Archive for July, 2009

My second PDP-8/M is just about back in the land of the living. I followed largely the same process as with the restoration of my first 8/M. Luckily this examples case wasn’t corroded and so I didn’t bother respraying and left it in original condition.
The main sticking point with getting this machine back was a… »

Here are a list of my spare OMNIBUS cards:
G104 MM8E 4K Memory sense/inhibit
G227 MM8E Memory X/Y drivers
H212 MM8EJ 8K Memory stack
M837 KM8E Extended Memory and Time Share Control
M8300 KK8E Major registers (x4)
M8310 KK8E Major register control (x4)
M8319 KL8A PDP-8/A 4 channel serial I/O
M8320 KK8E Bus loads (x6)
M8321 TM8E Magtape output control module
M8322 TM8E Magtape control… »

A couple of new machines have joined my stable, a very clean PDP-8/L and another PDP-8/E.
The /L is complete with the (somewhat important) exception of its core stack which has been lost at some point. If anyone has or knows the whereabouts of a spare stack (I believe they were common to the /I and… »

This is a list of spare modules I have in my collection:
G7273 X 10 – U – Bus Grant & Non-processor grant
M105 X 8 – Q -Device selector for PDP-11
M4002 – U – KWV11-C Programmable Real-Time Clock
M7390 – Unknown
M7513 – Q – RQDX extender for RQDX1
M7555 X 20 – Q – RQDX3 MFM Winchester and… »

My PDP-8s have finally got a new home in the form of a very rusty H960 that I recovered in my recent haul.  Before fitting my -8s into it I decided to strip and respray to bring it back to its former glory.
Here are the steps I went through to achieve this:

Thoroughly wire brushed all rusty… »

I’ve finally taken possession of the PDP-9 console I’ve been saving for for the last few months. It didn’t come cheap, but for such a unique item I was prepared to dig deep. My plan now is to rebuild a replica rack and hook up a simh emulator to the console. I will avoid making… »

Whilst the CPU and memory cards are missing, some cards remain within my 990. Here are details of what is left:

Unmarked card
TRACE – Unknown function
CRT – An interface to a TI terminal?
FLOPPY – Interface to 8″ floppy drives
EIA – Serial card
PROM – Some kind of… »

When I went to pick up a PDP-8 this week I also discovered in a fairly dismantled state a TI 990/4 mini computer and the rack, PSUs and disk of a Prime (model not known).
The TI 990/4 is in fairly good condition (despite having been rained on for the last week) although it is missing… »

I’ve just taken possession of a great haul which was literally sat on a scrap heap ready to go to PDP heaven. Highlights of the find include most of a PDP-8/M, a PC04 paper tape drive, a TD8E simple DECtape controller, an ASR-33 and a H960 rack. Whilst pretty rusty having lived in a barn… »