Hi Jerry, The ones I am seeing now range from a little over $500 up well over $1000. But I will keep an eye on what pops up. And perhaps some other opportunity will present itself too. Who knows. I have a couple of MFM emulators for my PDPs so a SCSI emulator would be neat. Those old drives tend to get pricey and you never know how long they will last.
- Peter On Sun, Nov 30, 2025 at 6:25 PM Jerry Weiss <[email protected]> wrote: > If you are patient, its likely a MicroVAX 3100 at a lower price will > eventually appear. > > For disks I would suggest a SCSI2SD (now ZuluSCSI ?) or BlueSCSI > devices. You can partition one SD card into several drives. Using > industrial endurance SD cards is preferable, and slightly more > expensive, but in the sizes you are likely to need (~32 GB or less), it > shouldn't be too bad. SD card speed is not a factor. > > Checking out the electrolytic capacitors at the onset is important. It > can be hard to diagnose and repair semiconductors in switching power > supplies damaged by a shorted capacitor. > > Jerry > > > ------ Original Message ------ > From "Peter Ekstrom via cctalk" <[email protected]> > To "Wayne S" <[email protected]> > Cc "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <[email protected]>; "Peter Ekstrom" <[email protected]> > Date 11/30/2025 3:27:23 PM > Subject [cctalk] Re: VAX and OpenVMS > > > > > > >Ok, good things to keep in mind. And glad to hear I was right in thinking > > > >it seemed a bit high. > > > > > > > >Thank you, > > > > > > > >- Peter > > > > > > > >On Sun, Nov 30, 2025 at 4:19 PM Wayne S <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > >> > >> It depends on what the machine still has inside. > >> > >> If you have to add disk and memory that will be expensive. > >> > >> Also, if memory is missing, I’d be suspicious that the machine was > faulty > >> > >> from the beginning. > >> > >> $550 seems like a lot for a machine, especially if it’s not running. > >> > >> Just my opinion. > >> > >> I got my 3100 about two years ago for $90. Just missing disc drives. > >> > >> > >> > >> Sent from my iPhone > >> > >> > >> > >> > On Nov 30, 2025, at 13:14, Peter Ekstrom via cctalk < > >> > >> [email protected]> wrote: > >> > >> > > >> > >> > I have no problem replacing caps in PSUs so if that's the only > problem > >> > >> I'm > >> > >> > good. Although the battery damage you mention can be quite a bit > trickier > >> > >> > (if at all possible) to fix. > >> > >> > Unfortunately many of the sellers on eBay don't really know, so it is > >> > >> part > >> > >> > of the risk one takes. So I am trying to make sure I pay a low but > fair > >> > >> > price. > >> > >> > > >> > >> > - Peter > >> > >> > > >> > >> >> On Sun, Nov 30, 2025 at 3:54 PM Peter Coghlan via cctalk < > >> > >> >> [email protected]> wrote: > >> > >> >> > >> > >> >>>> > >> > >> >>> Very interesting thread. I was kinda thinking too that someone > running > >> > >> >> VMS > >> > >> >>> on a machine for hobby use would be too small of a potato to go > after. > >> > >> >>> Incidentally, what would y'all value a MicroVAX 3100 at? I am > looking > >> > >> at > >> > >> >>> one on eBay for $550 but am considering making a lower offer. > >> > >> >>> I have no details about it so don't know the amount of memory and > such. > >> > >> >>> > >> > >> >> > >> > >> >> I have about five or six MicroVAX 3100s and a similar number of > >> > >> Vaxstation > >> > >> >> 3100s. > >> > >> >> They were all given to me or rescued from being dumped so I didn't > pay a > >> > >> >> penny > >> > >> >> for any of them. Almost all of them have had problems with > electrolytic > >> > >> >> capacitors in the power supplies leaking. The nicad battery packs > would > >> > >> >> also > >> > >> >> have leaked if I hadn't removed them years ago. > >> > >> >> > >> > >> >> If you are thinking of paying money for a Microvax 3100, I suggest > you > >> > >> make > >> > >> >> sure it hasn't already been damaged by leakage from capacitors or > >> > >> batteries > >> > >> >> and if you do aquire it, take immediate steps to make sure it > doesn't > >> > >> soon > >> > >> >> get > >> > >> >> damaged by same. > >> > >> >> > >> > >> >> Regards, > >> > >> >> Peter Coghlan. > >> > >> >> > >> > >> >
