17 May
2013
17 May
'13
7:42 p.m.
On 05/17/2013 10:24 PM, Philipp Hachtmann wrote:
Where, exactly?
Yes.
It is. Mine is in the US.
Hey,
Am 17.05.2013 23:12, schrieb Dave McGuire:
Ok...It's not like I'm making it up.
TU56s go for thousands on eBay when they show up,
I do not believe that. But if there are people willing to pay thousands
of dollars for a TU56 - I am prepared to deliver.
Perhaps later this year, I'd pay that for another one.
Caveat: With delivery. ;)
RK05s are
about twice as common.
They usually pop up in heaps. Some people we
know have them,
but they're not turning loose of them.
Oh, I can provide TU56s and RK05 drives
from a heap! And I am *willing*
to do so. It's not my heap and I forward the money. Therefore it won't
be too cheap. Shipping is a problem to be solved. Yes, I have
both, as do you...but don't make the mistake of letting
that make
you think they're common.
Really a question of perspective. There is one important point:
Here (Germany) rules a spirit of keeping and hoarding stuff. And the
public sector's problems with cleaning out basements (which - I have to
admit - has sadly improved over the last years).
Well then it could very well be that they ARE all over the place in
Germany. I'd believe that, because many (most?) of the most impressive
DEC collections I'm aware of are in fact in Germany.
That stuff is just plain not common here. PDP-11/23s, yes, they're
everywhere...but early Unibus 11s (say, anything pre-11/44) cause QUITE
a stir when they hit eBay or Craigslist here. I was gearing up to go
pick up the half-gutted 11/45 halfway across the continent when the
auction ended at something like $1500 last summer.
And TU56s...I can think of TWO that have hit eBay in the past decade.
Two. And NEVER a DF32.
On the other hand old computers are not widely
appreciated in my
society. In fact most "normal" people I know insist to call my treasures
scrap and me an idiot keeping that scrap. It's sometimes hard.
I don't associate with those people. ;) Someone who would say that
would send a Model T Ford to the junkyard. (same logic, except cars have
only revolutionized transportation) I won't talk to anyone that stupid.
I have seen things you'd never believe. In several
dimensions. Really
vast amounts of stuff (thousands of sqare metres packed!!!). And also
acts of unspeakable destruction. I saw drum memories, RP drives, big
tape drives from the sixties, and many other cool stuff being dismantled
and binned by metal type. Without being able to save very much.
I sob!!
And the few people who really care about big iron is
laughed at.
...by idiots.
So my perspective is quite different from yours.
It's not a question of
different opinions, it's really a question of perspective.
I agree.
The old computers can't be found in every basement
- even in my country.
But if you keep your eyes open, it comes to you. And when you just think
that the time when you found nice hardware for free has ended -
something new drops in from somewhere.
Yes, I'm aware. You may not be aware of the size of MY
collection...it's what most people call "large"...and the situation that
you describe above is mostly how I got it, over a very long time.
I'm not sarcastic or anything alike. When I say
heap - I mean heap:
http://pdp8.hachti.de/gallery/misc/img_1103_full.jpg
The perspective comes from walking over the racks. You could not descent
to the ground because the room is too packed.
My God.
Yes, such things do pop up in the USA...but not frequently, and when
they do, massive amounts of money changes hands.
Facit: Do not tell me about RK05 and TU56 being really
rare :-)
Well, they are...HERE. And from this perspective is the only one
from which I can accurately speak, as an experienced
collector HERE who
has never been to Europe with a cargo ship at my disposal. ;)
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA