I'm an amateur collector of old technology, especially computer equipment, getting my start mostly because I hate to throw anything away. Some of the systems are complete, most are functioning, and other items are still a mystery. If you can identify any of the mystery items here, please send me a note.
My interest in computers goes back to my high school days, when I joined Explorer Post 385 in State College, PA in 1969. Our emphasis was computer programming, and we had an account on the IBM 360/67 mainframe at Penn State. We learned FORTRAN IV, PL/1 and IBM 360 Assembler Language from various grad students and area professionals. Those were the punched card days, when you submitted your deck to the dispatcher, then waited around for your output to come back, only to discover a syntax error and repeat the process.
From 1982 - 1986 I was in the Air Force, mostly at McChord AFB as a computer maintenance tech on the Air Defense computer systems. During training, we briefly worked with the BUIC (Back Up Interceptor Control), based on the Burroughs D825 system. At McChord, I worked on the AN/FSQ-7 SAGE (Semi Automatic Ground Environment) system for 8 months right before they turned it off after 25 years of operation. I then moved over to the ROCC and the Hughes AN/FYQ-93 system.
In Februrary of 2016, I retired from Penn State University after spending 21 years as a Senior Research Programmer for Information Technology Services. I am spending my time working on my vintage computer collection and musical interests.
Site Updates as of November 04, 2024
/Oldtech/
Systems, peripherals, parts and some unidentified hardware.
Storage media including punched cards, tapes, diskettes, and disk packs.
Some of my old books and manuals.
Old software.
ASCII Artwork
If you have any of the following items for sale, trade or donation, or know of someone who does, please send me a note:
VCF East 3.0 (2006) pictures.
VCF East 4.0 (2007) pictures.
VCF East 5.0 (2008) pictures.
VCF East 6.0 (2009) pictures.
VCF East 7.0 (2011) pictures.
VCF East 8.0 (2012) pictures.
VCF East 9.1 (2014) pictures.
VCF East 10 (2015) pictures.
VCF East 11 (2016) pictures.
VCF Midwest 11 (2016) pictures.
VCF East 12 (2017) pictures.
VCF East 13 (2018) pictures.
VCF Midwest 13 (2018) pictures.
VCF East 14 (2019) pictures.
VCF Midwest 16 (2021) pictures.
VCF East 2021 pictures.
VCF East 2022 pictures.
VCF Midwest 2024 pictures.
Herb Johnson's VCF East 10 writeup and pictures.
A visit to Dave McGuires's Large Scale Systems Museum in New Kensington, PA on October 17, 2015.
M.A.R.C.H. museum at Infoage (2011) pictures.
Vintage Computer Workshop, June 2009 pictures.
Tech Weekend in Wilmington, January 2010 pictures.
Herb Johnson's page on the importance of vintage computer restoration projects.
The Mid-Atlantic RetroComputing Hobbyists sub-group of the Vintage Computer Federation
David Larsen's Bugbook Historical Microcomputer Museum.
