"You take these capacitors -- I don't know what they do with them, but they're very, very expensive and they do use them. There's places in the world that look for them."
Using the Internet, Campbell hopes to sell all of the more than 1,600 items -- items ranging from everyday office supplies to vintage 1960s computers, lasers and telescopes.
It's not your average yard sale.
"It's the early -- you know, before they had the kind of gigabytes they can store now, terabytes. This is what they used to record their scientific data they were downloading," Campbell said, showing off a reel-to-reel data storage unit.
Richards has spent most of a year cataloging every item on site at HIPAS.
"We've got welders, you can see the machine shop, a lot of things were fabricated in this room right here, it was a total machine shop," he said. "We've got an end mill down here that you can lathe stuff with, and over here we've got horizontal lathes, there's two of those."
And there are two giant diesel generators, the source of the observatory's electric power.
"This same type is used in the missile launching sites in Alaska, some of the Nike sites," Richards said. "And these are 1962 vintage, but they're low RPM, 1.2 megs, they can actually produce about 1,000 kilowatts, or 1 million watts, and they've only got a third of their life in. It would be a shame not to find a home for these engines."
There's also plenty of scientific stuff -- like microscopes, entire antenna arrays, actual lasers, even a telescope that used spinning mercury as its mirror.
"It's my understanding there was only two dishes in the world like that," Richards said. "And this one is like 2.7 meters, or 10-foot in diameter. It sits on an air bearing, which is the smoothest suspension you can have. And just the air bearing underneath that costs many thousands of dollars."
Dismantling HIPAS is a bittersweet task for Richards, a resident of Two Rivers. He finds his job exciting -- and somewhat nostalgic.
"HIPAS really was good for the community," he said. "That part is sad to see it go. It employed, I think we figured over 80 to 100 local people over that 30-year period.
"There was also the things, the hype that you hear. The Jesse Ventura conspiracy stuff, and Two Rivers was no exception. We had people who would say, 'You know, HIPAS killed off all the rabbits,' and stuff. But it's OK, it's part of the mystique about it."
Mystique is about the only thing buyers won't find for sale in this auction, an eclectic collection of diverse and intriguing items.
"I says, 'How we gonna sell all this stuff Joe?'" Richards said. "And he says -- go ahead, Joe, how we gonna sell it all?"
"To the highest bidder," Campbell responded.
The HIPAS online auction began last week and continues in stages through May 3. Click here to bid on items or simply browse.
Contact John Carpenter at jcarpenter@ktuu.com and Eric Sowl at esowl@ktuu.com
