3 Aug
2002
3 Aug
'02
6:11 p.m.
Speaking of
which, this week I talked to someone that threw out a
PDP-11/70 as they couldn't find anyone that would take it. I told him that
if I'd known I'm sure someone here would probably be interested.
Where did he throw it out at? Is there any chance he can un-throw it? He deserves a big bonk on the head. Of course someone
would be interested.
That someone is me and probably about half the list, which is over 200
people if you count the lurkers!
He tried to find someone to take it, for free, for several
months. Unfortunately he didn't have the room to store it
any longer. He didn't know about this list, but he does now,
and he's going to be joining in the next couple of days.
I don't doubt he couldn't find anyone. A couple of months ago
I posted about the HSCxx controllers and drives, and nobody
has wanted to go to pick them up. They'll end up getting
thrown out, too, if someone doesn't pick them up in the next
month.
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
Check out the DEC Enthusiasts Club at http://www.dittman.net/
4 Aug
4 Aug
6:23 a.m.
On Sat, 3 Aug 2002, Eric Dittman wrote:
I don't doubt he couldn't find anyone. A
couple of months ago I posted
about the HSCxx controllers and drives, and nobody has wanted to go to
pick them up. They'll end up getting thrown out, too, if someone
doesn't pick them up in the next month.
I guess I'll add my $0.02 or whatever in here too...
I also don't doubt he couldn't find anyone to "haul off" that 11/70.
Sadly, I've heard about many things that were posted up for adoption on
the list here that ended up junked/dumped simply because no one claimed
them. Not to offend anyone, but it seems like if something doesn't have
the letters 'DEC' printed on it somewhere, there are far fewer list
subscribers interested in it. I currently only own one system made by DEC
(MVII/BA123), and while I'd love to get my hands on a PDP11, PDP8, etc,
I'll not pass up on systems made by other companies.
One such example of an overlooked system is the SGI IRIS 1400 I picked up
from a fellow list member here in Houston. I was
shocked that no one else
had claimed the system before I noticed it. When I posted
about it after I
started work on it, a number of people emailed me and told me they wanted
it if I decided I didn't (not likely). Best I can tell, that particular
system is 100% complete, and everything but the hard drive and DSD5215 is
original.
The IRIS 1000/1200/1400/1500 are the first systems SGI sold. The 1000 and
1200 are both GUI terminals, while the 1400 and 1500 are workstations. The
1400 is a deskside chassis, and the 1500 is a rack-mounted system (with
SMD disks, etc). The 1400 I now own is serial number 0095. Apparently, it
was originally number 0047, but SGI appears to have remanufactured and
resold it.
Sadly, I guess there will always be systems and such that get junked
because they are overlooked, or the people who want them can't get to
them...
I'll note this here, since I imagine this thread is going to be read alot:
If anyone comes across any JC80 or JC85 gear, _let me know_. I have about
2/3 of a JC80, and I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to make it complete.
I doubt such systems are going to turn up very often, if ever. The JC80
and JC85 were custom made building automation computers (typically in big
racks) made in the late '70s to the mid '80s. I'd imagine less than 500 of
these systems were made worldwide. Sadly, Johnson Controls
dumped/junked/scrapped nearly all of the systems that were removed when
they were "upgraded" (replaced) with a newer facility management package,
so few if any likely remain now. I'll take some photos of what I have if
anyone is interested. (The rack-mount portion of the computer itself looks
similar to other gear from the same era, large operator's panel with
finger-sized rocker switches, etc.)
The JC80 system is quite important from a historical perspective. To the
best of my knowledge (and that of several people I've talked to), the JC80
was the *first* system designed/sold specifically for building automation.
-Toth
7:20 a.m.
Sadly, I've heard about many things that were
posted up for adoption on
the list here that ended up junked/dumped simply because no one claimed
them. Not to offend anyone, but it seems like if something doesn't have
the letters 'DEC' printed on it somewhere, there are far fewer list
subscribers interested in it.
Well, I have yet to give away my DEC Pro-350, DEC VT-180 and DECWriter IV.
No one seems to want to pick them up in Manchester, NH.
7:35 a.m.
On Sun, 4 Aug 2002, David Betz wrote:
I guess location can also play a major role. The IBM display writer that
went up for adoption last week for example, I'd love to have. The real
issue there is that it isn't economical to ship. (I have more or less two
textpak sets, the dual drive unit, and possibly a broken printer for one
of those.)
-Toth
Sadly,
I've heard about many things that were posted up for adoption on
the list here that ended up junked/dumped simply because no one claimed
them. Not to offend anyone, but it seems like if something doesn't have
the letters 'DEC' printed on it somewhere, there are far fewer list
subscribers interested in it.
Well, I have yet to give away my DEC Pro-350, DEC VT-180 and DECWriter
IV. No one seems to want to pick them up in Manchester, NH. 
5:35 p.m.
David Betz wrote:
Well, I have yet to give away my DEC Pro-350, DEC
VT-180 and DECWriter IV.
No one seems to want to pick them up in Manchester, NH.
Jerome Fine replies:
Nor my RL02 drives and DECwriter III in Toronto!
I also have a working (was last time I powered it on) PRO350,
but eventually I want to test RT-11 on that hardware.
Sincerely yours,
Jerome Fine
--
If you attempted to send a reply and the original e-mail
address has been discontinued due a high volume of junk
e-mail, then the semi-permanent e-mail address can be
obtained by replacing the four characters preceding the
'at' with the four digits of the current year.
5:46 p.m.
I also have a working (was last time I powered it on)
PRO350,
but eventually I want to test RT-11 on that hardware.
I'd like to find RT-11 for my Pro380. Anyone know of a source? There was
some talk about a hobbiest distribution at one point but I haven't heard
anything more about it.
9:32 a.m.
On Sun, 4 Aug 2002, Tothwolf wrote:
I also don't doubt he couldn't find anyone to
"haul off" that 11/70.
Sadly, I've heard about many things that were posted up for adoption on
the list here that ended up junked/dumped simply because no one claimed
them. Not to offend anyone, but it seems like if something doesn't have
the letters 'DEC' printed on it somewhere, there are far fewer list
subscribers interested in it. I currently only own one system made by DEC
(MVII/BA123), and while I'd love to get my hands on a PDP11, PDP8, etc,
I'll not pass up on systems made by other companies.
The computer collecting scene has been disappointingly faddish at times.
Hence all the auctions advertising "Altair/IMSAI" on eBay that had no
Altair or IMSAI items.
Some people collect names, not computers, and if a name is not popular and
well known, few will take the time to research it to find out its
significance. Those that take the time to learn the history, which is
what a lot of this computer collecting is about anyway, will get the
rewards.
One such example of an overlooked system is the SGI
IRIS 1400 I picked up
from a fellow list member here in Houston. I was shocked that no one else
had claimed the system before I noticed it. When I posted about it after I
started work on it, a number of people emailed me and told me they wanted
it if I decided I didn't (not likely). Best I can tell, that particular
system is 100% complete, and everything but the hard drive and DSD5215 is
original.
Sometimes people aren't paying attention. I think it also might be a
result of when the list went completely apeshit and off-topic: people
began scanning the subject lines and quickly deleting anything that seemed
uninteresting. Perhaps in their haste, they overlook messages offering
nice old hardware.
The IRIS 1000/1200/1400/1500 are the first systems SGI
sold. The 1000 and
1200 are both GUI terminals, while the 1400 and 1500 are workstations. The
1400 is a deskside chassis, and the 1500 is a rack-mounted system (with
SMD disks, etc). The 1400 I now own is serial number 0095. Apparently, it
was originally number 0047, but SGI appears to have remanufactured and
resold it.
Good score!
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
* Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com *
7:25 a.m.
On Sat, 3 Aug 2002, Eric Dittman wrote:
He tried to find someone to take it, for free, for
several
months. Unfortunately he didn't have the room to store it
any longer. He didn't know about this list, but he does now,
and he's going to be joining in the next couple of days.
OK
The minute that he arrives, EVERYBODY needs to post about WANTING one, and
being willing to pay megabucks!
If the first thing that he sees is demand and value for them, then he
won't do it again.
7:44 a.m.
He tried to
find someone to take it, for free, for several
months. Unfortunately he didn't have the room to store it
any longer. He didn't know about this list, but he does now,
and he's going to be joining in the next couple of days.
The minute that he arrives, EVERYBODY needs to post about WANTING one, and
being willing to pay megabucks!
If the first thing that he sees is demand and value for them, then he
won't do it again. 
8:04 a.m.
I tried for several months to give away a Vax 11/780 and a couple of
tons (literally) of DEC equipment including a pair of 11/34's with
enough spare parts to built a couple of other 11/34's. The whole lot
went to the scrapper. Of course this was in 1998-1999, but it was all
available for free pickup near Dallas. The sad thing was that the whole
lot had just been decommsioned and was a couple of months off a
DEC/Compaq service contract. There were a couple of pickup loads of
manuals and a large raised floor computer room with modular half glass
walls, a Liebert A/C unit and a Liebert UPS/power conditioner included.
All of the software backup tapes were included. There were racks and
racks of tapes. I didn't have storage space and I'm not into large
systems anyway, so it was finally scrapped. This was all located at a
LOF Automotive glass plant in Sherman, TX.
I also had a HP 3000 setup with disk drives, a 9 track tape unit and a
lot of terminals, but no takers, so that one was scrapped also. It was
at a former Kraft vegetable oil refinery in Sherman. When that plant
was shutdown last year, there were 25-30 original Compaq '486 machine s
in original configuration and 10-20 IBM 64k cassette port PC's in the
attic of the QA lab. They had already scrapped a big IBM unit called a
System 7. I remember cabling for the System 7 in around 1973-74.
James
Eric Dittman wrote:
>>He tried to find someone to take it, for free,
for several
>>months. Unfortunately he didn't have the room to store it
>>any longer. He didn't know about this list, but he does now,
>>and he's going to be joining in the next couple of days.
>>
>>
>The minute that he arrives, EVERYBODY needs to post about WANTING
one, and
being willing
to pay megabucks!
If the first thing that he sees is demand and value for them, then he
won't do it again.
I guess you didn't read that he tried for *SEVERAL MONTHS* to
give the 11/70 away, and nobody would take it. He wouldn't
have tossed it if someone would have taken it.
1:06 p.m.
On Sunday, August 4, 2002, James Rice wrote:
I tried for several months to give away a Vax 11/780
and a couple of tons
(literally) of DEC equipment including a pair of 11/34's ... in 1998-1999,
but it was all available for free pickup near Dallas ... manuals and a
large raised floor computer room with modular half glass walls ... racks
and racks of tapes.
MAN!
That's just a short drive away!
If only I had been on the list back then.
MAN!
For the love of $deity, if anything like this pops up again, *post* it. The
list has at least doubled in size since then. I'm sure *someone* would come
get it, especially if it's in the DFW area {wink}.
--
Jeffrey Sharp
The email address lists(a)subatomix.com is for mailing list traffic. Please
send off-list mail to roach jay ess ess at wasp subatomix beetle dot com.
You may need to remove some bugs first.
10:34 a.m.
I tried for several months to give away a Vax 11/780
and a couple of
tons (literally) of DEC equipment including a pair of 11/34's with
enough spare parts to built a couple of other 11/34's. The whole lot
went to the scrapper. Of course this was in 1998-1999, but it was all
available for free pickup near Dallas. The sad thing was that the whole
lot had just been decommsioned and was a couple of months off a
DEC/Compaq service contract. There were a couple of pickup loads of
manuals and a large raised floor computer room with modular half glass
walls, a Liebert A/C unit and a Liebert UPS/power conditioner included.
All of the software backup tapes were included. There were racks and
racks of tapes. I didn't have storage space and I'm not into large
systems anyway, so it was finally scrapped. This was all located at a
LOF Automotive glass plant in Sherman, TX.
Aha.. this is probably one of those cases where it all had to go, or
none of it could. Companies decommissioning sites typically have this
problem since they are not equipped to have people show up and take
parts of an installation... They are also probably under time constraints
to have the hardware out.
This is what happened a couple of years ago with a DECsystem-10
installation in cambridge. I was contacted because a friend of
the site knew I was interested in a -10... what I found out was
that they had three -10s and other hardware, and it all had to
go at one time, and by a certain time. If I hadn't found a team
of people who were willing to take parts of the site and help
load/unload, it would have gone to the crushers as well.
Megan Gentry
Former RT-11 Developer
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | email: gentry at zk3.dec.com (work) |
| Unix Support Engineering Group | mbg at world.std.com (home) |
| Hewlett Packard | (s/ at /@/) |
| 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ |
| Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler |
| (603) 884 1055 (DEC '77-'98) | required." - mbg KB1FCA |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
11:11 a.m.
New subject: DECServer 200 and the Great Purge
During the Great Purge of gatekeeper.dec.com did anyone grab the
DECServer 200's bootup files? Specifically:
http://gatekeeper.dec.com/pub/DEC/DecServer/pr0801eng.sys
Alex
--
Live like you will never die, love like you've never been hurt, dance
like no-one is watching.
12:15 p.m.
New subject: DECServer 200 and the Great Purge
Alex White <meltie(a)myrealbox.com> asks:
During the Great Purge of gatekeeper.dec.com did
anyone grab the
DECServer 200's bootup files? Specifically:
http://gatekeeper.dec.com/pub/DEC/DecServer/pr0801eng.sys
ftp://ftp.update.uu.se/pub/pdp11/ds/pr0801eng.sys
12:58 p.m.
New subject: [rescue] DECServer 200 and the Great Purge
On 4 Aug 2002, Alex White wrote:
During the Great Purge of gatekeeper.dec.com did
anyone grab the
DECServer 200's bootup files? Specifically:
http://gatekeeper.dec.com/pub/DEC/DecServer/pr0801eng.sys
gah. if I'd have known they were doing this, I'd have mirrored it myself.
--
Kris Kirby, KE4AHR <kris(a)nospam.catonic.net> TGIFreeBSD IM: 'KrisBSD'
"BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU!"
This message brought to you by the US Department of Homeland Security
1:33 p.m.
New subject: [rescue] DECServer 200 and the Great Purge
On Sun, 2002-08-04 at 22:57, Kris Kirby wrote:
On 4 Aug 2002, Alex White wrote:
*nods* We got wind of it a few days before it was pulled, people
scrabbled to archive it - people started unco-ordinatedly at first then
got it together. Did we collectively get it all?
Alex
--
Live like you will never die, love like you've never been hurt, dance
like no-one is watching.
During the Great Purge of gatekeeper.dec.com did
anyone grab the
DECServer 200's bootup files? Specifically:
http://gatekeeper.dec.com/pub/DEC/DecServer/pr0801eng.sys
gah. if I'd have known they were doing this, I'd have mirrored it myself. 
7 Aug
7 Aug
8:02 p.m.
New subject: [rescue] DECServer 200 and the Great Purge
Hi! :)
I don't know if this has been brought up, but thought
I might mention it just in case. :) I also don't know
how much of the stuff is mirrored here, but might be
worth a look, perhaps?
ftp://ftp.europe.digital.com/pub/DEC has at least some
of the stuff that used to be at gatekeeper, including
pr0801eng.sys.
Hope this can help somebody. :)
Andy
___________________
grooveman(a)yahoo.com
--- Alex White <meltie(a)myrealbox.com> wrote:
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
HotJobs - Search Thousands of New Jobs
http://www.hotjobs.com
On Sun, 2002-08-04 at 22:57, Kris Kirby wrote:
http://gatekeeper.dec.com/pub/DEC/DecServer/pr0801eng.sys
On 4 Aug 2002, Alex White wrote:
> During the Great Purge of gatekeeper.dec.com did
anyone grab the
> DECServer 200's bootup files?
Specifically:
>
gah. if I'd have known they were doing this, I'd
have mirrored it myself.
*nods* We got wind of it a few days before it was
pulled, people
scrabbled to archive it - people started
unco-ordinatedly at first then
got it together. Did we collectively get it all?
Alex
--
Live like you will never die, love like you've never
been hurt, dance
like no-one is watching.
9 Aug
9 Aug
7:50 p.m.
New subject: Atari VAX tapes....
Hi,
I know many former Atari employees frequent this mailing list. I am
looking for any 9" tapes, TK's or any other media that may have come off of
the Atari Vax's (numerous one's within various divisions) that I could
examine to read the data from for historical use and archiving. Thanks.
Curt
4 Aug
4 Aug
3:14 p.m.
New subject: DECServer 200 and the Great Purge
yes.. but they are also on the earlier vax condist cdroms as well...
Alex White wrote:
During the Great Purge of gatekeeper.dec.com did
anyone grab the
DECServer 200's bootup files? Specifically:
http://gatekeeper.dec.com/pub/DEC/DecServer/pr0801eng.sys
Alex
--
Live like you will never die, love like you've never been hurt, dance
like no-one is watching.
--
David Barnes
davebarnes(a)adelphia.net
OpenVMS , Tru64, Netbsd, Linux guru
and collector of DEC equipment
1:01 p.m.
This is very true. Sometimes the deadlines are very capricious and
unrealistic. I dislike having to move a truckload of material on a day's
notice or less.
On Sun, 4 Aug 2002, Megan wrote:
M. K. Peirce
Rhode Island Computer Museum, Inc.
Shady Lea, Rhode Island
"Casta est quam nemo rogavit."
- Ovid
I tried for several months to give away a Vax
11/780 and a couple of
tons (literally) of DEC equipment including a pair of 11/34's with
enough spare parts to built a couple of other 11/34's. The whole lot
went to the scrapper. Of course this was in 1998-1999, but it was all
available for free pickup near Dallas. The sad thing was that the whole
lot had just been decommsioned and was a couple of months off a
DEC/Compaq service contract. There were a couple of pickup loads of
manuals and a large raised floor computer room with modular half glass
walls, a Liebert A/C unit and a Liebert UPS/power conditioner included.
All of the software backup tapes were included. There were racks and
racks of tapes. I didn't have storage space and I'm not into large
systems anyway, so it was finally scrapped. This was all located at a
LOF Automotive glass plant in Sherman, TX.
Aha.. this is probably one of those cases where it all had to go, or
none of it could. Companies decommissioning sites typically have this
problem since they are not equipped to have people show up and take
parts of an installation... They are also probably under time constraints
to have the hardware out.
This is what happened a couple of years ago with a DECsystem-10
installation in cambridge. I was contacted because a friend of
the site knew I was interested in a -10... what I found out was
that they had three -10s and other hardware, and it all had to
go at one time, and by a certain time. If I hadn't found a team
of people who were willing to take parts of the site and help
load/unload, it would have gone to the crushers as well.
Megan Gentry
Former RT-11 Developer
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | email: gentry at zk3.dec.com (work) |
| Unix Support Engineering Group | mbg at world.std.com (home) |
| Hewlett Packard | (s/ at /@/) |
| 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ |
| Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler |
| (603) 884 1055 (DEC '77-'98) | required." - mbg KB1FCA |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
5 Aug
5 Aug
3:49 p.m.
This is very true. Sometimes the deadlines are very
capricious and
unrealistic. I dislike having to move a truckload of material on a day's
notice or less.
Speaking of truckloads...I just talked to the guys in Hartford with the
Univacs. I think we ought to go fetch them on the same day, with my truck
going West and yours going East. Would next week (late) be OK? The week
after? A weekend is also a possibility.
William Donzelli
aw288(a)osfn.org
3:56 p.m.
Speaking of truckloads...I just talked to the guys in
Hartford with the
Univacs. I think we ought to go fetch them on the same day, with my truck
going West and yours going East. Would next week (late) be OK? The week
after? A weekend is also a possibility.
Oops...just for Merle.
William Donzelli
aw288(a)osfn.org
14 Aug
14 Aug
7:54 a.m.
New subject: Hardware in Sweden
Hi all,
just wanted to let you all know that if someone here is from sweden or
want to get rid of old hardware then please let me know. I collect old
stuff from Sun, NeXT, SGI and various Alpha-based servers and
workstations and can drive a long way for the right stuff if needed to.
I assume that most of you guys live in the US but still, one or two
more of us maybe live in sweden so I just thought I'd make myself known.
Joacim
"The easiest way to figure the cost of living is
to take your income
and add ten percent."
URL : http://z80.org
email, desktop : joacim(a)melin.org
email, pocket : joacim.melin(a)euromail.se
phone, office : +46-8-692 66 39
phone, pocket : +46-70-868 54 19
8:58 a.m.
New subject: Hardware in Sweden
On Wed, 14 Aug 2002, Joacim Melin wrote:
just wanted to let you all know that if someone here
is from sweden or
want to get rid of old hardware then please let me know. I collect old
stuff from Sun, NeXT, SGI and various Alpha-based servers and
workstations and can drive a long way for the right stuff if needed to.
I assume that most of you guys live in the US but still, one or two more
of us maybe live in sweden so I just thought I'd make myself known.
Joacim, the list is international in scope and I am sure there is at least
one more Swede subscribed. At any rate, there are many folks from
Scandinavian countries and certainly dozens from European countries, so
you're well into the fray.
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
* Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com *
15 Aug
15 Aug
7:37 a.m.
New subject: Hardware in Sweden
Re:
just wanted to let you all know that if someone here
is from sweden or
want to get rid of old hardware then please let me know. I collect old
...
I assume that most of you guys live in the US but
still, one or two
more of us maybe live in sweden so I just thought I'd make myself known.
Joacim, I'd be interested in finding how to get hardware shipped *from* Sweden!
Tak,
Stan
--
Stan Sieler
sieler(a)allegro.com
www.allegro.com/sieler/wanted/index.html
8046
days inactive
8058
days old
24 comments
19 participants
participants (19)
-
at258＠osfn.org -
aw288＠osfn.org -
cisin＠xenosoft.com -
curt＠atarimuseum.com -
davebarnes＠adelphia.net -
dbetz＠xlisper.mv.com -
dittman＠dittman.net -
eric＠brouhaha.com -
foo＠siconic.com -
groovelists＠yahoo.com -
jhfinepw4z＠compsys.to -
jrice54＠charter.net -
kris＠catonic.net -
listor＠melin.org -
lists＠subatomix.com -
mbg＠TheWorld.com -
meltie＠myrealbox.com -
sieler＠allegro.com -
tothwolf＠concentric.net