- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Looking for PROFS or OfficeVision/VM tapes and manuals
by Dan FitzGerald 02 Aug '24

02 Aug '24

I was wondering if anybody here happened to have install tapes for PROFS or OfficeVision/VM. I'd like to get that on our system in the lab at some point, and would need the tapes (or images) and some documentation for how to install and configure it. Regards, Dan FitzGerald They/Them or She/Her Classical Computing Laboratory at IBM Poughkeepsie http://www.vm.ibm.com/devpages/dfitzger

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OT: Dedication of the Marconi Hotel Dining Room Doors from Mike Ruane
by Jeffrey Brace 02 Aug '24

02 Aug '24

To All - You are cordially invited to the dedication of the new Dining Room doors of the Marconi Hotel on Sunday, August 4 at 1:00pm. The dedication is to honor Pat Thecker for the many years of support (almost $100,000) that she and her husband, Duncan, provided to InfoAge. There will be a small reception immediately after the dedication. Many years ago, Pat and Duncan gave us a check for $5,000 that we had hoped to use to replace the doors that Fred had fabricated for the dining room. Last year we were finally able to free up some funds to construct the door and we had them made early this year. We are working now to get them installed and will have the formal dedication on August 4. As I said above, we are honoring Pat, a former Board member and an Emeritus Trustee, who is coming in from Illinois for the dedication. I think it would be fitting for as many of the volunteers to attend. Please put the date on your calendars and let me know if you will be attending. Please contact your members about this event. Thanks!! Mike

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Atari Camp
by Christian Liendo 31 Jul '24

31 Jul '24

So Atari is shifting itself into a brand now and they have some nice stuff. I may have to "invest" in the Adventure t-shirts. https://atari.com/collections/summer-camp

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] quick HOPE report
by Ken 31 Jul '24

31 Jul '24

I also spent the majority of my 3 HOPE days at the VCF tables, helping and demo'ing and chatting and directing a lot of folks to the 2025 VCF East event. (I was first introduced to VCF - and saw my latent vintage computing fetish initially activated - at HOPE 2000!) It was a fantastic display, and I really appreciated the representation this time of those trainers and circuit demos. It added so much more than just having the familiar late 70's/early 80's home computers. Thanks to Doug (new to the hacker conference!) who I think was behind that addition. Some brilliant and varied people stopped by with all sorts of expertise and stories to share, and I hope some will wind up exhibiting at InfoAge next year! Also of note was Jeff Brace winning the HOPE talent show via some karaoke prowess? Thank you Doug, Dean, Jeff and Jeff! - Ken At 7/25/2024 02:07 AM, Jeffrey Jonas via vcf-midatlantic wrote: >I had a blast staffing VCF's exhibit at the HOPE conference on Friday & >Saturday. >Many thanks to Doug, Dean, Jeff Brace for carpooling and making such an >engaging exhibit. >It was perfectly on-target for the audience, limited by what fits in one >car. >I was in my element, meeting folks I know from Unigroup (NYC Unix/Linux >professional society), >NJ Linux group and other circles of friends. > >The exhibit started with the Discrete Transistor 555 and a breadboarded 555, >showing how the first chips were only dozens of transistors. >The Bell & Howell chip trainer's flip-flops were wired as a binary counter >next to a single chip counter doing essentially the same thing. >That got a LOT of attention >since it vividly illustrated how the building-blocks of logic gates makes >for larger useful elements. > >Then the microprocessor trainers: 6502, 8080, 8085. >Folks adored running the ROM demos via the hex keypads and 7 segment >displays. > >The Apple 1 replica got a lot of attention, >particularly with the SD-card cassette emulator instantly loading games and >such. >Some folks really enjoyed using the WOZ monitor and peeking/poking into RAM. > >The PET, GRID and others got a lot of love too, particularly the GRID's >plasma display. >Some folks were into display tech, thus the geeking out over Doug's VFD and >LED demo. >A really great outreach opportunity. > >-- Jeff Jonas

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OT - Help Identifying Connector
by Chris Fala 31 Jul '24

31 Jul '24

Can anyone tell me what type of connectors (4 pin and 6 pin) are on this item, and if they are readily available (preferably with wires already terminated)?? https://www.amazon.com/Monitor-Vintage-Screen-Electronic-Picture/dp/B09DXST… Thanks in advance!

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OT: InfoAge Dining Room Door Dedication
by Jeffrey Brace 27 Jul '24

27 Jul '24

To All - You are cordially invited to the dedication of the new Dining Room doors of the Marconi Hotel on Sunday, August 4 at 1:00pm. The dedication is to honor Pat Thecker for the many years of support (almost $100,000) that she and her husband, Duncan, provided to InfoAge. There will be a small reception immediately after the dedication. I hope that some of you can make it! 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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Looking for people with expertise/equipment in data recovery
by Herbert Johnson 26 Jul '24

26 Jul '24

> 1] "we" == World River Center, a 501(c)3 and parent organization of > the International Whitewater Hall of Fame. We're building an online, > free, searchable archive of born-digital and digitized objects because > most of the history of paddlesports is sitting in boxes in closets > around the world...and it's being lost. We're trying to acquire it > and save it from oblivion. > There's not really a budget for this, which is one reason why a > substantial chunk of my life is now spent writing grant applications -- > so that we [1] can have a budget. But there's a chicken-and-egg problem: > I can't write "give us money just in case we hit this problem" because > that won't fly (I know: I tried) (repeatedly); I need to wait until we > bump into it and then explain why it's important that we solve it, e.g., > "these documents have significance to X" or "this is the only surviving > video of Y" or whatever. So, pardon my analysis and advice. But you are laying out a project in public, asking for resources. So I think responses to the project are appropriate. If not, my apologies. You are asking granting institutions for money for data recovery of analog/digital media. That is, asking historic preservation people with limited digital technology knowledge, for money for not just tech, but *old* tech which even fewer people will know today. Does that seem likely to fly? No, you are already explaining to them instead, the result they DO know: historic content of paddle sports, in a social/sports context. This is not my skills-set, don't argue with me, but talk instead to grant-writing people from other institutions (maybe sports institutions) about how they succeed in getting funding for their (maybe similar) projects. also: Consider this question. Rather than going top-down, to ask institutional funding agencies for money (with the issues I raised); Why not go bottom-up? *Ask the people who own this content, and people who would enjoy/benefit from this content, for pledges and eventually donations.* I deal with the children of vintage computing developers, when they are "releasing" their parent's estates. Sometimes, the developers themselves when they retire. They'd like to see their (parent's) work preserved and appreciated (they frame it as "in a museum" but that's what it amounts to). But they can't keep this stuff themselves. They might be willing to provide dollars for conversion to easily preserved and accessed digital content. I find most people appreciate seeing their (parent's) work available online, if not in a facility, if not in restored use. If no one responded to *my* converted vintage content, I would have stopped doing it years ago. But they do, so I don't. That's what I mean by bottom-up. But it may be, the institution you are working with, would make that appeal to their constituents - not ask you to do that. Finally: lots of historic institutions are dealing with conversion of analog or vintage media to 21st century digital content. Maybe, the answer is to ally with one of *those* institutions? Make use of their *already-developed* assets, give THEM some funding? Sometimes finding an ally is more optimum than going it alone. at the least, you might learn something, from those already doing what you are asking to do. Simple concept. Also see what they do with their results, how they make them available online. Again, maybe someone else at your institution will do that part. > (But I do understand that there's a point at which asking-for-help > crosses over into really-should-be-paying-for-help, > trying to get myself up to > a baseline level of knowledge in this area In any event, if you develop and operate such a facility, they will be your *colleagues*, so you may as well start getting acquainted now. In fact, it seems to me, you are talking about a career, not a one-off project. That depends on the volume of material and the calendar-time level of commitment (sounds like years). what you do personally, is entirely your consideration, none of my business. However, when you present a grant proposal, you *already* have to make the case for commitment in time, materials, resources, and *people* - that's you, you are the people. Think all of that through. Those thoughts, might give you some leads (as you requested), about the actions you are considering. 1) how to ask for money 2) how to (learn to) work with arcane vintage media 3) how to scope out the intended work 4) whether this is work you choose to do, on the terms offered by the institution you are working with. It sounded to me, like you were looking for some directions. Here they are. Regards Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA https://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT comcast DOT net

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Looking for people with expertise/equipment in data recovery
by Rich Kulawiec 25 Jul '24

25 Jul '24

[ I had a couple of conversations about this yesterday at System Source, so this is the followup. ] I'm working on a large, long-term archiving project as part of a 501(c)3. It seems increasingly likely that I'm going to have to try to recover data from (1) media I can't read, either because I don't have the equipment or because it's degraded and/or (2) files in old/obsolete formats that I can't decode/translate to something contemporary. And I'm going to need some help with both, and I know that some of you have considerable expertise in this area. If any of you are interested in helping out, I'd be glad to hear from you. What I'd like to do is put together a braintrust (now) that I can consult with you when these things come up (later). Thanks, ---rsk

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quick HOPE report
by Jeffrey Jonas 25 Jul '24

25 Jul '24

I had a blast staffing VCF's exhibit at the HOPE conference on Friday & Saturday. Many thanks to Doug, Dean, Jeff Brace for carpooling and making such an engaging exhibit. It was perfectly on-target for the audience, limited by what fits in one car. I was in my element, meeting folks I know from Unigroup (NYC Unix/Linux professional society), NJ Linux group and other circles of friends. The exhibit started with the Discrete Transistor 555 and a breadboarded 555, showing how the first chips were only dozens of transistors. The Bell & Howell chip trainer's flip-flops were wired as a binary counter next to a single chip counter doing essentially the same thing. That got a LOT of attention since it vividly illustrated how the building-blocks of logic gates makes for larger useful elements. Then the microprocessor trainers: 6502, 8080, 8085. Folks adored running the ROM demos via the hex keypads and 7 segment displays. The Apple 1 replica got a lot of attention, particularly with the SD-card cassette emulator instantly loading games and such. Some folks really enjoyed using the WOZ monitor and peeking/poking into RAM. The PET, GRID and others got a lot of love too, particularly the GRID's plasma display. Some folks were into display tech, thus the geeking out over Doug's VFD and LED demo. A really great outreach opportunity. -- Jeff Jonas

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Repair Workshop 7/27 & 728 @ InfoAge
by Jeffrey Brace 22 Jul '24

22 Jul '24

We have an upcoming repair workshop at Infoage this coming weekend. Signup is here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Rfk37BXt2tFN_VRdkitMJbyBaIaWMsfLxVF… *WHERE:* 1) Building 9059 (CDL side and Classroom side) 2) Building 9032-A (overflow room connected to main building) - Available after 1PM on Saturday. *TIME:*Saturday START time == 10 A.M. END time == 11PM. Sunday START time == 10 A.M. and END == 5 P.M. *COST:* $15 per person, per day. $25 per night for those wanting to stay overnight in the visitor center's bunk beds *OVERNIGHT*: Bring your own pillow, blankets, soap etc. We provide a bed frame and an uncovered mattress. There are showers and a kitchen for your use. - *Payments* - PayPal: @vintagecomputerfed (or paypal(a)vcfed.org) - Venmo: @VintageComputerFederation - Cash (in person) - Credit card (in person). *EQUIPMENT:* - VCF will provide a table and you can use any available electrical outlet. - Bring your own tools, power strips, power cords, and supplies etc. - If you need particular tools that you don't own or particular parts, please let others know that you need something. They may have what you need. Let them know ahead of time. - Let everyone know what project you are working on ahead of time to inspire collaboration. *DRINKS*: You should bring your own. We have a refrigerator in CDL to keep them cold. VCF will buy some water and soft drinks for member use. *FOOD*: *Saturday afternoon*: Everyone is on their own. *Saturday Night Dinner at 7PM?*: We often go out to dinner together. *Sunday Morning*: We usually meet at a diner around 9AM *Sunday Afternoon*: Everyone is on their own. *Address:* InfoAge Science and History Museums 2201 Marconi Road Wall, NJ 07719 *PARKING:* Park in the main parking lot, unless you are unloading. Don't park on the lawn. Also park on one side of the road for fire safety. *PHONE:* (7 3 2) 722 - 5015 *EMAIL: *repairworkshops(a)vcfed.org Have fun everyone! :-D Repair workshops are events which are open to the general public where members of all levels technical abilities and experience get together to help each other repair vintage computer hardware. Repair workshops are a chance to work with other VCF members to help repair your vintage artifact. *We are not there to do repairs for you*, *only to allow you the facilities and partnership to help you figure out how to repair it*. Repair workshops are held about 9 times per year at the InfoAge location in Wall. 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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