Fwd: [alt.sys.pdp8] Another round of PDP-8 kits happening

This message has been forwarded from Usenet. To reply to the original author, use the email address from the forwarded message. Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2010 08:17:54 -0800 Groups: alt.sys.pdp8 From: Steve Gibson <x at x.x> Org: Gibson Research Corporation Subject: Another round of PDP-8 kits happening Id: <hing3n$5i4$1 at news.eternal-september.org> ======== Everyone... I expect that everyone here is aware of Bob Armstrong's really neat PDP-8 single board computer (SBC) kit, and its matching PDP-8 front panel kit. But if not, or to refresh your memory... It's a contemporary single board computer based around the Harris HD6120 single-chip, 12-bit PDP-8 clone microprocessor. It features a PDP-8 compatible RS-232 serial interface with a full BIOS "monitor" that allows the terminal to manage programs running on the PDP-8, single stepping, tracing, breakpoints, etc. It also exports a simple API that allows PDP-8 programs to access the IDE drive and other peripherals. The built-in IDE interface can attach to any IDE/ATA-style drive -- spinning platter, Compact Flash, or other non-volatile solid state drive (I went with small IDE SSDs.) Bob includes the device drivers for the PDP-8's classic operating system, OS/8, and a full OS/8 image is available for easy installation. (I wrote and provide a free Windows utility that installs bootable OS/8 on any drive instantly.) There's also an OS/8 "Games" partition image available that brings a collection of those. Various languages from the era, including FOCAL (Dec's interpreted BASIC-like language) and PAL-8 (the PDP-8 assembler) and editors, etc. are all there. This all means that with an attached drive and terminal, you can be messing around with a PDP-8 in its classic native environment. That's otherwise difficult to do on original DEC equipment. The front panel, which attaches to this board, is nothing less than a work of art and it was designed to copy the original PDP-8/e front panel as closely as made sense. Thanks to an efficient design using lots of CMOS and PALs to reduce chip count, the pair of SBC6120 and FP6120 consume about 150 milliamps when running with all lights illuminated. So it would even be practical to run the system from self-contained batteries. In early 2009 (about this time last year) Bob gathered a "critical mass" of interested classic computer enthusiasts and offered to make his beautiful creations available once again after many years. I purchased, assembled, and programmed three full kits that I'm very pleased with. Although I also own a collection of original DEC PDP-8s and PDP-11s, these kits are nevertheless something special. I recently completed publishing my work -- open-sourcing the PDP-8 software I wrote for Bob's front panel kit (a classic blinkenlights toy and a simple but challenging combinatorial puzzle) and I made flash videos of the results so that people who had not seen them in action could do so. (See link below.) As part of the publication of this work I have been coordinating with Bob Armstrong about the possibility of another round of combined SBC6120/FP6120 kits ... and that effort is underway. If sufficient interest can be generated -- at least 50 purchasers -- Bob has agreed to produce another round of kits containing all of the special, custom & programmed bits required to assemble the combination of an SBC6120 and FP6120. After its first day on the Net, we have about 15 people signed up so far. I am posting this note here, since I didn't want anyone who would WANT to know of this opportunity not to have learned of it in time to participate if they wished to. My web site's tribute to the PDP-8 consists of eight pages, the last one of which explains the details of the kits and provides a web-form for allowing interested people to declare their interest. Yesterday I announced the existence of the kits during my weekly Security Now podcast recording with Leo Laporte. The podcast goes live later today (Thursday, 1/14/2010), when we'll have an audience of about 80,000 receiving it then listening to it over the coming days. From among the few thousand listeners who were watching the recording live yesterday, we immediately received several declarations of interest... and they've been trickling in ever since. So, at the moment, we're looking good for achieving the required critical mass for another round. I have my kits, I don't need more ... but the kits are so nice that Bob and I wanted to help others get one. It seems unlikely that this opportunity will ever present itself again. Here's the page... http://www.grc.com/pdp-8/yourown-sbc.htm And if by some chance you are not familiar with these terrific kits, other pages in that area of my web site, linked at the bottom of that page, contain videos to give you a good idea of the final product. Here's to keeping classic computing alive ... and having a lot of fun doing so. :) -- ________________________________________________________________ Steve Gibson.