Hope you consider this message an encouragement. It is directed to those are are new to the hobby or those of you who are disappointed because you still haven't found that special something even though you have spent much time trying to find it. Have we dried up sources of old computers? Hardly. Can you still hope to find that missing system/ software/manual/etc.? Indeed. The proof I offer is the PDP-9 that Merle Pierce, of the Rhode Island Computer Museum, Inc., recently told us about. There weren't many of them to start with and it is 30 years old so what are the chances there would still be one working everyday in a building in Philadelphia. Pretty low, but still, against the odds it is now safe for another 130+ years in the museum's collection. A while back a the fellow from the company in Philadelphia that used the 9 contacted me. He came to me because his 9 wasn't working and upon doing a search of the web he discovered I had a reference to PDP-9s since I used to have one. He asked me for help in fixing his, but I was no help. I did mention how much I'd like to have another one and that was end of our correspondence. About 7 weeks ago he contacted me out of the blue and offered the 9 and other gear if I would come and pick it up. Tempting. The customs and other regulatory hassles made the trip impossible so I offered the gear to Merle and the rest is history. Seek and ye shall find. Really, lots and lots of wonderful old small and big computers are waiting to be discovered. Yours in good faith. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- Kevin Stumpf * Unusual systems * www.unusual.on.ca +1.519.744.2900 * EST/EDT GMT - 5 Collector - Commercial Mainframes & Minicomputers from the 50s, 60s, & 70s and control panels and consoles. Author & Publisher - A Guide to Collecting Computers & Computer Collectibles * ISBN 0-9684244-0-6 .