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Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: Astral on December 12, 2009, 09:07:27 AM
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Here in Australia we have roadside cleanups where you place "rubbish" out the front of your house, and it is removed for you free of charge. It's amazing what you find in these piles sometimes! I for one love having a squizz and seeing what gems people are getting rid of! Call me a scab, that's ok :D
Amongst recent finds, things that I have kept have been - an 80mb SCSI drive from a MacLCII (now in my A1000 Phoenix), an external SCSI drive, 2 x 80gig hard drives, a 40gig hard drive, DVD drives, RAM sticks and so on. Notably, because it is Amiga related :D, I also found 4 floppy drives recently, and testing them with my A1200 revealed three were just standard PC drives, but the fourth was a direct Amiga compatible drive, an FB354! That is now amongst my spares :D
So, I ask, what Amiga gems have others found "in the rubbish"?
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If it doesn't necessarily have to be Amiga-related, here are my finds:
* Star Wars trilogy VHS (bear in mind this was about 1998) - the odd thing was, I was borrowing someone else's copy at the time, and so I very quickly checked that the borrowed copy was still where it should be!
* £40 (two 20UKP notes, that was only about a month ago actually)
:)
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I once found 2 A500's next to a skip. 1 of them was broken including the case but had a good floppy drive and the other worked perfectly after a good cleaning. Even the 512Mb expansions in both of them still worked :)
I also found a 486DX40 last week. The battery leaked and so the keyboard port no longer worked, but it had a good floppy drive and a quantum bigfoot 1gb hd and a 200 watt AT psu (perfect for my a4000T)
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* £40 (two 20UKP notes, that was only about a month ago actually)
:)
I wondered what i'd done with those!!
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An old shoe. A pair of sh1tted pants.
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I can't say I ever found anything directly Amiga related on trash day.... But I did find a PIII machine that's still my main pc. Found a dead P4 that yielded up an 80GB HD and some RAM. While garage saleing this summer, just randomly following signs, I found a guy with a couple of baker's racks on the lawn and a sign "Free Stuff". Got a nice HP scanner with document feeder, and a wireless G router.
The city used to have an e-waste dropoff at the recycling center... they closed it I think because too many people were scavenging it and taking all the good stuff first. ;-) I know I got a Pentium laptop down there.
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I found an Amiga 1000 (working) and 1080 monitor (in box!) in a neighbor's garbage once...!
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Wish I could find Amiga stuff on the side of the road! But I can't complain as this year netted me a real nice vintage 19" Quasar tele with remote control, a 13" in brand new shape and an Atwater Kent floor standing radio from the 20's in excellent shape. Quite a few years back, someone had their vintage IBM PC with keyboard (you know, the ones built like a tank that "click") laying on the ground, next to their garbage. A friend and I happened to be walking about town, went to grab a bite to eat so snagged this for the walk home. Needless to say, that old computer stuff is HEAVY! lol
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Over the years, I found:
- 3x Commodore 64
- Several 1541
- Commodore C-16
- 2x Wico Command Control
- 128D Keyboard
- Mac LC II
- Mac Performa 5300
- All sorts of PC stuff + misc electronics, tape decks, hifi systems etc.
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Found a nice 1084S that a school was throwing away - currently attached to my Toaster system :)
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Last summer I saw some Amiga stuff locally advertised. Ended up picking up a WarpEngine 040 and X-Surf II and some other stuff for 40 bucks.
I asked the guy if he had any other Amiga stuff and he told me he just tossed an A4000 in the back of his truck for a run to the dump....snagged that for free! ;) It was complete and the case was in near mint shape... lucky day!
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In my locale the tash "service"furnishes ,as part of the monthly fee, oversized plastic bins with lids and the commercial accounts get big steel bins,some with LOCKS!
Dumpster diving is strongly discouraged and may even lead to criminal charges!
About the only way is if someone actually places the item out curbside with a free notice or one happens to get permission from one's workplace(and that isn't easy ,what with "corporate ethics" policies ansd security policies that suggest anyone wanting discarded items is of questionable character and intent!)
I did get a nice stereo amp that needed only a fuse,but that was 20 years ago.
Better luck finding the odd bit at thrift store of yard sale.Once got 8 64s for 50cents each.A friend found an Amiga 1200 for $12 at Goodwill!
It is a sin and a crime against the poor how much usuable stuff goes to landfill,not just Amigas.
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I got the software and books for an Amiga whose owner told me she had taken the computer itself to the city recycling center weeks before"and it had a lot of cards in it,but it was OLD".
WAAAAAHHHH!
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Ah, well nothing Amiga-related, but:
Quite a bit of stereo/hifi gear... my 'favorite' is a FM/Cassette/turntable console with a built-in cheesy light show... (can you say '1970's' ??? lol)
I found a PC literally in the road one day, I replaced the dead CD drive with a burner, and gave it to my dad....
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Mine isn't an Amiga item, but it was a nice find...
About 18 months ago I saw a Compaq EVO 510 SFF desktop out on the nature strip, so I dragged it home, assuming it would be a basket-case.
I was delighted to find it was fully working with a P4 2.8GHz, 512MB RAM, 40GB hard disk and a Dual-layer DVD Multiburner!
I'm currently using it as my WinXP backup system and also use Ubuntu 9.04 on it...
Cheers,
Mike.
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Ah, well nothing Amiga-related, but:
my 'favorite' is a FM/Cassette/turntable console with a built-in cheesy light show... (can you say '1970's' ??? lol)
LOL! I was at Marc's place a couple of weeks ago and saw that beauty. Funny thing is... I had the same exact model when I was young!! lmao
Marc... forgot to ask: do both sides of the lighting work? Pretty neat lightshow. There's supposed to be different colored bulbs in case yours does not. That little stereo did sound good and I even upgraded mine with better speakers back in the day. Sadly, I remember somehow the lighting grate got broken on mine and who knows where it's at today :(
I'd like to get an Atari Video Music machine someday if anyone happens to have one they'd be willing to part with..
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Boxed A500, with manuals, OS, composite box, I meg ram expansion, the A500 itself is in MINT condition, the box got rained on.
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An old shoe. A pair of sh1tted pants.
Did you keep them?
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I didnt find it directly, but a fiend who works where a basketball team has its practises found an Amiga 4000, the Video Toaster 4000 version, in the garbage and grabbed it knowing I was into Amigas. I got it home and opened it up. Video Toaster and the A/B Roll system were installed. Two hard drives. an 030 Amiga. The power supply fan had failed and the machine overheated so they threw it out. Only damage was the power connectors on the hard drives were ruined. I held them on the drives with my finger while I copied all the data to a new drive, fixed the fan, and it's been fine ever since.
I know it was the basketball teams because there were images of them practising saved on the drive from the framestore.
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Ah, my favourite time of the year, throw all your old junk in a pile outside and a big truck will pick it up. I've always taken advantage of these cleanups, and scored some pretty good stuff over the years. Never got an Amiga though, unfortunately. I've found:
A working Commodore 128D without keyboard (plays games fine)
A working Compaq iPaq (with a busted VGA connector though)
A Scart-S-Video/AV adapter, a couple of days after I just paid $15 for the exact same thing
8MB Apple RAM SIMM which works in my A1200 RAM card and accelerator
The base/wheels for an office chair to replace the broken base on my own chair
A working 51cm TV for the spare room
Some extra weights for my girlfriend so she can stay fit
A large plastic hemp plant, perfect for a prop in a short film (one of my hobbies is video)
Plenty of game cartridges for Atari 2600, Commodore 64, Sega Master System, Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64
Assorted game controllers, including a perfect condition CD32 pad!?!
A box of clothes for my girlfriend to wear
A lamp on a pole that blew the fuse in my house when I switched it on
A DVD remote for a PS2 Slim, which my little cousin needed and uses now
A box of ancient slides of Egypt, the pyramids and the Sphinx
A few sets of stickers from Guitar Hero boxes to put on my own guitar controllers
Some exercise equipment for my sister, they look more like rides but she reckons she feels the burn
I've found a bunch more over the years that I just can't pick off the top of my head. I've been pretty successful dumpster diving too, bringing home heaps of brand new stuff like solar powered garden lights, CD players, camping equipment, toys, ocky straps, stereo systems and other working stuff that didn't need to be thrown away in the dumpster. I believe in recycling, and I can't stand seeing all this stuff sent to the landfill when it could be used!
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No amigas, but an apple 2 gs system floppy, os/2 1.2 and win3.0, mac floppy, brand new bike
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Did you keep them?
Cammy, you make me :roflmao:
Edit: not on the side of the street, but just today I and a couple of friends helped gdanko clean out his garage and scored big time. Thanks again Gary for all the great gear. I will try to make sure it all finds a good home (if it ever leaves mine).
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SGI Indigo 2.
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Update: About two weeks ago I was driving past a roadside cleanup and the unmistakeable blocky shape of a Commodore monitor caught my eye - I was thinking 1081. I was late for work so later on went back. As I was approaching I couldn't see the pile anymore and I was thinking all kinds of "expletives deleted" :D
But, chucked a "U-e" and saw it still sitting there. Someone had taken the cord (for scrap copper I'd say) and it was actually a 1084, not a 1081. But, next to it, was sitting a dusty A500. Bare, no power supply or anything. I picked it all up (do I really need to tell you that? :D).
Cleaned the A500 and it's quite a clean unit. Tested it and surprise, it works fine! Happy with that little find! Still looking for an A4000 ;-)
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The wife.
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- a VIC-20
- a TRS-80 CoCo2
- a Vectrex
- about a dozen PCs of various configurations
- a non working Commodore 1702 monitor (didn't keep it after trying to repair it).
- an Amiga 500 in the box that someone was going to throw out (but wasn't quite in the dumpster).
In general I really like these new e-waste recycling programs. They get rid of the piles of old PCs that no-one wants anyway. However, they really suck for people who collect old retro-computers (like Commodores). In the pre-e-waste days, people might have actually donated them to Goodwill or tried to sell them at a garage sale - where it might have ended up in the hands of a responsible collector/restorer.
Now, they just haul down that vintage Amiga or PET computer to the e-waste and gladly hand it over along with the four year old PC to be mascerated and salvaged for the gold, etc.
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What galls me is that people can get so paranoid about security that they remove the hard drives, when it's easy enough to do a wipe. Couple weeks ago, I bought a 2.1gHz Athlon XP system at a garage sale for 5 bucks... but no HD. It's getting harder to find PATA drives these days, at least the cheap ones.
Couple winters ago, I found a dead P4 at the side of the road... that goof thought that cutting the power leads to the HD was good enough. ;-) Pulled it out & got an 80GB drive with all his data on it. (Which I wiped before reading) Now it's filled with music in my sister's computer.
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Nothing Amiga. Once found a portable stereo radio/cd player in amoungst a bunch of crud which included a box of various sex toys. Obviously a rental property.
No I didn't touch them. But the cd player still works today after I fixed the door spring.
Gertsy.
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A Commodore Plus/4. :)
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Mostly roadkill. Some wood with rusty nails in it and a bazillion CRT tv's.
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just two weeks ago i found
2 atari vcs 2600 cartidges,space invaders and missile command
gameboy light and sound pack, unused
panasonic quintrix 70cm tv, works like a charm
akai dvd-player, like new with remote and plastic cover still on
retro bucket-seat chair
retro design lamp artemide nesso
retro design chrome bed
it pays to have a small van :)
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So, I ask, what Amiga gems have others found "in the rubbish"?
Since I'm too fond of my reputation I don't climb traditional rubbish :)
But on the other hand I found other rubbish inside AGA Amiga: a rotting blitter (I may be wrong, but didn't it remain exactly the same as the ECS machines performance wise ?)
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So, I ask, what Amiga gems have others found "in the rubbish"?
Ironically for those that have pulled something out of the trash (rubbish bins), in the UK is actually against the law. Once inside a bin its the property of the local council and you require a licence to remove items or you are subject fine of 1000 quid or criminal conviction under the Theft Act 1968. If its computer equipment it also means you are subject to COSH guidelines and require a licence to handle toxic waste disposal. Further if you sell the said computer item, you could be again tried under the EPA for "Dumping" of hazardous waste unless you have a licence to do so. Basically if its in a bin, it belongs to the owner first and the state second.
EPA 1990 Section 60
60 Interference with waste sites and receptacles for waste
(1) No person shall sort over or disturb—
(a) anything deposited at a place for the deposit of waste provided by a waste collection authority, by a waste disposal contractor under arrangements made with a waste disposal authority or by any other local authority or person or, in Scotland, by a waste disposal authority;
(b) anything deposited in a receptacle for waste, whether for public or private use, provided by a waste collection authority, by a waste disposal contractor under arrangements made with a waste disposal authority, by a parish or community council or by a holder of a waste management licence or, in Scotland, by a waste disposal authority or a roads authority; or
(c) the contents of any receptacle for waste which, in accordance with a requirement under section 46 or 47 above, is placed on any highway or, in Scotland, road or in any other place with a view to its being emptied;
unless he has the relevant consent or right to do so specified in subsection (2) below.
(2) The consent or right that is relevant for the purposes of subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c) above is—
(a) in the case of paragraph (a), the consent of the authority, contractor or other person who provides the place for the deposit of the waste;
(b) in the case of paragraph (b), the consent of the authority, contractor or other person who provides the receptacle for the deposit of the waste;
(c) in the case of paragraph (c), the right to the custody of the receptacle, the consent of the person having the right to the custody of the receptacle or the right conferred by the function by or under this Part of emptying such receptacles.
(3) A person who contravenes subsection (1) above shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of an amount not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
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Same in Oz too. But its free to look, coz most of the time its rubbish anyhow.
Once I thought someone had thrown out a perfectly good white boy.
But he was just drunk from the night before.
Gertsy
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You guys in the UK need to think about tossing those local councils into the waste bins. ;-)
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I can't say that I've ever gone digging through someone else's trash.
@gertsy
He'd be better off dead than to live without her.