Welcome to my vintage computing museum :-)

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Originally Posted by FLimits

Yes, I'm a member of the vc forum. I'm originally from Baltimore, but we moved to Columbia when I was a kid, so that's where I grew up. My folks live over by College Park now. How about you?

BTW, with respect to your "museum," I'm not sure, but my hunch is that you might actually do better on the Heathkit components if you offer them as a whole system. That would be saving somebody a lot of time and effort trying to track down the individual pieces. Plus if there's anything that's not functional, your buyer might nevertheless value it more highly because it's part of a system. Too bad you didn't get any software with it so you could test it. If you want, I can ask if there's anybody in your area who could check it for you. Not sure what else you have in those piles, but there's probably more good stuff.

I've started a support ticket to find out why I can't receive PMs. I'm new here, so I can understand not being able to send them, but I would have thought it would be OK to receive them.

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There is a working 386 that almost boots. Almost since I don't have a keyboard (DIN-type) for it. But I hooked it up to an LCD monitor through VGA and it does show booting until the "keyboard not detected" message.

Kind of cool, by the way: 386 machine with an LCD monitor :)

Anyway, I have a couple of other old PCs in the pile. Might want to go through them first actually, to clear up space, since they will probably take a lot less time than the Zenith and the Heathkit to figure out if they will go to scrap pile or be sold for parts or as functional.

I lived in CP when I went to graduate school at UMD. Still drive past it every day to/from work... Have a few friends in the Columbia-Ellicott City area

UMD is great. I took some computer science courses there years ago. I love that campus.

Your sorting strategy sounds reasonable. I think I saw an IBM 5150 in the background in one of your photos. Those are very collectible.

I think Heathkit sold "kits" which the customer assembled themselves. Radio Shack once was the same in many areas

Cool deal there Ilyaz

haha, I don't know why people don't hold back one old keyboard and a serial mouse ; )

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Originally Posted by Bear

haha, I don't know why people don't hold back one old keyboard and a serial mouse ; )

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Yes. So true! I try to keep one of most everything concerning cables, keyboards, mice, adaptors, etc.

If you want to get into testing, you need the parts.

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Originally Posted by FLimits

UMD is great. I took some computer science courses there years ago. I love that campus.

Your sorting strategy sounds reasonable. I think I saw an IBM 5150 in the background in one of your photos. Those are very collectible.

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You have a sharp eye :) Indeed it's a 5150 and I think it even boots, or at least makes booting noises when turned on. To test this one, though, not only do I need a keyboard, I also need the right monitor cable since VGA does not fit. I guess I need to start buying vintage parts...

That's one of the hazards of collecting those old machines. The technology has evolved so quickly, you need a million different connectors, peripherals, parts, etc., to be able to do anything with them. And then there's always missing software. Amazingly, a lot of old software (as well as things like technical manuals) can be found online, but that doesn't really solve the problem if you need the software on an 8" floppy and you don't have a working machine with an 8" drive. Collectors are always scrounging around for missing odds and ends.

BTW, if you would like me to try to find a volunteer to help you out, let me know. There are some good old-timers in your area with a lot of technical expertise (and old cables!).

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Originally Posted by FLimits

BTW, if you would like me to try to find a volunteer to help you out, let me know. There are some good old-timers in your area with a lot of technical expertise (and old cables!).

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PM sent just now

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Originally Posted by Mechanic688

Can capacitors when they get old can dry out then when power is applied they possibly can explode. Don't know about them hurting you but when one goes off it sure might make you soil your undies,,,,

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FYI - In electrical terms, soiled undies are referred to as a "brownout" :)

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Originally Posted by TheRecycleBin

FYI - In electrical terms, soiled undies are referred to as a "brownout" :)

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did seeing his collection give you, in weather terms, a "white out"? :lol:

Capacitors blow up when they short out (especially tantalum ones that get even slightly over voltage because the power supply is a bit wonky).

You have some interesting stuff in there from the pics I seen, wonder if much of it is in working condition or not.

For the IBM 5150 you will need an XT class keyboard or an early model M that does XT/AT. You can buy an adapter from ebay that allows you to use a normal PS/2 type keyboard on anything 286 and up that use the AT keyboard connector (couple bucks shipped).

Was there any software with this lot or just a jumble of machines?

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Originally Posted by unknownk

You have some interesting stuff in there from the pics I seen, wonder if much of it is in working condition or not.

Was there any software with this lot or just a jumble of machines?

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No software or documentation but I am hoping to get some from the same source in a matter of weeks. But that's a big if.

I am now working with a couple of vintage collector gurus to figure out whether these could be fired up. This is definitely a slow process which may end up taking months. But I am not in a hurry, at least not until I get some other stash like that and run out of basement space. :)

AST ADVENTURE 4066d Cyrix 486 DX2

thing still works somehow! it boots up

I cant find anything on ebay or on the forums about it

Anyone ever scrap one or resell?