- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Welcome newbs!
by Evan Koblentz 19 Aug '19

19 Aug '19

There will be several new faces at the workshop next weekend, including Nevell, Marc, Floyd, Doug P., Fred T., Maki, and Crawford G. (not to be confused with Doug Crawford). -- Evan Koblentz, executive director Vintage Computer Federation www.vcfed.org evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 VCF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

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Museum Report 2019-08-18 August 18, 2019
by Jeffrey Brace 18 Aug '19

18 Aug '19

First half of the day was slow, but it picked up by 3:15 until about 4:30. Had about 3 dozen visitors with most of them being familes. Gave a few tours with visitors being from medium to high interest. Also worked on some museum management stuff. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 17 Aug '19

17 Aug '19

Pretty busy today. A couple of dozen people came through our exhibit. Mostly families.

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LGR video - Exploring a MASSIVE Retro Computer Warehouse!
by David K 16 Aug '19

16 Aug '19

Not sure if anyone saw this. It is a video of a guy on YouTube exploring a now mostly-closed place called "Computer Reset". It looks to be a place where they repaired computers as well as bought old computers and more. Some of the stuff is vintage stuff new in box. It puts Kemner's to shame. They are open to collector's and in the last part of the video they mention an apparent willingness to give/sell things to museums so I thought I would pass this along. If nothing else it is very interesting to watch. The catch is it is near Dallas, TX so that likely makes it a non-starter for most. But I believe there is a VCF-midwest who might be made aware of it. Enjoy! David

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GW-DEC-1: A New DEC Prototyping Board
by systems_glitch 15 Aug '19

15 Aug '19

Connor Krukosky and I have been working on laying out a new quad-height DEC protoboard, which can also be sheared down into a dual-height board. Full announce on the VC Forums: http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?71177-GW-DEC-1-A-New-Quad-Height-… These should be available within a month or so. I'll be putting up a preorder soon to gauge interest in the production run, which as usual will have hard gold plating on the edge connectors. I haven't gotten a quote for the cost, but I expect them to be $30-40 each for production boards. They'll be available at VCF Midwest as well as online! Thanks, Jonathan

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Unix demo @ Bell Labs - June 5
by Evan Koblentz 15 Aug '19

15 Aug '19

This is tentative / not yet 100%: Bell Labs (at the historic Murray Hill, NJ location) is planning a Unix event on Wednesday, May 5. They invited us to do a mini-version of Unix Town that afternoon. Important details: - We'd probably have five or six tables. - This is NOT a public event; it's invitation-only by BL. - Our goal is to do demos for important people. So I'm gauging initial interest: who is able to take a day off from work that afternoon and come to NJ for this?

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: ISO Sol-20 & Exidy Sorcerer
by Evan Koblentz 14 Aug '19

14 Aug '19

We'd like an Exidy Sorcerer, too. :) On Wed, Aug 14, 2019, 7:58 PM Tony Bogan via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > All, a friend of mine is looking for a Sol-20 and an Exidy Sorcerer. These > two items are high on his list of “what I want next” and he’s preferably > looking for working condition but not a deal breaker depending on details. > > Contact me off list if you are looking to part with either (or both!) of > these machines from your inventory. I will put you in touch with each other > or play middle man if you’d prefer, either way works! > > Tony > > Sent from my iPhone >

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OT: ISO Sol-20 & Exidy Sorcerer
by Tony Bogan 14 Aug '19

14 Aug '19

All, a friend of mine is looking for a Sol-20 and an Exidy Sorcerer. These two items are high on his list of “what I want next” and he’s preferably looking for working condition but not a deal breaker depending on details. Contact me off list if you are looking to part with either (or both!) of these machines from your inventory. I will put you in touch with each other or play middle man if you’d prefer, either way works! Tony Sent from my iPhone

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Xerox 16/8
by Sentry TV 14 Aug '19

14 Aug '19

I will be bringing the Xerox machine, Monitor, Printer to the next Saturday workshop. Anyone who has 5.25 boot disk(s) DOS or CP/M that will be going to the workshop Saturday, could you bring a couple to test, please?Right now I do not have any boot disks for this.I had MS-DOS disks at one time but cant find them, yet. Thank you Mike R.

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VCF Mid-West 2019
by Jeffrey Brace 13 Aug '19

13 Aug '19

I was thinking about going to VCF Mid-West this year. I have never been there. Who else is planning to go? -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Aug Repair Workshop 2019 - 8/24 & 8/25
by Jeffrey Brace 13 Aug '19

13 Aug '19

There is still space available for the workshop. It is about 11 days away. Sign up here: < https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13Gmvr2ZEtEXouN0oB7Y_UtCRabbwhLTi4E_… > I will be sending out Info for the Repair workshop next week. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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MicroVAX II's available in Eatontown, NJ
by Mike Loewen 13 Aug '19

13 Aug '19

Contact the owner (not me) on the VCF Forum: http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?71112-Two-MicroVaxIIs-free-to-goo… Mike Loewen mloewen(a)cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] VCF Mid-West 2019
by J. Alexander Jacocks 13 Aug '19

13 Aug '19

I’m planning to be there. - Alex On Tue, Aug 13, 2019 at 04:20 Alexander Pierson via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > I'll be there. The main hotel has already filled up (fortunately I booked > weeks ago), but they do have an overflow hotel lined up with the same > nightly group rate. Just gotta get your booking in before the 24th to get > the group rate. I'm curious how this new venue will pan out, seeing as > they outgrew the last place. > > I imagine you'll see a few other familiar faces out there, should you > decide to go. > > -Alexander 'Z' Pierson > > > On Tuesday, August 13, 2019, 3:49:23 AM EDT, Jeffrey Brace via > vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > I was thinking about going to VCF Mid-West this year. I have never been > there. > Who else is planning to go? > > -- > ========================================= > Jeff Brace > Vice President > Vintage Computer Federation > >

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PayPal donate to VCF?
by dillera＠gmail.com 11 Aug '19

11 Aug '19

Hello: I was just checking out of Mouser, using PP and saw this! I happily donated $1 to VCF.... How did that get on there- it's linked to me somehow, to Mouser or what? -------------- Dear Andrew Diller, Thanks for your generous donation to PayPal Giving Fund. You have selected Vintage Computer Federation as your chosen charity. PayPal Giving Fund, a public charity (Federal Tax ID: 45-0931286), in partnership with PayPal, processes your donation so it can be granted to your chosen charity. Track your donation ---------------- Pretty cool, however you did it. -andy

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 10 Aug '19

10 Aug '19

Slowish day ... nice weather so everyone did outdoor stuff instead of going to museums! We had about 10 people, some of which were repeat visitors and liked it enough to come back.

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AMX Panja control system hardware up for grabs
by Sentrytv 10 Aug '19

10 Aug '19

A while ago I posted that I was getting rid of a bunch of control system equipment from various jobs I had been on. I accumulated this over the years and want to get rid of it. Last call if anybody wants it or is interested in picking it up this weekend. Please contact me off list. List and pictures can be found here on craigslist ad. Mike Rosen https://cnj.craigslist.org/ele/6953665238.html Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.

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Random thought: VCF East clones exhibit
by Herb Johnson 09 Aug '19

09 Aug '19

> > William Sudbrink > Wed Aug 7 11:38:28 EDT 2019 > > When does cloning stop and an industry start? > > When did ISA bus PCs stop being clones? > Are all S-100 bus systems Altair clones? > [are all SS-50 boxes SWTPC 6800 clones?] Bill, the answer on S-100 and SS-50 is, "they are an industry", they are not clones, they are bus-compatibles. That's a good call I think. One might make an exception for the IMSAI as an "Altair clone". I do, on my Web site, I make a case about it. .. but what also happened is that half a dozen or so "Altair compatible" board companies (IMSAI could hav been one) collectively decided to stop calling their products "Altair compatible" and started calling them "S-100 compatible". They settled on a bus that was not 100% Altair original. Later they created the IEEE-696 (Compupro) bus which was a great improvement. Hundreds of companies big and small made S-100 boards and systems. Few of THEM are "Altair clones" but some copied some other's boards. The SS-50 was also a consensus among makers of SWTPC-compatible boards, I don't know the details. They were fairly interchangeable early on, but boards got MUCH better and differentiated later on. Dozens of SS-50 companies. Keep in mind: these were early "hobby computer" bus architectures. They weren't "invented" to be standards for other companies. They weren't products of big-name corporations. They *created* an industry. STDbus, Multibus, DEC-bused, other "industrial" bussed computers: also had their cloned or design-copied product competitors. These came from big companies: Pro-LOG, Intel, DEC. Each bus has its own history. These weren't hobby systems at the time; they have become hobby systems. On the IBM-PC. I'm no expert except I lived through the era. There's a history of 1) making ISA-bus compatible cards. 2) Making MS-DOS based computers (some before the IBM PC) that ran many or some but not all IBM PC programs 3) Computers that looked a lot like IBM PCs and had a mobo with ISA slots, but were maybe 80% IBM PC compatible (whatever that means) like say Heath/Zenith. Calling most of these "clones" would not be satisfactory because they weren't called "clones" at the time. Percent of compatibility, was a thing, once. And then there were the Tiawan made PCs (or at least mobos) which very very closely copied the IBM-PC models. They were called, within the industry, at the time, "PC clones". That's definitive. Less definitive, companies like Compaq. They got ahead of IBM at times. Clones? Enhhh.... kind of misses the point. "Compatibles with better or worse features." Before you start posting counter-arguments, let me explain where I'm going. These considerations aren't written on clay tablets. They are part of a discussion. An exhibit is also a kind of discussion. So I think these are the sorts of things one could exhibit and represent, if one wants to have an exhibit about quote clones endquote. The exhibits and the exhibitors and the attendees, can make the arguments. So what I said above, doesn't have to be absolutely correct. It just stakes out territories. Also: I take Evan's point, and decades-later copies of various vintage computers are not "clones". At least they are not vintage clones. They are modern replicas made to exactly represent vintage originals. I think that's a different discussion. 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 retrotechnology DOT info

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Apple II, North Carolina run go get it
by Jonathan Sturges 09 Aug '19

09 Aug '19

Tony, Thanks, that’s a big help! I’ll ask for more pix. Am I hoping for S/N below 60k? And what P/Ns would be silk-screened on a desirable II board? thanks, Jonathan > On Aug 9, 2019, at 12:00 PM, vcf-midatlantic-request(a)lists.vcfed.org wrote: > > Message: 7 > Date: Thu, 8 Aug 2019 17:06:45 -0400 > From: Tony Bogan <thebogans(a)mac.com> > To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> > Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Apple II, North Carolina run go get it > Message-ID: <BD4B4A0E-09A0-4563-A5AA-512CBD018FD0(a)mac.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > > >> Tony and Corey can give better answers, but the short version is: yes. >> Straight IIs are going for four figures, sometimes five for the best among >> them. >> >> On Thu, Aug 8, 2019, 3:46 PM Jonathan Sturges via vcf-midatlantic < >> vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: >> >>> Honest question (I?m not an Apple II guy), is that a fair price if fully >>> functional? > > Honestly if it?s truly an original II it?s a decent price regardless of what vintage it is. > > Without being able to see the bottom plate and the inside, there?s no way to know if it?s an early II that just had the keyboard replaced (was very common) a late/later model II that may have the red and white serial label (serial number ~60,000 and higher) or an Apple II+ with an Apple II lid (also not uncommon in today?s world) > > More info is needed before any real determination can be made, but unless it?s a II+ with a II lid/badge, then the price can be good to excellent depending on what?s inside/underneath. > > If it?s a II+ with a II lid the price is high. > > Tony >

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] AT&T Dataphone - Modem or "Service"?
by Jeffrey Jonas 08 Aug '19

08 Aug '19

The short-short of it: citing http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/att/000-111_ATT_Documentation_Guide_Nov87.pdf Dataphone is a registered trademark of AT&T I saw the Dataphone label on all sorts of modems: SDLC, async, dialup and probably leased line as well. Citing Justin Jernigan's posting > It was a Service, appears to still be, > though likely no longer actively sold. > It's one of the first digital services tariffed by the telephone companies ... > This was pre-divestiture, so service and equipment were "one" Set the wayback machine to 1976 (the US Bicentennial). "Ma Bell" was a regulated monopoly, personified in many ways, most memorably Lily Tomlin's character Ernestine the switchboard operator. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily_Tomlin But internally, Bell System folks were extremely proud of their work, creating and maintaining "the best phone service in the world". You were not allowed to own phone equipment: it was all leased thus all the Western Electric phones saying "not for sale". Add an extension phone and you'd get a "service call" to force you to disconnect it. Even after-market equipment was forbidden, such as the "name caller" auto-dialer (which pulse-dialed numbers you filled onto a plastic belt with an electrographic pencil). New York City high schools all had an IBM RJE (remote job entry) terminal: card reader and line printer, to a modem the operator had to manually dial with a rotary phone (no smart modems, yet!). At the other end was an IBM 360/370 running HASP or JES for batch jobs. As to the rack of modems the Original Poster remembers: that's probably intended for the receiving end: answer-only or answer-mostly mode. UUCP was the only way I was aware of AT&T hardware weirdness where the dialer was separate from the modem. -- jeff jonas

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Re: AT&T Dataphone - Modem or "Service"?
by Jeff G 08 Aug '19

08 Aug '19

Thanks Jeff/Neil/others! Yeah I did some more research myself and it seems that it was basically a brand for all the various lines and hardware. There was a monitoring service offered as well (wonders just how much you can monitor a line at 2400 baud) under the same brand name. I'll have to post some pictures sometime - I have/had a ton of the outlet strips from those server cabinets, and my uncle got a bunch of the aluminum paneling from the front doors of the cabinets (some silver some wood grained) that he used around his house that is still there (complete with logos). And as a side note - I found an interesting tidbit about a Dataphone modem having kill someone due to a failing capacitor: http://www.decadecounter.com/vta/articleview.php?item=111 (I definitely remember seeing these in the piles amongst all the dataphone stuff, but most of the stuff in the server cabinets were the smaller modem units). Jeff (aka Bags)

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Apple II, North Carolina run go get it
by Evan Koblentz 08 Aug '19

08 Aug '19

>> Honest question (I’m not an Apple II guy), is that a fair price if fully functional? Tony and Corey can give better answers, but the short version is: yes. Straight IIs are going for four figures, sometimes five for the best among them. On Thu, Aug 8, 2019, 3:46 PM Jonathan Sturges via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Honest question (I’m not an Apple II guy), is that a fair price if fully > functional? > > > On Aug 8, 2019, at 12:00 PM, vcf-midatlantic-request(a)lists.vcfed.org > wrote: > > > > Message: 4 > > Date: Thu, 8 Aug 2019 10:19:10 -0400 > > From: Christian Liendo <cliendo(a)gmail.com> > > To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> > > Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] Apple II, North Carolina run go get it > > Message-ID: > > <CAA9iAfto0i2KxWqiu1NZUF6vSEA2pb00fFsEhKhccA8B6_MEYA(a)mail.gmail.com> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" > > > > > https://fayetteville.craigslist.org/sys/d/spring-lake-apple-ii-computer/694… > >

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Re: Apple II, North Carolina run go get it
by Jonathan Sturges 08 Aug '19

08 Aug '19

Honest question (I’m not an Apple II guy), is that a fair price if fully functional? > On Aug 8, 2019, at 12:00 PM, vcf-midatlantic-request(a)lists.vcfed.org wrote: > > Message: 4 > Date: Thu, 8 Aug 2019 10:19:10 -0400 > From: Christian Liendo <cliendo(a)gmail.com> > To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> > Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] Apple II, North Carolina run go get it > Message-ID: > <CAA9iAfto0i2KxWqiu1NZUF6vSEA2pb00fFsEhKhccA8B6_MEYA(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" > > https://fayetteville.craigslist.org/sys/d/spring-lake-apple-ii-computer/694…

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Random thought: VCF East clones exhibit
by Evan Koblentz 08 Aug '19

08 Aug '19

I'm not sure if this has been done, other than for specific brands (mainly Apple II/Mac): someone should make a whole exhibit (or arrange a team exhibit) exclusively for vintage clones (not modern replicas).

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 07 Aug '19

07 Aug '19

Modest day; a few families came through. I talked to our neighbors in the train group about relocating the hallway TV that hangs from the ceiling, so it would be in a more visible spot. Pulled out some overgrowth that was in front of our warehouse door. Evan Koblentz Executive Director, Vintage Computer Federation evan(a)vcfed.org / (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org @vcfederation

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Aug and Sep Workshop dates?
by Andrew Diller 06 Aug '19

06 Aug '19

Florida has fried my brain. What are the dates for Aug and September workshops? -andy

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] At&t Dataphone - Modem or "Service"?
by jaj＠totallyamused.com 06 Aug '19

06 Aug '19

It was a Service, appears to still be, though likely no longer actively sold. It's one of the first digital services tariffed by the telephone companies (started in 1973.) Started as "Digital Data Service" but was renamed by AT&T as "Dataphone Digital Service". Both voice and data transmission are serviced at speeds from 2.4 to 56Kbps. This was pre-divestiture, so service and equipment were "one", I recall in the early 80s having a "modem" that had Dataphone on the front and the Bell System logo, but it wasn't an analog device -- or didn't work with POTS lines. >On 8/6/19 4:26 PM, Jeff G via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > >Data-Phone (Dataphone) were a series of product that allowed devices >(often computers but I don't know it if was limited to computers) to communicate >across the telephone network. The earlier versions are not the familiar modems >we had in the BBS error but were built for channelized T1, switched 56 and other >AT&T services. I don't recall any service with the name Dataphone but I didn't >do AT&T data services until the late 1980's/1990s. I recall seeing X25 switches >and various DSUs with Dataphone. In the 80's I also seeing Dataphone on some >Paradyne modems.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Second time in a week: CL find...
by Andrew Diller 06 Aug '19

06 Aug '19

Was it pulled because someone here at VCF contacted him? Or pulled for some unknown reason? Was that a special Apple II? -andy > On Aug 6, 2019, at 8:14 PM, Sentrytv via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > From: Sentrytv <sentrytv(a)yahoo.com> > Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Second time in a week: CL find... > Date: August 6, 2019 at 8:14:46 PM EDT > To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> > > > "The posting has been deleted by its author" > > Sent from: > My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device. > >> On Aug 6, 2019, at 6:07 PM, Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: >> >> https://nwct.craigslist.org/atq/d/morris-1977-apple-ii/6949597024.html >> >> Can one of our local Apple II experts tell anything about the revision >> number based on the pictures? > > >

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Second time in a week: CL find...
by Evan Koblentz 06 Aug '19

06 Aug '19

https://nwct.craigslist.org/atq/d/morris-1977-apple-ii/6949597024.html Can one of our local Apple II experts tell anything about the revision number based on the pictures?

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] At&t Dataphone - Modem or "Service"?
by Neil Cherry 06 Aug '19

06 Aug '19

On 8/6/19 4:26 PM, Jeff G via vcf-midatlantic wrote: Data-Phone (Dataphone) were a series of product that allowed devices (often computers but I don't know it if was limited to computers) to communicate across the telephone network. The earlier versions are not the familiar modems we had in the BBS error but were built for channelized T1, switched 56 and other AT&T services. I don't recall any service with the name Dataphone but I didn't do AT&T data services until the late 1980's/1990s. I recall seeing X25 switches and various DSUs with Dataphone. In the 80's I also seeing Dataphone on some Paradyne modems. -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry(a)linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies

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At&t Dataphone - Modem or "Service"?
by Jeff G 06 Aug '19

06 Aug '19

Long story short, back in my youth I hung out at a recycling center that was processing a lot of scrap from At&t and Western Electric in the 80s and 90s. A lot of what they got at one point was "dataphone" stuff. I was under the impression that "dataphone" was a service, since the equipment I remember seeing were server racks completely full of smaller black and silver boxes that had a DB25 on them and power. Knowing what I know now, I realize those were likely modems and may have even been a bridge to some other platform or system. So does anyone know - was "dataphone" the name for the modems and just a normal leased line, or was there a specific service or type of line called dataphone? I've seen references to both, but I think in regards to service they just used the same brand name for both the hardware as well as their leased lines. On the same front - if it was just a normal leased-line system, is it possible to use a crossover cable to have 2 different 4-wire leased line modems talk to each other? These are the things that keep me awake at 3am. ;-) Jeff (aka Bags)

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Repair Workshop
by Douglas Perry 05 Aug '19

05 Aug '19

Everyone, Thank you for all the suggestions. Over the weekend I was able to hunt down a PDF version of the original service manual. I'm still looking for other schematics. I'm happy for the review of Texelec I had found others recommending them as well and that's who I used. I'm just not crafty enough to make my own. Although a scope has been on my wish list for quiet some time I've never had the pleasure of owning one or even using one before. Maybe I'll get a chance to see one in use. Thanks again, Doug P.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Free stuff in Medford, NJ, mostly Apple
by Tony Bogan 05 Aug '19

05 Aug '19

Now back to reality..... I will go through everything I picked up from Bob, make a list, give VCF whatever It wants, pick the few things I would like to keep, then offer everything else to the list here. The special Ace 100 automatically goes to the museum, and the Red Lightning prototype will be in mine (and on display at VCF when I do my “Return of the Clones” display next year or the year after) Be a few days before I can go through everything since Monday is my only day off from work. Stay tuned (I’ll upload pics shortly and provide a link to the list) Tony Sent from my iPhone > On Aug 5, 2019, at 1:05 PM, Tony Bogan via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > <mime-attachment>

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Free stuff in Medford, NJ, mostly Apple
by Bob Applegate 05 Aug '19

05 Aug '19

As some of you know, I’m fighting Leukemia and have promised my wife to clean out some of the stuff in my collection that I’ll probably never use again, so I’m offering it to the group for free. As some of you also know, I was an early emplyee at Franklin Computer Corporation and maintained a friendship with one of the founders. A few years ago he asked if I could take some of his software collection and find a home for it. Joel worked a lot of deals and got some early releases of code for possible inclusion in Franklin products. Some of these items might never have been released, others might be very common. I started pulling boxes to attemp an inventory, but there’s just too much stuff. Let’s just say there are at least four boxes of Apple II era software. One of the cooler finds was original documentation (in padded binders) and disks for the Microsoft Softcard. I did not see the Z80 card but it might be in one of the boxes. One unique item is a Lazer 128 with a history. Joel had met with the President of Lazer at one point and they exchanged their current products. Ie, a Franklin was given to Lazer, and a Lazer 128 was given to Franklin. I have that Lazer and it’s part of the package. If you’re into collecting Apple clones, this machine is unique. I also have a Commodore 1541. Supposedly worked when I got it, never used it myself. There is some sort of Apple compatible plotter on a shelf here. If that looks interesting, it’s yours too. Constraints: * The Lazer was given tto me, so I’d really prefer a collector take it, NOT see if on eBay, but I obviously can;t control this. * I have not driven since May so I can not meet you someplace. Pickup is in Medford NJ. I will not ship this; very heavy. * The good part is I’m home all day so can work around your schedule for pick-up. * I’d prefer one person take all, but am open to breaking things up. If you’re interested, email me off-list. Anything not gone in a few weeks will just get thrown away. Bob

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Xerox 16/8 M92 computer
by Herb Johnson 05 Aug '19

05 Aug '19

> On Sat, Aug 03, 2019 at 11:13:28PM -0400, Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic wrote: >> >> Does the museum have or need this? >> >> We have a couple of 820s, but we don't have this. Do we need it? I don't >> know... anyone have thoughts about that? >> > > If you have other good examples of the dual processor PC with CP/M showing the > attempt to bridge the generations another may not be that significant. The > page says it may had a little better implementation than some with the > concurrent processing. There were a number of microcomputers in the early 1980's, which incorporated both an 8085 and an 8088, or a Z80 and an 8088. The Heath/Zenith Z-100 (Z-121) switched between an 8085 or an 8088. The Compupro 8/16 used an 8085/8088 S-100 CPU card, similar circuits. I believe NorthStar had an 8088 board option for their Z80 based Advantage (non-S-100 computer). There are other examples. Likewise, some MS-DOS computers ran an ISA bus Z80 card (Baby Blue, etc.). Why do this? Because of the rise of MS-DOS during the age of CP/M-80. Keep in mind that through the late 1970s and into the 1980's, CP/M-80 was the leading Intel-compatible operating system. These 8088 options were ways to provide some kind of compatibility and future-support, for MS-DOS products and for "Big Blue" IBM. The Z80 cards for IBM PC's, was a way to run legacy software - until PCs were fast enough to emulate CP/M-80. It's a period of time that's becoming harder to appreciate; it's not in the experience of persons now under 40 or so. It doesn't fall nicely into one "IBM-PC, CP/M, Mac, videogame" category. Life is messy that way. 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 retrotechnology DOT info

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Seen on Craigslist (NeXT Cube in DC)
by Evan Koblentz 05 Aug '19

05 Aug '19

I don't normally post CL ads, but this should appeal to some of you. https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/sys/d/washington-vintage-nextcube-c…

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 04 Aug '19

04 Aug '19

I was at the museum again today because I have no life :), Jeff B. is out at West, and our other docents were all unavailable (we need more!)... Couple of dozen visitors today, all families, lots of good demos provided and questions answered.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Xerox 16/8 M92 computer
by Mike Loewen 04 Aug '19

04 Aug '19

On Sat, 3 Aug 2019, Sentrytv via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > I recently acquired one of these in very good shape including: > > Display > CPU (main unit dual floppy) > Printer > Keyboard > > Display and main unit power up, floppy tries to load program. > I haven't hooked up printer yet. > Currently I have no software to test but I may have IBM DOS somewhere. > >Questions are: > >Does the museum have or need this ? > >I may need software to test in the near future, any ideas? Is this the 820-II with the 8086 coprocessor board option? Does it look like this? http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/Xerox/820_System2.jpg I have a couple of MSDOS diskette images (I believe they're 5-1/4") and a pile of CP/M images in IMD format. Let me know if you want them. Mike Loewen mloewen(a)cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/

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Xerox 16/8 M92 computer
by Sentrytv 04 Aug '19

04 Aug '19

I recently acquired one of these in very good shape including: Display CPU (main unit dual floppy) Printer Keyboard Display and main unit power up, floppy tries to load program. I haven't hooked up printer yet. Currently I have no software to test but I may have IBM DOS somewhere. Questions are: Does the museum have or need this ? I may need software to test in the near future, any ideas? Mike R. Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.

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Semi-OT: Tonight
by Evan Koblentz 03 Aug '19

03 Aug '19

I'm staying over at the museum tonight, but I don't have much to do. Not really interested in solo warehouse work. :) Anybody want to come over later and work with me, or do something social?

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 03 Aug '19

03 Aug '19

About 20 people visited today, mostly families. One person came by who we last heard from a decade ago -- the guy who donated his late father's PDP-11/20. He wants to join the group.

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Repair Workshop
by Douglas Perry 03 Aug '19

03 Aug '19

Excuse me if I'm coming off a bit over eager. Now that I'm signed up for this months workshop I was hoping to get some tips on how to properly prepare (supplies needed, ect..) I'm bringing a Compaq Portable which has only been owned by my family. It was stored in a guest room of a finished basement since 1993. Not sure where they kept it before that. I testing I've done so far is to simply plug it in and turn it on (after giving it a week in a temp/humidity controlled room). The PSU and fan came to life nicely, the CRT is making a familiar hum but I get nothing on the screen not even a blinking cursor. I'm not sure if I should expect an error with no disk? I also don't hear any drive noise.(I have no disks) I have a fairly decent toolkit for repairing current machines, as well as a soldering iron, and multimeter. >From my research I'm going to go ahead and assume the capacative pads for for the keyboard are bad and just order a new set. I've searched fairly well and have not found a reputable place to buy a 5.25 floppy pre-loaded with MS-DOS 3.3 (which sounds like the best option). So after that ramble here are my questions. Is there anything else you all would recommend me bringing? When is the best time show up? Is there anything else I should know or be doing to get ready? Thanks, Doug P.

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Elderly engineer?
by Jack Rubin 02 Aug '19

02 Aug '19

Mid-70’s is the new mid-50’s! Dang ankle- biters. # Sent from my mobile phone #

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Z180 questions
by Neil Cherry 01 Aug '19

01 Aug '19

Yes this is vintage. I have a large number of Z180 (HCS II boards) from Steve Ciarcia they were designed to be used for the HCS II home automation system. I think they might make decent CP/M boards (up to 33MHz perhaps) with a little hackery. Heck I might even figure out how to use the full 1M of memory space. But I'm not sure how to interface slower components (like a PIO) to the faster processor. Any pointers? BTW, I have the source to the HCS II asm so I will be looking there and I do have the z180 sheets. -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry(a)linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies

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Anyone Near Vernon, NY Interested in an Apple IIe and Monitor?
by J. Alexander Jacocks 01 Aug '19

01 Aug '19

All, I received this, from a fellow KansasFest attendee: I just got a call from a friend who has extended family (son’s in-laws) > who live in Mount Vernon NY- (close to New York City). Sounds like they > are cleaning up accumulated stuff due to a death in the family. They have > come across an Apple IIe and monitor that they would like to get rid of. I > was asked for suggestions on what to do with it. > > I don’t think that they are willing to ship, and don’t know if they want > to sell it or just find it a good home and keep it away from the > electronics recycler. I doubt they are interested in eBay. Possibly Craig's > List or maybe donation to Goodwill or other charity. > > Is there anyone in the group that would be interested in this item? I > doubt that it has any special cards, but I assume it also has 5.25 inch > disk drives and maybe software and printer. If you are interested, provide > me with your contact information. Let me know if you are interested in > buying (at what price), or only acquiring for free. > > I get the impression that an effort free transaction is what is desired. > No interest in packing and shipping for a few dollars. I may be able to get > more specific information about what is being offered if there is an > interest. > > I will not be involved as I live on the west coast (Santa Clara CA). > If anyone is interested, please let me know, and I'll put you in contact. Thanks! - Alex

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 01 Aug '19

01 Aug '19

Fairly slow day. A few beach tourists visited when it started raining. One guy said he visited us six years ago when we had two IBM 360s. How I wish that were true! Lol not sure how/where he got that idea... I fixed our info kiosk by installing a small program called "Caffeine" to keep the screen awake. Evan Koblentz Executive Director, Vintage Computer Federation evan(a)vcfed.org / (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org @vcfederation

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Linux orphans the floppy driver.
by Herb Johnson 30 Jul '19

30 Jul '19

I second Glitch's motion. He's got it exactly right. http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/drive.html a popular-enough Web page on floppy drive tech, now headlines this situation. http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/linux_floppy.txt has a few links and brief discussion. The original posting event on the subject seems to be at the kernel.org GIT site: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?…"> ...but did not make the news until GitHub(Torvalds) and reddit and hackaday weighed in recently. It's now a "trending" subject, whaddever that means. I don't have the chops for that work. Someone reading this, does. Don't post about "I remember"s, or "about time they killed it"s. Just. get. it. done. 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 retrotechnology DOT info

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Volunteer needed near Columbia, Maryland
by Evan Koblentz 30 Jul '19

30 Jul '19

We need someone to visit an elderly engineer (mid-70s) in Columbia MD and report back to me (privately; not on the list) with an inventory of what he's got. Then I can tell him what we'd like for the museum vs. what he can re-home with list members. The guy said his collection involves several S-100 systems and 8-bit appliance computers.

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Hello World (VCF Members)
by Douglas Perry 30 Jul '19

30 Jul '19

As a new member to the group I was told I should take a minute and introduce myself. My name is Doug and although my heart will always be with New Jersey I currently reside in Fairless Hills, PA. I found this group while researching parts for a Compaq Portable 1. It was the first computer I ever saw code on (at 8 years old) and I honestly had thought it had been sold in a yard sale many years ago. I quickly read about VCF and was disappointed to see that I missed this years amazing lecture with Ken Thompson (which I immediately watched online). My background in computers is a bit scattered but my education is in Software Engineering. Currently, I help maintain and develop a rather extensive Filemaker database. I look forward to getting down to visit the museum and I'm very interested in signing up for the next repair workshop. Pleased to meet you all, Doug P.

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IBM PCjr Keyboard and Joystick Combo
by W2HX 29 Jul '19

29 Jul '19

in case anyone is interested, I saw this come through my email... https://www.bgmicro.com/COM1237.aspx? no affiliation yada yada yada

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 28 Jul '19

28 Jul '19

About 15 visitors today with mild/moderate interest. The weather was nice; most people probably went to the beach. Jeff B., Corey, and I went to dinner together. We had a special guest in the early evening -- Mr. Dave McGuire + Autumn, who stopped by from Pittsburgh en route to another place. Dave brought some goodies for our IBM System/36 and also picked up some goodies that we'd been holding for him.

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