- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Possible visits to the area in February
by Ethan Dicks 06 Feb '19

06 Feb '19

Hi, All, I'm still waiting for the GO to book travel, but as of today, it appears I might be on an assignment in Jersey City from 18-21 Feb and 25-28 Feb. This would be an "in on Monday AM, out Thursday PM" sort of cycle so any adventures would have to be on Monday through Wednesday evenings. I do not have word that I'll get a rental covered, so I might be limited to the area around the hotel and/or out-of-pocket Ubers or public transportation. Also, it seems likely to expect our team will have one or more evenings planned together. Checking maps, the "recommended" (read: mandatory per customer instructions) hotel is right by the Newport PATH station, making it easy to catch trains. Given those narrow time constraints, I could be up for going out to dinner at some point across those two weeks. It's probably best to nail down exact evenings after I arrive and find out when the team is going out, but I wanted to mention my likely arrival with enough lead-time to plan. There may be further trips down the line, but we are only scheduling out to the end of March for now. Cheers, -ethan

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Feb Repair Workshop - 2019
by Jeffrey Brace 05 Feb '19

05 Feb '19

It seems that the permissions on the signup spreadsheet weren't set correctly. I kept getting requests to get access. The permissions should be fixed now. Please signup for the February 2019 VCF Repair Workshop which will be February 9 & 10. < https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11Iy1jqPJqVzY1gnGRrHfLfIcx5IQ82QkkaB… > -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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OT: Coloring the Universe: NASA Visualization Lead at InfoAge Mar 9, 2019
by Jeffrey Brace 03 Feb '19

03 Feb '19

As I came into be docent today I saw a flyer for an InfoAge event that I thought others in this group might be interested in. Kimberly Kowal Arcand will be a guest speaker at InfoAge on Mar. 9, 2019. Ms. Arcand is the Visualization Lead for NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge Massachusetts. Cost is $15 per person. Seating limited. For more information and to signup: http://infoage.org/arcand/ -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Museum report (for yesterday)
by Evan Koblentz 03 Feb '19

03 Feb '19

Two groups of visitors yesterday. An older couple who used minicomputers in the 1970s, and then another couple who visited last month but came back with their 20-something son who's a software developer. Bill I. also visited and we talked about plans for the EAI TR-20 analog computer. His goal is to get it running by VCF East.

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Apple III
by Randall Kindig 03 Feb '19

03 Feb '19

If anyone is interested in hearing from David Fradin, who was one of the product managers at Apple for the Apple III and other hardware, I’ve just published Floppy Days episode 89 at: http://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-89-the-apple-iii-part-3-with-david… <http://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-89-the-apple-iii-part-3-with-david…> This is the third and last in the series on Floppy Days about the Apple III. Randy Kindig

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one less $JOB (JCL joke)
by Jeffrey Jonas 03 Feb '19

03 Feb '19

My dad's funeral is on Sunday Feb 3, in Boca Raton Florida. I brought ipods to record conversations with him about all the hacks, insights and details of the vintage hardware and systems he used, but the stage 4 lung cancer and chemo stole his voice only a week after I arrived :-( At 90, dad could not tolerate the chemo required to fight the lung cancer. James T Kirk might not believe in the "no win scenario" but I could not cheat like he did with the Kobayashi Maru :-( Carl Claunch summarized it best: He was a great person, someone I was fortunate to have known and worked with. A master of the mainframe who just quietly did his job.

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Minor little East keynote ;)
by Evan Koblentz 02 Feb '19

02 Feb '19

KEN THOMPSON!!! Who shall be interviewed on stage by another dude some of you may know, a Mister Brian Kernighan. Aaaaaaaand, I am working on arranging a couple of other minor little surprises. But they're not yet ready to be announced.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Friday classes @ VCF East
by Evan Koblentz 02 Feb '19

02 Feb '19

"Ask the expert" panel is a great idea! Definitely will do that. Having people bring in their own systems is a no-go. Insurance liability. On Sat, Jan 19, 2019, 4:23 PM Jeffrey Golas via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org wrote: > Rather than a restoration class on a particular model or brand, how about > an “ask the expert” panel with a panel of peeps who specialize in a > particular brand/era of machine? Perhaps even two, one for 8-biters and > another for different era machines or big iron. > > My other idea is along the same line, but almost like a mini workshop with > tables set up with experts on various machines, people can bring in their > machines to ask questions, etc. Not a full blown soldering/repair thing, > but perhaps basic troubleshooting and cosmetic stuff. > > Jeff (aka Bags)

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More facets of hard disk recovery (SA1000, RD53) and emulation
by David Gesswein 01 Feb '19

01 Feb '19

I have made a SA1000 adapter board for my MFM reader emulator. I did a small run which seems to work so if you are interested email me to get in on the next order. Prices may get a little better if I get enough orders. http://www.pdp8online.com/mfm/ http://www.pdp8online.com/mfm/sa1000/sa1000_usage.shtml I have used it for reading Shugart SA1004 and Quantum Q2040 drives. Another has used it to replace drive in a TRS-80 Model II 8 Meg drive unit. Some other items that may be of interest: Dealing with stuck head problem with Quantum Q2040 drives http://www.pdp8online.com/q2040/q2040.shtml Using a DAC to pull the head servo to recover otherwise unreadable data from DEC RD53 drive. Also procedure tried for Q2040 but data had been erased so not successful. http://www.pdp8online.com/mfm/head_servo/

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Broken PET free to good home
by Evan Koblentz 01 Feb '19

01 Feb '19

Says our friend BernieS of 2600 fame: >> Hi Evan, Does VCF or anyone you know want a reportedly unused Commodore CBM 8032? It was dropped and the CRT broke (see photo) and it reportedly sat unused for 38 years. Someone just gave it to my friend Bob who designed those Apple II I/O cards I brought to Festivus and gave to Dimitry and Ian. Let me know if you really want it. I can pick it up next time I visit my mother 200 miles north of Philly, and bring it to VCF East. Or not, if you don't want it. << I declined: we have enough. Anyone who wants it should contact him directly at bernies(a)panix.com.

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