- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

batteries in computers (was: NeXTstation)
by Herb Johnson 06 Dec '17

06 Dec '17

In regards to the possible battery in a NeXTstation. Also, this post is appropriate to the discussion on "inventory". > Check the large Panasonic lithium battery on the [NeXT] motherboard, > like a Mac II, it will not boot with a dead battery. > They are still produced and available from Mouser, the > Mac cubes and the slabs use the same type of battery. Caution: the lithium batteries used in various computers to keep time-of-day running, and to retain other information (as in "Mac PRAM battery"), have good odds of *leaking* and emitting hydrogen or other gasses. The results are very, very damaging, and often not repairable. Details: Any vintage Mac collector, and some owners, have had the horror of opening their Mac and seeing several square inches of circuit-board covered in goo. And, adjacent metal surfaces covered in red rust - not just discoloration, but deep rust. Components in the vicinity, have rusted leads and through-holes on the PC boards. These are not repairable. I'm sure there's pictures on the Web of such damage. I myself, checked out several Macs recently, and found one so rusted by leakage, neither case nor motherboard was salvageable. The Mac Plus/128K/512K, has a large 4.5v battery, in a holder accessed without disassembling the case. Leaving the battery in those units, almost guarantees the battery-holder will green-rust and corrode. No battery is needed to operate these oldest Macs. Bottom line Suggestion: While the VCF Museum is doing their inventory and cataloging, it may be a good idea to inspect computers for these batteries *and remove those batteries* if not wired in. I suppose a note can be added inside the computer, to specify the kind of battery removed and where it was connected if not obvious. If it's known the computer won't start without a working battery, add that info to the note. Comment to "this is too complicated, too much work, etc." This is the cost of long-term ownership. The space and time taken by a computer, will be lost if it it self-destructs and that's not discovered until that computer is needed or accessed. Herb Johnson retrotechnology.com -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Festivus food we need
by Jeffrey Brace 06 Dec '17

06 Dec '17

Hot dogs 4 10 packs kosher beef hot dogs (Nathans, Hebrew National, etc.) Burgers 4 20 Packs Shoprite Brand Burger buns 40 Hot dog Buns 20 Tomatoes 2 Cheese 3 packs of 16 Pickles 1 20 OZ Ketchup 1 20 oz. Mustard 1 19 oz. Paper towels 2 80 sheet roll Milk 1 Half Gallon Orange Juice 1 Half Gallon Head of Lettuce 1 If you want to bring one of these, then let me know and I will put it down on the list.

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Festivus Feats of strength - Bills vs. Jeffs vs. Jonahtan's (sorry only two Evan's)
by Jeffrey Brace 06 Dec '17

06 Dec '17

In the Festivus tradition we will be doing the feats of strength. While individuals will be wrestling until someone is pinned, the Jeffs, Bills and Jonathans will be doing a tag team tournament to determine the champion.

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Festivus 2017 Info readme2.txt (part 2)
by Jeffrey Brace 06 Dec '17

06 Dec '17

*EQUIPMENT:* VCF will have tables setup for food and games. We will have two full sized refrigerators and one full sized freezer to temporarily store food and drinks. We will be borrowing *my* propane grill to cook hamburgers and hot dogs outside. *DRINKS:* Everyone is encouraged to bring their own drinks and enough to share with others. Bring your favorite and put what you are bringing on the list: *FOOD:* VCF will be supplying hamburgers, hot dogs, condiments, plates, forks, napkins, cups. I sent out a list of what we need. E-mail me if you want to bring. You are encouraged to bring your own favorite good and put what you are bringing on the list: *IMPORTANT TO KEEP FOOD AND DRINKS IN THE CAFETERIA! THIS IS THE RULE OF THE FACILITY OWNERS.* *ENTERTAINMENT?* Ian: Vintage video games and boob tubes. Jeff Brace: Namco Joystick games, C64 Jostick Games, Intellivision Joystick Games, C64 with Super CPU and Metal Dust with optional PS2 controller, Cards Against Humanity!, Vectrex Evan: Will be entertaining us bad jokes and stinky farts. Bill Degnan: Live action Terrance and Philip skit with Jeff Brace. Name the farter/burper: Throughout the night there will be a contest to identify who farted or burped. Difficulty will increase when we are all in bed and it is dark. *STAYING OVERNIGHT?* Let me know if you want to stay overnight. The cost is $25. A mattress is provided in a bunk bed frame. You provide your own mattress cover, blankets, pillows. There is a shower area, lounge, bunk beds, hot water for tea, microwave oven, toaster oven, keurig, coffee pot, ice machine, sink, cable TV, wi-fi. Evan will be responsible for sorting the snoring people into the "snoring room" and the non-snoring people into the "non-storing" room. To get an accurate headcount, let me know as soon as possible that you are staying overnight and how many nights. There will be coffee, milk, cream, sugar and tea bags available as well. * BUYING, SELLING, FREEBIES :* You are allowed to bring items to sell and trade with specific individuals, but this isn't a hamfest where you get a table to sell your stuff. If you want to bring your stuff, you are encourage to post to the list what you want to sell/trade and set it up ahead of time with individuals. Anything you bring in and don't sell/trade, you bring home. We can set aside a freebie table as per traditional, but you *must* take your stuff home before leaving if no one takes it. *SIGN-UP LINK:* https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1odmPxfBK9BrR-NDZIx4_c-V2lZpt_-vU- 3fIBGiyrM4/edit?usp=sharing If anyone is actually reading this, then reply with 42.

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Festivus 2017 gifts to all and door prize
by Jeffrey Brace 06 Dec '17

06 Dec '17

All those attending Festivus will receive a gift of a slide rule. We had tons of them donated so we want to say thank you to all who support us during the year. There will be a door prize of an Atari Flashback 2 machine. Evan will write a BASIC program to randomly determine the winner. He's gotten so good at writing BASIC on his Apple 2. If he is ambitious he might even write it in assembly.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Festivus Feats of strength - Bills vs. Jeffs vs. Jonahtan's (sorry only two Evan's)
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 06 Dec '17

06 Dec '17

Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic writes: > >> In the Festivus tradition we will be doing the feats of strength. >While > individuals will be wrestling until someone is pinned, the >Jeffs, Bills and > Jonathans will be doing a tag team tournament to >determine the champion. > >I think we'll have to adjust that to something more appropriate for >vintage computer collectors! Sliderule lightsaber battles? Noooo... don't nick and or damage them like that.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Festivus 2017 gifts to all and door prize
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 06 Dec '17

06 Dec '17

Drew Notarnicola via vcf-midatlantic writes: >I guess it's time I actually learned how to use them. <SHOCKED!>

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Festivus 2017 gifts to all and door prize
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 06 Dec '17

06 Dec '17

Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic writes: > >> All those attending Festivus will receive a gift of a slide rule. We >had > tons of them donated so we want to say thank you to all who >support us > during the year. > >Adam and I have them ready: http://vcfed.org/evan/sr.jpg I never had a Picket. I'd love an all metal LOG-LOG if there is one and one that's in good shape which I'd assume they are seeing as how you've got them boxed!

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Your Christmas wish list (ca. 1984)
by Glenn Roberts 05 Dec '17

05 Dec '17

Interesting look back 33 years to the hot "techie" wish list items of 1984, courtesy of Radio Shack. The computers are mostly toward the end. Fun to reminisce! http://www.timesunion.com/life/christmas/article/Take-a-look-back-at-a-Radi… - Glenn

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Have you grown tired of your WiF232 Internet Modem?
by jsalzman＠gmail.com 05 Dec '17

05 Dec '17

C64 users can get the Strikelink for WiFi modem capabilities that uses an AT command set similar to the WiFi232. Perhaps the creator of the Strikelink could be convinced to make a serial port version of his adapter. https://1200baud.wordpress.com/2017/03/17/strikelink-c64-300-9600-baud-wifi… On Dec 5, 2017 9:33 AM, "Jason Howe via vcf-midatlantic" < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: On 12/04/2017 03:58 PM, Ethan via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > I've spoken with Paul Rickards about helping make more units. There's some >> new competition as mentioned, and unless Paul has a real burning desire to >> share files then it's probably not worth cloning as I / Manila Gear had >> planned. >> > > Ah cool. The things I'm aware of on Amazon and such aren't really ... > aimed at the same market? They're commercial serial servers similar to the > Lantronix MSS and MS units, Digi Portserver units and such aimed at > commercial people using them for automation, signage, access control > systems and such. > After some talking with Bill Degnan and John Morris (Applesauce: >> https://wiki.reactivemicro.com/Applesauce) I think there are some issue >> that need to be addressed with the project in order to better support more >> platforms as well as some missing options. When Morris is done with >> Applesauce we have plans to tackle some other less relevant projects and >> this particular one I feel should be pretty simple. And if done correctly >> can offer a lot more to the retro community than the current solutions. >> > > Really SSH client support is the only thing I can think of, and that might > require more processor ass. > > The neat thing about the wifi232 (from what I've read) is that it supports > ATDT to dial out, so as long as term program doesn't do input restriction > you could have a directory of hosts in say -- qmodem. > > An ISA card might be cool :-) But if you made an ISA card version for the > DOS people, you could also leave jumpers to cut or not install and leave > off the uart with just pins for serial lines then it could also be > installed inside an Amiga 2000ish computers. > > Not sure when the project would start, however I guess about April assuming >> all goes well with Applesauce in the coming months. >> > > So many projects... so little time! > > - Ethan > > I've been very happy using my Lantronix Device for a couple years now. The only think I really want for is a newer model Lantronix device that will take a hostname rather than an IP address. Some of the BBSes I frequent have a VERY dynamic ip address. SSH access would be really nice to have, but honestly I just "dial" into my Linux box and bounce out from there. I was using a rpi as a telnet/ssh 'gateway' for a while, but then needed it for something else, but it worked quite well for that purpose as well. --Jason

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