What we found



When we called to get directions, we were told that the equipment was in the backyard and had been stored there for 15 years.  We figured that the equipment would be in a shed or atleast under a tarp. Boy, were we wrong!

Here's Paul showing the dismay that we all felt when we went into the backyard where the equipment was "stored".


Here's what we saw as far as the "stored" equipment.














We were a bit dismayed at first because it appeared that there was nothing salvagable. However, we decided to "dig" into the jungle a bit to see if there wasn't anything worth salvaging (we *were* prepared to leave empty-handed).  Who would have thought that we would have needed a machette for a computer rescue?


There were some items that we decided were just too far gone to be worth even picking up.  It *used* to be an RK06 drive and pack.


What made this all so exciting too was the fact that we had to pick up and carry everything out of the backyard because there were no walkways...just grass...lots of tall grass.



We spent several hours moving all of the equipment into the truck.  After a brief stop to grab something to eat, we headed back.  Here we are pulling up to the back of my place.  And then a shot of some of the stuff still in the truck.














Here's (almost) everything.


In the end we figure on salvaging (other than the racks) about 30%.  Here's a list of what we found:
  • 2 TU10 Tape drives
  • 2 RK06 disk drives
  • 1 RM03 disk drive
  • 2 11/40 CPUs
  • 1 11/35 CPU
  • 1 RP11 disk controller
  • 2 5.25" Unibus memory boxes
  • 3 RX01 floppy drives
In the end, the vast majority of the damage was from UV.  The tape drives and disk drives are almost complete writeoffs.  Cards that had been protected from the sun were in pretty good shape (almost all of the flip chips in the RP11 just need a bit of a cleaning).  The boards that were out in direct sunlight (like the controllers for the RX01s) had almost completely disintegrated.  The front panels on the 11's were pretty faded, but all but one are still legible.

So the moral of this story boys and girls, is that if you're going to store equipment outside, at least put a tarp over it!!

As a footnote, Paul took one of the (core) memory boxes home and cleaned it up.  After cleaning everything and replacing a fan, it powered up and worked!