3B2 rescue in Atlanta

[eeguru]

A long time veteran of AT&T who lives in Atlanta had a personal cache of 3B2 machines and related hardware. It wasn't so much a rescue as some Benjamins were exchanged, but I was able to pick up the entire lot. It had been sitting in non-climate controlled storage for 20+ years. So it was a little rough. But I'm happy. I took a quick video of the first power on of the series 600 machine. Also included were 3 400s, a lot of cards (mostly common PORTS/EPORTS) some terminals, and stacks of floppies and tape. It will take a while to process through all the material and assess the state of the hardware. And everything is covered in a thick layer of petrified dust!

https://vimeo.com/251172434

 

[Al Kossow]

A long time veteran of AT&T who lives in Atlanta had a personal cache of 3B2 machines and related hardware. It wasn't so much a rescue as some Benjamins were exchanged, but I was able to pick up the entire lot. It had been sitting in non-climate controlled storage for 20+ years. So it was a little rough. But I'm happy. I took a quick video of the first power on of the series 600 machine. Also included were 3 400s, a lot of cards (mostly common PORTS/EPORTS) some terminals, and stacks of floppies and tape. It will take a while to process through all the material and assess the state of the hardware. And everything is covered in a thick layer of petrified dust!

https://vimeo.com/251172434

I'd be happy to put the floppy and tape images up on bitsavers when you get around to reading them.

 

[glitch]

Nice! I've got a similar cache of ex-Bell Labs employee 3B2 stuff to go through at some point. Same thing, squirreled away basically in an outdoor, non weathertight shed.

 

[eeguru]

Nice! I've got a similar cache of ex-Bell Labs employee 3B2 stuff to go through at some point. Same thing, squirreled away basically in an outdoor, non weathertight shed.

Oh come on Jon! I hope you are joking or send me your snail mail right now.. so I can drive up there to rescue and more importantly slap you silly!

 

[glitch]

Oh come on Jon! I hope you are joking or send me your snail mail right now.. so I can drive up there to rescue and more importantly slap you silly!

That's how they *were* stored, I bought them from the previous owner and have removed the mouse nests and bulk of the filth, they're safe and no longer deteriorating, stored in my shop -- just waiting on me to get time to go through them! A number of 3B1/UNIX PC machines came with them, too.

 

[ScutBoy]

Sweet! I had a 600 that I liberated from a previous employer that I gave away for peanuts a long time ago. It was the backend, we had a bunch of 3B1s out in retail locations. Lots of dial-up UUCP to move data back and forth.

I do have a 3B2/310 with a Blit at this time, and a PC7300 also with a bad HD.

 

[Twylo]

Nice! I've got a similar cache of ex-Bell Labs employee 3B2 stuff to go through at some point. Same thing, squirreled away basically in an outdoor, non weathertight shed.

Aieee! I think I just had a series of minor heart attacks...

Now, when you say 'stuff', what all does it entail? Hardware, software, documentation, other stuff?

After completing the 3B2/400 emulator, I'm still on a major 3B2 history and preservation kick. This stuff is worth more than gold to me, I want it preserved, documented, and taken care of in the worst way.