- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Cromemco Dazzler 40th birthday presents...
by Douglas Crawford 16 May '16

16 May '16

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Museum Report
by Jeffrey Brace 16 May '16

16 May '16

About 20 visitors came today. Most of them looking for the model trains museum. A few that were really interested. One that had graduated from Stanford recently so I told him about the VCF West that was nearby where he went to school. It was good that the Model train guys had advertising for the official open house. It will get more people drifting over from the main museum building to the new satellite museums. Jeff Brace

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Great day @ museum
by Evan Koblentz 14 May '16

14 May '16

The model trains group had a big event today with about 100 people. Around half of them made it across the hallway to see our museum, plus there were several ordinary InfoAge visitors. Herb stopped by too. A very good day.

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OT: Helpers needed to prepare InfoAge satellite dish exhibit
by Evan Koblentz 14 May '16

14 May '16

Everyone, InfoAge is looking for helpers at the satellite dish campus on May 21 and June 18. They're looking for people who are ready to do real labor, from painting to gardening to raking (and that sort of thing). RSVP privately to Jim Kudrick: jimkudrick(a)gmail.com / 908-278-4850.

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Belated group pic from last Saturday
by Evan Koblentz 14 May '16

14 May '16

A few of us met at a bar in Philadelphia last weekend: http://www.vcfed.org/evan/philly_5-7-16.jpg Right to left (because I like to be different): me taking the selfie, Jonathan G., David Rys., David's brother Phil, and Bill Deg. In related news: I highly recommend the chicken tenders at Misconduct Tavern, they're delicious.

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You should really have a redirect from vintage.org to vcfed.org
by Christian Liendo 14 May '16

14 May '16

I couldn't remember vcfed.org and if you google vintage computer fest it still links to vintage.org

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Oklahoma City?
by Dave McGuire 13 May '16

13 May '16

Hey folks, is there anyone near Oklahoma City who might be able to pick up a biggish oscilloscope for me (Tektronix 500 series, one-man lift but big as oscilloscopes go) anytime soon? It came from a friend of mine who needed it gone, and it's trying to make its way up here to me. The fellow who has it now will be moving soon and it needs to be gotten out of his way. Thanks, -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA

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Festivus 2016 - Dec. 3 & 4
by Jeffrey Brace 13 May '16

13 May '16

I know that this is *real* early, but some people coming from long distance need to plan ahead. Festivus will be December 3 & 4. We will be having it in the 9010-A classroom. It's a nicely renovated area. More details will be forthcoming in the coming months. Hope to see lots of you there! -- Jeff Brace

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Steve Dompier's coding...
by Herb Johnson 13 May '16

13 May '16

> [Cromemco Dazzler Dazzlemation...] > .... Mr. Dompier hand wrote that program > LITERALLY (hand, pencil, paper), no editor, no assembler. > He then toggled it in (or maybe raw keyed it in with a > primitive ROM monitor) and [used paper tape to save/restore it] I agree, it's informative to look at such code, to see methods of coding. But that's normal activity, given the era. When you don't have a computer with disk drives, an assembler program, a text editor...that's what you did, that's what we did in the era. Much of the earliest 8080 code (6502, 6800, 8008, 4004, 4040...) was hand coded. MOst of the early single-boards, didn't have resident assemblers. There was no choice, but this is how one understood the operation and programming of these processors. They were little logic engines; the code is the logic. It would be a lecture, to explain that further, and the history behind it. Some people today, still code by hand. Many 1802 COSMAC computer owners do that - I support some of that work. Example: I spent a few days recently, disassembling an 1802 FORTH implementation. About 1/3 of it was 1802 assembler; I used a disassembler for that part. The rest was just words - 16 bit addresses, one after another - which represented FORTH definitions. Those, I hand-aligned, determined the dictionary location, and "decoded" which FORTH word was represented. I learned a lot about setting up FORTH with an 1802. Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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The June Workshop will be June 11 & 12
by Jeffrey Brace 11 May '16

11 May '16

The next workshop will be June 11 starting at 10 AM. June 4/5 and 25/26 are unavailable. June 18/19 is Father's Day weekend. So this is the only weekend available. So mark your calendars and I hope to see all of you there! Jeff Brace

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