In message <33334.64.169.63.74.1108253959.squirrel_at_64.169.63.74>
"Eric Smith" <eric_at_brouhaha.com> wrote:
> My best auction deal might not be considered by some to be classicmp
> related. It was an Atari "I, Robot" coinop video game. This was the
> first ever coinop game that did realtime 3D polygon graphics, circa
> 1983. It used a 6809 microprocessor for the main game logic, a
> 2901-based bitslice processor for the 3D math, and a bipolar gate
> array for drawing polygons into a frame buffer.
Sweeet... I always intended to make a clone of the Atari DVG vector generator
in an FPGA, but never got round to it. Modding MAME to run that thing would
have been fun - especially if it involved playing Asteroids on the spare
oscilloscope that's been sitting in the garage for yonks (badly out of cal,
and I ain't payin' ?150 for a manual! It's a Gould OS1100A, btw, if anyone
has a spare manual).
> It was reportedly working earlier in the day at the auction site, but
> had failed by the time it was auctioned. I got it for under $200, when
> I had been expecting to pay over $600. Replaced a fuse and it was
> almost good as new [*].
Nicely done!
The best deal I've ever had at an auction was probably the bundle of testgear
I bought at the "Johns Radio" liquidation auction a while ago. Here's the
list:
Tektronix 466 storage scope: ?35 +VAT
Farnell L30B dual PSU: ?6 +VAT
Fluke 25 DMM: ?8 +VAT
Stag PP40 EPROM programmer: ?8 +VAT (later sold on ebay..)
I'm particularly proud of the Tek scope - even though it's missing the front
panel cover (anyone got a spare?) and the CRT implosion guard is a little
scuffed, it's a great scope. That and at the time they were selling for over
?400 used, without a service manual. I went into the warehouse to pick up the
stuff and managed to get a 466 service manual off someone who'd bought a box
full of manuals - "Anyone got a Tek 466?" "Yep - me!" "Service manual!
Catch!". :)
I still need to track down some decent probes for it.. anyone got a few spare
Tek P6062 or P6106 probes? I'd love to get a high-voltage probe for it, too,
but I'll be damned if I can remember the Tek part number for it...
Later.
--
Phil. | Acorn Risc PC600 Mk3, SA202, 64MB, 6GB,
philpem_at_philpem.me.uk | ViewFinder, 10BaseT Ethernet, 2-slice,
http://www.philpem.me.uk/ | 48xCD, ARCINv6c IDE, SCSI
... It's not so much how we stand as the direction we're moving.
Received on Sat Feb 12 2005 - 18:54:49 GMT