- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 24 Mar '18

24 Mar '18

Dean, Drew, and I were at the museum today working on the network upgrade. We'll have to finish it next week (probably Adam and I) due to some glitches experienced today. But we got a bunch of prep work done, we learned some things not to do :) (pro tip: use a real Cisco console cable, not a homemade one), and we have a solid plan for how to proceed based on advice from Chris L. and Martin. We also did some work on the BBS server and a few miscellaneous things.

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test
by Jeffrey Brace 24 Mar '18

24 Mar '18

Just checking to see if I can get e-mail replies from this list.

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Museum report Saturday 3/24
by Tony Bogan 24 Mar '18

24 Mar '18

Headed up to the museum around 11 today to get some work done on the warehouse apple computers and help Bill D #3 with the Univac. (He does the fixin, I do the liftin) Bill made the ride out to be docent today. Ended up being there till just before closing. Bill got the cooling fan that was not working in the CPU replaced and the new one running. He also did some work on the tape punch/reader and teletype. As I've said before, so cool to see this machine coming alive!! Light day for visitors. When not moving the heavy stuff there wasn't much else I could do on the Univac (except watch and learn, which is definitely more enjoyable than lifting stuff!) so I ended up taking the visitors while Bill got work done on the computer. Two families came through. The first was a husband and wife with their young son. We set the son up playing solitaire on the IBM PC while I brought the couple through the museum. Bill had the teletype print the boys name out and gave him the printout. The parents were very interested and asked lots of questions. Fortunately I was able to answer a lot of them! Later in the day a grandmother with her two grandsons came through. The younger boy was more interested in everything but computers, but the older grandson (12 years old) would have made Ian proud!! Not only is he into vintage computers (which currently for him starts with mid to late 90s PCs & Macs so far) but he is an avid collector of CRTs. When he and I got talking about their use for vintage gaming and computers and he told me about when he was degaussing a tv and about the Sony trinitron he picked up for a song and a dance at a thrift shop, I knew I had met Ian's kindred spirit!! He also graciously offered to give us a crt if we ever needed one for the museum as he currently is up to 15 working ones! Only a few but a few quality visitors today. Tony Sent from my iPhone

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Artifact handling and becoming better caretakers
by Erik Klein 23 Mar '18

23 Mar '18

Greetings list members and museum volunteers, The first thing we want to do is say thank you for your enthusiasm and for volunteering. This is an all-volunteer organization and nothing happens without your effort. In keeping with our mission to educate on computer history, the Vintage Computer Federation does outreach, manages a sizable collection and, occasionally, does some preservation work. The museum is fortunate to have had some truly unusual artifacts entrusted to us. We are just temporary caretakers; it is our job to ensure that those artifacts continue on to the next set of caretakers. While we are aware of several possible areas for improvement, it has come to our attention that artifact handling is something that needs our attention now. A quorum of the board of directors spoke the other night and we agreed that, although the museum has done well so far, we could "up our game" and do even better. As a result, we are going to draw up a plan for getting consultation and help from other museums and any other authorities that we can locate. The goal will be additional training for museum volunteers on proper artifact handling and collection management. We have good contacts at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View and Living Computers:Museum+Labs in Seattle, both of which are well known and highly regarded. Acquiring whatever of their expertise we can beg, borrow or steal will benefit us and help us carry out our long term mission. We don't have a timetable for getting this done yet; the idea is a few days old so far. In the interim please be mindful that what has been entrusted to us might be very unusual and unique, and, quite frankly, irreplaceable. Until we get more formal guidelines and training the goal should be to stabilize and preserve artifacts, and not to alter them in any way unless there is an active threat to them. This includes deep cleaning, adhesive removal, major repairs, etc. Let’s acknowledge that we don't know what we don't know, and, until we know better, we should be extremely cautious. Thanks for your consideration and patience. If you have questions or comments please reach out to any member of the board of directors. Regards, Mike, Erik, Jeff, Corey, and Bill -- ----- Erik Klein www.vintage-computer.com - My personal collection www.vcfed.org - The Vintage Computer Federation www.vcfed.org/forum <http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum> - The Vintage Computer Forums marketplace.vintage-computer.com - The Vintage Computer and Gaming Marketplace

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OT: OM2 Duplex Fiber Patch Cord SC/LC
by Joseph Oprysko 23 Mar '18

23 Mar '18

Does anyone here have a use for such a cable? I was shipped it from Amazon, when the item ordered was a 3D Printer... Don’t Ask. LOL. The 3rd party vendor refunded me my payment, and said don’t bother shipping it back (likely because it shipped from the UK, the return costs would be prohibitive) So I have this brand new Fiberoptic Patch cable, and have ABSOLUTELY NO USE for. It’s 3 meters (about 10 feet) long. While I actually have a device that would support it (my Cisco Metal 8 port Switch), when used with a fiber transceiver, which I don’t have, as well as no fiber network card for my PC. Joe -- Normal Person: Hey, it seems that you know a lot. Geek: To be honest, it's due to all the surfing I do. Normal Person: So you go surfing? Normal Person: But I don't think that has anything to do with knowing a lot... Geek: I think that's wrong on a fundamental level. Normal Person: Huh? Huh? What?

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Another eBay Lisa 1 auction, 50K...
by Evan Koblentz 23 Mar '18

23 Mar '18

https://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-APPLE-LISA-1-TWIGGY-COMPUTER-COMPLETE-AND-WOR…

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Computer math (was 33! science project)
by Jeffrey Jonas 22 Mar '18

22 Mar '18

Long long ago, I ran Whitesmiths' "C" compiler under CP/M on a Z80 system but forgot what data types were "native". I also have PL/1 for CP/M. While "native" data types are definitely faster (word-sized integers), even the Z80 had math co-processors. Before it was on-die, there was a variety of 8087 math co-processors by Cyrix, AMD as well as Intel. So speed and precision were far from "standardized". -- jeff jonas

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Artifact handling and becoming better caretakers
by Herb Johnson 22 Mar '18

22 Mar '18

> The goal will be additional training for > museum volunteers on proper artifact handling and collection management. > In the interim please be mindful that what has been entrusted > to us might be very unusual and unique, and, quite frankly, irreplaceable. > Until we get more formal guidelines and training the goal should be to > stabilize and preserve artifacts, and not to alter them in any way unless > there is an active threat to them. This includes deep cleaning, adhesive > removal, major repairs, etc. Let’s acknowledge that we don't know what we > don't know, and, until we know better, we should be extremely cautious. Well, I read the statement signed by the Board of Directors of VCF Inc. It's a very careful and cautious statement, about the need to preserve our artifacts intact, and not damage them, and what we don't know about preserving them - and so let's wait for some comprehensive policy from some peer museums "who know what we don't know". My initial reaction was to write another cautious statement, about the need to RESTORE artifacts, the 'present threat' of time that already is damaging them, about the need to recover data. About employing old-persons NOW, who worked on these machines, who won't be around "later". About others, such as private owners, who are restoring and who can use our help as we work on our own artifacts. And so on.... But that's reacting to a reaction, I decided. I respect, that the VCF Inc. Board, has to show due diligence, and take actions in policy. But you know - we all know each other, in vintage computing, many of us do. We know who is working on what, who has what, and where that work is going on. If not, there's the Internet. We all know (most of us) how age is affecting equipment, and ourselves, and those who still are alive who made this stuff. "Decay" is a fact not a what-if. We know who's interested in this stuff, how they get interested, preservation is one interest, restoration another, education another, and so on. "Some of us", includes you Members of the Board; and those reading these words on this list. For the oldest of us (me), time and delay are not our friends. We may each have our points of view - some enjoy repair, some don't. But we collectively know quite a lot, and we have ears and mouths to engage about these matters. So, let's take a deep breath, before we lecture each other like we've never met before, and don't know our ignorance. The initial issue, was about removing paint while removing tape goo. Let's not do that - that's a good idea. Message received I believe. But saying like, "don't touch until we create a corporate policy about preservation among our peer organizations", may make a few people "nervous", may seem a bit "reactive". VCF Incorporated, as I've suggested, *already* has many good people doing many good things about repair and restoration, emulation, or archiving. People like to be appreciated - acknowledged - for work done and contributions made. The due diligence of the Board, may call for caution at times, or some executive decision. But the work of VCF Inc - as your statement notes - is accomplished by people who have demonstrated trust AND expertise; demonstrated by their results. So: Consider the volunteers in hand. Have some trust, that they all won't rub the paint off the console. These are the people who will help you, the Board of Directors, in developing policies - which is what Boards do, among other things. And, they will do the work of preservation, a goal of the Board. They are your first "experts". Others who benefit from their work, can speak up if found and asked. I get many inquiries myself, from *emulators* - those who write and support emulators, do very hard work to resurrect documents and software and hardware, to make their emulations "work". It's not my preference, but, hey ! there's more of them, than more of ME. No three-phase needed, no garage-of-racks, just a PeeCee. Some people start their vintage interest that way. (shrug) It's reasonable to ask other institutions too. You might ask other artifact-based museums - machine tools, steam engines, antique autos. I'm *sure* they have discussions and policies about "fix/don't fix" "touch/don't touch" which would inform your Board. Their interests in legacy are no less than yours, or mine - my modest experiences suggest that to me. And, if the Board want to discuss particular policies in this email list, or elsewhere, that's a reasonable thing. I'm a little startled by this particular context. I hope this is a more useful response, than dueling lectures. We are, mostly, on the same side. Also, note the informed posts about removing tape adhesive. regards, Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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old file formats
by Jeffrey Jonas 22 Mar '18

22 Mar '18

Apropos of data restoration and copying-up old files: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-to-open-old-computer-files The Quest for a Universal Translator for Old, Obsolete Computer Files To preserve bygone software, files, and more, researchers are working to emulate decades-old technology in the cloud. by Jessica Leigh Hester March 08, 2018 Of course, all that can be lost if not openly replicated on other systems.

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Trenton
by Herb Johnson 21 Mar '18

21 Mar '18

Since TCF is walking distance from my home, I was there this year. It was, as Evan says, much like the last few years. There's one or two vendors who bring vintage-computing items, and then several others you see at hamfests with modern computers, and a few parts vendors. It's early in the hamfest season so it's good to see these folks again. I bought some widgets, my friends bought some vintage things, I scarfed up the tossouts at the end. There was a 3D printer dealer there. The talks are of the same sorts as recent, mostly about doing modern computing in various aspects. Since early personal computing included "embedded" issues like networking, operating things, coding - modern computing topics in embedded work are of interest to many of us oldies. THey show off some college-engineering student work, some robotics. Neil Cherry's talk was fine, and I recommend looking at IoT stuff through the eyes of vintage computing "nuts and bolts". Frank O'Brian spoke on the Space Shuttle computer - he's part of Infoage, wrote about the Apollo Guidance Computer. Other talks may be of interest to some who read this. A surprising talk, was by a high-school student, who is making his own semiconductors in his garage. When his talk began with "here's how a semiconductor works...." I was worried. Spoiler: he's using 1990's class small-run semiconductor technology, and a bit of optical hacking, and some common household items. And he's getting it done. Best talk I've heard in years, me being a BSEE from the 1970's, that's what I learned then. Not sure the "gamers" would be interested, but the "makers" among us ought to be. The Sarnoff Collection had a table during the morning, and opened their museum in the afternoon which is a short walk away. Go there sometime, to see the COSMAC computers, some blue LEDs (RCA uncovered the breakthru technology), and radio/TV stuff if that's of interest. I work with them so they get my attention. The 1802 *is* a New Jersey microprocessor. TCF has topics of interest to modern computing technologists, and also a strong amateur radio component. You can get your ham license in a day spent there, like many hamfests offer. It's not the parking lot of old-tech dealers it used to be, but it's not a bad way to spend a day-of-tech. Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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