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Mid-Atlantic Retro Computing Hobbyists (MARCH) February 2025 Vintage Computer Workshop
by Jeff Salzman 05 Feb '25

05 Feb '25

Just a reminder of the next Vintage Computer Workshop on February 15 & 16, 2025. InfoAge Museum and Science Center 2201 Marconi Rd. Wall Township, NJ 07719 Please sign up here so we know how many people to provide tables for. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nHJHC4fgZdZZocCe9gkG-Vek5HlpDfyjCmG…

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OT: Netflix comes to Fort Monmouth
by Jeffrey Brace 03 Feb '25

03 Feb '25

Construction on the first four film studios is expected to start at the end of 2025. Netflix plans to open at Fort Monmouth in 2028. https://patch.com/new-jersey/longbranch/netflix-launches-website-its-fort-m… Jeff Brace

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Jesper Juul on Friday February 7 on Twitch "Too Much Fun: The Five Lives of the Commodore 64"
by Jeffrey Brace 03 Feb '25

03 Feb '25

I thought I would share with everyone this post that I just got. Join us Friday, February 7, as *ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories *hosts scholar Jesper Juul for a talk about his book *Too Much Fun: The Five Lives of the Commodore 64 Computer.* The event will be at 2PM ET on the *ROMchip *Twitch channel, https://www.twitch.tv/romchipjournal <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.twitc…> . Get tickets HERE <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ticke…> and sign up for our newsletter <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fromchip.u…> to never miss an update. **Tickets serve as calendar reminders for the event; they are not required to attend. Head to https://www.twitch.tv/romchipjournal <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.twitc…> to join the talk on Feb 7** *About the Book* *The surprising history of the Commodore 64, the best-selling home computer of the 1980s—the machine that taught the world that computing should be *fun *.* The Commodore 64 (C64) is officially the best-selling desktop computer model of all time, according to *The Guinness Book of World Records*. It was also, from 1985 to 1993, the platform for which most video games were made. But although it sold at least twice as many units as other home computers of its time, such as the Apple II, ZX Spectrum, or Commodore Amiga, it is strangely forgotten in many computer histories. In *Too Much Fun*, Jesper Juul argues that the C64 was so popular because it was so versatile, a machine developers and users would reinvent again and again over the course of 40 years. First it was a serious computer, next a game computer, then a computer for showcasing technical brilliance (graphical *demos* using the machine in seemingly impossible ways), then a struggling competitor, and finally a retro device whose limitations are now charming. The C64, Juul shows, has been ignored by history because it was too much fun. Richly illustrated in full color, this book is the first in-depth examination of the C64's design and history, and the first to integrate US and European histories. Containing interviews with Commodore engineers as well as an insightful look at C64 games, music, and software*,* *Too Much Fun* will appeal to those who used a Commodore 64, those interested in the history of computing and video games and computational literacy, or just those who wish their technological devices would last longer. *About the Author*Jesper Juul coedits the MIT Press Playful Thinking series. His previous books include *Half-Real*,*The Art of Failure*, and *Handmade Pixels*. He is Associate Professor at the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen and has taught at MIT and New York University. His first computer was a Commodore 64, on which he wrote games and demos. *Upcoming Events* February 14 @ 2PM: Tom Boellstorff and Braxton Soderman discuss their co-authored book, *Intellivision: How a Videogame System Battled Atari and Almost Bankrupted Barbie *[MORE INFO <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ticke…> ] February 22 @ 11AM-11PM ET: ROMchip Twitch Fundraiser Stream, ft Phil Salvador, merritt k, qdot, Paolo Pedercini, tinahacks, Jason Scott and more! Come through for 12 hours of games, prizes, and historical hijinks. [MORE INFO <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdonate.ro…> ]. *About ROMchip**ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.romch…>* is a free, online scholarly journal for game history. *ROMchip *develops, edits, and publishes ad-free, open access game history research for a range of audiences. It supports any discipline of work enlivening the history of games in local and global contexts, and embraces diversity in how game history is studied, documented, collected, preserved, and practiced. *ROM* *c**hip* is a donation-based organization fiscally sponsored by The Hack Foundation <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhackclub.…> (d.b.a. Hack Club), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN: 81-2908499).

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Apple II Lisa video card
by Richard Cini 31 Jan '25

31 Jan '25

All — Today I watched a video interview by the CHM of Bill Atkinson where he talks about how he prototyped the various Lisa screen elements before moving them to the Lisa dev setup. It seems he used an Apple II with a special video card to create these. I’ve done a bit of googling on this but I can’t come up with any good search results. Does anyone know what was involved in that? What was the card like? Rich http://cini.classiccmp.org/ Long Island S100 User’s Group Get Outlook<https://aka.ms/qtex0l> for iOS

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'twas the night before Festivus ...
by Jeffrey Brace 30 Jan '25

30 Jan '25

and all through the place, not a creature was stirring, only just a Brace! Finish the poem!

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Request for help from IEEE Special Projects Direct Stephan Cass
by Douglas Crawford 27 Jan '25

27 Jan '25

See below for details on the request, summarized: 1. C64 Source 2. Someone to make a program selector for three demos 3. Original USB 1.0 artifacts Please offer support, off list, if you can, thanks! Douglas Crawford ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dear VCF members, I am the special projects director of /IEEE Spectrum/—some of you may know me from my previous coverage of VCF East and retrocomputing-related topics in general (some sample links below!). In partnership with the IEEE History Center, we are developing a small travelling museum/conference exhibition based on our Chip Hall of Fame ( https://spectrum.ieee.org/special-reports/chip-hall-of-fame/ ). And we could really do with your help! The exhibition will include some sample chips as well as products based upon them, and we are also hoping to have an interactive Commodore 64 panel with a C64 hooked up to a screen. So here are my first two asks: Can I get recommendations for a seller who can supply 3 working C64s (three because we hope to make more than one copy of the exhibit and also need a spare on-hand in case of problems)? Ideally, these would be classic breadbox models. We will probably look to replace the case with clear acrylic versions. Can I get recommendations for someone who we can commission to put together and deliver 3 sets of a custom cartridge rig? We hope to have three arcade-style buttons on the exhibit that a visitor can press to load different ROM images: I'm imagining this would involve bank-switching and asserting a reset, maybe bundle the whole thing inside a microcontroller's memory, so I can kinda see how to do it, but really this would be best in the hands on someone with some C64 hardware experience, given the requirements for reliability and time to deliver. Incidentally, we are planning that one of the ROM images would show a simple "attract" demo for the exhibit, another one draw some kind of fractal (in homage to all of us who read "Chaos" back in the 1980s and lept to our home computers :) ), and a final one TBD, which we hope to be able to open up to some kind of demo competition!) And one last ask: we are also planning on including some very early USB silicon in the exhibit, from the Triton II Intel PC chipset. Think ye now to your mystery bins :) If you have a peripheral on the size scale of a computer mouse or a little larger that was built to USB 1.1 or, ideally 1.0 (I know how rare the latter is!), we'd like to talk to you about obtaining it! Thank you all for your time and attention. If you've any answers to the above, or questions about any of this, please drop me a line directly at cass.s(a)ieee.org Best, Stephen VCF coverage: https://spectrum.ieee.org/theyre-alive-vintage-computer-fans-keep-the-great… https://spectrum.ieee.org/don-eyles-space-hacker https://www.instagram.com/p/C6ZCubprsSO/ Other retrocomputing Coverage: https://spectrum.ieee.org/yugoslavia-diy-microcomputer https://spectrum.ieee.org/upcycle-a-vintage-lcd *** Stephen Cass Special Projects Director IEEE Spectrum www.spectrum.ieee.org <http://www.spectrum.ieee.org> 347 834 7384 cass.s(a)ieee.org -- Douglas Crawford VCF Mid-Atlantic Museum Mgr InfoAge Science & History Museums 2201 Marconi Road Wall, NJ 07719

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: Looking for reputable repair place for laser printer
by Sentrytv 25 Jan '25

25 Jan '25

Would it be too much trouble to take this off-line? Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device. > On Jan 25, 2025, at 10:07 AM, Bob Shuster via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > Bernie, thanks for responding! Page count is just under 19,000 pages. Good advice, but do you still service these printers? I did find one repair place in Philadelphia, Printer Repair Service in center city (17th & Market) but I haven’t yet called them to get an estimate or anything. I have a bunch of projects to finish before I can proceed in any case, and getting this very heavy printer down there will not be fun. Still looking… > > - Bob Shuster > >>> Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2025 11:56:34 -0500 >>> From: Bob Shuster <bob(a)theshusters.com> >>> To: vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org >>> Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: Looking for reputable repair place >>> for laser printer >>> I have an HP Laserjet 5200tn (close to 20 years old) that is >>> starting to have issues with paper jams, and it seems it?s a common >>> issue with the buffers on the pickup solenoids. They are however >>> difficult to access so I?m going to turn to a professional if >>> possible, and have a good cleaning done at the same time. I know >>> there are faster, quieter, and more capable laser printers out there >>> now, but this one works perfectly for me, and a new 11x17 printer is >>> expensive in any case. >>> I need a quick turnaround, but I need reliable and reputable >>> service. Any recommendations in the Philadelphia, lower >>> Bucks/Montgomery County areas? >> Bob, having serviced hundreds of HP LaserJet printers (including many >> original LaserJet 500 aka 2686D which came out in 1984) I strongly >> recommend that when you get your LJ5200TN serviced you have *all* the >> rollers (including the fusing assy) and pads replaced, and well as >> *all* the parts recommended in the HP Service Manual for PM >> (preventive maintenance). >> https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-6015518 What is the page >> count on your HPLJ 5200? >> This will cost much more than having only the failed parts replaced, >> you'll basically have a new printer and will save money on future >> repairs long-term. The older HP LaserJets with Canon engines are >> reliable workhorses (I worked on some that had a page count of over >> one million pages!) _IF_ you do the HP recommended PM. >> You could save money on the service job if you buy genuine HP/Canon >> replacement parts yourself, IF the servicer is okay with that. Some >> servicers (who would mark up the price of parts) won't allow this >> because they don't want to be on the hook if a customer-supplied parts fails. >> -bernieS

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: Looking for reputable repair place for laser printer
by Bob Shuster 25 Jan '25

25 Jan '25

Bernie, thanks for responding! Page count is just under 19,000 pages. Good advice, but do you still service these printers? I did find one repair place in Philadelphia, Printer Repair Service in center city (17th & Market) but I haven’t yet called them to get an estimate or anything. I have a bunch of projects to finish before I can proceed in any case, and getting this very heavy printer down there will not be fun. Still looking… - Bob Shuster >> Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2025 11:56:34 -0500 >> From: Bob Shuster <bob(a)theshusters.com> >> To: vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org >> Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: Looking for reputable repair place >> for laser printer >> >> I have an HP Laserjet 5200tn (close to 20 years old) that is >> starting to have issues with paper jams, and it seems it?s a common >> issue with the buffers on the pickup solenoids. They are however >> difficult to access so I?m going to turn to a professional if >> possible, and have a good cleaning done at the same time. I know >> there are faster, quieter, and more capable laser printers out there >> now, but this one works perfectly for me, and a new 11x17 printer is >> expensive in any case. >> >> I need a quick turnaround, but I need reliable and reputable >> service. Any recommendations in the Philadelphia, lower >> Bucks/Montgomery County areas? > > Bob, having serviced hundreds of HP LaserJet printers (including many > original LaserJet 500 aka 2686D which came out in 1984) I strongly > recommend that when you get your LJ5200TN serviced you have *all* the > rollers (including the fusing assy) and pads replaced, and well as > *all* the parts recommended in the HP Service Manual for PM > (preventive maintenance). > https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-6015518 What is the page > count on your HPLJ 5200? > > This will cost much more than having only the failed parts replaced, > you'll basically have a new printer and will save money on future > repairs long-term. The older HP LaserJets with Canon engines are > reliable workhorses (I worked on some that had a page count of over > one million pages!) _IF_ you do the HP recommended PM. > > You could save money on the service job if you buy genuine HP/Canon > replacement parts yourself, IF the servicer is okay with that. Some > servicers (who would mark up the price of parts) won't allow this > because they don't want to be on the hook if a customer-supplied parts fails. > > -bernieS

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Subject: OT: Looking for reputable repair place for laser printer
by bernieS 24 Jan '25

24 Jan '25

>Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2025 11:56:34 -0500 >From: Bob Shuster <bob(a)theshusters.com> >To: vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org >Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: Looking for reputable repair place >for laser printer > >I have an HP Laserjet 5200tn (close to 20 years old) that is >starting to have issues with paper jams, and it seems it?s a common >issue with the buffers on the pickup solenoids. They are however >difficult to access so I?m going to turn to a professional if >possible, and have a good cleaning done at the same time. I know >there are faster, quieter, and more capable laser printers out there >now, but this one works perfectly for me, and a new 11x17 printer is >expensive in any case. > >I need a quick turnaround, but I need reliable and reputable >service. Any recommendations in the Philadelphia, lower >Bucks/Montgomery County areas? Bob, having serviced hundreds of HP LaserJet printers (including many original LaserJet 500 aka 2686D which came out in 1984) I strongly recommend that when you get your LJ5200TN serviced you have *all* the rollers (including the fusing assy) and pads replaced, and well as *all* the parts recommended in the HP Service Manual for PM (preventive maintenance). https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-6015518 What is the page count on your HPLJ 5200? This will cost much more than having only the failed parts replaced, you'll basically have a new printer and will save money on future repairs long-term. The older HP LaserJets with Canon engines are reliable workhorses (I worked on some that had a page count of over one million pages!) _IF_ you do the HP recommended PM. You could save money on the service job if you buy genuine HP/Canon replacement parts yourself, IF the servicer is okay with that. Some servicers (who would mark up the price of parts) won't allow this because they don't want to be on the hook if a customer-supplied parts fails. -bernieS

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February MARCH Repair Workshop at InfoAge
by Jeff Salzman 22 Jan '25

22 Jan '25

Greetings! The next MARCH Repair Workshop is on February 15-16 at the InfoAge Science & History Museum in Wall Township, NJ. Some changes are being made starting this year as we transition to bigger workshop spaces on campus. Details below: Sign-up sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nHJHC4fgZdZZocCe9gkG-Vek5HlpDfyjCmG… Parking Map: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oE_yMBAnBdqNyLn4PX0iqoJha8uaLPct/view?usp=… The February Repair Workshop will be held across two buildings at InfoAge this month. The first building will be Number 11 on the linked map. This is the CDL building where we have held the Workshops for many years. The other building, officially called 9032A and labeled Number 7 on the linked map, is the new space. We are beginning to implement the use of the latter, which is about twice the size of CDL and can accommodate more people. We are anticipating a larger Workshop turnout and will focus on the use of this larger space in the future. You may choose either location to set up for the February Workshop. The CDL location has high-mounted, 2'x6' workbench tops and stool seating, with room to maneuver between rows of workbenches used by other attendees, but requires ascending several steps to get into the building. This may be an issue when bringing in large containers, boxes, and heavier equipment. The 9032 building is a little less cozy, but has more open space, desk high 2.5'x6' tables that sit lower, along with street-level thresholds into the building. This works well for the use of hand trucks and dollies for bringing in large equipment. Although it is highly suggested that you bring your own tools and equipment to these Repair Workshops if you can, the CDL building has ready access to tools and test equipment that you may use when working on your projects. MARCH is currently assembling a full stock of tools and test equipment for use by Workshop attendees setting up in 9032A. However, it might not be fully stocked for the February Repair Workshop, so choose your preferred location accordingly. Feel free to ask other attendees to borrow tools if needed. You cannot, however, go to CDL to borrow tools and bring them to 9032A. Parking for the Workshop attendees is anywhere along the areas marked by red lines on the linked map. The Workshop buildings are highlighted in orange on the map for reference. The curved red line area near Number 7 (9032A) is a grassy area. You may park in that grass just along the edge of the road surface. Do not park two vehicles deep, or anywhere deeper into the grass in that area. Please don't leave your vehicle partially parked on the road surface as there is only just enough room on the road surface for a vehicle to drive through. DO NOT park in the grass at any of the other designated parking areas. Overflow parking for 9032A is curb parking along the red line along the building where Numbers 3 and 4 are referenced on the map. When you arrive, contact any of the persons named as a "Manager" at the top of the signup sheet to pick up your wristband for the day. The Manager(s) for any given Workshop might change depending on volunteer availability. Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you at the February MARCH Repair Workshop! Jeff Salzman MARCH Events Manager MARCH Steering Committee member

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