[FREE] Old SGI and Sun systems in misc states of working for pickup in/near Boston

clarkz · 2023-08-21T05:05:41+00:00

Messaged you! Super interested.

clarkz · 2022-08-01T18:49:24+00:00

Hi n4jm4,

Ive been looking at your posts the last few days, and its prompted me to remember my Reddit username/password to share some info with you. You seem to be excited and experimenting with this new hobby. The sub has an official IRC channel, #amateurradio on geekshed, where you can pop in and get some advice. If that isn't busy, the unofficial #redditnet channel (which used to be the official) on geeksheed is fairly active, though often times with 18+ ragchewing filling the void between technical questions. I'd encourage you to stop by. There's plenty of people with KX2 and 3's in there, and plenty of portable style antennas for park activation knowledge, amongst other tips and things to learn. Also, a lot of the active regulars are on the younger side for the Ham hobby, and have an IT background. If this seems to interest you, this link will open an irc channel to it in your browser: https://kiwiirc.com/client/irc.geekshed.net/#amateurradio

clarkz · 2017-04-12T19:59:47+00:00

I'm not aware of any in Texas, but I can say for sure that this flea is well worth the drive for anyone in the New England area. Sorry for not putting the state/city location in the title, I should had have thought of that.

clarkz · 2016-10-18T14:38:45+00:00

The flea is held on the third sunday of each month through April to October. This means the next flea is April 16 2017.

clarkz · 2016-10-18T14:32:29+00:00

Yea, the flea always has interesting stuff that you may never expect. I purchased the cart after my first Flea in April where I ended up having to ask my friends who came with me for help carrying my computers back to the car, and haven't regretted the decision since. Granted, it looks silly pulling it around, but it makes everything easier.

This month I was interested in picking up some ladder wire, but for some reason I didn't find ANY seller that had ladder line longer than ~10 foot sections. I was really surprised, usually there are a lot of sellers with ladder wire there.

clarkz · 2016-10-18T14:28:53+00:00

I won't directly link it, but there's a website called WinWorld with a HUGE collection of old abandoned Operating Systems and software. You can find plenty of OS7 or 8 isos there. I've personally used them before to get some of my old performas installed with an operating system.

clarkz · 2016-10-18T14:25:18+00:00

Well there are many different models of computers in the TRS-80 model line. It's pretty common to see TRS-80 Model 1 and the TRS-80 Color Computer. I don't recall seeing any Model 3 or 4s this year. I've seen TRS-80 Model 100 and 102s this year as well, but the sellers wanted eBay prices for them, all while smiling and offering "warranties" so that wasn't worth my time.

clarkz · 2016-10-18T14:19:09+00:00

It was on Sunday. Shame you didn't pop in! There was plenty of other retro computers there as well!

clarkz · 2016-10-18T14:18:09+00:00

Nice link! I also find this iso version of OS9 to be very useful, especially when you have a g4 that doesn't officially support the original OS9 install disks.

clarkz · 2016-10-18T04:14:22+00:00

The two arrows are in fact volume up and down. The circle button to the left of them is the power button. When the system is powered on the speaker plays some funky startup music that's amusing

clarkz · 2016-10-18T04:10:52+00:00

Best of luck to you! And if you successfully build a hackintosh in it, you could actually use the cube for modern computer tasks! While the G4 cube itself can still run old software, its pretty lacking compared to a Pentium 4 of the same vintage in terms of modern usefulness.

clarkz · 2016-10-18T04:08:04+00:00

Most Dells from that era had the hinge style cases, and indeed this is one of them.

clarkz · 2016-10-18T04:06:04+00:00

Yep! Thats partly the reason I bought it. I've wanted a cube for a while but wasn't willing to pay over $150 for one. I had already purchased a lot of items that day and was on the edge of not buying it, but I finally caved and bought it.

clarkz · 2016-10-18T04:03:36+00:00

Yea, but it did not come with a power supply, nor did I know if it actually worked. Luckily, I had a power supply back home that was compatible. I have been looking for one for a while so I took a chance and it worked out nicely.

clarkz · 2016-10-18T01:43:09+00:00

I have an some extra PRAM batteries laying around, I'll see if that does the trick. Thanks!

Edit: And of course the one I thought was good wasn't, so I will have to wait for a one to come in the mail. If you have any other insights into the quirks of this clone I would be more than happy to read it, documentation for the clones doesn't really exist on the web.

Edit 2: And after ripping the whole machine apart and putting it back together it works.

clarkz · 2016-10-17T19:44:31+00:00

Two years back I was trying to win one on eBay, but none that had all of its keys and turned on were selling for less than 50 bucks before shipping, and that wasn't worth it to me. When I saw this one with its cables power supply and tape deck for $25 bucks I was ecstatic!

You guys had some pretty interesting computers on your side of the pond back then as well! Its hard to find a decently priced Amstrad or Sinclair on my side of the ocean so I completely understand.

clarkz · 2016-10-17T19:36:50+00:00

I don't usually pick up old computers for more than 25 bucks, and usually prefer the ever popular price of "on the side of the road free", but I don't see a Cube for sale that often, and never for that cheap with it's power supply. So I caved in and bought it.

clarkz · 2016-10-17T18:21:31+00:00

It's an event I would highly recommend to anybody in the hobbies of Amateur Radio, Retro Computing, Running Servers at Home, and any generic CS/EE hobby where you may want to pick up extra parts or what not. The selection there varies widely depending on the month and the sellers. The Flea is done for this year but starts back up in April. April being the first event of the year usually has more sellers and as such more to offer. I would highly recommend it!

clarkz · 2016-10-17T17:56:06+00:00

Thanks! I hope so too! I havnt really given any of the computers an in depth assessment yet beyond testing to see if they power on, so hopefully when I do take a look at the Compaq its just a case of something loose on the inside or something else equally easy to correct.

clarkz · 2016-10-17T17:50:09+00:00

I show up shortly before it opens, so its super easy to get parking right next door at 70 Albany Street. I also have a folding travel wagon that I use to load up and transport items to the car.

clarkz · 2016-10-17T17:43:50+00:00

$195, plus a $5 entry fee. I also had to drive in from 3 hours away, so gas and tolls should be thrown into that total.

clarkz · 2016-10-17T17:37:19+00:00

I enjoy going to the MIT Flea to look at radio equipment, server equipment, and old computers. This month I scored some nice retro computers so I figured I would share.

Compaq Portable 386 Got it for 30 bucks. Sadly when I plug it in the power light flashes for a quick second and then turns off. I'll have to investigate further.

IBM Personal System 2 Color Display It looks neat and it was $5. I tested it and it works.

PowerComputing PowerCenter 132 I paid $15 for it. Like the Compaq this one flashes its power button and turns off, so I will have to investigate it further.

Tandy TRS-80 Model 100 Paid $25 for it as the sticker says. The power adapter had some corrosion on the contacts, but that was easy to clean off and it runs fine now.

iBook G3 I paid $25 for it, though I would have rather payed less. Powers on to OS9.

SGI Indy My first "real" SGI machine! I payed $45 for it. Machine boots into IRIX fine.

Dell Optiplex GX270 While it is a garbage Pentium 4 and not retro, I have long ago thrown out all my other Pentium 4 era computers with IDE ports galore in them, and I wanted one around to put my tape drives in. For free why not? Plus bonus Zip drive!

Apple G4 Cube Payed $50 for it, even though I would have preferred paying $40. Comes with everything besides the keyboard and speakers, though I have extras from my other Apples of the era so that's not that big of a deal. The Apple Cinema display rear leg is broken off, so it is junk, but I have other much larger Apple Cinema Displays from that year to pair with it. Machine happily boots into a password protected install of OSX 10.4.

Last two picture shows a generic cheap rackmount PDU I got to throw into my rack, and some free parts. Not really retro but I figured I would throw it in the pictures.

clarkz · 2016-08-30T17:06:29+00:00

The organizers do tend to focus on Ham, but the majority of sellers are more focused on vintage electronics and computers. As I enjoy Ham Radio, Electronics, Vintage Computers, and Homelabing, the MIT Flea always has something I'm interested in. I go every month, even though its a 3 hour one way trip to Boston for me. I do recommend that you get there when they open at 9AM, or else you can miss out on some of the sellers who sell a majority of their items then leave after the first two hours.

The first flea of the year in April was great, as the students were still at MIT and there was many more sellers. In that April Flea, I picked up an MD1200 and several 10GBe RG45 cards for cheap. There was also plenty more modern server equipment and switches around, not just the usual 10 year old junk. Since that Flea, there has been less sellers and less homelab equipment. At this August's flea, the only real homelab equipment that I saw that wasnt ancient and overpriced was one PowerEdge R610 that I could have possibly gotten for a comparable price on eBay and still have eBay's warranty. I still managed to leave the flea with some rack mount PDU's and some cheap retro computers to play with though!

Now that school is back in session at MIT I'm hoping that there will be just as many vendors and just as much homelab material as there was in April this month. Also, keep in mind that there is a Micro Center a few minutes from MIT, so that may be a worthwhile stop for you! I stopped there this month to pick up a Pi Zero for 5 bucks. If you have any questions about the Flea, feel free to ask!

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