You can add
peripherals to the IO bus - if you have them.
Or a high-speed paper tape reader/punch with in-cabinet boards (one of
the few peripherals).
Want that, want that! I still have a spare PC04 sitting
around. Perhaps I could combine that...
But you cannot run OS/8 on the machine.
No. I'm still trying to build up my first PDP-8/L to that level - and
haven't succeeded yet.
What's missing? Disk?
In the meantime, it does run FOCAL.
Oh yes,
Focal and Chekmo.....
For that
purpose
you'd need an expansion box with further 4K. And then you're at the 8/L's
maximum.
Not so... I have an 8K external box on an -8/L - total of 12K. Yes,
it's 100% DEC.
How that? I derived my statement from the fact that there is
only one field select switch on the
machine. How do you control the third field?
AFAIK the
basic system can be fitted with paper tape interfaces.
That makes it a bit more usable. If you have the bare machine, you can
toggle in programs and run paper tape software and - very important - spend
your day waiting for the teletype to read in your program.
One of my -8/Ls came with high-speed punch/reader - that's much easier
to live with, but not all that common.
Want it, want it!
How many of those do you have?
> Core memory was quite common with /e/f/m systems
as well! Even the /a sold
> with core. But I have no info about the relation between /a with and without
> core.
I'm quite
curious about the 8/i's end price on eBay!
I am, too.
This is all strange. I'd never been able to even think of touching that DEC gear if I
had to pay
those prices... Who has so much money left? Why don't those people just look for the
machines?
--
http://www.hachti.de