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Anyone interested in a Hudson Valley Vintage/Retro Computers Group?

I'm in Albany, if you need one more voice in this thread! I always feel so jealous of people who get to go to vintage computer events! I'd love to see something happen in the Hudson Valley
 
Hi @Zovi , yes, we would love to have you join us. Unfortunately my idea for a meetup in the Hudson Valley has temporarily stalled. I run a small business in the Kingston area and I am swamped this time of year. We slow down in the spring and summer. Hopefully we can get together in Spring/Summer 2026. Stay tuned!

Seaken
 
Zovi said:
I'm in Albany, if you need one more voice in this thread! I always feel so jealous of people who get to go to vintage computer events! I'd love to see something happen in the Hudson Valley
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I just noticed there is an upcoming VCF Festival in Montreal. Maybe you can get there? It's closer to you than NJ. Maybe need a passport though.
 
Maybe we should start to think about what subject matters we could discuss when the first meeting does occur. Should as skills each can offer to the group, what retro products that might be of common interest and if a repair workshop period could be included. Perhaps an email blast offline?
 
Yes, @DeltaDon , we are in agreement. I would like to see us do some troubleshooting and repair work. Maybe also a "Show and Tell" type of setup where we can show off our favorite systems and projects. Keep your wheels turning and we'll get together some kind of agenda for the first meeting. I was thinking we might also bring equipment we might want to trade or give away.

Seaken64
 
Sounds like it could be fun, even just as an occasional opportunity to get together with other people that share an interest in this stuff.

Most interactions in this hobby are probably long distance and between relative strangers, aside from folks who regularly make it to annual events like VCF, KansasFest, etc.

Poughkeepsie and Kingston are a little over an hour and a half drive from "Albany" (and most of the Capital Region).

Obviously beggars can't be choosers and good venues aren't necessarily plentiful, but personally three hours of driving (there and back) in the same day is a significant commitment.

It's a shame that taking a train would be both slow and inconvenient.
 
I've got one weird project I'd like to bring to the first meeting. I have Eilasung FDD-UDD Gotek, which is not a standard Gotek and I have failed (several times) at installing FlashFloppy software onto. Flashing method is not easy or just like the standard Goteks. I've tried to follow the one and only online discussion about how to flash it using a STlink v2 (Chinese clone) and tried and tried. So it is easy to bring and hopefully someone knows more than me about why the STLink doesn't communicate with the Gotek.

Flash reference used: https://github.com/keirf/flashfloppy/issues/232
 
Istarian said:
Sounds like it could be fun, even just as an occasional opportunity to get together with other people that share an interest in this stuff.

Most interactions in this hobby are probably long distance and between relative strangers, aside from folks who regularly make it to annual events like VCF, KansasFest, etc.

Poughkeepsie and Kingston are a little over an hour and a half drive from "Albany" (and most of the Capital Region).

Obviously beggars can't be choosers and good venues aren't necessarily plentiful, but personally three hours of driving (there and back) in the same day is a significant commitment.

It's a shame that taking a train would be both slow and inconvenient.
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One of my reasons for proposing a Hudson Valley user group is because driving to Wall NJ more than once a year is too much. And an overnight stay is expensive. Yes, three hours of driving is a lot. Maybe we can figure out how to cut that down for several folks. Maybe hold the venue to the north of the Mid-Hudson Valley on one occasion and then one to the southern area on another occasion.

I used to routinely drive to Albany for shopping about once a month. It was an hour and fifteen minutes from my house in Shokan. Then we started getting more stores like Sams and Lowes in Kingston and eventually we stopped going to Albany as often. So, I get it. Closer is better, especially for day trips.

A venue near Hudson, NY would pull in more from the Albany area then Kingston of Poughkeepsie. Conversely a venue in Poughkeepsie or Fishkill would pull more from Westchester county or northern NYC. But we have to start somewhere and drum up some interest first. The we can work on setting up venues. My store in Shokan is a convenient place to start since I don't need to set up a rental space and schedule a venue that has multiple uses. But I get that attracting folks from the north and south regions of the Hudson Valley will be a challenge.

Seaken
 
DeltaDon said:
I've got one weird project I'd like to bring to the first meeting. I have Eilasung FDD-UDD Gotek, which is not a standard Gotek and I have failed (several times) at installing FlashFloppy software onto. Flashing method is not easy or just like the standard Goteks. I've tried to follow the one and only online discussion about how to flash it using a STlink v2 (Chinese clone) and tried and tried. So it is easy to bring and hopefully someone knows more than me about why the STLink doesn't communicate with the Gotek.

Flash reference used: https://github.com/keirf/flashfloppy/issues/232
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That sounds interesting. I have always wanted to try a Gotek. I have heard that some firmware is harder to work with and that it is best to stay with a certain build that is more compatible. But I have not experimented with it yet.

Seaken
 
Yes, it is interesting. I've learned a lot along the way. First don't buy off brand Goteks. The Eilasung Gotek doesn't have the usual setup connections available and so a STlink programmer seems to the only method of flashing it. Not that there's much chance of finding this model Gotek these days, I have had this one buried in the round-2-it pile for years. A "real" Gotek with Flashfloppy installed and several extra features is under $50 delivered. Second, the Chinese clones of the STLInk v2 programmer can have the wrong pin outs printed on the outer case. That will bite you in the backside. Three, it appears that ST has made their free software to talk to the STM32's only work with a legit STLink V2's. Or so someone has reported. Four, my knowledge of Linux sucks and trying to use Open OCD on Windows in lieu of on Linux is beyond me. Lastly, I've got a STM32 Nucleo board coming and it comes with a legit STlink attached. All this to keep from tossing a 5 or 6 year old $30 Eilasung GoteK into the crusher. But that's also why we do what we do with retro computers too.
 
For a one-off situation, soldering directly to the controller board is certainly an option, if the board designer didn't break out the desired connections.

I would guess that the manufacturer of the cheap STLink clones probably just purchased boards and generic casing in bulk, maybe even as separate orders.
 
Hi @seaken. I just joined VCF a couple of days ago and would be interested in a Hudson Valley Retro Computer Club. My first computer was an Apple II and in high school I learned to program in FORTRAN on an IBM 1130. I was the buyer for the first software store on the East Coast, worked for companies publishing software for the Commodore 64 and Atari 800 and later published some commercial titles for the Commodore 64. Please let me know if you have any traction on getting the group up and running. Thanks!
 
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