got some awesome stuff for free an need to bragg about it


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Jan 31, 2006
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Hey people! I visited a friend yesterday, who invited me to survey a haul of computer parts that he had acquired. He deals in recycling and scrap trade, mostly electronics and stuff from bankrupcy liquidations, estate sales and the likes.

So I finally made the trip down to his place on a sunny day. Took my bike and me about an hour and my ass is still sore, but it was so worth it!!!

The PC components he had were mostly scrap and need to be recycled. But I was free to pick a couple of things for myself:

-An N64 (never had one, so why not) without a powersupply and controllers.

-A pair of brand new nightvision goggles that is apparently worth a shitload of money. If I can grab some batteries and find it to be in working conditions, I might sell it. Not sure I really need a gadget this expensive for fun, while I need money for other things.

-A UdSSR built Oscilloscope! An "Oszillograf C1-90" which is apparently not that great and only has a bandwith of 1Mhz, but it was free and the tube is working! I just need a prope that fits the weird din-5 connector or modify one with the proper plug. Btw: is this feasible to do by myself or would my crappy soldering interfere with readings somehow?

-Some scrap notebooks. One which has the potential to be an awesome freeby. It's an Asus R515MA without powerplug. That's a problem. I am sure the battery is shot but other than that the thing looks brand new. If I only had an AC adaptor to test if the thing is repairable... well I am working on it. Might buy a wallplug on amazon and return it if it turns out the notebook is bad.

The other notebooks are a bit ruffed up, so I am not sure what can be done but will get RAM and drives for replacements if they probe to be FUBAR.

-A whole display box of 9V blocks by Varta (reknown brand in Germany, not sure if everyone knows these). They should be fun for a while. Anyone need a free 9V battery? ^^

-Some blades for our saw and a bunch of expensive metal drills.

-A first aid kit complete in sterile packaging and still good for a couple of years.

-A portable DVB-T receiver/player with a broken stand.

-An 80s style multimeter. Seems to be a good one, too - surpassing the modern ones I own in range and functionality.

EDIT: Oooh, I forgot! And a 1x1m solarpanel in perfect condition, except for the metal frame which is bent in one place. But that's cosmetical damage.

So yeah, I am a happy camper!
 
Knowing such source is the dream of every hoarder.... I envy you.

Btw, did you transport that on your bike? *imagines junkpile on wheels*
 
no my buddy gave me and the bike a ride back ^^. otherwise I would've had to have some E.T. like bike riding tricks up my sleeve. I wish I did...
 
I hope that noone exposed the night vision goggles to sun light or something stupid like that. I really need to get batteries for it today
 
@hitbyambulance I will probably use it to drive a small arduino setup as a weather station. if I can get it to output any voltage at all.

lol at the lunar panel suggestion. I always wanted to own some sort of tech gear that's actually powered by darkness... sith style
 
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ok the multimeter is dead :(
but that's ok, I got two that are fine. apparently someone opened this unit to tinker with it. there is a solder mess inside and I am not going to clean that up. way too risky to use it at all.

on the bright side: one of the scrap laptops works flawlessly! still can't get the asus hooked up, but this one is an older toshiba satellite l10. not only does it work, but the battery is working and holding charge no problem.
 
I dunno... maybe kids? as an adult you should know that messing with your multimeter can be harmful, even deadly.
 
UPDATE:

- One of the scrap laptops is actually scrap...
- The toshiba satellite notebook I grabbed is not broken at all. Even the battery still holds charge and the notebook runs about 4hrs only on that... amazing. It's a model from 2003...
- The Asus r515m that I got also works like a charm! I got a powersupply for it now and the only thing I had to fix was the hdd as someone had ripped it out. yay... 50€ for the powerplug and the rest for free.

So far I couldn't think of anything to regret here. I can't believe how people will throw away perfectly good machines. why would someone get rid of a perfect condition notebook from 2014? the asus model is still pretty usable for daily work, I bet it will even run some games decently, eventhough it only has Intel HD graphics. The thing looks like someone just bought it, messed up the hdd and then ripped that out to throw the rest away.

Edit: installed Mint 17 on the asus in like 15mins. runs like an ace.
 
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That's consumers for you *spit*! I guess most people still checking here and still using their Pandora wouldn't throw something like that away, although I guess by now there might be up to about 850 people here for the Pyra news and discussions only.

I'd have thought anyone that knows how to get a HD out of a laptop and dispose of it, and why would know how to reinstall their choice of OS and fix it up again. I guess they bought it then found out it wouldn't run the game they wanted to play, but by then they'd put enough stuff on there to not be sure there wasn't anything that would stop them reformatting and reselling/returning. Or just couldn't be bothered getting a return tag etc.

Hmm, it's got Ivy Bridge graphics apparenly, but a super-low-spec version, so it might not run the games of the day that well, but go back a few years and you should be fine I guess.
 
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