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*2/27/2023 UPDATE* Exhibitor registration is closed… We are full!
If you want to be on the waiting list please e-mail us at vcfeast AT vcfed DOT org.
Current List of Exhibits
“Totally Normal” Computing – Michael Stanhope, Sean Malseed, Steven Matarazzo
Insanely Upgraded Macs and 40th Anniversary of The Compaq Portable, Apple Lisa, and Apple IIe.
Core64 – Interactive Core Memory – Andy Geppert
Core Memory was the predominant computer memory type in the 60’s. It was used as RAM and ROM in the Apollo Guidance Computer systems. A Core64 kit gives you the opportunity to weave your own Core Memory and bring it to life in an interactive way with a magnetic stylus and LED Array to show the states of the cores. Check out this exhibit to play a game of Pong in and through Core Memory!
Heathkit H-89 – Alex Bodnar
Demonstration of loading vintage software from a modern Windows 10 laptop to the H-89.
Science and Music Education with Apple II computers – Eric Rangell
In the 1980s Apple computers were in many schools and many educational titles were written for them, some which required additional hardware. This exhibit demonstrates the Broderbund Science Toolkit which included light and temperature sensors. A similar title was published by Hayden software for the Commodore 64. Recently preserved music education software by ECS will be shown, using the Passport Midi Interface for the IIgs.
Attendees will be able to use this software and kids who try it will receive a name badge printed by a Sinclair ZX81. The exhibit will also display research materials related to the University of Delaware’s pioneering use of the Plato system and the GUIDO music education software.
Yugoslav School Computers – Vlado Vince
As a follow-up to my VCF East 2021 exhibit (Nonaligned technologies: 8-bit computers in Socialist Yugoslavia), this year’s exhibition will focus on the role of domestic Yugoslav microcomputers in school, with both a Galaksija and an original Orao school computer. Additionally, I will show a few of my hardware projects for Yugoslav computers, including the Orao PS/2 adapter and the Orao WiFi RS232 adapter.
Usagi Electric’s Old Stuff – David Lovett
Behold! My stuff. Hello, my name is David and I run the Usagi Electric YouTube channel. I couldn’t bring my big stuff (the full fledged Centurion Minicomputer) this time, but I do have some interesting things that I’ve been working on. Swing on by and let’s chat old minicomputers, homebrew computers and word processors!
Behind the Screens – Genericable
Ever wondered what powers The Weather Channel? How about Prevue Guide? We’re showcasing the weather stars that powered the local forecast in your area from the 1980s until today, ranging from custom machines to Pentium PCs. We’ll also be showing the secret Amiga in your cable headend that ran the scrolling Prevue Guide!
Dave’s Retro Video Lab: Backward in Time – David Distinti
Did you ever want to return to the 80s, 90s, or maybe even the early 2000s? Dave’s Retro Video Lab has the answer to time travel, and it all happens with the simple press of a button. Well, sort of. Our fully interactive exhibit will allow visitors to journey back in time with the help of our vintage consumer camcorders. Our retro video lab tech, Dave, is a television director with a major broadcast network and is happy to explain how these old camcorders inspired him to pursue a career in television production. Please visit our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@davesretrovideolab2709
Colossal Cave from Text to VR – Marcus Mera
The Colossal Cave Adventure, originally created by Will Crowther and Don Woods in 1976, is considered one of the first and most influential text-based adventure games. Roberta Williams, co Founder of Sierra Online and designer of Kings Quest and Phantasmagoria has come out of retirement and created a New Colossal Cave which is now available where ever games are sold.
Visitors to our exhibit can experience the original Colossal Cave game as it was played on the Teletype Model 33 and Apple III computers, as well as the IBM Dos versions that were released over the years. For those who prefer a more tactile experience, we also have original boxed games on display for visitors to examine and appreciate.
But that’s not all – for those who want to take their exploration of the Colossal Cave to the next level, we offer a Virtual Reality version of the game designed by Roberta Williams.
This exciting new format allows players to fully immerse themselves in the game’s world and interact with its inhabitants in a way that was not possible with the original text-based game.
Whether you are a seasoned adventurer looking to relive the nostalgia of the original game, or a curious newcomer eager to explore one of the earliest examples of interactive storytelling, the Colossal Cave exhibit has something for everyone.
DEC in Education – Ethan Dicks
Experience educational computing of the early 70s. Try your hand with BASIC and FOCAL programs on a Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-8-based “EduSystem” or learn about logic gates with a DEC Computer Lab.
Living Books : Interactive Animated Stories – Peter Fletcher , Heather Fletcher
In the early 1990’s, home computers featuring multimedia CD-ROM capabilities arrived on the scene. This allowed programs to become larger and more dynamic than anything available on floppy disk. The extra storage allowed improved graphics and sounds. Voices and music could now be streamed directly from the CD. In 1992 Broderbund Software released the first Living Books edutainment title “Just Grandma and Me”, which brought to life the children’s book through animation, mini games, and clickable objects. Other titles featured Arthur, Dr. Seuss characters, and the Berenstain Bears. This new medium gave teachers a fun new way to introduce reading to younger children. The diverse “clickable” areas in the stories emphasized a “whole learning” approach, combining reading with science, math, social skills and art concepts. Our exhibit will feature many Living Books for the visitors to explore.
Oddities and Commodities – Collin Mistr, Chad Baxter
Showcasing a collection of unique, heavily modified Apple computers, including custom, never before offered upgrades. You’ll get to see some of these upgrades done live in person! We will also be presenting a few soldering workshops, see our table during the event for the schedule.
Motorola M88k processor based systems – Maki Kato
I’ll have the following machines to show and talk about. Motorola Series 900. Tektronix ND88k. Omron Luna 88k. Motorola MVME system. Maybe a Data General 88k. NCD 88k XTerm.
Quantel Paintbox – Adrian Wilson
I will be exhibiting one of the world’s last remaining working Quantel Paintboxes, which attendees have the rare opportunity to use. There will also be period ephemera from Quantel. I will be bringing capture and output devices so that people can take home a copy of the art they create on the Paintbox.
Tandyland – Mike Loewen
The Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I was part of the 1977 “Trinity” of home computers, and Tandy continued to market home and business computers well into the 80386 era. The exhibit will feature some of the larger business systems such as the the Model 16B and 6000, as well as a few of the smaller systems like the Model I, III and 4P. Special emphasis is placed on after-market accessories, including modern expansion and emulation.
Altos Multiuser Systems – MP/M & Xenix OS – Matthew Bergeron
Altos Computer Systems introduced their small multi computer systems in 1977. These systems were widely used in office and inventory environments. It was a very robust, stable, and well-built system for it’s time – the computers on display operate today as if they were brand new! On display will be Altos server models 486, 580, 586/986, and 886 which were introduced in 1982. These systems include the 8086. 8088, 80186, and 80286 processors. The 580 is running MP/M II and the other models are running Microsoft Xenix 3.0 up to 3.2. They also ran a very interactive menu system called the Altos Office Manager where users could easily access programs and custom applications, limiting the need of the command prompt. Altos introduced early the “Altos WorkNet” networking system they developed where multiple Altos servers could be networked together via a RS-422 port. Some of the systems even had TCP/IP ethernet capabilities.
50 Years of UNIX – System Source: Ryan Schiff, Ryan Burke, Brian Boellner
Celebrate 50 years since the release of UNIX with a 20 system retrospective.
TeleVideo – Original and Enhanced – Patrick Finnegan, Alexander Younts
This year an original TeleVideo TS-806 multi-user system will be set up along side of a modern recreation, to show what the original experience was like, compared to an enhanced modern recreation, which operated with the same hardware and software.
PDP8 ASCII Art Photo Booth – David Gesswein
Get your photo printed using ASCII characters by a printer driven from a DEC PDP8, with a custom video interface.
Modems – Will Donzelli
Modems modems modems! IBM, CSUs, Leased lines, and POTS.
Exploring IBM Classroom LAN Administration System – Chris Lenderman, Kevin Moonlight
Used by public school systems across North America in the early 1990s, the IBM Classroom LAN Administration System (ICLAS) was a network system that provided office personnel, administrators, teachers, and students with easy access to word processors, spreadsheets and other productivity and educational tools maintained on the network. This exhibit will be hands on and offer visitors the opportunity to see, explore, and interact with ICLAS on retro IBM hardware. The exhibit will also feature information about how to configure your very own ICLAS setup. We’ll also introduce an online version of ICLAS that’s available for the world to explore and interact with other ICLAS users online. Additionally, we’ll cover some of the technologies used to connect ICLAS, including Ethernet and Token Ring, and will offer the ability to explore Token Ring and Ethernet in an interactive fashion!
Silicon Graphics Octane – Three Gamers, One Computer – Lorenzo Mollicone
A demonstration of the multi-seat capabilities of the SGI Octane computer using the CADduo add-on card. This setup allows for multiple people to use the same computer to run CAD software, create 3D models, or as demonstrated, play multiplayer Quake from the same computer!
Workstation Overload – Custom & Unique 90s Workstations – Stephen Mayo, Guilherme DeOliverra Silva, Ykaro Rocha
Remember the time when Windows and Unix ran on more than just Intel CPUs? Or when Windows only ran on a single processor? We will provide a tour of the various workstation option in the 90s up until the end of RISC workstations. Systems will include Alpha (LX164), Sparc (SparcAXE), PA-Risc (C8000) and early multi-core Pentium systems mount in standard desktop cases. The OS focus will be on Windows or Unix for those platforms not supported. Enjoy networked games and applications on these systems. Explore the various options available at the time.
Paper Tape – Corey Cohen
Leaving his normal Apple and S100 exhibits behind, this year Corey Cohen will be demonstrating how paper tape punches and readers worked. Papertape / Punchtape was the de facto standard for archival storage and the loading of programs and data into computers until the magnetic disks became the norm. Visit this exhibit for a personalized mylar punch tape bracelet gift.
What’s new at the museum? – Kennett Classic Computer Museum – Bill Degnan, Joe Tooman
Our exhibit will consist of a restored Scientific Data Systems (SDS) model 420 computer. The SDS 420 computer is a 6502-based CPU system with twin Persci 277 drives. Proprietary disk OS, runs various software including a papertape version of MS BASIC adapted for the 6502.
The Unseen World of PowerPC – Michael Casadevall
Most of us probably know of the PowerPC chip. It after all was at the heart of Apple machines from the late 90s to the early 2000s, as well as the cornerstone of IBM’s AIX platform. Less well known are the backend and server uses of the PowerPC chip, as well as Microsoft’s and Sun’s ports of Windows NT and Solaris to the platform.
Hosted by NCommander, the World of PowerPC provides interactive examples of the efforts to try and break Windows-Intel monopoly of the 90s and early 2000s. This exhibit includes multiple IBM RS/6000s running Windows NT, and AIX, as well as a rare Motorola PowerStack II.
Demos include hand ported applications, videos, and featuring the IBM RS/6000 Model 150 that was used for the hour long documentary “What Does It Take To Run DOOM On A $10,000 IBM RS/6000 From 2001?”.
Silicon Graphics o2 Exhibit – Mike Milewski
Come see a SGI o2 running a wide range of applications from Doom and Quake to Alias Wavefront PowerAnimator, Maya and more!
Silicon Graphics – Quake – Andy Diller, Jameel Akari
See and Play Quake on a SGI Local-Area-Network
The Mac Classroom 1989-1998 – Michael Shanley, Eric Graf, Val Falcone
Having had the privilege of attending a Apple/Mac based school in NYC during the 1980’s and 90’s, some old friends banded together to attempt and recreate the Apple educational experience of our childhoods! This exhibit showcases Apple computers we frequently interacted with throughout our formative years starting with the //e (in the late 80’s) all the way to high school where we used PowerPC’s and iMac’s to layout our yearbooks! We have lovingly restored a number of machines from this decade and have loaded them with educational software contemporary to the age of the machine. Come play some Oregon Trail on an old LC or wait for the teacher to get distracted and fire up a game of Marathon!
Bifurquaked Octane – Thomas Gilinsky, Ethan Boicey
Within purview of larger SGI exhibit – a demonstration of the raw graphical and compute power of Silicon Graphics hardware, visualized by running two parallel Quake instances off of one SGI Octane workstation. The Octane has dual 400 MHz R12K processors, 1.5 GB of RAM, and dual SE graphics modules, one with Texture memory installed. It will be sat in between two full keyboard/mouse+monitor setups, each plugged into the Octane.
Early Eighties Luggables – Nicolas Mailloux
See the Macintosh FDHD, Osborne Executive, and Compaq Portable 1
Novasaur and Gigasaur TTL Retrocomputers – Alastair Hewitt
The Novasaur TTL Retrocomputer returns to VCF East in its final configuration. This machine is built from three dozen TTL chips and uses banked memory to emulate multiple 8080 CPUs. These support a micro kernel, RAM disk, and two independent CP/M 2.2 instances for both console and TTY. As a bonus this year is the Gigasaur, a clone of the original Gigatron TTL Microcomputer but in in the same form factor as the Novasaur.
A Love H8 Relationship – Glenn Roberts
This exhibit will highlight the venerable Heathkit H8 computer and the many efforts of the Society of Eight-Bit Heathkit Computerists (sebhc.org) to keep it alive and well. There will be demonstrations of a range of old-meets-new capabilities including modern versions of a wide range of H8 boards plus a newly fabricated cabinet. Gaming, computer graphics and sound will be demonstrated via the TMS9928A video processor and AY-3-8910 sound chip with an OSSC scan converter for HDMI display. Interfaces to Raspberry Pi, WizNET, ESP32, PCA9665, FTDI VDIP and more have opened doors to networking, USB, I2C and more. Long live the H8!
Making Music With the Macintosh – Dan FitzGerald
Craft Synthpop Like Its 1991! The Apple II and Macintosh were staples of the digital music scene of the 1980s and 1990s. This exhibit provides a hands-on experience in the tools and techniques used to create MIDI music using a Macintosh Plus. Visitors can use an MIDI keyboard to key notes into the computer, software to assign instrumental “voices” to each track and layer them, listen back on a sound card, and adjust levels on a sound board. A more modern computer can be patched into the soundboard and generate a digital recording that we can provide back to you as an email or on a 1.44M floppy diskette!
FujiNet – The Modern Age of Vintage Computing – Jeffrey Piepmeier
Stop by to see the latest developments in FujiNet. FujiNet began as a network adapter for Atari 8-bit personal computers and has grown into a multiuse all-purpose peripheral targeting multiple platforms including Coleco Adam, Commodore 64, RC2014, and Apple II. The FujiNet team has been hard at work making the FujiApple more robust and filled with features adding printer, modem and CPM to the lineup of devices. Disk ][ emulation for WOZ images is in active development. All FujiNet hardware, firmware and software are open source. Not bad for a multifarious gang of hobbyists whose idea of fun is hanging out on Discord pushing commits, flashing ESP32s and rebooting 8-bits.
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Any questions? Please email: vcfeast AT vcfed DOT org