Hello all,

So I wanted to share some insights I had after a recent trip to the local hamfest (ham radio flea market for non hams). While there I ran into a gentleman I had bought a Zoom modem off of at a hamfest a few years prior. He had, at the time I got the modem, which I only paid $1 for, a Vic 20. Well, I wasn't interested in the Vic20 at the time. I was more focused on getting a breadbin 64 which I couldn't seem to find online for anything less than $80-100+ dollars. So I figured, sooner or later I'll get a deal. And I did. I did some voice over work for a friend and as payment, he sent me an extra C64 and Vic20. Wonderful! It would have cost me like around $200 something
dollars for both, but I got them for reading a page and a half which would go for about $60.

Then I run back into John, who I got the modem off of. He had the Vic20 he
had been trying to sell for some time. No clue why anyone hadn't snatched it
up yet, but I asked what he wanted. For a box of cartridges, the user manual, and some ham radio hardware included. $45. But I only had $30 on me. So he
took $20 and said I can give him the $20 sometime after the hamfest. I said deal. So after the fest, I went to the ATM at my bank, drove to his house,
and dropped off the $20. $40 for a Vic20 and box of accessories! Powersupply included! Plus he gifted me a Viking Rad-Amp for my radio studio, but that is another story...

But long story short, keep an eye on local Amateur Radio swap meets. There
are always good deals with older tech that may come in handy, and the occasional retro computer. Plus of course deals on a little more modern ones, and accessories. Like 20" flat displays for $20. Hams are pack rats, and we always seem to collect stuff we intend to use and never get around to, and
then the wife makes us sell it off, or we need to make room for more stuff. LOL. But it's definitely worth the look around one. Especially the one at MIT in Cambridge that runs every month.

'nuff said..
73.
Rich, KB2MOB

|04---- |15Rich Lawrence, KB2MOB
|14//// |15SysOp of Radio Freqs & Geeks BBS
|01--v|10/// |07-Ham/Shortwav Radio, Tabletop Gaming and General Geekery- |11\\|02xx/ |08mobbyg@gmail.com

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mobbyg wrote to All <=-

[snip]

But long story short, keep an eye on local Amateur Radio swap meets.
There are always good deals with older tech that may come in handy, and the occasional retro computer. Plus of course deals on a little more modern ones, and accessories. Like 20" flat displays for $20. Hams are pack rats, and we always seem to collect stuff we intend to use and
never get around to, and then the wife makes us sell it off, or we need
to make room for more stuff. LOL. But it's definitely worth the look around one. Especially the one at MIT in Cambridge that runs every
month.

For only $15USD, one can also go for their Technician license and buy a nice used HT (walkie talkie) at the same time - pending you pass your test. Amateur packet radio is a great thing to use retro technology on and you can even do TCP/IP with it without the need of a network card.

Cheers
N1URO
AmprNet coordinator for 1/5th of the USA.

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On 23 Aug 2021 at 05:54a, mobbyg pondered and said...

around one. Especially the one at MIT in Cambridge that runs every
month.

Sadly, since Steve became an SK, I think the future of the MIT
flea is in doubt. I don't think it ran at all last year due to
the pandemic, and I haven't gotten email about anything this year.
The space where it used to be held has been developed, and it's
unclear where it will be in future.

I just checked the web site; they've tentatively scheduled
something for October, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

It is kind of neat. A guy a few years ago tried to sell me some
used Sun gear: "My basement has enough used SPARC kit." "Oh, then
you could use some more...." "Not if I want to keep living with
the mother of my kids...."

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tenser wrote to mobbyg <=-

It is kind of neat. A guy a few years ago tried to sell me some
used Sun gear: "My basement has enough used SPARC kit." "Oh, then
you could use some more...." "Not if I want to keep living with
the mother of my kids...."

I've been setting up a compact home lab, and have wanted to find a small, cheap retro Linux box to play with. A shoebox Sparcstation like an LX or IPX would be great, if anyone has a line on a place to buy one of those (or
*any* other older *nix systems) I'd love to find out about it.


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On 23 Aug 2021 at 09:33a, poindexter FORTRAN pondered and said...

I've been setting up a compact home lab, and have wanted to find a
small, cheap retro Linux box to play with. A shoebox Sparcstation like
an LX or IPX would be great, if anyone has a line on a place to buy one
of those (or *any* other older *nix systems) I'd love to find out about it.

I hate to be "that guy", especially since this is a retro group,
but if you're going to run Linux anyway, why go for a retro piece
of gear? I honestly think you'd be better off with a low-power
ARM or Atom device with an SSD.

Trust me, I lived on those old SPARC machines and it wasn't all it
was cracked up to be. :-)

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tenser wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

On 23 Aug 2021 at 09:33a, poindexter FORTRAN pondered and said...

I hate to be "that guy", especially since this is a retro group,
but if you're going to run Linux anyway, why go for a retro piece
of gear? I honestly think you'd be better off with a low-power
ARM or Atom device with an SSD.

I meant to say *nix.

Trust me, I lived on those old SPARC machines and it wasn't all it
was cracked up to be. :-)

I worked on a Sparc II back in 1997-1999 - maxxed out on RAM, with a Weitek Power-Up chip, it was a great little box. With a 19" monitor and a type 5 keyboard, I ended up using it as a daily driver, backup DNS server and a
file server.


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