A moment of silence, please

I have to disagree here - swap meets are great places to build relationships. The best way is to become a regular, setting up a table with a few things for sale or trade (it need not be much) - of course, be sure to place a big WANTED sign in front so everyone can see. If you have something small (micro guys!), bring it along as a bit of a display. When I lived in Chicago, I did this for my radio and radar collecting interests, along with a fellow military radio collector. In a couple of years, we became fixtures of the hamfest/swapfest scene, and the leads just poured in. Many an old radioman would see something he used in a radioroom and come over and talk, and occaisonally they would have some extra things sitting in the basement they want moved out! Bringing out a PDP-8/e or Altair 8800 or whatever could have the same effect. Many of the hackers of the 1960s and 70s are still around, and still have the stuff, not knowing that someone would ever want. I acquired one of my PDP-8s and a carload of ancient 6800 systems (Sphere and SWTPC) that way. True. They can not keep systems sitting around, waiting for a really good price - the next truckload is just around the corner. They are generally happy to sell something for scrap value (no less, do not even try!) - if you get to know them well. It saves them the labor of scrapping the big boxes, and gives them quick money. Keep in mind scrap prices can be quite large. AN IBM 360 is worth about $800, a typical big PDP-11 may be worth $125. The gold in the old machines is often quite thick. The iron value is often a liability to the scrap men (2-3 cents per pound), so if a box you lust for is mostly steel, do not get taken! William Donzelli william(a)ans.net