VCF/PNW Exhibit & Trip Report - The Old Calculator Museum

[Evan Koblentz]

Rick, thank you for exhibiting and for your glowing report!


> Hi, everyone,
>
> Myself and my friend Mike, representing the Old Calculator Museum,
> exhibited the line of Wang Laboratories electronic calculators at the
> Vintage Computer Federation's Vintage Computer Festival/Pacific
> Northwest edition, at the Living Computer Museum+Labs in Seattle,
> Washington this past weekend.
>
> This was the 2nd annual VCF/PNW, and it was clearly a success, as it was
> significantly larger than the first event last year (which I went to,
> but didn't exhibit at).   There were 30 exhibits, all of which were
> really interesting, and a good-sized consignment area, as well as quite
> a group of guest speakers who had interesting topics to present.  Of
> course, being held in the Living Computer Museum+Labs was a bonus, as
> the museum is an amazing place, with lots of vintage computers up and
> running and accessible for people to actually use and experience.
>
> The Old Calculator Museum exhibit consisted of a Wang LOCI-2 and punched
> card readers (1st and 2nd-generation card readers), a Wang 360E w/320K
> keyboard/display unit;362E with 370 Programmer and 371 Punched Card
> Reader; 360SE 4-terminal timeshared calculator package with two 360KT
> trig keyboards,  360K, and 320K keyboards, all running simultaneously
> off the 360SE electronics unit; a Wang 720C; Wang 600-14TP; Wang
> 500-14TP; Wang 462 and 452 Programmable calculators; and a Wang C-52.
> These are representatives of all of the lines of calculators that Wang
> Laboratories made during its years in the electronic calculator market
> (1965-1974).  All of the machines were running and available for
> visitors to play with, with the exception of the LOCI-2 (which has a
> thermal issue that manifests after about 3 minutes of operation) and the
> 500-14TP, which has some kind of problem that renders it catatonic that
> I've not yet had a chance to try to diagnose/repair).   Also shown was
> an original Wang Labs factory spare parts kit for the 300-series
> calculators & peripherals, another Wang 360SE electronics package opened
> up so people could see the insides, a number of circuit boards from Wang
> 300-series keyboard/display units, as well as core memory boards from
> 300-series electronics packages, core memory and circuit boards from
> Wang 700-series calculators, and original sales documentation for Wang's
> 700, 500, and 600-series calculators.
>
> The exhibit turned out pretty well, though I didn't have time to make up
> signs to identify the stuff until we actually got there and made
> hand-written signs, which turned out to be good enough -- it seems that
> people could actually read my chicken-scratch handwriting.   The signs
> included the retail price at the time the machine was introduced, and
> people were stunned that in 1971, a Wang 720C outfitted as the exhibited
> machine retailed for $7,000.   A lot of people asked how much that would
> be in today's dollars, and I was able to use my phone to find
> out...about $50,000.
>
> The exhibit was almost constantly busy both days for the whole time the
> museum was open, (10 AM - 5 PM), and the folks were all  very careful
> with the old machines, and had really great questions about them.   I
> was pretty surprised at how much interest there was in these old beasts.
> The crowd was pretty mixed in age, from folks who actually used examples
> of the machines in school, to youngsters who were totally shocked that
> this is what calculators were like 50 years ago.    The machines ran the
> whole time the exhibit was open, and amazingly, despite the old
> Germanium-based transistors in the Wang 300-series calculators, as well
> as fussy magnetic rope ROMs and core memory in the 700 and 600-series
> machines, they ran trouble-free.  A lot of folks had trouble getting the
> machines to give answers they expected because of Wang's unusual math
> entry method.   Once they were given a simple explanation of the way the
> machines worked, they caught on quickly, and got answers they expected.
> It was a lot of fun to explain and demonstrate the machines to the
> visitors.   The Wang 370 Programmer hooked up to the 362E electronics
> package was popular.  I had a little program punched up on a card that
> would perform an iterative approximation of Pi.  It'd run for 100
> iterations, then stop and display the approximation it had come to thus
> far.   People were fascinated by the "spinning" Nixie Tubes as the
> machine churned away on the iterations.   People also liked the 360KT
> keyboards hooked up the 360SE simultaneous timeshared calculator
> electronics package.  They enjoyed it when I demonstrated the two 360KT
> keyboard/display units running the Sine of 45 degrees at the same time.
> The timesharing between the two terminals was obvious as the calculator
> switched back and forth between each of the keyboards as the
> calculation, which takes about 25 seconds, was being performed.
>
> Nixie tubes were a big attraction.  Many younger folks had never seen
> them in person before, but almost everyone knew about them.   I think
> that the popularization of Nixie tubes in the form of clocks using Nixie
> tubes for display has brought Nixies to the attention of folks that
> didn't experience them in the day, but have seen stuff online about
> Nixie tubes.
>
> I did get a little time to wander around the event and look at the other
> exhibits (there were 30 this year!), and the stuff the folks had was
> amazing.  I was really impressed by Josh Dersch's exhibit of PERC
> workstations...it was truly amazing to see these rare machines running!
> I really liked Vince Slyngstad's PDP 8/e with a custom Omnibus board
> that replicates the vintage (and rare) X/Y analog output board using a
> CPLD and a couple of DACs such that the PDP 8/e was running actual
> SPACEWAR code and displaying on a Tektronix display tube.    There were
> a lot of other really great exhibits, including a very complete Atari
> 800 systems running office productivity tools that made what was
> considered a gaming computer into a true office machine that was ahead
> of its time.  There was a great exhibit of some classic Silicon Graphics
> machines running, an exhibit of just about every type of floppy disc and
> optical media ever produced (some of which are very rare), and a couple
> of exhibits related to accurately emulating classic computers using
> contemporary microprocessors to either run vintage "lights & switches"
> front panels, or even miniaturized front panels built to look and run
> like the original computers.     All of the exhibits were well presented
> and truly interesting.
>
> Just before the event closed, I took a few minutes so I could go
> upstairs to the computer room and take some photos of the KA-10(which
> I'd have to say is my favorite vintage computer), when my friend and
> exhibit helper Mike came through the doors of the computer room, pointed
> at me, and motioned for me to come with him.  I had been talking to two
> very nice young gentlemen who had a lot of questions about the KA-10,
> and had to beg their forgiveness as I had to leave.  I followed Mike
> down the stairs, and a big crowd of people was there.  I didn't realize
> it, but the awards ceremony was going on while I was upstairs.   Mike
> guided me to Mike Brutman, the event organizer, and he presented me with
> "The Most Interesting Presentation" award!   I was completely stunned.
> I never would have thought that a couple of tables of old calculators
> with hand-written signs would merit such an award, but I was very
> honored and humbled to receive it.
>
> The event was very well-organized.  The Living Computer Museum+Labs
> staff and volunteers did an amazing job getting the museum set up for
> the exhibits, with tables, tablecloths, and chairs all in place and
> ready to go when we arrived Friday.  Mike Brutman was fantastic! He was
> so nice, accommodating, and supportive of my exhibit (which, by
> definition, was somewhat outside the "Vintage Computer" realm), as well
> as doing a completely amazing job of organizing such a complicated
> event.   Everything went off smoothly, from the set up Friday night,
> through the two days of the event, awards Sunday after the doors closed
> to the public, and tear-down and haul out.   Our exhibit was the last
> one out the door, as it's rather tedious packing these old machines up,
> making sure that they are cozily packed within the crates with a lot of
> padding in between them.   It took my about 2 days to get everything
> packed to head up there, and we had a little over two hours to repack it
> all after the event closed...we were running like banshees to get
> everything packed safely and loaded into the van.
>
> The trip home went smoothly with no problems.  I was totally exhausted
> Monday afternoon when we got home.  Mike and I unloaded all the crates
> and stuff from the van into the museum building, and Mike headed home.
> I went to the house, sat down on the sofa and turned on the TV, and was
> dead to the world when my wife got home from work a few hours later.  I
> don't remember anything from the time I sat down until she got home.
>
> I haven't unpacked anything yet...I needed a day yesterday to get a
> bunch of errands done, and reply to a backlog of Emails that stacked up
> while I was away and didn't have time to tend to them.   Later this
> afternoon, I'll get everything unpacked and back on the display shelves,
> and test 'em out.  Hopefully everything will work fine after the trip
> home.
>
> I want to take this opportunity to thank my long-time and cherished
> friend, Mike Weiler, for taking three days off work to come help with
> the exhibit.  He was a real trooper, helping people understand how to
> use the machines, manning the exhibit when I wanted to wander around and
> look at the other exhibits and the new machines at the Living Computer
> Museum+Labs (including the awesome KA-10 PDP-10 running in the machine
> room upstairs...what a treat!), as well as fielding questions when I'd
> get engaged with a visitor discussing these old calculators.  Not to
> mention all of his help packing the stuff up before we left, hauling all
> the stuff into the museum when we arrived Friday afternoon, helping get
> the exhibit set up and organized, tearing everything down and packing it
> up after the event closed and hauling it out to the van and getting it
> all packed in for the trip home, and helping to unload it all once we
> arrived home.   Along with all of that, Mike was a godsend in terms of
> helping me keep my cool when I'd get stressed out about stuff.  There's
> not a ghost of a chance I could have done all of this myself.
>
> I'd also like to thank Mike Brutman for all of the effort and
> determination it takes to successfully pull of an event like this.
> It was all stunningly well-done!
>
> My thanks also go out to the other exhibitors at the event, many of
> which who came over to visit the Old Calculator Museum exhibit and
> compliment us about having these old machines running and available for
> visitors to touch and operate.
>
> Last, but certainly not least, thanks to the Living Computer Museum+Labs
> staff and volunteers for all of the work and support that they provided
> for this event.  The venue amazing, and makes a perfect place for a
> vintage computer festival.
>
> With the success of this year's event, only its second time in the
> Pacific Northwest, it is sure to grow even more next year.   I am
> looking forward to next year's VCF/PNW, where I plan on doing a similar
> exhibit of old electronic calculators from the Friden Calculating
> Machine Co., with an example of every line of calculator that
> Friden/Singer made available for visitors to play with.  I just hope my
> friend Mike will be up to doing again it next year.
>
> Just before we left, Erik Klein, the organizer of VCF/West, held in
> Mountain View, CA at the Computer History Museum during the first week
> in August, came to me and invited me to bring the Wang exhibit down to
> the event his summer.   I was surprised that there'd be interest, but he
> was emphatic that it'd be wonderful to have the exhibit there.   I was
> honored by this request, and told Erik I'd do all I could to try to make
> it to this event.  Perhaps if I make it, I'll actually have printed
> signs to identify the stuff rather than hand-written signs that I made
> "on the fly" as we were setting things up, because I ran out of time to
> make decent signs.  :-)  It's a long trip down there from the Portland,
> Oregon vicinity, but I'm going to do all I can to make it if at all
> possible.
>
> The experience was amazing.  I've never done anything like this before.
> I discovered that there's really something special about seeing people
> amazed by how much things have changed since the 1960's.  The
> calculators really make it so clear just how amazing it is to have an HP
> calculator emulation running on a smartphone...and that the smartphone
> has far more compute power, storage, and capability than all of the Wang
> calculators on display together, with the emulated HP calculator running
> far faster than the original calculator it emulates.   It's really crazy
> just how far we've come in 50 years...and I just can't even begin to
> envision what we'll have 50 years from now.      I wonder if the tech we
> use today will be on display at vintage computer events in 2069?
>
> A funny note.  The whole time I was there on Saturday and Sunday, I was
> wearing on my wrist a classic HP-01 wristwatch/calculator.   A total of
> five people noticed it and commented, and of the five, three knew what
> it was, and two were just curious about it because it caught their eye,
> but they didn't know what it was.  The two that were curious were
> completely blown away when I demonstrated it to them.    I would have
> expected that more folks would have noticed this big gold hunk on my
> wrist.
>
> So, that's my "trip report".  To all the ClassicCmp'ers that came to the
> event, thanks for coming.   See you maybe down at VCF/West, and, fates
> willing, next year at VCF/PNW.
>
> Rick Bensene
> The Old Calculator Museum
> http://oldcalculatormuseum.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>