[tech] Project "What is this thing?" #1 - BeBox

[Alex Dawson]

This is one of the two BeBox’en UCC has - the other has a front panel and is in one of the loft cupboards. 

This one is a pre-release prototype, donated to UCC along with the other one by Peter N Lewis. 

[LE@] (Elliot Nunn) and I tried getting both of them going in early 2012 - we had magenta, the production one, booting, but did not have sufficient spares and time to get this one going. 

More info on the BeBoxen - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BeBox <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BeBox>, the prototypes - https://www.flickr.com/photos/abeles/15850994039 <https://www.flickr.com/photos/abeles/15850994039> and Be - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_Inc. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_Inc.>

As for the questions:

	• What is it? Does it have a name? - unknown, other one is magenta
	• What vintage is it, when was it made and when was it donated? 1995, donated by Peter N Lewis at some point in the past apparently
	• Who was involved in using, breaking, fixing or building it? Jean Louis Gasse, an early Apple pioneer
	• What was it used for? What can it do? What is its story? - Unknown
	• If essential parts are missing from the photos, where might they be? What did they do and what do they look like? - Probably, it was non functional as of April 2012
	• Does it still work? How do you use it? Is there any existing documentation? - Non functional as of 2012
	• Is it worth keeping? Why does the club need it? Would anyone want it if the club is going to throw it out? Honestly, imo it is not worth the club keeping so that someone can look at it every 10 years.. BUT.. dear god don’t throw it out, it is a piece of computer history and should be preserved

I’m sure someone on this list is still in contact with Peter N Lewis - I believe we should seek his blessing, and try to broker their sale, or donation to a computer museum - they are still worth about $1500 each - http://forums.nekochan.net/viewtopic.php?t=16731890 <http://forums.nekochan.net/viewtopic.php?t=16731890>

This prototype one has the lowest serial number known 

> On 10 May 2018, at 8:46 pm, Felix von Perger <frekk at ucc.asn.au> wrote:
> 
> Dear tech subscribers,
> 
> As many of you know, there are a lot of old-looking computery things stored around the clubroom, and newer members (such as myself) often don't have any idea what they are or why they are there.
> So that's why I've decided to start a project to document (on the wiki) all of the miscellaneous computery things that the club owns.
> I'll be sending out emails on a fairly regular basis, each with photos of an item found on shelves or under desks. If you recognise the object in question, or if you know anything about its history, then please reply to this email and contribute to the project by answering any of the following questions:
> 
> What is it? Does it have a name?
> What vintage is it, when was it made and when was it donated?
> Who was involved in using, breaking, fixing or building it?
> What was it used for? What can it do? What is its story?
> If essential parts are missing from the photos, where might they be? What did they do and what do they look like?
> Does it still work? How do you use it? Is there any existing documentation?
> Is it worth keeping? Why does the club need it? Would anyone want it if the club is going to throw it out?
> The information gathered from this project will be made available on the wiki page <http://wiki.ucc.asn.au/ProjectWhatIsThat>. As more items are documented, I will make a new wiki page for each item and add a link to it on the main project page.
> Thank you for your contributions and I hope that this project will be informative and entertaining for everyone involved.
> 
> The first item I looked at was the computer with a blue case retrieved from the top shelf behind the door.
> 
> Photo of the backplane
> <lbgomognneokfcdk.jpg>
> 
> Photo of the front (no faceplate was present)
> <ofaifpehoijcmnag.jpg>
> 
> Photo of the whole box, looking at it from the back.
> <cclblkaeogpdobna.jpg>
> 
> And finally, a photo showing the guts.
> <hljcefdabmgakhfn.jpg>
> 
> If you know anything about this and can answer any of the questions listed above relating to the thing in the photos, please don't hesitate to reply to this email or send me the details at frekk at ucc.asn.au <mailto:frekk at ucc.asn.au>.
> 
> Kind regards,
> Felix von Perger
> UCC Secretary 2018
> 
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