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Texas Computer Reset in Dallas is still going for just a little while (new LGR video Feb. 2022)

Covers: Texas
With the direction prices have gone for good/tested working condition hardware the last few years I will absolutely not hesitate to offer money for as-is or poor condition equipment as opposed to condemning it to recycling. EG: That keypunch I got out of Texas last year and have been slowly rebuilding.
Beggars can't be choosers.
 
maxtherabbit said:
My problem with buying junk vis-a-vis computer equipment is the very real chance that a given part is non-repairable due to a dead ASIC or similar component that cannot be sourced.
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This is honestly why the focus of my vintage fiddling has been largely drifting back in time to late ‘70’s era stuff. Most of what’s in that is generic enough to jury rig if you can’t find the original part.
 
vwestlife said:
Epictronics acquired and repaired the IBM 7496 Executive Workstation that the 8-Bit Guy botched. The attached monitor is indeed a thinly disguised Sony Trinitron, apparently only designed for 60 Hz because it rolls when connected to a VGA card putting out 70 Hz text mode:

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No. He acquired the 2nd one... My son has the paperclipped one and we took it apart. The EW has a strange power supply where the 110VAC is passed through to the monitor. That's why the fuse died when he paperclipped it.

The power supply monitors the power draw to the monitor and when the monitor is powered up that circuit activates two solid state relays that connect Line and Neutral to the computer power supply. There are some zener diodes in there that were shorted and that kept the power supply from turning on for the computer. We swapped in a spare PCB from a spare power supply found in the parts room and it worked for about 5 minutes before the zeners went poof on it too. I'm thinking that the monitoring board may need recapping along with 2 new zener diodes, but that will be for a different day.

I shared my findings with David Beem who owns another one of the EWs.

Also, Computer Reset is closed. Done. Finished. We finished taking the rest of the trash out on June 18th. There are still some pallets of PC Convertible AC Power Bricks (15v 2.7A switching) that scrappers will be getting this week. The last dumpster has been hauled off and the building is officially up for sale.

Thank you to everyone who came out and those who had kind words for the massive 3-year undertaking to get Richard's collection of old gear and software out to current and a new generation of computer collectors.

RJ
 
channelmaniac said:
No. He acquired the 2nd one... My son has the paperclipped one and we took it apart. The EW has a strange power supply where the 110VAC is passed through to the monitor. That's why the fuse died when he paperclipped it.

The power supply monitors the power draw to the monitor and when the monitor is powered up that circuit activates two solid state relays that connect Line and Neutral to the computer power supply. There are some zener diodes in there that were shorted and that kept the power supply from turning on for the computer. We swapped in a spare PCB from a spare power supply found in the parts room and it worked for about 5 minutes before the zeners went poof on it too. I'm thinking that the monitoring board may need recapping along with 2 new zener diodes, but that will be for a different day.

I shared my findings with David Beem who owns another one of the EWs.

Also, Computer Reset is closed. Done. Finished. We finished taking the rest of the trash out on June 18th. There are still some pallets of PC Convertible AC Power Bricks (15v 2.7A switching) that scrappers will be getting this week. The last dumpster has been hauled off and the building is officially up for sale.

Thank you to everyone who came out and those who had kind words for the massive 3-year undertaking to get Richard's collection of old gear and software out to current and a new generation of computer collectors.

RJ
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Keep us informed or make a new thread if you guys do actually fix it.

And congrats on finalizing the emptying of the warehouse. I hope at the very end those involved at least celbrated with a meal or something. Any job that big warrants a celebration when done.
 
Not yet. After the building sells we'll be having a large party. We've been offered the use of the shared big room over at the NVM in Frisco for it and that would be awesome for us to use. There are a few things I donated from my finds at CR on display there.
 
Unknown_K said:
That massive dump of equipment (some very collectable) probably didn't make a dent on ebay pricing.
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There was a lot of flipping. If in the last year and a half you bought something from Texas odds were it came from Computer Reset so it did indeed flood ebay as broken up pieced listings.
 
Many have used a Facebook group instead of eBay. The prices a very reasonable there.

I’d say that many bought for their own collection though. So that wouldn’t end up affecting eBay prices. I tried to use restraint and not buy piles of cool stuff I didn’t need. In retrospect perhaps I should have been a LITTLE more greedy in the beginning.
 
If you search for computer reset warehouse buy and sell you should find it. I just bought 3 16bit mfm controllers for $5 each :)
 
There needs to be an alternative to eBay... but Facefook is NOT it. I go as far as blocking fecesbook, so anything on there I can't even see.
 
SomeGuy said:
There needs to be an alternative to eBay... but Facefook is NOT it. I go as far as blocking fecesbook, so anything on there I can't even see.
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You're looking at it. RETVRN to trading goods with small communities even online ones
 
They aren’t using the Facebook marketplace. It’s just a group of people asking for and offering stuff.
 
jafir said:
Many have used a Facebook group instead of eBay. The prices a very reasonable there.

I’d say that many bought for their own collection though. So that wouldn’t end up affecting eBay prices. I tried to use restraint and not buy piles of cool stuff I didn’t need. In retrospect perhaps I should have been a LITTLE more greedy in the beginning.
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Agreed - I've acquired many of my larger systems (WANG WCS-15, LVP2200, DEC PDP-11/44, IBM System/34, couple System/36's) and a good chunk of my Kaypro collection via FaceBook groups and Marketplace - it's a godsend for the vintage computing market to be honest. It's also much, much better than something like Craigslist.
 
VCF Southeast and the Southern Fried Gaming Expo was most excellent! The talk went perfectly after an audience member had a power extension cable so I could use my laptop. That helped because they didn't have a speaker facing monitor on their set up so I could tell where I was in the animated slides. We had about 80 people at least in a pretty full room and lots of excellent questions.

The session was recorded from 2 angles and they will be editing and posting it online "soon." When they do, I'll update this thread.

I also picked up enough dead Neo Geo PCBs at the flea market part of the event to pay for the trip. I also got a VIC-20 there too with one of my favorite arcade games - Sega Star Trek. I just have to repair and sell the Neo Geo boards now. Also picked up a PSR-32 and some other goodies at area thrift stores.

The trip wasn't without incident. We almost got rear-ended by a truck on I-20 going full speed after we stopped at the back of a long line of traffic in a construction zone. I was half dozing and saw my son put on the hazards as he was slowing down... then I hear "HE'S NOT STOPPING" followed by him jerking the wheel to the right and punching the gas. The truck squealed brakes and narrowly missed us and the propane truck in front of us. He went airborne then rode down about 200 feet of steel cable fencing and steel poles down the center of the median before coming back up on the highway, narrowly missing a car in front of us, and coming to a stop on the right hand shoulder.

We also avoided 2 other multi-mile backups on I-20, one in Alabama close to the Georgia border and one just west of Marshall, TX. We took the back roads to go from I-20 to I-30 and to the Bush in Dallas to avoid almost all of the going home rush-hour traffic. That was NICE.

Oh, and I get to go take a COVID rapid test today. I'm stuffy and running a fever.
 
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