Friggin' awesome.

-----Original Message-----
From: B. Degnan [mailto:billdeg@...]
Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2007 10:13 PM
To: midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [midatlanticretro] Saturday Commodore PET 2001 workday

Byran Pope met me at my house today to help work on some PETs we have.

In total 4 PET's were worked on today from less than functional systems

1) 2001-8  (sn ??)- when tape loading program, sometimes junk chars appear
on screen see #2 below)

2) 2001-8  (sn 20343)- (bad keyboard replaced)

3) 2001-32B (bad power supply replaced, monitor fixed see #1 below)

4)  2001-16N - (not fixed: RAM (?)

5) also semi restored a CBM 8250 disk drive using a B-128 and the diagnostic
from CBUG 48.  Was not able to header a disk, but could read directories in
drive 0.

Lessons learned:
#1 If your monitor is hissing pretty loudly but there is no smoke, the
suction cup connector may have come dislodged from the inner picture tube
chassis - re-attach

#2 If you are having issues loading programs from the tape such as garbled
characters appearing on the screen, try loading the programs on an external
tape drive by disconnecting the internal drive and using the port for your
external tape player.  If you are successful loading programs from external
tape drive, 1) you may have a power supply problem 2) at least you know the
processor and RAM are probably OK.

Here are some hi-res pics:
http://vintagecomputer.net/commodore/2001/
(there are no pics of the 2001-32B or 2001-16N)

Bill Deg




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Jeffrey Frady wrote:
> All hail Evan!
We are not worthy! ;)

Cheers,

Wayne's World

>
> On 3/10/07, *Evan Koblentz* <evan@... <mailto:evan@...>>
> wrote:
>
>     I already posted this to classiccmp and the vc forum, but actually
>     forgot to
>     post here! The news: Computerworld magazine invited me blog for
>     their web
>     site about our hobby. How cool is that!? CW has hundreds of
>     thousands of
>     readers, so it says a LOT about our hobby that they decided we wacky
>     collectors are bandwidth-worthy. I'm fortunate that they asked me
>     to write
>     it, but regardless, it's not about me (LOL, unlike the glory of
>     leading
>     MARCH) -- it's seriously about the growth and exposure for our
>     hobby. May
>     not help with epay prices but I'd rather see a boatload of new
>     collectors
>     than a few more bucks in my wallet.
>
>     The blog is at http://www.computerworld.com/blogs/koblentz ... as
>     you'd
>     imagine the post count will be extremely slim until after VCF East.
>
>     - Evan
>
>
>
>

Party on!  Excellent!

-----Original Message-----
From: Bryan Pope [mailto:bryan.pope@...]
Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2007 10:53 PM
To: midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [midatlanticretro] A nifty, non-MARCH announcement

Jeffrey Frady wrote:
> All hail Evan!
We are not worthy! ;)

Cheers,

Wayne's World

B. Degnan wrote:
> Byran Pope met me at my house today to help work on some PETs we have.
>
> In total 4 PET's were worked on today from less than functional systems
>
> 1) 2001-8  (sn ??)- when tape loading program, sometimes junk chars appear
> on screen see #2 below)
>
>
Also, this machine came up perfectly when I got home plus it is LOADing
and SEARCHING for programs like it's 1977! ;)

Cheers,

Bryan

B. Degnan wrote:
> Byran Pope met me at my house today to help work on some PETs we have.
>
> In total 4 PET's were worked on today from less than functional systems
>
> 1) 2001-8  (sn ??)- when tape loading program, sometimes junk chars appear
> on screen see #2 below)
>
>
sn 29652

> 2) 2001-8  (sn 20343)- (bad keyboard replaced)
>
> 3) 2001-32B (bad power supply replaced, monitor fixed see #1 below)
>
> 4)  2001-16N - (not fixed: RAM (?)
>
> 5) also semi restored a CBM 8250 disk drive using a B-128 and the
> diagnostic from CBUG 48.  Was not able to header a disk, but could read
> directories in drive 0.
>
> Lessons learned:
> #1 If your monitor is hissing pretty loudly but there is no smoke, the
> suction cup connector may have come dislodged from the inner picture tube
> chassis - re-attach
>
>
And there is a nice orange glow coming from the end of the yoke...

> #2 If you are having issues loading programs from the tape such as garbled
> characters appearing on the screen, try loading the programs on an external
>
When Bill says garbled characters on the screen, we aren't talking about
when the system is started up, but while trying to LOAD a program..  For
instance while searching the tape for a certain program (say, Police!)
and the other programs found are spelled incorrectly or have garbled
characters (like graphics characters).

> tape drive by disconnecting the internal drive and using the port for your
> external tape player.  If you are successful loading programs from external
> tape drive, 1) you may have a power supply problem 2) at least you know the
> processor and RAM are probably OK.
>
>
And exercise your machine!! :D

I had a great time and it was very rewarding to get all of these
machines working or working better, *especially* the 2001-32B!  That was
a high-five moment!

Cheers,

Bryan

> Here are some hi-res pics:
> http://vintagecomputer.net/commodore/2001/
> (there are no pics of the 2001-32B or 2001-16N)
>
> Bill Deg
>
>

that's good to hear.
Bill

At 10:55 PM 3/10/2007 -0500, you wrote:
>B. Degnan wrote:
> > Byran Pope met me at my house today to help work on some PETs we have.
> >
> > In total 4 PET's were worked on today from less than functional systems
> >
> > 1) 2001-8  (sn ??)- when tape loading program, sometimes junk chars appear
> > on screen see #2 below)
> >
> >
>Also, this machine came up perfectly when I got home plus it is LOADing
>and SEARCHING for programs like it's 1977! ;)
>
>Cheers,
>
>Bryan

> From: Glenn Holmer [mailto:gholmer@...]

> What is the recommended hotel for VCF East 4.0?  Which airport to
fly into?
> What modes of transportation are available between airport, hotel,
and VCF?
>

  "Evan Koblentz" <evan@...> wrote:

> The nearest major airport is Newark Liberty.  The next-closest is
> Philadelphia.
>
> A cheap rental car is your best option around here.  You can also
take the
> train (NJ Transit) but that would involve a couple of transfers and
a taxi
> at the end.

Another airport to consider is Trenton-Mercer Airport (TTN) in Ewing
NJ near but not in Trenton NJ. Wikipedia says "Trenton-Mercer is the
sixth busiest airport in New Jersey overall (after Newark, Essex
County, Teterboro, Morristown, and Atlantic City) and third busiest
commercially (after Newark and Atlantic City)".

http://nj.gov/counties/mercer/departments/airport/index.html

Pan Am  provides service from there to Boston area via Bedford, MA.
DELTA/COMAIR provides service to Boston and Atlanta.

The Airport is a mile from I-95 around Trenton, and it would take an
hour to drive from I-95 to I-295 to I-195 east to Tinton Falls. Rental
cars are I believe available at the airport, or most certainly in the
Trenton/Ewing area nearby.

As for trains, Trenton's Amtrak station is a major connection for
train nationally. I'm not familiar with the runs east to the Tinton
Falls area, or along the Jersey Shore. It's not unreasonable for
someone in the Northeast or MidAtlantic to consider taking the train.

Herb Johnson

Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA
<a href="http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/"> web site</a>
<a href="http://www.retrotechnology.net/herbs_stuff/"> domain mirror</a>
my email address: hjohnson AAT retrotechnology DOTT com
if no reply, try in a few days: herbjohnson ATT comcast DOTT net
"Herb's Stuff": old Mac, SGI, 8-inch floppy drives
S-100 IMSAI Altair computers, docs, by "Dr. S-100"

Check out the cover of May 1975 Automation Magazine in the Photos
section of this Forum, under Cartoons.  :-)

Ron K

An update on my IBM 129 keypunch...

     I replaced the main V-belt, which was severely cracked.  Installed a
new ribbon.  Oiled and greased lots of stuff.  Cleaned with rubber rollers
with Rubber Rejuvenator.  Aligned the upper card guide.  Removed a couple
of washers which were rattling around inside the keyboard.  Cleaned the
card path.

     The upshot?  It WORKS!  Feeds, punches, prints, stores program cards,
program control works.  I'm a happy camper.  :-)


Mike Loewen 		 mloewen@...
Old Technology http://ripsaw.cac.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/

excellent!
b
d

At 06:54 PM 3/13/2007 -0400, you wrote:

>     An update on my IBM 129 keypunch...
>
>     I replaced the main V-belt, which was severely cracked.  Installed a
>new ribbon.  Oiled and greased lots of stuff.  Cleaned with rubber rollers
>with Rubber Rejuvenator.  Aligned the upper card guide.  Removed a couple
>of washers which were rattling around inside the keyboard.  Cleaned the
>card path.
>
>     The upshot?  It WORKS!  Feeds, punches, prints, stores program cards,
>program control works.  I'm a happy camper.  :-)
>
>
>Mike Loewen                             mloewen@...
>Old Technology  http://ripsaw.cac.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/

>[follow link below to pictures]
>
>
>This is an automated message from our web site inventory system.
>
>New Item Added:
>CATEGORY:     I/0 HARDWARE
>SUBCATEGORY:  PUNCH CARDS
>MANUFACTURER: IBM
>MODEL NAME:   Model 129 Card Data Recorder (keypunch)
>
>For more details about this item, please visit
>http://www.midatlanticretro.org/inventory/

Recently there have been a lot of new items uploaded into the MARCH online
inventory if you have not visited the page for a while.

Browse the site or even add an item or two of your own.
If everyone who reads this message adds their just one of their favorite
items, we'll reach critical mass.  There are already a few dozen items
uploaded many
with pictures.

Bill D

http://www.marchclub.org/inventory/

Bill,

Maybe I am just dense but I can't get the inventory system to give me any results. I followed the link and typed "keypunch" into the search of all categories (none of them fit a keypunch) and got zero results. Since keypunch is part of the description, shouldn't this search have found the "card data recorder"? Getting past the categories seems to be my biggest problem.

Jim

----- Original Message ----
From: B. Degnan <billdeg@...>
To: midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 9:25:14 PM
Subject: [midatlanticretro] Fwd: New I/0 HARDWARE inventory uploaded to our web site


>[follow link below to pictures]
>
>
>This is an automated message from our web site inventory system.
>
>New Item Added:
>CATEGORY: I/0 HARDWARE
>SUBCATEGORY: PUNCH CARDS
>MANUFACTURER: IBM
>MODEL NAME: Model 129 Card Data Recorder (keypunch)
>
>For more details about this item, please visit
>http://www.midatlan ticretro. org/inventory/

Bill,

Ok, I *am* dense. I'll try to enter some of my stuff. Didn't you produce a spreadsheet we could use for bulk data entry? Is that still available?

Jim

----- Original Message ----
From: B. Degnan <billdeg@...>
To: midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2007 10:11:43 AM
Subject: Re: [midatlanticretro] Fwd: New I/0 HARDWARE inventory uploaded to our web site

Jim,
For the item you're searching the text "keypunch" appears only within the Item/Model Name: field, this text is not in the description field.  That's the way Mike entered it. 

Search by description for the term "punch" and it will work.  The easier thing to do is just click "I/O Hardware" from the side nav, there are only two items one is the keypunch.

Bill

At 06:33 AM 3/15/2007 -0700, you wrote:

Bill,

Maybe I am just dense but I can't get the inventory system to give me any results. I followed the link and typed "keypunch" into the search of all categories (none of them fit a keypunch) and got zero results. Since keypunch is part of the description, shouldn't this search have found the "card data recorder"? Getting past the categories seems to be my biggest problem.

Jim

----- Original Message ----
From: B. Degnan <billdeg@degnanco. com>
To: midatlanticretro@ yahoogroups. com
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 9:25:14 PM
Subject: [midatlanticretro] Fwd: New I/0 HARDWARE inventory uploaded to our web site


>[follow link below to pictures]
>
>
>This is an automated message from our web site inventory system.
>
>New Item Added:
>CATEGORY: I/0 HARDWARE
>SUBCATEGORY: PUNCH CARDS
>MANUFACTURER: IBM
>MODEL NAME: Model 129 Card Data Recorder (keypunch)
>
>For more details about this item, please visit
>http://www.midatlan ticretro. org/inventory/

On Thu, 15 Mar 2007, B. Degnan wrote:

> to add items, sub categories, etc.  There are pop up boxes and automated
> features to help keep the input consistent.  This is necessary to avoid
> people entering different names for the same thing (IBM or International
> Business Machines, etc.).

     Even then, I noticed we have "Apple" and "Apple Computer".  :-)


Mike Loewen 		 mloewen@...
Old Technology http://ripsaw.cac.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/

Mike Loewen wrote:
> On Thu, 15 Mar 2007, B. Degnan wrote:
>
>
>> to add items, sub categories, etc.  There are pop up boxes and automated
>> features to help keep the input consistent.  This is necessary to avoid
>> people entering different names for the same thing (IBM or International
>> Business Machines, etc.).
>>
>
>     Even then, I noticed we have "Apple" and "Apple Computer".  :-)
>
>
Is that because of Apple Computer's name change to just "Apple"?  errrgh...

Cheers,

Bryan

P.S.  I vote to keep it as "Apple Computer".

OK, I know this is the Mid Atlantic group, but is anyone from the West
Coast? I have 2 M88K based computers I'd like to get rid of, one was
made by Motorola and the other by Data General. I don't really know
much about them, but I'd kind of like to NOT see them go to a land
fill. If anyone reading this lives close enough to Reno, NV to pick
these up, please email me at ken@... or call me at
775-750-2723. They are heavy and shipping would probably be really
expensive.

thanks,
Ken Deboy

Mike,
Thanks for letting me know, I try to clean that stuff up.  People have to
be careful (including me).
Bill

At 01:46 PM 3/15/2007 -0400, you wrote:
>On Thu, 15 Mar 2007, B. Degnan wrote:
>
> > to add items, sub categories, etc.  There are pop up boxes and automated
> > features to help keep the input consistent.  This is necessary to avoid
> > people entering different names for the same thing (IBM or International
> > Business Machines, etc.).
>
>     Even then, I noticed we have "Apple" and "Apple Computer".  :-)
>
>
>Mike Loewen                             mloewen@...
>Old Technology  http://ripsaw.cac.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/
>
>
>
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

On Thu, 15 Mar 2007, B. Degnan wrote:

> Thanks for letting me know, I try to clean that stuff up.  People have to
> be careful (including me).

     Yep, that's the whole problem with allowing USERS to enter their own
text.  :-)


Mike Loewen 		 mloewen@...
Old Technology http://ripsaw.cac.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/

Ken,

You should check out the "cctalk" mailing list based at www.classsiccmp.org
and also the vcforum based at www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum ... Those are
both global sites with strong west-coast presences.

-----Original Message-----
From: km_deboy [mailto:kdeboy@...]
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2007 12:49 PM
To: midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [midatlanticretro] Any West Coasters?

OK, I know this is the Mid Atlantic group, but is anyone from the West
Coast? I have 2 M88K based computers I'd like to get rid of, one was made by
Motorola and the other by Data General. I don't really know much about them,
but I'd kind of like to NOT see them go to a land fill. If anyone reading
this lives close enough to Reno, NV to pick these up, please email me at
ken@... or call me at 775-750-2723. They are heavy and shipping
would probably be really expensive.

thanks,
Ken Deboy



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Yahoo! Groups gets a make over. See the new email design.
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Yahoo! Groups Links

MARCH-lets,

     Andy and I have been discussing the upcoming Trenton Computer
Festival - April 28th and 29th, 2006 and we are wondering who is
planning to be there and what will you bring to show (besides
yourself!).  Andy was planning to bring his laptop+monitor to emulate
most anything and I am thinking about bringing a PET (not Timmeh! ;) ) +
disk drive plus some games.

     Last year was a *lot* of fun!

Cheers,

Bryan

I will be there.  I will probably decide what to bring the night before
any requests?

I will probably bring a common game-oriented computer system so that I can
leave it relatively unattended, let people play with it.

Bill


> MARCH-lets,
>
>     Andy and I have been discussing the upcoming Trenton Computer
> Festival - April 28th and 29th, 2006 and we are wondering who is
> planning to be there and what will you bring to show (besides
> yourself!).  Andy was planning to bring his laptop+monitor to emulate
> most anything and I am thinking about bringing a PET (not Timmeh! ;) ) +
> disk drive plus some games.
>
>     Last year was a *lot* of fun!
>
> Cheers,
>
> Bryan
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>


-END-

I could bring a couple of small DEC systems down if
there'd be any interest. Calendar's clear for that
weekend.

-Dave
--- B Degnan <billdeg@...> wrote:

> I will be there.  I will probably decide what to
> bring the night before
> any requests?
>
> I will probably bring a common game-oriented
> computer system so that I can
> leave it relatively unattended, let people play with
> it.
>
> Bill
>
>
> > MARCH-lets,
> >
> >     Andy and I have been discussing the upcoming
> Trenton Computer
> > Festival - April 28th and 29th, 2006 and we are
> wondering who is
> > planning to be there and what will you bring to
> show (besides
> > yourself!).  Andy was planning to bring his
> laptop+monitor to emulate
> > most anything and I am thinking about bringing a
> PET (not Timmeh! ;) ) +
> > disk drive plus some games.
> >
> >     Last year was a *lot* of fun!
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Bryan
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> -END-
>
>

David Comley wrote:
> I could bring a couple of small DEC systems down if
> there'd be any interest. Calendar's clear for that
> weekend.
>
I think you should. :)  The bigger mini-VCF we give (with lots of MARCH
member support) hopefully the even bigger turnout we will have at the
*TWO*-day VCF East 4.0! :D  Plus this time VCF east happens about two
months after TCF...

Cheers,

Bryan

> -Dave
> --- B Degnan <billdeg@...> wrote:
>
>
>> I will be there.  I will probably decide what to
>> bring the night before
>> any requests?
>>
>> I will probably bring a common game-oriented
>> computer system so that I can
>> leave it relatively unattended, let people play with
>> it.
>>
>> Bill
>>
>>
>>
>>> MARCH-lets,
>>>
>>>     Andy and I have been discussing the upcoming
>>>
>> Trenton Computer
>>
>>> Festival - April 28th and 29th, 2006 and we are
>>>
>> wondering who is
>>
>>> planning to be there and what will you bring to
>>>
>> show (besides
>>
>>> yourself!).  Andy was planning to bring his
>>>
>> laptop+monitor to emulate
>>
>>> most anything and I am thinking about bringing a
>>>
>> PET (not Timmeh! ;) ) +
>>
>>> disk drive plus some games.
>>>
>>>     Last year was a *lot* of fun!
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> Bryan
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Yahoo! Groups Links
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> -END-
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>

May I add that last year I got a free working DEC Professional 350 at the
outside swap meet.   Another idea is to have a MARCH table at the swap
meet.  We're allowed to sell things there obviously, and the swap meet
attracts a higher percentage of people interested in vintage stuff.
bd

At 08:56 PM 3/19/2007 -0400, you wrote:
>David Comley wrote:
> > I could bring a couple of small DEC systems down if
> > there'd be any interest. Calendar's clear for that
> > weekend.
> >
>I think you should. :)  The bigger mini-VCF we give (with lots of MARCH
>member support) hopefully the even bigger turnout we will have at the
>*TWO*-day VCF East 4.0! :D  Plus this time VCF east happens about two
>months after TCF...
>
>Cheers,
>
>Bryan
>
> > -Dave
> > --- B Degnan <billdeg@...> wrote:
> >
> >
> >> I will be there.  I will probably decide what to
> >> bring the night before
> >> any requests?
> >>
> >> I will probably bring a common game-oriented
> >> computer system so that I can
> >> leave it relatively unattended, let people play with
> >> it.
> >>
> >> Bill
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>> MARCH-lets,
> >>>
> >>>     Andy and I have been discussing the upcoming
> >>>
> >> Trenton Computer
> >>
> >>> Festival - April 28th and 29th, 2006 and we are
> >>>
> >> wondering who is
> >>
> >>> planning to be there and what will you bring to
> >>>
> >> show (besides
> >>
> >>> yourself!).  Andy was planning to bring his
> >>>
> >> laptop+monitor to emulate
> >>
> >>> most anything and I am thinking about bringing a
> >>>
> >> PET (not Timmeh! ;) ) +
> >>
> >>> disk drive plus some games.
> >>>
> >>>     Last year was a *lot* of fun!
> >>>
> >>> Cheers,
> >>>
> >>> Bryan
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Yahoo! Groups Links
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >> -END-
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>