Classic Rotary Phones Forum

Telephone Talk => Find of the Month Archive => Find of the Year Contests Archive => Topic started by: AE_Collector on January 02, 2014, 01:01:26 AM

Poll
Question: The "Find of the YEAR for 2013" - Vote for your Favorite THREE
Option 1: Paul F's CLEAR AE 34 for that was given to him for FREE! votes: 13
Option 2: Gilas' Oxford Grey 500 for only $19.95 on an ebaY Buy it Now votes: 9
Option 3: Unbeldi put together an almost Instant Collection of Colored 302's votes: 5
Option 4: LarryInMichigan's Green 302 snagged for only $49 votes: 9
Option 5: Dan got a 1950/1951 early black WECo 500 for $29.99 in an ebaY BIN votes: 6
Option 6: AE40FAN got a Mahogany Automatic Electric Monophone for $89.99 BIN on ebaY votes: 10
Option 7: Gilas bought a Mediterranean Blue WECo 500 for an amazing  $33.33 votes: 11
Option 8: tptech302 scored a 1955 Mahogany Brown 500 set found on eBay BIN for $39.95 votes: 2
Option 9: Gilas' was shopping again. This time a 591 Rose Beige & 500 Oxford Gray - $30 votes: 7
Option 10: unbeldi is back again with a 1958 Mahogany Brown 564H key set for $319 including shipping votes: 5
Option 11: WEBellSystemChristian grabbed a Set of 3 - 10 Button WECo Phones for $4 Total votes: 7
Option 12: Gilas DID IT AGAIN, this time a  nice Automatic Electric #2 for only $39.95 votes: 5
Option 13: cchaven finished the year with a Mahogany Brown WECo 591 for $12 at an Antique Mall votes: 11
Title: *** The "Find of the YEAR" for 2013 ***
Post by: AE_Collector on January 02, 2014, 01:01:26 AM
Ever since Dennis started the "Find of the Month" in October 2010 we have kicked around the idea of having the "Playoff's" after the end of a year, a "Find of the YEAR" competition.

So this time we are going to give it a try. There would normally be 12 entries, the winners of each of the monthly competitions from the year. However, we declared a tie in January 2013 as we just couldn't get a clear winner so there are 13 contestants this time.

Take a few minutes to go through the list below. I have created one post per entrant along with very brief details, a link to the original nomination or the seperate topic on CRPF if there was one and one picture of each. The pictures are from the Photobucket site that John "TelePlay" maintains of all Find of the Month winners as well as the winners of the "Auction Contests".

Since there are thirteen to choose from, lets do THREE VOTES EACH  and see who wins the "2013 Find of the YEAR". If you inadvertently vote for less than three contestants, click the "delete vote" button at the bottom left of poll and vote again.

Terry
Title: Re: The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"
Post by: AE_Collector on January 02, 2014, 01:15:10 AM
January 2013 resulted in a tie so there are two January 2013 contestants:

Paul F received this CLEAR AE 34 for FREE! It might just be my computer but it looks as though it might have an issue or two...but still, A FREE CLEAR AE34!!

Here's the original January 2013 nomination:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=8408.msg92829#msg92829

Paul wrote this about it:

This was a present from a web site visitor as a "thank you" for some info he found particularly interesting.

Now that I have your attention, it's only fair to point out that there are some minor condition issues.

It turns out he had stored it in his garage in Florida.  Compare the size of the housing with the size of the baseplate.  Need I say more?

At least I can say I own one of the rare clear AE34s.
Title: Re: The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"
Post by: AE_Collector on January 02, 2014, 01:25:08 AM
Here is January 2013's second "Winner":

Gilas snagged this Oxford Grey 500 for only $19.95 on an ebaY Buy it Now.

Here is the original Find if the Month nomination:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=8408.msg92964#msg92964

Gilas had this to say about it:

I am going to nominate my Oxford Grey 500 that I got for a BIN of 19.99 the other day.  It appears all original in the posts including the grey handset cord.  Still need to find the line cord but just happy as hell that I can add this hard to find to my growing 500 collection.

Mike
Title: Re: The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"
Post by: AE_Collector on January 14, 2014, 12:20:55 AM
February 2013's "Winner":

Unbeldi put together an almost Instant Collection of Colored 302's in about a week.

Here is the original Find if the Month nomination:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=8682.msg95281#msg95281

Unbeldi had this to say about his collecting techniques:

Ok, friends, ... here is my 'Finds of the Week' collection.  All acquired this month within the same week. These were not in this pretty condition when I got them, only the red was.

Peking Red: 4-1953 spent most of its life in a residence around Dallas. When the couple (in their 80s) moved to San Diego, they sold their entire estate.

Ivory and Black: 1952, were installed on the same telephone line (JUniper 8-9030) in Maryland, close to DC. One had an advertisement sticker on it for a funeral home in DC which is still operating today.

Old Rose: 1st/2nd quarter 1950, New Hampshire, has some case damage in the back, needs new cords, but great for display.

This expanded my 300-series collection to about a dozen plus parts including the 5302 models.
Title: Re: The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"
Post by: AE_Collector on January 14, 2014, 12:33:57 AM
March 2013's "Winner":

LarryInMichigan finally snagged a Green 302 as well as a Find of the Month win in March with this $49 purchase:

Here is the original Find if the Month nomination:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=9041.msg96804#msg96804

Larry posted this about it:

I finally got a green 302. It arrived this afternoon, about three hours earlier than the mail usually arrives.  The plastic is dull and has some scratches, but I did not notice any cracks.  The finger wheel is shot, and the dial barely turns, but I plugged in the phone, and the transmitter and receiver worked.  The shell is VERY tight over the base.  I loosened the screws and gently tried removing the shell, but it did not budge in the slightest.  For now, the phone is set aside until I find the nerve to try to remove the shell.

I thought that I would never find one of these for an affordable price.  This one was a $49 BIN, and I couldn't resist.

Larry


Title: Re: The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"
Post by: AE_Collector on January 14, 2014, 12:44:51 AM
April 2013's "Winner:

Dan said it all about his $29.99 ebaY BIN: Got an EARLY Black WE500. I am Pumped!!!!!

Here is the original Find if the Month nomination:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=9296.msg99656#msg99656

Dan had this to say about his purchase:

Very interesting. My 12-1950 was closer with all it's dates, but this one did have a 1949 part. The dial sounds strange-like a little coffee grinder. (I will lube it).

Shell dated 11-24-1951. Probably was refurbed 62 years ago
Handset cord had no date, probably a recent replacement. Based on my knowledge the curly operator started in 1949 after the Dan/P 1947-1948 Z operator  prototype  and was used till 3-1950 (my phones date). I have a 12-1950 with the small font operator  . So the curly operator vanished between 3-50 and 12-50.

It is cool putting actual dates to this history we all know about. Anyone know of a curly operator plate dated after 3-1950?

Dan
Title: Re: The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"
Post by: AE_Collector on January 14, 2014, 12:48:39 AM
May 2013's "Winner":

AE40FAN snagged this amazing $89.99 BIN on ebaY: A Mahogany Automatic Electric Monophone 1A

Here is the original Find if the Month nomination:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=9434.msg100946#msg100946

Here is what AE40FAN said about it:

Probably one of my best finds to date.  I nabbed this soon after it was listed for a BIN of 89.99 with shipping brought me to around 100 and some change.  I received it today and I must say the condition is impeccable!  It is definitely mahogany brown.   I know these are worth a lot more but, just how much more?  Some water damage to the dial card which is a milk chocolate brown.  I have to be cautious removing the handset caps and they are stuck on there good.  Early Automatic Electric deskphones are the most beautiful pieces of art.  I am thrilled!  I have another great find on the way and I will post photos of that too when it arrives.

Title: Re: The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"
Post by: AE_Collector on January 14, 2014, 01:11:35 AM
June 2013's "Winner":

It was inevitable. There had to be a Mediterranean Blue WECo 500 and Gilas got it for $33.33 and his second Find of the Month WIN for 2013

Here is the original Find if the Month nomination:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=9592.msg103278#msg103278

Gilas was surprisingly subdued about his find:

I will nominate my Mediterranean Blue with gray cord that I got off Ebay for $33.33.


Title: Re: The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"
Post by: AE_Collector on January 14, 2014, 01:33:45 AM
July 2013's "Winner":

tptech302 scored a 1955 Mahogany Brown 500 set found on eBay BIN for $39.95

Here is the original Find if the Month nomination:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=9749.msg105648#msg105648

Here is tptech302's version of the story:

I would like to submit a 1955 Mahogany Brown 500 set found on eBay BIN for $39.95. It was late night and from the pictures hard to tell if it was really a Mahogany Brown or not but took a chance on it based on the cord. All date are 1955, the straight brown handset cord is in great condition, but the line cord has been cut. I haven't taken the time to clean it up yet, and it appears to have had ink spilled on it at some point in time. I'm really unsure of the best way to clean this good, so if anyone has suggestion it would be appreciated.
Title: Re: The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"
Post by: AE_Collector on January 14, 2014, 03:28:24 PM
August's 2013's "Winner":

Gilas' was out shopping yet again and this time came up with a 591 Rose Beige & 500 Oxford Gray - $30 Total and his THIRD Find of the Month WIN for 2013

Here is the original Find if the Month nomination:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=9944.msg107135#msg107135

Once again, Gilas was surprisingly subdued about his find that again turned out to be the "Find of the Month":

I will nominate my two soft plastic 500's that I acquired tonight for the grand total of $30 at a local flea market.  One is actually a 591 Rose Beige while the other is a beautiful Oxford Gray 500
Title: Re: The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"
Post by: AE_Collector on January 14, 2014, 03:29:44 PM
September's 2013's "Winner":

unbeldi is back again in September with his SECOND FInd of the Month WIN. This time he grabbed a 1958 Mahogany Brown 564H key set for $319 including shipping

Here is the original Find if the Month nomination:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=10224.msg108581#msg108581

unbeldi posted this about his nomination:

Here is a nomination of my 1958 Mahogany Brown 564H key set, as discussed in another thread.

I suppose it is worthy of the fine company here this month.
And it is special because it managed to get my attention twice this year, as mentioned already in the story.

Another picture... can never have enough pics; this color is not easy to photograph anyways... hard to get the brown out just right, and it shows different hues in varying light conditions.
Title: Re: The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"
Post by: AE_Collector on January 14, 2014, 03:30:27 PM
October's 2013's "Winner":

A newcomer to the Find of the Month, WEBellSystemChristian grabbed a Set of 3 10 Button WECo Phones for $4 Total

Here is the original Find if the Month nomination:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=10232.msg109269#msg109269

WEBellSystemChristian had previously entered an Ivory 500 for this months competition but when this new find came along he quickly withdrew the Ivory 500 and submitted the 10 button WECo's:

I really need to remember to stop posting FotM entries at the beginning of the month.
Anyway, here are my actual GOOD find(s). Three ten-button Western Electric desk sets. Two of them are 1500s, and the other one is a Princess. My mom picked them up at an estate sale today, all for $4!
Title: Re: The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"
Post by: AE_Collector on January 14, 2014, 03:30:51 PM
November's 2013's "Winner":

I'm not sure how Gilas knew that we were going to do a Find of the Year for 2013 but obviously he went on a Find of the Month Shopping Spree to try to stack the odds in his favour and he DID IT AGAIN with this nice AE2 for only $39.95

Here is the original Find if the Month nomination:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=10405.msg112980#msg112980

Gilas was yet again surprisingly subdued about his find but did have this to say about it:

I will nominate by AE2 that cost me 39.95 with shipping included
Title: Re: The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"
Post by: AE_Collector on January 14, 2014, 03:31:02 PM
December's 2013's "Winner":

It seems like only a week ago now that cchaven's Mahogany Brown Western Electric 591 for $12 at an Antique Mall was the "December 2013 Find of the Month". Actually, I guess it was only a week or so ago.

Here is the original Find if the Month nomination:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=10735.msg114388#msg114388

cchaven had the following report of the details of his "Find":

Today was my lucky day.  While browsing an antique mall not far from here, I spotted a brown telephone.  It turned out to be a mahogany WE 591 A/B dated 9/55 thru out except for the transmitter, which is dated 8/58.  It seems to have had a clear coat sprayed over it at some point, or maybe overspray in a shop.  It's thin and flaking off in spots.  Still, not bad for $12!

Here are some pictures showing some of the dates, including the back of the dial showing the color code of "-54".  It was really hard to try and capture the brown though.  It's soft plastic, has brown straight cords, and no ringer.

Jeff
Title: Re: The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"
Post by: AE_Collector on January 16, 2014, 12:10:17 AM
Okay, this is it. Time to vote for the "Find of the Year for 2013".

Ever since Dennis started the "Find of the Month" in October 2010 we have kicked around the idea of having the "Playoff's" after the end of a year, a "Find of the YEAR" competition.

So this time we are going to give it a try. There would normally be 12 entries, the winners of each of the monthly competitions from the year. However, we declared a tie in January 2013 as we just couldn't get a clear winner so there are 13 contestants this time.

Take a few minutes to check out each of the contestants. I have created one post per entrant along with very brief details, a link to the original nomination or the seperate topic on CRPF if there was one and one picture of each. The pictures are from the Photobucket site that John "TelePlay" maintains of all Find of the Month winners as well as the winners of the "Auction Contests".

Since there are thirteen to choose from, lets do THREE VOTES EACH and see who wins the "2013 Find of the YEAR". If you inadvertently vote for less than three contestants, click the "delete vote" button at the bottom left of poll and vote again.

Terry
Title: Re: The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"
Post by: paul-f on January 16, 2014, 04:10:10 PM
This is a great way to review the year in perspective.

How about a favorite auction contest of the year to go along with it and the Auction Contest Hall of Fame?
Title: Re: The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"
Post by: AE_Collector on January 16, 2014, 10:52:33 PM
Not certain how we would do that....any ideas? I'll pawn it off on John anyway so doesn't matter how difficult it is to organize! Just putting this Find of the Year together just about did me in.

Keep the votes coming in for the Find of the YEAR.  I think our record month for 2013 was 36 voters in November so it would be nice to meet or exceed that number for the 2013 Wrap Up.

Terry
Title: Re: The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"
Post by: TelePlay on January 16, 2014, 10:56:44 PM
Quote from: AE_Collector on January 16, 2014, 10:52:33 PM
Not certain how we would do that....any ideas? I'll pawn it off on John anyway so doesn't matter how difficult it is to organize! Just putting this Find of the Year together just about did me in.

Terry

  >:(

I thought I would just ignore that post from Paul . . .

Maybe this weekend, I'll think about it until then . . .  :o

Keep in mind there were 30 auction contests last year but the criteria to set up such an annual poll escapes me right now.

And, Terry, thanks!
Title: Re: ****The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"****
Post by: AE_Collector on January 20, 2014, 01:46:30 AM
Okay, I think we are going to pull the plug on the "Find of the YEAR - 2013".

It has been a real good competition with 36 seperate voters matching the record for 2013 set in November. Thirteen individual winners from the monthly competitions in 2013 all competing with each other one more time to determine which one was ultimately the favorite amongst CRPF voters.

I should have given everyone thirteen votes to make it easier for everyone as ultimately these were all fantastic finds. But I didn't and when the dust settled Paul F had squeaked past the others in what was almost a photo finish. Now I for one have to admit to being a little bit surprised at the winner and I'm betting that Paul might be as well!

There is no doubt about it that the January 2013 winner, a clear AE34 that Paul was given is the most in need of restoration out of the lot and in many ways it is "unrestorable". It does show the interest given by phone collectors to the old colored and in this case clear AE sets. The fact that it is an AE 34 which was only made for about five years (1934-1939) rather than a somewhat newer AE40 might have helped a little as well. I have joked that the four old Colored AE sets that I have in my collection are pretty much basket cases as well so this clear AE34 would fit right in my collection!

Of course Paul had some very close competition that should be mentioned as well. Gilas with his June 2013 winner, a Mediterranean Blue WE 500 was right on Paul's tail the entire contest. What a surprise that a Med Blue 500 would feature prominently in this competition!

Cchaven was the last winner in December 2013 and his entry, a Mahogany Brown WE 591 was also tied with Gilas' Med Blue 500 and one single vote behind these two came AE40FAN with his find from May, a much sought after AE Mahogany 1A with chrome trim.

These four competitors are the ones with the most votes overall but all of the others fell in right behind them. In my opinion a very good competition where absolutely no one was a loser. These are all phones that we would all love to have in our collections!

So congratulations go to Paul and his clear AE34 for being the ultimate winner of 2013 and to everyone else in the competition as well for their terrific finds. And a big thank you to everyone who voted for the "Find of the the YEAR - 2013".

Terry
Title: Re: ****The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"****
Post by: TelePlay on January 20, 2014, 07:28:48 AM
Congratulations to paul-f for winning the first ever Find of the Year contest. Had to wait a whole year since the phone was "found" but when the dust cleared, that clear plastic AE34 stood in first place. A few very close runner's up in a tight contest and all were fine finds but there can be only one winner. Congrats again to paul-f for being Number One of Number One.
Title: Re: ****The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"****
Post by: paul-f on January 20, 2014, 12:02:06 PM
Thanks voters!

I still don't know whether to chuckle or shed a tear when I look at the set.

Gilas deserves congratulations for taking the crown four times in 2013.  That's one third of the competitions and 32% of the overall vote!  Well done!
Title: Re: ****The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"****
Post by: AE_Collector on February 09, 2014, 01:37:15 AM
There is one final order of business needed here to finally close off the "Find of the YEAR - 2013" competition. That is....to present "paul f" with the "Find of the YEAR - 2013" Trophy!

No expense has been spared here, John "TelePlay" put hours of work as well as half of his life savings into the design and manufacture of this Trophy to commemorate Paul's winning of the first ever "Find of the YEAR" competition.

Place this proudly on display Paul, right beside your war torn and much abused yet highly prized and appreciated for what it is.....clear Automatic Electric model 34.

Terry on behalf of all CRPF members
Title: Re: ****The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"****
Post by: paul-f on February 09, 2014, 02:55:51 AM
Thank you Terry, John and CRPF voters.

The trophy is stunning.   :)

I'll have to hook up a bigger monitor to fully appreciate it.  At full resolution, the base more than fills the screen on my laptop.

The trophy will be displayed next to the set in its niche in the vault, and will travel with the set on its museum tours.  We may have to add an additional armed guard for protection.
Title: Re: ****The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"****
Post by: Matilo Telephones on February 09, 2014, 03:02:56 AM
Congratulations, Paul! Well deserved.
Title: Re: ****The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"****
Post by: AE_Collector on February 09, 2014, 12:04:36 PM
Sorry about the extra expense associated with the trophy Paul. CRPF can help offset a small amount of the costs from our annual subscription fee surplus account though I hear that people were hoping for a membership price reduction since we have been maintaining a surplus.

I too will have to buy a second iPad to hold one above the other in order to view the expanded version of the trophy. Might I suggest having it printed on a 3D printer?

Terry
Title: Re: ****The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"****
Post by: Mr. Bones on February 09, 2014, 02:27:30 PM
Congratulations, Paul!

I made a reduced-size version of the picture, for the folks with the smaller screens; hope this helps.

Best regards!
Title: Re: ****The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"****
Post by: TelePlay on February 09, 2014, 03:38:37 PM
Quote from: Mr. Bones on February 09, 2014, 02:27:30 PM
I made a reduced-size version of the picture, for the folks with the smaller screens . . .

I assumed all of the comments of the trophy being to big for screens was tongue in cheek humor. That trophy is about 1/3 the size of many raw phone photos posted, you know, those 3,000 by 5,000 4 to 5 MByte photos that take forever to load.

On all of my computers (6) and my very small Kindle Fire screen, the trophy shows full size on one screen and opens up in a separate window showing full size with the cursor then turning into a magnifier icon allowing one to blow it up, at which time, yes, it is bigger than screen size but the detail is high resolution.

The trophy was posted with enough resolution so that it would print out well. It's only a 582 KByte file , about 1,700 by 2,500 pixels in size, much less than half the size of many of those extremely large raw digital camera photos posted by many. Are people experiencing the same viewing issues with those humongous photos?

Here's what it looks like on my 6 year old laptop computer, before and after I click on the trophy. I am using Firefox, not IE. Is this another image loading issue? What am I missing, other than the joke?
Title: Re: ****The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"****
Post by: paul-f on February 09, 2014, 04:16:30 PM
Quote from: TelePlay on February 09, 2014, 03:38:37 PM

What am I missing, other than the joke?


I think the joke is all you're missing!   ;)

The original comment was intended to be a compliment to you for so neatly arranging all those pixels.

Fortunately, in addition to the laptop we have a desktop system with a larger display, that could do justice to your great work.

Thanks again, John!

Title: Re: ****The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"****
Post by: WesternElectricBen on February 09, 2014, 04:39:53 PM
Paul F,

That is quite an interesting setup you have there, with the portrait monitor, next to your very nice clear AE!

Ben 
Title: Re: ****The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"****
Post by: Mr. Bones on February 09, 2014, 04:47:21 PM
     It opened up fine on all my computer screens, as well, John. No image loading issues. I was just trying to help others, and it was in no way shape or form meant to deride your beautiful graphic. 8)

     I also use Firefox.

Best regards!
Title: Re: ****The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"****
Post by: TelePlay on February 09, 2014, 04:51:16 PM
Quote from: paul-f on February 09, 2014, 04:16:30 PM
Quote from: TelePlay on February 09, 2014, 03:38:37 PM

What am I missing, other than the joke?

I think the joke is all you're missing!   ;)

Thanks, Paul. That's what I got from your original post, and the second post but then the 3rd threw me. Thought there was a problem as we had during the upgrade to SMF Ver 2.x. Maybe being up to 4 am this Sunday morning working on the computer took its toll today on my judgement. Just wanted to make sure there wasn't a problem.

BTW, love that photo you put up of your very strange aspect ratio monitor . . .  ;)
Title: Re: ****The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"****
Post by: paul-f on February 09, 2014, 04:59:30 PM
Quote from: TelePlay on February 09, 2014, 04:51:16 PM

BTW, love that photo you put up of your very strange aspect ratio monitor . . .  ;)


It's a standard monitor that rotates 90 degrees, so it can be in either standard landscape or portrait orientation.  It's quite useful for editing documents.

Software rotates the image in 90 degree increments.  It is possible to use the software to rotate the image 180 degrees, so it's upside down.  When the image is not right side up, moving the cursor with a mouse or trackball is an interesting challenge.
Title: Re: ****The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"****
Post by: TelePlay on February 09, 2014, 05:17:09 PM
Quote from: paul-f on February 09, 2014, 04:59:30 PM
It's a standard monitor that rotates 90 degrees, so it can be in either standard landscape or portrait orientation.  It's quite useful for editing documents.

They had those in the 80s for secretaries working on the old Wang and other word processing only systems. Portrait aspect ratios so the full Wang or MS Word page could be seen as it would be printed. Those dedicated systems are long gone but I see they kept the idea alive with that monitor. I thought it was a framed, printed picture of the trophy, until I saw the icons at the bottom.

All is well and I even learned something new. Enjoy!
Title: Re: ****The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"****
Post by: paul-f on February 09, 2014, 06:20:31 PM
During the 80s, Chris worked in marketing for the group in DEC that made their word processing systems.  She still does a lot of serious document production, so we have a few toys to keep her happy.

I must admit, I enjoy using that monitor occasionally for gawking at phone photos!
Title: Re: ****The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"****
Post by: AE_Collector on February 09, 2014, 07:56:06 PM
Back in the late 80s when my computer (8086) was built from parts many of which I scrounged for, I snagged a couple of 5 Meg hard drives (full height of course) out of all the DEC Rainbow computers at work when they upgraded them all to either 10 or 20 Meg HDs! Life was good!!!

Terry
Title: Re: ****The "Find of the YEAR for 2013"****
Post by: TelePlay on February 09, 2014, 08:10:26 PM
Quote from: AE_Collector on February 09, 2014, 07:56:06 PMBack in the late 80s when my computer (8086) was built from parts many of which I scrounged for, I snagged a couple of 5 Meg hard drives (full height of course) out of all the DEC Rainbow computers at work when they upgraded them all to either 10 or 20 Meg HDs!

Flashback time, Terry. In the mid '80's, I remember pricing those brand new 5 Meg full height hard drives for sale to customers as part of scientific analytical instrumentation made by my employer that was used with electron microscopes. They sold for $10,000, each.  And, $10 grand in the mid '80s was serious buy a nice new car money. The processors were Dec PDP 11/23's if memory serves, with true core memory boards. Then the 10 Meg drives came out for a bit more. That was before extended memory mapping came to be so the DEC CPU was limited to 32 KBytes, 28 useable and 4 for housekeeping. Ah, the good old days.