- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

First speaker for VCF East 2022!
by Jeffrey Brace 29 Oct '21

29 Oct '21

We have our first speaker! Margaret Morabito who recently wrote a book with Bil Herd called “Back Into the Storm”. She also published a book on using the Commodore 128 called “Vintage Commodore 128 Personal Computer Handbook: 2019 Survival Edition”. Years ago she was editor of RUN magazine, and she also designed and ran the Tutoring Center and the Q-Link Community College, as well as the Parent-Teacher Information Exchange. She later also ran the school on GEnie, Delphi, CompuServe, AppleLink, AOL, PCLink. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Heathkit trainer for M6800 at the consignment space
by Crawford Griffith 29 Oct '21

29 Oct '21

Gregg, Connor K. brought two m6800 trainers that I saw. I bought one of Connor’s, so the Heathkit trainer in the ‘sold/hold’ area of the consignment space may have been mine, or another one from Connor K. I do not recall who bought the other one, but someone sure did. The other one had some chips and wires neatly plugged into the breadboard - probably a class exercise. So, with Jeff S’s, there were at least 3 Heathkit trainers there. Now I wish I had a 6501 chip, then I could put it in my trainer, write a new monitor and have a frankentrainer. You know, for the kids. -Crawford

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Label Printer / Coder / Consignment?
by Ethan O'Toole 29 Oct '21

29 Oct '21

Heya, A fellow VCFer hooked me up with a ballin' thermal label printer. I was thinking... If someone could make an app that: 1. Consignment seller could plug in Item name, description, price - Could be done pre-event or on-site - Could be text based like a mainframe for that retro feel or webapp 2. Pile of thermal labels are printed with this info on site when attendee shows up. I think the 3" core direct thermal label rolls aren't terribly expensive - Could kick out a "seller" id card with a code as well for end tally Checkout: 1. Barcode read, item tally done, money tendered, etc 2. Maybe a dot matrix printer involved cause it sounds cool. Either for a receipt or sales transaction log. 3. Can print out end tally page Barcode readers act as keyboards usually with a tab or enter or whatever (configurable) so that part is easy. Could drive that side of it with a python/php/whatever script on a Pi. Text interface is probably easier. Thoughts?

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Heathkit trainer for M6800 at the consignment space
by Gregg Levine 28 Oct '21

28 Oct '21

Hello! Would anyone remember seeing that critter at the consignment space those three days? And who was selling it of course. It wasn't until I made my train to come back on the Sunday, that I remembered that I was interested in it.. What brought this up is an article on Hack-A-Day on the Heathkit revival space at the show. ----- Gregg C Levine gregg.drwho8(a)gmail.com "This signature fought the Time Wars, time and again."

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MOS 6501 in an Ohio Scientific 400 Board
by Jonathan Chapman 27 Oct '21

27 Oct '21

imgur album: https://imgur.com/a/8jIj1dS We built up an Ohio Scientific 400 board for a Motorola 6800, and then plugged in a MOS 6501 and got it running! Thanks, Jonathan

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VOLUNTEERS NEEDED October 30 @ InfoAge
by Jeffrey Brace 25 Oct '21

25 Oct '21

Hello everyone, InfoAge now has FIOS and we need help to complete the upgrade to all the buildings. I will be there to help, but Martin from CDL needs volunteers to help with the completion of the upgrades. Martin will need help on October 30 starting at 10:30 AM and ending around 4:30PM with the following: - Running the fiber between 9059 and 9032. It is likely that we will be pulling the fiber for both the 9032A and the 9032D furnace rooms. - Drilling the hole in the Gift Shop floor for the network drop for the Credit card terminal (It's currently on WiFi, however it needs to be put on the wired network) - Running the network cables to the data recovery work area on the second floor of the hotel. Let's see if we can get him help on that day. We want this to be a team effort between CDL and VCF to benefit not only these two groups, but InfoAge as whole! Send me a message if you can volunteer that day. Thanks so much! ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Ultimate Festivus 2021!!! December 11 & 12
by Jeffrey Brace 25 Oct '21

25 Oct '21

OK. Now that VCF East is over. It's time for all of us to take a break, relax and celebrate the year in vintage computing! We only had a virtual Festivus last year, so we have to make up for the "lost" year ;) START: Saturday, December 11 at 10AM END: Sunday, December 12 at 5PM ANNUAL VCF MA Town Hall: December 11 at 8PM FYI: The Steering Committee, myself and Corey will be making our annual VCF Mid-Atlantic Town Hall at 8PM to review what has been going on, and what our plans are and to answer any questions by members. WHERE: 9010-C = Cafeteria where we will eat and drink. 9010-C = Mini Festivus Swap Meet where we can buy and sell 9010-C = Game room across from cafeteria 9059 = Festivus Repair workshop COST: $20 per person covers the whole event $25 per person per night for overnight stay Buy tickets through Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/festivus-2021-tickets-194874814817 If you want to pay at the door, then you also have that option. I can have the iPad ready to take cash or credit, etc. I will be doing the traditional burger and hot dog grilling outside. VCF will be buying soft drinks. Ian will be bringing his vintage video games. Everyone brings a food or beverage item. Here is the potluck signup sheet for food and drinks: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UtSrLUdnIcRjY3LErfukhYltF1oHno0V6Nk… Here is the buy/sell list for the mini swap meet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19jpgyvVoKaxAuUxQU-7_b3Grk9LWOQ6aAbQ… The swap meet rules are you bring your own table(s) and are responsible for selling things yourself. We will be using the same area that we used for consignment during VCF East. So in other words there is *plenty* of room. Festivus Repair workshop signup: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14C_OObkhtzCsA-LF7rzNhoagb3RovLDsXtB… For those of you who don't know what Festivus is: This is our annual party where we get together to strictly socialize. We eat, drink, and Be Nerdy! We play vintage video games. Last year we added our mini-swap meet where we buy and sell to each other. This was a success, so we are doing it again. New for this year: We will be having a Festivus repair workshop. There will also be the InfoAge Holiday Model Train show in the hotel and 9032-A buildings. The name Festivus has two origins: 1) It was taken from the title of a Seinfeld episode, 2) A variation of "Festival" which is our show (e.g. Vintage Computer *Festival*), whereas Festivus is our party. Any questions? Send me an e-mail. ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Museum Report 2021-10-23 & 2021-10-24
by Jeffrey Brace 24 Oct '21

24 Oct '21

Deborah was the docent for the museum on 10/23/2021 had 15 high interest visitors. This is highly unusual, but most welcome. Perhaps the lasting effects of VCF East for those who heard about and couldn't make the show. Usually this time of year we get very few visitors and usually they are of low interest, but we have had increasing numbers of high interest visitors. It is expected that visitors will be high in December as the model train show will be coming in InfoAge again. Today I met a 17 year old who was an exhibitor at VCF West, who goes to school in Connecticut and has a massive interest in IBM computers. His family currently lives in Boca Raton and knows about a quarter century club where former (current?) IBMers meet to socialize. A second 17 year old came by and had a massive interest in mainframe computers and is interested in becoming Bill Dromgoole's Univac 1219 apprentice. This will benefit us a lot to have an additional person who knows about this machine and can operate and demo the machine. After docenting today, I went to the warehouse to organize the VCF East stuff so that it will be ready for Festivus and VCF East 2022 (April 22,23,24) That is all for now. Please drive through. ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Research on Sphere company and Mike Wise's Talk at VCF West 1999
by Jeffrey Brace 24 Oct '21

24 Oct '21

Someone named Ben Zotto sent me an e-mail researching for information about the mid-70s Sphere company out of Utah. He is hoping that someone has audio or video of Mike Wise's talk at VCF West in 1999. If anyone has anything, please let me know and I will forward it to him. Thanks! ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Volunteers requested for work in the hotel (second floor)
by Jeffrey Brace 24 Oct '21

24 Oct '21

Martin is requesting volunteers for next Saturday (Oct. 30) to assist with cable management in the building 9001 (the hotel). Volunteers need to be comfortable drilling 1/4" holes in masonry walls to set anchors to attach wiremold raceway. Some work on a ladder is required. This benefits VCF as well as InfoAge. If anyone is interested contact me or Martin: martin(a)infoage.org Thanks! ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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