CBM engineer Bill Seiler to visit CommVEx!

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RobertBe
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CBM engineer Bill Seiler to visit CommVEx!

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Last year, it was Leonard Tramiel and CBM engineer Bil Herd. This year it's CBM engineer Bill Seiler! After meeting him at the Bay Area Maker Faire 2016 in San Mateo, California, I invited Bill to the Commodore Vegas Expo, and a few days ago he accepted! He will be at CommVEx on both Saturday, July 30, and Sunday, July 31.

Image

Goaded on by Jack Tramiel, Bill Seiler was part of the design team that worked on the TOI (The Other Intellect) and then on the VIC-20.

Have your questions ready for Bill! Have your cameras and cellphones ready to take photos of Bill! Have your VIC-20's and VIC-1540's/VIC-1541's ready to be autographed by Bill! :)

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
July 30-31 Commodore Vegas Expo v12 -
http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
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Muzz73
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Re: CBM engineer Bill Seiler to visit CommVEx!

Post by Muzz73 »

Very cool!

Vincent and I are going to try to be there! He's pretty excited about this and is hoping to get Bill's autograph on his early model VIC-20, so he'll have Bill Seiler and Leonard Tramiel!

Please tell me that you are bringing your VIC-20 with autographs from Jack & Leonard Tramiel and William Shatner for him to sign... :D
BCNU,
Louis
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RobertBe
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Re: CBM engineer Bill Seiler to visit CommVEx!

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Muzz73 wrote:... tell me that you are bringing your VIC-20 with autographs from Jack & Leonard Tramiel and William Shatner for him to sign... :D
Heh, a brown C64 is autographed by Jack Tramiel, Leonard Tramiel, and Chuck Peddle. A VIC-20 and a SX-64 are autographed by Bill Shatner (as are several other C= hardware items). Now if I can dig out the Shatner-autographed VIC-20 in time for CommVEx, I'll ask Bill Seiler to autograph it. If I can't find that VIC-20, then I'll have Bill Seiler autograph a different VIC-20.

Perhaps the PET-key-style VIC-20,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
July 30-31 Commodore Vegas Expo v12 -
http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
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Muzz73
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Re: CBM engineer Bill Seiler to visit CommVEx!

Post by Muzz73 »

Nice! Be sure to post a pic, eh? :)
BCNU,
Louis
Forbidden64
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Re: CBM engineer Bill Seiler to visit CommVEx!

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Holy crap!! I better start saving my pennies for a flight to vegas! I have a pet key vic-20 and a vic 1541. Also it would be really neat to see/hear the legend in person!!!
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RobertBe
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Re: CBM engineer Bill Seiler to visit CommVEx!

Post by RobertBe »

Aw, you are over a month too late! However, I do have a big guest (I hope) in the works for the Commodore Vegas Expo v13 2017.

Back from a day on the Hop On/Hop Off bus in Sydney,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
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Re: CBM engineer Bill Seiler to visit CommVEx!

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RATSSSSS :( I just realized that it was 2016, not the next one. *sigh* I definitely want to be ready for the next one though. What kind of computer should I bring :D. I currently have a few shelved restoration projects as things are a bit tight at the moment. Hopefully by the next show Ill be ship shape and have my 8050 drive restored and a working 4032 pet as well as a blue badge 2001. I wrangled the 6550 replacements, but my rework station is in storage lol(along with everything else). Its like a computer collector's hell or something. Lots of cool computers but I cant noodle with them. I was lucky though, I almost lost my entire collection!

I wish I was in Fresno so I could get in on your user group, I'm down south in OC. Maybe I can drive up there occasionally though for some C= fun! Its about 250 miles. If I left at night(bypass LA traffic) it would be a 4 hour drive(or 1 hr flight). It's also not a very expensive flight out to Vegas if I book well in advance. So I hope to go to either or both if possible this upcoming year.
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RobertBe
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Re: CBM engineer Bill Seiler to visit CommVEx!

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Forbidden64 wrote:I definitely want to be ready for the next one though. What kind of computer should I bring :D
Well, it will be the 40th anniversary of the PET and the 35th anniversary of the C64.
I currently have a few shelved restoration projects as things are a bit tight at the moment. Hopefully by the next show Ill be ship shape and have my 8050 drive restored and a working 4032 pet as well as a blue badge 2001.
Perfect!
I wrangled the 6550 replacements, but my rework station is in storage lol(along with everything else). Its like a computer collector's hell or something.
Or computer heaven!
Lots of cool computers but I cant noodle with them. I was lucky though, I almost lost my entire collection!
Almost lost the collection? How did that happen?
I wish I was in Fresno so I could get in on your user group, I'm down south in OC. Maybe I can drive up there occasionally though for some C= fun!
Heh, the Southern California Commodore and Amiga Network meets in Northridge on Sept. 24. That's only about an hour across the L.A. area.
It's also not a very expensive flight out to Vegas if I book well in advance. So I hope to go to either or both if possible this upcoming year.
True... which reminds me to e-mail the Plaza Hotel, our venue for CommVEx.

Back in hotel room after going to the Central Market in Adelaide, Australia,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
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Re: CBM engineer Bill Seiler to visit CommVEx!

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Last edited by RobertBe on Fri Sep 16, 2016 12:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
Forbidden64
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Re: CBM engineer Bill Seiler to visit CommVEx!

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Then the 2001 it is!!! It needs a lot of work by then...I got a pretty nice price because it was beat up pretty bad/filthy/doesn't work. I booted it and there is just garbage on the screen, which I assume is the memory. I also assume without question that when it does boot, the tape drive belts are probably chewing gum by now, and the keyboard will be as dusty as a scene from raiders of the ark lol. I do have the belts for it as well somewhere in storage. Then it just needs some body work and a paint job, which is time consuming, but relatively straight forward. I have a black badge pet as well which I had already restored, so that is plan B if ol' blue isn't ready in time. I'll probably also pack an sx-64 :D

I have been aching to find a commodore group close by!!! So since there is one in LA then I am totally insanely happy!!! I have a small contingent of acquaintances who are amiga freaks who would likely want to get in on that as well. That way when I talk about vintage computers, people don't look at me like I have a lobster hanging off of my nose. That said, when conversations do end up with hobbies, many people are intrigued by ours! It's not that common, but it is definitely one of the most interesting, and most fulfilling to me of all the other hobbies I have dabbled in.

I almost lost my collection because I ran so short of funds, that I almost couldn't pay my storage unit fee lol. Someone would have had a MASSIVE payday. There are 5 PETs in there for a start along with dozens of other old micros. I went a little overboard while collecting and computer hunting in order to have lots of computers to repair/learn from. I also bought all the essentials for a full electronics lab, including making homemade professional level PCBs. Then I was forced to move and also changed jobs at the same time. On top of the investments I had made in that endeavor, it was a triple whammy. Youchy! So that's why I say computer hell...I had just spent an 8-12 month period acquiring all that stuff, only to not have the fun of using it, at least in the short run.
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RobertBe
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Re: CBM engineer Bill Seiler to visit CommVEx!

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Forbidden64 wrote:Then the 2001 it is!!! It needs a lot of work by then...I got a pretty nice price because it was beat up pretty bad/filthy/doesn't work. I booted it and there is just garbage on the screen, which I assume is the memory.
With a PET, there may be other causes of screen garbage.
I'll probably also pack an sx-64 :D
We almost always have a SX-64 at CommVEx.
I have been aching to find a commodore group close by!!! So since there is one in LA then I am totally insanely happy!!! I have a small contingent of acquaintances who are amiga freaks who would likely want to get in on that as well.
Ohhh, if you bring your friends, then we'll have to clear out more space in our venue, Panera Bread Restaurant.
I almost lost my collection because I ran so short of funds, that I almost couldn't pay my storage unit fee lol.
I *always* pay my storage unit fee. :)

About 3 hours before the Adelaide Amiga & Retro-Computing Event,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
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