On 28 Oct, 2006, at 06:51, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote: But hopefully start an interesting discussion. OK, so how much floor space does his largest computer use? Indeed. When I moved Flossie we used one articulated lorry (I did not count the wheels) and one rigid truck with a tail lift. The pictures of Cray computers I've seen have no peripherals, just a CPU, which is smaller than the fixed part of Flossie. Much more powerful of course than my Germanium giant which is about the power of a 6502, though it is slightly better handling big numbers. The installation requirements say it needs 700 square feet, though I have one squeezed into 500 square feet. The other (Arthur) is disassembled, some packed around Flossie and some in another part of the barn. Very good, the list as a whole covers most machine types. I lost interest in my mainframes for a few years and moved onto a UK101 then I changed job and programmed the Apple ][, //e, ///, Lisa then just about every Mac, and I'm writing this on an Intel core duo Mac laptop. > From: "Witchy" <witchy at binarydinosaurs.co.uk > On Fri, October 27, 2006 6:34 pm, Roger Holmes said: >>> (Who has at home what might be a collection of the largest >> computers in private ownership - unless you know different >> as Esther Rantzen used to say on "That's Life"). > I used to think I did (in the UK), but that's only based on no web > evidence found to prove otherwise :) I know there's far bigger > collections > than mine in Europe and the US..... > -- > adrian/witchy > Binary Dinosaurs creator/curator > www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the UKs biggest home computer collection? I do not have the largest number of computers, I am asking are the computers at my home the largest in a private collection? My machines are not even home computers, they cost 247,000 pounds new, though I paid 200 pounds for one and 150 for the slightly smaller one which included loads of spare parts (almost another computer). They contain almost no gold, just some platinum in some relays (which are not part of the logic), hence the scrap price being so low (they cost much less than the cost of transporting them, not counting dismantling which took a week and reassembly which took several months back when I was in my twenties and had more energy and more spare time). Flossie has well over 4,000 printed circuit boards and weighs about five tons. She does not require air conditioning, though the seven Ampex TM4 mag tape drives officially do need it. She uses 13kVA three phase electricity. I showed some of the documentation to a young chap recently and he what he found surprising that the computer comes with a floor plan in the installation instructions. I did not show him the details of the floor loading, nor the requirement for a separate one inch copper braid wired back to the building's mains power inlet earth connection. Roger Holmes.