20 Mar
1997
20 Mar
'97
4:33 a.m.
Actually, most of them get sent overseas to get
chopped up and recycled -
pretty much the same fate in our eyes.
The only 'recycling' I want to apply to classic computers is what happens
on a PERQ when you try to read memory data before the memory board is
ready. The microcycle gets repeated until the memory board asserts the
data available line, or in other words the microcode gets 'recycled' :-)
Most people can not tell a good classic computer
(rarities, real oldies,
etc.) from the common lot. To them, they are old computers that have been
hidden in closets for ten years, and now may be worth money (cost
escalation _will_ occur, as it has for every other kind of antique).
When they come to you with a treasure, chances are that you will have five
identical types already at home, and you will have to refuse the deal.
This may be OK for the first few people, but it gets very tedious after
the 20th person that asks you if you want to buy their Apple ][e. You get
Just occasionally it is worth grabbing yet another common machine. I was
at an sale of test equipment, etc, and a DEC MINC (Modular Instrument
Computer) turned up. Now, I already had 2 of them, and didn't really want
a third (it's a PDP11/03 or 11/23 CPU + RAM + GPIB + serial ports + boot
ROM + realtime I/O modules) _but_ this one had a thermocouple interface
and a volts/amps/ohms preamplifier module in it. As it was very cheap I
bought it for the modules. I did keep the rest of the machine, of course,
in the end...
I suspect that if you were offered an Apple ][ with some rare I/O cards
(say an 9511 arithmetic coprocessor, a 6809 coprocessor, etc) you'd take
it. Even if you then whipped out the rare cards and passed the rest of the
machine on to another collector. Most people don't know what cards are in
their machines, so it's always worth taking a look...
My opinion: keep the hunting rather low-key. The
classic computers are
still out there to be found; it just takes legwork. Going public can, and
probably will, backfire.
Agreed. It's probably best to keep hunting at radio rallies, charity
shops, etc, and buy that which looks interesting...
William Donzelli
--
-tony
ard12(a)eng.cam.ac.uk
The gates in my computer are AND,OR and NOT, not Bill