- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Help! We need a VCF East keynote speaker
by Eric Rangell 22 Feb '18

22 Feb '18

Hello all, Jason Scott and I would like to recommend Ed Smith, if he is available and willing to talk. He can be contacted through Benj Edwards. Here is an article about him written by Benj: http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/1230/ed-smith-interview Thanks, Eric

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Hello World
by Matt Reynolds 22 Feb '18

22 Feb '18

Hello, At Evan's suggestion I'm reaching out with a Hello World note. I know some of you from my years spent at InfoAge. I am an active member of the NJARC located there, have a thing for vintage electronics, and have been a lifelong tinkerer. I am a network engineer and for the time being am employed at a large chemical company. I've always been more on the tech\hardware side of IT, and have always been fascinated by the machines and equipment that preceded what we have today. I haven't spent much time playing around in the vintage computer hobby in the last few years, and being 32 I may have just caught the tail end of the wild west era of home PCs (or came in right after it). Most of the old tech I have played with was already old when I was goofing with it, even in the past. I do still have a few older 8 bit era machines, but it's been awhile since i've played with them, mostly due to space\time constraints. at some point I'll fire some of them back up and get back into it. For now I'll lurk and see what everyone else is up to!. Hope everyone is well. Regards, Matt Reynolds

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Looking for Lomas Color Magic board
by Richard Cini 22 Feb '18

22 Feb '18

Guys — I’m coming to the April workshop to bring my Gazelle replica and I thought I’d ask to see if anyone had a working Lomas Color Magic board that they want to part with. If so, let me know off-list. Thanks. Get Outlook for iOS

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 22 Feb '18

22 Feb '18

I had a meeting at InfoAge at 6:30 tonight, so I spent the afternoon there to get some work done. Arrived at 1pm and found Tony there working on assessment + repair of VCF's Apple II collection (above and beyond the initial assessment/repair that Adam and I did a few months ago). Tony was able to repair some of the systems that Adam and I couldn't. He also helped me do some warehouse tasks and various museum things. NJARC's John Dilks has been a friend to us since many years ago and spoke at VCF East one year. Of course he's known as the man behind the Personal Computing '76 show in Atlantic City. Today he brought us some cool posters. One is a custom-made, full-color map of the "Adventure" cave. Another is a Cromemco poster from the '78 edition of the Personal Computing event (after it moved to Philly). Yet another is some Cromemco schematics, and a booth layout of one of his events (I think '78 as well) -- unfortunately the booths only show numbers, not company names. A few updates about InfoAge from tonight's meeting: - They're planning to install an ADA ramp to our building this summer - There may be more paving this summer, giving us a smoother path for moving things between our building and the front buildings - The annual WW2 weekend is August 27-28. I will see about giving a talk for that event on computing during the war period. - Next month is the 25th anniversary of when the local daily newspaper (Asbury Park Press) ran an article titled "Camp Evans likely to fade into oblivion" yet here we are with a vibrant community!

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Techno-Swap-Fest at the National Electronics Museum
by William Sudbrink 21 Feb '18

21 Feb '18

For anybody down DC way this weekend: http://www.nationalelectronicsmuseum.org/events-calendar.shtml Bill S. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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Kemner Surplus visit
by Mike Loewen 21 Feb '18

21 Feb '18

It was a nice day for a drive, so I finally paid a visit to Kemner's Surplus Warehouse in Pottstown. Interesting place, with something for everyone. Vintage computer-wise, there are piles of Apple ][e systems and disk drives, various Mac vintages, C64s, Vic 20s, TRS-80 Cocos (all versions). I saw a TRS-80 Model I and a couple of monitors, and two Model II disk expansion bays (one with 1 drive and the other with 3 drives). Printers, joysticks, software, game cartridges, plotters, monitors, keyboards galore. Test equipment-wise, there were many varieties of oscilloscopes, meters, signal generators. Old radios, tape machines, slide and movie projectors. Several aisles worth of electronics components: resistors, capacitors, sockets, switches, transformers, ICs, lamp sockets, fuse holders, cables, probes, etc. I was briefly excited when I noticed an HP1000 under a pile of stuff. Too good to be true. Written on it was "bad power supply, bad memory controller, bad backplane". Plus, it was missing the front panel switch/indicator assembly. It was a model 2112A, one of the earlier models. Oh, well. I even found a disc pack for my 404MB HP drive, but it was dusty outside AND inside. I picked up several bags full of parts and a new scope probe. The prices on the small parts are pretty reasonable. However, the prices on the vintage computer stuff are way too high, IMO. $125 for a ][e, $65 for a TRS-80 Model I monitor, $150 for a Model I CPU/keyboard. You may be able to negotiate for slightly better prices. If you visit, you should be able to get a system tested and configured for your needs. Oh yeah - an IBM System 34 for $9,000 or "Make a good offer". Rusty and dusty. The systems in the vintage computer room are generally clean, but many of them on the shelves on the main floor are dusty and dirty. All in all, it was a worthwhile trip. If you need parts, it's a good place to check out. Mike Loewen mloewen(a)cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/

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VCF East Exhibit
by Joseph Oprysko 21 Feb '18

21 Feb '18

Unfortunately, this year, I don’t really have the energy or strength to do an exhibit for this VCF-East. But if someone nearby (Philly and northern suburbs or maybe slightly into NJ near the PA Turnpike Extension) is looking for help for the upcoming event, I’m available. I’ve just been in too much pain lately, and haven’t been able to focus much, since the doctor that was treating my anxiety, etc., closed down without warning or notifying the patients. So I’ve had an extremely difficult time accomplishing much of anything these past few months. 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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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] semi OT: need help with terminal server
by Jeffrey Jonas 20 Feb '18

20 Feb '18

Many thanks to Neil Cherry for the prompt reply of notes and manuals!

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Museum Report - Sunday 2/18/2018
by Douglas Crawford 20 Feb '18

20 Feb '18

We had two sets of interested visitors that both enjoyed the exhibits. Chris Fala was co-docent for the day. We car pooled on the way. Its way more fun to docent in pairs, folks! Also- a bonus for us- Tony Bogan dropped by in the afternoon for continuing MAC restoration work and stayed with us till closing, and also helped docent while our two sets of guests had a period of overlap. Tony also told us about the changes that had been made to the Apple II and showed us how to start the disk slide show from the integer ROM prompt. He also showed us how to get the NeXT started and properly shut it down without logging out. (So no login is needed on the next power up, which is nicer) The first visitors were a couple that had been in the industry and had operated punched card equipment. They didn't stay really long but were very appreciative of what we had to offer. They mentioned they might have a photograph of the two of them back in the day, at their job with the computer equipment, that they may share with us. The second visitors were a father/son who spent a long time The boy was about 12 years old and was captivated by the 80s micros. It was clear he had been exposed to a lot of vintage tech on the web and knew that the C= 1541 was an intelligent device that could (his words) "handle the work of the drive management itself compared to the 'UNintellegent' Apple drive that tied up the computer while disk reading and writing" :O I think Tony was out of earshot for that unfortunately :) Impressive. In all fairness though, I told him how Commodore had botched the communication to and from the drive making the accesses still slow. And HE asked a great question- if there was a fix- and told him there were products from other companies that replaced the ROM code and greatly sped up the transfers. He got to write a little bit of BASIC on the C64. The day went smoothly and we had a nice time working together. Docenting is rewarding. You never know who will walk through the door and what they have done. Its not unusual for folks in the industry drop in and tell you interesting things they have done. If you live within a few hours of Wall Township consider doing it once a quarter. And keep in mind, if you don't docent, its really nice to have club members drop by and visit. Its yet another opportunity to meet face to face with your vintage computer colleagues.

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FS: Reproduction Solid State Music IO-2 Boards
by systems_glitch 20 Feb '18

20 Feb '18

All, I've finally got my reproduction SSM IO-2 board squared away! Pictures of the dev process and the final result: https://imgur.com/a/MbmWO These boards are reproductions from Gerber files scanned at 4000 DPI from my oldest original IO-2 board. I simulated the original blue FR4 that SSM used by doing a solder mask relief for all of the copper on the board, so all of the traces and pads are 100% exposed like the original, and the blue solder mask is just over what would've been bare FR4 in the originals. The edge connectors appear a little short as the fab had to extend the HASL and solder mask a little to get good results with the hard gold edge connector plating. Price is $30/board plus shipping. Shipping in the US is $5 for one (padded envelope), $12 for two or more (box). Overseas shipping is $16 for one or $25 for two or more. Contact me off-list with interest. Thanks, Jonathan

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