Paul Koning via cctalk wrote:
On Oct 17, 2022, at 2:47 PM, Joshua Rice via
cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
Hi all,
After some discussion on reddit about russian PDP-11 clones, i made the (perhaps
erronous) claim that the PDP series in general was cloned by the Soviets.
That's definitely accurate. I have seen pictures of Russian Pro clones.
Yes. But they "cloned" not only DEC Pros, they build PDP11 Computers in
several variants. There are the DVKs
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/DVK,
the Elektronika BK Homecomputer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronika_BK
or the school computer UKNS
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/UKNC
(C means an S in cyrillic letters)
I own an Elektronika E60 which is an LSI11 Computer, but all Connectors
and Board dimensions are metric. The PCB's are not "clones", that are
developments from USSR with their own chips.
This was the machine on which tetris got developed!
The USSR built several PDP11 Processors, K1801VM1, K1801VM2, K1801VM3, N1806VM2
etc.. which are all Single Chip PDP11's. DEC's only Single Chip CPU was
the T11.
I’m aware that there was a lot of QBUS/LSI PDP-11
clones, and depite poor documentation, there is significant evidence of PDP-8 clones.
Also, depite not strictly a “PDP”, the VAX series was also cloned.
You probably have heard of the CVAX chip, where on the mask in microscopic lettering is
the message, in Russian: "CVAX -- when you want to steal the very best".
Yes, but this was nonsense, the first VAX CPU Chip from USSR was an
Equivalent of an VAX11/750..but the VAX11/750 never hat an single CPU
Chip! The CPU consisted of large Boards full of TTL and Sequencers.
Sorry...no clone. They used the DEC Processor Manual and build their own
chips.
The K1801VM3 can address 4Mbyte of Memory.
This is an Elektronika MK90 using an CMOS H1806VM2 CPU.. not really
a clone ehy?
https://elektronika.su/en/calculators/elektronika-mk-90/
MK85 is a smaller variant.
Same for the GDR, There was an PDP11 build from 8 Bit Bitslice
Processors, the Robotron K1600. They used 2708 like Eproms for the
Control store and the sequencers...this was the worlds slowest PDP11..
For a relativly short Time I was Adminstrator on a Robotron K1840
at the university of mining in Freiberg. The RVS K1840 was a direct
Clone of a DEC VAX11/780, Boards where interchangeable with the
original.
Later the ZMD Dresden produced a clone of the VAX 78032 Chip, the
U80701. This is a MV-II CPU.
However, i’m
curious whether anyone has any evidence of either the 18-bit or 36-bit PDP machines being
cloned? I imagine that given the rather lacklustre success of the 18-bit series, that
there would have been less demand for an 18-bit PDP machine in the Soviet Union, but i
find it quite hard to believe that no attempt to clone the PDP-6 and PDP-10 machines would
have been attempted.
Does anyone here have any information on such clones?
Here's something:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilnius_Computer_Factory
That's not the only Soviet clone factory, but it's an interesting one. I have a
brochure from them, which I think I got when they visited DEC in the 1980s (which takes
some chutzpah!). The brochure is not all that clear, but the Wikipedia article says their
32-bit machine "SM 1700" is a VAX clone. Apparently a number of their other
machines were not clones but original designs.
paul
Sorry, I have no idea about PDP8 or PDP10 clones.
Regards,
Holm
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