computer Museum is hosting a vintage computer workshop on Saturday June 18th and Sunday June 19th 2022 at: System Source Computer Museum 338 Clubhouse Road, <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.google.com_maps_se…> Hunt Valley, MD <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.google.com_maps_se…> 21031 <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.google.com_maps_se…> Plenty of free parking, short walk from Baltimore’s light rail (Gilroy Road Stop) ON SATURDAY we will open at 9:00 AM and will lock up by 7:30 PM. ON SUNDAY: We will open at 9:00 AM and lock up at 5:00 PM *Accommodations:* Try https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g41196-Hunt_Valley_Maryland-Hotels.html <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.tripadvisor.com_Ho…> Feel free to talk with others about sharing a room. Food: There are plenty of restaurants within a short drive. We will have a catered Indian buffet on Saturday at cost ($12.00?) and catered Barbecue ($12.00?) on Sunday for those who are interested. We will feature tours of the museum throughout both days and several mini-workshops: · Retrobright workshop (bring your yellowed plastics) · Lots of New vintage computers from the DigiBarn Collection · Hot Metal Typesetting (3500 lb word processor) ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Swap Meet @ System Source June 18, 2022
by Jeffrey Brace 18 May '22

18 May '22

Hello everyone, Here is the website with all the details on the swap meet @ System Source: https://vcfed.org/system-source-swap-meet/ ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Strange Commodore 1581 floppy drive issue
by Russell LeChard 16 May '22

16 May '22

Good Morning All. I am seeking some help from some Commodore experts with a Commodore 1581 floppy Disk drive. Some background: I've been an IT specialist specializing in IBM and compatible PCs since the early 90's. However, I started my computing journey with the TRS-80 model III and Commodore 64. I fell in love with the C64, and it began my start in a very successful career in IT. (see attach photo of my c64 setup in 1986 LOL) Recently I was lucky enough to find a C64C, a C128, and a 1581 3.5 floppy drive online for a reasonable price. Well, I did pay a premium for the 1581, but I never had one back in the day and well, I treated myself.. This past weekend I tested all 3 items and for the most part all worked OK. I was concerned the most about the 1581 working. After a delay in remembering the correct syntax for the C64 format disk command (open 15,8,15,"N0:testdisk,01": close15) - My memory isn't what it was in my younger days! LOL :-D), I was able to format a disk and then save a simple basic prg to it. However, when I try to load this basic prg (on the C64), it locks up the c64 and there seems to be no activity led lights and the 1581. I need to reboot the C64. Now, I tried the same task using the c128 and the same 1581 and floppy disk, I can now format, save, and load a basic prg without any issues. Everything seemed to work fine. My question is, are there any known compatibility issues between the C64C and the 1581 that the c128 fixed? I always thought the 1581 was compatible with the C64 and c64C? Very Strange. Any thoughts and advice are welcome.Thank you in advance. Take Care, Russell LeChard

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Al Charpentier in Dave’s Garage
by Richard Cini 16 May '22

16 May '22

Not sure if anyone follows Dave’s Garage on YouTube (Dave is an ex-OS engineer from Microsoft) but he interviewed Al Charpentier about Commodore and designing the VIC, and he mentions VCFe. Dave’s a big Commodore fan and kind of grew up like many of us, using the VIC or C64, as our first computers. https://youtu.be/rs6J_PP7O7k Rich http://cini.classiccmp.org/ Long Island S100 User’s Group Get Outlook<https://aka.ms/qtex0l> for iOS

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An idea for preservation and a proposal for the future of the VCF's library of written media.
by Lou 16 May '22

16 May '22

Hello all, I don't speak much on here often enough but I have been on the list and in the community for a little while now. Something came to mind the other night when I was doing research on preservation of physical book printed/written media and came to find not only several different kinds of methods and businesses that can scan these forms of media to a digital form but there are also scanners that exist which can do this job well without it being destructive to the books. The issue of course is that these scanners are by no means cheap for the average small scale user wanting to preserve a few of his books/manuals and some of the services out there that can offer this are either not much cheaper and/or only offer the destructive method of scanning this media (I.E. unbinding books to scan individual pages). After some time thinking about this, hearing some colleges and old libraries/research facilities having these for their own preservation efforts a thought came to mind...Why shouldn't the VCF have one for their own preservation efforts as well? The idea is simple enough, an investment in a non-destructive book scanner for the VCF which can be used to back up the existing library of physical written media, manuals, history, research, and more which can be put into digital form and be accessible to anyone who needs it without difficulty. It can help many countless individuals in the community who would need that information but isn't uploaded or documented anywhere else. A form of digital preservation and online library could be a great benefit to everyone. Finally, a further benefit is those who have their own materials they wish to preserve as well could do so with a suggested donation to the museum as well. It can be a service for other collectors who want to preserve their media as well and could even be added to the main library! Hosting of these materials could also be done and uploaded to archive.org to shoulder off the need of hosting our own site (unless desired of the community). It's a benefit with no real downside to the museum or the community at large. I know there will be some finer details to discuss and some minor issues that might come to light (especially anything involving possible copyright) but aside from this it can be a useful service for everyone. I just wanted to bring this idea forward to see what everyone thinks of it. Thanks for reading this out! -Lou

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VCF East 2022 Post Event Survey Results
by Jeffrey Brace 16 May '22

16 May '22

After a few weeks we have closed the survey and here are the results: https://bit.ly/vcfe2022post_results Overall very positive feedback. It's nice to see what we are doing well and not so well. We will address whatever improvements that we can for next year's show. Thanks everyone for doing the survey! ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] An idea for preservation and a proposal for the future of the VCF's library of written media.
by Eric Rangell 15 May '22

15 May '22

Hi all, After working with Bill Degnan on his archive of print media we decided to showcase a selection of magazines in the library section of his museum, and keep the rest of the materials in numbered boxes. Photos were taken of the materials in each box which can be used to produce Finders Aids, which list the resources available and where they are located. This model is based on the system used by the Hagley library, for example: https://www.hagley.org/research/programs/sarnoff-library-project/sarnoff-li… <https://www.hagley.org/research/programs/sarnoff-library-project/sarnoff-li…> However, even cataloging the rich collection of materials requires data entry work and selection of the appropriate software for hosting it. The level of granularity for the finders aids is also a consideration. Somebody with experience in library science would be useful for establishing best practices for such a project. Ultimately it comes down to prioritizing the preservation of materials based on factors such as condition. Another example project to look at was the preservation of Ted Nelson’s junk mail collection on the Internet Archive, which was self-funded by donations to paid volunteers who scanned the materials. Eric

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: time to downsize
by Bob Shuster 13 May '22

13 May '22

Yet another update! I just finished going through and listing the Commodore stuff. New pages posted at: theshusters.com/bobvintage.html - check it out. Please read through the first page and that will answer many questions. If you’re reading this list you have my email - it’s intentionally not listed on the pages. And again, I’m only making this stuff available to those on this listserv for now. Once I finish going through everything (and there’s a lot more) and I’ve given list members time to peruse, I’ll start listing elsewhere, but mainly I’d like to see the stuff go somewhere where it will be appreciated! Thanks for looking! Texas Instrument stuff next. - Bob Shuster

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Please subscribe to VCF YouTube channel
by Jeffrey Brace 13 May '22

13 May '22

Before we can do fundraisers on our YouTube channel, VCF needs 10,000 subscribers. We are currently at 7,800 subscribers. Please subscribe and spread the word. https://www.youtube.com/c/VintageComputerFederation501c3 Thanks! ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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almost vintage computer free to "good home"
by William Dudley 12 May '22

12 May '22

I have a Dell Optiplex GX280 that I'd rather not send to the landfill. It's in a large tower case. Dates from 2004-ish Pentium 4 cpu, 3.2GHz, NOT 64 bit capable No hard drive, but includes ATA DVD drive. No RAM (takes up to 4 400 or 533 MHz DDR2) Includes mother board video, also includes some kind of semi-trick video card ("PCI Express x16 DVI video card", according to Dell). Sometimes the computer won't POST. Some forum searching suggested applying pressure to the heat sink, and lo and behold, this "fixed" the problem. >From this I infer that there's a dodgy solder joint under the CPU socket. This can sometimes be fixed by dribbling liquid flux around the edge of the socket (so it runs underneath) and then heating the socket with a heat gun for 30 sec to a minute. I use kitchen aluminum foil to mask off everything but the socket, so the small SMT parts on the motherboard don't start wandering about or "tombstoning". If that's too much like work, you could put a brick on it. Or a piece of foam rubber between the heat sink shroud and the cover. This computer and I are located in Jackson, NJ. I can meet you or deliver to a "reasonable" radius from here, which radius includes the museum in Wall, NJ. It's kinda big to ship, so I'm less interested in shipping, although if you want it bad enough, I could pack it up for shipment. Bill Dudley Jackson, NJ This email is free of malware because I run Linux.

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FREE STUFF
by Bill Degnan 12 May '22

12 May '22

Hopefully you can view this brief 17sec video https://www.facebook.com/billdeg/videos/535587494677969 126 S. Union St Kennett Sq PA (parking lot behind kennettclassic.com) EVERYTHING NOT CLAIMED WILL BE E-CYCLED on FRIDAY thanks BIll

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Help shipping ASR-33 from Allentown
by Dave 12 May '22

12 May '22

Hi all, Back in February, I bought an ASR-33 teletype on Ebay. The seller is stalling on the shipping. Initially, I think there were some family issues, and now I suspect he's just having trouble figuring out how to get the ASR prepared for freight. I contacted him a month a go and he said he was going to see "how I can break it down to make if more flat than tall". I suspect (and hope) that he is an honest (if not super diligent) seller that has no idea how to ship this. Is there anyone on this list who might be able to give me a hand in getting this going? I imagine that some folks here may have been through something like this in the past. I could use any help at all, including guidance on the best way to ship the teletype, any suggestions for (as minimal as possible) disassembly and getting it on a pallet, etc. If there is someone in the Allentown area who might be able to help me get this shipped, I would be most grateful. Thanks in advance, Dave

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Help shipping ASR-33 from Allentown
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 12 May '22

12 May '22

Dave via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> writes: >Hi all, > >Back in February, I bought an ASR-33 teletype on Ebay. The seller >is stalling on the shipping. Initially, I think there were >some family issues, and now I suspect he's just having trouble >figuring out how to get the ASR prepared for freight. > >I contacted him a month a go and he said he was going to see "how I >can break it down to make if more flat than tall". I suspect >(and hope) that he is an honest (if not super diligent) seller that >has no idea how to ship this. > >Is there anyone on this list who might be able to give me a hand in >getting this going? I imagine that some folks here may have >been through something like this in the past. > >I could use any help at all, including guidance on the best way to >ship the teletype, any suggestions for (as minimal as possible) >disassembly and getting it on a pallet, etc. If there is >someone in the Allentown area who might be able to help me get this >shipped, I would be most grateful. I'm originally from the Lehigh Valley and I go home quite often. It would help if you'dstate where this ASR is to be shipped to. ;) Do you know where in Allentown this seller resides?

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Help shipping ASR-33 from Allentown
by Bill Degnan 12 May '22

12 May '22

Totally agree. When I have sold a Teletype I break it down, pad and lock down the key spots inside, bubble wrap the entire thing, get a good box with proper padding and then show it already packed as part of the listing. I get the weight and dimensions for shipping. But some sellers don't know better, they're not experienced. best to just be friendly and offer to help with specific directions. Or just drive up there and get it. b On Thu, May 12, 2022 at 4:43 PM Sentrytv via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > I have to admit that I cannot understand these sellers on eBay, > they know they have to ship the item, > shouldn't they have figured this out in advance? > I certainly would not buy the item unless I knew how it was going to be delivered to me safely! > > Mike > > Sent from: > My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device. > > > On May 12, 2022, at 4:10 PM, Dave via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > > Hi all, > > > > Back in February, I bought an ASR-33 teletype on Ebay. The seller is stalling on the shipping. Initially, I think there were some family issues, and now I suspect he's just having trouble figuring out how to get the ASR prepared for freight. > > > > I contacted him a month a go and he said he was going to see "how I can break it down to make if more flat than tall". I suspect (and hope) that he is an honest (if not super diligent) seller that has no idea how to ship this. > > > > Is there anyone on this list who might be able to give me a hand in getting this going? I imagine that some folks here may have been through something like this in the past. > > > > I could use any help at all, including guidance on the best way to ship the teletype, any suggestions for (as minimal as possible) disassembly and getting it on a pallet, etc. If there is someone in the Allentown area who might be able to help me get this shipped, I would be most grateful. > > > > Thanks in advance, > > > > Dave > > >

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VCF Repair workshops and keeping the costs of HVAC down
by Jeffrey Brace 11 May '22

11 May '22

VCF makes use of the Makerspace and classroom in 9059 during our repair workshops. CDL just cut the checks to cover the first quarter gas bills for their Makerspace (per the IA lease agreement). The total came to $932.00. The cost per therm has gone up. During workshops, we need to keep the exterior doors closed to keep the heat and A/C in the building. How we can help: not allowing the doors to be held open for extended periods of time. Moving things in and out is fine, but keeping it open for extended periods of time increases the HVAC costs. Thank you for your cooperation. ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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VCF East Clinic kudos (soldering iron cleaning brass)
by Herb Johnson 10 May '22

10 May '22

[Regarding brass for soldering iron tip-cleaning.] https://www.testequity.com/category/Electronic-Production-Supplies/Solder-A… This is not "brass wool" which would be an abrasive mesh of dry, sharp fine brass wire. The Hakko product is apparently brass coiled ribbon (my words for it) that is *rosin coated* (fatty acid compound). Other products may have other coatings, or none. A stated virtue of brass over wet sponge is "the tip temperature is not reduced". The virtue of brass is that it's softer than most metals. Of course, melted solder is softer still so it removes excess solder from tips. Since it removes solder, it's likely it will accumulate loose solder splatter. That's likely why it's contained in a bowl or holder, to capture the material. This is all Web homework I did, not stuff I knew previously. Someone with industrial training in soldering, or some reference for that training, may be informative. Regards, Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT comcast DOT net

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OT: looking for Ryan’s (with the IMSAI at the workshop) email
by Crawford Griffith 10 May '22

10 May '22

Folks, I wanted to follow up with Ryan who had an IMSAI at the S-100 workshop at VCFE. Of course, In addition to not getting his last name, I didn’t get his email address before he left. If Ryan is on this list, please contact me via email, or if anyone else has his info, please send it to me. Thanks, Crawford

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] FS: Non-Linear Systems X-2 Nixie Meter
by Dave McGuire 09 May '22

09 May '22

On 5/9/22 19:22, Sentrytv via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > I have one of their multimeters! I have the model with the edge-lit displays. Gorgeous. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA

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FS: Non-Linear Systems X-2 Nixie Meter
by Jonathan Chapman 09 May '22

09 May '22

All, I don't usually post about test equipment here, but this one is made by Non-Linear Systems, so I figured there's enough overlap that folks might be interested: https://www.ebay.com/itm/275305278929 NLS is probably better known for the Kaypro series of computers, but they invented the digital multimeter back in the 1950s! Their first unit was an electromechanical beast, using stepping relays and edge-lit numerical displays. This is of course a later model, and is fully solid state, with Nixie tube displays. I went through the meter around three years ago, replaced a cap in the HV supply for the Nixie anode voltage, reformed the logic and analog supply caps, and cleaned up a previous repair that was causing excessive leakage on the 1000V range. A basic calibration was done following the manual, using a Fluke 343A DC Calibrator and a calibrated Fluke 8842A. Three years later, it's still holding calibration! Anyhow, I'm letting it go as I don't use it much, I have a number of Nixie meters, and though this one is both very nice and historically significant, it's DC-only. The option boards for AC and ohms conversion are not present. The schematics are available, and it'd be possible to recreate them on protoboard with the appropriate Elco connectors. Thanks, Jonathan

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Free stuff Weds Night (semi OT)
by Bill Degnan 09 May '22

09 May '22

This is s a follow up to my earlier email about the large lot of computer and some electronics/consumer items I am trying to offload here, the entire lot for $100: https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/sys/d/kennett-square-vintage-computers/… I have received some interest in some items, all offers considered. Some of the items are from the 80's, most are from the 90's and a few things are from the earlier 2000's. I get it that many consider a lot of this post-vintage. For those who are interested anyway - whatever does not sell it will be unceremoniously moved into the parking lot. At that point it will be free to a good home. What remains after that will be recycled. We're filming the museum on Thursday so it needs to be gone by then. Bill P.S. From a bargain collectors' standpoint - the strategy of picking up the nice things before everyone else considers them "vintage" has it's merits. That's what I do. Some of these CRTs will be hard to come by eventually. People are practially giving away late 486/early Pentium stuff now, but not forever.

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Looking for 16-bit ISA memory board
by Joseph Giliberti 09 May '22

09 May '22

Greetings all! I'm looking to expand the RAM in my IBM PC/AT and I'm having a hell of a time finding an expansion board. It has one megabyte onboard, but I'd like to get it to eight. It seems that everyone hung on to their 8-bit boards but nobody has 16-bit ones and the few that I found are barely populated. Does anyone here have such a board that they'd be willing to part with? Thanks in advance! Joe Giliberti

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OT - Anyone Want to Meet up in Nashville, This Week?
by Alexander Jacocks 08 May '22

08 May '22

I’m going to be at a conference this week, so if anyone wants to meet up, let me know. - Alex

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today's shelfware
by Jeffrey Jonas 08 May '22

08 May '22

Is anyone still using the Intel Edison or Galileo modules? I have spares to trade/swap. -- jeff jonas

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on topic and in tune but out of time :-)
by Jeffrey Jonas 07 May '22

07 May '22

I just stumbled upon the BBC archives https://www.youtube.com/c/BBCArchive/videos The first part is the radiophonic studio but then there's a delightful 80s computer with a light pen! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZuf0LIU-2A Peter Howell gives the DOCTOR WHO THEME an 80s REMIX | The Music Arcade | Making of | BBC Archive Peter Howell of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop demonstrates how he reimagined Ron Grainer's classic Doctor Who theme - which was first realised so startlingly by Delia Derbyshire and Dick Mills in the 1960s - to make it 'brighter and more modern sounding' for the 1980s. He uses modern polyphonic analogue synthesisers like the Yamaha CS-80, an ARP Odyssey Mk3 and a Roland Jupiter-4, a vocoder and an old, malfunctioning phase shifter unit he found in the back of the Workshop. Gent that he is, he then pops over to the Music Arcade studio to demonstrate the extraordinary new Fairlight CMI Series II synthesiser to the some kids from St Mary's Balham Primary School and hosts Tim Whitnall and Lucie Skeaping. This clip is from The Music Arcade: Electricity in Music. Originally broadcast 2 February, 1982.

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OT: Cool Ham Radio History
by Chris Fala 07 May '22

07 May '22

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaTm_LUifUI

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FOR SALE: SemiOT: Too many computers
by Bill Degnan 07 May '22

07 May '22

I have a large lot of computers, parts, software, and consumer electronics for sale. See it all here: $100 takes the whole thing, a donation to Kennett Classic. https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/sys/d/kennett-square-vintage-computers/… To me some of this stuff is post-vintage but now is the time to pick up things like CRTs and Pentium 1's while they're still shunned by collectors as too new. That's what I did when 286/386 was considered to new. Time marches on. Bill

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