- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

OT: Looking for recommendations on new soldering station
by Bob Shuster 03 Aug '21

03 Aug '21

I'm looking for a recommendation for a new soldering station. I think it's time to retire my 40+ year old Archer soldering pencil - that I've had at least since I built my first TRS-80 Model I expansion interface, maybe longer! I'm looking for compact, with an auto-off feature, temperature controlled, and a variety of tips. Is this pretty much every current station? I'm looking at the Hakko FX888, or maybe the less expensive X-Tronic 3020? Mainly I repair or modify vintage electronics, but occasionally modern stuff where I need a finer tip and less heat. Thoughts/recommendations? Thanks. - Bob Shuster

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OT / InfoAge and VCF support
by Martin Flynn 01 Aug '21

01 Aug '21

VCF and CDL joined forces Saturday to square away a large quantity of project work. * Ken G & Martin F racked the new UPS in 9059, found out the warranty replacement is is a higher wattage (3.0 kW vs 2.2 kW) than the unit it's replacing. Material to deploy two new 30A circuits is inbound, work being coordinated with the IA electrician, Bob P. * Ken installed the anchors under the eaves of 9059 for the fiber run to 9032A. Ran out of material and time to install the anchors on 9032. Additional anchors for 9032 has been ordered. * Ken, CJ, and his son Joe set up the rack mounting holes in hotel basement floor and added anchors for the fiber optic cables, The anchor bolts for the rack are set into the slab using a Hilti two-part system. I routed in the fiber that runs to the 9001 attic into the new rack. * Handed off the new Cisco two-line analog telephone adapter (ATA) for the VCF team to Jeff B. Jeff tested, is working fine. Both lines are available for VCF use, both have voice mail. * ATA for the BBS is active, Server is racked and powered, DNS in place. Last remaining is the firewall rule deployment. Since the VCF workshop is on the 14th, I was planning on being on site on the 7th to continue the work that is prep for VCF-E, rather than push this out closer to VCF-E. If you are available to assist, please reply off-list to reduce the clutter Martin Flynn

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OT: Need help with moving to new web authoring in a VM
by Richard Cini 31 Jul '21

31 Jul '21

All – I hate to bother y’all but I’m trying to move the Web authoring for my three Classiccmp sites from a real PC to a VM (both Windows 10 Pro) using FrontPage 2003 (yes, old). I’m getting weird HTTP server errors when using the VM, so if anyone has done this/experience with it, could you contact me off-list? Thanks! Rich -- Rich Cini http://cini.classiccmp.org http://altair32.classiccmp.org

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Restoring a neglected Apple IIc
by Bill Degnan 30 Jul '21

30 Jul '21

that is awesome! b On Fri, Jul 30, 2021 at 9:09 AM Bob Aviles via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > I have a couple of Apple IIc and now I can work on them, with this video > as guidance.Thank you, Javier. > Bobby > On Thursday, July 29, 2021, 07:22:35 PM EDT, Jeffrey Brace via > vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > On Thu, Jul 29, 2021 at 6:06 PM Adam Michlin via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > Hi Everyone, > > > > As many of you know, we at VCFMA have been working very hard to get > > surplus equipment out of the warehouse and into the hands of loving > > collectors for appreciation and repair. What only a few of you know is > > that I've been asking as many people as I can to post before and after > > pictures. > > > > Javier Rivera did one better and did an entire video on restoring a > > surplus Apple IIc I myself bought and gave to him: > > > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLcXzklA4_c > > > > Getting equipment into the hands of the people, especially to give > > said equipment a new lease on life, is core to our mission. If you > > have something you bought at a workshop, swap meet, or consignment at > > VCF East/West that you have breathed new life into, consider taking a > > picture (or a video!) so we can help spread the gospel! > > > > As an added bonus, the money raised by the sale of this equipment goes > > directly into a fund to improve the warehouse. Win, win, win! > > > > That's great! Thanks for sharing! > > > > > > Best wishes, > > > > -Adam > > > > --- > > Adam Michin > > Director of Marketing > > Vintage Computer Federation > > https://www.instagram.com/vcfederation/ > > https://twitter.com/vcfederation > > https://www.facebook.com/vcfederation/ > > https://www.youtube.com/user/MidAtlanticRetroComp > > > >

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Apollo DSKY lights up again, despite faulty jumper
by Jeffrey Jonas 30 Jul '21

30 Jul '21

Curious Mark does it again: not only obtains genuine Apollo computer electro-luminescent panels but lights them up using the original relays! The relay logic is amazing: 5 relays generate 7 segment output including blanking! One hitch: a "Chinese-ium" Copper-Cladded-Aluminum jumper failed. Add that to the recent influx of faulty breadboards and it's a world of hurt for prototyping :-( https://youtu.be/feRCZyLzAwA Apollo DSKY panel relight: the full story -- jeff jonas

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Restoring a neglected Apple IIc
by Adam Michlin 30 Jul '21

30 Jul '21

Hi Everyone, As many of you know, we at VCFMA have been working very hard to get surplus equipment out of the warehouse and into the hands of loving collectors for appreciation and repair. What only a few of you know is that I've been asking as many people as I can to post before and after pictures. Javier Rivera did one better and did an entire video on restoring a surplus Apple IIc I myself bought and gave to him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLcXzklA4_c Getting equipment into the hands of the people, especially to give said equipment a new lease on life, is core to our mission. If you have something you bought at a workshop, swap meet, or consignment at VCF East/West that you have breathed new life into, consider taking a picture (or a video!) so we can help spread the gospel! As an added bonus, the money raised by the sale of this equipment goes directly into a fund to improve the warehouse. Win, win, win! Best wishes, -Adam --- Adam Michin Director of Marketing Vintage Computer Federation https://www.instagram.com/vcfederation/ https://twitter.com/vcfederation https://www.facebook.com/vcfederation/ https://www.youtube.com/user/MidAtlanticRetroComp

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Bil Herd's new book
by Adam Michlin 30 Jul '21

30 Jul '21

"Back into the Storm: A Design Engineer’s Story of Commodore Computers in the 1980s brings you on a journey recounting the experiences of working at Commodore Business Machines from 1983 to 1986, as seen through the eyes of a young hardware engineer, Bil Herd. Herd was the lead design engineer for the TED series of home computers which included the Plus/4 and C16. He was also the lead designer for the versatile C128 that sold in the millions and was known fondly as the last of the 8-bit computers. In this book, Bil tells the inside stories that he and his extraordinary team, called “the Animals,” lived through at Commodore." https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09BDF92F4

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uKenbak-1 from AdWaterAndStir
by Douglas Crawford 29 Jul '21

29 Jul '21

I wanted folks to know how good this is. I just got one, and its a really high quality unit. The case is metal, the whole unit is solid. I was worried about the buttons, but they are fine. The have a soft snap to them. I would proudly show this to folks who wonder what this 1971 Personal Computer was about. Has nice built in features controlled by the ATmega328 inside, including demo programs you can call up. If you want something that is physically representative of the real Kenback-1 without breaking the bank, get one. I highly doubt you will be disappointed. Awesome value. I bought a prebuilt demo unit, but the kit instructions look very good too so building it should be a snap. https://adwaterandstir.com/

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] VCF West 2021 - Who's going?
by Stephen A Edwards 29 Jul '21

29 Jul '21

I will be there on Sunday to interact with Bill Mensch on stage and regret not having brought a bigger piece of luggage for hauling things back from the consignment area. I'll be staying in San Francisco and taking CalTrain down to Mountain View, then probably an Uber to the venue since I'm not renting a car.

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VCF West 2021 - Who's going?
by Jeffrey Brace 28 Jul '21

28 Jul '21

Alexander Pierson asked who was attending VCF West 2021. I am attending along with Corey Cohen and Bob Roswell. I will be a volunteer helping Erik Klein. I will be running the consignment area. Erik was able to manage a lot more exhibits than expected and more than in previous years. He also has a nice lineup for speakers. We were able to get the Hahn Auditorium for speakers at no extra cost because the Computer History Museum is closed until September 1 for ordinary visitors and open only for special events like ours. So that is helpful in terms of space and noise. We basically have the whole second floor this time which is something that we have always wanted, but couldn't afford to rent out. ========================================= 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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