New finds .... 2 HP-85's!

From: Robert Stek <r.stek_at_snet.net>
Date: Wed Oct 18 12:28:25 2000

Sometimes the gods do smile upon us... Last week ebay had someone from the
Hartford area put up a pallet of old computer / office "stuff." Just wanted
to clear it out of an old warehouse that was about to be rented again.
Since it was local I was able to preview it - 3 old PS-2 towers, 3 older VGA
monitors, a Mac II, some answering machines, lots of power cords and cables,
etc. Not much I wanted, so someone from Washington (state) won the lot for
about $15 (and good luck with shipping!). I had a brief conversation with
the guy who was selling off this stuff and told him about my interests in
really old computers. He said that he had taken home an HP-85 laser jet
printer which worked. I told him that I didn't think that it was the right
model number. But he said it was definitely a laser jet printer. He called
me yesterday and told me it was really a LJ-III, that his son wanted a color
printer, and would I be interested in it for $50 since he had just put a new
toner cartridge in. I called a friend who wanted it, and went to pick it up
today.

When I arrived, he said he figured out why he called it an HP-85. He then
took me back into the warehouse and showed me TWO HP-85's, covered in dust
and grime, plus 3 unopened boxes of thermal printer paper, 2 rolls to a box,
plus two 3-ring binders marked HP 80 series. He asked me if I wanted them.
How could I say no?

Turns out that the docs are two copies of the manuals for an HP-86B, but I
am not complaining! Those beasties are heavier by five pounds just due to
the accumulated dirt and grime. It will be several weekends from now before
they are clean enough to even think about a power-on smoke test. In the
meantime, is there anyone out there who could trade some HP-85 docs (or
copies) for my HP-86B docs? What kind of tape cartridges do I need? (as if
I think there's a chance in hell that the drives will still work!) Never
having used one of these before, any advice or comments are welcome.

Bob Stek
Saver of Lost Sols
Received on Wed Oct 18 2000 - 12:28:25 BST