This was the absolute best weekend I’ve had in a really long time, and I can’t wait to have more of these adventures (I’m smiling on the inside)! VCF Midwest was an absolute blast (and even a bit overwhelming with how much there was!), met some acquaintances and familiar faces.

Also met up with some great friends I’ve known for a while for the first time, drove a bit across the country, grabbed some computer gear, visited 3 new states, and saw some different city skylines along the way. Also scratched quite a few curiosities too.. like the Nintendo Virtual Boy 1996 VR. The sheer amount of exhibitions there seemed to cover nearly (if not, all) all computer related tech I’ve ever been familiar with, as well as massive amounts of devices I’m unfamiliar with. Makes me wish for a 3-day+ event!

Walking in

Not knowing entirely who would be there, it surprised me seeing how vast and packed the venue was. It was already 3pm, but that’s just the time I was able to make it on Saturday. First thing which really caught my eye was an AMD FireGL V7100 256 MB which looked strikingly similar to an ATI Radeon X850XT. I’m not sure why I didn’t continue actually looking for one, because I would’ve picked one up as a spare for the Dual 2.0 Power Mac G5. Only in hindsight did I realize I didn’t ask.

Mr. Macintosh

My first visit was to Mr. Macintosh’s exhibit, which featured Apple servers from 1996 – 2009, including a prototype Apple Network Server 300 predating the network server 700/150! We spoke for a bit, discussing the setup and answering some questions.

OP Workshop (E101/E102)

Over at the OP workshop/reelyinteresting was a Sony HDC500, hooked up to a bunch of studio equipment including a Sony HVDS HR-Trinitron, a Sony HD-1 video reel (on display, not connected), and a Sony HDM-1820. Also.. first time seeing a Nintendo Japanese market Family Basic computer.

Retro Tech Foundation

Right next to the Retro Tech Foundation’s Apple Garage near the concession stand was an array of very hard to find Apple computers.. including a Bell & Howell Apple II. I circled back here for more pictures of the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh later on.

Whoa.. an Apple III?

Along the way, I can’t remember exactly where, was a sold Apple III. Among the things I’ve never seen, only read about. I believe it sold for ether $600 or $700, non-working?

NCG Engineering – analog broadcast tech

Stopped by and we had a great conversation about the stuff on display, as well as there differences between broadcast TV equipment/resolution vs what we tend to find broadcast in to their own homes. I always wanted to know whether or not “HD TV” was more or less possible back then due to how crisp 800 scan lines looked on a Sony HR + massive camera optics are, and was told it was possible, but impractical. There’s a 1986 Sony BVP-270 connected to a CCU-360, which is required to operate the camera.

NTP Time with Jeff Geerling

We bumped into each other as just I was getting into VCF and he was on his way getting something. Here’s his table featuring the Xserve G5 Stratum 2 NTP Time Server, a Mac SE/30 Stratum server, an iBook G3 clamshell catching Wi-Fi time, and a Pi-Powered Stratum 1 time server! Check it all out in this video on his channel.

The Computer Clan

Ken and I spoke for a little bit about the prototype/EVT 24″ 2007 iMac, and the iMac was up for sale too! He told me all about the iMac’s quirks – it has “iMac” on the back instead of an Apple logo, an earlier GPU than a 2400 HD, a white Apple logo on the front, a sleep LED indicator, as well as mismatched white/black plastic trim on the aluminum stand. There’s also a NeXTCube, and a Macintosh TV!

It’s Maccy!

Got a chance to meet Maccy, Kate, and some of the creative team behind The Macintosh Librarian! To the left was an Apple PiPPin, which I knew of their existence but hardly anything about. Seeing what appeared to be a fully functioning Mac OS 9 desktop only to find out it’s a game console was a head scratcher. We talked a bit about the Pippin, some of it’s quirks, and how the OS was a cut-down Mac OS.

Ron’s Computer Videos

Here’s Ron’s exhibit at VCF showing off DREAMM, a bespoke emulator for LucasArts/LucasFilm and Lucas Learning games, on a Macintosh TV! Check outage emulator at: https://dreamm.aarongiles.com/.

Meeting Stan Skora

Stan was at table D413 with a collection of Atari/Mac music production gear, and is a songwriter/cofounder of a ’70s Chicago power pop/rock band named The Kind. He’s a longtime reader of Low End Mac, and we talked about all things tech! It was a good time having conversation, I think I also bought some old hard drives too – a Maxtor 500 GB IDE which will most likely go into an iMac G3, and an old Seagate Barracuda which caught my eye. Thank you again Stan!

More pictures to be posted

Stay tuned!