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Have a ton of 7300/3b1 parts, floppies looking for a new home!

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Vince Guinto

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Dec 20, 2020, 3:17:41 PM12/20/20
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Well, the hobby I envisioned oh, 30 years ago? has never panned out, and the miscellaneous stuff I collected (mostly through dumpster diving) has sat on a shelf untouched for ages. I'm never going to pick up working on these things - I can barely keep my modern computers running - so I'm looking for a new home!

I'm in the Columbus OH metro area but am willing to DELIVER up to 2-3 hours' drive away, and I make occasional trips to Wisconsin and Virginia so could deliver even further if we can work out the timing. All free, of course!

Let's see what I have...

4 complete 7300 boxes. Two were definitely working back in, oh, maybe 1995. One has the burnt-out capacitor problem in the monitor. These would be original 20MB disk drive units, unmodified for higher capacity. (It's possible one has a 40MB drive but I cannot remember for certain.)

One 3b1 chassis with keyboard & monitor, but I think the case is empty. It might have a power supply installed. I can pull it out and peek through the air holes if someone's curious.

One tape backup unit, and one or two or three tape cartridges to go with it.

One board that I think is an Ethernet board.

One set of original OS floppies, and a backup set.

Misc other stuff on floppies

All basement stored, but heated and humidity controlled.

I would be delighted to dig into the pile and give a detailed inventory if anybody has any interest in this stuff. Please reply here!

Oh, and if anyone has a lead on a version of Larn similar to the one on the 7300, but would run on a Win10 system (or heck, on my Android phone), please point me in the right direction!

DoN. Nichols

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Dec 20, 2020, 8:42:31 PM12/20/20
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On 2020-12-20, Vince Guinto <vjgu...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Well, the hobby I envisioned oh, 30 years ago? has never panned out,
> and the miscellaneous stuff I collected (mostly through dumpster diving)
> has sat on a shelf untouched for ages. I'm never going to pick up
> working on these things - I can barely keep my modern computers running
> - so I'm looking for a new home!

[ ... ]

> One 3b1 chassis with keyboard & monitor, but I think the case is
> empty. It might have a power supply installed. I can pull it out and
> peek through the air holes if someone's curious.

I remember two styles of keyboard for the machines. One has
recessed grooves on the left side of the top of the home keys ('F' and
'J') making it easier to be sure you are on the proper keys.
I forget what the other had, but not as easy to tell where you were.

> One tape backup unit, and one or two or three tape cartridges to go
> with it.

Those tape runs took forever -- because the controller was
treating them as floppys. This meant that after each write of a
"sector" (block), it would rewind and re-read it to verify the write.

> One board that I think is an Ethernet board.

If it has a D series connector with 15 pins, that is likely what
you have.

[ ... ]

> Oh, and if anyone has a lead on a version of Larn similar to the one
> on the 7300, but would run on a Win10 system (or heck, on my Android
> phone), please point me in the right direction!

Hmm ... I had to do a web search to find out what Larn is/was.
It appears to be available in source form on Github -- but they make a
note that you will need a certain other package to be able to
compile/run it.

Good Luck,
DoN.

--
Remove oil spill source from e-mail
Email: <BPdnic...@d-and-d.com> | (KV4PH) Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
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CRD

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Dec 27, 2020, 5:57:19 PM12/27/20
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If anything is still available I am highly interested in the some of the smaller items that you have mentioned, like the OS Floppies, the possible Ethernet card (Even if it isn't one.) and the tape backup with cartridges.

I am 4 and a half hours out, but I can meet halfway or even closer if you decide. I am quite flexible with timing. I currently own a slightly broken 7300, hoping to fix it when I have time.

Sounds like you have a good batch of things, best of luck and thank you.
-CRD

Convergent MightyFrame

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Jan 3, 2021, 9:10:05 PM1/3/21
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Vince,

Please send me an email at https://mightyframe.blogspot.com/p/contact.html

I think between CRD & I, we can give those parts a good home.

CRD, please also email me there if you could, please. I just watched your Unix PC video on redditt and I'd like to see if I can be more proactive in helping!

Best,
AJ

Vince Guinto

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Jan 27, 2021, 9:16:55 PM1/27/21
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Hey, just so everyone knows, my collection has been delivered to the Large Scale Systems Museum (https://www.mact.io/) in Pittsburgh. So I don't have anything left to give away!

If you're looking for specific bits and bobs and software and such, I recommend starting a thread and asking for what you are looking for - one of the several major collectors out there may be able to help you out!
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