[cctalk] Re: PDP 8a front panel hardware

Assuming you're talking about the KC8-A (the panel with the push buttons and 7 segment displays) then I think there were at least two versions. The older version was pressed onto those plastic ball things that all DEC "pop panels" used. That didn't work very well, because those plastic pop panel mounts are super easy to break. There was a later version that mounted with two metal brackets. The brackets screwed to the rack rails and were bent to conform to the inside contour of the KC8. There's a setscrew in each bracket that attached it to the KC8, and there's a small hole drilled in the bottom of both sides of the KC8 so you could access the screw from the outside. Annoyingly the PDP-11/04 and 34, which had a panel that was mechanically nearly identical, used an entirely differently mounting scheme, so there's no help there. I've never seen one of these brackets nor a mechanical drawing for one, but if you find out anything please let me know. I have an 8/A in the garage with the front panel held on by wire ties ('cause I don't have anything better!). Bob