New Zealand Vintage Computer Forums

Long time collector here in Napier and know Tez from the US vintage comp forum.

I've been blowing the dust off my PC collection the last few weeks to be sure they all still working and thought I would finally join this forum.

Plus the shock of that well-worn AT going on TradeMe this week for $535, that must be a world record!

I have a small collection of two IBM PCs and one AT, plus seven unix workstations from '92 to '97. Due to limited space I tend to collect only "business" type computers, one's that are personally significant one way or the other and in nearly perfect condition.
Most of my collection was brought over from the US when I started collecting in 1998 but two were sourced from TradeMe and two from Australia. Other than the two from NZ all the others were from my employer or were originally sourced from people I know.

Paul

Welcome aboard

I only got the silver medal in that trademe auction for the AT, prices are certainly starting to rise quite quickly.

The IBM part of my collection is 3 x IBM PC XT, 1 x IBM PC (and lots of clones of course) and I tend to prefer business machines too, especially models I had used when younger.

Good luck with the power ups, let us know how it goes.

Good to see you on here Paul,

For the benefit of others, Paul has helped me on a number of occasions with my own IBM-AT. He knows a lot about these machines.

I wasn't too surprised that the AT went for as much as it did. They are notable computers but are rare here...partly because many business were buying clones here by the time the AT was on the market and partly because businesses simply junk obselete stock...unless an employee purloins it!

A question Paul. I seem you remember you bought your AT to NZ with you when you returned here. Is the configuration 120V or 240V?

Thanks for the welcome.

Tez, all my IBMs (including monitors) are run on 110VAC but of course the AT has a 110/220 voltage switch. But I keep the AT at 110 also because the monitor plugs into it (via the IEC jack) and I don't want any accidents.

In general, in my limited experience I've found 110 VAC is much more gentle on old switch-mode power supplies, especially primary side caps.

Same with the unix machines - ones that came from the US I operate on 110. If they came from NZ or Aus I run them on 230.

It does not help that NZ tends to be on the high side of 230, in fact 239 at home. Whether that is because it was originally a 240 system or they just want us to consume more watt-hours is open to speculation.

I don't measure it often, but have found it varies. I've measured as low as 195V AC, but normally I find it around 220-230.
Maybe I've just had bad house wiring lol