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Hmmm... auction question..

lol. Sounds like a good catch. Might check with the seller. I never thought about turning a box on without any cards.. does it normally light up like that?
 
Nice Machine! I wonder to know is there has CPU board, RAM board, IO board inside the case???
 
It just looks like the metalwork, power supply, backplane and front panel only to me - no cards at all.

Not only no processor card, but no memory or I/O either. The rear panel doesn't even have any 25 way connectors (or similar) to connect your terminal etc. to.

Providing the front panel has power it should light up and respond to some of the switches - but you won't be able to store any data into a memory card that doesn't exist.

If you want an Imsai 8080 card cage, power supply, backplane and front panel - go for it (providing you have access to the required cards to build your own system). If you want a system that works (or can be repaired) - pass.

Dave
 
In my view, it's a good start for someone who's willing to buy the parts and wait for the right cards to come up for sale, if they ever do. I am doing that with an original Altair 8800 (just got the unit with no internal cards other than a PIO card) though I paid slightly less than what this auction is going for at the moment.

There are reproduction cards that will work with the front panel on the IMSAI and Altair to get it going but these aren't easy to find either. Memory/IO cards are not difficult to find unless you want originals.
 
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HI,

I was the crazy one who purchased this - I'm in Australia, and these are *rare* and impossible to come across.

I am certainly in the category of being happy to populate it over time - I currently are playing with some Salota boards that I scored years ago, and am having success. I did start a new thread about compatibility with Salota vs the Imsai SIO cards, and about where I coule get a 110V only transformer.

Doug
 
HI,

I was the crazy one who purchased this - I'm in Australia, and these are *rare* and impossible to come across.

Amusingly, I'm also in Australia and I also was tempted to bid on that item :) The final price was beyond my budget however.

I hope that you get the system running nicely, it should be a fun project.
 
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