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Mars Disc???


Cholla

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We recently bought a house to refurbish and flip. In the garage is an odd-looking disk that shipped to the Mars Data Systems in Calabasa, CA in 1973. I wonder what it is and if it is a recording device, like a record. I don't recall anything going to Mars and back in 1973. I know we have an eclectic group here so I thought I would post it to see if anyone has experience in this field. I understand that Mars might have been a business and not an actual Mars mission.

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438 said:

I thank you for the info but I don't think it is the same. The object I have is from 48 years ago and the company you sent the link on is only 25 years old and in India. 

 

The man who used to own this house traveled the world designing, installing, and maintaining weather stations, and he did photography of the stars and planets.

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Another clue is that it came from 183 Beacon St, S. San Francisco, CA. These days there is a scaffold company and a Lola Bean dog supply there.

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I would guess a steel counterweight. For what, I have no idea.

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It is not metal. It appears to be of some composite material. The center is threaded. It weighs four pounds. The beveled edge almost has LP record-type ridges perhaps from running against something. It came mailed in a box of one. It is marked 2/8.

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I have no good clue that fits. It could be almost anything. My luck is that I'll toss it to find out a month from now that it was a part of some NASA mission equipment and now worth $$$$$. They sold the house to us with what was left of the contents and we have been finding odd and valuable things in the rubble, from ivory jewelry to a Leo Jansen nude painting. Local folks broke into the house and ransacked everything they could find of value. So far I have hauled off about two tons of trash including unopened mail back to 2005.

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1 hour ago, Cholla said:

I have no good clue that fits. It could be almost anything. My luck is that I'll toss it to find out a month from now that it was a part of some NASA mission equipment and now worth $$$$$. They sold the house to us with what was left of the contents and we have been finding odd and valuable things in the rubble, from ivory jewelry to a Leo Jansen nude painting. Local folks broke into the house and ransacked everything they could find of value. So far I have hauled off about two tons of trash including unopened mail back to 2005.

Wow!!! Hope to hear back from my contact soon...see if there is a line to follow.

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When I got in to electronics, I worked on 10 meg removable platter (disk) hard drives (1978-1980) They also called CE packs. The discs were  magnetic and used a what was called a flying head to read them and required aligning so the the discs could be used in different drives.  From what has been said here and looking at it, it probably was some type on data storage device. However, finding the equipment that could read it is probably long gone. 

 

I saved a lot of old computer equipment for years and scrapped most of it when I split with my wife in 2015, most of it when to a guy that was collecting Radio shack computers and I gave him disc drives, boards, power supplies, TRS-80 Model 4 (working) and a working TRS-80 Model 1, and several Color Computers (they hooked to a TV set. I still have 2 of the cassette decks and the cables to hook them to a  (TRS-80) Model 1 or a Color Computer. A friend of mine has a Model 12 and Model 16 in storage at his accounting office that he used when he started his business in the 1980"s. I have a set of drawer in the garage with z-80 processors and 4k and 16k memory chips and other assorted chips I never thru away. I got rid of my vacuum tube tester and all my tubes and the other day was work at my buddies farm and found a couple old chassis from vacuum tube TV's with the tubes. I may get them and see if the tubes are good the next time I am there.

 

I would not toss it, For that matter, when you decide to toss it, ship it to me and i will put it with my other old odd stuff.

Good luck on your search.

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