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IEEE Spectrum article...
by Bill Sudbrink 21 Apr '16

21 Apr '16

http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/geek-life/history/theyre-alive-vintage-co mputer-fans-keep-the-great-machines-of-the-past-running For those who could not attend, you can see the Cyclops in operation and see that still photos don't do justice to the image displayed. Cyclops at around 45 seconds in. Bill S.

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Anyone bringing IBM 3270 related items to VCF?
by Jason Perkins 21 Apr '16

21 Apr '16

Is anyone bringing a machine which uses 3270 protocols over coax? I have an AppleLine 3270 adapter and I'd love to know if it works. Thanks, -- Jason Perkins

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LSSM event announcement
by Dave McGuire 21 Apr '16

21 Apr '16

[I'm sending this around to several mailing lists] Most of you have heard of the Large Scale Systems Museum, a public museum in the Pittsburgh area that is focused on minicomputers, mainframes, and supercomputers. LSSM opened its doors to the public for the first time in October of 2015, coinciding with a city-wide festival. We have been doing tours by appointment since then, averaging 3-4 tours per month. On April 30th, there will be another such festival here in town, called "New Kensington Better Block". It's a large block party that will encompass much of the downtown area. There will be more than sixty street vendors offering food, handmade crafts from local artists, and just about everything else you can think of. There will be two stages' worth of live music, games, a beer garden featuring great brews from the historic Penn Brewery, lots of kids' activities like face-painting and caricature artists, drawings and raffles, the grand openings of three new businesses, and lots of other great stuff. Another star of the show, Pittsburgh-based C/PMuseum, as a guest of LSSM, will also be returning to Better Block with a special exhibit this time covering the history of the world's largest technology company, Apple Computer. From the humble beginnings of two friends named Steve, through today, Apple's 40th anniversary. See running examples of the actual machines that launched Apple in the 1970s and 1980s. In addition, the gaming wing of C/PMuseum will feature a display with running examples of game consoles from the earliest generations through the most modern 3D immersive virtual reality. Where else can you start out playing on a Magnavox Odyssey, and end up inside the VR world of an HTC Vive? The C/PMuseum pop-up at New Kensington Better Block, that's where! The LSSM will be participating in that event just as we did last October, by being open to the public all day. (I'm aware that this is very short notice; for that I apologize) Many of the Very Large Computers here will be running and demonstrated on a rotation throughout the day. Come and hack on DEC PDP-8, PDP-11, and VAX systems, IBM System/36s, and everything in between. See Cray supercomputers, DECsystem-20s, IBM System/370 and System/390 mainframes, and real rarities such as a Symbolics Lisp Machine, and minicomputers from the 1960s such as an HP 2116B (one of their first!) and a Varian 620-L. See a Heath H-1, a tube-based analog computer from 1956. See nearly all of the IBM "midrange" line. See how SSP, the operating system from the IBM System/36, can run in a virtual environment on an AS/400. See what an 800-pound hard drive looks like. All are invited! The LSSM is located at 924 4th Avenue, New Kensington, PA 15068, right in the middle of the block party area. New Kensington is about ten minutes' drive from the Allegheny Valley exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Exit 48. It's a very easy area to reach, and there are a number of decent and inexpensive hotels nearby. I hope you can make it. Once again I apologize for the short notice. And of course if you cannot make it, feel free to contact the LSSM via email to info(a)lssmuseum.org or on Facebook (search for "Large Scale Systems Museum") to set up a visit at your leisure. You can also see some photos of our first big public opening on that page. Please feel free to forward this message to anyone whom you think might be interested. Thanks, -Dave McGuire President/Curator, LSSM -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA

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June Repair Workshop
by Jeffrey Brace 21 Apr '16

21 Apr '16

I'm looking ahead for a good date for the June workshop. I'm thinking June 4-5. Does anyone know if any dates in June that would conflict with any other events?

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Here it is, but come see it in person at VCF East
by Bill Dromgoole 20 Apr '16

20 Apr '16

Looks great. Looking forward to seeing it in person. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Sudbrink via vcf-midatlantic" <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> To: "'vcf-midatlantic'" <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> Cc: "Bill Sudbrink" <wh.sudbrink(a)verizon.net> Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2016 9:29 PM Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] Here it is, but come see it in person at VCF East > Hi, > > Decapped chip (via X-Acto) (Mostek, 1976 date code, TYPE B): > > http://wsudbrink.dyndns.org:8080/images/cyclops-latest/P4140002.JPG > > All wired up: > > http://wsudbrink.dyndns.org:8080/images/cyclops-latest/P4140003.JPG > > Money shot (just like Popular Electronics): > > http://wsudbrink.dyndns.org:8080/images/cyclops-latest/P4140004.JPG > > Test target: > > http://wsudbrink.dyndns.org:8080/images/cyclops-latest/P4140005.JPG > > Looks good: > > http://wsudbrink.dyndns.org:8080/images/cyclops-latest/P4140008.JPG > > How about a hand?: > > http://wsudbrink.dyndns.org:8080/images/cyclops-latest/P4140009.JPG > > By the way, my hand looks much better than that, the camera "freezes" > a frame which doesn't look so good. > > Bill S. > > >

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OSI Challenger III Clean-Up
by Systems Glitch 20 Apr '16

20 Apr '16

Just finished writing up my clean-up of my Challenger III: http://www.glitchwrks.com/2016/04/20/challenger-3-cleanup Apparently it was in our front room in NY when our brilliant contractor cut the old unused chimney off -- without covering the fireplaces! There was a nice thick coat of soot and lime mortar dust on everything inside. I had to disassemble the whole thing, remove the power supplies, et c. Getting ready to write up how to build a RAM board using one of the OSI 495 prototype boards I duplicated. In the process, I created a little copy of the OSI logo from a scan of an old print ad: http://www.glitchwrks.com/images/osi/osi_logo.png I've got the full-size (500+ px wide) original as a Gimp XCF file if anyone needs it. Thanks, Jonathan

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Citizen Receipt Printers in Consignment
by Systems Glitch 20 Apr '16

20 Apr '16

Anyone know who had the little receipt printers in the consignment area? I bought one and started working on it tonight, might like to get another as a parts unit. Thanks, Jonathan

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museum workbench tools
by Evan Koblentz 20 Apr '16

20 Apr '16

So..... our new workbench is a mess and we have very few tools other than a soldering station, desoldering station, and scope (that one's coming soon). Can somebody donate a new, full-scale electronics tool kit? It would be * really nice * to get a nice kit instead of mismatched hand-me-downs. All we have now are a few random screwdrivers and stuff. Fairly useless. :)

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Kenbak-1
by Alexander 19 Apr '16

19 Apr '16

Whoops. Sent that off before adding the link. I made a gif of the video I shot on Friday, and uploaded it to tumblr later that night. I hope that's alright with y'all. See the post for yourself here: http://commodorez.tumblr.com/post/142878896531/today-i-got-to-behold-john-b… -Alexander 'Z' Pierson Sent from my pocket telephone. Alexander via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: >That's mine, actually. > >Alexander 'Z' Pierson > >Sent from my pocket telephone. > >Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > >>>> Just ran across this >> >>How?

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Kenbak-1
by Alexander 19 Apr '16

19 Apr '16

That's mine, actually. Alexander 'Z' Pierson Sent from my pocket telephone. Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: >>> Just ran across this > >How?

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