Lights & Switches at VCF Southwest 2025
Front panel computers were well represented at VCFSW this year.
There was this mini S-100 system featuring the [Don Caprio] IMSAI front panel replica and a reproduction Cromemco Dazzler video card.
This miniature PiDP-11/70 got to sit on display next to its full-size PDP-11/05 brethren (which was itself featuring a UniBone peripheral emulator).
This SCELBI-8B reproduction was waiting for anyone to try their hand at bootstrapping a computer using just a handful of switches.
Blinking lights of the Altair 8800 could be found all across the show floor in the form of an 8800 Mini, a proper vintage 8800b, an 8800a clone running on a Raspberry Pi, and an 8800 Clone.
There was also this beautiful HP 5036A Microprocessor Lab, an 8085A CPU trainer that had nothing to hide.
In all, it was a great year for toggling switches and watching blinkenlights!