As the Vintage Computer Festival Socal jumps back into action, I make good on my promise to bring a car full of ancient equipment. All free to a good home. As usual there were amazing systems from every era running and in beautiful shape. I even saw a man in an SGI kimono!
UPDATE: another carload including X10 automation and lots of original software in boxes. also, a pile of network gear!
I had a great time this year. i went deep into the sticker game and spent WAY too much time playing with the badge. Playing with the badge allowed me to meet and work with some incredible people with whom we learned, laughed, and lamented the badge’s terrible supplied SD cards. This year i brought flyers to promote my phone adventure game and joined in #StickerLife with a supply of stickers of my own. unfortunately the printers gave me too many flyers, but not enough stickers.
My game did get some traction this year for the first time. Still no winners, but i did get this incredible voicemail from one of the players. I appreciated more ridiculous phone stuff. great job whoever you are! EDIT: i think i found you Foxbox!
The Badge had a lot of problems. only some of which were patched with updates. I excitedly made changes, but then the SD card would fail and be unable change back. currently mine is stuck as a Mario Game, which is not so terrible. i can finish the Defcon GameBoy game on an emulator.
I couldn’t pass through Dallas for the Eclipse without stopping at the newest installation by my favorite art collective. I was ready to continue my immersive art experience. No booping this time, you collected accomplishments with TXT messages. (i found a few secrets). As usual, the reality bending transitions and transposition of Meow Wolf installation delight and amuse.
I have been walking into refrigerators at Meow Wolf since visiting House of Eternal Return in Santa Fe. It was exciting to see that all refrigerators come together in the latest installation. I had to try out the popsicle door.
There were so many incredible computers from the 70s, 80s, and 90s! Beautiful computers that might have just been taken out of the box. I got to play with an Amiga 4000 with a Video Toaster! (My dream box from the 90s) I used a Commodore Pet that is older than i am. Some of my favorite stuff is modern boards that work with the vintage computers like micro SD floppy drives and Wi-Fi modems.
The Nike Missile Site LA-88 is back in the mountains of Chatsworth, not far from Oat Mt. It’s an impressive 450 foot gain from the parking, but it’s a pretty cool piece of Los Angeles’ Cold War history. The site includes some great dilapidation if your like that kind of thing. Ruins of two Buses and a car as well as a few buildings and some very sketchy entrances into dark underground places.
Finally visited the Convergence Station. I followed a sub plot about a lovelorn vending machine, but I never fully unraveled the mystery of the forgotten four.
This project was cannibalized over a year ago. With Raspberry Pi as difficult to get ahold of as they’ve been, i thought this project might never come back to life. I launched a number of pi liberating ideas with some success. I now have enough for both fun personal projects and to get my work done. I felt i should explain the name wardriving. It is a variation on wardialing. Wardialing was trying phone numbers, looking for interesting things on the phone. Wardriving is similarly driving around looking for interesting things in the air.
My wardriver is not pictured above, but these Pi are ready for whatever comes next. I’ve recovered an assortment of different Pi from original B+ (pi-hole) to a 2GB Pi 4 (broken helium miner). One of the best parts of this setup is the early Pi 3 (not B+). This was a lucky find as it consumes less energy and produces much less heat. With only 6 radios running (including GPS) the lower performance hasn’t been an issue, but the reduced power has been incredible. Early testing has me getting an additional 20-40% battery life vs the original pi 4 configuration. my cable management has also improved with this iteration. The setup fits in a small box in my trunk instead of a tangled mass of wires in a large bin (prototyping is fun). The reason power is so important because, believe it or not, the amperage you can pull out of a Tesla for accessories is limited. Without an alternator dumping piles of unclean energy i am forced to resort to BYOB (bring your own battery). I got a monster battery to power the Pi 4 and even more radios and accessories of the original prototype.
It is fun using the ADSB live tracker in Los Angeles as there are always planes above. Next step will be DJI drone tracking and some sort of dashboard indicator/control. I started a WiGLE account, it’s off to a pretty good start. i found a few APs, but i’m still figuring out how to share BT. maybe i’ll join the #HardHatBrigade group.
After reading of its impending destruction, i was hoping to pay the Encino Avenue pedestrian overpass a final visit. Unfortunately visits were discouraged. The messaging was a bit mixed, as the fence was literally tied up with string. i took pictures without trespassing. The 101 will shutdown between White Oak and Burbank over the weekend for the bridge’s demolition.
