On Jan 29, 2019, at 1:01 PM, W. Bryan Caudle <bcaudle@ctsi.net> wrote:
As a new member to the list, I am looking forward to meeting some other vintage computer enthusiasts and collectors and hopefully contribute to the conversation in the future.
My whole work life has in some way involved technology, and my interest in computers goes back to elementary school with the TRS-80 model I and Apple II. I grew up with Commodore machines at home, followed by TRS-80's and PC Clones later on. I worked for Compuadd Corp in the 90's, then a local PC shop, then started my consulting business in 1994. Most recently my full time gig has been in infrastructure and architecture for a couple of global non-profit organizations. When I am not at work or spending time with family, my time is split between the computer collection and aviation.
I have been intentionally collecting and restoring vintage hardware since 2006 with the future aspiration of having them on public display in some form either connected with an existing museum or starting something new. I am located in central Virginia, and we currently have around 100 machines in the collection, with the majority dating from the mid '70s through 90's, and cover a broad range of home computers, business computers, portables, and gaming consoles. I am happy to say that approximately 90% of them are functional. In addition to the usual suspects, some of our less common items include an IBM System/32, Basic Four Minicomputer, Acorn Electron, NeXT workstation, Xerox 1108 Lisp Machines, and the Commodore PC-10 IBM clone.
I enjoyed my first visit to the VCF East last year and am looking forward to returning this year. I am considering participating in some sort of exhibition at the festival, either on my own or in cooperation with others and Evan suggested that I join this list to see where my ideas might fit in with what others are doing.
Much of our collection is documented here if anyone is interested:
http://www.vacomputermuseum.org<http://www.vacomputermuseum.org/>
Thanks for your time!
Welcome Bryan! Love the pictures of the systems and software etc. We will have to talk about getting some Apple II love for your 1970s group. Original Apple IIs are pricey but a nice II+ from 1979 will fit the bill. I have many (as does VCF, so I’m not slighting VCF by offering one) and would be happy to move one your way. Perhaps if you attend a workshop or come to VCF East you can pick it up to save the hassle of shipping. I have a large selection of software and manuals so I will add something to round out the display based on your wishes. It’s my hope sometime down the road as the VCF museum expands to see displays of multiple machines from different vendors, and have some stuff put aside for that should it ever happen. Meantime the machine is yours if you want it. You’ve got some of the most knowledgeable and helpful people here in this group for all things micro and mini and mainframe, with some true experts to help you with your collection. Apple II series and compact Macs are my personal obsession so anything I can do to help in that area just ask. So many Commodore and Tandy and Mac guys and.....you get the idea! Lots of info to be had from this list! Tony