- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] das blinkenlights
by Bill Degnan 07 Aug '20

07 Aug '20

I look forward to seeing the finished product, this kind of thing is on my list, too. Bill On Thu, Aug 6, 2020, 6:15 PM Bill Dromgoole via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > On the Battleship New Jersey, some of the digital displays appear to have > a random pattern of lights. > I was told that they used the seven segment display driver outputs from a > digital clock randomly connected to the register lamps to get that > appearance. So that’s 42 semi random looking bits available, especially if > the clock is still running. > > Bill > From: Jeffrey Jonas via vcf-midatlantic > Sent: Wednesday, August 5, 2020 7:47 PM > To: vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org > Cc: Jeffrey Jonas > Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] das blinkenlights > > I have some front panels that I'd like to blink like in the movies. > Since the human brain likes to find patterns, I suspect that > pure random numbers are nowhere as satisfying as some patterns. > Has anyone done research on that? > > Of course, I'll have multiple modes such as Conway's Life, > counting in various ways, ring counters, etc. > > -- jeff jonas > >

2 2

when a dollar bin ain't a bargain
by Jeffrey Jonas 07 Aug '20

07 Aug '20

Silly me, I got a spool of chips that aren't what I need. If you want any, let me know to bring to the Aug 15-16 workshop. https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm2596.pdf LM2596 SIMPLE SWITCHER Power Converter 150-kHz 3-A Step-Down Voltage Regulator -- Jeffrey Jonas

1 0

VCF East 2020 Virtual Hybrid Show Annoucement
by Jeffrey Brace 06 Aug '20

06 Aug '20

I won't bury the lead. I'm sorry to report that due to the uncertainty of current pandemic conditions and to promote safety of our attendees, VCF East 2020 will not be a live show this year. I know that this will be a great disappointment to many. I had hoped that after 4 months conditions would have improved to the point that the show could be live. The expected limitations of being able to have only 25% capacity indoors makes the effort to organize a live show prohibitive. We considered the time, effort, money and safety to make a live show. But don't despair, we have plans for a virtual hybrid show. We can still make the show great despite being a virtual hybrid. VCF West, K-Fest and HOPE have shown that a fun show can still be created. What do I mean "virtual hybrid"? Our plan is to have a two day event where there will be a mixture of pre-recorded videos as well as live demonstrations of exhibits. Live attendance at InfoAge will be limited to exhibitors and show administrators. I see this event as an opportunity to show off exhibitors who normally wouldn't be able to make the show due to distance or circumstances . I will be sending out more details about our plans as we develop them. In the meantime, I will be contacting exhibitors, class instructors and speakers to start making videos to send to me. I'm hoping to make this show most excellent! -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783

1 1

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Museum Report: 5 Aug 2020
by Jeffrey Brace 06 Aug '20

06 Aug '20

On Thu, Aug 6, 2020 at 10:09 AM Bill Inderrieden via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Opened museum at 1pm. Quiet day. > No visitors until Al Klase from NJARC stopped by to take a look-see. Gave > him the 2 bit tour. > He had not seen the museum for awhile, and was impressed at what we had > accomplished.We talked about doing other future collaborations between > museums. > > > Photographer for Mike Ruane came in to photo the museum artifacts. She > was impressed withthe layout and the "walk down memory lane". She is > doing an overall video shoot for Mike of the campus. > She has done many video productions for Mike for Info Age. > > > Other maintenance notes: > 1. Replaced the bib door on the EAI TR-20 using the one off the Texas > collage donation from the warehouse. > 2. Added the VCF logo to the Windows 3.1 desktop "wallpaper" on the IBM > PS2 machine. > > Bill Inderrieden > Thanks Bill! It's nice to have the museum reopen and to have someone there on Wednesdays on a regular basis. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783

1 0

das blinkenlights
by Jeffrey Jonas 06 Aug '20

06 Aug '20

I have some front panels that I'd like to blink like in the movies. Since the human brain likes to find patterns, I suspect that pure random numbers are nowhere as satisfying as some patterns. Has anyone done research on that? Of course, I'll have multiple modes such as Conway's Life, counting in various ways, ring counters, etc. -- jeff jonas

7 7

Museum Report: 5 Aug 2020
by svcatitc＠aol.com 06 Aug '20

06 Aug '20

Opened museum at 1pm. Quiet day. No visitors until Al Klase from NJARC stopped by to take a look-see. Gave him the 2 bit tour. He had not seen the museum for awhile, and was impressed at what we had accomplished.We talked about doing other future collaborations between museums. Photographer for Mike Ruane came in to photo the museum artifacts. She was impressed withthe layout and the "walk down memory lane". She is doing an overall video shoot for Mike of the campus. She has done many video productions for Mike for Info Age. Other maintenance notes: 1. Replaced the bib door on the EAI TR-20 using the one off the Texas collage donation from the warehouse. 2. Added the VCF logo to the Windows 3.1 desktop "wallpaper" on the IBM PS2 machine. Bill Inderrieden

1 0

Museum Report 2020-08-02
by Jeffrey Brace 05 Aug '20

05 Aug '20

A little late, but better late than never. About 6 visitors this past Sunday to the museum. Our procedures and precautions for Covid-19 worked very well. Continuing to add small improvements to the museum when I am there. Kids really love The Printshop printout of a picture from the dot matrix printer that I give them to take home. This is part of the Star Gemini NX-1000 on the Commodore 64 in the 80's bedroom exhibit. One visitor originally from Britain loved the ZX-81, BBC Micro and C128. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783

1 0

VCF West 2020 Videos on YouTube
by Jeffrey Brace 04 Aug '20

04 Aug '20

Some people were asking about the individual videos from VCF West 2020 Virtual show. You can go to https://www.youtube.com/user/MidAtlanticRetroComp Which is The Vintage Computer Federation's channel on YouTube. You will see the one large stream from August 1 as well the individual videos that were shown that day. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783

1 0

Re: Inquiry
by Sentrytv 04 Aug '20

04 Aug '20

I was looking to see if there was a Corey Crawford in our group because I know Corey Crawford, I used to work with. I thought it sounded familiar within the group I’m getting it mixed up no problem thanks Since the governor changed the rules for indoor totals of people, is this going to change anything with the next workshop? Mike R. Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device. > On Aug 4, 2020, at 5:15 PM, Jeffrey Brace <jeffrey(a)vcfed.org> wrote: > > > I don't know of any Cory Crawford in the group. > There is a Doug Crawford, and there is a Cory Sickles. > Are you looking for this person? > >> On Tue, Aug 4, 2020 at 2:29 PM Sentrytv <sentrytv(a)yahoo.com> wrote: >> Jeff >> Is there a Cory Crawford in the VCF group? >> >> Sent from: >> My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device. > > > -- > ========================================= > Jeff Brace > Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner > Vintage Computer Federation > http://www.vcfed.org/ > jeffrey(a)vcfed.org > cell: 732-759-1783 >

2 1

VAX/RD54 recovery
by David Gesswein 02 Aug '20

02 Aug '20

I had gotten a RD54 and worked out how to pull the head servo for data recovery. http://www.pdp8online.com/mfm/head_servo/pics/rd54_wires.shtml?small At a previous workday a VAX was being worked on for the Museum. The drive in it had head position errors so I wasn't able to get a good read at the time. With the above method I probably can read it now. If the drive is still around and not reformatted I can try at the next work day. I think their was another drive that wasn't read from a PDP-11 also. Did the VAX get a new OS install on it?

3 3