- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

VC Forum joining VC Federation
by Evan Koblentz 14 Dec '15

14 Dec '15

A poorly-kept secret plan is now official. :) Erik Klein's Vintage Computer Forum will soon be part of the Vintage Computer Federation. Erik will continue running the forum on the Federation's behalf. The only public change will be the address: it will move from http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/forum.php to http://www.vintagecomputerfederation.org/forum/ .... of course there will be a redirect while people get used to the change. Erik asked me to announce here that he's looking for additional forum moderators. He's picky about selecting the right people :) but anyone interested should email him at webmaster(a)vintage-computer.com or send him a private message through the forum.

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The RIFA Cap Says: PFFFFFT!
by Systems Glitch 14 Dec '15

14 Dec '15

Just had one blow in an old ECL monitor, releasing tons of stinky capacitor smoke. Had to take the monitor outside to let it finish smoking. I know these are "X2 safety rated" devices, but what does that really mean? "Keep two handy cos they fail a lot?" Seems to me that not blowing up would be a great safety feature, something you wouldn't relegate to cheap rice paper in epoxy. Thanks, Jonathan

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iMac
by chrisjpf33＠gmail.com 14 Dec '15

14 Dec '15

Does the doorstop iMac at InfoAge provide a true value of these things?

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New board member: Erik Klein
by Evan Koblentz 14 Dec '15

14 Dec '15

Folks, Earlier tonight we announced that Erik Klein's VC Forum is becoming part of the VC Federation. With that deal, the Federation board -- myself, Jeff Brace, and Corey Cohen -- voted to add Erik himself to our table. Although the non-profit Federation will own the forum, Erik will continue managing it. Erik will also be our west coast representative, especially re: an event that we haven't yet formally announced, but which is partially cited on the Federation web site. ;) (We really can't talk about that until things are settled with the venue and various partners. Trust me, we'll shout it from the virtual rooftops when it is official!) Erik joined this email list a couple of days ago. Please join me in welcoming him!

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Getting Data off old Atari Floppies
by John Heritage 14 Dec '15

14 Dec '15

Dear Hobbyists, I went to VCF East 2014 and I remember a really good presentation on the best practices for getting data off of old floppies.. things like assuming your first read may be your only successful read, etc.. Can someone point me to a web link or send me the tips for restoring data off of old floppies? I have a # of old floppies including (I believe) snapshots of an Atari 8bit BBS I used to run with my father. Some floppies are in OK condition, others not.. and I need to know the order of operations for preventing damage to 'future floppies', etc.. Should I be cleaning the drive after every single disk? what's the best way to clean the drive?, etc... I plan to use a USB or RS232 to SIO type adapter and probably the Atarimax APE software (windows or DOS, tbd) as the 'destination', Thanks much :) P.S. Bonus points if someone can tell me if a 1050 is suitable for doing all of this work.. My old floppies are a mixture of 810 format (single density) and 1050 (dual density). I also think some 810 disks were written in happy drive format, but I believe a 1050 will still read them, just not as fast as a happy 810 drive would.. John H

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Museum Report
by Jeffrey Brace 14 Dec '15

14 Dec '15

Mouse was docent for the museum yesterday Sunday December 13. He did a great job. There were lots and lots of visitors because of the Holiday train setup. Busy all day. I believe that the trains will be there one more weekend on Dec. 19/20 weekend.

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Classic Tandy compters, New York and The Big Bang Theroy
by Kelly Leavitt 14 Dec '15

14 Dec '15

I know many of you don't watch sitcoms, but I'm a fan. For those of you that don't partake, you can stop here... So, here's a link between this nonsensical show and our hobby. Specifically, one of the characters (Howard Wolowitz) is named after an early developer for TRS-80 computers. I started working on databases on TRS-80 model II computers. The database we used was called Profile. It was created for Radio Shack by the Small Computer Company in Hawthorne, New York. The Small Computer Company was founded by Howard Wolowitz in 1979. Bill Prady, now a producer for The Big Bang Theory, used to be one of Howard's partners. So, it ain't much, but to me it was fun when I figured this out. Kelly References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FilePro http://www.photobuff.com/filepro.htm http://www.photobuff.com/move.htm http://www.sfdrupalguy.com/six-degrees-of-howard-wolowitz

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Getting Data off old Atari Floppies
by Herb Johnson 13 Dec '15

13 Dec '15

> ... and I need to know the order of operations for preventing > damage to 'future floppies', etc.. Should I be cleaning the drive > after every single disk? what's the best way to > clean the drive?, etc... http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/clean_disks.html Herb Johnson retrotechnology.com -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preservation of 1970's computing email: hjohnson AAT retrotechnology DOTT com alternate: herbjohnson ATT retrotechnology DOTT info

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Another site update
by Evan Koblentz 12 Dec '15

12 Dec '15

On mobile browsers, when you press the "menu" button, the sub-menus are now indented so you can see the hierarchy. Thanks yet again to Steven T.'s web designer Darren for this improvement.

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iMac
by Herb Johnson 11 Dec '15

11 Dec '15

> they go from $20-$30 to as much as over $100 plus shipping. The "plus shipping" is significant in cost and risk. That depresses the sale price. Consider packing and shipping a forty-pound CRT terminal in a plastic case. Of course you want the case to remain intact and not cracked. You also don't want the CRT shadow mask or yoke to "shift" from impact and misalign the color display (look it up). And consider these are close to two decades old: time and high-voltage ozone have degraded the plastics; so has exposure to light and chemicals with chlorine (bleaches, floor cleaners). Few know how to pack items in these circumstances; and "return for refund" makes no sense because you won't get either your original OR return shipping back. Herb Johnson retrotechnology.com -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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