3 Nov
2018
3 Nov
'18
7:48 p.m.
Ethan said
Ah! ok thanks for clearing that up. It makes me wonder if the 11/15 is much the same. I
have not got to
looking at it properly, but I am sure it has a similar MDF base for the bulbs.
If there are
any special 8/S lightbulb housings that were plastic, I'm happy to CAD them up and 3D
print...
Nope. That's now how these worked. The bulbs had "flying leads"
coming out of the glass, no bases, and the light barrier was a bit of
MDF with holes in it (the MDF is visible in at least one of Guy's
photos). The bulbs just hovered over the PCB and just hung loose in
the holes in the MDF.
Later PDP-8 models used "bi-pin base" bulbs that had a
factory-molded-on base and a pair of sturdy pins.
Sounds very /360-ish :)
There were plastic mounts by the early 1970s when DEC switched to
LEDs. I've seen them in the PDP-8/M and the PDP-11/70, among other
machines. There's a single and a triple shape.
And also, as I have just found out, a 6-LED shape in the 11/05. I had already drawn up the
3-LED mount for the
11/03 (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2829191) but until I unscrewed the switch board
from an 11/05 console
a few minutes ago, found it actually has three 6-LED mounts and a single. I'll revise
that thing shortly.
Steve.