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Look what I found in the woods!
Posted by: avadondragon on 2015-12-12 07:00:50
So I went for a walk in the woods yesterday and I came across a dump site. There was a giant Intergraph monitor that caught my eye and caused me to investigate more closely.

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95% buried in the ground with just a tiny corner showing I saw some suspiciously familiar looking plastic... I started digging and uncovered a remarkably intact Macintosh SE FDHD! What are the odds?

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It of course couldn't possibly work but it turned out that it's SWIM chip was totally untouched! Those DIP style SWIM chips are unobtainium these days and I've been wanting one for ages to upgrade my Mac SE to being able to use full size (and PC compatible) 1.44MB floppies.  I pulled the part along with the ROMs to support it and popped it into my machine and it came right up!  I'd already swapped out the floppy drive for a 1.44MB a while back when the original stopped working.

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Another cool thing it had was a Lapis Video card.  I couldn't find hardly ANY info about it online but it looks like it outputs standard VGA as well as TTL.  Perhaps this is why the giant monitor was next to it?

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I cleaned up the case and it looks pretty decent to have been buried underground for god only knows how long.  I think I may put a mini vMac emulator in it. #Zombie Mac!

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Posted by: MJ313 on 2015-12-12 07:51:26
THAT is awesome! Well done, and nice save from the pit! I can't believe any of it works... that's fantastic you found some bits to salvage that actually worked. And love the pics! The stories are what make this collecting fun for me and this is a great one for sure. Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: joethezombie on 2015-12-12 11:40:31
computer archeology! That was a really neat find.
Posted by: CC_333 on 2015-12-12 12:09:57
Wow!

c
Posted by: techknight on 2015-12-12 12:38:54
Wholy crap. Are there E-Waste laws in your area? Just trying to think of why it would be there, other than being all shot up like target practice. 

The CRT itself is probably fine. the HDD might be... just curious whats on it... 
Posted by: commodorejohn on 2015-12-12 12:44:48
Man, all I find when I go digging in the woods is dead bodies.
Posted by: CompuNurd on 2015-12-12 13:00:26
Nice find! I like the way the Apple logo burns/yellows into the plastic.
Posted by: Paralel on 2015-12-12 13:15:14
Man, I wish I could find stuff like this in the woods. All my dog finds is carrion. I think he is a natural born cadaver dog.
Posted by: Instow on 2015-12-12 14:40:22
That's simply amazing ... note to self ... must train the dog to follow old mac smells! Well done.
Posted by: trag on 2015-12-12 14:51:11
Look what I found in the woods!"

Isn't that how horror movies begin...

Fantastic find. That's a great recounting.
Posted by: olePigeon on 2015-12-12 15:24:03
Name it Josh.
Posted by: CC_333 on 2015-12-12 15:54:01
Name it Josh.
Pardon my ignorance, but is that a horror movie reference?

c
Posted by: Floofies on 2015-12-12 16:26:23
Wow, I'm amazed some of it was so well preserved...
Posted by: Paralel on 2015-12-12 17:15:32
Look what I found in the woods!"

Isn't that how horror movies begin...
Its the beginning of a B movie where the classic mac starts killing people when everyone is asleep.

(Honestly, that sounds like a movie I'd actually watch...)
Posted by: khannonnd on 2015-12-12 17:51:56
Still looks better than many computers with a  Maxwell PRAM battery!
Posted by: Juror22 on 2015-12-12 18:11:58
Man, all I find when I go digging in the woods is dead bodies.
... so the show, Fargo, is kinda accurate... 😉

A few years ago, I got a couple of items from someone that had them stored in a semi - mostly cases, but a few, various other items.  They were usually in pretty good shape, but this, stuff that was totally exposed to the elements and contained salvable items, very nice save! 
Posted by: Byrd on 2015-12-12 18:18:19
The CRT itself is probably fine. the HDD might be... just curious whats on it... 
Just because it was found in the woods doesn't mean the contents of the HD will be evil and nasty ... right? 🙂

Thanks for posting the pics - we need more of these threads, taking shots of where you found it and when!  Often the story is much more interesting than the Mac itself.

JB
Posted by: Paralel on 2015-12-12 18:33:39
Just because it was found in the woods doesn't mean the contents of the HD will be evil and nasty ... right? 🙂
That could easily be why someone buried it. They were getting a visit from the old school party van.
Posted by: MJ313 on 2015-12-12 18:37:56
Thanks for posting the pics - we need more of these threads, taking shots of where you found it and when!  Often the story is much more interesting than the Mac itself.

JB

^---- This! Right here!   avadondragon has shown what a Conquest thread should be, imho. More stories and pictures please.
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