Faicuai Posted April 20, 2021 Share Posted April 20, 2021 (edited) Few days ago I was cruising on my regular mid-night eBay patrol. when out of the blues I stumble across this neglected, crap-looking puppy: To my dismay, I also find a grotesque hole in the back, like it has been literally shot point-blank just to get it done... And then..... Can you guys *** SEE *** what is coming out of that shit-hole? Did anyone here bid on this poor, neglected baby? ??? (Hint: Jackpot !!) Edited April 20, 2021 by Faicuai 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 1 hour ago, Faicuai said: Few days ago I was cruising on my regular mid-night eBay patrol. when out of the blues I stumble across this neglected, crap-looking puppy: To my dismay, I also find a grotesque hole in the back, like it has been literally shot point-blank just to get it done... And then..... Can you guys *** SEE *** what is coming out of that shit-hole? Did anyone here bid on this poor, neglected baby? ??? (Hint: Jackpot !!) You saying you scored big with a scarred up thing with an open shit hole? Sounds reasonable for Florida. I kid. Hope it works for you! Also - I'd wear two layers of gloves before touching that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faicuai Posted April 21, 2021 Author Share Posted April 21, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Stephen said: You saying you scored big with a scarred up thing with an open shit hole? You will soon see why "playing-the-fool" pays handsomely... and gets you to Florida! This one is mainly for true 800 "connoisseurs"... ?? Edited April 21, 2021 by Faicuai 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 (edited) If all that is known from the auction is "what you see is what you get," then maybe @Faicuai thinks he scored big as that hole and what is coming out of it could add up to a bit-3 or other 80-column card (or something special) inside? What port (or custom I/O?) is the other wire that wraps around to the side plug into? Is that going to the monitor port? Edited April 21, 2021 by Gunstar 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faicuai Posted April 21, 2021 Author Share Posted April 21, 2021 (edited) 7 minutes ago, Gunstar said: what is coming out of it could add up to a bit-80 card (or something special) inside? (and a bit more...) I knew a real (through-and-through) 800 user will notice... It had to be you, of course.... ?? Just wait for the whole story... My inner psycho-capitalist is flying high, now... ? Edited April 21, 2021 by Faicuai 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 I corrected to say Bit-3, but you quoted me first... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazzspeed Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 All I see is one big hole for two very little wires... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1200XL M.U.L.E. Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 I can hear that 800 screaming in pain as the drill ground through the plastic and a little bit of the machine's soul escaped into the ether. That poor thing needs some healing. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 Good lord, what sort of person does that to a mighty beast, why such a big hole, stupid, lets hope it does have riches inside and not body parts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazzspeed Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 At least they drilled the hole in the rear of the old girl and not the side or the top (heaven forbid). It's funny, front on it doesn't look too bad, but from the rear it looks like something's growing on the outer casing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faicuai Posted April 21, 2021 Author Share Posted April 21, 2021 (edited) 54 minutes ago, Mclaneinc said: lets hope it does have riches inside and not body parts It has been a done deal, already, for days... just getting my ducks in a row here, to share and show the rest of the story (as soon as I get to my desk...) Edited April 21, 2021 by Faicuai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faicuai Posted April 21, 2021 Author Share Posted April 21, 2021 6 hours ago, 1200XL M.U.L.E. said: I can hear that 800 screaming I have to agree... it's criminal... I sometimes imagine or wonder if the state of the equipment is also a reflection of the lives of the owners themselves... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilsaluki Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 Is there a way to 'patch' that eyesore? Maybe use fiberglass patch from the inside? Build it up. Use car bondo, the sand and texture it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdivancic Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 38 minutes ago, gilsaluki said: Is there a way to 'patch' that eyesore? Maybe use fiberglass patch from the inside? Build it up. Use car bondo, the sand and texture it? I would have someone 3D print a plug. It would look good from the outside anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StickJock Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 Maybe someone has a completely trashed, broken in a million pieces during shipping, shell that they would be willing to send you a 1" square piece of original, textured plastic from? You could then trim both the hole & piece to a perfect fit, glue it in place (with a backing piece) and then use minimal fill for the outline. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+kheller2 Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 Nah.. the hole is just a place the guy stored the long grey cable. Sort of like those canister vacuums that have the retractable power cord. ? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faicuai Posted April 21, 2021 Author Share Posted April 21, 2021 (edited) Alrighty, folks, time for closure... I usually never target distressed HW bargains, but as soon as I saw those two gray pig-tails, one shorter-and-thicker (with black thermal sleeve and female RCA coupling), and another thinner and longer running towards the monitor port, I immediately knew we were up to... and not just a Bit3 but also a likely RAM-companion board to secure full 48KB with only slots 1&2... In other words, the whole enchilada... That would be close to $300 in boards alone, enough to cover a total loss of the unit, if damaged on transport (a real possibility, considering how mistreated it had been, in first place). Well, I ended up sniping a seemingly lonely auction at close to $100 (I guess no-one really paid attention to the real upside), and would you look at what the goose brought safely guarded on its indestructible cargo-bay!: Not just FULLY operational and in perfect condition, but that Bit3's 6545 actually makes contact with its metal-cover for better heat dissipation than my first Bit3 (which has a higher serial # than this one). The 32KB RAMCRAM board dates as far as 1981 on tis components, and it is built litke a tank!. Combined power consumption with expansion bay fully populated is about 23.3W which is perfectly in line with my other Bit3 + INTEC 32KB cards. Now, the sad part of all this is that the goose DID NOT survive the trip... it was SO POORLY packed (on a 20-years-old degraded camcorder box with almost NO wall protection or padding!) and consequent it got beaten pretty badly in transit. It was really F.U.B.A.R, and structurally compromised on multiple points.... I could not save this puppy: Consequently, I ended up getting a FULL COMPLETE eBay refund, including shipping !!! YESS!! So tho whole ordeal ended up costing: $0.00 (!!!) Besides the boards, this is what I was able to recover (if anyone is interested in anything, let me know, we may be able to strike a good deal). Keyboard is a HiTek white-plungers in pretty good condition, now fully cleaned, after a complete tear-down: Now we have a second Bit3 what we can work on tuning its firmware so we can all display then on modern & universal NTSC and PAL LCD displays !! Cheers !! Edited April 21, 2021 by Faicuai 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bee Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 What is the status of the keyboard? I have an 800 in need. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNameOfTheGame Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 A full refund after showing us you got hundreds of dollars of value from the hardware? Not cool. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+kheller2 Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 8 minutes ago, TheNameOfTheGame said: A full refund after showing us you got hundreds of dollars of value from the hardware? Not cool. I'm on the fence on this one. Imagine you purchased a used car and was totaled on the way to your house for delivery. Just because you can sell off the parts of the car that are still good for more than you paid for the whole car (this is typical, btw) doesn't mean you wouldn't be upset and want a refund. (This analogy fails completely apart when you consider the seller could get the junker back, which didn't happen in this case.) But... I've suffered enough destroyed Atari gear in the mail from people who can't pack that I'm fine with this. Make sure you pack that glass vase nicely next to the stone brick in the box when you ship it off. 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faicuai Posted April 22, 2021 Author Share Posted April 22, 2021 (edited) 18 minutes ago, TheNameOfTheGame said: Not cool. Of course it is CoOoL ! After all It was me who took the whole risk (not you)... and luckily enough, the boards were functional! (they could have been damaged as well!) Just Learn from this story, so (next time) you pay attention to detail and you win instead! ?? Ebay = man's best-friend! ?? Edited April 22, 2021 by Faicuai 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNameOfTheGame Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 (edited) *Edit* Screw it...lol who am I to say what ppl do. Go for it. Edited April 22, 2021 by TheNameOfTheGame Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNameOfTheGame Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 1 minute ago, Faicuai said: Of course it is CoOoL ! After all It was me who took the whole risk (not you)... and luckily enough, the boards were functional! (they could have been damaged as well!) Just Learn from this story, so (next time) you pay attention to detail and you win instead! ?? Ebay = man's best-friend! ?? Meh, I'm out of this thread. I can see were this is going. ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faicuai Posted April 22, 2021 Author Share Posted April 22, 2021 (edited) 24 minutes ago, kheller2 said: doesn't mean you wouldn't be upset and want a refund. Some people out there seem to suffer from some sort of self-inflicted, "save-the-world" syndrome. That is, there is always a victim out there that must be saved, with someone else's money of course (not the savior's!).. The nice part of this is that I *never* asked for a refund... As soon as I explained the vendor what happened, and sent him the pictures, he was professional enough to immediately offer me a full refund. He actually had the shipment insured, and claimed it at the carrier. Pretty good, responsive seller, I have to say! Edited April 22, 2021 by Faicuai 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faicuai Posted April 22, 2021 Author Share Posted April 22, 2021 1 hour ago, Bee said: What is the status of the keyboard? I have an 800 in need. Thank you Very good, indeed... PM-me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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