Sun3 valuations?

[Grant Taylor]

On 01/22/2018 04:06 PM, Noel Chiappa via cctalk wrote:
> So did we ever get an answer to the original question (the value of a 
> Sun3)? All I saw was 'you'd have to pay to recycle them'.

I've not seen an answer to that question.  I have seen multiple people 
raise their virtual hand in interest.  But no discussions of $ other 
than disposal fees.

> Sorry, I don't understand the question. (I assume you're not simply asking 
> 'what made the Dover and Altos special'.) Which context?

What makes the copies of papers printed on them special?  Was there 
something about the quality?  Or is it simply that the documents were 
printed via machines that were intriguing unto themselves.

> (As in 'what's the connection between the Sun3 query, and Dovers and 
> Altos'? If so, I think it was just thread drift via the laser printers.)

ACK

> That's the 'original' Ethernet; PARC did the 3Mbit one first, and the 
> 10 Mbit one came along quite a few years later.

I assume this has something to do with the Digital / Intel / Xerox as in 
the DIX connector.

> I'm trying to remember what kind of cable it used; IIRC it was black coax, 
> with a woven shield (i.e. not solid like CATV), not quite as large in 
> diameter as the yellow 10Mbit stuff.

That sounds like typical Radio Grade cable.  I just have no idea which 
RG it was.  I'm not quite sure what you mean by "solid like CATV".  Much 
of the coax that I've seen used for cable TV is RG-59, or RG-6.  Both of 
which ideally have a woven braid w/ 80% or greater coverage.  I have 
seen some that is effectively foil wrapped around the inner dielectric 
insulator.  I like to see solid dielectric insulators, but I have 
suffered through some that were a helical coil around a center conductor 
that may or may not have some sort of thin coating.

I have long found Radio Grade cable to be confusing (as in I've not 
figured out any pattern) as well as some of the executions to be 
extremely bad.  Usually, but not always, the more expensive it is 
(within reason) the better quality it is.  Save for the stuff that 
artificially jumps the price to catch people that shop solely based on 
price = quality.

> To connect up to it, one clamped on a connector thingy, which had a 
> threaded hole in it over the cable; one then screwed in a cylindrical 
> cutter which made a hole through the shield, and one then screwed in a 
> transceiver (which was a box about 2"x2"x4", IIRC).

That sounds like a description of what I've heard called a "Vampire 
Tap".  -  My understanding is that's the poor way to connect to (what is 
effectively) the Ethernet bus.

I've been told that it's more proper to take an outage, cut the cable, 
terminate the ends properly, and connect both ends to a new AUI (DIX?) 
breakout box.

> Hopefully someone has a picture somewhere?

I suspect that Wikipedia's article on 10Base5 has some decent pictures:

Link - 10Base5
  - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10BASE5

Google's image search for thicknet has a number of things too.

I never have managed to get my hands on any Thicknet 10Base5 but I'd 
like to get just enough to connect two machines.



-- 
Grant. . . .
unix || die