It's a dilemma. Some years ago I found two calculators with pandicon tubes at garage or estate sales, within a few weeks of each other. Both were in perfect shape, both working. One was branded "Logic Data", can't recall the other, but electrically it was a clone of the first.
I have no interest in collecting calculators, but I recognized the historical value of these items. I basically gave one to the guy who runs the on-line vintage calculator museum, and sold the second one on eBay -- for not much money. I wish now I had scrapped both for the pandicons. I'd love to make a pandicon clock.... And did anyone see what that last pandicon sold for on ebay? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&rt=nc&nma=true&item=190511988634 So while keeping the calculator intact has it's own merits, there are certainly cases where it makes both economic good sense and good old common sense to scrap a device for the tubes. Nice clock or clunky calculator? Valuable tube or low value device? Terry On Apr 11, 12:33 pm, Daniel McDonald <danm5...@gmail.com> wrote: > I have a Monroe 620 Calculator that I bought a long time ago, intending > at the time to use its Nixie tubes for some other project, and I am now > questioning the wisdom of that train of thought. > > It's got 13 tubes in it, I think all of them work. According to Rick > Bensene, they are "JPC B-5755's (clones of Burroughs parts of the same > part number)". But now it has some sentimental value to me as a unit > which might outweigh the value to me of the individual tubes. > > Is there any collected wisdom about the scrapping out of non-prime > systems for their tubes? I've got a moderately-sized stash of ZM1000's > out of things with no sentimental value that will keep me going for a > little while, but those 13 additional tubes still have some possibilities. > > For reference, here is a link to Rick Bensene's Monroe 620 info: > > http://oldcalculatormuseum.com/monroe620.html > > What is good/sentimental about my particular unit? > > - I bought it from Ed at The Black Hole on a very memorable visit, and > that experience (sadly) can never be repeated. > - It has the way-cool-provenance property sticker of "LASL-AEC" on it > > What is not so good about this unit? > - It doesn't work reliably. This could probably be fixed. > - It's missing the decimal place knob. > - Some of the top vent holes have been bashed and a few of the > plastic strips are broken. > - Ed wrote "$5" on the top of it with black magic marker > > Thanks for any advice or wisdom, > > Dan M. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To post to this group, send an email to neonixie-l@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to neonixie-l+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/neonixie-l?hl=en-GB.
