Having abandoned my previous scheme to buy a new CS2 bargain just at the point they become last year’s news due to FD pressure I spotted something even dafter.

I have a set up including 6021 and 2 x 6040 keyboards (which still find favour over my MS2). I have always had a longing for a 6043 memory. I have a few k track contact tracks 2299 & etc from way back when, and a year ago, I brought from eBay a S88 – 6088 which was unsold on an auction which I bid for other things so I got it for the sum of £5.60. Now I am always conscious of the leaky battery issue of the 6043 memory so when I see one for up to a hundred pounds I can’t afford the gamble. I have partaken in a few “last minute madness” eBay events where my absolute max of fifty quid has disappeared into the sunset.

So, Xmas day there was a 6043-auction ending 22.00hrs and the no bids start was 25 Euros. We were going out to Xmas dinner with the kids so without any great hope I added a couple of Euros and left a bid which on my return and to my surprise I had won. Since then it has been on a Mondial Relais trip round France and was left on the doorstep this morning by a mystery man in a car well packaged but with no box, manual, programming sheet etc. but looks absolutely fine. Lack of manual should not be a problem as my trusty 0303 digital handbook gives a pretty good chapter on this unit. Early experiments appear to indicate its working just fine so no one will get a peep out of me for the next couple of days whilst I try to master last century digital technology. The FD thinks it’s wonderful even though she has not a clue what it is but then she doesn’t know there’s a parcel from Lokshop on the horizon.