Canberra Vintage Computer Exhibition 2024

June 29th 2024

Located in Radford College Morrison Centre will be the Canberra Vintage Computer Exhibition 2024!
This year take a walk decade by decade to see iconic machines from the 1960s to the early 2000s! All functional (handle with care) and running games and software from their respective eras!
There will also be modern enhancements on some machines. See what the passionate maker community are doing the enhance these machines today!
This year we’ll also have game consoles, DooM deathmatch LAN, and music composition running on period and modern systems!

Entry is free, but if you’d like to help us cover some of the costs a donation at the door would be greatly appreciated.

We hope to see you there! Spread the word! Keep an eye on our page for updates as we get closer to the event. If you’d like to participate/exhibit or volunteer to assist, get in touch.

Location: Radford College, Morrison Centre
Time: 10am – 3pm

Systems from the 60s to the 2000s on display
Repairs and experts on hand to talk to
Doom LAN Party
Hands-on with retro gaming consoles
Vintage computer generated music

Expert talks

Kerry Richens
Early Computer Memory Technologies
Essentially I will be targeting obscure and ingenuis memory devices with some examples and detailing some systems that used them. I will be focussing on what they are and briefly how they work

Random Access Memory

• Relay logic including uni-selectors
• Williams tube
• Dekatron
• Charge Transfer Tube
• Mercury Column (FIFO sequential memory)
• Magnetostrictive Delay Line (Also FIFO)
• Drum Memory (Parallel load sequentially available memory mapped as RAM)
• Ferrite Core Memory
• Hard drive implemented as RAM (RF08)

Read Only Memory

• Hard wired or jumpers
• Diode Array
• Rope Memory
• Inductively coupled wire array
• Floppy Drive implemented as ROM

Jeremy Barr Hyde
“Why wasn’t I told this Earlier”

• A talk about Capacitors and Maintenance of Retro Computers
• Servicing vintage computers and CRT monitors from a capacitor perspective
• Electrolyte – Why should you care about it leaking Capacitors
• How can we justify replacing them?
• Turning something on – how can we mitigate blowing things up?
• Cleaning – what practical methods help restore damage circuit boards
• CRTs to surface mount, big or small cap, ESR – why it’s a waste of time and why I still test for it.

Pat Breen
The Forgotten 1977 Japanese Microcomputer and… …the (Original) Japanese Trinity

Many vintage computer enthusiasts are aware of the “1977 Trinity”, with the release of home computers from Apple, Commodore and Tandy. Less well known is Japan’s own entry into microcomputer market in 1977 — and that the Japanese had their own “Trinity” at the dawn of the PC revolution.

This talk will cover the rise of the Japanese semi-conductor and PC industries, the emergence of hobbyist computing in Japan, and a “David and Goliath” story for a Japanese visionary who foresaw the impact of a microcomputer concept would have on the world — before the existence of microprocessors!

Lauren Glina
“Killer robots and death rays: Why I built them and how you can too. Or, Using old tech to inspire our kids to build a brighter future.”

Short summary: Lauren is a mum, an engineer, an educator and a retrocomputing enthusiast, with a career spanning space, robotics and high-tech start-ups. In this talk you’ll hear about some of the more interesting projects she’s worked on in her career, and confront the questions: Why do we build bad tech? Were the old ways really better? And, How can old tech help us, and our kids, to build better tech in the future?

How can you help?

These things aren’t free/cheap to run, so if you’d like to throw a few $’s our way – we’re really appreciate it
Little Phil Donations

Presented in collaboration with:
Australian Computer Museum Society

Vintage Computer Federation