Data General boards, HP stuff, rainwater damage?

From: shirker_at_mooli.org.uk <(shirker_at_mooli.org.uk)>
Date: Thu Apr 15 19:32:33 2004

Hi folks,

Rescued the following last night, amongst some other stuff:

* 3 large cards from a DG Nova system (?) around 16" square.
  - one marked "BASIC IO CONTROL DGC NOVA (C) 1968 DATA GENERAL CORP"
    This has a small board numbered 70-00196 which appears to have been
    retrofitted, judging by the number of blue wires running to it
    from the board itself. This seems to be in good shape.

  - two related ones, one marked "TELETYPE PLOTTER WITH ALPHANUMERICS
    ISSUE 1" and then in the top corner "LINK SYSTEMS LTD MADE IN ENGLAND"
    2 ICs are missing and one is smashed open, and this board has a 3" or so
    rip in it

  - the other marked "TELETYPE PLOTTER WITH ALPHANUMERICS OPTIONS/Q.E.D."
    2 ICs are missing from this one. 2 presets mounted on one side of this
    board look the worse for wear.

* Motorola VME? board of some kind. 68020 CPU, 2/3 of VME height (has 2
  of the VME-style connectors on one side), 50-pin IDC header on the
  opposite side, along with 2 switches, 2 red LEDs and 2 green LEDs.

* "Opus" badged ADC MM-211 mono monitor, slight screenburn at bottom of
   CRT, has a DE9 connector with only 6 pins fitted. CGA/EGA?

The above are free to good home - you pay postage or collect from near
Leeds, UK.

Not sure whether these are worth anything or not:

* 2 BOC Edwards vacuum meters, one marked "PENNING 8" and one marked
  "PIRANI 11". About 4"x6" faces, panel mount, mains powered. Each one
  has a switch to select between ranges, and inputs on the back for the
  metering hardware.

* Watkins-Johnson WJ-269-I Low Noise Amplifier, 2.3-4.5GHz in weird cylindrical
  black case, 110-120VAC.

* Marconi "TF 868B Universal Bridge". Seems in nice condition except for
  what look like two sets of concentric knobs on the top panel of the unit
  have been smashed, and the top plate is cracked where this has happened.

Make me an offer I can't refuse ;)

I'd like Real Money(TM) for the following:

* Farnell PU164A rack-mounted telco PSU, provides +5V, +/-12V, -50V, all _at_
  big amps by the looks of the output busbars that were attached to it.
  Has mains lead, which is just as well as it uses a Bulgin 3-pin mains
  connector rather than an IEC320 socket. 2U I think. Weighs 12.5kg
  according to a sticker on it.

* Half height (waist height) 19" rack, in fetching chocolate brown colour
  with folding handles on both sides. Has a piece of kitchen work surface
  on the top in an attractive pine finish ;) Put your servers in your kitchen?
  (The ultimate in domestically-acceptable 19" racks maybe?) Has big castors
  for ease of shiftage.

Again, please make an offer by email if you're interested, otherwise they
hit ePay.

And the following I'll most likely keep, but anything anyone can tell me
about it would be much appreciated (specifically what's needed in terms of
hardware/software to control it):

* HP computer-controlled test & measurement system, comprising:
  - 61001A System Power Unit
  - 61010A Digital I/O
  - 61011A Relay Mux
  - 61012A Dual Voltage DAC
  - 61013A Digital Multimeter
  - 61014A Function Generator
  - 61015A Counter
  - 61016A Digitizing Oscilloscope
  - 61017A Relay Actuator

I had thought these would be HPIB, but the cable (26-way ribbon) looks nothing
like it. Any/all info about these would be most handy.

And now to the "rainwater" bit - I found all this in a skip (or "dumpster"
for those of you of a North American persuasion) which was outside, so these
things have been being rained on (except the telco PSU, which was in the rack
and so will have been protected from rain). I haven't opened any of them up
yet to check for corrosion, but I've spotted some rust on the edge of the
casing of the 61001A already. What's the best way to deal with this stuff
to prevent any further damage, and rectify (if necessary) any that the
water has caused, if indeed it's caused any at all? Other than obvious
corrosion, how would I tell? None of it was lying in standing water, FWIW -
I don't think there was any in the skip, and this stuff was all well above
it.

TIA,

Ed.
Received on Thu Apr 15 2004 - 19:32:33 BST