- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Team 1 -- Commodore
by Evan Koblentz 08 Dec '16

08 Dec '16

Todd leaked it so here goes -- the first team is Commodore with Anthony B., Bill W., Todd, Doug, and Chris F. -- but they haven't yet told me their captain or team name. Waiting.... hey guys how about "Commodorks"? :)

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Keyboard keyswitches wanted
by Herb Johnson 08 Dec '16

08 Dec '16

A colleague of mine, is trying to repair his mid-1970's keyboard. He may well find old-stock unused keyswitches, but I'm betting not. They were likely made by MicroSwitch, owned at some point by Honeywell. They are Hall-effect. They have four pins, they need 5V power. This is not a common microcomputer. Here's a link to deskthority.net, of what the keyswitches look like. https://deskthority.net/wiki/Micro_Switch_SD_Series specifically: https://deskthority.net/wiki/File:2011-11-07_16.15.40.jpg But there's lots of variations. No point in describing them further, most won't have these keyswitches. If you have something like this, and can unsolder several (and one for inspection), contact me directly and we'll go from there. Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Hoodies again!
by Evan Koblentz 07 Dec '16

07 Dec '16

>> I'm down for a quantity of 4 Okay. That is eight so far. We need two more to place an order.

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The trinity @ VCF East
by Evan Koblentz 07 Dec '16

07 Dec '16

As we discussed here several months ago, I'd like to see three "1977 trinity" exhibits at VCF East XII: one each for Apple, Commodore, and Tandy. Each of these mega-exhibits can have up to five people and will be given several tables. The goal is to see which team can best honor one of these three companies. By having multiple people on each team, you can pool resources to have every possible accessory and model. The main focus should be the '77 models -- Commodore PET 2001, straight Apple II, and TRS-80 Model 1 -- but we expect to see other models (older/newer) too. There will be a prize and bragging rights for the winning exhibit in this special event. Of course, there will be plenty of standard VCF exhibits too. Believe it or not :) our world does not revolve around these three companies. Form teams (max five people each) via private communication among yourselves. Each team should pick a captain. That's who will be the main contact for show logistics. Each team should also come up with a creative name! :) Captains: email me your team name and roster by this Friday night (December 9). If there is enough interest, then I will consider allowing competitive teams, such as Commodore A v. Commodore B -- who can interpret an exhibit best? But such teams should NOT work together. It wouldn't be fair to the other teams. GO!

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] [board-vcf-ma] Space for storing Commodore VCF East XII
by Evan Koblentz 07 Dec '16

07 Dec '16

In the interests of good sportsmanship, let's have the team names being pro-your own team, not anti-the other teams. :) But if there were homebrewed programs such as TRaSh Compactors (just an example, not my opinion of Tandy!), that would be funny. Got to draw a line somewhere!

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Keyboard keyswitches wanted
by Herb Johnson 07 Dec '16

07 Dec '16

A colleague of mine, is trying to repair his mid-1970's keyboard. He may well find old-stock unused keyswitches, but I'm betting not. They were likely made by MicroSwitch, owned at some point by Honeywell. They are Hall-effect. They have four pins, they need 5V power. This is not a common microcomputer. Here's a link to deskthority.net, of what the keyswitches look like. https://deskthority.net/wiki/Micro_Switch_SD_Series But there's lots of variations. No point in describing them further, most won't have these keyswitches. If you have something like this, and can unsolder several (and one for inspection), contact me directly and we'll go from there. Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] The trinity @ VCF East
by Todd George 07 Dec '16

07 Dec '16

Hey everyone! I have a shared web server with a fully configured and "ready to go" installation of the Mailman mailing list management software. It's the same software VCFed uses for this list as a matter of fact. I think I can carve out administrative roles for other folk and would be fully willing to do so if any other groups think it would be helpful. Hit me up off-list if you are interested. Full disclosure, I am one of the Commodore Exhibition team members. So potentially I'm the competition. I'm absolutely willing to help the other teams in any way I can. I am conscious of the potential conflict of interests here but want the overall Trinity exhibit to be the best it absolutely can be. I want VCF XII to be the "one everyone talks about". My intentions are honorable and can assure you that us Commodore guys are already well on our way and won't change our path now based on what other groups may talk about on any lists I host. Anyway, this is all in fun. Maybe you get bragging rights or something. :-D That said, we've been using it to keep the Commodore exhibition train on the tracks and organize ourselves. We also make a lot of use of Google Docs. I'd highly recommend similar solutions to the other Trinity teams. Also, for those that (for whatever reason) may not want my help from the mailing list perspective, the default cPanel installation that a lot of web hosts use will usually come with a pre-configured/pre-installed version of Mailman. Check with your hosting company if you would rather administer it yourself. :-) -Todd > ------------------------------ > Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2016 16:45:33 -0500 > From: Evan Koblentz <evan(a)snarc.net> > Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] The trinity @ VCF East > > As we discussed here several months ago, I'd like to see three "1977 > trinity" exhibits at VCF East XII: one each for Apple, Commodore, and > Tandy. > > <snip lots of egregious and extraneous Evan babble>

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] The trinity @ VCF East
by Mike Willegal 07 Dec '16

07 Dec '16

To do it right, replacing the missing keycap on Apple II #25 is going to be a little bit more trouble than you might think. Apple changed the font on the keycaps fairly early on. regards, Mike Willegal

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Google Ads on VC Forum
by Evan Koblentz 07 Dec '16

07 Dec '16

A suggestion was made (I think by Bill Drom. or Todd?) at Festivus that we eliminate Google Ads over on VC Forum. The cabal huddled :) and we agreed that the ads aren't necessary. A magic button was clicked in the forum administrative panel, and POOF! No more Google Ads. (Ads served a purpose when it was Erik's personal site. Any funds they brought the Federation were too modest to be worth their annoyance.)

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VCF East XII exhibit registration
by Evan Koblentz 06 Dec '16

06 Dec '16

VCF East XII exhibit registration is open! The deadline is Friday, March 10, at midnight. Early sign-ups will be rewarded. Procrastinators will be punished. :) http://www.vcfed.org/registration/exhibitor_register-online.php?event_id=2

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