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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] [OT] Workshop visit
by Dean Notarnicola 15 May '21

15 May '21

There’s only two of us here., four others went to dinner. Not much going on otherwise, but you’re welcome to come by! On Sat, May 15, 2021 at 6:13 PM laurakid via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Hey all at the workshop. As I mentioned before I am stuck procrastinating > on my taxes (I should have just come, I’ve been completely unproductive). > I am gonna finally get started soon but if there are no objections I would > love to stop by for a social visit and see what everyone’s up to. Also > willing to help out if anyone needs help. > Let me know. > - Laura 908-456-5580 > > > Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone >

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[OT] Workshop visit
by laurakid 15 May '21

15 May '21

Hey all at the workshop. As I mentioned before I am stuck procrastinating on my taxes (I should have just come, I’ve been completely unproductive). I am gonna finally get started soon but if there are no objections I would love to stop by for a social visit and see what everyone’s up to. Also willing to help out if anyone needs help. Let me know. - Laura 908-456-5580 Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] H89 for museum; gotek?
by Jeffrey Brace 15 May '21

15 May '21

On Sat, May 15, 2021 at 6:38 AM laurakid via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > I may not be able to make it. I am going to try. Didn’t get my taxes > done yet 🤦‍♀️ > OK. Sorry you can't make it. I have to do my taxes too! Hope to see you at the next repair workshop! Also, please create a separate topic thread when changing the subject. This is helpful when when someone is going back to research a particular topic (i.e. Heathkit H89). Thanks and take care! > > > Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone > > > On Saturday, May 15, 2021, 3:19 AM, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > On Fri, May 14, 2021 at 9:40 PM Gregg Levine <gregg.drwho8(a)gmail.com> > wrote: > > > Hello! > > Jeff are late registrants allowed? If possible I might be able to make > > > > Yes. Late registrants are allowed. We have plenty of room. > > > > the Sunday one. Can't completely commit to that though. If not, then > > it might be the June one. Except where will that one be held? There's > > one that needs Amtrak not NJ transit. > > > > June is @InfoAge. July is @System Source. > > > > > > Reason being is that I have a Compaq Portable 2 who shot itself in the > > harddrive not too long ago, I want to replace its 21M harddrive with a > > 32MB CF device. > > > > OK. > > > > ----- > > Gregg C Levine gregg.drwho8(a)gmail.com > > "This signature fought the Time Wars, time and again." > > > > On Fri, May 14, 2021 at 6:23 PM Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic > > <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > > > > On Fri, May 14, 2021 at 5:14 PM Sentrytv <sentrytv(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > > > > > > > I would love to come to the workshop tomorrow but I can’t. > > > > I will be selling my off some of my stuff up at the hamfest in > > Succasunna, > > > > New Jersey on Saturday. > > > > I may be able to try for Sunday but not sure yet. > > > > It would be nice to see these systems. > > > > > > > > > > Well I hope that you can make it, if not then the next repair workshop > on > > > June 12 & 13. > > > > > > > > Mike Rosen > > > > > > > > Sent from: > > > > My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device. > > > > > > > > > On May 14, 2021, at 3:52 PM, Herb Johnson via vcf-midatlantic < > > > > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > > > > > > > >> > > > > >>> On Sun, May 9, 2021 at 5:42 PM Jeff Salzman wrote: > > > > >>> I have an H89 that was donated to me, for my collection. I will > > not be > > > > >>> donating it to the museum. The museum already has one. However, I > > will > > > > be > > > > >>> bringing this system to the next Workshop to clean, troubleshoot > if > > > > >>> necessary, and test. > > > > >>> > > > > >>> Along with what I received are about 150 SSDD hard sectored disks > > of > > > > >>> personal software from when this system was being actively used > > back > > > > in the > > > > >>> late 70s/early 80s. > > > > > > > > > >>> I don't see [the museum's] > > > > >>> need for more than three or four disks on hand for demonstration > > > > >>> purposes, just like the Osborne and Zorba. > > > > > > > > > > Looks like I'll be able to attend the Workshop tomorrow. So I'll be > > able > > > > to assist Jeff Salzman with the Museum's H89 and his new acquisition, > > if > > > > that would be useful. Otherwise I offer to look at the Museum's > > warehouse > > > > of H89's and assess them while Jeff does his work. I'll bring some > > > > component parts but it's likely Jeff will bring what he needs. I > > assume he > > > > can do some repairs, and likely he'll bring his own diskettes along > > with > > > > the ones he acquired. If not, we can work with what's available. > > There's > > > > variacs around and that's a good tool for dormant computers. > > > > > > > > > > The Heath H89 is a good example of early 1980's Z80 personal > > computers, > > > > and noteworthy as a Heath product. For those unfamiliar, Heathkit > was a > > > > premier electronics kit company for many decades, in the mid-20th > > century > > > > where one could make a career and job from servicing electronics. > They > > > > provided test equipment, radio amateur equipment; their products were > > both > > > > learning tools and teaching tools. The H89 was a good business > > computing > > > > system, with support from local Heathkit stores and local computer > > stores > > > > of the era. The Z-100 followed the H89 and became a noteworthy MS-DOS > > > > computer and an S-100 system; the H8 was an early 8080 computer > before > > the > > > > H89. > > > > > > > > > > They are all entirely serviceable today as is much 1970's 1980's > > > > equipment if one has digital-component-level skills; that being my > > > > interests. They ran CP/M and Heath's HDOS and have VT52-class > > graphics, so > > > > there's lots of software they can run. For some time, SEBHC folks > have > > made > > > > new Heath-class boards, so that generates 21st century interest. > > > > > > > > > > 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 comcast DOT net > > > > "Don't do that!", goes the Second Doctor. > > > > > >

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H89 for museum; gotek?
by Herb Johnson 15 May '21

15 May '21

> On Sun, May 9, 2021 at 5:42 PM Jeff Salzman wrote: > >> I have an H89 that was donated to me, for my collection. I will not be >> donating it to the museum. The museum already has one. However, I will be >> bringing this system to the next Workshop to clean, troubleshoot if >> necessary, and test. >> >> Along with what I received are about 150 SSDD hard sectored disks of >> personal software from when this system was being actively used back in the >> late 70s/early 80s. >> I don't see [the museum's] >> need for more than three or four disks on hand for demonstration >> purposes, just like the Osborne and Zorba. Looks like I'll be able to attend the Workshop tomorrow. So I'll be able to assist Jeff Salzman with the Museum's H89 and his new acquisition, if that would be useful. Otherwise I offer to look at the Museum's warehouse of H89's and assess them while Jeff does his work. I'll bring some component parts but it's likely Jeff will bring what he needs. I assume he can do some repairs, and likely he'll bring his own diskettes along with the ones he acquired. If not, we can work with what's available. There's variacs around and that's a good tool for dormant computers. The Heath H89 is a good example of early 1980's Z80 personal computers, and noteworthy as a Heath product. For those unfamiliar, Heathkit was a premier electronics kit company for many decades, in the mid-20th century where one could make a career and job from servicing electronics. They provided test equipment, radio amateur equipment; their products were both learning tools and teaching tools. The H89 was a good business computing system, with support from local Heathkit stores and local computer stores of the era. The Z-100 followed the H89 and became a noteworthy MS-DOS computer and an S-100 system; the H8 was an early 8080 computer before the H89. They are all entirely serviceable today as is much 1970's 1980's equipment if one has digital-component-level skills; that being my interests. They ran CP/M and Heath's HDOS and have VT52-class graphics, so there's lots of software they can run. For some time, SEBHC folks have made new Heath-class boards, so that generates 21st century interest. 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 comcast DOT net

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Cp/m for c128
by Eric Rangell 15 May '21

15 May '21

Hello all, If anyone has a CP/M master disk or any other Commodore CP/M disks for the Commodore 128 I'd like to try preserving them with the Applesauce in the museum. I am bringing a bunch of GCR and MFM disks to test the latest version for other computer models. Thanks, Eric

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CP/M for Mac
by Jeffrey Brace 14 May '21

14 May '21

Interesting emulator for OS/X on the Mac: https://hackaday.com/2021/05/13/apple-gets-cp-m/#more-476308 ========================================= 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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Mac IIci, dead after power on
by Herb Johnson 14 May '21

14 May '21

I'm a little confused by the telegraphic (short) descriptions that Ethan gives for what he's repaired on and the symptoms of his IIci. (Hint: I think his Mac may be running but it's not producing a VGA-compatible video.) Here's the translation and the gloss to explain it. My read is: the Mac when bought, was dead, no power no video no audio. (Macs "chime", a musical chord, on power up. He describes "chime" but maybe he means "when the power button is pressed to start the Mac".) He then recapped the what? motherboard? power supply? - still no video or maybe no audio. But he says he measures DC power. The 68K Macs (ones with a 68000 series processor), like PCs, operate the power supply from a start-up circuit which is activated by a push-button to the motherboard (mobo) starting circuit. There's a button on the motherboard, and there's also a power key on the Mac ADB-type keyboards (as he describes). There's a way to short two pins on the DC power connector to force the power-supply to "wake up" - Web search for that. The IIci, IIcx and 700 models use the same power supply. Look it up. "screen is black, monitor wakes up" decrypts to "maybe my VGA monitor is showing there's a signal, but it doesn't display it". That may be correct! The Mac has a video connector which needs a quote "Mac to VGA adapter" which mechanically rearranges signals but does nothing to them. The IIci native video, is *not. VGA. compatible.*. The native IIci video (on mobo) however, will never EVER run a VGA only monitor. So it's possible the IIci is producing a video signal. On my Mac IIci, I have a Nubus video card and use that video for VGA compatible results. The Macs "sense" which video connector (on mobo or NuBus) has a cable attached, and route video (and video signal rates) *according to the connector that's cabled up* (which video you connect the monitor to) and select video mode (horizontal vertical signal rates, resolution modes) according to *specific grounded pins on the Mac DB-15 video connector*. The "Mac to VGA adapter" selects those grounded pins. What about the chime? Well, it's common for these Macs to lose their audio. The circuits which produce the audio, tend to corrode out, from both the failing electrolytics PLUS actual corrosion as a consequence of being near the clock circuits. Huh? Well, the Mac time-of-day clock, has constant battery power. That constant DC current creates a galvanic copper rust. Some of that current "creeps" over to the audio circuits. There may be some audio but it may be very quiet. Of course the power supplies fail too, like other switching power supplies. One can research these 68K Mac behaviors on the Web, and Apple had some internal repair diagnostic documents, and "Apple service manuals" per model. Look on the Web for these. But Apple did not document what happens 30 years later; that gets described on the Web by those who repair these things. I don't have much on Mac repairs on my site, I just sell Mac parts, like these. regards, Herb Johnson unexpected Mac geek -- 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 comcast DOT net -- 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 comcast DOT net

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VHS tapes for backup drives back in 80s/early 90s?
by John Heritage 14 May '21

14 May '21

Hey all - just curious if anyone actually used modified VHS tape players/recorders for backing up their BBS or computer in generally back in the actual day? I understand you can get a few GB on the tapes which would have been a huge amount in the late 80s and still useful up until at least the mid-90s.. If yes what was the setup, and how did it attach to your computer? what software was used?

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OT: Camp Invention at InfoAge in July for kids K-6
by Jeffrey Brace 13 May '21

13 May '21

Camp Invention is doing 2 one week long programs at InfoAge in the CDL building for kids K-6 in July. The info and signup information is here: https://invent-web.ungerboeck.com/programsearch/moreinfo.aspx?event=34904&_… ========================================= 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] Bits & pieces: finding local collaborators for DIY, maker type stuff
by Dean Notarnicola 13 May '21

13 May '21

With the recent concerns about privacy on the internet, this may not fly too well these days. On Thu, May 13, 2021 at 1:23 PM Sentrytv via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Yes but for a treasure hunt usually you have a map! > > Sent from: > My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device. > > > On May 13, 2021, at 12:42 PM, Tony Bogan via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > > I’ve never seen nor heard of such a map until this conversation, but > I’m up for a treasure hunt ;-) > > > > Tony > > > > > >> Interesting; I wasn’t aware of that map. > >> > >> - Alex > >> > >>> On Thu, May 13, 2021 at 12:01 Bill Degnan via vcf-midatlantic < > >>> vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > >>> > >>> I don't remember what happened to that map, that was something I > *think* > >>> Evan managed > >>> Bill > >>> > >>> On Thu, May 13, 2021 at 11:48 AM m simons via vcf-midatlantic < > >>> vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > >>> > >>>> Greetings, > >>>> I'm looking for folks in the South Jersey (mostly Burlington & > >>> Camden > >>>> counties, but Glouchester and other nearby areas are good too) area > who > >>> may > >>>> be active DIY/maker hobbyists, and computer salvage folks, etc. If > >>> you're > >>>> involved in reuse or recycling in the area in any capacity, even art > or > >>>> crafts type stuff I'd love to connect. > >>>> > >>>> InfoAge/Wall is a little too far for me to drive to on a regular basis > >>> for > >>>> swap meets and the like, and I'd like to be able to find some local > >>>> collaborators who may be interested in various items that could be > >>>> repurposed for all manner of projects rather than having them sit > around > >>> my > >>>> place too long. > >>>> > >>>> I thought way back when, MARCH might have had a members location > map... > >>>> but that was.. quite a while ago. Not sure if such a thing still > exists. > >>>> > >>>> thanks, > >>>> Michael S. > >>>> > >>> > >

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