5 May
2004
5 May
'04
1:22 a.m.
My favorite story is about the badly beat up 9825 that I found in a
large metal dumpster full of water at Patrick AFB. It sat outside for at
least six months before they auctioned off the entire load to a scrap metal
dealer. I went over to his place a few days later and bought the 9825 for
$3 for the plastic parts. It had been dropped and the case was split open.
It had been hit with something that ripped half the keys off of it and it
had been out in the weather and sitting partially submerged in water for at
least six months. I poured the water out of it, brought it home and dried
it out. I was just going to use if for mechanical parts but I decided to
try it out just for kicks. Imagine my surprise when it worked! I've
probably found 30 or more surplus 9825s over the years and I don't think I
ever found one that didn't work.
Joe
At 09:19 PM 5/4/04 -0700, Michael Holley wrote:
That's
what you'd think but it isn't the case. 9825s in paricular are
nearly indestrucable but I have constant problems with all of the 9845s.
In 1979 I did a data-logging project at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in
central Washington. We had 6 or 7 trailers that collected ground water
measurement on HP 9825s (using the built in tape drive.) The measurement
equipment was connected via HP-IB.
The power was from a mobile generator. Every time the air conditioner
started the line voltage would dip about 25 volts.
This test ran for over a year with out a single failure. I was impressed.
In the spring of 1980 the place was thick with grasshoppers. They would get
into the equipment it you let them. After Mount St. Helens dumped a foot of
ash on the place there wasn't a grasshopper to be found.
Michael Holley
www.swtpc.com/mholley