Where to get a Vax or microvax

[Ian S. King]

On Tue, Jun 30, 2015 at 2:30 PM, Peter Coghlan <cctalk at beyondthepale.ie>
wrote:

> william degnan wrote:
> >
> > I recently got a Microvax 3100 and a VAX 4000-200, very pleased with how
> > easy they are to work with.  I have had a lot more issues with
> > Alpahservers.  VAX/Aphas running one flavor or another of openVMS.
> >
> > I agree with Ian, think the 3100's are a good starter VAX.  My 3100
> system
> > has two SCSI external drives to beef it up.  You get what you pay for,
> try
> > to find something in nice shape that works and pay a little extra.  My
> > opinion.
> > Bill
>
> At one time, it was possible to get considerably more than you pay for.
> I've
> got several VAX 2000 / 3100 / 4000 systems.  All were freebies / scrounged
> /
> rescue machines.  A few have battery corrosion issues but most of them work
> fine.  Unfortunately, ebay, along with the sources drying up has probably
> greatly reduced the likelyhood of anything like them turning up for free
> now.
>
> If you do get something in this line, remove the battery and put up with
> it not keeping time or boot settings when switched off.
>
>
I found that for some MicroVAXen, such as my 4000-300, there is a Panasonic
cordless phone battery that almost exactly fits where the original TOY
battery does, and the connector is the same!  I've mentioned it here on CC,
so the part number should be in the archives.
-- 
Ian S. King, MSIS, MSCS, Ph.D. Candidate
The Information School <http://ischool.uw.edu>

Archivist, Voices From the Rwanda Tribunal <http://tribunalvoices.org>
Value Sensitive Design Research Lab <http://vsdesign.org>

University of Washington

There is an old Vulcan saying: "Only Nixon could go to China."