- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Retro technology at CDL
by Martin Flynn 15 Feb '20

15 Feb '20

The CDL PBX thinks it's 1981 again as it allows calls between our M43 (4320AAA) Teletype in the CDL and other ASCII machines on site using the historically correct area codes of 510, 610, and 910. Martin

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Happy 74th Birthday ENIAC
by Brian L. Stuart 15 Feb '20

15 Feb '20

On this, the 74th anniversary of the unveiling of the ENIAC, I've decided to post a couple of things I've been working on. The first is the 3D model of the ENIAC mentioned before. It's designed using brlcad, from the Ballistics Research Lab. It just seemed too appropriate to model it using the tool devleoped where it lived. The thingiverse link is: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4164825 The second thing is a draft of a chapter from a book I'm in the very early stages of. It describes the basic circuit designs used in the ENIAC with SPICE simulations of them. The layout and formatting are based on the old Army Technical Manuals of the time. http://cs.drexel.edu/~bls96/eniac/ch1.pdf Enjoy, BLS

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Repair Workshops February 2020
by Jeffrey Brace 14 Feb '20

14 Feb '20

February 15 & 16, 2020: Hunt Valley, MD at Bob Roswell's System Source: < https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cVBh27hzT1P53BCorZXcK3cZQVwPtwWLLX6… > The Vintage Computer Federation and the System Source Computer Museum are hosting a vintage computer workshop on Saturday February 15th and Sunday February 16th 2020 at: System Source Computer Museum 338 Clubhouse Road, Hunt Valley, MD 21031 Plenty of free parking, short walk from Baltimore’s light rail (Gilroy Road Stop) We will open at 10AM on Saturday February 15th, 2020 and will lock up by midnight. We will open at 10AM on Sunday February 16h and lock up at 6:00PM Accommodations: Try https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g41196-Hunt_Valley_Maryland-Hotels.html Feel free to talk with others about sharing a room. Food: There are plenty of restaurants within a short drive. We will have catered Indian buffet on Saturday at cost ($12.00?) and catered Barbecue ($12.00?) on Sunday for those who sign up. We will feature tours of the museum throughout both days and several mini-workshops: - Retrobright workshop (bring your yellowed plastics) - Pre-industrial computing class - Learn to use a slide rule, and various types of Abaci - Hot Metal Typesetting (3500 lb word processor) If you need a machine to work on, please let me know. We have lots of computers awaiting restoration! If you have unusual needs, (220 Volts, fork lift, etc please email Bob Roswell at museum(a)syssrc.com Bob Roswell broswell(a)syssrc.com https://museum.syssrc.com 410-771-5544 x 4336 Here is the signup sheet: < https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cVBh27hzT1P53BCorZXcK3cZQVwPtwWLLX6… > ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Scans of David Ahl's DEC EDU newsletter
by Jeffrey Brace 13 Feb '20

13 Feb '20

Someone asked me if we have any copies of DEC's EDU Newsletter which came before Creative Computing. She only found one copy on bitsavers: https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_deceducatiigitalEDU7Newsletter1973_11… Does anyone know if copies of this newsletter exist as scans or hardcopies? Do you think that asking on CCtalk would be helpful? -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Working on a historical microprocessor exhibt
by Adam Michlin 13 Feb '20

13 Feb '20

Hi Everyone, VCF is working on a historical exhibit of CPUs (not really support chips at this point). Literally just the CPUs. What should we have at the bare minimum? 4004, 8008, 8088, 8086, 6502, Z80, 6800, 6809...? What should we have if we have more space? 80x86, 680x0, Sparc, MIPS, Power, Alpha, ARM, Itanium...? Modern CPUs (to some degree) aren't out of the question, either, as we're hoping to show the progression of Moore's Law from the 4004 (2,300 transistors) to present day maybe, for example, a AMD Ryzen 9 3900X (at 9,890,000,000 transistors). Thoughts? I'm sure I'm forgetting plenty of important CPUs. -Adam

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Working on a historical microprocessor exhibt
by Neil Cherry 12 Feb '20

12 Feb '20

Tony, you just reminded me ... A hugely important processor in the history of processors the 6501. It's really too bad you won't get one to display and if you do it needs to be guarded. 6800 ($300+ as I recall) -> 6501 (sued into oblivion by Motorola) -> 6502 (for less than $30). Remmeber $300 is was more than I made in a week in 1980 (35 hours). So jump that back to 1975, that's quite a bit of money for just the CPU. -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry(a)linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies

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The Print Shop for the C64 - known working copy?
by Jeffrey Brace 12 Feb '20

12 Feb '20

Hello, I setup The Print Shop for the C64 in the museum with the original disk, but it locked after successful test print in the printer setup part. I tried two cracked versions, but they didn't have the setup part in the menu or didn't work. Does someone have a known working copy? Can you send it as a .d64? I will be at the System Source repair workshop this weekend if that helps deliver a real floppy disk. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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CRT Repair (OT Modern $$)
by Bill Degnan 12 Feb '20

12 Feb '20

Hi - I have a Dream Authentics arcade with a faulty CRT. It was purchased new about 12 years ago. Click .. click .. click then nothing. The inbound signal from the computer is ok, problem is with the CRT. If you're in the Philadelphia area (Kennett Square is 30 mins south) let me know. Will pay fair wage for on-site repair. The CRT itself is open in the back once you remove the arcade back cover. Contact me off list through vintagecomputer.net/contact.cfm Thanks Bill

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Fortran Board Game
by Herb Johnson 11 Feb '20

11 Feb '20

Adam, I'll risk my ignorance of this particular 1970's board game, to speak up. Without going on about the history of board games; There were any number of "computer" card-game or board-game products in the 1970's and 80's, also earlier - why is this one any better than any other? Why is this worth $300? I'm not a game-collector, and I certainly don't take an eBay description at face value. But I know FORTRAN, and I don't see much "FORTRAN" about this game, from the eBay auction photos. I dont' want to give Adam a hard time, if he was simply excited to see such a thing and was sharing his excitement. But I'm left confused by statement like "we really need this... this is a real thing". Does the VCFed Museum now solicit board-games about computers? If so the local thrift stores will produce them; please provide some guidance if you want donations. Do not pass GO, do not pay $300. 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 retrotechnology DOT info

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Oh noes, wikipedia might be wrong :-0
by Jeffrey Jonas 11 Feb '20

11 Feb '20

I was looking up the "first" 32 bit CPU chip. Ummm, 1980 is before 1982 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_FOCUS The Hewlett-Packard FOCUS microprocessor, launched in 1982, was the first commercial, single chip, fully 32-bit microprocessor available on the market. [I guess "fully 32 bit" is the key phrase: 32 bit external interface?] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_68000 The original MC68000 was fabricated using an HMOS process with a 3.5 um feature size. Formally introduced in September 1979, initial samples were released in February 1980, with production chips available over the counter in November. Once again, "Who Was First" is a vague and dangerous question. I'd love to see a "Who's On First" variation about "first" computers, with ENIAC on first :-) I agree with defining a focus for the CPU exhibit. Certainly the 8 bit processors are a natural grouping. Or just the processors of the 70s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microprocessor_chronology

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