- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Specific reasons to give to VCF on Giving Tuesday
by Jeffrey Brace 30 Nov '22

30 Nov '22

Donations toward: 1) Warehouse renovations 2) New museum space renovations 3) General museum needs like power supply protectors and other supplies for curation and maintenance 4) General expenses for internal and external events. We have a specific account that is for the warehouse that we have been building up through surplus sales. We plan on using that for … the warehouse move and museum move project This project was created in large part by the negotiations of Tony Bogan with InfoAge and input by the Steering Committee. It is a great project plan. It was created in June 2021. For various reasons it was not started until I became the project manager in June 2022. We have achieved great progress in the first stage of the plan: clearing out the old warehouse. Through the efforts of myself, Dan Jacobs, Lee Duncan, Pat Flanagan and Sea Cadet volunteers most of the garbage was emptied from our new warehouse section and thrown away. In fact two 40 cubic yard dumpsters have been filled and emptied. There are still some items to be thrown away. Anyone who wants to help me throw out or move items, please contact me. We have an empty dumpster to fill. Most of the remaining items are owned by various InfoAge groups. We can’t move them. This is why there is a delay in this first step and is beyond our control. Efforts are being made through InfoAge management to urge these groups to remove their items quickly so that we can move onto the next step. The next step is to renovate the space for security, electrical, climate control, etc. Following that we can start moving our items from the old warehouse section to the new one. The third step involves renovating “Broadway” which is the hallway that connects the H buildings. This will connect to our new museum space. Which leads me to … the fourth step: clearing out our new larger museum space. This will require volunteers to clear out as well as InfoAge groups moving their stuff out. The fifth step is renovating the new museum space. Obviously this will cost big bucks. So we are making plans that will encourage large donors to help with this renovation. We are currently getting estimates from contractors to renovate. We are also consulting with museum design experts on the layout of the new museum space. Thanks for your time, support and donations! ==Jeff Brace -- ========================================= 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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That strange message of mine from last night
by Gregg Levine 30 Nov '22

30 Nov '22

Hello! Group please do me a great favor and ignore that message. It most certainly was not meant to be delivered to the list-droid for consumption by all of us. It definitely was meant for Jeff B directly, as he has reminded. Last night I was not at my best. That's what I get for trying to send a meaningful email out after being up for two straight days and nights with a sick computer. ----- Gregg C Levine gregg.drwho8(a)gmail.com "This signature fought the Time Wars, time and again."

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World of Commodore 2022
by Jeffrey Brace 30 Nov '22

30 Nov '22

Anyone going to World of Commodore this year? I’m going. It’s my first time. Been wanting to go for years now! I will be driving up there on Friday. Coming back Monday. It’s a two day show December 3 & 4. More info here: https://www.tpug.ca/world-of-commodore/world-of-commodore-2022/ I heard that Bill Degnan is doing a virtual talk for the show. I think Amiga Bill will be doing something too. I was asked to give a talk too. At first, I was like who am I to give a talk at a show? I’m nobody important. What would I talk about? Then they said talk about Vintage Computer Festival East and Vintage Computer Federation history. I said I can do that! Should be a fun event. I look forward to enjoying a show where I don’t have the responsibility of running or volunteering for a show. They will celebrate the C64’s 40th anniversary. I have gotten to know some of the Toronto Pet Users Group over the last three years through their Zoom meetings which started with Covid-19. It will be nice to meet them in person. -- ========================================= 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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IBM 1130 fundraiser - DONE!
by Jeffrey Brace 30 Nov '22

30 Nov '22

Just wanted to report that the IBM 1130 Fundraiser is officially done! I closed the donation page as of today 11/30/22. We have raised $9080! This is way past our goal of $6000. We had a large donation of $3000 that put us way over the top. We had 41 donors. 32 of these were $150 or less. The next step is to wait for the delivery vehicle to be available. The current estimate is the end of December. ========================================= 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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Winter Festival and membership dues
by Gregg Levine 29 Nov '22

29 Nov '22

Hello! I just examined the website and saw that this weekend, (December 11 and 12) are not shown on the site. Also I see that the membership activity is also shown there as a certain price for two years. Jeff do you want me to do that again for the shown price there for Two Years? This message is jointly sponsored by the Millenium Falcon and the TARDIS because both know each other. ----- Gregg C Levine gregg.drwho8(a)gmail.com "This signature fought the Time Wars, time and again."

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Former Building Liebert A/C controller to be a display in CDL
by Neil Cherry 29 Nov '22

29 Nov '22

I think this falls under vintage computer, although it is a controller rather than what folks normally consider a computer. For those not aware, we've torn out the old unused Liebert A/C unit of the CDL. From that I stole the controller which is based on the Motorola 6803 processor (my favorite family). I'm in the process of reverse engineering and I really need to document that. I want to repurpose (Hack!) the controller to blink lights, controller some motors, drive analog cand make noise. I am thinking about getting a SPO256 but all I've got so far are 2 CTS256A-AL2. I might get a better chip. It will have a command line interface as I've got Humbug for the 6801 (We don't need to stinking GUIs!). Peter Stark gave permission to share the ROM monitor before he passed away. This will be on display in the CDL. Any other interesting ideas? -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry kd2zrq(a)linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies KD2ZRQ

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Today in history …
by Jeffrey Brace 29 Nov '22

29 Nov '22

Atari released Pong in 1972. It’s also Giving Tuesday. VCF has some big projects coming up as well as day to day operations that can use support. Please support our mission and donate today: https://vcfed.org/donate/ Thank you and have a great day! -- ========================================= 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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NABU
by Duane Craps 29 Nov '22

29 Nov '22

NABU article on HACKADAY today -- https://hackaday.com/2022/11/28/nabu-pc-a-1984-z-80-computer-you-can-buy-to… DuaneCraps sdɐɹɔ ǝuɐnp

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Introduction, Position and Information
by Alexander Jacocks 28 Nov '22

28 Nov '22

For those who I have not met, hello, my name is Alexander Jacocks, and I am a current member of the VCF Mid-Atlantic steering committee. I joined what was then called MARCH back in 2011, and was given a tour of the much-smaller museum by Evan Koblentz, one of our founders. I quickly met Jeff Brace, and Bill Degnan, at the first event that I attended. Joining VCF was a watershed moment for me, since I had not been previously aware that many other people were interested in computer history, or the collecting of vintage equipment. Meeting the other members immediate expanded the number of folks that I count as friends, and greatly expanded my knowledge of the work going on with the preservation of our shared computing history. The things that I am most passionate about, and have worked the hardest to accomplish, while being a member of the steering committee include: 1) expansion of the hobby, history and profession of computing to include those often left out, including women, and people of color. 2) expansion of the ranks of VCF to people who have been previously unaware of us through community outreach and public speaking 3) outreach to other computing museums, both locally, and further afield 4) support of the Vintage Computer Forums as an administrator for VCF Thanks very much! - Alex Jacocks

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Wang Writer 5503
by Jeffrey Brace 27 Nov '22

27 Nov '22

Some of you may have seen Usagi Electric try to get his Wang Writer 5503 working: https://www.youtube.com/c/Nakazoto So VCF had a donation about a year ago from someone. It isn't working, but we have the system disks. If anyone is interested in getting this system working, then let me know. A good chance to do this is at the next repair workshop. I'm also looking to archive and copy these disks for Usagi Electric to get his system working. ========================================= 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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