A1200 motherboards found in warehouse

[Matt3o]

I've found a repair lab that has a dozen new old stock A1200 motherboards. I've been a long time lurker but as soon as I saw those boards I thought of Amibay.

If there's interest I could pick the motherboards and proxy them to the community with no additional charge. I just want them to go in the home of passionate enthusiasts instead of taking dust in a warehouse.

I'm told they are "like new", sealed into bubble wrap.

Also since I only recently came back to the amiga world and I have a lot to catch up, I would need guidance to test them to check everything's working.

UPDATE 2015/07/09

There's surely enough interest, I'm now testing the boards and eventually proceed to buy all the boards I can.


PLESE NOTE

I would only sell through the official sales thread when one is made, let's call this an "interest check". My intention is to grab as many mainboards as I can and give them back to the community at cost, without any profit! For this reason I will disclose the paypal transactions and/or invoices with the original seller.

Why am I doing this? This is not my job, I do not buy and resell stuff. I'm just an enthusiast and I hate speculation on these kind of things. I want these boards to go to other retro-junkies like me at the fairest price. As a side note, I would expect that anyone buying this board won't ever resell it for a profit (basically resell it at the price you bought it unless you augmented it in some way). I don't know yet if each board has an unique serial number, but in case they do, I will post the list of all serial numbers.

 

[roy_bates]

where not allowed to say how much anything is worth here im affraid,its against site rules.
but,you could look in the completed sales for a estimate.

also take into account if they haven't been powered on for ages etc and if they have had capacitors replaced these are known to go bad if the boards haven't been power cycled for years.which will/should reflect there going rate.
so,bare that in mind
but,people will want them.

maybe posting random pictures of closeups might help.and/or seeing if they work.

 

[Matt3o]

thanks and sorry for the estimate request (removed). Like I said, I don't want to make a business out of it. I'm willing to disclose the invoice and paypal transaction so it will be clear that I'm not making a margin but I'm just offering "proxy" service (at no additional charge). But I udnerstand I'm new here so my reputation is pretty low

Your concern about the boards is the same I have. They've surely been stocked for years. All I know so far is that they are "new", never used replacement boards with metal plate. A couple of them have been tested and confirmed 100% working. They are V1D4 I believe.

Is there a procedure I should follow to power them up minizing the risk to fry them?

 

[demolition]

Optimally, the supply voltages should be increased very slowly. For example, the 5V rail could start at 1V for an hour, then go to 2V for another hour and so on. This would help protect and recondition the capacitors. However, if you do not have the equipment to do that, that's easier said than done.

Regarding the price, you could figure out the price per piece if you buy them all, then create a thread here where people can declare interest based on that price. Although you might want to think about how you will handle any defective boards (besides bad capacitors). Perhaps they should all be tested before you calculate the final price so you have a chance to exclude the bad ones.

 

[Matt3o]

Optimally, the supply voltages should be increased very slowly. For example, the 5V rail could start at 1V for an hour, then go to 2V for another hour and so on. This would help protect and recondition the capacitors. However, if you do not have the equipment to do that, that's easier said than done.

that would be pretty complex (and time consuming)... but not completely out of the question. If that is what it takes...

Regarding the price, you could figure out the price per piece if you buy them all, then create a thread here where people can declare interest based on that price. Although you might want to think about how you will handle any defective boards (besides bad capacitors). Perhaps they should all be tested before you calculate the final price so you have a chance to exclude the bad ones.

I had a very quick look at the prices, they are very low but none of them are for "new" boards. I don't think I would be able to grab those NOS at such low tiers... oh snap, I'll take a couple for myself

 

[Sardine]

I'm willing to disclose the invoice and paypal transaction so it will be clear that I'm not making a margin but I'm just offering "proxy" service (at no additional charge).

All I can say is thankyou....

 

[timmie]

Just to be clear, are these fully populated boards with all components or only the PCB?

 

[demolition]

Since we're discussing bad caps, I'm sure they are fully populated.

 

[Matt3o]

Just to be clear, are these fully populated boards with all components or only the PCB?

fully populated motherboards with all original components and full metal armor. I belive v1D4 (not sure yet)

 

[retrodave]

Surely there is someone on Amibay with kit to assist Matt3o with gentle power-up testing for such a golden find?

Although I do re-cap my kit I've not had to do a 1D4 board yet - I'm not as experienced as many here but I suspect the vast majority of these boards will work, and I for one would pay a fair price for NOS over used PCBs.

This seems like too good an opportunity to waste!

 

[wmsteele]

If these are the same ones I have seen they are fairly well priced, I would assume if you were to buy multiples you would be able to get a discount. The boards are fully populated and look mint, the metal shields are not tarnished, probably the brightest I have seen. The one motherboard that's been opened (a version v1d4) and pictured also looks immaculate, everything is very shiny (caps look fairly good but as always should probably be replaced). The boards are Escom era from the stickers, with 3.1 roms.

 

[Tuxbar81]

If you decide to buy and share this lot of A1200 motherboards, I'm interested for one board.
Thanks a lot!

 

[Treguard]

Just registering my interest too. Would be interesting to find out whqt revision the boards are.

 

[Matt3o]

I'll post pictures as soon as I get some samples, hopefully next week. I then need to find a way to test them throroufully (any suggestion welcome).

 

[iRetrOVolver]

I can assist funding this venture if need be.

 

[User2921]

I'd definitely be interested in one!

 

[Tuxbar81]

These mainboards have been never used. What is sure is that we'll need to change the capacitors.
They have sleep for some long years, so, I think that it's perhaps not a good idea to power up the boards before to change the capacitors.

 

[Matt3o]

I can assist funding this venture if need be.

The guy says he has a lot of them, so your help would be really appreciated!

 

[fitzsteve]

Maybe some users could team up and sell them as refurbished boards? I'd be keen for a new ish A1200 board to replace mine which has seen better days!

 

[Merlin]

@ Matt3o

Thanks for making this offer to the community. As you can imagine, things like this get people quite excited and I just would like to share a few thoughts.

1. Until one of these boards have been verified as working, technically there's nothing on offer, unless you are offering them as is with no guarantees that they are working.

2. As a result if point 1, technically there's nothing for members to declare interest in at present and you are leaving yourself open to offers via PM that are against the site rules. We also don't allow members to 'claim stake' in this way until there is a definite item on offer and you will need to manage which members are in the queue.

Hopefully a member with repair skills in Italy will come forward to assist, otherwise you may need to send a board overseas for checking.