- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

recent obits and amusement
by Jeffrey Jonas 09 Nov '24

09 Nov '24

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_E._Sporck Charles E. Sporck (November 15, 1927 - October 16, 2024) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duMUvoKP-pk Oral History of Charlie Sporck Computer History Museum https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/news/remembering-charles-sporck-the-johnny… Remembering Charles Sporck, the Johnny Appleseed of Fabs It takes more than physicists and electrical engineers to advance the semiconductor industry. Charles Sporck, ME, helped drive the early days of the tech industry with production, operations, and management expertise. Charles Edward Sporck, former CEO of National Semiconductor and key founding father of Silicon Valley, passed away at 96 on October 12. Sporck was at the helm of National Semiconductor as president and CEO from 1967 to 1991, but his journey to the heart of the tech industry started long before that. ____________________________________________________________________________________ The voice of Jane Barbe lives on as voice mail & automated telephone recordings: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Barbe Jane Barbe (July 29, 1928 - July 18, 2003) was an American voice actress and singer. She was known as the "Time Lady" for the recordings she made for the Bell System and other phone companies. She's joined by Elwood Hughes Edwards Jr. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elwood_Edwards Elwood Hughes Edwards Jr. (November 6, 1949 - November 5, 2024) was an American voice actor. His greetings include "Welcome", "You've got mail", "You've got pictures", "You've got voicemail", "File's done", and "Goodbye" https://youtu.be/JQ7EkDFl_3s 'You've Got Mail' Voice Elwood Edwards Dies at 74 ____________________________________________________________________________________ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcGREw84lu4 The Windows XP shutdown music played on different instruments.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Verizon contacts, Lucent 5ESS-2000 VCDX?
by Neil Cherry 08 Nov '24

08 Nov '24

On 11/4/24 17:37, N. Albert via vcf-midatlantic wrote: Nice pictures. I'm guessing that our lab had older batteries. They were huge beasts, one 2v per cell and fit the 4x4 description. I think the bottle of acid was in the case. Oh and for whomever is looking to get this thing. Don't go leaving it in the CDL for someone to pick up! ;-) Yike that's a huge beast. -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry kd2zrq(a)linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies KD2ZRQ

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SAVE THE DATE FOR FESTIVUS! Saturday, December 14, from 10AM to 1AM
by Jeffrey Brace 08 Nov '24

08 Nov '24

*DATE AND TIME: * Saturday, December 14 from 10AM until 1AM. *LOCATION:* At InfoAge: 2201 Marconi Rd, Wall Township, NJ 07719 *BUILDING:* *9010-D*, A.K.A. *The Visitors Center*, A.K.A. *The Sandy Dorms*, A.K.A. *The bunkrooms* *THERE IS NO OVERNIGHT STAY AVAILABLE! * Sorry, Wall Township no longer allows anyone to stay overnight in The Visitor's Center please use our discount hotel option or any other hotels in the area. *Atlantic Inn & Suites:* $80 per night and you must call the number directly: (732) 974-8400 AND mention Vintage Computer Federation More info to follow shortly! I'm finalizing all the other information and setup Google Sheets.

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Festivus, Saturday Dec. 14 @InfoAge
by Jeffrey Brace 05 Nov '24

05 Nov '24

I have successfully reserved Festivus on Saturday, Dec. 14 at InfoAge in the Sandy area (9010-D). There are no overnight stays available. So I would expect that we have to be out of there by a certain time. We can still resume in the morning. I was able to get a special rate at Atlantic Inn & Suites for Festivus for $80 per night. You have to mention Vintage Computer Federation and call directly to get the discount. We will have a mini-swap meet, food like last year, a game room. I will be sending out more information about tickets and signups for Festivus soon! For those of you new to our group read on: WHAT IS FESTIVUS? Festivus started out as a party years ago and took place 6 months after VCF East. At some point, it was officially called "Festivus" as recommended by Bernie S. It refers to the Seinfeld episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX55AzGku5Y. It is a make believe holiday around the same time as many other December holidays, but for us it is not religious, but simply Pure Vintage Computer Fun. WHAT DO YOU DO AT FESTIVUS? We barbecue hamburgers, hot dogs, perogies, etc. It is a Potluck, everyone brings a food and/or beverage item. It is vintage video game fun. We have a game room setup for Ian and others to set up their video games for everyone to play. It is a fellowship to catch up with members that we haven't seen for a while. Take care! Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner VCF Mid-Atlantic Event Manager Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Next Repair Workshop(s)
by Jeffrey Brace 05 Nov '24

05 Nov '24

*@InfoAge* Nov. 16-17: https://vcfed.org/repair-workshops-at-infoage/ If you are looking for an inexpensive place to stay overnight, then try The Atlantic Inn & Suites: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YK1N6WorCYnZUZ7F9 *@System Source* Nov. 23-23: https://ca.syssrc.com/wp/?page_id=85&civiwp=CiviCRM&q=civicrm%2Fevent%2Finf… Take care! Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner VCF Mid-Atlantic Event Manager Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Verizon contacts, Lucent 5ESS-2000 VCDX?
by Ethan O'Toole 04 Nov '24

04 Nov '24

Not to change the subject, but I've heard that Verizon is retiring all of their 5ESS hardware. Anyone have any contacts at Verizon regarding surplus equipment / scrap? I think it would be cool to try to build a running 5ESS VCDX system with a minimum amount of POTS circuits (64?) and trunks and all that. Compact -48v DC power supplies, Sun 1u for the emulator thing... A home sized build that can be connected to shadytel or one of the online hobbyist phone networks. Also, I don't really know that much about them. I've been reading some of the manuals that Nokia (who bought Alcatel who bought Lucent who was AT&T or whatever) has online. The facebook Class 5 group -- someone said the switch mdoule itself will take nearly a full rack, so that is interesting. Wikipedia said 3 racks. The place I worked that I think had one, it was 11 or 12racks but I never saw inside them -- no one seemed to know anything about it. Any leads appreciated. - Ethan

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Commodore 64 floppy disk exerciser
by Jeffrey Jonas 04 Nov '24

04 Nov '24

Someone brought a Commodore 64 diagnostic cartridge to a VCF workshop, long long ago, that did thorough floppy diagnostics: formatted a disk, checked RPM, seek times, etc. What was the cartridge and would you please bring it to an upcoming event? I need to qualify some drives I have. Thanks. -- jeff jonas

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clean old antistatic foam off IC pins?
by Matt Reynolds 01 Nov '24

01 Nov '24

Hi, Do any of you have any information on what is considered the best/most appropriate way to clean off petrified antistatic foam off of IC pins? I have come across some vintage ICs I want to save and try to sell to finance other parts of my hobby. These particular ones are gold plated, but that said, some of them have been corroded through regardless, while some are just ugly looking. I've been using IPA, drafting eraser, and Xacto knife to clean the majority of the crud off, but very few of the pins are looking particularly shiny. I don't want to get too aggressive and break more pins off, but they don't look all that great at the moment. Matt R

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] clean old antistatic foam off IC pins?
by Matt Reynolds 01 Nov '24

01 Nov '24

ooh, good idea. I'll give that a shot. Thanks, Matt On Fri, Nov 1, 2024 at 3:49 PM Tony Bogan via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > I’ve used a fiberglass pencil to clean the pins on ICs. Have not dealt > with gold plated ones myself so I cannot speak to them. > > Tony Bogan > > > > On Nov 1, 2024, at 3:45 PM, Matt Reynolds via vcf-midatlantic < > vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > > Hi, > > > > Do any of you have any information on what is considered the best/most > > appropriate way to clean off petrified antistatic foam off of IC pins? I > > have come across some vintage ICs I want to save and try to sell to > finance > > other parts of my hobby. These particular ones are gold plated, but that > > said, some of them have been corroded through regardless, while some are > > just ugly looking. > > > > I've been using IPA, drafting eraser, and Xacto knife to clean the > majority > > of the crud off, but very few of the pins are looking particularly shiny. > > I don't want to get too aggressive and break more pins off, but they > don't > > look all that great at the moment. > > > > Matt R >

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] we ARE a club, a group of really good friends
by Jeffrey Jonas 31 Oct '24

31 Oct '24

Ian Litchfield: > We have not really acted as a club in a long time I am active with MARCH/VCF/Infoage because of all the good people I consider friends. The camaraderie of every workshop should be proof enough, particularly Ian Primus giving each and every CRT the TLC they richly deserve, Jeff Salzman's tower-of-power toolkit and traveling Radio Shack (ever since Jeff Galinat moved away), and others I cannot remember fast enough. I traded gifts at the Swap Meet, and folks were extremely generous with helping me with spare PCs to help my neighbors. We're an effective and focused bunch of folks, and mighty friendly to boot! -- Jeffrey Jonas

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