How did you get started?

I first ran into several boxes of DEC Flip-Chip modules at a flea market (general, not a ham/computer fest). I purchased the lot, hoping to scrap them. I never did part them out, but rather stuck them on a shelf inserted into the supplied backplane (it looked neat, with all of the green and magenta handles). I then ran into the DEC bible, _Computer Architecture_, and decided I needed to get into this stuff. A few hamfests later, while picking thru some LSI-11 boards, a man offered me an old DEC machine for $5. Of course I bought it. That PDP-8/s was my first machine (and my first adventure in moving a big rack). Other machines, mostly micros and DEC stuff, was aquired piece by piece. Nearly all were purchased at hamfests, although my other monsters came The collection also got a boost when my first contact (the guy with the 8/s), called and said he had found more computer stuff for me. Thinking it was stuff for the PDP-8/s, I told him to come over. He did, and left me with my front yard covered with stuff from the dawn of the microcomputer era (nearly all M68 based - SWTPC, Sphere, etc.). I still do not know exactly what I have. I started sorting thew miles of paper tape (DEC PDP-8/Interdata/M68/misc.), but am still swamped. I then lost interest, and my machines sat for a few years (nothing scrapped, as I knew it deserved better). It was you lot that drew me back in! Does anyone know how many of the 18-bitters were produced, and how many survive? Maybe I am stating the obvious, but if anyone knows of any old minis slated for the scrap yard, post it on the list! The loss of that PDP-15 is tragic, as they are so rare, and perhaps in the future can be avoided. Micros, being small and nearly worthless to the scrapmen, survive much better. William Donzelli william(a)ans.net