From: anders at
abc80.net Wednesday, December 04, 2013 12:00 PM
Thanks, I'll know that it will be hard, I have a
programmers console on my
wish list for this Christmas...
Charles Morris and I that did some PCBs for replacement 8A
programmer's panels. He got his working, but I ended up getting
an original, so while my prototype got built, it never got debugged.
As I recall, the issues were with the power and ground planes (those
boards have some very long power runs, and they were ringing a bit),
and a consistency issue with the naming of pins on the interconnect
between the boards (one drawing has bit 0 as LSB, the other as MSB).
Once those were worked out, the boards worked. They are a pair,
mounted back-to-back, each replacing one side of the original pair.
Anyway, I think I have a few more PCBs, if you are interested. I think I
also have some stock for the buttons, LED digits, and a few of the more
exotic (LS367 and LED drivers, IIRC) ICs.
I think there was also some front panel work on laying out the artwork.
I used a cardboard mock-up printed on my inkjet, but I think Charles
ordered one from FP Express. I'd have to check my records. (That, of
course, would be the single most expensive part.)
Oh, here's a link to a picture of Charles' panel:
http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x426/DrCharlesMorris/PDP8A.jpg
Vince