When I arrived at the InfoAge Science and History Museum for this year’s Vintage Computer Festival East, I fully expected it to be a reduced event compared to last year. After all, how could it not? Due to the schedule getting shifted around by COVID, show runner Jeffrey Brace and his team had just six months to put together an event that usually gets planned over the course of an entire year. With such a truncated preparation time, they more than deserved a little slack.
But as anyone who attended VCF East 2022 can attest, they didn’t need it. Not only did the event meet the high expectations set by last year’s Festival, it managed to exceed them. There were more workshops, more talks, more vendors, more consignment rooms, more live streams, more…well, everything. This year’s program even got a splash of glossy color compared to the grayscale handout attendees received in October. It was, by any metric you care to use, better than ever.
It does however leave me in somewhat on an unenviable position. As we’ve learned during the pandemic, a virtual representation of an event as extensive as VCF can give you a taste of what’s offered, but all the nuance is lost. Looking at pictures of somebody’s passion project can’t compare to actually meeting the person and seeing that glint of pride in their eye as they walk you through all the details.
So bear that in mind through this rundown of some of the projects that caught my eye. This isn’t a “best of” list, and the Festival is certainly not a competition. But each attendee will invariably come away with their own handful of favorite memories, so I’ll document mine here. If you’d like to make your own memories, I’d strongly suggest making the trek out to the Jersey Shore come April 2023 for the next Vintage Computer Festival East.
History of Handhelds
A disturbing number of people believe that portable computing started in 2007 when Apple unveiled the first iPhone, but those who’ve been following the world of tech a bit closer know there’s a long line of organizers, PDAs, palmtops, tablets, and other oddball gadgets that stretch back to the very earliest days of personal computing. Dave Shevett brought along some choice selections from his incredible personal collection of handheld computing devices that ranged from a Curta mechanical calculator to iconic stalwarts like the Palm Pilot and BlackBerry.
At an event packed with as much rare and expensive hardware as VCF, you should generally keep your hands to yourself. But in this case, Dave invited attendees to pick up and play with the devices on display to get a feel for what using them might have been like. Well, not all of them. I didn’t see him hand the Curta off to the random passerby, but there’s only so much damage you can do to a Sony CLIE or a TRS-80 Model 100.
Checking Out Core64
I’ve learned over the years that “vintage computing” means something different depending on who you ask. For some, it’s the era of early desktops like the Commodore 64. Others are looking for big iron mainframes and front panel blinkenlights. Being of modern design, Andy Geppert’s Core64 technically doesn’t fit into either camp, but it does allow you to interactively play with what’s unquestionably one of the most fascinating components of the very first digital computers: core memory.
We’ve covered Core64 here on Hackaday in the past, and Andy even hosted a Retro Memory Hack Chat in 2021. But this is the first time I got the chance to see the hardware in person, and let me tell you, it’s awesome. The kits he brought along were long sold out by the time I got there, but he still had a couple demo units on hand for attendees to play with, and was happy to talk about the project with anyone who was interested. The device has several modes of operation, but the one that allows you to draw directly on the matrix by lighting up the LEDs behind each ferrite was especially popular with the younger crowd.
Its application as an educational tool was abundantly clear, but the Core64 isn’t just for the miniature hardware hackers in your life. There’s not a lot of opportunity to work with core memory these days, and even fewer to actually weave the stuff by hand, making this a particularly compelling gadget for anyone who wants to get some hands-on experience with one of the technologies that helped put man on the Moon.
Can You Hear Me Now?
At first glance, the Dial 1 for IT exhibit put together by Jason Perkins might seem somewhat out of place at a computer festival. While there was technically computer hardware involved, it was pushed off to the back, behind two tables that were stacked high with a wide array of telephones. The specimens on display ran the gamut from old rotary phones to relatively modern cordless models. There was even a payphone hung up on the wall next to the display, a particularly rare sight these days.
All of the phones were connected up to a PBX, and each had a little sticker indicating its extension. Attendees were free to pick up whatever phone tickled their fancy and dial up one of its peers. There was even a public phone number listed so you could call into the system from your cell. This exhibit gave younger audiences a chance to get hands-on with technology that they likely have never seen in person before, and it was a huge hit. There was a certain novelty to seeing teenagers use a payphone in 2022, and it wasn’t lost on them — several times I saw younger visitors taking pictures of their friends using the payphone with, ironically, the pocket supercomputers that pass for phones in the 21st century.
The TRS-80 Rides Again
For those who’ve never attended a VCF event, you might have the impression that the show floor looks like a computer museum — with rows of ancient machines arranged in tableau, far too old and fragile to power on, let alone actually use. In some special cases, you’d be right. But for the most part, VCF is as much about breathing new life into these classic machines as it is admiring them as historical artifacts. RoundUp!, a new game developed for the TRS-80 by Peter Cetinski is a perfect example.
Of course, simply developing a game for the TRS-80 isn’t necessarily that notable of an accomplishment. After all there was no shortage of games cranked out by single developers back in the day, and you could argue that the majority of TRS-80 owners were probably adept enough at BASIC that they would have fiddled with their own simple games (or copied them out of a book) at some point.
The trick here is that Peter isn’t using a 1980s development workflow. Instead, his games are created on a Macbook Pro using modern development tools. The aptly named TRS-80 Screen Designer from Plaid Vest Software lets him create art assets using an interface that’s not entirely unlike the old grid paper worksheets. The zmac cross compiler lets you build binaries for the Tandy on your Windows, Linux, or Mac OS machine, and the trs80gp emulator lets you test them out. Slap the result on a stack of floppy disks (or cassette tapes, as the case may be), and you’ll be ready to get your own table at next year’s VCF.
Random Samplings
Making an Impression
No matter their age or background, everyone I spoke to at the 2022 Vintage Computer Festival had nothing but positive things to say about the event. At the end of the day even my own 11-year-old daughter, who usually spends her free time digging holes in Minecraft, was impressed. I’d say she came away from the event a bit wiser as well — there’s something about spending an afternoon toggling programs into the front panel of a minicomputer that makes the previously incomprehensible magic inside a modern smartphone seem quaint in comparison. She says she’s excited to go next year, and not just in the “Dad’s says I have to go” way, either.
Part of the appeal is no doubt the InfoAge campus itself, which offers an incredible array of exhibits for VCF visitors to explore. Seriously, were else is there a shipwreck museum in walking distance of an operational radio telescope? But even still, that the passionate members of the Vintage Computer Federation are able to craft an event that manages to enthrall guests that aren’t even half as old as the computers or equipment on display is frankly a minor miracle. Considering this year’s theme was “Computers for the masses”, I’d say they nailed it.
We were able to do a bring-up of the #Commodore version of #FujiNet as well. This happened in the lounge, and had a weather and ISS tracking display on the main monitor.
Very cool!
Is that an Apple IIGS with a clear lid?
That looks like a clear //e case with the IIGS upgrade.
That’s better. I saw the SIMMs and th Mac keyboard in front, but forgot most IIGS don’t have a built in keyboard.
Yep! That’s Sean (Action Retro on YouTube)’s IIgs machine in a clear IIe case from MacEffects.
Our table had some neat Macs on display, including a Flower Power iMac G3, a Power Computing PowerPC Mac Clone, and a prototype iMac G5 with a CompactFlash / SD card slot.
I believe this is the one in the picture which is owned by Action Retro: https://youtu.be/pGN_H_I5okU
“‘A disturbing number of people believe that portable computing started in 2007 when Apple unveiled the first iPhone, but those who’ve been following the world of tech a bit closer know there’s a long line of organizers, PDAs, palmtops, tablets, and other oddball gadgets that stretch back to the very earliest days of personal computing.””
Yeah, got a relative, who was REALLY annoying when he got an iPhone, “look what I can do” so after a week of that, I got out the WinCE PDA I got for $20 at a thrift a couple of months prior, and do the exact same task, and remind him each time I got it for $20 at the thrift store :-D … okay it’s cellular functions were assisted via bluetooth to the Razr V3 in my pocket.
Lol… I was thanked for “adapting to the new technology” the other day after navigating a god-awful GUI on Twitter Teams or whatever its called. I didn’t have the heart to explain that its the 10th “new technology” I have witnessed.
Heh. So many times…
And I was there on Saturday. But I digress, the show was amazing. I can and did give them credit for that in person. Bill Herd, I was with Jeff Brace when you walked past to your talk on the Saturday. I confess I was too surprised to go over and introduce myself. I found two exhibits interesting. Yes the phones one was exceptional. But the one where a group of machines were all wired together to talk via the IRC protocols, made things interesting. Especially since the Model 100 was chosen to play there.
“Making Tandy work for you” was my exhibit. I had a lot of fun setting everything up to make it an engaging hands-on exhibit. Rickrolling people on my 386SX was a highlight, but seeing everyone play on IRC and hearing people talk about how this machine was their first, or “Had one just like it!” made my entire trip worth it.
That GameCube Ndev is definite POST turn-of-the-century. For something more vintage, you could show the SGI Indigo systems that were used to develop for the N64.
Hopefully next year somebody remembers to tell them that CityZen says they aren’t welcome at VCF…
Why would you assume that? I’m just responding to my “one of these things is not like the other” OCD.
And I think I’m remembering wrong. Ndevs were used for Wii development, not GameCube (Gdevs were used for GameCube).
I am the runner of that exhibit. We had everything from PlayStation 1 to ps3. Ndev, psp kits, katana, etc. We were showing how developers used computers for debugging and development. The ps1 had the dtl-2500 cards. You can find more on our Twitter https://twitter.com/amiga_rochester
+1 for the DG NOVA 1200. I used to work for DG…the smaller, scrappier offspring of Digital Equipment Corporation.
Howdy!
That Nova 1200 was my exhibit, I was happy to bring it along for display. Power supply wasn’t happy on Friday, but we got it running again. It never did run Single User BASIC as intended, but so it goes with 51 year old computers.
Nice. Those old power supplies are often problematic. I think the NOVAs had linear supplies, which makes them easier to repair. Early switchers are a bit more of a challenge. Nice to see one still running, and the core memory. Good luck getting BASIC to run and the p/s repaired. Real Computers have switches and lights!
This one is a switchmode supply, and the frequency at which it switches is within the audible range, so it can be a pain to listen to for too long. I already tore it down once and rebuilt a large portion of it, but the 5V regulator started to go out-of-spec again, resulting in a field repair at the show.
It ran BASIC for like 20 minutes the night before, and for a few months prior to the event. I guess it just got stage fright. The good news is I’ll have help from the other Nova users out there when it comes to rehabbing it again.
I think that’s Murphy at work. When doing a live demo, it will always run the night before, and will reliably fail on stage :-( Wishing you the best of luck on the repair, and maybe now that I’m retired, I’ll make it to next year’s show.
Was that the one Tracy Kidder wrote about in “Soul of a New Machine” ? Wonderful book… would love to have seen the machine.
That would be the DG Eclipse series, the successor to the Nova series.
A friend of mine worked for a company that maintained Data General computers (in the early 90’s). He occasionally give me neat cast-offs, including an old hard drive that weighted 70 pounds.
I may have to bring my SGI system next year. Need to get a C compiler for it first, so I can compile something other than the canned demos to run on it.
IIRC, (25 years ago), our SGIs ran gcc.
That’s certainly an option. Ideally, I’d like to use the “official” compiler, but finding a licensed version may be difficult, as I believe they were network-licensed, requiring a license server, etc. So, gcc it might very well be. Thanks!
I enjoyed the article, thanks for writing it.
I wish I could attend something like that!
Someday…
This was the 40th anniversary of the Commodore 64. A computing platform that changed gaming and computers forever. The VIC2 chips. Boards reduced to single chip packages. it also brought together 14 ex-commodore employees ranging from the Pet/CBM line through the Amiga. Hardware, software, design and engineering. The open forum and Q&A session went for 3+ hours. Finally, some of the unexplainable was explained!
Computers that never made it to market. Prototypes some of us saw that got lost. Why Europe got stuff the USA didn’t see. For an early adopter of the PET ( 8K, chicklet keyboard, modified standard cassette tape deck circa 1977) it was enlightening and I finally understand more about the product lines that I loved.
We got a look at the politics of bringing out a new machine and/or product line, engineering aside. It reminded me a little bit of the book, The soul of a new machine by Tracy Kidder. Engineers vying for control over revisions, and how revisions to make a product better and faster got lost over time. Sometimes literally a second trace on a circuit board.
Finally, the location was worth a visit in itself. The birthplace a radar. A compact buy well stocked computer history museum. A military vehicle area with special Signal Corp. vehicles. A history of radio both commercial and military. You could spend a full day in this Info Age exhibits!
I finished reading “Churchill’s Secret Warriors” last month.
IMO a great book about Britain’s WWII raid on the Bruneval (France) radar site to grab as much of the German radar installed there.
“Most Secret War” by RV Jones from the seventies cover a lot of WWII territory. It’s about technical issues in the war, but not a technical book. Jones was part of it.
His contribution is part of the picture.
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? This exhibit was so meta. When AmigaBill (Bill Winters) was doing a live stream on his twitch channel while doing a walkthrough, one of the twitch chat participants noticed this exhibit’s exchange number, called it from California. Bill answered the ringing phone and they talked live. That was pretty awesome.
I agree – VCF East was awesome. SOOOO much to see and experience. The telephone and answering machine exhibit was super engaging. Thanks for the kind words Tom!