My VCF adventures! VCF Southeast and VCF West 2023!
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- Опубліковано 17 сер 2023
- I finally made it out to my first VCF event! It was so good, I had to attend my second one a week later! The first event was VCF Southeast in Atlanta, and the second was VCF West in Mountain View California! I met some amazing people and saw some amazing things! Although my ability to haul items was limited, I still ended up with a decent amount of loot purchased from both events! If you've never attended a VCF event, I cannot recommend it highly enough!
Here's some links for more info:
VCF: vcfed.org/
Pittsburgh Classic Mac Lab:
/ @pittsburghclassicmaclab
www.scottbaret.com/Home.html
/ @thetechknight
BackBit: www.backbit.io/
The Computer History Museum: computerhistory.org/
I could watch Mike all day, so cute and top quality tech stuff to listen to. I think he's my dream husband.
It was amazing to meet you in person too! I was supposed to be at VCF West as well but sadly human malware took me out as soon as I got home from Atlanta. 😢 West looked super fun!
Since I'm always flying when I go to VCF, I don't even look at the consignment area to avoid the risk of suddenly having to ship stuff home! LOLOL. You resisted well even if you did cave a little bit.
VCF West would have been exponentially more awesome with you in attendance. I'm glad you're feeling better! I'm going to try my very best to make it to VCF Midwest.
I'm going to have a MUCH bigger problem with the consignment area at Midwest, since by all accounts it's the largest one. I plan to fly there. Though on second thought... It is only a 15-hour drive LOL.
I'm still surprised I didn't get any bugs when I was shoulder-to-shoulder at VCF East this year. (I was the guy who showed up with the Apple VOC and Amiga 4000 to get recapped).
Your happiness makes me happy. I am glad to see a new video of yours. Keep up the good work my friend!
CuriousMarc works with the Computer History Museum. He and his team were responsible for restoring several exhibits there including the IBM punch card system.
Great channel to check out.
I'm so glad you had a wonderful time and that shot with Adrian was awesome.
Love his channel! I’ve been watching for years. Time to re-watch all of his videos on the 1401 with a new perspective! Marc has my dream- job. 😂
Thanks!
Hey Cutie, the joy in your voice is truly beautiful. I should look up and see if they have these kind of events here in Calgary. I’d probably leave with a filly loaded Pentium III system for my retro games. Thanks for sharing!
It's really great to hear and see your enthusiasm for vintage computing come through here. There are many vintage computing festivals throughout the year, hopefully we'll cross paths in the future.
Your channel is so much better than your subscriber count, thanks for all the hard work!
You and I appreciate vintage shopping! :-)
Excellent as usual Mike. I’m sure many of us would be interested in seeing more footage of the fairs if you have any. Both my partner and I not only enjoy the content but your enthusiasm and interest (and the cuteness, sorry couldn’t resist)! You’ll have to take a van with you next time?!
Squeee'd when I saw the old macs that I used in elementary school with Oregon trail and number munchers. Awesome convention and that museum looks fantastic.
I’m not super enthusiastic about retro hardware, I just find it fascinating to see tech that was brand new when I was a kid/teenager again, now when it’s old and out of date. Your videos are enjoyable because of your enthusiasm and dry sense of humor. They’re a good way to relax and unwind during my downtime. Your enthusiasm was very apparent in this video and fun to watch. I’d like to come to one of the VCF events someday, especially seeing the old Macs and Apple IIs.
It looks so cool and so much fun. I jealous... wish I was there. Great video, thank you
I started watching re-runs of "Lost in Space" in 1978, I started liking the Robot B-9 Robot and the on-ship computers!
Your excitement is contagious Mike !! Thanks for sharing your visits - fantastic stuff :)
5:00 WOW, what an awesome Pentium upgrade kit. *chefs kiss*
I started with computers in 1983, via a technical community college sattlelite center, via a local high school, with an IBM 360. Very large, loud dot matrix printer, under plastic. My mom bought me a TI 99 4A that Christmas, and learned BASIC on both systems!
Thanks, Mike Tech! I enjoyed these videos!
I wish we had events like these in eastern Canada
I missed the episode. I'm making up for it now. I thought you were still resting. Regards. Przegapilem odcinek . Teraz nadrabiam . Myślałem że jeszcze wypoczywasz Pozdrawiam . 🤭😱🤝👋
Recently found your channel and defintiely has become on of my favorites! If I'm not mistaken you're family too 🏳🌈. It would be cool to go to one of these events. I don't really have anyone to go with but I'd like to meet some like minded tech people. I think I'll check out the next east coast event they have.
Adrian was slyly checking your biceps to see if they're real or Photoshopped. 😀
🤣🤣🤣
after recognizing you at vcf southeast from constantly seeing your videos in my recommendations i finally went back and started watching them and they have been very enjoyable.
Thanks! Glad you're enjoying them! 🙂
One day I want to attend VCF Southeast. It looks amazing. Wouldn't have expected Adrian to come this far down. I'm geeking out over this video, can only imagine how crazy the larger conventions are.
We missed you Mike! Glad you had a lot of fun! I've been watching all your videos while you were away and this is honestly my favorite UA-cam channel right now. Been busy myself as I've restored my old Compaq Armada 1510 and Compaq Deskpro EN the last 2 weeks! And have been working on my 486dx4 100 Olivetti laptop and socket 478 P4 right now! Can't wait till the next upload!
Thanks! Oh that’s awesome. Did you own those systems since they were new or did you acquire them more recently?
@@miketech1024 I've had these systems for a while. The 486 Olivetto (Echos 48 Color) was the first laptop I ever had as a kid and was a hand me down from my dads work. The Armada 1510 was a gift for christmas some years after it was released and was actually my first laptop with a sound card AND a CD-ROM drive. Imagine I could play so many games on the go (if it weren't for the DSTN screen lol)! The Deskpro EN P3 1GHz was a system I've used from around 14 to 18 so it feels like I've had it for ages. It has a special place in my heart so I loved to see it in the video you did about. (Never even know there was a solonoid in those cases! But its to lock the case, I found out after looking it up seeing it in the video.)
To limit myself somewhat I've set the goal to only re-create all the systems I've actually had in my life. We're built in the same year and I personally started out with an old (even then) PS2 model 55 which I sadly don't have anymore. So I still have a lot to collect!
@@mjaerkens Ah we're on the same path then! I'm also trying to re-acquire all of my childhood machines. I have an absolute laundry-list of systems I'm trying to own again! Unfortunately, they also happen to be some of the most sought-after systems...
@@miketech1024 It seems we are! At least you seem to remember which systems you've had. To me everything before my p1 233mmx is a bit hazy as I remember having a lot of different pentium 1 systems at the time. Some with and without MMX. It really doesn't help most systems were obscure pre-builts from local (Dutch) resellers. So those were never really available in big quantities, let alone see them in the wild now 30 years later. I will tell you, seeing the videos and actively doing retro stuff is jogging those memories!
That luggable :) my first was a Sharp PC-4521. Had a fancy 20mb HDD, I wrote so much simplistic BASIC programs on it. Wish I still had it, some day I will be reunited with one.
my fav game back then was Cross Country Canada. I represented my school at a computer fair by playing this game and explaining it to others, mostly teachers : )
Great trips! Wish I could have gone....retro computer heaven!
Those AT&T Unix PC's at 7m4sec are amazing. I'd have bought them both on the spot had I seen them.
3:55 working the camera AND carrying the Leading Edge monitor? That's a dedicated production assistant! 😀
He is a treasure!
@@miketech1024 hope you pay him well! 🕺🏻😜
2:57 hah I see a happy child :)
3:43 it's a-me, Mario!
6:07 my life is complete now.
8:22 that brings back memories of someone "let's playing" Tomb Raider 2 on a dance mat. Hilarity did indeed ensue.
9:05 this is so cool!
Wish I could visit VCF some day.
yay new video ❤
Carmen Sandiego, great series of game. 👑
Atlanta, the "Peach" City!
11:00 DAT I/O DOH
BEAUTIFUL
This one is nice
Yes! A new video! I recently found your channel and now I have binge-watched everything! I have learned so much about retro tech from you! I love your enthusiasm and love for computers so much! Thanks to you I checked one of the old towers in my collection, an old AT system, and I found one of those evil Varta batteries! Unfortunately it has popped but I learned from you how to neutralize the electrolyte! I am not yet skilled enough to fix it, but at least the damage is not too severe! Anyways, I hope to see many more videos from you! Your channel is popping off for a reason! Cheers!
Thanks! If the battery electrolyte did not damage the traces too deeply, the motherboard might still be ok. If there are any socketed chips nearby, try removing them and applying DeoxIT to the socket(s).
@@miketech1024 Thanks for the advice! Will do! Luckily I have your videos as a point of reference! I cannot wait for the motherboard repair video! Cheers!
very nice place love to visit one day
@Mike Tech, I wondered where you were! I didn't see any new vids. Keep on fixing em!
7:30 someday I'd like to learn who this seller is...certainly items of interest to Forgotten Machines!
specific use case systems are awesome, so much fun and practical.
"WE HAVE TO GO BACK"
Lol u should of cancelled your flight and got a uhaul. Big Baller Mike hahaha
Looks like you had fun and it does look like a blast.
Thanks for a great and succinct overview of VCF!
Math Blaster on an original LC was the shit, though my 5th grade classroom's LC had the only copy of Oregon Trail in the school.
I love old IBM thinkpads with Windows CE
This sounds like a awesome time. Although I no longer have any. I am huge sun micro-system fan.
Just someone about Solaris.
A very interesting episode. I watch twice. Thanks Mike.
Still looking forward for VCF to make it down to Florida.
Those LC's took me back! I've got to get out from under a rock one of these days and actually go to one of these events!
Any Dunkin' nearby? I love the hot pumpkin spice coffee, and the iced version is great, too!
7:02 AT&T UNIX PCs! Cool!
MikeTech, Since I last watched you changed the thumbnail on your video, and there's a Data General Dasher terminal and one or two NOVAS right by your left elbow...but I don't see this picture in the video anywhere. Where can I see this in high resolution? We love Data General at Forgotten Machines!
Awesome video as usual, good to see a different type of video too.
Mac LC’s yeah! I bought two of them when they were new. I also had a DuoDock and 2300c brand new when I worked at Apple. The CHM bldg. used to be the HQ of Silicon Graphics.
Wow I didn’t know that about the CHM building. That’s so cool!
I'm loving your channel more and more Mike !
👍
Very nice souvenirs from your trip(s). Typing out punch cards all day everyday for our University running an IBM 370 was my foot in the door in the tek world. Wow that was so long ago.
I did find those machines fascinating previously, but seeing one in action REALLY drove it home! How awesome it must be to have the privilege of tinkering with hardware like that! I'm gonna need a bigger house...
Shit. I wish I met you at VCF west this year! Next year I plan on having a booth. I ended up buying the Gateway 486/33 desktop that was for sale there. It works nicely and would be featured at the event next year if I decide to go through with it. Cheers!
Those Seagates tho! Such memories. Pumped that you got new ones in box!
Glad to hear you had a blast at both of your VCF events. Now you need to come to VCF East April 5-7 2024 at InfoAge in Wall NJ, Info Age is on the campus of the former Army Base Camp Evans, and before that, it was home to American Marconi (Howard Armstrong demonstrated the Regenerative Receiver to David Sarnoff in a building on that campus). If you think its tiring being a spectator, try being an exhibitor, especially one with "Big Iron" :)
Looking forward to the future uploads! Just found this channel recently and have been enjoying it.
4:28 I literally shouted “no way!” out loud. What a find
So glad I found those. Huge thanks to @THEtechknight for bringing those to my attention!
Pencil in a trip to VCF East next year. Bil Herd and Dave Haynie have appeared in the past. While its a bit of a drive, VCF does swap meets twice a year too.
I definitely plan to do VCF East next year!
You were like a kid in a candy store!. :-D Like others said, it's good of you to share your enthusiasm.
Very nice score! I visited the computer museum when I was in SF a few years back, awesome place. Highly recommended. Can't wait for your next video.
Very cool! Great haul too!
My first one was this year, VCF West in the computer museum, it was a blast!
If/when the Living Computer Museum reopens in Seattle, that's even cooler than the CHM in Mountain View. It was put together by Paul Allen and every computer you can touch and interact with. Sadly it's been closed since the pandemic while the estate of Allen figures out what to do with it, but it's a great place as well. I hope to get down to a VCF West one of these years!
Another cheer for Living Computers. Such a great place. Crossing my fingers it opens again soon. A great place to welcome Mike to the PNW.
Ohh the fabled Living Computer Museum! If they ever do re-open, I hope they're ready for me to move in!
Hate to burst your bubble, but LCM is gone, it will never reopen, the employees have found other jobs and the collection has been pretty much liquidated.
I love to see you and Adrian meet up as a long time viewer of both your channels!
I can't imagine not being able to sleep on a plane. It's the only thing that makes flying bearable for me. Glad you had a good time though!
I went to my first VCF this year as well - VCF East. It was a great time, and I got to see so many cool and rare computer systems that I'd love to own some day. The consignment area is dangerous for sure :) I got there a little too late and missed out on several really cool things, but did bring home a Dimension 4700 in great shape. It's odd that those are actually desirable now. I couldn't throw them out fast enough when I was working at a computer shop in 2013.
I like orange!
Your excitement is adorable and genuine. Keep doing all the things that make you happy. Thank you for sharing!
I had a Toshiba T5200 386/33mhz in high school that was around the size and mass of that mitsubishi. I never took it to school, by then it was far too old to really be useful in such a context, and it needed to be plugged in to run. I did use it for homework though sometimes because it was a portable computer I could take to other family members' houses and still type something up. Also had some games on it like Jill of the Jungle.
I had a 701CS about 20 years ago...
The Oregon Trail is still active!
Awesome video!
NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERD
Correct.
I am more interested in the exterior "eye candy"!
I myself had one of those IBM Aptiva ( 3:53 ) ...It was the first real PC I had the chance to purchase, as this kind of hardware was extremely expensive back then, here in my country .... Anyway, it brings me so good memories 😄🤓
Glad you had a great trip!
Parece que se vienen más videos de reparación. Buenísimo!
Nice to see you on VCF
I wonder if Apple would have had the same success in education without MECC. I am lucky to have had their software in my school growing up in the 90s.
Oh! Those argentine Commodores reached some stores down here in Chile. They were crappy tho xD
Loved your channel buddy, cheers from Chile!
Yeah the build quality seems pretty awful, just based on the exterior. Very thin sheet metal. It does have an interesting backstory though!
@@miketech1024 Yeah, most of argentine-made stuff has quite a background. Here in Chile we used to have those Olidata pieces of crap which weren't much better than those Commodores
I saw you running around at VCF West but was too shy to chat you up. I did so with Curious Marc just earlier in the day and oh boy, was I unaware how awkward I become when starstruck. /o\ Maybe another time!
Great video, I agree with everyone else that your joy is clearly audible in your voice. :D I also dreaded going through TSA with hand luggage full of ISA cards and other assorted components, but they didn't question me either. I guess they see much weirder stuff at SFO all the time. ;)
I know the feeling! I was quite nervous when I met Adrian. Fortunately that faded fast because he is so friendly and welcoming, we became friends instantly! I very much enjoyed meeting so many viewers of the channel. I’ve never been great at initiating conversations so all of the people come over to chat was a great way to bring me out of my shell. It was a lot of fun talking to so many people with the same interests. I hope we have a chance to meet at a future event!
@@miketech1024 thanks for the reply! Now I regret not saying hi all the more. 😅 Too bad Adrian couldn't make it to California, I'd have really liked seeing him talk at the excellent panel as well. :)
Thanks for all the videos of you digging through your hoard! They're incredibly entertaining, especially due to the tight and to-the-point editing. Well done! :)
The ST-225 was actually my very first harddrive which I bought for my Amiga 500 in '89 I believe.
A magazine had published a simple interface solution which connected the 500 to an OMTI MFM-Controller for the ISA-Bus!
Throughput was, let's say "mild" at about 300 KB/s but compared to a floppy it was "progress" ;-)
What has stuck in my mind, though, is the funny seeking noise it made -- I always thought that the machine was chuckling at me...
I swear I can still mentally 're-cite' the sounds it makes during initialization. I'm super curious to know how accurate it is in my head after all these years LOL. Currently I'm holding out on testing it, since I like to save all initial testing for the videos. That is killing me right now though LOL.
This is SOOO cool i wanna go to the Computer History Museum... it would be like a blast from the past
Great video! I have 3 retro laptops in my collection!
Dell Inspiron 600m from 2003 Running Windows XP SP2 with the original OEM install for it!
Toshiba Satelite A135-S2386 from 2006 Running Windows Vista Home Basic with the original OEM install for it!
HP Compaq 6730b from 2008 Running Windows 7 Ultimate without the original OEM install for it, as it originally came for Windows Vista Business!
I hope to meet you at VCF Midwest, Mike.
I hope to meet you as well! Going to try my hardest to make it to Midwest this year.
i was just at the computer history museum a week ago
That looked like so much fun. I'm definitely going to VCF Midwest. Can't wait
I'm going to try my very best to make it there!
I'd love to attend one of these. Some day. :)
Ha! I saved one of those same IBM Aotivas a few weeks ago from going to scrap, it too is misisng the door that goes over the drives, but it works perfectly and jjst needs a clean and the door.
Nice! Yeah I bet that door is unobtainium now. Might have to come up with a 3D-printed approximation of it. It's really hard to replicate that IBM texture though.
@@miketech1024 Yeah I have Seena. Few photos of them missing it - so it seems to be. Common issue.
Tbh, If I can't get one of the doors, I'm more than happy to have just rescued it from scrap as it is. Interesting little machine. Did you know these were also the first ever Aptivas?
6:45 wowww I never saw a butterfly keyboard
What a haul! Yeah, meeting Adrian would have been my highlight, too. Ben Heck used to attend these events but I don't think he does as much anymore. Both would be a gas to hang out with!
Hanging out with Adrian was exponentially awesome! Having the exact same interests we have no shortage of things to talk about! I saw a couple of Commodores autographed by Bil Herd at VCF West, so that was cool.
@@miketech1024 I've always wondered what Adrian's day job is... assuming a sys admin or hardware engineer, but I was thinking, maybe you now have enough subs to do YT fulltime? But it's risky depending so much on that fickle algorithm.
You have not lived till you have hung out with Bill Herd.
@@mspysu79 Hahaha, that doesn't surprise me!
That looks so amazing, I wish something like this existed where I live.
That’s some nice stuff that you got back, some rare machines and hard drives, and a really nice gift from Adrian.
Can’t wait for the video where you’ll test all those hard drives… (it will happen, right? 😅), and for the one where you take a look inside of these machines too.
I'll most definitely be testing those drives! I'm dying to hear these Seagates operate again!
Oh my god! I can't believe how much i waited for another video!! Finally.🎉🎉🎉🎉
And nice Computers!
Yeah I just couldn't make it happen last week. This video format is new to me and ended up taking way longer than I expected to get together. Being in San Francisco at the time I had no shortage of distractions which didn't help LOL.
@@miketech1024 Totally understandable!
"Southern Fried"! Where is the nearest Chick Fil-A?!
I’d say more modern kids should learn on those old machines. No chrome? Good!