AHCS: September 2026 Meeting

Published on Monday, 24 August 2026 10:34

Written by Dave Brown

NOTE: This meeting is moved out one week.

When: Saturday, September 19th, 2026, 1:00pm to 5:00pm

Where: Christ the Lord Lutheran Church, 1001 Duluth Hwy, Lawrenceville, GA 30043

What: Our monthly meetings run from 1pm to 5pm. Club President Earl Baugh will preside over this month’s meeting. Normally club business is called to order at 2 pm and then adjourns an hour or so later. All attendees are asked to arrive early and to stay later to help set up and take down tables and chairs. And don’t forget to bring your name badge so that newcomers can identify our seasoned members. If you don’t have a name badge, please get with the club secretary, Bill Blackburn, while at the meeting.

Who: Anyone who is a past, current, or future member of the AHCS is welcome to attend!

CLUB BUSINESS:

DUES FOR 2027: As always, we will continue to collect yearly dues from all members and potential members whom haven’t yet paid. Annual rate is $20.  

ELECTIONS: We hold annual elections for the 2027 Officers.

WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS/ATTENDEES: Please be sure to extend a greeting to anyone at the meeting you don’t know to make them feel welcome; wearing your name badge helps 🙂

OTHER CLUB BUSINESS: We will do a recap from VCFSE 13.0 held July 31-August 2, 2026.

PRESENTATIONS: If any member or attendee would like to provide a brief presentation (15-20 minutes) at a future meeting about a vintage computer/subject that you are passionate about, simply let either Club President Earl Baugh or Bill Blackburn know so that your presentation can be added to the agenda. A projector for PowerPoint presentations is also available; just let Earl know ahead of time so that he can bring it.

SHOW AND TELL:

Don’t forget to bring your vintage or retro computer projects so that you can utilize the technical and historical expertise our club members freely offer, as well as to show off what you have!

FREE TABLES:

Club members and attendees are encouraged to bring any old computer/electronic hardware or software, working or not, that they no longer want/need for placement on the Free Tables. And any items that anyone wants to offer at a reasonable price to any attendees are also welcome. We do ask that all members and attendees refrain from browsing the Free Tables while club business is being conducted.

Please plan to attend this important meeting. And we hope to see everyone there!

David Brown
AHCS Treasurer

AHCS August Meeting

Published on Monday, 24 August 2026 10:29

Written by Dave Brown

The August meeting of the Atlanta Historical Computing Society was called to order at 2:12 p.m. by Club President Earl Baugh, with 48 people in attendance.

VCF-SE 13 RECAP

A good portion of the meeting was devoted to reviewing this year’s Vintage Computer Festival Southeast 13, held July 31 through August 2.

Overall, the festival was a great success, and members discussed a number of ideas for making next year’s event even better. Suggestions included adding more soldering stations, providing additional exhibitor tables, and improving the visibility of the T-shirt sales and cash-register area.

Several of the soldering kits offered during the festival completely sold out. Distribution of proceeds from consignment sales is also underway.

Members shared highlights and stories from the many exhibits at this year’s show and discussed some of the projects and displays that particularly stood out.

Potential sponsors for next year’s festival were also discussed, including the possibility of working with PCBWay again.

WELCOME TO OUR NEW ATTENDEES

We were pleased to welcome a number of new faces to the August meeting, representing a wide range of interests in vintage and retro computing:

• Baron – interested in Texas Instruments and Apple II computers.

• Antonio – has several Commodore 64 and Macintosh SE-era systems, many of which are available for sale.

• Charles – a former networking and IT professional who collects Commodore systems, the KIM-1, Laser 128, and other machines.

• Ben – has a particular interest in early Windows 3.1-era PCs.

• Anthony – collects Windows 7-era systems and ThinkPads.

• Matt and Alexander – interested in Commodore 64 and Amiga computers.

• Michael – collects vintage game consoles, including the Nintendo Entertainment System.

• Nicholas – is still exploring the many different areas of the vintage-computing hobby.

• Kevin – is particularly interested in ThinkPads.

Welcome to everyone who joined us!

MEMBER PROJECTS

Several new and ongoing member projects were discussed during the meeting.

Brad and Josh are working on a new Atari breakout board.

Bill and Jeff are investigating a different Raspberry Pi-based BASIC computer kit that could potentially be used at next year’s VCF-SE.

Kyle provided an update on additional vintage computer equipment and restoration work underway at Georgia Tech. Systems mentioned included NeXT cubes, an IBM PS/2 Model 70, IBM XTs, and several other machines.

Joe discussed changes involving the Tilt Five augmented-reality project, including a possible change of ownership. More information will follow as details become available.

CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS

The new ATLHCS membership year began in August. Annual dues remain $20.

With the start of the new membership year, new membership badges will be issued to members whose dues are current.

SEPTEMBER MEETING DATE

The September meeting will be held on the third Saturday of the month rather than our normal meeting date. A number of ATLHCS members will be traveling to Vintage Computer Festival Midwest in Schaumburg, Illinois, so the meeting has been moved to accommodate those attending the show.

ANNUAL OFFICER ELECTIONS

Annual club officer elections will also be held during the September meeting.

The current officers are:

• President: Earl Baugh

• Vice President: Jon

• Treasurer: Dave Brown

• Social Media Coordinator: Kyle

• Secretary: Bill Blackburn

DISCORD REMINDER

Members participating on the ATLHCS Discord server are reminded to place their real name after their Discord handle. With the club continuing to grow, this makes it considerably easier for everyone to associate online usernames with the people they meet at our in-person events.

MEETING ADJOURNED

Club business concluded at 3:40 p.m.

Following the meeting, nine members adjourned to Sonny’s BBQ to continue the day’s discussions over dinner.

Thanks to everyone who attended, and we look forward to seeing everyone at the September meeting!

Bill Blackburn
AHCS Secretary

AHCS Prepares for Vintage Computer Festival Southeast 13

Published on Tuesday, 14 July 2026 12:09

Written by Dave Brown

The Atlanta Historical Computing Society held its latest monthly meeting with 43 members and guests in attendance. President Earl Baugh called the meeting to order at 2:10 p.m.

Much of the discussion focused on preparations for the upcoming Vintage Computer Festival Southeast, which will take place from July 31 through August 2 as part of the Southern-Fried Gaming Expo.

Festival Load-In and Consignment

Exhibitor load-in will begin at noon on Thursday, July 30. Nate and the SFGE volunteer team will supervise the loading area.

Members were advised that both Thursday and Friday evenings are expected to be particularly busy, with significant traffic entering the venue. Exhibitors should plan accordingly and allow plenty of time to unload and set up their displays.

Anyone planning to sell items through the festival’s consignment area should complete the required forms before arriving at the show. The forms and instructions are available on the Vintage Computer Federation website:

https://vcfed.org/vcf-se-13-0-consignment/

New Attendees

The club welcomed two first-time attendees, Marty and Antonio. We hope to see them again at future meetings and events.

Member Projects

Several members shared updates on their current projects:

Earl presented two aftermarket keyboard kits designed for the Commodore 64.

Kyle teased a forthcoming “complete” NeXTcube project.

Rich demonstrated a prototype FujiNet variant for the TRS-80 Color Computer 1, 2, and 3. The device connects through the cartridge port and is designed for systems equipped with 64 KB of memory.

Logg is preparing a quiz about early computers that will be administered during VCF Southeast.

Submitted by Bill Blackburn,
AHCS Secretary

June 13th Meeting Recap

Published on Tuesday, 23 June 2026 10:12

Written by Dave Brown

The Atlanta Historical Computing Society meeting was called to order at 2:10 p.m. by President Earl Baugh, with 50 people in attendance.

The meeting opened with a recap of the Southern Fried Gaming Expo volunteer meeting, which was held on June 7 and attended by several AHCS members. Topics included the new Vintage Computer Festival Southeast location, parking and load-in logistics, and a possible layout for the exhibit tables.

Earl then provided an update on the upcoming Vintage Computer Festival Southeast. He briefed the membership on the number of tables still available and discussed the current status of potential speakers, including Lonestar and Boise Pete. He also noted that a revived version of *Compute!* magazine may provide sponsorship for the show. Kit assembly and soldering activities are expected to be included in the main show area.

Nolan gave an update on the show’s three-color T-shirt design. Dave Brown also reminded exhibitors that anyone wanting telephone service at their exhibit table should indicate that on the sign-up form or contact him directly.

The club welcomed several new attendees, including Alana, Marty, and Lawrence.

During the show-and-tell portion of the meeting, Jon offered keyboards, CRT monitors, and computers for sale on a donation basis to help recoup his investment in acquiring them. Grizzly Dave had Voltage Blaster boards available for $15 and discussed his work on Bluetooth keyboard-to-IBM XT adapters, as well as input modules for Seth’s Whack-a-doodle game. Snowkitty showed a Microsoft Quanta module, an unusual phone system from Microsoft.

Richard exhibited several pieces of Apple memorabilia, including a letter written by Steve Wozniak. Kyle showed his recently acquired Alpha Syntauri, a pre-MIDI sound keyboard system with an Apple II interface. Jared demonstrated a method for creating and manipulating BlueSCSI drive images.

Lawrence presented his homebrew computer creation, which prompted several questions from members about the operating systems it was based on. Jon also discussed Atari 2600 symptoms and repair questions.

The meeting concluded at 4:20 p.m., after which 12 members adjourned to Sonny’s BBQ for further discussion.

AHCS Monthly Meeting!

Published on Tuesday, 02 June 2026 10:25

Written by Dave Brown

When: This Saturday, June 13, 2026, 1:00pm to 5:00pm

Where: Christ the Lord Lutheran Church, 1001 Duluth Hwy, Lawrenceville, GA 30043

What: Our monthly meetings run from 1pm to 5pm. Club President Earl Baugh will preside over this month’s meeting. Normally club business is called to order at 2 pm and then adjourns an hour or so later. All attendees are asked to arrive early and to stay later to help set up and take down tables and chairs. And don’t forget to bring your name badge so that newcomers can identify our seasoned members. If you don’t have a name badge, please get with the club secretary, Bill Blackburn, while at the meeting.

Who: Anyone who is a past, current, or future member of the AHCS is welcome to attend!

CLUB BUSINESS:

WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS/ATTENDEES: Please be sure to extend a greeting to anyone at the meeting you don’t know to make them feel welcome; wearing your name badge helps 🙂
OTHER CLUB BUSINESS: We will discuss continuing plans for VCFSE 13.0 to be held July 31-2, 2027=6.
DUES FOR 2026: As always, we will continue to collect yearly dues from all members and potential members whom haven’t yet paid. Annual rate is $20.

PRESENTATIONS:

If any member or attendee would like to provide a brief presentation (15-20 minutes) at a future meeting about a vintage computer/subject that you are passionate about, simply let either Club President Earl Baugh or Bill Blackburn know so that your presentation can be added to the agenda. A projector for PowerPoint presentations is also available; just let Earl know ahead of time so that he can bring it.

SHOW AND TELL:

Don’t forget to bring your vintage or retro computer projects so that you can utilize the technical and historical expertise our club members freely offer, as well as to show off what you have!

FREE TABLES:

Club members and attendees are encouraged to bring any old computer/electronic hardware or software, working or not, that they no longer want/need for placement on the Free Tables. And any items that anyone wants to offer at a reasonable price to any attendees are also welcome. We do ask that all members and attendees refrain from browsing the Free Tables while club business is being conducted.

Please plan to attend this important meeting. And we hope to see everyone there!

David Brown
AHCS Treasurer