ECCC/VCFMW 2011

Vintage Computer Festival MidWest (VCFMW) 6.0 was held on September 24-25 in Lombard, IL, USA (just outside Chicago). Like last year, it was held in conjunction with ECCC. There was plenty to see for the connoisseur of old machines.

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welcome sign
The hotel welcomed us in style and provided excellent service.
unpacked
My Macintosh SE, all unpacked and set up. I was able to telnet to my laptop running Linux, but couldn't get outside the VCFMW network we set up. Oh, well...
 
Aurelio's
As is traditional, the after-unpacking dinner on Friday night was held at Aurelio's in Addison, home of the best pizza you will ever eat.
pre-party
The pre-show party in the lobby, complete with alcohol diagnostic equipment.
 
decade machine
This home-made computer (video) was a big hit at the show. Built using old telephone equipment, it could add numbers... and that was about it. But it was really cool!
NeXT
This one's a real rarity: an x86 machine made by Canon (the object.station 41) to run NeXT.
 
Bulgarian screen
Jason showed off a couple of Bulgarian Apple II clones, complete with Cyrillic character ROMs...
Bulgarian keyboard
...and keyboards.
 
Amiga UNIX
Another rare machine: an Amiga 3000 UX, running AT&T SVR4 Unix.
wristwatch calculator
Richard brought the smallest computer to the show: an HP-01 wristwatch calculator, complete with tiny stylus that slides out of the watchband.
 
N8VEM
Dan Werner showed several varieties of the N8VEM homebrew computer.
6502 display
Mike Lee had a display of 6502 technology, including an original KIM.
 
Mac with flash drive
Eric showed how he got a flash drive to run in a Macintosh SE.
Bill's modems
Bill Madden presides over a collection of acoustic-coupler modems. The one in the wooden box was his first, and was later proved to be still in working order.
 
spicy Thai food
Very very spicy Thai spicy extra spicy hot. Saturday dinner at Mama Thai, where I had some of the best paneng ever.
Doctor Dan
"Doctor Dan", Commodore hacker extraordinaire.
 
Six' 64C
Six shows off his tricked-out 64C.
surprise
This C64 had a bit of a surprise in it.
 
payment methods
How would you like to pay for that, sir?
AIM-65
A Rockwell AIM-65 undergoes hardware debugging.
 
Mac SE with modem
Eric and Bill work to get a Macintosh SE talking through an acoustic-coupler modem (at 300 bps)...
Mac SE win
...and get the win.
 
GEOS with modem
Jim tries the same trick on a Commodore 128 running GEOS.
GEOS win
More win. The signal went out through a wireless bridge and a VOIP line to a BBS on the other end.
 
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