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Vintage Entrex 480 DCC D116 mini computer, DG nova clone

firebirdta84

firebirdta84

Experienced Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2013
Messages
244
Location
Central Iowa
Last edited:
Interesting looking systems located a couple maybe three hours away from me and may try biding on them. Going to assume that they are copies of Data General Novas being they are sixteen bit and have four registers, the big question is at the end of the day if they use the same op codes as a Nova? I have a ROLM 1602 that’s a copy of the Nova and have wasted way too much time on that project and these days floor space is a premium around the shop but they are tempting.
 
I dropped out of the auction at $100 figuring it would cost me another $100 or so and a day to drive up and get that stuff. Last time I looked they were around $600 or $700 for the lot and the auction was not over yet.
Lot of money for Nova knock offs especially being there is not a lot out there for the Nova to begin with. I have been looking for a paper tap copy of Nova Basic for almost ten years now with no success and with ten years experience behind me have little more to show for all the work then a couple loader programs and a program that lets me read and write to memory locations from the TT0 port.
Wonder if we will see them on EBay or if they were bought by those hacks that live to separate the front panels to make wall art out of them?
 
that auction, and one for a bunch of diablo disk drives went for insane amts of money, thousands of dollars.
 
Looking at the condition of the stuff because of the poor storage and what it was have to wonder why? Couple months back looked into maybe selling off my PDP-11 collection and keeping in mind that between the two systems I have , one Qbus and one Unibus that are 100% working with all documentation, multiple disk packs with all types of software and in a hell of a lot better condition then that stuff and after hearing that maybe I can get $1,000 or $1,500 if I am lucky have to wonder why people would go crazy over that stuff?
At the end of the day decided not to sell any of my stuff being its not worth the trouble and for the amount I would receive would rather keep it around for a while. Perhaps when I am gone will tell my kids to take all that stuff and put it in a storage facility and let it get dirty, all the parts scattered and the media dead and then they can get big money for it?
 
Just found out that the lot of the three computers went for $2,200.00 anyone here buy it? With the 18% premium you have to pay the auction that’s $2,596.00 and if you are a New Jersey resident there would be another $150.00 in sales tax to get you into Data General Nova copies at $2,746.00
 
Qbus said:
I dropped out of the auction at $100 figuring it would cost me another $100 or so and a day to drive up and get that stuff. Last time I looked they were around $600 or $700 for the lot and the auction was not over yet.
Lot of money for Nova knock offs especially being there is not a lot out there for the Nova to begin with. I have been looking for a paper tap copy of Nova Basic for almost ten years now with no success and with ten years experience behind me have little more to show for all the work then a couple loader programs and a program that lets me read and write to memory locations from the TT0 port.
Wonder if we will see them on EBay or if they were bought by those hacks that live to separate the front panels to make wall art out of them?
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Get in contact with Bruce of Wild Hare. It may take a few emails, but he's quite helpful, and I can tell you with complete certainty that he has a copy of standalone basic for the Nova.

As for the NJ computers, I suspect that there were two people there with more money than sense, who bid it sky-high in a "oh no I could miss out" adrenaline rush. I really wanted one of those drives, but they went for an order of magnitude over anything I could pay.
 
Can’t explain it but all of the communications with Bruce have appeared to be cursed, just can’t get him to sell or send a paper tape copy of NOVA Basic. He did try sending me an image but the dam email server at work took exception to it and ate the attachment.
Don’t get me wrong, not saying it’s his fault or anything like that but after years of trying just can’t make any progress with Wild Hare.
So finding a paper tape copy of Basic is still the “Holly Grail” around here.
 
This one appears to include a stack of DG boards. The fourth picture clearly shows core memory board, and the sixth reveals couple of boards in the stack with characteristic DG clasps.
 
I'm not a member of that auction house so can't see what the final prices were. I'm curious as to what the pallet of Diablo's went for, and the Entrex machines, the Burroughs bits and so on. Just how insane did "insane amts of money" turn out to be?
 
Its all relative isn’t it, I know that I have spent lots of things most would consider crazy so at this point I can only say that for myself I was only willing to commit a couple hundred dollars and a days work on the three processors. Others obviously place a higher value on the items. The three processors went for $2,200 or so I am told.
I don’t think that I have spent over five or six hundred dollars on the hobby at this time although when figuring in expense involved in going several states over and picking things up it all adds up to more.
As time goes on it appears that the amount of collectable hardware decreases and the amount of collectors increase and we are now entering into an time where no equipment is being sent from original users to traditional surplus channels and we are now forced to buy from other collectors, dealers or estate auctions.
Man thee is going to be one hell of an auction when I die!
 
Qbus said:
Man thee is going to be one hell of an auction when I die!
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Amen! I have the same thought when I am entering my basement. As probably many others here. Quite an appropriate thought for this day and age.
 
1944GPW said:
I'm not a member of that auction house so can't see what the final prices were. I'm curious as to what the pallet of Diablo's went for, and the Entrex machines, the Burroughs bits and so on. Just how insane did "insane amts of money" turn out to be?
Click to expand...

The three clones (Two DCC D-116's and an Entrex 480) went for over 2k, and the cart of either nine or ten (there was one suspiciously diablo-shaped box in the stack) drives went for 3.2k. Most everything else with anything electronic went for hundreds.
 
vldmrrr said:
Amen! I have the same thought when I am entering my basement. As probably many others here. Quite an appropriate thought for this day and age.
Click to expand...

Every time I browse ebay and realize 'I used to own one of those' but I paid one tenth of the price and sold it well over a decade ago.
 
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