VCF East Exhibitor List

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Pre-Show Day, Friday April 17:  Exhibit Rooms are closed to the public.

Show Days, Sat-Sun April 18-19:  Exhibit Rooms are open.

 

VCF East 2026 – List of Exhibits

A Timeline of Oppressively Large Computers – Andrew Mattera [Room B]

Before the dawn of the minicomputer, mainframes were used and timeshared by universities, corporations and all sorts of other parties that needed to crunch a lot of numbers in a short amount time. The minicomputer offered a new path the computer usage, a smaller more affordable system that could be operated locally without being cost or space prohibiting. with the dawn of home computing and rise of x86 as a server technology, less and less obscenely large computers were being made. however, a select few companies in the 90s, namely SGI, IBM, and Dell, believed that they absolutely needed to build a computer that was OPPRESSIVELY LARGE. these are their stories.

Alter Egos: Computers with Multiple Personalities – Kenny Riddile, April Roberson, Evan Klein [Room C]

In the 80s and early 90s, if you wanted to run another platform’s software or do parallel processing, your computer probably didn’t have the horsepower for usable emulation and ubiquitous multi-core CPUs were years away. The solution? Add-ons and cards that were practically entire second computers living inside the host. With their own CPU, and often separate memory, sound, and video subsystems, these add-ons let Macs natively run MS-DOS and Windows software, allowed Apple II programs to run on an IBM PC, or even brute-forced parallelism by simply slapping additional “Macs” in your Mac — no emulation required.

This exhibit highlights early Apple and Macintosh examples of these “computers in computers”. Be underwhelmed by CP/M games on an Apple IIc! Feel the pain of MS-DOS on an original Macintosh 128K! Play networked MS-DOS games between a pair of early Power Macs! Travel the Oregon Trail Apple II-style on a one-of-a-kind Mac LC! And yes, even marvel at the silliness of a triple-68040 IIci hot enough to roast marshmallows over.

Amiga – Dawn of the First Multi-Media PC – Amiga Bill Winters, Stefano Corbellini, Dave Test, Tony Schiffbauer, William Becker, Mike Clark, Gregory Sorvella, Anthony Becker [Room F]

The Commodore Amiga was the first multi-media home computer. Come get blown away by its groundbreaking audio and video capabilities. You will be dazzled by video digitizers, genlocks, music software, full motion video and even 24bit audio!

Amiga Vistapro in 24-bit with DCTV – Tim DApice, Jeffrey Doherty [Room F]

A demonstration of Vistapro, a landscape generation and animation program for the Amiga. Using special hardware called DCTV, the Amiga could output composite video at 24 bits. The main advantage of DCTV was it translated a 4bpp (16 color) image into 24 bits, albeit with some conversion losses. The “16 color” image allowed animations to be streamed off standard hard disks. This demonstration is a 24-bit streamed animated landscape flyover, from a stock Amiga 3000! The software and hardware will be discussed alongside the looping animation.

An original Apple-1 computer, the holy grail of vintage computer collecting. – Corey Cohen [Lobby]

Join Corey Cohen, the Apple-1 expert and historian, for demonstrations of an original Apple-1 computer. Corey has brought his fully operational personal 50-year-old Apple-1 computer to VCF East this year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apple. Corey will also have various Apple-1 replicas available for you to try out and see how computing was before Commodore, TRS-80, IBM PC, Macintosh, Lisa, and the Apple ][ were developed.

Automotive diagnostic computing exhibit – Marco Iapicca, Katie Scancarella [Room E]

Automotive OBD1 diagnostic trouble codes.
Scanners , all the way to today’s OBD2 on board diagnostics.
The beginning of computer automotive diagnostics.

BASIC Benchmarking Demo Featuring Ohio Scientific – BIll Degnan, Q. Degnan [Room B]

The exhibit will be a demonstration of BASIC language speed benchmarking tests described in Kilobaud June and October 1977 “BASIC Timing Comparisons” articles. Exhibit computers will run the BASIC benchmarking tests from the articles to show which models had the fastest BASIC. The articles showed that Ohio Scientific was the fastest BASIC available in 1977 and we’re going to see if that’s really true? Can the Apple II, Commodore PET, TRS 80 Model I, Altair, or IMSAI 8080 defeat the Ohio Scientifc 2P in the BASIC benchmarking tests?

BASIC Training – Matthew Kriebel [Room G]

What was it like to use an early PC that booted into BASIC? What other direct boot environments were there? I will especially share my fond memories of the type-in BASIC programs form the BASIC Training column in 3-2-1 Contact magazine, as well as Enter, and others. I explore, and invite visitors to live the experience on some typical 80s home computers, as well as some less common home edutainment and hobby computers like the MicroMint Z8 BASIC computer. Real magazines as well as re-prints of columns will be available to peruse. Especially welcome to young people, who were the original target of these magazines.

ClassiCube on Classic Hardware – Morgan Bedard, Melaney Bedard [Room D]

Step into a multiplayer world and play Classicube, an open-source, Minecraft-like game, on computers from across the history of personal computing. This exhibit lets visitors use older and low-power computers and jump straight into multiplayer, building and exploring the shared world together. A live multiplayer server connects all the machines, and lets people build whatever they want!

Commodore 8-Bit Reborn – Kevin Gonzalez [Room F]

In modern times, people have undertaken the effort to recreate the motherboards of many of Commodore’s 8-Bit computers. This exhibit is dedicated to displaying some of the reproduction boards that have been created. These recreations range from 1 to 1 copies of the original boards to boards with quality-of-life fixes, and extended changes/ building modern mods into the design. Reproduction motherboards on display will be for the following computers:
1) Commodore VIC-20
2) Commodore 64
3) Commodore 16
4) Commodore 128

Commodore Chameleons – Stephen Mayo, , Guilherme De Silva, Arthur Spencer [Room F]

Explore latest Amiga OS4 and MorphOS games & apps with the X5000 and A1222+ PPC boards.

Explore accelerated GEOS and demos on the MEGA65 and compare C65, C64 and C128 modes.

Commodore’s PC Clones – Vince Giannini, Keith Dumoulin [Room F]

Although Commodore is best known for it’s beloved home computers of the 80’s such as the Vic-20, C64 and Amiga, did you know the company also released PC clones in an attempt to stay relevant in business? Come see some rare Commodore PC’s! In addition to Commodore PC desktop systems, on display are the rare C286LT and ultra rare C325XN Commodore notebooks!

Computing and The Cold War – Jon Siefken, James Supp [Room C]

Cryptography and computers from the Cold War…like the US Space program – it took a long time and geopolitical interests to get so many of these projects off the ground….come take a look and learn more!

Computing for Small Businesses – Dave Shevett [Room C]

The 80s saw the first generation of kids raised on home computers bringing their skills and energy and talents into small businesses. Teaching Dad how to use a word processor or the old accountant how to use a spreadsheet became the sea-change of the silicon revolution. This exhibit will explore some of the early examples of using home computers for work, such as accounting, word processing, and small business operations. We will also look at some of the machines that the larger corporations like AT&T and DEC brought out to try and fill this new market for small, affordable, easy to use computers.

Core64 – Interactive Core Memory and the 6502 – Andy Geppert, Kristen Geppert [Room B]

Enjoy a hands-on exhibit with Core Memory, a 6502, and Neon Pixels. Celebrate the recent 50th Anniversary of the 6502 by interacting with the microprocessor using a magnetic stylus and Core Memory. Learn all about Core Memory and its place in the computer history timeline. Try your hand at making some MIDI music with Core Memory used as a MIDI grid controller too! This exhibit provides an opportunity to get your hands on with the most tangible and discrete form of computer memory called Core Memory. When you walk away, you’ll have a new appreciation and a better understanding of how Core Memory was foundational to computers of the 60s. Core Memory was used in the computer systems before RAM chips were commonplace. The Apollo Guidance Computers and other spacecraft of the time used core memory. A wide range of authentic Core Memory kits are available to enable you to weave your own core memory and experiment with it. You can use the included magnetic stylus and multicolor LEDs to bring core memory to life in your own creative ways. You can even draw and paint with a magnetic airbrush and play games within the Core Memory itself.

Cost Effective Computers – Ian Litchfield [Room H]

Ever wonder why computers got so cheap for the new millennium? Cost cutting measures were rampant in the Windows 9x days as clone manufacturers performed a race to the bottom in specs and features to get to a mass market!
Take a trip down this nostalgia filled exhibit with 3 ‘bad’ cost cut machines of the late 90s and 2000s.

Dawn of the Dutch PC – Bart van den Akker, Johan Grip, Stefan Joosten [Room B]

The Netherlands were very early with personal computers. It started as early as 1978 with the second TV course called Microprocessors II. The first one being aired in 1976, which was broadcasted on national TV and about programming a microcomputer. It launched the Dutch IT-world where between 1978 and roughly 2000 the Dutch had all computers released in US, UK and their own computers. The Dutch used everything.

In 1987, the Dutch government provided discount to buy a computer (for those who didn’t have one). It was the Tulip computer. With big discounts, people could buy either a 8088 or even a 80286 computer with monochrome or color (CGA) display. Around this time, about 80% of the Dutch households had at least one computer.

In our exhibit, where we definitely won’t try to kill you with real Dutch extra salty licorice candy or our famous free stroopwafels, we will show you these computers. Maybe we’ll even bring something more, but you’ll have to find us. Since we give out free candy (without the van), we are probably using a big bar-kinda table. Hard to miss 😉

Divisive Dells – Eric Hanchar [Room H]

Often derided for questionable reliability and service woes brought about by the capacitor plague and technicians not reading the service manual, these machines have been overlooked in the community. It’s high time that someone shines the spotlight on them. This is a continuation of my exhibit from VCFMW 20 where I showed off a whole range of the clamshell desktops.

First Contact: How the World Met the Personal Computer – Jacob Komar, Marc Polansky [Room C]

FujiNet – Ben Krein, Jeff Peipmeier, Andy Diller, Jaime Idolpx, Thom Cherryhomes, Frank Rachel [Room C]

While networking was prevalent in the business world, it was rarely accessible to the home consumer in the early days of microcomputers. It was relegated to companies running expensive equipment far outside the reach of the regular consumer. If you were fortunate you had a modem to dial into your local BBS but interaction was typically asynchronous & slow. Getting your favorite program to run on your machine required some form of physical media & the equipment to read it. FujiNet re-imagines that past by introducing a device that can bring full-blown networking capabilities to your ancient system. The FujiNet community has been hard at work developing fun, interactive games that you can play across multiple platforms & across the world!

This has been a year of evolution bringing new ways of bringing together the retro-computing community with new games & more platforms being introduced. Come see the FujiNet in action & see how you can connect with friends regardless of which computer you have!

Ham Radio and PCs – Jeffrey Golas [Room E]

When amateur radio operators got bored of calling cq using their voice, they opted to find new ways of using their radio stations to communicate with others. Explore hardware and software used by amateur radio operators to include their computers into their amateur radio stations.

Handheld and PC Convergence: The Short Reign of PDAs and UMPCs – James Woglom, Alicia Bochnak [Room D]

In the late 90s and early 2000s, companies like Palm, HP, and Sony debated the future of handheld computing. Was the future computer you could fit in your hand an ARM-powered PC-companion handheld — a precursor to the modern smartphone — or a miniaturized Windows x86 PC? We tell that story with a history of PDAs and Ultra-Mobile PCs, featuring around 2 dozen different handheld devices running Palm OS, Windows CE, Windows Mobile and miniature x86 PCs running Windows 2000 to Windows 7. These devices helped shape the development of modern smartphones and tablets in the mid-2000s. Despite their relatively similar form factors attempting to fulfill the same need, these devices used extremely different operating systems and architectures, and the debate over which approach would ultimately succeed in the consumer marketplace served as an early warning of the incoming dominance of the ARM architecture over x86.

Heath/Zenith Computing: Classroom, Home & Office – Glenn Roberts, Mike Cassidy [Room G]

This exhibit will highlight the wide range of systems developed originally by Heathkit, and later by Zenith Data Systems (ZDS). Heathkit began with the Motoroloa 6800-based ET-3400 trainer/prototyping system, moving to the Intel 8080-based H8 and the first-ever kit version of a DEC/LSI-11-based system, the H11. Their Zilog Z80-based H/Z89 is a classic example of an early “all-in-one” design. In the 1980s Heath/Zenith moved aggressively to 16-bit systems targeted for office use such as the Z-100 and later a successful and innovative series of PC-compatible solutions. The Society of Eight-Bit Heathkit Computerists (SEBHC) has developed an impressive range of modernization solutions for these machines, adding speed, RAM, storage and connectivity solutions that push them far beyond what could have been imagined at the start. Systems spanning this range of abilities will be on display for you to see and interact with.

Heathkit Computers – Darrell Pelan, Joe Travis [Room G]

This exhibit demonstrates the progression of Heathkit computers in the 1980’s starting with the 8080 based H8. It featured a main CPU/Peripheral unit with a terminal (H9 or H19) for a user interface and a floppy disk unit. Next came the Z80 base H89 All in One unit with the terminal and CPU PCBS in the same unit. It also had an integrated 100k floppy disk drive. The Z100 was also an All in One system that had both a floppy disk drive and hard disk drive. It ran both CP/M and MS-DOS. First on the market, it was not quite IBM PC compatible. Finally we have a 3D printed H8 retro system that supports MSX games like Galaga. The systems are upgraded with compact flash hard drives, flash drive interfaces, ESP32 microcontrollers and a Tang Nano 9k FPGA for HDMI output. Several of the systems run at 16 MHz instead of the original 2 MHz.

Heathkit H8 – The Original – Alex Bodnar [Room G]

This year i will exhibit the original H8, showing the Z80 cpu board, the four port seriel i/o board, the hard sector and soft sector disk controllers as well as the 64k memory board.

HP 2108A minicomputer and 87XM micro – Mike Loewen [Room C]

The HP 2108A minicomputer from 1974 was among the first of the 21MX series machines, and used semiconductor RAM instead of core memory. The system on display has a 2748B high speed paper tape reader (500cps) which is used to load software into RAM. Paper tape BASIC will be loaded, after which BASIC programs can be loaded from the interpreter. A 2647A terminal is used for output. Also on display is an 87XM personal computer from 1983 with dual diskette drives. The 87MX has built in BASIC with graphics capability.

IBM PC110 & PCMCIA – Kevin Moonlight [Room D]

This exhibit features the IBM PC110 alongside a selection of PCMCIA expansion cards, from classic 1990s adapters to the newly developed PicoPCMCIA, highlighting how expandable mobile computing has evolved.

It Came From BYTE – Ethan Dicks [Room E]

From its first issue in 1975, BYTE was full of technical articles, electronics projects, programs, games, product reviews opinion columns, announcements, news, and of course advertisements. They did not focus on any one vendor or platform but covered a wide range of topics and machines that evolved over the years as the personal computer industry grew up. Showcased are a few projects and programs, iconic advertisements, and a raft of Robert Tinney cover art.

Lee Felsenstein [Lobby]

Lee Felsenstein is a pioneering American computer engineer best known for helping launch the personal computer revolution—most famously as a leader in the Homebrew Computer Club and the designer of the Osborne 1, the first mass‑produced portable computer. The Homebrew Computer Club was the legendary hobbyist group that birthed Silicon Valley’s PC era.

Live-Built Personal Operating System on Vintage PC – Darko Jurić [Room E]

This exhibit demonstrates a fully functional operating system written from scratch and designed to run on real vintage PC hardware. Using a modern system as a build environment, the operating system is compiled live and then immediately booted on an original 1990s-era computer using either a floppy disk or an El Torito bootable CD.

Visitors can watch the complete process – from build to boot – and see how early personal computers loaded software directly from physical media through the BIOS. As part of the experience, custom visual assets can be included during the build process, allowing each operating system image to become uniquely personal.

The system features a classic Windows 95-inspired graphical interface while remaining entirely original software. It highlights how early PCs transformed computing into a personal experience, where users interacted directly with hardware, operating systems, and removable media.

By combining modern development tools with authentic vintage machines, the exhibit connects present-day software creation with the dawn of personal computing. Selected visitors may take home a bootable floppy disk or CD as a physical artifact, demonstrating that decades-old PCs can still run newly written software today.

Making the Mainframe Personal with the P/390 – Classical Computing Laboratory at IBM Poughkeepsie [Room C]

Throughout the 1970s and 1990s, IBM sought ways to develop a desktop computer with capabilities of running mainframe software. A number of attempts existed, ranging from the original IBM 5100 Portable Computer to the IBM PC/370 and AT/370 personal computers. By the early 1990s, IBM had developed a line of “personal mainframe” workstations: commodity desktop servers with the inclusion of a real mainframe processor. These systems allowed traditional mainframe operating systems like MVS, VSE, and VM/CMS to be run alongside an OS/2 or AIX host.

We will be demonstrating an IBM PC Server 330 System/390 from October 1996. Our unit is equipped with a 200 MHz Pentium Pro processor, 200 MB of host RAM (70ns ECC DIMM), a P/390 processor card, and a bus-and-tag I/O adapter. The host runs OS/2 Warp 4 Advanced Server. The P/390 card gives the mainframe environment 128 MB of RAM, and an additional 64 MB of host memory is dedicated to the P/390 environment as a memory cache. It will be connected to an IBM 3174 establishment controller, an IBM 3279 color terminal, and an IBM 4224 line printer.

Besides showing off the hardware, we will be providing a live demonstration of a VM/ESA 2.4.0 mutiprogramming environment, including applications such as OfficeVision, BASIC/VM, the IBM High Level Assembler, user-developed games, and even a banner-making program! We will also allow for VCF attendees to connect to our system over WiFi from their own laptops, tablets, or phones.

Midwest Computer Museum – Ken Edwards, Simon McCullough, Lige Hensley [Room E]

We will be featuring the linage of the Apple 2 computers. Starting with a replica Apple 1 then Apple Ii. Next Apple ii plus then Apple iie. Followed by an Apple 2gs and lastly an Apple 2c.

MoBATCH: TeleVideo Computers – Patrick Finnegan, Alex Younts, Connor Krukoski, Ian Primus [Room C]

It’s commonly known that TeleVideo made serial terminals, but many people do not know about the networked systems that TeleVideo produced in early 1980s. The exhibit will show off the systems, and capabilities that they have when pared with modern technology.
Learn more about the Museum of Batch and Time-sharing Computer History, Inc. at mobatch.org

Mystery House: The Birth of the Graphic Adventure – Marcus Mera [Room F]

Mystery House is a landmark in computing and video game history the first graphic adventure game ever released created in 1980 by Ken Williams and Roberta Williams. Developed on the Apple II, the game fused text-based interaction with simple black-and-white graphics, fundamentally changing how players experienced interactive storytelling.

Inspired directly by ADVENT Colossal Cave Adventure, Roberta Williams imagined a murder mystery that players could see as well as read. Using a VersaWriter, Ken Williams custom game DEV tools and early Apple II, the Williams’ designed a game where exploration, logic, and atmosphere were as important as puzzle-solving an idea that had never been realized visually before.

This exhibit explores the creative process behind Mystery House, from its origins in text adventures to its groundbreaking use of on-screen graphics, as well as the hardware and software that shaped its design. Visitors will learn how a home computer, cutting edge innovative tools, and a bold creative vision helped launch Sierra On-Line and establish the graphic adventure genre that influenced decades of games to follow.

Mystery House stands as proof that innovation does not require massive teams or advanced technology only imagination, experimentation, and the courage to try something entirely new.

Ohio Scientific Inc. – 50 year anniversary – Crawford Griffith, Bill Sudbrink, Bill Dromgoole, Bill Degnan [Room B]

Ohio Scientific inc. was one of the first-generation manufacturers of personal computers in the US. Founded in Hiram Ohio by a married couple (Michael and Charity Cheiky), OSI offered desktop machines in both kit and assembled forms. During its short existence between 1975 and 1980, OSI innovated and grew, producing many PC firsts:

First female chief executive in the business (Charity Chieky)
Fastest microcomputer BASIC
First multi-processor personal computer
First microcomputer with a hard drive

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ohio Scientific, we and other exhibitors will be showing our collections of OSI computers. We display some of the OSI innovations starting with the humble beginnings – a build-it-yourself single board computer (OSI 300). We also show the pinnacle of the OSI line, the triple-processor Challenger III.

Ohio Scientific turns 50! – Alexander Pierson [Room B]

Celebrate Ohio Scientific, the company known for its budget 6502 kit computers. Featuring the Challenger 4P, OSI-400 replica, and mini OSI-300, mixing original and modern replacement parts as we keep the spirit of OSI alive!

One Maybe Two Retro – Aaron Middleton [Room C]

After finding his long lost software (EBBS 128 v4.8) in a box in his basement, Aaron @One Maybe Two Retro has spent the last year piecing back together the last and unreleased version of EBBS 128 v4.8 running on a commodore 128, originally written by Ed Perry. Along with his BBS, Aaron will demonstrate other Commodore related tech. Through his YouTube channel, vintage computer festivals and other activities, Aaron is once again bringing his unique story and perspective back to Commodore computing after being away for 30 years!

Our first 8- and 16/32-bit computers – Robert Miranda, Pete Keretz [Room E]

Our first personal computers were used for learning, programming, and yes even games. What started with curiosity quickly grew to include things we probably couldn’t have planned. Suddenly we’re turning our computer into a musical instrument, going online (dialup), putting titles and effects onto home video, creating games, running a BBS, doing desktop publishing, audio recording, music production… All after getting done with our schoolwork, you could say we got…creative.

Pittsburgh Classic Mac Lab – Scott Baret [Room C]

The Pittsburgh Classic Mac Lab is an operational lab that transports all who visit back to 1992. Used in a multitude of settings, the Mac Lab helps children explore and learn using proven programs while letting adults take a trip back in time. From playing Oregon Trail over a network to drawing in Kid Pix to munching factors in Number Munchers, there’s a little something for everyone in the lab.

Pre-1990 MIDI Laptops – Ethan OToole, Ben Dressler [Room F]

Come see and hear working examples of pre-1990 portable computers that were equipped with MIDI. These restored portables include the Yamaha C1 286 portable, The Atari STacy, and the Mac Portable. These machines are teamed up with a selection of synthesizers and drum machines.

RCA COSMAC 1802 – Josh Bensadon, Walter Miraglia, Lee Hart, Jeff Brown [Room E]

COSMAC 1802 computers include the RCA VIP, a good attempt at home computers and the RCA Studio II – Early video game console. RCA also produced a number of trainers and a full COSMAC Development System with 8″ drives. Popular Electronics magazine published an article to build your own 1802 COSMAC ELF, a hobbyist computer/trainer. Quest and Netronics both made their own versions of the 1802 computer by expanding the article plans given in Popular Electronics. World Corporation created a more commercial home computer, the ComX 35, running BASIC with printer and disk drives. The 1802 microprocessor was even used in the Galileo probe. All of these systems will be on display and working (less the Galileo probe).

Restored PDP-11/34 with FPGA I/O – Mike Rieker, Chris Randall [Room C]

Restored PDP-11/34 system with custom FPGA board for I/O devices (serial ports, disk, tape, ethernet, console). Also has added screen with lights & switches replacing the standard 11/34 console.

RETRO Innovations – Jim Brain, Chris Luckey [Room B]

Home Computer Peripherals and Upgrades, Commodore, TI, Tandy, and more

Roadkill from the rise of the PC – David Gesswein, Janet Walz [Room B]

There are lots of companies that failed competing with the PC. OSI sold computers from 1975 to 1983. Had an interesting set of expansion boards and not the best software. I’ll demonstrate some of the expansion boards and my improvements to the operating system. TI tried making a better PC but market picked 100% compatible. I’ll show what we used it for and the IBM compatibility board we added when we needed to run software that wasn’t available for it.

SGI, ESDI, an eMates – Ryan Burke, Brian Boellner, Luke Goembel, Reece Pollack [Room B]

SGI Demos, ESDI Emulation and eMate repair and maintenance.

Silicon Graphics for Molecular Research and High Performance Computing. – Rick Bernard, Dan Forsythe [Room C]

Experience Silicon Graphics systems as a researcher or engineer would have nearly 30 years ago, featuring Crystal Eyes stereoscopic display. Silicon Graphics Inc. helped pioneer and progress forward real time 3D rendering in computer hardware. This greatly push forward computational based research during the 1990’s in many fields, chief among them, Molecular Research, which benefited from SGI’s powerful 3D rendering hardware to display complex molecules in real time.
The exhibit features an Octane and Fuel workstations where users can experience Crystal Eyes Active Shutter 3D glasses to view, manipulate and compute 3D molecular models by using the power of Silicon Graphics real time rendering capabilities. Using Crystal Eyes, users will be able to see more fine detail in rendered 3D models of molecular structures enabling the user or researcher to better understand a protein structure and shape. The software being utilized is Visual Molecular Dynamics (VMD) which is still an active software project by the Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
To further augment the user’s 3D graphics workstations, try out desk side High Performance Computing from SGI on an Origin 2000. Take advantage of one the first ccNUMA capable systems available on the market to compute your ray tracing needs or perform molecular dynamics computations.

Story of MSX at the Dawn of the PC – Maki Kato, Paulo Gonzaga [Room C]

MSX is MicroSoft’s home computer standard during the years 1983-1990. While lesser known in the US it was successful in countries like Japan, Korea, Brazil etc. MSX was built on Z80 and TI 9918 graphics with MicroSoft Basic. The standard allowed for manufactures to produce their unique hardware while being able to run software that was developed for the MSX platform. At it’s peak there were as many as 30 manufactures in the ecosystem. MSX also had a floppy standard allowing for DOS on Z80 which was a huge improvement from CP/M. We will have on display a Sanyo Wavy and an Omega MSX. The Omega MSX is special in that it’s one of the few options available to retro enthusiast today to build their own retro system involving soldering thru hole components.
Come visit our exhibit and we can share our experiences and make our case about how MSX played a role in the dawn of the PC.

System Source – Bob Roswell [Room B]

An exhibition of early microcomputers.

The CoCo Collector – Boisy Pitre [Room B]

Learn about the history of the Tandy Color Computer with Dr. Boisy Pitre, author of “CoCo: The Colorful History of Tandy’s Underdog Computer.”

The Computer of the Future: The 386 – Ahmed Faisal [Room C]

The 386 was arguably the most influential processor ever released by Intel. Released in 1985, it was a fully 32-bit processor which featured innovations such as protected mode (multitasking), virtual memory, and the IA-32 standard. By the late 80s, the 386 was becoming more affordable for the general public, with more OEMs opting for it over the 286.

The 386 was important for two reasons: Being that it allowed for multitasking in DOS and Windows, and that it introduced the Expanded Memory Specification (EMS). Windows took advantage of “386 Enhanced Mode” to create virtual memory, and DOS programs utilized EMS to access more than 640kb of memory. With more memory, programs could have more sound, colorful graphics, and more innovative features.

There are two variants: The DX and the SX. The DX was the full package, while the SX was a cost-reduced variant that had a 16-bit data bus and a 24-bit address bus, only allowing for 16MB of total memory. Despite this, it was functionally still a 32-bit CPU. The computer you see here is a 386SX-33 with 4 Megabytes of RAM and a Sound blaster-compatible sound-card.

This computer also runs Microsoft Windows 3.1 and has a simple dot-matrix printer which can be used to print documents. It can play many games such as Wing Commander, Wolfenstien 3D, and Simcity, making it perfect for earlier DOS games. Despite this, it is unsuitable for more resource-demanding games such as DOOM or Ultima, considered unplayable by modern standards.

The ENIAC at 80 – Brian Stuart [Room B]

In 1946, the ENIAC was unveiled to the public. In 2026, we celebrate the 80th anniversary of this groundbreaking event. This exhibit is built around a detailed simulation of the machine. Visitors can interact with the simulated ENIAC through augmented reality, a functional scale model subset, and a video game-style joystick interface.

The Malware Voyage – Jonathan Goldman, Tyler Reich, Vincent Bryant, Ben Bryant [Room C]

If you have ever wanted to learn more about computer viruses, you are in the right place.  Their destructive capabilities can be both terrifying and mesmerising.  Join us on this fantastic voyage, as we discuss the rich history of computer malware and grayware, from the early proof-of-concept days before microcomputers, to the ARPANET and eventually the Internet age! Play John Conway’s Game of Life, observe some of the first computer viruses that had spread via floppy disks – like Elk Cloner and Brain, and relive some of the most infamous malware outbreaks of the new millenia, such as the ILOVEYOU worm or WannaCry ransomware

This exhibit also features interactive labs that leverage a mixture of technologies, from virtual machines, emulation (ft. 86box) and real hardware to demonstrate these viruses in action – safely of course!  There will also be optional lab exercises and side quests you can follow if you want to dive deeper into the topic, by analyzing and classifying the provided malware samples.

The Seequa Computer Corporation: A Founder of Modern Computing You’ve Never Heard Of – Matthew Jones, Daniel Balsom, Natalie Severeid [Room C]

The Seequa Chameleon was hailed as one of the first dual CPU machines, the first to use ASICs in a PC, and a serviceable IBM clone. Why did history forget about this machine and the company behind it?

The TRS-80 Micro Computer System – Peter Cetinski, Alex Cetinski [Room B]

The TRS-80 Micro Computer System: Where the Personal Computer Revolution Began

The TRS-80 Micro Computer System by Tandy Radio Shack was one of three pioneering microcomputer systems introduced in 1977. Along with the Apple II and the Commodore PET, these computers were the first consumer friendly computers that created the genre known as Personal Computers or PCs. What made the TRS-80 special is that it was the only one of these original PCs available on display and accessible in most people’s hometown Radio Shack stores.

This exhibit showcases the original TRS-80 which was later named the Model I as it was sold back in the late 1970s. It is surrounded by the ecosystem of peripherals and accessories that transformed it from a simple computer into a complete business or personal productivity system. This display is a snapshot of the moment when computers began their journey from corporate mainframes to kitchen tables.

Designed by Don French and Steve Leininger at Tandy Radio Shack, the Model I was initially conceived as a limited production run of just 3,000 units. Instead, the system became a runaway success, selling over 300,000 units and establishing Radio Shack as a major force in the early days of personal computing.

Timex/Sinclair Computers – David Anderson, Ricardo Calcagno [Room E]

You know about the Timex/Sinclair 1000, the much maligned “door stop” with almost no memory, black and white display and terrible keyboard. What you might not know is just how much Timex wanted to do with their computer line, including giving its successor, the Timex/Sinclair 2068, the option for up to 16mb of RAM, the ability to run CP/M, and more. What is even less know is how instrumental these affordable computers were to computing careers for so many and how resilient the community around them was. Even today, the community is developing new software and hardware for these often underestimated computers.

Totally Normal Computing – Steven Matarazzo, Sean Malseed, Mike Stanhope, Dan Vincent [Room C]

Celebrating the dawn of computing via creative abominations!

A selection of ultraportable or otherwise weird Japanese laptops from the 90s onward.

Wildbits/K2 — the unproductive computer for your soul – Aleksey Gurtovoy, Martha Hampel, Darya Gurtovaya, Zhanna Gurtovaya [Room F]

Wildbits/K2 is a modern 8-/16-bit personal computer, a reimagination of a home computer in this age of incomprehensible, spiritless consumption devices that we now call PCs.

In many ways, it’s a spiritual successor of Commodore 64, Atari 800, Apple ][, and other home computers of that era. It’s not directly compatible with these machines, but it carries forward the personal aspect of computing that, in our collective race to greater productivity and power, has been lost for many years now. It *is* driven by a genuine Western Design Center 65C816 CPU, a 16-bit upgrade of the venerable MOS 6502 — the chip that was the heart of the aforementioned iconic computers — which makes it a fun and rewarding target for porting classic games and software from those machines. It’s also packed with tantalizing hardware capabilities that will keep you exploring the boundaries of what’s possible for years to come.

But first and foremost, Wildbits/K2 is a computer for your soul. You don’t do taxes on it, you don’t track your to-dos or check your calendar — or any of the other boring, mundane stuff that you *have* to do. It won’t let you multitask, watch Netflix, buy things on Amazon, or spend your day on YouTube. On this computer, you do things that you want to do, the things that bring you joy: you play, you explore, you learn, you create. You have fun, and it’s good for your soul.

Stop by and see for yourself!

Yesterday’s Data Circuits – Brian Loss [Room C]

Come join us as we demonstrate early telecom high-capacity voice and data solutions, including the hardware used in your local telephone Central Office. Get up close with T1, T3, ISDN PRI/BRI and DSL circuits, and see how to test them with the tools of the trade! We also show era appropriate computers and telephones connecting to these circuits.

 

Updated April 3, 2026.