MOS - R.I.P. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Frantone
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 01:54:49 am
content: In the spirit of Dave's recent Amiga tear down here is another piece of history:I am standing outside the abandoned site of the original MOS microprocessor factory in Audubon, PA. So much history - and environmental contamination - the building and surrounding grounds were declared an EPA cleanup site in the 1990s and a specially constructed building nearby houses monitoring and venting equipment for trichloroethylene, which had seeped out of a massive storage pool built into the foundation of the original facility and contaminated the soil and ground water in the area. Bleeech!Anyone looking for cheap rental space?http://epa.gov/reg3hwmd/npl/PAD093730174.htmI applied for work there when I was 18 but they did not hire me - which in retrospect was probably a good thing.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 02:06:03 am
content: So sad!Maybe a local hacker space group could get squatter rights?Dave.

author: sleemanj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 03:58:18 am
content: Sort of related, Dave Haynie recorded for posterity the last days at Commodore in PA.Dave has a youtube channel as well:https://www.youtube.com/user/hazydave

author: Frantone
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 05:53:05 am
content: Quote from: EEVblog on March 15, 2013, 02:06:03 amI really doubt it. This is not the electronics mecca that it once was...

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 05:56:26 am
content: Please tell us you found an open window and went inside and shot some video!...Dave.

author: Frantone
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 06:43:14 am
content: Security is lax. If you have a crowbar......

author: GeoffS
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 06:52:52 am
content: Crowbars are cheap ...

author: notsob
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 06:58:23 am
content: I just had a hilarious vision of Fran, crowbar in hand, breaking in, with the background tune of 'run rabbit run'

author: Frantone
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 07:11:41 am
content: I was actually in the place when I got interviewed for the job there as a clean room technician in 1985.

author: notsob
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 07:34:44 am
content: I saw that from your earlier post, this is the run rabbit I was thinking of

author: firewalker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 08:02:39 am
content: C' mon! Put a HazMat uniform and crawl inside! Who knows what mutated electronics you could discover!Alexander.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 08:17:40 am
content: Quote from: notsob on March 15, 2013, 06:58:23 amIn 8-bit chiptune of course!This would make an awesome historical video, it must be done!Dave.

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 10:48:06 am
content: Sorry for the hijack, but if you wanted to know what happened to David Simons of Simons' Basic, look here:http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31356

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 11:35:29 am
content: If anyone knows any urban explorers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_exploration) just let them know about the place. They will probably jump at the chance for somewhere new to explore

author: Frantone
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 02:49:35 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblog on March 15, 2013, 08:17:40 amI'll see what I can do. %-B

author: firewalker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 03:25:54 pm
content: Quote from: Frantone on March 15, 2013, 02:49:35 pmSomething like...Alexander.

author: Frantone
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 07:59:24 pm
content: Here you go - - Some new shots as close as I can get at the moment. The years have not been kind....The interior has been completely gutted - no offices or anything - which I suppose is pretty standard for a toxic cleanup site. Sad..... not a wafer to be seen. :-(Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink.Are those Xmas trees inside?A view from the side....A view of the front.Showing where parts of the original building were removed and the parking lot has been dug up and recapped...Here is the blockhouse that keeps pumping those yummy chemicals up from the ground water. Mmmmm!

author: ddavidebor
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 08:31:44 pm
content: ooooh such a sad story...anything here?

author: firewalker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 08:51:41 pm
content: Post apocalyptic.Alexander.

author: Frantone
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 09:00:19 pm
content: Quote from: ddavidebor on March 15, 2013, 08:31:44 pmYou can see daylight in this magnification of that photo - - Magnificent Desolation.

author: firewalker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 09:05:06 pm
content: Take some friends with you and locate the basement!Alexander.

author: Frantone
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 09:11:22 pm
content: Quote from: firewalker on March 15, 2013, 09:05:06 pmAlready been down there -

author: firewalker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 09:39:20 pm
content: Quote from: Frantone on March 15, 2013, 09:11:22 pmAlexander.

author: ddavidebor
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 09:43:23 pm
content: Quote from: Frantone on March 15, 2013, 09:00:19 pm

author: MetraCollector
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 09:48:06 pm
content: Perhaps this is the way it looks former Tesla Piestany semiconductor manufactory like nowadays. There is onlyON Semihelpdesk today, factory is ruined.

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 10:52:51 pm
content: Absolutely historical post! I am very jealous, as I love exploring abandoned places, ruins, etc.Thanks for venturing inside the building and sharing the pictures, Fran!

author: Frantone
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 11:00:17 pm
content: Oh, I did not go inside - the building is sealed. As it is my style I used completely non-invasive methods.

author: notsob
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 11:01:50 pm
content: Did that involve gaffer tape and a rabbit ?

author: gnif
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 11:03:58 pm
content: Quote from: Frantone on March 15, 2013, 11:00:17 pmThis is obvious, I could tell that you must have hacked a robot and interfaced it to the HalfLife 2 engine to explore the basement, Id love to see the details of that project

author: Anquietas
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 11:04:18 pm
content: Quote from: Frantone on March 15, 2013, 11:00:17 pm

author: TerraHertz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2013, 11:42:46 pm
content: Quote from: Psi on March 15, 2013, 11:35:29 amTick. Will pass it on.(Though it's not as if there's a shortage of abandoned industrial sites.)Thanks for the story Fran. My computing teeth were cut on MOS 6502s, and I've been into urbex my whole life. Never thought I'd see the two combined.Note to others: It's very poor etiquette to try and get an urbexer to state in public what they actually did. Stop it.

author: Frantone
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2013, 04:48:29 pm
content: As a capper for this thread here is a link for a very interesting webpage about MOS:http://www.commodore.ca/history/company/mos/mos_technology.htmIt is interesting that back in the day they listed the city as Norristown in the address - thirty years ago this area was still a rural expanse, and although Audubon was 6 miles away from Norristown by way of the winding narrow back roads you had to use at that time, they were still considered a part of the 'big' town then.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 16, 2013, 09:16:11 pm
content: Magnificent desolation indeed!There have got to be other such historical electronics/computer sites?Dave.

author: Frantone
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2013, 10:29:13 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblog on March 16, 2013, 09:16:11 pmYou mean - web sites...... or toxic cleanup sites??I think there are many of both. I wish there was an emoticon for 'crying profusely'....

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2013, 11:00:25 pm
content: QuoteMany others if you google.

author: SLJ
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2013, 11:41:20 pm
content: trichloroethylene is nasty stuff that was widely used. There is an old GE plant not far from me that has been shut down for years. They suspect trichloroethylene from the plant leached into the ground water and they found the plume had spread several miles out in one direction from the plant. They had to run municipal water to many houses as they found the wells were contaminated.