Category: Uncategorized

Hello folks,

VCF West is scheduled, as always, for the first weekend in August. That will be the 7th and 8th this year. We have the full second floor of the Computer History Museum booked!

As of right now things are looking fairly good for an in-person show. The CHM is projecting that they should be open in July, vaccine distribution is accelerating and should approach universal availability within the next few months and, overall, signs of pending normalcy are on the rise.

Nothing is certain, of course, but I am cautiously optimistic that we can have a show so I would like to start planning for it.

With that in mind, exhibit registrations are open at VCF West Exhibit Registration

Please consider signing up to show off your favorite toys! We have a lot of space to fill and I’m hoping that there is a lot of pent up demand since we were purely virtual last year.

Speaking of virtual, we will be doing a hybrid show. The Hahn Auditorium will be used for live talks when we have speakers in the building, but we’ll run video presentations of exhibits, talks and classes in between those. If you are out of town or can’t attend in person please consider submitting a video! Heck, we could use your video even if you’re planning on being there in person!

As always we are actively seeking speakers and classroom instructors for the show. If you are able, or if you know of someone who would be a good fit, please let me know.

Also, as usual, we’re always looking for volunteers to help out with show preparations and on show days.

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments or concerns and please forward this email to anyone you think might be interested.

Thank You and All the Best,

Erik Klein

erik@vcfed.org

Vintage Computer Federation has initiated a fundraiser for InfoAge operating expenses. As with many museums across the country InfoAge was hit hard by lower visitor numbers, yet the expenses keep coming. For those that don’t know, VCF leases space for our museum and warehouse from InfoAge. So we are looking to help them as it benefits us and all the other museums under the InfoAge umbrella to stay in business.

Our doors stay open as a result of the volunteers’ efforts, the donations made by visitors to InfoAge, as well as grants and other fundraising efforts.

As you can imagine, the long closures, limited capacity and public concerns that have come as a result of COVID-19 have seriously hurt our ability to raise money and continue to maintain and improve the Camp Evans Historical Landmark Site and the museums that occupy it’s spaces.

Starting with the resident non-profits, we are pooling our resources to keep the doors to our home here at Camp Evans/InfoAge open and continue to share this wonderful place with the public. But we need your help to make it through these difficult times.

ANY donation will help make an impact.

How will your donation help? Your donations will assist InfoAge in paying for daily operating expenses (like keeping the electricity on!) repairs and maintenance and installation of new exhibits just to name a few!

Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to us.

We set a goal of $10,000 to go towards operating expenses to keep the lights on. You can donate by going here: https://gofund.me/f72ab5f0.

Hello everyone,

Today is Giving Day, so I’d like to remind everyone that VCF is a 501c3 non-profit. We are always open to donations of money. We always need funding especially in a year where the largest sources of our funding, our Vintage Computer Festivals, were cancelled due to Covid-19.

Here are the ways that you can send us cash donations:

1. Check by Mail:  P.O. Box 417, Eatontown, NJ, 07724
2. PayPay: paypal@vcfed.org
3. Amazon Smile: smile.amazon.com/gp/ch/list/47-4133714

An unrestricted donation is best for us to fund the most needed project.

Here are current projects that we are working on:

1. Warehouse organizing materials
2. Warehouse climate control materials
3. Warehouse climate control equipment
4. Museum artifact display improvements
5. Museum office supplies

The Vintage Computer Federation is having its first Swap Meet event. This swap meet is for vintage computers, radios, TVs, ham radios and related items.

FREE FOR BUYERS!

Vendors: $20 for 1st space, $10 for each additional space.

DATE: November 7, 2020 (RAIN DATE: November 8, 2020)
TIME: 9AM to 6PM
LOCATION: Huge Parking lot on Monmouth Boulevard between Watson Road and Taft Street in Wall, NJ

Across from InfoAge Museum and Brookdale College
GPS location: 40.1848793,-74.0630848
Google Maps: Click Here
Satellite Map Click Here
Flyer – PNG
Flyer – PDF

WEBSITE: https://vcfed.org/vcf-swap-meet
EMAIL: swapmeet@vcfed.org
PHONE: 732-722-5015

If you are interested in renting a space, please fill out this Reservation Form

VCF events are done for the year, the world is still a mess, and our supply of t-shirts is dwindling! If you were thinking about getting one of these beautiful shirts, now is the time!

Two great colors to chose from, and the back sums up 2020 perfectly! (Green is shown; amber shirts have an amber back as well. Bonus points if you know where the caterpillar comes from.  Hint: it is not from Centipede!)

Your cost for this masterpiece? Just $20 + shipping, and all profits go to support VCFed. The shirts are made for us by A Nova Print in Portland, OR.  Men’s and Women’s sizes are available, but some sizes have already sold out.

More information can be found at https://vcfed.org/t-shirts/

The Vintage Computer Federation and the System Source Computer Museum are hosting a vintage computer workshop on Saturday November 14^th and Sunday November 15^th 2020 at:

System Source Computer Museum

338 Clubhouse Road,

Hunt Valley, MD  21031

Plenty of free parking, short walk from Baltimore’s light rail (Gilroy Road Stop)

Saturday November 14^th, 2020 we will open at 9:00 AM on and will lock up by 7:30 PM.

We will go to dinner afterwards. Details to follow soon.

Sunday November 15th we will open at 9:00 AM and lock up at 5:00 PM

All social distancing restrictions must be followed such as wearing a mask and staying 6 feet apart. There is plenty of space in the workshop areas.

Accommodations:  Try https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g41196-Hunt_Valley_Maryland-Hotels.html

Feel free to talk with others about sharing a room.

Food:   There are plenty of restaurants within a short drive.   We will have a catered Indian buffet on Saturday at cost ($12.00?) and catered Barbecue ($12.00?) on Sunday for those who sign up.

We will feature tours of the museum throughout both days and several mini-workshops:

• Retrobright workshop (bring your yellowed plastics)
• Pre-industrial computing class –  Learn to use a slide rule, and various types of Abaci
• Hot Metal Typesetting (3500 lb word processor)

If you need a machine to work on, please let me know.  We have lots of computers awaiting restoration!

If you have unusual needs, (220 Volts, fork lift, etc please email Bob Roswell at museum@syssrc.com

Bob Roswell

broswell@syssrc.com

https://museum.syssrc.com

410-771-5544 x 4336

Sign up for the repair workshop is here: <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Z72yC72x5PmN4jb0Aw8uK3x0sQwMAk-0Opuee_zYu5Y/edit?usp=sharing>

Anthropologist Margaret Mead famously noted that,“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Curt Vendel, Atari collector and historian passed away unexpectedly on August 30, at age 53, was one of these ‘committed citizens,’ a walking one man archive of Atari history. Vendel was the guiding light behind the Atari History Museum, an online and physical archive of over 15,000 documents from Atari, which he in many cases rescued from oblivion as part of a lifetime of intense collecting efforts. The collection also includes “information, images and personal stories on all items produced by Atari as well as news and links to further assist any and all individuals interested in learning more about the company that helped to pioneer and shape many areas of Video Arcade Entertainment, Home Consumer Electronics, Personal Computer Systems and much, much more.” The Museum is celebrating its 40th year. Vendel was known to be kind, outgoing, and generous with his time. His loss will be keenly felt by the retrogaming and history of computing community. He leaves behind his wife Michelle and daughter Madison, a college freshman.

The VCF West Schedule and YouTube streaming link have been posted.

Mark your calendars and spread the word far and wide!

Details about the Q&A sessions after each talk will be posted sometime this week.

You can e-mail questions about each talk to microphone@vcfed.org and Erik will ask the questions live.