12 Mar
2009
12 Mar
'09
3:14 p.m.
Here is another hint. A /44 isn't that
collectable of a computer. It lacks
I am not at all sure what makes a computer 'collectable', but anyway...
a real front panel, and it's BIG. For a Hobbyist
a Q-Bus based PDP-11 makes
It's not that big. The CPU is just a 10.5" rackmount box. It often came
in a short rack cainet with a TU58, but there's no reason it has to be in
that cabinet.
a lot more sense. A /44 like mine takes up about as
much space as a washer
That depeds -- a lot -- on the hobbyist. For a hardware person like me,
the 11/44 (and most other older Unibus machines with the exception of the
11/24) are more interesting. I can understand how the CPU works, look at
the microcode, repair the CPU to component level, and so on.
And there are, IMHO, more interesting peripherals for the Unibus
machines. IIRC, using standard DEC boards you can put any Q-bus
peripherals on a Unius machine (using a DW11-B bus converter) but not the
reverse.
This does bring up an interesting question. What percentage of people with
PDP-11's have Unibus PDP-11's. Also of the people that do have Unibus
PDP-11's, how many have a large number of PDP-11's?
I have both Unibus and Qbus macnines, I also have a fair number of 11s
For the Unibus machines, IIRC, I have
PDP11/45 with RK05s, RK07s, RLs, etc
PDP11/44 (it's got 22 bit addressing, it's small (see above). I'd prefer
an 11/70, but I've got nowhere to put one, and anyway I was never offered
one.
3 off PDP11/34
PDP11/10
GT40
PDP11/24 (I was given it, it's of little real interest).
Q-bus
-----
At least one of the original LSI11s ,with the quad-height CPU board, etc
PDP11/03
PDP11/23
A couple of MINCs
SBC21
-tony