- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

FS: Applied Microsystems EM-188 Intel 8080 8085 Diagnostic Emulator
by Systems Glitch 07 Apr '16

07 Apr '16

link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/272125508235 ** NOTE: This unit is missing the emulator pods! ** Picked it up at either a hamfest or university surplus auction, I don't remember which. I've been searching for 8080 or 8085 pods for this unit for several years. I'm calling it a loss, so it's time to sell it. Perhaps someone has the pods and can make use of it. It does power on, and you can see from the pictures it has six TIL311 displays in it. I believe it also has a number of 6116 2K x 8 static RAMs inside -- I opened it up at one point in the past. This would've been an excellent tool for vintage computer debugging, if I could've found the pods. The emulator lets you observe and control the data and address bus states, as well as internal state of the CPU. If you're going to be at VCF East this year, I can drop it off in person and avoid shipping. That will of course be a *major* consideration if anyone wants to submit Best Offers :) Thanks, Jonathan

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Giving away 0.35 metric tons of books*
by Alexey Toptygin 06 Apr '16

06 Apr '16

*some restrictions apply :-) Evan Koblentz pointed me to a rescue here in the triangle, NC area back in August 2015. Some items were set aside for VCFed, but there were A LOT of books and other media that were up for grabs. Because I'm a sucker, I took and then carefully cleaned and catalogued them all. The master list is here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19UYeJlhiVYVExCAO2NSzcAkBww0kEeAYrEG… There really are 17 boxes, and they really do weigh 780lb or approximately 0.35 metric tons. They're mostly books (from the 80s and 90s), but there are some floppies, some boxed sets, and even a small box of VHS tapes. The previous owner stored all this stuff in abysmal conditions, so there was a lot of mold (and some dead insects and some live insects, and... you know how it goes). I cleaned every item as much as possible. Some items had to be disposed of for safety reasons. That which made it into the cataloging stage is at least scanable, but if it says 'mildewed' on it, and you have a mold allergy, you don't want it. I don't know if any floppies are readable, and unless the catalog says it comes with media, I haven't got the media. Luckily most items survived relatively intact. You can have anything in the spreadsheet free of charge provided: 1) You are willing to take WHOLE BOXES at VCF East XI, you let me know by Weds 4/13/16, and they fit in my car when I pack for VCF. OR 2) You want to come to Durham to pick them up at a prearranged time after VCF OR 3) You are willing to wait until the next VCF East, and let me know far enough in advance that I can set items aside for you. If you want single items, and you don't want to wait until VCF East 2017, I'll do my best to mail them to you after this VCF is over, but you'll need to pay for shipping. I would prefer not to ship whole boxes; they're sturdy moving boxes but they weigh 40-60lb each and I'm pretty sure if you drop them hard enough the contents won't like it. I'm in Durham, NC 27701. I don't want any of this to go to recycling, so I'll try to hold it for at least a year or the next VCF East after this one. After that, all bets are off. Let me know if you are interested in any of this stuff, or if you have questions; in case the mailing list(s) eat it, my email is alexey.toptygin at gmail dot com. Thanks!

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Wanted to borrow: Hayes Smartmodem 1200
by Mike Loewen 06 Apr '16

06 Apr '16

I'd like to borrow a Hayes Smartmodem 1200 (external) for my VCF exhibit, preferably in working order. Is anyone able to help? The Hayes was introduced in 1982, which is appropriate for my exhibit (1982 Office Suite). Thanks! Mike Loewen mloewen(a)cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/

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VCF East - Weather looking good from here
by Dan Roganti 06 Apr '16

06 Apr '16

Weather looking good from here for VCF East extended forecast shows clear skies, a little warm might need shorts and sandals this year :) http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/belmar-nj/07719/daily-weather-forecast/217…

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] VCF East - Weather looking good from here
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 06 Apr '16

06 Apr '16

Dan Roganti via vcf-midatlantic writes: >Weather looking good from here for VCF East extended forecast shows >clear skies, a little warm might need shorts and sandals this year :) >=E2=80=8B >http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/belmar-nj/07719/daily-weather-forecast/217= >4853?day=3D11 Just remember, it's weather forecasting. ;)

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Thursday
by Evan Koblentz 05 Apr '16

05 Apr '16

Everyone, Jeff G. and I are meeting at the museum at 8am this Thursday. A ton of checklist items have been done in the past few weeks but there is still much more. Can anyone help? Jeff G. has to leave around 3-4 but I can stay into the evening.

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VCF-E exhibit of Ithaca Intersystems DPS-1
by Herb Johnson 05 Apr '16

05 Apr '16

http://www.retrotechnology.com/restore/ith_feb16_repairs.html I've completed hardware repairs of two S-100 DPS-1 systems from Ithaca Intersystems; and substantially completed what I might call software repairs. These are operational, running CP/M, and their repairs will be the substance of my exhibit at VCF-East. Evan, if it's reasonable, please insert the above paragraph and (at least) the Web link into my VCF-East exhibit description. Thank you. herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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VCF-E setup schedule
by Herb Johnson 05 Apr '16

05 Apr '16

What is the schedule for exhibitors, and for vendors, to set up their spaces, before public hours? What can be set up on Friday? Also: Exhibits won't be open Friday, but will vendors (and consignment) be open for sales that day? Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Univac name plate
by Evan Koblentz 04 Apr '16

04 Apr '16

Dean and I went to install the Univac CPU name plate that Corey L. rescued. As we hoped, the air vent (in which the name plates mount) from the tape drive has screw holes in the same locations as on the CPU, so I removed the vent from our spare tape drive in the warehouse. The next challenge is the remove the name plate from the vent: it's riveted on there. Jimmy J. from the train group explained to me how to grind down the rivet doughnut thingamajig using a Dremel and the right attachment. He even put some rivets in a piece of scrap wood so I have something on which to practice before doing the real one. The proper name plate has nuts on the back, so it will attach without needed to re-rivet anything. I brought home the spare vent and the correct name plate and will work on that during the week.

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museum report
by Evan Koblentz 04 Apr '16

04 Apr '16

Dean and I worked in the museum from about 10am to 5pm. A few of the microcomputer cart backdrops came down overnight. We addressed this by putting superglue between the adhesive side of the velcro and the backdrop material. Hopefully they'll still be up the next time we go there! If that still doesn't work then we will try a mechanical fix (maybe put hose clamps and/or hooks around the cart poles, or something along those lines.) You can see the wall side of the micro exhibit and its new backdrops here: http://vcfed.org/evan/backs_wall.jpg and the center aisle side here: http://vcfed.org/evan/backs_center.jpg. Remember, there are going to be signs on each unit where the rear poles extend beyond the top shelves. Per the recent discussion about terminals, we put the Televideo 750 with the Prime 6500 and a VT100 with the VAX-11/785. There wasn't room for separate tables in that area so we put the terminals on top of the computers. I'm leaning toward the idea of moving the Prime's tape drive rack and the VT100 back into storage to make room for a DECwriter next to the /785 (theory being we already have a few other tape drives and terminals in the exhibit, but nothing else like the teleprinter.) This would let us show more kinds of artifacts, which is a good thing. We reinstalled the bottom vent on another of the Prime racks. It was bent and the plastic part was badly separated from the metal frame. Tony fixed it for us a while ago. The plastic part is yellowed, but so is the one on other Prime rack next to it, so it looks like they match. :) Dean and I also did an unplanned project with the PDP-8. I was lamenting that the brown+blue table for that computer is hard to move because its legs are of questionable integrity and that it doesn't match any other furniture in the next space. Started thinking if we could replace it with a small stand made from our usual metal shelf parts. Problem was, the 8's wooden platform is way too deep for that. We called David G. to ask what's involved in separating the computer from the platform; he explained how easy it is, so we did that. We cut a piece of plywood to fit neatly between the chassis and the cart shelf because the usual shelf liner kept bubbling under the 8's adjustable feet. Now, anytime David (or whomever) needs to work on that computer, all we have to do is wheel over the cart. Of course, the 8's wooden platform is historic! We decided to mount it on the wall above the ASR-'33 next to the 8 itself. The platform is light, so we drilled a small hole in the center (it'll be covered) and hung it with a lag bolt and washer into a stud. We will put a sign explaining the RESISTORS in the center of the platform (covering the bolt head) and leaving all the RESISTORS alumni signatures visible around the edges. This was a fun project. See the picture here: http://vcfed.org/evan/kagan_close.jpg and see how it greets visitors in the transition from mainframes to minis here: http://vcfed.org/evan/kagan_far.jpg. At first we were reluctant to drill a hole in the platform; in retrospect we could have put a hook on the back and hung it like a picture. But this worked out fine, didn't hurt anything, and the platform is very secure. Another thing we did today, but there's a lot more of it to do, is clean computers using a variety of baby wipes, goo gone, and that sort of thing. Dean attended Corey C.'s computer cleaning lesson at the VCF East last year and put those skills to good use! I started zip-tying loose cords to the back of the micro carts but ran out of time.

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