30 Mar
1999
30 Mar
'99
10:57 a.m.
The Timonium Hamfest had an excellent turnout. Tailgating spots were
sold out. I spent half the day there, purchasing the following equipment:
2 Bell & Howell Apple II+'s. Both are in rather poor condition, the one
even has an ordinairy II+ keyboard and no power supply. I'm thinking
about putting a IIgs mb in it for a "Stealth GS". The other is missing
the '0' key. Anybody have one they'd like to part with?
6 NEC Ultralite Notebooks. Does anybody know what the power adapter for
these is like? They have interesting connectors. I'll probably just
hook the power up to the battery connectors. Two of the notebooks are
labeled "lights up, but won't boot." If anybody wants one of these most
likely borken units before I start to fool around with them, the price is
$10.
2 Compaq Portables. I'll sell one of them for $25, if anybody's
interested. I just need to test it first.
6 IBM PC Convertibles. Last summer I purchased about a dozen IBM PC
Convertible AC adapters at a hamfest for $1, knowing that some day I'd
come across a pile of Convertibles at a Hamfest, lacking power supplies.
Well wouldn't you know there was a stack of Convertibles at the Timonium
show - and not one of them had an AC adapter. If anybody's interested in
one of these, figure about $25.
IBM 5155
Compaq Portable III
Grid Gridlite
IBM 3127
Apple IIgs-style ADB keyboard - finally!
I know next to nothing about the following units, and I'm not sure if any
of them are ten years old. If somebody could give me some details on
them (espeically on the SparcServer 470), I'd appreciate it.
HP Apollo 400 ("upgraded to 439")
Sun SparcServer 470
Sun SparcStation IPX
Sun SparcStation ELC
DecServer 200/MC (I have two - any interest?)
Anbody know where I can get kb, mice, and monitors for these systems?
What I missed:
A Xycon computer, complete with two external 8" drives and keyboard.
Three all-in-one "business" computers, with 5.25" drives (I forget the
name, but they sure looked interesting)
A PDP-11/44.
Would the offending party identify himself? :-)
31 Mar
31 Mar
2:19 a.m.
Well, I got there on Saturday, about 1:30. The tailgate area
was well over half abandoned (it was cool and the sky was gray
and threatening rain, but it never did). There were the classic
little piles of junk that whoever (whomever?) brought them couldn't
sell and didn't feel were worth the effort to pack back into
whatever car/station wagon/step van that they came in. None
of it was worth the effort of picking up either. The remainder
of the tailgate area was mostly occupied by several "off the
palette" vendors. There were palettes of Suns (SPARC IPXs and
IIs), palettes of Mac IIcis, fewer "classic" Macs (512s, se30s,
etc.) than in years past. I didn't see any of the Apple II stuff
that Tom saw and didn't see anything with 8" drives. I did see
3 TRS-80s, all model 1, level 2, one with expansion box and 2
floppy drives but I passed because I have one already and I'm
trying to preserve my limited storage space for unique (to my
collection anyway) items. There were a couple of C64s crammed in
a pile of PC keyboards. Tons of obsolete PC stuff. Nothing else
of interest... no TTYs, nothing S-100 (I rummaged through a number
of boxes of PC cards and assorted junk, just to be sure), absolutely
nothing Ohio Scientific (I asked a few of the guys who seem to have
older stuff, reply: "Ohio what?"). Sigh, not worth my 45 minute
(each way) drive. Don't know if I'll bother next year.
2:36 a.m.
New subject: Ohio Scientific (Yes again!)
Where did they all go?
Does anybody have any idea where all the Ohio Scientific machines all
ended up?
We have a few collectors on this list with a few machines but it sure
seems like more were made than our collections account for.
I'm especially curious as to where all the C2-8p systems ended up.
My inventory:
1 C2-4p shell
1 C2-4p Working
1 C4p Bad RAM
None of my systems had floppys with them...
Anybody have any idea about Production numbers?
George Rachor
=========================================================
George L. Rachor Jr. george(a)racsys.rt.rain.com
Beaverton, Oregon http://racsys.rt.rain.com
United States of America Amateur Radio : KD7DCX
3:13 a.m.
New subject: Ohio Scientific (Yes again!)
Where did they all go?
Very good question.
Does anybody have any idea where all the Ohio
Scientific machines all
ended up?
I know of 4 C1Ps and 2 C4Ps that went into the trash, I got this info
from their owners. Three were trashed just last year.
Typical
conversation:
Me: I collect old computers.
Other: My office has some 386s we're getting rid of.
Me: No, no... older than that. I'm especially interested in a
company that was called Ohio Scientific.
Other: Gee, that's too bad. I had a C1P. I finally got around to
clearing out the garage last month and threw it away.
Me: <try to smile while biting another 1/4 inch off the end of my tongue>
My inventory:
1 C2-4p shell
1 C2-4p Working
1 C4p Bad RAM
Mine:
1 SuperBoard II
2 C1Ps
1 C2OEM
1 C2Net
1 C3OEM
1 C3D (working at 1MHz, flakey at 2MHz) with CD23 hard disk (not working
yet)
1 C4PMF (just fixed)
Anybody have any idea about Production numbers?
I'm developing a relationship with a person who was an engineer at OSI from
78 to 81. Give me some time, I'll try to get him onto the list.
3:34 a.m.
Well, I got there on Saturday, about 1:30. ... Sigh,
not worth
my 45 minute (each way) drive. Don't know if I'll bother next year.
In my experience with Hamfests and swap meets is that your chance of
finding what you want goes down exponentially with time. Thus starting at
perhaps 6AM the curve plunges rapidly until about 8AM where it begins to
level off. (Cheesy graph to follow ...)
Good Stuff --| *
| *
| *
| *
| *
| *
| **
| ***
| ****
| *******
Just Junk --| ***
+-+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+-->
06 07 08 09 10 11 12 01
AM AM AM AM AM AM PM PM
Therefore, if you're thinking about attending a HamFest and by virtue of
this phenomena if you can't get there by 8AM you may want to reevaluate the
trip, especially if your only goal is to find "good stuff."
--Chuck
3:42 a.m.
Chuck McManis wrote:
In my experience with Hamfests and swap meets is that
your chance of
finding what you want goes down exponentially with time. Thus starting at
perhaps 6AM the curve plunges rapidly until about 8AM where it begins to
level off. (Cheesy graph to follow ...)
Good Stuff --| *
| *
| *
| *
| *
| *
| **
| ***
| ****
| *******
Just Junk --| ***
+-+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+-->
06 07 08 09 10 11 12 01
AM AM AM AM AM AM PM PM
Ah, but the pricing seems to follow the same curve :)! The SCMP kits I got a
few years ago would have probably cost me a couple of dollars at the start,
but I missed them until the end. At that point, they were free :).
5:40 a.m.
Ah, but the pricing seems to follow the same curve :)!
The SCMP kits I got a
few years ago would have probably cost me a couple of dollars at the start,
but I missed them until the end. At that point, they were free :).
Ditto... at the Dayton HAMVention a few years ago (anyone in the Milford,
OH are going this year? I need a ride :) ) I got a TI Silent 700 for free,
the guy WAS asking $75 for it... I just waited till later that day and he
gave it to me :)
Kevin
5:49 a.m.
On Wed, 31 Mar 1999, LordTyran wrote:
That's a good thing. There are much better relics to be wasting $75 on.
Silent 700's are so common (everywhere) that paying more than $10 for one
is a waste.
Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't rub the lamp if you don't want the genie to come out.
Coming in 1999: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0
See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details!
[Last web site update: 02/15/99]
Ah, but the
pricing seems to follow the same curve :)! The SCMP kits I got a
few years ago would have probably cost me a couple of dollars at the start,
but I missed them until the end. At that point, they were free :).
Ditto... at the Dayton HAMVention a few years ago (anyone in the Milford,
OH are going this year? I need a ride :) ) I got a TI Silent 700 for free,
the guy WAS asking $75 for it... I just waited till later that day and he
gave it to me :) 
9:29 a.m.
New subject: Join the surplus 700 club
Ah, but the
pricing seems to follow the same curve :)! The SCMP kits I got a
few years ago would have probably cost me a couple of dollars at the start,
but I missed them until the end. At that point, they were free :).
Ditto... at the Dayton HAMVention a few years ago (anyone in the Milford,
OH are going this year? I need a ride :) ) I got a TI Silent 700 for free,
the guy WAS asking $75 for it... I just waited till later that day and he
gave it to me :) 
1:42 p.m.
At 09:42 AM 3/31/99 -0800, you wrote:
Chuck McManis wrote:
That's true but you'll miss 95% of the stuff by waiting until too late.
At a good hamfest those kits would have been long gone before 10:00 AM.
Joe
In my experience with Hamfests and swap meets is
that your chance of
finding what you want goes down exponentially with time. Thus starting at
perhaps 6AM the curve plunges rapidly until about 8AM where it begins to
level off. (Cheesy graph to follow ...)
Good Stuff --| *
| *
| *
| *
| *
| *
| **
| ***
| ****
| *******
Just Junk --| ***
+-+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+-->
06 07 08 09 10 11 12 01
AM AM AM AM AM AM PM PM
Ah, but the pricing seems to follow the same curve :)! The SCMP kits I got a
few years ago would have probably cost me a couple of dollars at the start,
but I missed them until the end. At that point, they were free :).
3:21 p.m.
Joe wrote:
That is getting to be more and more true as the number of collectors
increase, but there is still a LOT of stuff that is still available by just
waiting. A Commodore SX-64 comes to mind as it was still there after all the
other vultures had visited; this one just looked more closely :)!
Ah, but the pricing seems to follow the same curve :)! The SCMP kits I got a
few years ago would have probably cost me a couple of dollars at the start,
but I missed them until the end. At that point, they were free :).
That's true but you'll miss 95% of the stuff by waiting until too late.
At a good hamfest those kits would have been long gone before 10:00 AM.
1:40 p.m.
At 09:34 AM 3/31/99 -0800, you wrote:
<snip>
That's exactly right. A lot of the vendors have sold their stuff and
left by 1:30. That why you found piles of trash that they'd left. I
usually register as a vendor and pay the extra fee just so I can get in
ahead of the public. I can tell you for a fact that the BEST deals happen
long before the public gets in the door. If I couldn't get there before
1:30 I would bother going even if it was across the street!
Joe
Well, I got
there on Saturday, about 1:30. ... Sigh, not worth
my 45 minute (each way) drive. Don't know if I'll bother next year.
In my experience with Hamfests and swap meets is that your chance of
finding what you want goes down exponentially with time. 
4:19 a.m.
In my experience with Hamfests and swap meets is that
your chance of
finding what you want goes down exponentially with time. Thus starting at
perhaps 6AM the curve plunges rapidly until about 8AM where it begins to
level off. (Cheesy graph to follow ...)
That's my experience too... but there is another part of this. At the
beginning, the prices are maybe a little higher and a little more
fixed, which means it costs more to get what you want... The closer
you get to the end of the day, the more willing the vendor is to
deal considering he is otherwise faced with having to load the
remainder of his/her goods for the trip home. I've heard a number
of people offer better prices because "I don't want to cart it home."
Good Stuff --| * <- higher, more fixed prices
| *
| *
| *
| *
| *
| **
| *** <- approx best price/value ratio...
| ****
| *******
Just Junk --| *** <- lowest prices
+-+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+-->
06 07 08 09 10 11 12 01
AM AM AM AM AM AM PM PM
Megan Gentry
Former RT-11 Developer
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry!zk3.dec.com |
| Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg!world.std.com |
| Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of '!' |
| 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ |
| Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler |
| (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
1 Apr
1 Apr
1:45 a.m.
At 01:19 PM 3/31/99 -0500, several people wrote:
Good Stuff --| * <- higher, more fixed prices
| *
| *
| *
| *
| *
| **
| *** <- approx best price/value ratio...
| ****
| *******
Just Junk --| *** <- lowest prices
+-+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+-->
06 07 08 09 10 11 12 01
AM AM AM AM AM AM PM PM
Everyone agrees about the price/availability curve. The difference is
are you looking for common stuff like C-64s or something rare like Lisas
and Altairs.
Joe
9166
days inactive
9168
days old
14 comments
10 participants
participants (10)
-
a2k＠one.net -
bill＠chipware.com -
cmcmanis＠mcmanis.com -
dastar＠ncal.verio.com -
george＠racsys.rt.rain.com -
marvin＠rain.org -
mbg＠world.std.com -
mikeford＠netwiz.net -
rigdonj＠intellistar.net -
tomowad＠earthlink.net