9 Jun
1997
9 Jun
'97
1:52 a.m.
A.R. Duell wrote:
150 computers is doing VERY well, I just have a lot of friends who found
Yeah, but I have been doing this seriously for just over 11 years (started
24th May 1986), and had a few machines before that. Needless to say I'm
not going to stop collecting, hacking and enjoying these machines just
because somebody else has more CPUs that I do.
> Ok, you have just put us all to eternal shame. Do you have a list of all
> you've got? cuz I'm entirely interested to know. Or perhaps just an
> excerpt of your more rare systems. Where the hell do you store it all?
Wow.... This lot totally dwarfs my little collection (I think I have about
150 machines, including calculators, but excluding interesting
peripherals), and I thought I was doing pretty well! a suc, er, someone to take the stuff so they don't
have to throw it away
:-). 'Unfortunately' most of my friends are also computer collectors,
which means that I don't get offered fun toys that they happen to have. Of
course the toys _are_ being preserved and used, which is a good thing.
:). Yesterday, another friend gave me a C64, disk
drive, and color
monitor. I started collecting sometime about 1986 and was fortunate in
having quite a few friends in the computer business as well as space to
store the stuff. Additionally, I help a local private school put on a
"Computer Rummage Sale" and end up with a lot of stuff they couldn't
sell. Hope I haven't given you the impression I am a junk collector :).
What's wrong with being a 'junk collector'? One of my first actions on
getting this job was finding out what the policy was on raiding the skip
(dumpster) (It was a 'free for all' - grab what you want..) and getting
known by all those responsible for throwing stuff out...
On a more serious note, there is also a local Classic
Computer club with
a small (a dozen or so) but devoted membership who are extremely
knowledgeable about a wide range of the older computers. From that
group, I was given a couple of Jonos computers, TRS Model 4, a Smoke
Signal Broadcasting BFD-16, an Altos system, and a number of other
computers. I also have three other friends who, like myself, are
interested in putting together a computer museum. The biggest problem
is financing such a venture since to do a professional job, we would
most likely need at least 5000 sq ft of building.
Yep, that's something I ought to think of doing. Finding a building is a
big problem, and finding the money to buy it is even worse, but at least I
have the exhibits :-)
the earliest is probably the PDP 8i, and PDP
11/05. Of course the Mits
Do you have any other minis? I find them a lot more interesting than
micros, as I think I've mentioned before, since you can actually
understand how the CPU works at gate level.
and at least one 11/34. There is also a Kennedy Disk
Unit, a 470 MB
Hard Disk (probably for the Dec stuff) that is a rack mount, and a bunch
of spare M and K series interface boards. One thing I am *really* glad
Never had any K series. Got a large box (well, multiple boxes...) of
R,S,B,G,A,M,W boards, though. I've also got the test boards, extenders,
etc for repairing these machines (I got invited to clear a room that was
used for 'self-maintenance' on PDP11's, and got a lot of fun toys as a
result...)
now that I didn't get rid of are the engineering
drawings and
maintenance manuals for the PDP 8i, PDP 16, PDP 11/05, PDP 11/45, and
Those manuals are _very_ interesting, and _nothing_ would separate me from
my pile of them
--
-tony
ard12(a)eng.cam.ac.uk
The gates in my computer are AND,OR and NOT, not Bill