Date   : Fri, 12 Aug 2011 09:57:18 -0500
From   : jules.richardson99@... (Jules Richardson)
Subject: would like to buy a bbc master

me@... wrote:
> On 11 Aug 2011, at 21:17, Thomas Stavrou wrote:
> 
>> I am looking to get back into retrocomputing with the purchase of a
>> bbc master, does anyone have one up for grabs?
> 
> If you'd like to buy a good quality one rather than one that's been
> sitting in a loft for years and may explode at any moment, I can
> recommend Mark at mark@... He sells refurbished beebs 

I'm not sure what can be done to avoid the "may explode at any moment" 
problem.  I've always tested anything as much as I can before letting it 
go, but it's hard to estimate how close something might be to failing (I 
suppose Mark might check all caps with an ESR meter and replace any that 
are looking a bit iffy, along with replacing mains filter caps as a matter 
of course?)

I think with a lot of machines maybe you just have to accept some risk and 
the possibility of some work being needed... if the previous owner's 
switched on* and typed some stuff and loaded a program or two and there's 
sensible stuff appearing on the screen, maybe that's "good enough".

* although I have heard things along the lines of, "I've got this uber-rare 
machine that you might like - oh but I just turned it on and it caught fire 
and the hard disk platters embedded themselves in the wall". There have 
been times when I'd much rather have an untested system so that I can 
re-seat ICs, back up drives, remove dead mice etc. before trying to apply 
power ;-)

cheers

Jules