--- Mike Ford <mikeford_at_netwiz.net> wrote:
> >Anyone know if there's ever anything like this in/near/around Western PA
> >(Eastern Ohio, Northern VA)?
>
> Yes of course. Find hams, any ham, and they will know all the horsetrading
> within unreasonable driving distance.
I am in Central Ohio (not exactly Eastern Ohio, but probably as close to the
request as we're likely to see). The big mother of swapmeets in my immediate
area are the shows in Dayton in March and August (Dayton Computerfest) and
the massive Dayton Hamfest in May. Admittedly, none of these shows are purely
people with cool, used stuff to sell (there are more vendors selling new
stuff),
but I got some great bargains at the computerfest last month on lots of used
items that I have been seeking for some time.
These days there aren't many classics at the Dayton shows, but I have purchased
at Dayton in the past things like a COSMAC VIP, an ASR-33, a PDP-8L (my first
-8, about 15 years ago), DECmates, CPU chips from the 1970's, etc. Lately,
it's been easier to find older components than systems; I've gotten boxes of
Teac FD55's for a song (still untested ;-), MFM disk drives for less than $0.20
per meg, uVAX and DECmate cables for $1, some older IC's occasionally, etc.
Other than Dayton, there are a few Hamfests that I make a point of going to,
first and foremost: the Mansfield Hamfest, one of the first of the season.
It's where I picked up that Apple //c+, recently. Someone had a Kapyro 2
there, but I wasn't going to pay $100 for it.
We don't have as many opportunities here as on the coasts, but things can
be found. I just last night rescued a uVAX 2000 with a pair of VR290's
(one working, one with a bad power supply) from the widow of a friend of
mine who died last year. I was told to get this "junk" this week or it
was going out with the neighborhood bulk collection next week. Besides the
CPU and monitors, there's a TK50-FA, an LA120 and an 8-port terminal server.
Does anybody but DEC speak LAT?
-ethan
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Received on Thu Apr 08 1999 - 04:51:53 BST