Drawings Altair 8800 case

[Roland Huisman]

Hello everyone,

Does anyone have exact and detailed drawings from the Altair 8800 case?
Also the color numbers would be welcome.
I'm looking for an Altair 8800 case, but that seems quite impossible.
So I would like to make a replica case, and probably more than one because
making one is approximately the same amount of work as making a few of them.

Regards, Roland

 

[smp]

Hi,

A member here, deramp5113, is the creator of the Altair Clone. He should have all the information you seek.

Good luck!
smp

 

[Marty]

HI All;
Also, the Company that made the origional case is/was still in business, as of a few years ago.. As that was WHO Grant Stockly contacted to make His cases for Him, and they had the origional Drawings, possibly colors information as well.. But, getting ahold of Grant is near impossible any more..
THANK YOU Marty

 

[Al Hartman]

http://altairkit.com/

 

[Roland Huisman]

@ smp
Thaks, I will ask Mike. I've had contact with him before to get an original case.
Maybe he can help me indeed to get the right drawings.
He told me also the http://www.optimastantron.com/
is the company who made these cases for Grant Stockly.
Unfortunately this optimastantron.com does not answer my emails.

@ Marty and Al Hartman
I've tried to email Grant Stockly from altairkit.com a few times.
Recently I got finally an answer that the case is about 600 dollar to make.
I told him that I would love to pay that for such an 'original' case.
I've also asked him if he had the drawings if it's not possible to make
those cases anymore. But he did not answer that email again until now...

And I guess that there are a few more people who want a case OR an Altairkit...

Regards, Roland

 

[Al Kossow]

Unfortunately this optimastantron.com does not answer my emails.

Try one of their distributors
http://www.optimastantron.com/en/about/where-to-buy/

 

[tkc8800]

Try one of their distributors
http://www.optimastantron.com/en/about/where-to-buy/

I contacted them about a year ago about getting an Altair case and they responded telling me to contact Grant Stockly. I need the front bezel/bottom of the case for my Altair8800BT.

Building an exact replica of the Altair case would be quite difficult as the internal cage is made up of many different parts and some a re quite detailed. A better option would be to make an externally accurate replica just like Mike's Altair clone.

 

[Roland Huisman]

I contacted them about a year ago about getting an Altair case and they responded telling me to contact Grant Stockly.

In the first place Mike tried to get these cases from Optima also. But Optima told him
exactly the same as they told you. This was because Grant has payed for the
redrawing and tooling. So he is the owner of the process now.

So Optima seems to be an dead end street.

 

[barythrin]

I saw Grant posted over on cctalk a few days ago. He may be overwhelmed with spam or something but perhaps he'll reply if the subject is descriptive enough.

 

[tkc8800]

For as long as I've been involved with the Altair, since around 2011, his Altairkit.com site has been running. The existence of that site gives the impression that there is some intention of making the whole thing active again. I may be wrong but I've wondered why you'd leave the site there if that wasn't the case.

 

[barythrin]

A little off topic but I do wonder how many of his devices if any are still in stock. He sold out pretty easily in the past though and would only do a handful of runs at a time due to the upfront cost involved. I also remember even back then he was struggling to have the free time for play and work. Not sure what type of work he does for a living (in Alaska?) but if he's making circuit compatible vintage clones it's probably something time consuming. I remember when he released his Kenbak-1 kit and offered to have them autographed by John Blankenbaker.

 

[Corey986]

A little off topic but I do wonder how many of his devices if any are still in stock. He sold out pretty easily in the past though and would only do a handful of runs at a time due to the upfront cost involved. I also remember even back then he was struggling to have the free time for play and work. Not sure what type of work he does for a living (in Alaska?) but if he's making circuit compatible vintage clones it's probably something time consuming. I remember when he released his Kenbak-1 kit and offered to have them autographed by John Blankenbaker.

I speak to Grant periodically. He has been very busy with his move and his day job. He is working on revitalising his clone business, but his need for perfection is time consuming. For example on the Altair boards, Grant actually went and fixed up all the errors in the silk screens so that the builder would have an easier time getting a working system.

He doesn't do this stuff to make money, like many in the clone/replica business, it's building one for themselves and the sale to others to help subsidize the work.

Cheers,
Corey

 

[Roland Huisman]

Hello, what a replies!

Of course I prefer to buy a case from Grant (www.altairkit.com)! It can't be better than that I think!

If he tells me that he is going to arrange a production run and I have to wait
for about a year, no problem. It's a hobby not a job, so I'm not in a hurry...
But it took me over a half a year to get one reply to my emails from him.
So I really wonder if he has the time to arrange a production run of these cases.

That brought the idea to me to arrange something by myself. But I don't have
any reference or drawing of these cases. And without that it is simply impossible
to make such an case anyway...

Regards, Roland

 

[skippy]

I speak to Grant periodically. He has been very busy with his move and his day job. He is working on revitalising his clone business, but his need for perfection is time consuming. For example on the Altair boards, Grant actually went and fixed up all the errors in the silk screens so that the builder would have an easier time getting a working system.

He doesn't do this stuff to make money, like many in the clone/replica business, it's building one for themselves and the sale to others to help subsidize the work.

Cheers,
Corey

Is there still a possibility of these kits becoming available again? I've wanted one of these since 1975 but life got in the way. Found the website http://www.altairkit.com a few months ago and tried a few emails to Mr. Stockly but no response. I have also seen the so-called Altair Clone; not knocking it but Stockly's is the real deal. I want to build it and use it but maybe I should save up for one of those expensive original "museum pieces" on Ebay although I am guessing that Stockly's kits are not a cheap trick either. Any info appreciated.

 

[NeXT]

From experience I can tell you that the Altairclone will suit most hobbyists these days unless they REALLY require an S100 bus and even the conversion to S100 isn't too hard apart from the power supply.

 

[skippy]

From experience I can tell you that the Altairclone will suit most hobbyists these days unless they REALLY require an S100 bus and even the conversion to S100 isn't too hard apart from the power supply.

It is a very nice package. If the Stockly kit is gone forever, it is tempting. I am not worried about a power supply, but how do you interface the clone to the S-100 bus? Any links?

 

[Tor]

Yeah, I would also be interested in S-100.. how would that be done? I have a Clone, and it's great. I had the chance to get an Altair kit from Grant, but regrettably it was at an inconvenient moment and I had to decline. So I got the Altariclone instead, at a later time. It does everything really, the only issue is if you would want an S-100 bus.