I am going to do a sealed bid auction on the following:
SWTPC 6800 chassis, motherboard, power supply in good condition
- 6800 CPU Card (MPU-A)
- 4k, 8k ram cards (6 or 7 of them, enough to make a decent
sized working system)
- 2 serial cards and a serial proto card in various states
of disrepair
- SSB controller card
- Smoke Signal Broadcasting drive chassis without drives,
the controller takes run of the mill Shugart SA400 drives
or an equivalent drive (like an MPI-51)
- DOS 68 (good) on diskettes, basic and some basic programs
- Documentation including: Smoke Signal Broadcasting docs,
schematics, documentation for the ROM and lots of other
photocopies
- SPECIAL: The CPU card contains an EXTREMELY RARE
real-time multitasking monitor ROM by Microware in Des Moines, Iowa,
the company that brought you OS/9. The documentation
includes the documentation for this ROM.
This unit is non-functional but all the pieces are there
and it WAS functional and booting at one point until I
messed with it. These systems are not difficult to repair
but I recommend this system for experienced collectors
familiar with the bus architecture of this machine and
electronic troubleshooting techniques in general. All
cards are currently removed from the machine and stored
in non-conductive static wrap.
The unit is in good cosmetic condition with only a few
scratches. The front panel has been drilled for some
switches but the switches have been removed leaving just
the holes.
Nonetheless, I think it's fair to say that these systems
are RARE (especially the 6800 variety, which this is)
and that this system, made in 1975, represents the first
commercially available computer with enough ram and I/O
to be useful to the general user. That's debatable,
of course, but it's not debatable that these systems don't
become available often. I want to find a good home for
it because I won't have the time to restore it in the
foreseeable future.
You can see the system via
http://www.retrocomputing.com/micros.html.
Terms: I will accept sealed bids until Midnight, June
18th, 1999 at which time the unit will be sold to the
highest bidder. I reserve the right not to sell the
item to anyone and am placing a minimum bid on the item
of $50, which I consider low considering this items
rarity and historical value. I will disclose to all
bidders the high bid at closing but not to whom the item will be sold.
Shipping will be IN ADDITION to your bid and will be
$20.00 to cover the inevitable UPS repacking fee.
Payment may be made by check or money order, but if by
personal check, the item will be held for 5 business
days to allow the check to clear.
Thanks...and Happy Bidding!
Anthony Clifton
PS: I will NOT be posting this or any other item on
Ebay or any other auction service. I am posting it on
classiccmp so it has the highest probability of finding
its way to the home of a genuine collector where it will
be loved and preserved.
Received on Mon Jun 14 1999 - 21:20:17 BST