- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Bowmar Brain, MOS, C=
by Douglas Crawford 16 Apr '17

16 Apr '17

I had a "Bowmar Brain" calculator in high school that my Dad gave me. When calc prices dropped to nothing, it seemed fit for me to dissect the Bowmar and see what was inside and it never got put back together. I think I thought I could hook it up and drive it like a math coprocessor or something. That never happened. I just ran across this paragraph in the MITS Wiki linking Bowmar to MOS Technology, and then C=: MOS supplied Bowmar calculator ICs... Bowmar imploded, I suppose one of the cripplers of MOS... leading to C= buying MOS. Bowmar Instrument Corporation introduced the "Bowmar Brain", a four-function pocket calculator, in September 1971 and the $179 calculator sold over 500,000 copies in the first year. Bowmar then developed the "901B" calculator that was priced at $120.[30] In September 1972, Texas Instruments (TI) introduced the TI-2500 portable four-function calculator that also sold for $120.[31] The 901B and the TI-2500 both used the TI TMS0100 family of "calculator-on-a-chip" integrated circuit. TI was now directly competing with their IC customers. Other semiconductor companies such as National Semiconductor and Rockwell began selling calculators. Commodore Business Machines and other office equipment companies also got into the market. A frenzied price war started. By early 1974, Ed Roberts found he could purchase a calculator in a retail store for less than his cost of materials. The larger companies could sell below cost to win market share. Bowmar lost $20 million in 1974 and filed for bankruptcy.[32] Commodore acquired their IC supplier, MOS Technology. Texas Instruments won the price war but their calculator division lost $16 million in 1975.[33] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Instrumentation_and_Telemetry_Systems

2 1

Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 16 Apr '17

16 Apr '17

Good day at the museum. There was a grand opening today for the wireless operators' exhibit down the hall from us, so we have a lot of visitors. Around 20 total of all ages spread over several hours. Bill Dudley stopped by around 4pm. We began the process of transferring the kiosk system from a hidden directory on vcfed.org to an internal server (on a Raspberry Pi!) in the museum. We're going to need a static IP service for remote access to the kiosk server and our IP security cameras.

5 6

vintage laptop museum web site in Russia
by william degnan 15 Apr '17

15 Apr '17

http://vintage-laptops.com/?page_id=2&lang=en This guy has been collecting and photographing his collection for years now, he has one of the most comprehensive collections I have seen. Bill

3 3

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Vintage Computer Lunch - Falls Church VA Saturday
by J. Alexander Jacocks 15 Apr '17

15 Apr '17

I really wish that I could make it, but I'm still in the middle of this moving-house nightmare. Maybe we should try to make this a regular thing, and put something on the calendar, once a month? We could alternate between weekends and weekdays, and flip back and forth between VA and MD, to try to give everyone local the opportunities to attend? - Alex On Sat, Apr 15, 2017 at 01:14 Alexander Pierson via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > I will pick a similar past t-shirt. However, my derby will probably be > the dead-giveaway. > -Alexander 'Z' Pierson > > > On Friday, April 14, 2017 10:45 PM, Ethan via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > > > >>> How about Vintage Computer Lunch in Falls Church VA this Saturday > >>> April 15th, 12:30 at Don and Claires Beach Shack? > > I will wear my red VCF East shirt from this year to make it easier to find > me. Maybe I'll bring an 8" Floppy Disk or something for the table but the > shirt should give it away. > > See whomever tomorrow at 12:30! > > - Ethan > > > > > | | Virus-free. www.avast.com | > >

1 0

Vintage Computer Lunch - Falls Church VA Saturday?
by Ethan 15 Apr '17

15 Apr '17

How about Vintage Computer Lunch in Falls Church VA this Saturday April 15th, 12:30 at Don and Claires Beach Shack? This can be the first of a repeating thing? I don't really want to use meetup like the scuba group does as meetup charges a fairly hefty fee for the service. - Ethan O'Toole

6 7

TESTING...5...4..3..2..1...
by Dan Roganti 14 Apr '17

14 Apr '17

ACK made it back on the List after the extreme Lag problem Dan

2 1

Lear Siegler ADM-3A terminal with GraFix board / Tektronix 4015-1
by william degnan 14 Apr '17

14 Apr '17

New projects... Anyone seen/have a Lear Siegler terminal with GraFix board? I discovered a GraFix board in the belly of this one: http://www.vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=673 Naturally the terminal does not work, not sure how worth it is to dive into yet another ADM-3A. For now it'll go onto the list. * * * Related news, I also picked up a Tektronix 4015-1 terminal. Blew the fuse when I powered it on. Needs restoration, etc. http://www.vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=671 I documented the rescue for future fun watching. Rescues are one of the best parts of this hobby. You never know what you'll find. Bill

1 0

Someone's ebay sale...
by Evan Koblentz 13 Apr '17

13 Apr '17

Not endorsing, just posting: http://m.ebay.com/itm/252862057276?_mwBanner=1

2 1

List check. Please disregard
by MailmanLists Support 13 Apr '17

13 Apr '17

17:20 EDT 07:20 AEST List check. Please disregard.

1 0

Test
by Jeffrey Brace 13 Apr '17

13 Apr '17

Where is my prefix? -- Jeff Brace - ark72axow(a)gmail.com Sent from my Commodore 64 ========================================================

4 5