Virginia Tech College of Business uses Computer Museum for photo session

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Monday was a good day at the museum including the museum being used as a background for pictures in the Spring 2015  Virginia Tech College of  Business Magazine - a story about technology history. Professor Terry Rakes was the subject in the photos and University Photographer Logan Wallace did all the photography.  The session lasted 2 hours and I had a great time telling the history of many of the computers on display. It was also fun reminiscing about my 31 years as a faculty member at Virginia Tech (VT) with both Terry and Logan.  Terry started as a student in 1967 the same year I started my teaching career at VT. Terry ended up with 3 degrees from VT and is still there as a professor in the College of business.

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Dr. Terry R. Rakes

Dr. Terry R. Rakes, Professor of Business & Director Center for Business Intelligence & Analytic's, Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech. Terry was very interested in  the historical microcomputers and told many stories about how he used various computers during his 48 years starting with the 1977 Radio Shack TRS-80, Commodores and various Apples. Professor Rakes has had a very distinguished career in Information Technology - Take a look here "CLICK" 

Logan Wallace, University Photographer

Logan Wallace, Senior University Photographer at Virginia Tech did the photo session.   It was very interesting to see how a professional photographer produces excellent photos. We had some good discussions during the visit about the museum, technology, old computers and music.

Logan has been a professional photographer for 15 years - Take a look here "CLICK" and see some of her work here "CLICK".

Logan Wallace & Dr. Terry Rakes at  Apple-1

Logan and Terry discussing how they can use the Apple-1 display in some of their photographs. We had a lot of discussion about the Apple-1 and Steve Wozniak who designed this computer while working at the Hewlett Packard (HP).  HP gave all the rights to Wozniak and he along with Steve Jobs went on to start what is now the largest company in the world - Apple Inc.

Logan Wallace , University Photographer

Logan took several hundred photos. This one is Dr. Rakes holding a Radio Shack Micro Color Computer (early 80's vintage)







Short video of Logan in action at the museum "CLICK"

Logan Wallace, University Photographer

Logan was a good director and I am sure she ended up with exactly the photos needed for the College of Business Magazine.

Logan Wallace, at Amateur Radio Station N4USA

Logan was very curious about our amateur radio station in the museum N4USA.
She is also a Bluegrass fan and this developed into and interest in the 5th Annual Bluegrass Festival at our Chantilly Farm on Memorial Day weekend.

David Larsen

Days like this really make my work with the museum interesting. We are getting many special visitors at the museum and of course most patrons are just interested in the displays and history of these old microcomputers. I am much better but still not up to full strenght - this flu has been with me for more then 5 weeks now. 

           .^{"by David Larsen"  KK4WW Computer Collector Historian} 

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Computer Museum Visitors - love the retro game stations

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Sorry I have not written a post in the last several weeks . My wife and I got the flu bug about the time we returned from our mission trip to Dominica and it has really shut down our energy and ability to do hardly anything.  We are feeling better now but still very low on energy. I have not felt like this for years - in fact we always comment on how we hardly ever get sick - but this was different. Sure hope you don't get this - some of our friends have been effected for 4 to 5 weeks.

Had a great day at the museum with friend and museum donor Nathaniel Frissell.  Nathaniel brought three of his graduate student associates from Virginia Tech. I always enjoy telling the history about various computers in the museum and 2 computers really caught there interest.

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Autonetics REcomp computer 

The first one to stop them in there tracks for more information was this Autonetics Recomp 501 computer. More information here "CLICK"
This model is reported to be the first commercial transistor computer - 1958- and we have  serial number 003 and we may have the oldest commercial built transistor computer in the world.

Datapoint 2200 programmable terminal 1971

The second stop for the group was the 1971 Datapoint 2200 programmable terminal. The story of this  terminal built around an 8 bit computer is a fascinating and many retro computer people do not know this important history --- This was the  origin  of the first 8 bit microcomputer - The Intel 8008 in 1972.

This story is well told in Lamont Woods book about Datapont. Read more here "CLICK"
I will be posting more about this fascinating and important story in future blogs.

Bugbook and Blacksburg book display 

Hunter Burch (L) and myself by the Bugbook and Blacksburg series of books that I and several others produced in the 70's and early 80's. Hunter has a friend back home in Alburn Ga that has some of the books and asked Hunter to be sure to talk to me about the books.

Nathaniel Frissell & reto game stations

Nathaniel Frissell is proud of this photo. He should be as he made a large donation of Commodore and  other computers to our museum. All three of the operational retro game stations we have in the museum are made from his donated computers.
The game stations are a real popular and everyone loves playing these computer games that are 25 to 30 years old.

Visitors from Virginia Tech 

Here is Nathaniel and his friends from Virginia Tech in front of our Apple-l display.
L-R Brian Dowd - assistant museum curator, Nathaniel Frissell, Deirdre Beggs, Hunter Burch, Andrew Kinlz.  Brian is a student at Floyd High School and Nathaniel and his friend are all students at Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech(VT) brings back many fond memories of my 31 years as a faculty member their teaching "Instrumentation and automation".

David Larsen

The  museum visitors from Virginia Tech were a real pleasure. Nathaniel donated a large group of Commodore computers last year and they were used to set up our retro gaming stations. He was very happy to see them in use and tell his friends about them. I am happy to greet all visitors however it is special when they are from Virginia Tech where I spent 31 years of my professional career.

           .^{"by David Larsen"  KK4WW Computer Collector Historian} 

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Acoustic Telephone Modem for Radio Shacks first computer 1977

To enlarge "CLICK" on photo

Radio Shack Modem 26-1171

I spotted this 'original still in the box'  first Radio Shack Acoustic Modem while browsing in my computer museum warehouse last week. Not a unique item but worth a little discussion.

Modems were developed to fill the need to connect a printing device to the telephone line. Devices with functions like modems were in use as early as the 1920's however the mass production of modems started in the 1950's. SAGE air-defense systems in 1958 used modems and the word modem to connect there large computers together in a network using telephone lines.

These early modems worked at slow speeds of 110 to 300 bits per second or as computer folks would say "baud" and not "bits per second".  These early modems had a very simple function of converting the tones that could be sent over telephone circuits into digital "One's (1) & Zero's (0).  This allowed two way digital communications over wires for very long distances.

Modems performance did not improve much until the microprocessor was embedded into the circuitry in the late 1970's.  Telephone modems were used by personal computer users & others until the World Wide Web or Internet became common use in the mid to late 1990's. With the use of embedded microprocessors the smart modem speed of data transmission over telephone circuits increased up to 14.4 Kilobits per second. Almost no one uses this type of telephone modems now except for Telephone/FAX machines.  FAX machines are dying out fast with the sending of text document over the Internet.

FAX machines may be in use for a long time as they have a different level of privacy then the Internet - not really private but also not as searchable as the Internet.

The word modem is still in use as a common device used to connect the Internet, DSL or other high speed data  links to computers and other digital devices.
To enlarge "CLICK" on photo

Radio Shack Modem 26-1171

This Radio Shack Modem has never been out of the box until now - 37 years after it was sold.

Radio Shack Modem 26-1171

This Radio Shack Modem is acoustic coupled to the telephone line and no electrical connection were made direct to the phone line.  The Acoustic coupling was not real efficent because of the extra telephone microphone and telephone ear receiver being coupled to the modem over and air link. The next photo shows this link.
The art deco telephone was also in the museum warehouse - The green color could not have been very popular however I will sure keep as cool example of the old rotary dial up telephone.

Radio Shack Modem 26-1171

Here you see how the telephone was placed into the rubber coupling of the receiver and transmitter on the modem - no electrical connection.  ATT had a monopoly and some government regulations did not permit direct connecting to the telephone line.

Of course many users ignored the regulation and made direct connections for a more efficient data transfer.


I expect Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs often made direct connection to the telephone line for some of their Blue Box calling to avoid paying the long distance tolls in the early 1970's.. The Steve's has a good little business selling their Blue Box's for short period of time.

Radio Shack Modem 26-1171 Manual 

The Manual was included in the box with modem and had a good description of the device and how it worked along with a schematic diagram.

Modem Manual Full Copy

TRS -80 Radio Shack Model 1 Computer

This Modem is most likely not made by Radio Shack but a private labeling of a general purpose Modem for the TRS- 80 Model 1 computer - the first Radio Shack computer - 1977.

 All the information you would want about Radio Shack from 1939 to 2011

Video of TRS 80 Model 1 advertisement 

Post update 3-17-15-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This post created a lot of interesting comments and email for me - These brought back  memories for me as I indicated I used the TRS - 80 model 1 for  number of years. Here is a typical email from 

Mark Andrews
"I remember these well. The local RS had one on display with the TRS Model I. I wrote, debugged and ran my first program on that computer in 1977 at the ripe old age of 14. I coded it on pape first, then rode my bike to the store and typed it in. Several debugging cycles later (and about 2 hours) I got it to run. The manager liked the fact that I was there. Shoppers would come in and he would say "Look! It's so easy that a kid can use it!". "
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While in the warehouse finding the Radio Shack Modem I came across these switches -they have been out of sight &  stored for 20 or 30 years.

Looks like the same switch used on the IMSAI 8080 computer and perhaps a few others. If any of you retro computer folks need one please contact me.

Computer front panel switch 

Computer front panel switch

Mostly red and a few black switches about 150 or so.







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David Larsen

It is always fun to look thought the computer museum warehouse. I have more then 10,000 items on the museum data base "Past Perfect". This is not fully complete so their are probably twice this many total items and having been collecting for over 40 years I sure don't remember just what is in the warehouse. 

           .^{"by David Larsen"  KK4WW Computer Collector Historian} 

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Computers & Amateur Radio's selling on Ebay - How to keep up with the lastest offers.

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Ebay Headquarters

I am always curious about what is selling on Ebay for my hobbies of  collecting historical microcomputers and ham radio.  These site's do a good job by listing the most popular 40                                        items every week.

Computers on Ebay    

Check this out for vintage computers on Ebay.

Ham Radio Equipment on Ebay

Check this out for Amateur Radio equipment on Ebay.

David Larsen

 Have fun but don't spend to much money.

           .^{"by David Larsen"  KK4WW Computer Collector Historian} 

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Alexander Bell demonstrates wireless transmission of voice - 2 minutes of history

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Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Bell demonstrates wireless transmission of voice 4 years after inventing the telephone. Podcast story teller is Curtis Anderson N4ON curator of the Telephone Museum in Richmond, Virginia. Podcast made during his visit to the Bugbook Historical Microcomputer Museum in Floyd Virginia.





Alexander Bell demonstrates wireless transmission of voice 4 years after inventing the telephone.

Click on photo to enlarge 

Curtis Anderson at N4USA
amateur radio station

Curtis Anderson N4ON at the amateur radio station N4USA in our "Bugbook Historical Microcomputer Museum" in Floyd, Virginia. 

Here is an audio description of our N4USA radio station. 

David Larsen

Thank you for the visit Curtis - it was fun to talk about vintage computers, ham radio and old times during our careers of 30 or more years ago.

           .^{"by David Larsen"  KK4WW Computer Collector Historian} 

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Amateur Radio - Morse Code - it could save your life - you won't believe this use of code.

To enlarge "CLICK" on image

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Morse Code

I always try to  convince folks that Morse Code is still useful - This is a story about code in a song that helped hostages. Actually their are many unusual examples of people using code in various ways - blinking eyes, tapping on a prison wall, medical conditions when patient is not able talk or move the list is long.

This probably won't convince many to learn the code but is one of most interesting uses I have seen. A lot of work went into this song. 

                                                         Take a look the whole story "CLICK". 

                                                       
                                                        Here is just the song "Better Days" by                                                 Natalia Gutierrez Y Angelo "CLICK"

Morse Code

Here is the code - ease to learn.

David Larsen

Yes their are many reasons Morse code. It can be useful and it is not hard to learn - what does seem more difficult is to learn to send code at high speeds - I had to practice a good bit before I could pass the 20WPM.  

           .^{"by David Larsen"  KK4WW Computer Collector Historian} 

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Computer & Ham Radio Help - President of Guyana "Dr.Cheddi Jagan" invites us to Georgetown

Dr.Cheddi Jagan's
Presidential Flag

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Dr. Cheddi Jagan, President of Guyana SA visited Virginia Tech in 1993 with the goal of obtaining consulting assistance for his country. I had already been making official visits to Universities in the former Soviet Union  teaching computer automation and arranging exchange agreements. This earlier work provided invitation to be member of the group to meet with President Jagan.

This was the first and only time the head of any country visited Virginia Tech (VT) making it an exciting experience. The US Secret Service is always in charge of security for heads of state -- this made for interesting dinner meeting with the agents running around looking a little crazy.

"CLICK" more info about this photo

photo credit "John F. Kennedy Library"
and "Robert LeRoy"

When I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Jagan I told him I would be glad to visit Guyana and help with computer training however I also wanted to help the amateur radio operators with training for disaster communications. His response was a surprise and he replied "That would be just fine and I know an amateur operator near the capital --Raj 8R1RPN--.

Always liking a new venture I quickly made plans for a visit and invited two of my friends in the college of Business to join my my wife Gaynell and I to check out the possibilities in Guyana.  

The visit turned out to be more then First Class - We were the guest of President Jagan and WOW - we were met at the Airport by the Presidents "Chief of Protocol" and taken to the presidents  guest house as residents for the visit.

CLICK on photos to enlarge

Meeting Dr. Cheddi Jagan ,President of Guyana

Here we are at a Virginia Tech meeting L-R, VP International Development, David Larsen - (Me) VT faculty member, Dr. Cheddi Jagan - President of Guyana SA, James McCommas - Virginia Tech President, Guyana Ambassador to USA,  Dean.

Team breakfast at guest house

Having breakfast at the presidents  guest house in Guyana. L-R Dr. Rodney Thompson, house staff, Gaynell Larsen KK4WWW, Dr. Jim Littlefield.  Rodney &  Jim are professor's in the College of Business at Virginia Tech.

I had some VT grant funds for international travel and  invited Jim & Rodney to join the team  and provided part of their expenses.

Amateur Radio Operator Cleo 8R1CJ

We did meet and work with amateur radio operators - here is Cleo Qushie 8R1CJ. Cleo was our host for all the radio operations during the first visit. Cleo and his wife are still good friends & retired in  Florida.

Visit to Kaieteur Falls

We had some time to expore Guyana & here we are chartering a small plane for visit to Kaieteur Falls.  The falls is deep into the Rain Forest with a small dirt landing strip.

Kaieteur Falls 

I made this photo - the travel in small  plane was thriller - I  wondering  what would  happen if we went down in this jungle. See Map and photos "CLICK"


Kaieteur Falls is a waterfall on the Potaro River in Kaieteur National Park, central Essequibo Territory, Guyana. It is 226 metres high when measured from its plunge over a sandstone and conglomerate cliff to the first break.

Expand this photo and you can see the dirt landing strip to the right of the falls.

Gaynell Larsen at Kaieteur Falls

It is natural at the falls with only natural infrastruture - no stairs or guard rails.

This is Gaynell looking over the edge --- IT IS 1000 feet down to the bottom. Gaynell made the comment - don't tell my dad about getting this close to the edge.

Larry Vogt N4VA Teaching radio operation

Following up on our commitment to help with training for disaster communications we returned a few months later with team.

Here is team leader Larry Vogt N4VA teaching a group about radio operation and how to obtain an amateur license. One member of the students was Peter Denny. He had a dream sense childhood to become an amateur radio operator. Peter was licensed as 8R1WD and became a life long friend.

Peter Denny 8R1WD at Dayton Hamvention

Third from left is Peter Denny 8R1WD and next to him is Mr. Chi Pin from China.  It was at this meeting I ask Mr. Pin about a license to operate in China for our visit in a few months. Mr.Pin had our license ready when we reached Beijing that summer. See blog for China story.

This meeting was at the Dayton Hamvention - a gathering of about 25,000 amateur radio operators in Dayton, Ohio. We have attended and represented our "Foundation for Amateur International Radio Service" (FAIRS) for more than 25 years.

Guyana Ambassador to USA speaking on
Ham Radio station at Embassy

Follow up activities from the Guyana consulting visits.
Peter Denny was a part of the Guyana Diplomatic Core for many years including Ambassador assignments in Moscow and Beijing.

Peter arranged for a group of us amateur radio folks to operate from the Guyana Embassy in Washington D. C. Here is the  Guyana Ambassador speaking on our radio. Many radio operators we talked to did not believe we were operating from the embassy. This was an  honor and a lot of fun.

David Larsen

Peter Denny 8R1WD has been a good friend for 20 years now and we have visited him in Guyana several times and he has been a guest at our house here in Floyd,VA. I talk to Peter 3 times a week on our ham radio schedule - 14,318.5 Mhz at 1200z Sunday,Tuesday and Thursday's.  Helen Goncharsky UR5WA from Ukraine will be visiting us here at FAIRS headquarters for the month of May. Never a dull moment here in Floyd VA. Many life long friends from the dozens of FAIRS mission trips.

.^{"by David Larsen"  KK4WW Computer Collector Historian}   
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