Hi Guys
I think we are all set. The plexiglass blanks are at the silk
screeners.
The artwork for five different PDP-8 front panels is done.
If all those who elected to wait even though prepaid would
please request the latest file with all five designs in.
The same goes for anybody who is interested in replacement
panels for PDP8/e (both types of switch markings)
PDP8/f , PDP8/m or industrial8. please contact me by email
The 8/f and 8/m will be a few dollars more as we need an extra
screen for the logos as they are colour as opposed to the 8/e which is
white.
If anybody spots an error on my part in any of the drawings
please let me know.
If you have any scanned images as opposed to photographs I'd
love a copy.
Regards
Rod Smallwood
--
Wanted : KDJ11-E M8981
KK8-E M8300
KK8-E M8310
KK8-E M8320
KK8-E M8330
I've been monkeying around with Oscars amazing PiDP8 replica the last few
weeks, attempting to get a cool demo going for the local hackerspace, to
show what computing used to look like.
I've managed to this point to get 2 serial terminals (a DEC VT102, and a
Morrow MDT-60) running at the same time on simh4 and ETOS. I do have the set
tsc enabled, and .R ETOS is up and running.
I've stumbled through enough of the config to add a second serial terminal
on the KL8JA using IOTTAB. I can run basic, and a few other programs at the
same time on either terminal, and watch it time share the limited resources
(I have simh throttled to .5 Mips, which apparently is correct for an 8/I).
The step I'm at now, is I'd like to copy a bunch of OS/8 games into either
a public disk, or make an RK05 image available to either a single user, or
as a public disk. I would be great to have advent.sv running on one
terminal, or star trek on another. Maybe blackjack, or hangman.
I'm running the etosv5b-demo.rk05 file from http://www.pdp8.net/os/etos/
(located in ftp://ftp.pdp8.net/images/etos/), configured for extra KL8JA
terminals.
I do have the user manual, and system managers guide for ETOS, that I've
changed from multipage .tiff to a single PDF.
I've read the SMG around 5.11 (Creating a public pack), but it references a
cmd .R DSKINT, which doesn't appear on any of the available ETOS rk05
images.
I also don't see (and I might be missing something obvious), a way to mount
an RK05 disk so even a single user can access it at a time..
Thanks for reading. Joe
> From: Joseph Lang
> There's a surplus place here in Orlando that has a bin full of dec
> style handles in white. Google skycraft surplus.
I just called them, but they couldn't find them? How long ago was it that you
saw them? If recently, can you describe where it was in the place that you
saw them? Thanks!
Noel
Hi Noel,
> Hi all, does anyone know of a source for the plastic handles on DEC
> Flip Chip
> modules (single, double and quad)?
--- When I bought the Omnibus prototyping board from Douglas Electronics
by phone a few years ago, the lady I spoke to offered to include handles
for a small price. The board I ordered, by the way, was their part
number 12-DE-8. I have not found the handles mentioned on their website
but I might have missed it. The board product link is:
http://www.douglas.com/index.php/12-de-8.html
Steve Lafferty
http://www.tronola.com/
Hi all, does anyone know of a source for the plastic handles on DEC Flip Chip
modules (single, double and quad)? Magenta would be great, but really, any
colour would be acceptable, if magenta's not available. (And no, I don't want
to salvage them from otherwise useless cards!)
Noel
Hi,
I just finished a virtual PDP-11/70 panel for SimH.
As always it's a BlinkenBone application; description and download is here:
http://www.retrocmp.com/projects/pdp-11-70-panel-on-blinkenbone/243-simulat…
After the PDP-11/40 and the PDP-10 KI10, this is the 3rd panel connected
to SimH in
a both a physical and a simulated version.
I'll show this simulation, the physical PDP-11/70 panel and some more
panels on VCFB in Berlin,
october 3rd and 4th. http://www.vcfb.de/2015/index.html.en
Have fun!
Joerg
The 8/A's power supply, RL02's and RX01 is all working fine (knocking on
wood)... so far, no return of the dreaded Power OK "flicker". Maybe it
really is fixed this time.. Famous last words, I know!
Now I am pondering my PC8E (M840) reader/punch control board, and a Slo-Syn
TRP125 reel-to-reel 1" 8-bit paper tape reader that's been sitting unused in
my other rack, probably for at least ten years when I got it very cheap. I'm
thinking of interfacing them since I don't have a PC04 and no pressing need
(or money) for one. The TRP125 can do 125 characters per second, not as good
as the 300 of the PC04 but still much faster than the ASR-33 if I feel like
messing with paper tapes...
The drive just needs a pulse to move the tape. Data can be read/strobed into
the PC8E register almost any time the tape is not actually moving. (A real
PC04 has a stepper motor controlled by the PC8E, so one of those four step
outputs will probably work as a move pulse). Doubt I'd ever need to back up
the tape one character.
Timing will probably need to be adjusted for some pulse widths and the rep
rate which is slower. (1 byte is 8 ms on this one but 3.33 ms on the PC04.
The no-tape timeout of the PC8E is 10 ms).
One thing missing from the TRP125 is a tape-out indication and motor stop,
though. The TRP125 reel drive motors keep spinning until the tension arms
are manually raised to a detent position that actuates microswitches to turn
the motors off. The ASR-33 stops automatically when the tape has run out,
which would be useful. I suppose I could add a microswitch to sense the
presence of tape, or perhaps an LED/photocell to read the sprocket holes and
provide pulses as the PC04 does. Otherwise I'd have to "fake" the feed hole
pulses and manually shut the reader off once the tape runs out.
I'd like to hear from anyone who's done something similar to interface a
non-DEC tape reader.
thanks
Charles
http://hackaday.com/2015/09/28/roundup-retro-computers-in-your-browser/?utm…
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These are the small 0.01uF or smaller capacitors with transparent edges and you can see foil in the innards? If so, I think you are talking about "polystyrene capacitors". Yes, they were extremely popular in UK/EU for at-chip decoupling capacitors in the 1970's and 80's. They are not polarized.
I'm not sure why polystyrenes were so popular for bypass/decoupling in EU and not so popular on this side of the pond. Here in the US we were more likely to see polystyrene in audio filtering/coupling locations where the cheapest ceramics had odd piezo properties and low leakage of polystyrenes were desirable. I do remember seeing polystyrene bypass capacitors on at least a few DEC boards of the 70's so they did make some inroads.
There are real glass capacitors used where zero leakage and zero soakage are uber-concerns.
>> I wanted to share this because it's pretty neat:
>>
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BHIknNa6Eg
>>
>> It's a ~6 minute tour of a home automation system from the 1980s that
>> features graphical floor layouts and touch screen programming. The
system
>> is built into the house.
>
>That screen looks so much like my HP 150 that I keep wondering if that?s
what they used >to build it.
The IR grid for simulating a touchscreen wasn't really HP exclusive. I got a
frame and control board here from Dale Electronics out of Nebraska from
probably the same time period that interfaces to anything that supports
RS-232.
I really am quite fond of the idea of some simple machine in your basement
with an X10 controller and a bunch of serial ports for terminals. Didn't
they phase out Minitel terminals in France and now a lot of them are
scattered about for pretty much free? Imagine having one of those puppies
with the fold-out keyboards built into the wall of every room in your house.
That interface looks like it would be easy to replicate with the extended
ASCII character set.
-John
