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Rare Altair MITS Inverter Board S-100 ??? weird eBay Auction

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simkiss

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http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Altair-MITS-Inverter-Board-S-100-/191720918929

I don't get this auction or this seller. The auction title is "Rare Altair MITS Inverter Board S-100", but the photos are of a MITS 88-4KD Dynamic RAM Board.

Does the seller have the wrong photos up, or the wrong description up for the correct photos? One would think a quick email to the seller would answer that question, yet when I try to email a question, I get:

" Unfortunately, due to the high volume of messages this seller receives, they are unable to respond to your specific question right now. We suggest reviewing the item again to see if your answer is in the seller's listing."

Really? That seems very... uhh... fishy.
 
It's the old dreaded 4K DRAM board. Note that the empty sockets (for generic 4Kx1 DRAM; e.g. 2107) are 0.400 wide 22-pin, which is the giveaway.

I recall cursing the things (MITS often sold them in pairs) and having data evaporate if the RESET switch was pressed a bit too long.
 
simkiss said:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Altair-MITS-Inverter-Board-S-100-/191720918929

I don't get this auction or this seller. The auction title is "Rare Altair MITS Inverter Board S-100", but the photos are of a MITS 88-4KD Dynamic RAM Board.

Does the seller have the wrong photos up, or the wrong description up for the correct photos? One would think a quick email to the seller would answer that question, yet when I try to email a question, I get:

" Unfortunately, due to the high volume of messages this seller receives, they are unable to respond to your specific question right now. We suggest reviewing the item again to see if your answer is in the seller's listing."

Really? That seems very... uhh... fishy.
Click to expand...

That is the same seller that was trying to sell Altair Clones as "rare collectables" at twice the price. "Fishy" is an understatement.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-MITS-A...tage_Computers_Mainframes&hash=item2334bedd44
 
Last edited:
Thanks to tkc8800 and a little digging, I found out that the Brunswick Corporation of bowling alley and billiards fame also used to have a medical group called Sherwood Medical Industries.

And this subsidiary had a product called the Sherwood Medical S-Twelve which was used for blood gas analysis. That machine was just an OEMed 8800, which according to this old thread is described as follows:

The Sherwood S-Twelve has eighteen slots, a heavy duty power supply
and the following boards, all made but MITS:

8800 CPU BD REV 0
4K STATIC BOARD REV-2 X4
88-2 SIO REV 0
8K PROM BD REV 0- X2
INVERTER BD 88-IS SH REV 1
88 (SIOB) SERIAL TTL REV 1
MITS MODEM BD
88-MUX REV 1
MITS A/D CONVERTER REV 0

And there is the inverter board: 88-IS SH

Brunswick registered the trademark in February 1978 for S-TWELVE as follows:

The description provided to the USPTO for S-TWELVE is MEDICAL LABORATORY INSTRUMENTATION SPECIFICALLY A CONTROLLER FOR AUTOMATING CERTAIN OF THE FUNCTIONS OF MEDICAL LABORATORY BLOOD ANALYSIS SYSTEMS.
 
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