Excursion to Gainesville Junque farm.

[Opcom]

Paid a visit to the Gainesville Junk Farm today. Came away with six TS-505 ruggedized VTVMs to share with friends, a 1950s Homart (Sears) belt-driven window fan, an early (pre-Talaria) G.E. Light Valve video projector model PJ-700 from about 1968, and a General Radio Strobolume type 648-A. Also an unusual noise source using a 10" long gas tube with a flament at one end and an anode at the other, that will be investigated later.

There are many other items remaining and cartons full of various parts for building radio gear up there remaining, as well as part of that collection which is still in Dallas and composed of 1930's style transmitters.

I'm going to help the owner and will give notice in the proper section when the time comes to offer things up.

It was a monstrous amount of work all day long and I'm trashed and sore, but ought to dream of Light Valves and Strobolumes and old radio smell.

[Opcom]

After a couple days rest, here are some pics of other potentially interesting stuff, niether good or bad - didn't have time really to take good pictures and just snapped a few. Tended to be dirtier on the outside, cleaner on the inside, like us after working all day.

In case anyone is bored enough to look at radio junk, Clockwise from Top Right:
FA-7274 test set, LTV G187D VHGF RX 55-260MHz AM/FM, Resistance bridge ZM-4B/U, MRC STABLVOLT MR-28-5 DC supply, Tektronix 4051 Microcomputer, Modulator MD-129, couple of BC converters; 6M to BC, and 10-11M to BC.

Looking to find decent or much better stuff next trip, not sure when that will be.

[k5mo]

Tell us more about this Junk Farm!

They seem to grow interesting items

[KA3EKH]

The Tektronix 4051 like all vintage computers are selling for stupid amounts of money thees days. Think that one would sell for over $500 on the bay just as it is. The market for vintage (old) computers has gone thru the roof. many of the DEC system are now selling for more then they cost new.
If there is a PDP-8 or PDP-11 at the farm it would be like winning the lottery!

[W2JRO]

If there is a PDP-8 or PDP-11 at the farm it would be like winning the lottery!

Those PDP-11's are tough SOB's..
I remember a DEC Engineer telling me that they used them in WV mines for years with no maintenance at all and just they kept purring along

[W3SLK]

I spent a lot of time learning about the DEC PDP-11.  They were used at NASA LaRC with a CELCO printer to compute and print plots of data recorded from the many wind tunnels there.

[Opcom]

The Tektronix should have the BASIC ROM as a standard item. So at least there is that functionality, in case it does work. It's a 68000 architecture.
 I have some DEC stuff at home, mostly smaller VAX and Alpha it needs a new home. Bonus is that stuff is still reasonable to use if for no other reason than the security.

The junk farm - there are some pics on the web. The site is unfortunately messed up since it was migrated by the web host.

The location is North Texas, Gainesville. It's about an acre of buildings and 'stuff'. There are two enclosed barns, one 5-car sized pole barn, a 100 year old presumably haunted farm house, and a couple smaller outbuildings. All buildings are 'full' of electronics and stuff.

[WA2SQQ]

The Tektronix 4051 like all vintage computers are selling for stupid amounts of money thees days. Think that one would sell for over $500 on the bay just as it is. The market for vintage (old) computers has gone thru the roof. many of the DEC system are now selling for more then they cost new.
If there is a PDP-8 or PDP-11 at the farm it would be like winning the lottery!

This guy has been doing a lot with PDP-11s
https://youtu.be/877Nfr2In2g?feature=shared

[KA3EKH]

Fancy, fancy! That guy has over nine hundred fifty thousand subscribers and gets more views in a day then I get in a year!
I am envious.  Maybe when I grow up, I can be a big deal like that too.
I use to do a lot with old computers like the PDP-11 and Data General Novas but everything in that world has gone stupid crazy in terms of price and about the only way you can get this stuff is if your lucky and find a barn with one stashed away you are not going to get very far. I sold off my entire collection of DEC hardware and that paid a bunch of bills and for a new car trailer.
Did have a lot of fun working old systems. Something like working with tubes and AM, it fulfills a need you may not know you have until you get into that world.

[WA2SQQ]

Check his videos out, he?s pretty smart. He worked for MS and was involved in the development of several Windows version and DOS. That video is only one of many about PDP?s

[Opcom]

I'm glad those kinds of things have good homes. Ultimately that is what matters.