Herb Johnson at retrotechnology.com - VCF-E sales

The most recent revision of this page is May 3 2015. To email me, see see my ordering Web page for my email address.

VCF-East 10 is history!

It was a great event, with many exhibits, talks, and vendors and consignment sales. I try to cover some of it on my VCF-East 10.0 Web page. To my customers and visitors and friends - thank you. Everyone can look below and see some of what I bought to the event, and get some idea of what I'm about.

Herb Johnson

short story

Thanks for visiting my site. My name is Herb Johnson. I'm based in New Jersey, USA. The photo on the left is me, of course.

For decades, I've supported and provided S-100 computers, by offering manuals, boards and systems (I still do). That's "before the Internet", before massive Web archives of manuals, before scanning and making PDF's, before high-speed widely available networking....So this site looks very "old school": low-bandwidth HTML text, no videos, no fancy graphics, no massive archives. Just - solid - information.

These days, my site is about preserving the history of the early development of 1970's computing, by preserving information and restoring those original computers. That effort includes examples of vintage computer restoration; technical details of floppy drive technology. But I also support other segments of vintage computing, from continued use of early Apple Macs to DEC minicomputers.

To keep this going, I sell stuff. The income supports what I do. I'll be selling "stuff" at VCF-E 10.0, the Vintage Computer Festival - East show number 10, also in New Jersey in early April 2015. The VCF-E sales space is very limited so I have to choose what I bring to sell - help me decide!. This page will some items I'll sell there, and my results afterwards. This page also points around my Web site.

What will/did I sell at VCF-E 10.0?

For the last five years, I've been the supporting Web site for Lee Hart's 1802 Membership Card, a version of the RCA COSMAC ELF first offered almost 40 years ago. Dozens of Web pages provide technical support, software, hardware notes, design history. I'll sell Rev G 1802 Membership Cards at VCF-E X.

Wow! I sold several of the Membership Card kits and all the serial/ROM kits I had. Thank you, COSMAC fans!

Since 1997, I've provided early Apple Macintosh systems and their parts and accessories. That's from the "compact Macs" (also called "9-inch Macs") and the Mac II series, to Quadras, Centris and PowerMac PowerPC models; and a few iMacs, G3's and G4's. Mostly I specialize in pre-PowerPC Macs. I provide power supplies, motherboards or CPU boards, Nubus and PCI cards, SCSI drives, ZIP drives, and Mac parts of all kinds. I'll bring some Macs to VCF-X but you should "ask" me about any specific items you want to buy.>

My biggest computing collection is my S-100 personal computer equipment and documentation from the 1970's and 80's, for you to look at and/or purchase. I considered bringing some S-100, but did not. There was very little S-100 at the show - maybe next year!

I have a variety of DEC minicomputer equipment on my site. (I was simply not able to bring any DEC items myself - there was plenty of DEC stuff on display, from a straight-8 to an 11/70, *all running*.

IBM PC

IBM PC model 5150 S/N 17694035150, 63W power supply, clean case, IBM mono green monitor
64K-256K motherboard with 8087 gold/purple, IBM BASIC chips
AST ConnectALL card with external panel for serial/parallel, memory
512K memory on startup, boots MS-DOS on 360K IBM floppy (2nd IBM floppy not responding yet)
IBM? MGA video card, IBM floppy card another card view
two IBM PC keyboards available
I have several IBM brand PC or XT motherboards, untested - not worth bringing to VCF-East.

I brought it - nobody bought it! Even priced below $200 for EVERYTHING. Amazing!

Lear Siegler ADM-3A terminal S/N 504XXX
white CRT not bright but very usable, no "goop"
front looks good, no lables, no ADM plate.
all keys and serial loopback OK, screen text OK.
pretty clean, no dings or gouges, typical of these.

Another ADM-3A terminal was brought, and sold, by someone else.

Apple IIgs system, working. Apple IIgs Woz edition, A2S6000, working, case a little faded but clean no physical damage. MOtherboard 607-0123 and 607-0120-A. Serial number A2S2-E7042P9A2S6000. ROM chip 347-0077-B. Contains usual RAM card, fully populated with RAM., no other cards. Usual keyboard and mouse in similar condition. Boots up DOS, BASIC on one of two 800K 3.5" floppy drives, clean not faded. Also 5.25-inch external drive, not faded, not tested. AppleColor RGB monitor A2M6014 but output relatively dim - will not likely offer, too fragile. Have several IIgs software game packages; value too low to list.

I said I would not bring this IIgs - but I did, and it sold fast. I could not set it up before someone bought it for their grandson. Wooosssshhh!

What do I cover on my Web site?

Among "vintage" computers, I'm interested in "classic" S-100 computers of the 1970's; early Macintosh computers; and some minicomputers computers from DEC. Links are below are to my Web pages. Check the home page of my tetrotechnology domain to see those and links to my other interests.

My biggest computing collection is my S-100 personal computer equipment and documentation from the 1970's and 80's, for you to look at and/or purchase. I have manuals available nowhere else, and I provide copies for a per-page fee. My site also has restoration information about many S-100 systems. I'e assisted a number of people who are emulating these classic systems.

I sell some classic Apple Mac equipment and parts; some Multibus, STDbus and VME cards and manuals; and some old SGI and Sun computers, also some DEC and DG equipment. I offer and document 8-inch and 5.25-inch floppy disk drives. I have some electronic test equipment that you may be interested in purchasing. Also some odds and ends bits of equipment and books that I've found while obtaining all those other items.

I also have an on-line history of Digital Research Inc, Dr. Gary Kildall, and his immediate associates, who developed and sold CP/M in the mid-1970's and beyond. I have descriptions, photos and links to related sites; documents and manuals; and some early hardware. When Dr. Kildall's 40th anniversary of CP/M was celebrated by the IEEE and the Computer History Museum, my resources were referenced.

In 2009 I started a new series of Web pages on restoration and repair of 1970's and 80's vintage computers. I show my work, other's work, and collaborative work.

Contacts, ordering, navigating my site

Contact: My email address is on my ordering Web page. Brief questions get brief answers; give me some detail so I know what you are talking about. Give me your location if you want to buy, so I can tell you shipping costs - I'll ask if you don't. Please read my site's pages before asking questions, and see if what you want or want to ask is already on my site.

References: I've been in business for several years. I have references from many people. Here are references from my Apple Macintosh sales; from my S-100 sales; from my SGI system sales.

Navigating my site: This Web site is updated often by the page. So some pages may be years old. Check the top of each page for revision dates. Most of my pages are text-oriented to speed up access and to support older Web browsers. Many of my images can be "clicked" to provide a larger image. Many of my descriptions include links to more detailed information. And, many items shown for sale have a listed price. Ordering is generally a matter of 1) seeing what I have, 2) deciding what you want, and 3) sending an email message with your location that describes your selections and requests. Follow this link for contact and ordering information.

If you are looking for my postal or shipping mailing address: you have to contact me first. My email address is on my ordering pages.

Copyright © 2015 Herb Johnson