[HECnet] VCF East

[Gregg Levine]

Hello!
Okay. Go here:
http://hackaday.com/2015/04/23/vcf-east-x-the-mega-mix/ it gives an
excellent coda on the past weekend.

In fact the photo shows the both of you there. And of course the
photographer, who I met there last year, of course, forgot the most
important part of that scene in front of it. Me. It also caught the
group working at its best.
-----
Gregg C Levine gregg.drwho8 at gmail.com
"This signature fought the Time Wars, time and again."


On Thu, Apr 23, 2015 at 10:28 PM, Steve Davidson <steve at davidson.net> wrote:
> AGENA:: (19.11) is part of the STARS:: cluster.  All of the nodes have the
> names of stars.  Ask Dave (or Brian) what the message from SYLOGIN.COM
> said...  :-)
>
> The DECserver-90TL was brought up by Brian and myself.  The DECserver-200
> was brought up by Dave and myself after Dave was able to do a hardware reset
> on the unit.  Prior to that it was VERY confused.  We spent a great deal of
> time trying to get files off the USB stick, in fact much more time than
> anything else.  The ISL configuration was easy (as usual with DEC).  The
> DECserver-90TL came right up - no issues.  Everything was loaded from
> AGENA::.  Brian's machine was a "hot" backup should we have needed it.  The
> beauty of the 90TL was not only LAT but telnet.  Unfortunately we did not
> have time to make use of it.
>
> Also...  I did manage to get our wireless link up long enough for both Dave
> and I to VMS/Phone Fred Coffee in Ohio.  The MACbook did the best job
> holding the link.  Far better than the Linux or Windows system could manage.
> Next year it will be a dedicated NetBSD platform just like what I use in my
> DEClab to support the bridge.  I would like to experiment with using LAT
> just like we do today between my network and the rest of the backbone.  If
> the link is robust enough then MOM/MOP might also be a possibility.
> Imagine... DECservers be loaded "remotely"!
>
> -Steve
>
>
> On 04/23/2015 10:11 PM, Gregg Levine wrote:
>>
>> Hello!
>> Magic word is "Gack!". Now I place you. I asked Dave what was with the
>> name on the Vax, and he confirmed it was yours. I wondered why it was
>> named after a second stage booster back from our years of sending
>> stuff into space, Think of the term, "Atlas-Agena" and you'll get my
>> reasoning.
>>
>> Dave was that the one who finally brought up the terminal server?
>> Oddly enough I have here three Model 90 terminal servers, but they are
>> the L Plus ones.
>> -----
>> Gregg C Levine gregg.drwho8 at gmail.com
>> "This signature fought the Time Wars, time and again."
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Apr 23, 2015 at 9:50 PM, Steve Davidson <steve at davidson.net>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> On 04/23/2015 09:37 PM, Gregg Levine wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hello!
>>>> Holy Mackerel. Steve, I was there, and saw that island of Dec in a
>>>> world of stuff. (Well one of many) . Which of the two were you again?
>>>> I met the fellow who goes by the handle of Vaxman, but I'm guessing
>>>> that you were the other fellow I spoke to who confirmed that
>>>> everything was working after a fashion.
>>>>
>>>> I found the sequence of events concerning the terminal server as
>>>> interesting. In fact as Dave will confirm, the VLC was the one who
>>>> provided the boot sequence for the server.
>>>>
>>>> Dave told me what was going on as shown on the terminal screen I sat
>>>> by, and then I said to one person, that it was complaining that it
>>>> need certain files to do that, and the two PDP-11s were telling to
>>>> "Fribble off! We don't have what you need." And I used an interesting
>>>> term, when I inadvertently used a not-so nice word, and it was "Pardon
>>>> my Andorian." where some of us would use, "Pardon my French.".
>>>>
>>>> I was the one wearing the leather jacket, and a name tag as "Doctor
>>>> John Smith", and that I'd answer to "Doctor Who".
>>>>
>>>> In fact I actually did have fun.
>>>>
>>>> Cory as I said before, you missed a heck of a good time there.
>>>>
>>>> Next year, we'll need to do it again, and I'll spend more time, and
>>>> perhaps contribute something to it.
>>>> -----
>>>> Gregg C Levine gregg.drwho8 at gmail.com
>>>> "This signature fought the Time Wars, time and again."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Apr 23, 2015 at 9:17 PM, Steve Davidson <steve at davidson.net>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> All,
>>>>>
>>>>> For those who did not attend VCF East you missed a great time!  On
>>>>> Saturday,
>>>>> the keynote speaker was none other than Brian Kernighan. You really
>>>>> missed a
>>>>> treat - right Dave!
>>>>>
>>>>> Next year, I plan to bring even more stuff (not nearly as much as Dave
>>>>> did)
>>>>> but more than this year.  Dave's island of equipment included the
>>>>> following:
>>>>>
>>>>> PDP-8
>>>>> PDP-11/34
>>>>> PDP-11/44
>>>>> DECserver-200
>>>>> multiple terminals
>>>>> I'm sure I have forgotten something...
>>>>>
>>>>> I added:
>>>>>
>>>>> VAXstation 4000/60
>>>>> DEChub-90 backplane with a DECserver-90TL and a 16-port DEChub
>>>>> VT320
>>>>> a gateway (actually bridge) machine to connect to HECnet only the link
>>>>> was
>>>>> pathetic
>>>>>
>>>>> Brian (aka VAXman) added:
>>>>>
>>>>> VAXstation 4000/30 (aka VLC)
>>>>>
>>>>> In addition to the "island" Dave had other "exhibits" that I will defer
>>>>> to
>>>>> Dave for discussion.
>>>>>
>>>>> Next year we NEED more stuff!  This is the official challenge to anyone
>>>>> on
>>>>> the East coast.  We want to see many more of you.  If is is DEC it is
>>>>> needed.
>>>>>
>>>>> I would also like to personally add my thanks to Dave and Brian for
>>>>> making
>>>>> this such a treat.  Dave is nuts (in a good way) and very generous.
>>>>> Brian
>>>>> was there for me when my brain could not content with the sheer volume
>>>>> of
>>>>> noise - helping me to configure the DECservers and dealing with my fat
>>>>> fingering the keyboard and the license management facility (LMF).   For
>>>>> a
>>>>> while we were Frick and Frack but we managed to get it together.
>>>>> Thanks
>>>>> guys!
>>>>>
>>>>> -Steve
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>> Greg,
>>>
>>> I was the one who went from sleep sitting to sleep standing.  No glasses,
>>> short hair (compared to both Dave and Brian).  I was working on the VAXen
>>> and Brian was keeping me focused.  The images were on a thumb drive but
>>> getting them to the VAX was an exercise to say the least.  Once they were
>>> on
>>> AGENA:: (19.11) we were able to get MOM/MOP to do its thing.  I must
>>> confess
>>> that I had to look up on the web no less how to configure ISL because
>>> neither of us could think straight with all the noise.  I will be
>>> bringing
>>> ear plugs or my noise cancelling headphone next year for sure.  :-)
>>>
>>> -Steve
>
>