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Workshop Report for 2022-07-30 & 2022-07-31
by Jeffrey Brace 10 Aug '22

10 Aug '22

Lots of stuff repaired. We had Bill Dromgoole fixing the Univac 2019 while training his new apprentice Steven Shivone. Hopefully Bill can give a report on what he accomplished. Mike Loewen already gave his report on the HP1000 repair. Great stuff! Jason Perkins troubleshooted the IBM PCjr and degunked the floppy drive and it is working great! There is still a difficult to diagnose memory problem that wasn’t resolved. He made sure to test everything by playing King’s quest. Ian Litchfield discovered the problem with the Apple 2: bad ROM chips. Maybe he can give a complete report. Alex Jacocks worked on getting the new OS/2 machine and the Linux 0.99 machine working as well as helping others. He also started work on standardizing the museum’s IT setup. There were others there working on their own items that may want to chime in. Overall another great Repair Workshop! 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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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Old Video Game Advertisements - VCF Exhibiting
by Dave McGuire 10 Aug '22

10 Aug '22

On August 8, 2022 4:15:31 PM Sentrytv via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > This is the main reason why I have not exhibited in the past or possibly not in the future. > I’ve considered two separate exhibits, > I put to much consideration into the flack or “peer pressure”. Exhibiting is about sharing what YOU love and what YOU want to show off. If you're lucky, someone will enjoy it. If you're even luckier, you'll spark a new interest for someone. There should never be any sort of "peer pressure" or anything even remotely like it in this environment. But everyone will know you're a weenie if you bring a Commodore. B-) (Dave runs for cover) -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Old Video Game Advertisements - VCF Exhibiting
by Dean Notarnicola 09 Aug '22

09 Aug '22

Alexander 'Z' Pierson said: “Anyway, it's your VCF, so you might as well actively shape it in a positive direction.” This, exactly. VCF is a product of its participants and volunteers. - On Tue, Aug 9, 2022 at 8:04 PM Alexander Pierson via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Yeah, well I'll just make my *own* exhibit! With blackjack! And hookers! > > > Seriously though, how do you strike that balance between getting > attention vs. framing a complete and factual picture of the subject in > an exhibit? You can provide a novel experience by way of something > they've never interacted with before (paper tape, new gadgets for old > kit, freshly made software, a type of terminal graphics that stand > out). Or perchance a familiar/nostalgic experience "I used one of > these at a job I had X many years back", "I don't know this machine, > but it runs BASIC, I wonder what I can get it to do?", that sort of > thing. If you present something completely unfamiliar, you have to > give visitors something to relate to, otherwise they'll keep walking. > Run a video game, suddenly it becomes relatable to a larger audience, > and there's your hook to give them the context. > > > Because these experiences don't exist in a vacuum, they're part of a > larger tapestry of history we're trying to share with a mixed audience > of newcomers and established hobbyists alike. It's funny how some of > the more common machines get so little love from the crowd when given > a properly framed exhibit of a computer in its element. Whereas other > times, just seeing a base machine that folks recognize but never see > in person attracts attention like they were giving away free donuts. > Still, even if one feels like the exhibit concept they want to bring > won't draw a crowd, it saddens me to hear when someone is dissuaded > from exhibiting because either staff or general attendees made them > feel like they shouldn't do something perfectly acceptable, or that > they were doing it wrong. And I'm not talking about the blatantly > off-topic exhibit subjects. I'm talking about giving folks the > opportunity to try exhibiting something in a new way and possibly even > fail at that task, because sometimes that's how it goes. > > > Anyway, it's your VCF, so you might as well actively shape it in a > positive direction. > > > -Alexander 'Z' Pierson > On Tuesday, August 9, 2022 at 09:19:29 AM EDT, Dean Notarnicola via > vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > Agreed. Anyone who feels the need to offer negative criticism is invited > to > do their own exhibit and show everyone how clever they are. > > On Tue, Aug 9, 2022 at 7:52 AM Christian Liendo via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > I agree, but as part of the community don't crap on other peoples > displays. > > > > If you don't like it, move along. There are many others there you might > > like. > > > > If you think something is inaccurate or maybe they could use more > > information to enhance it. That's fine. > > > > There is a difference between constructive criticism and plain > > crapping on someone''s hard work. > > > > Agreed? > > > > > > On Mon, Aug 8, 2022 at 4:45 PM Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic > > <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > Exhibiting is about sharing what YOU love and what YOU want to show > > off. If you're lucky, someone will enjoy it. If you're even luckier, > > you'll spark a new interest for someone. There should never be any sort > of > > "peer pressure" or anything even remotely like it in this environment. > > > > > > >

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Old Video Game Advertisements
by Jeff S 09 Aug '22

09 Aug '22

I like reading the contestant check-in stories. I watched this show religiously during its original broadcast days after my Dad bought a C-band satellite receiver and this "TBS" station (new at the time) started broadcasting their signal, along with these shows. The Starcade website has been around for quite some time. When I first discovered it, I was yearning to see every episode again, but there were only a handful of them that were converted, and the video size was tiny. It wasn't until recently that the Producer posted ALL of the available shows for online viewing, and at the best NTSC format possible. Jeff Salzman On Tue, Aug 9, 2022 at 10:19 AM Bob Aviles via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Thanks for the information, can not wait to see all the stuff they have > on the Starcade website. > Bobby > On Monday, August 8, 2022 at 04:56:42 PM EDT, Andrew Diller via > vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > well, more like 15khz - even the RGB monitors had wicked flicker.... > > > > On Aug 8, 2022, at 3:54 PM, Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > >> Yes! Amiga HAM mode! > > > > OW my eyes and that flicker headache! Who thought it was a good idea to > use a TV as a computer monitor! > > > > - Ethan > > > > >

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Upcoming repair workshops @ InfoAge
by Jeffrey Brace 08 Aug '22

08 Aug '22

@INFOAGE *August 27 & 28: * https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18cH9sUKDnstGDdedUPRqcfRj27BbTF6hLwp… *September 10 & 11* https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WzPJaOYJ0digG2SUPi6sNfOib23IkSJboha… I know that many will be going to VCF Midwest, but decided to keep it as scheduled for those that aren’t going. *October 8 & 9* https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nr1RTETci3OWWPylfinntsncswcYVA8mquB… This is the Swap Meet weekend. *November 12 & 13* https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yGntoKF6NbTq-3LjQVk0GKRbeBXuUBhYCcB… -- ========================================= 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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OT / Update
by Martin Flynn 08 Aug '22

08 Aug '22

The usual suspects addressed several projects at Camp Evans to move the various VCF projects along * The 100 pair aerial cable to support providing analog dial-tone to the VCF museum was confirmed to be dry and ready to attach to the messenger wire. * The new fiber between the makerspace and guard shack is routed through the cable entry vault to the fiber MDF. This allows a 10GB feed, should VCF want to use the guard shack as the entry point for VCE East. * The IP security cameras are programmed and on the bench in the makerspace (location and installation in the new museum space to be coordinated. * The upstream WAN switch to support the firewall cluster was installed, image at http://compdecon.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/fw_switch_swap.png Martin Flynn

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Bringing back the golden days of Bell Labs
by Christian Liendo 08 Aug '22

08 Aug '22

Established almost 100 years ago, Bell Labs made a great contribution to advancing both fundamental science and technology. Was that the result of a unique set of circumstances or is there a reproducible recipe for success? https://www.nature.com/articles/s42254-022-00426-6

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VT220 North of Boston (fwd)
by Mike Loewen 07 Aug '22

07 Aug '22

From the cctalk list. Not mine. Reply to Dave Mitton. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 6 Aug 2022 22:33:46 -0400 From: Dave Mitton via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> To: "cctalk(a)classiccmp.org" <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> Cc: Dave Mitton <dave(a)mitton.com> Subject: [cctalk] VT220 North of Boston I picked up a VT220 passing by some clean out a while ago. Green phosphor, powers up and passes self test. The keyboard has 3 broken function row keys, keycaps. Free to pickup in North Andover. Shipping would be heavy and awkward with the CRT. Dave. Sent from Mail for Windows

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Help with reading old round Mag tapes?
by Dave McGuire 02 Aug '22

02 Aug '22

On 8/2/22 18:10, David Horvath via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > Mike Loewen suggested that I join this distribution list and post my > request here. I have several old round mag tapes, likely written on > PDP-11/VAXen and CDC-Cyber, probably 1600 BPI that I'd like to try to > extract from. Old code, old docs, old stuff :-) > > I live between Wilmington DE and Philadelphia PA but get up to North NJ > fairly frequently. > > I understand the tapes may not be readable... I can assist you with this. I think we spoke about this a year or so ago but I don't recall offhand where that conversation went. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA

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Help with reading old round Mag tapes?
by David Horvath 02 Aug '22

02 Aug '22

Mike Loewen suggested that I join this distribution list and post my request here. I have several old round mag tapes, likely written on PDP-11/VAXen and CDC-Cyber, probably 1600 BPI that I'd like to try to extract from. Old code, old docs, old stuff :-) I live between Wilmington DE and Philadelphia PA but get up to North NJ fairly frequently. I understand the tapes may not be readable... Thanks in advance for your time. - David, KB3RIJ

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