My System/3 model 15B
There
is the story how I got my second IBM System/3.
My last "contact" with an old obsolete System/3 must have been round 1990. It was a model 15 located in Amsterdam which was going to the scrap. You can imagine that after 16 years of not finding any remaining System/3's I assumed they where by now extinct.
In January 2006 I was doing my daily check on all interesting eBay's for any old vintage IBM stuff and to my big surprise I saw a picture of a System/3 front panel.
My first thoughts where that it must be an operator panel only auction, removed from a system before it was scrapped. But when reading the action description I discovered to my big surprise that the auction was for a whole system.
After some email exchange with the seller it became clear that is was a model 15B with an IBM 3277-1, two 3340 disk drives and an IBM 5203 line printer. The CPU was also equipped with an IBM 3741 attachment, but the 3741 was not included.
The machine was located in a former milk factory in Germany and was stored in the basement for 20 years. The building was now used for social purposes and they needed the space for music rehearsals. So, the system had to go.
The owner tried first the local scrap yard and they wanted 300 Euro's for removing and recycling the system because it contains PCB's (??).
So he decided to put it up for auction on eBay Germany. You never know...
I decided immediately to save this system from being scrapped. After a (high) last minute bid I was the lucky owner of a second system/3.
A week later I rented a van and drove with a friend to Germany to pick up the system.
Here are some pictures taken during the pick up:
The system is now is safe hands of Alex Brenner, Germany.
My last "contact" with an old obsolete System/3 must have been round 1990. It was a model 15 located in Amsterdam which was going to the scrap. You can imagine that after 16 years of not finding any remaining System/3's I assumed they where by now extinct.
In January 2006 I was doing my daily check on all interesting eBay's for any old vintage IBM stuff and to my big surprise I saw a picture of a System/3 front panel.
My first thoughts where that it must be an operator panel only auction, removed from a system before it was scrapped. But when reading the action description I discovered to my big surprise that the auction was for a whole system.
After some email exchange with the seller it became clear that is was a model 15B with an IBM 3277-1, two 3340 disk drives and an IBM 5203 line printer. The CPU was also equipped with an IBM 3741 attachment, but the 3741 was not included.
The machine was located in a former milk factory in Germany and was stored in the basement for 20 years. The building was now used for social purposes and they needed the space for music rehearsals. So, the system had to go.
The owner tried first the local scrap yard and they wanted 300 Euro's for removing and recycling the system because it contains PCB's (??).
So he decided to put it up for auction on eBay Germany. You never know...
I decided immediately to save this system from being scrapped. After a (high) last minute bid I was the lucky owner of a second system/3.
A week later I rented a van and drove with a friend to Germany to pick up the system.
Here are some pictures taken during the pick up:
The system is now is safe hands of Alex Brenner, Germany.