HERO1 For sale...

[Ethan Dicks]

On Sun, Aug 10, 2008 at 06:39:07PM -0400, Tony Mori wrote:
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Fred Cisin" <cisin at xenosoft.com>
> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" 
> <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
> Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2008 6:16 PM
> Subject: Re: HERO1 For sale...
> 
> 
> >AtomKey wrote:
> >>I am interested in purchasing a HERO1 (fro heathkit).
> >>The original asking price from 1979 - 1982 was about $1,500.00
> >>I think $150.00 would be a fair trade. What do you think?
> >
> >OK, I'll consider giving you $150 for it if it is complete, has all of the
> >manuals, and hasn't had any sloppy amateur quality soldering.
> >
> 
> I think you have it backawards....AtomKey is LOOKING for a Hero 1 for $150.
> Then again, my sarcasm-detector was buzzing ever so slightly  ;)

Most likely.
 
> Of course, from what I've seen the past few years on eBay, I think he's 
> missing a zero on the end of his price.

For one in good shape, sure.

> It seems they are as valuable today, as they were back then, if not more! 
> You VERY RARELY see one go for
> under $500, and that is usually incomplete, non-working units that need 
> parts and repair to function.

I would be happy to pay three times what the OP is asking for one that I
didn't have to rebuild (but a more likely scenario is paying three times
for one that I _would_ have to strip and rebuild).

The HERO1 is nice, but I'm happy to have an RB5X myself.  If I could only
figure out why the speech board is so wonky, I'd be happier, though.  For
some odd reason, it really, really cares what vendor/model/type of 8255
drives it.  The best results I've gotten so far is with an OKI 82C55.  I'm
told that a real 8255 (not 8255A) is the "best", but I don't have any on
hand (despite having about a dozen unique varieties) and the next plane
is still over 2 months away.

Is there anything that specifically distinguishes the HERO1 from other
"personal robots" of the 1980s era other than the Heathkit name?  I've
never seen one up close, so I don't know what makes it special.

-ethan

-- 
Ethan Dicks, A-333-S     Current South Pole Weather at 10-Aug-2008 at 22:40 Z
South Pole Station
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Ethan.Dicks at usap.gov            http://penguincentral.com/penguincentral.html