- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Needed: Amstrad PPC 640 system disk
by Evan Koblentz 31 Mar '16

31 Mar '16

Can someone find the disk image online and make us a 3.5 floppy version?

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] train service to VCF-East
by Devin Heitmueller 31 Mar '16

31 Mar '16

On Thu, Mar 31, 2016 at 11:40 AM, Ken via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > At 3/30/2016 02:21 PM, William Dudley via vcf-midatlantic wrote: >>> In theory, one could take one's bicycle on the train, and bicycle the 3 or 4 >>> miles from the station to VCF. > At 3/30/2016 02:22 PM, Christian Liendo via vcf-midatlantic wrote: >>I walked it once, seriously take a cab.. > > I've walked it two or three times, after the NJ Transit train from NYC, and it was a really nice walk, along the water and then through nice neighborhoods. Walked it back from InfoAge at night once, too. Rolling a suitcase behind me the whole time. If you're used to walking, it's great. Just look up the distance ahead of time so you know what you're getting into. > > I always wanted to try taking a bike on the train, but never made it happen. I remember it being a "bike allowed" route, but can't speak from experience on that. Regarding bringing bikes onto NJ transit: It's technically only allowed if you are stopping at a station that has a dedicated platform level with the train. For Belmar you are expected to go down steps, and hence you're not allowed to exit with a bike at that stop. The closest station that exits at a platform is Asbury Park. I would have assumed this would be the sort of thing conductors would turn a blind eye to (after all, what's the real harm of bringing a bike down three steps?), but I actually witnessed a physical altercation between the conductor and a rider trying to get off at Belmar with a bike, so at least in some cases they take it *very* seriously. Devin -- Devin J. Heitmueller http://www.devinheitmueller.com

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] train service to VCF-East
by Ken 31 Mar '16

31 Mar '16

At 3/30/2016 02:21 PM, William Dudley via vcf-midatlantic wrote: >> In theory, one could take one's bicycle on the train, and bicycle the 3 or 4 >> miles from the station to VCF. At 3/30/2016 02:22 PM, Christian Liendo via vcf-midatlantic wrote: >I walked it once, seriously take a cab.. I've walked it two or three times, after the NJ Transit train from NYC, and it was a really nice walk, along the water and then through nice neighborhoods. Walked it back from InfoAge at night once, too. Rolling a suitcase behind me the whole time. If you're used to walking, it's great. Just look up the distance ahead of time so you know what you're getting into. I always wanted to try taking a bike on the train, but never made it happen. I remember it being a "bike allowed" route, but can't speak from experience on that. - Ken

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museum report
by Evan Koblentz 31 Mar '16

31 Mar '16

Jeff G. and I worked in the museum today from 8am-3pm. Jeff B. joined me for more work from 5pm-9pm. In the daytime slot, we installed the large monitor donated by David G. last year. It is 50" (horizontally) and works great. We put a shelf under it (great place for a videogame console to keep us entertained between museum visitors!) along with two shelves on the opposite side of the bench (with room for more shelves later if needed). We also did some set-up with the Prime 6550, added a handle (kind of silly-looking, but it works!) to the PDP-11/785, set up most of the office PC, and finished cabling the microcomputers. We also did some clean-up work. In the evening, we did a bunch more cleanup, rebuilt some of the outdoor signs for VCF East, and tested the Amstrad PPC 640 (it works but we need a system disk). Also, we got two more industrial-strength long power strips from Steve A., so now there are two on each side of the microcomputer aisle. That means nothing is daisy-chained, unlike in our old rooms. We just need one more for the workbench. Corey's picking that up in the next few days. Here are some pictures: http://vcfed.org/evan/screen.jpg (pipe on the right side is in front of a speaker, not the screen itself) http://vcfed.org/evan/powerpole.jpg (this is the new power pole on its own own 20A circuit for the center aisle of microcomputers, it has four outlets on the side, and next time we'll paint the wooden block underneath it to match the floor) http://vcfed.org/evan/handle.jpg (new handle -- also a new lock) http://vcfed.org/evan/galinat.jpg (kudos to Jeff G. for making a lot of long trips to the museum and doing tons of manual labor for us lately) http://vcfed.org/evan/protect.jpg (step away from the blue box...) http://vcfed.org/evan/allbench.jpg (new shelves on left, new shelf under TV too) http://vcfed.org/evan/twoshelves.jpg (room for expansion) http://vcfed.org/evan/oneshelf.jpg (let the Pong commence) Back at it this weekend! Need to set up another computer or two, put the decorative backings on all the microcomputer shelving units, start making the signs, do more cleaning, and who knows what else.

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May 14 -- New museum open house
by Evan Koblentz 31 Mar '16

31 Mar '16

InfoAge is hosting an open house / grand opening event on Saturday, May 14 from 1pm-5pm. This is for building 9010-A which houses our museum, the model trains group, an event room, the surfer group, some radio club stuff, and possibly a wireless operators' group of some kind. From what I hear there's going to be a party atmosphere -- food, drink, etc. Depending on other stuff in the InfoAge calendar, I propose that we have our next repair workshop coinciding with this event. It would be very good of us InfoAge-citizen-wise if lots of us show up that Saturday, so let's stay that night and Sunday to work on stuff.

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train service to VCF-East
by Herb Johnson 30 Mar '16

30 Mar '16

A European colleague of mine, wants to attend VCF-East from New York City. Their obvious question is, "what trains do I catch?" as trains are normal means for European travel. Also, frankly, the cost of car rental and tolls makes train travel a better deal for travelers. I'm aware the nearest train station is several miles from InfoAge. I don't expect VCF to provide pickup/dropoff. But this is an old question and should have a stock answer now. Please describe the nearest train station to the event, and what likely trains from NYC (optional Phila) would be reasonable to take, and a Web link to schedules. Again, I assume this is old information and not that hard to verify; and would be useful to other VCF-East attendees. I don't use the trains, so I don't know. Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] train service to VCF-East
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 30 Mar '16

30 Mar '16

Christian Liendo via vcf-midatlantic writes: >> In theory, one could take one's bicycle on the train, and bicycle the >3 or 4 > miles from the station to VCF. > >I walked it once, seriously take a cab.. That'll save us all from having to smell them after that bike trek. ;)

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Which terminal for DG Eclipse?
by Evan Koblentz 30 Mar '16

30 Mar '16

Looking to put a terminal next to our DG Eclipse. Which one?

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Wanted: TRS-80 Model 4P Lid/Cover
by Todd George 30 Mar '16

30 Mar '16

So I found a 4P. It met almost all of my criteria. Sadly it is missing the cover/lid. There are two styles of lid, I need the plastic latch version, not the metal Frankenstein's neck bolt style. I know it's a long shot, but if anyone has one in any condition (yellowed, broken, cracked would be OK!) please contact me off-list. I would also consider purchasing a "for parts" machine. I don't think the lids are marked as to what they belong to. If they are, it's not overly apparent. So if you have one kicking around I would think it's possible to not even know what it goes with. Thanks! -Todd

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Project: Core Memory for S-100 -- Ferroelectric RAM
by Systems Glitch 29 Mar '16

29 Mar '16

VC Forums thread: http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?51961-Project-Core-Memory-for-S-1… Full writeup: http://www.glitchwrks.com/2016/03/29/ferroelectric-ram-part-1 Finally finished my prototype, and it works! Basically it's core on silicon, for S-100. Load BASIC from paper tape, power cycle, and jump right back into BASIC. I'm probably going to do some more testing on it (I still have to implement PROT/UNPROT functionality) and then I'll probably lay out a production PC board. Thanks, Jonathan

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