Saved a bunch of vintage boards from a scrapper

[Tnubs]

Met someone who was attempting to scrap a bunch of vintage 60-80’s pcb’s at the local scrap yard. When the yard didn’t want to give him anything for them and he was stuck on how much gold content there was, I took a look and recognized a few things and made him an offer. But now my wife is upset because I’ve collected so much stuff and I’ll probably have to part with it to make her happy. This is a very small part of what I have. There are probably 200lbs of boards from old computers, some telecom stuff as well. I’ll post more pics when I get home this evening.

 

[powerlot]

Wow, well done. For sure some hidden gems in there? Even if part of it doesn't work anymore, many parts could be used for repairs... and some of those ICs probably go for fortunes on eBay

 

[MattisLind]

I think that those IBM boards (aluminium capsules in the second photo) could be of interest to collector of older IBM machines. It looks like it is either SLT or MST type of circuits.

MMI 5300 is bipolar fused PROMs. If they are un-programmed they have some value. If programmed they have NIL value.

That black PU foam in the fifth picture becomes very corrosive when it disintegrates. The legs of the ICs will rust and get destroyed. Pull them out of that foam sooner than later.

Make an inventory of the ICs in the tubes and offer them for sale here perhaps?

 

[Timo W.]

I doubt he's coming back to answer.

 

[VERAULT]

Its like a stranger ran into the room and spoke for no reason then never came back again... This seems to happen alot. They must not like being away from facebook or something.

 

[powerlot]

Benefit of the doubt for the first 10 messages? I'm more wondering what happened to those NOS PETs and KIMs because that guy also just disappeared

 

[VERAULT]

Benefit of the doubt for the first 10 messages? I'm more wondering what happened to those NOS PETs and KIMs because that guy also just disappeared

he was offering me a KIM-1 but something didnt seem right so I couldnt pull the trigger. Unfortunately its most new users. They come here expecting something and getting different results and just vanish.

 

[syzygy]

Ahh yes, the drive-by poster. If I were an optimist, I would think that it was all true and he dumped the whole lot to someone because his wife did give him a hard time about the purchase. So, while the initial post was sincere, events had changed such that he turned the whole thing over, made a profit, and moved on. It is doubtful that this was the only place he posted (have not tried to search for the pics), so maybe a local made him a quick offer he couldn't refuse.

Pity, since there was some intriguing stuff there and he did get some pictures from somewhere. I can't see any of the usual embedded photo info when you download, but I am hoping that a scam was unlikely.

...again, if I were an optimist

 

[VERAULT]

I give everyone the benefit of the doubt... with tight lipped scepticism.

 

[Chuck(G)]

...and we have no idea of the physical location of this stuff.

Curious that one of the devices appears to be powered up.

 

[VERAULT]

...Because if we did we'd light the torches,, get the pitchforks, and storm the castle!! I want a Kim-1 damnit!

 

[Eudimorphodon]

Most interesting thing I see in those pictures is the Sphere CPU card. I mean, it’s filthy and missing most of the parts, Tiny Tim will never walk again, but it is nonetheless a very rare fossil of a bygone era.

 

[syzygy]

...and we have no idea of the physical location of this stuff.

Curious that one of the devices appears to be powered up.

I see what you mean and the chips in that unit seem to be out-of-time with the other chips...do you recognize the partial brand on the front, lower right?

 

[syzygy]

I want a Kim-1 damnit!

I noticed that one sold for $2383 in Dec 2023 (maybe a rev a but with some issues) and another sold for $2610.64 (rev G I believe) - both on the bay. Unless I jotted the prices down wrong, they have increased quite a bit. recently. So, as the song goes...all you need is love cash.

 

[Chuck(G)]

I see what you mean and the chips in that unit seem to be out-of-time with the other chips...do you recognize the partial brand on the front, lower right?

View attachment 1273816

I recognize the logo--RISO, a Japanese outfit big in the high-end printing biz. As far the unit shown, not a clue. Just strange that it's a device that's obviously part of something and is removed and powered.