3 Apr
2007
3 Apr
'07
6 a.m.
Seth asks:
3) Are the stories about the Boston Computer Museum
receiving a
complete PDP-6 and then chopping it up to sell as gifts truth or
urban legend?
I don't know about the BCM, but I have a couple of boards from
decomissioned PDP-6's. They were not disassembled out of malice
but out of lack of facility to store them.
4) Does any PDP-6 software still exist, especially
PDP-6 ITS ? (I
haven't found any on Bitsavers, so I'm guessing the answer is "no")
In between scraps found on the DECUS sources and some
files I've cobbled together over the years from friends in the
southern hemisphere, I think I have two mostly
complete sets of sources for the PDP-6 monitor. I discussed
this a bit on alt.sys.pdp10 last year. Get me worked up and
I might actually get them to build :-). Right now they're at
http://pdp-6.trailing-edge.com/
Note that most of the early DECUS LIB-10 entries are actually
PDP-6 software (with occasional notes on what you have to
patch/modify to make it work on a -10). I highly recommend
that you browse them.
Last year on alt.sys.pdp10 I also initiated some discussions
about the MACRO differences necessary to assemble the
earliest source files (where the syntax was slightly different).
I have mentioned to Al that I am very interested in
the oldest 36-bit Macro source files that he has from the
LCG archives. I suspect there's at least some interesting
stuff there but it's hard to sort out.
Tim.
3 Apr
3 Apr
7:28 a.m.
> 3) Are the stories about the Boston Computer
Museum receiving a
> complete PDP-6 and then chopping it up to sell as gifts truth or
> urban legend?
Until someone comes up with hard evidence that BCM had one then
scrapped it - something like photographic evidence of the PDP-6 in the
collection, inclusion in an official inventory (and then not), or
otherwise - I discount it as just a story. Nearly everyone I have
talked to about it is very insistent about BCM scrapping a PDP-6, but
the sources of their information is always someone else with the same
unsupported and often inconsistent facts. Basically, the whole story
has too many of the red flags that make up a good urban legend.
I don't know about the BCM, but I have a couple of
boards from
decomissioned PDP-6's. They were not disassembled out of malice
but out of lack of facility to store them.
When was this?
--
Will
7:56 p.m.
I have parts of a PDP-6 to PDP-10 interface prototype that came from
local salvage during the BCM era.
I am also aware of other hardware that went to BCM and died there.
Personally I don't discount this story at all.
----- Original Message -----
From: "William Donzelli" <wdonzelli at gmail.com>
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2007 10:28 AM
Subject: Re: PDP-6 questions
> 3) Are
the stories about the Boston Computer Museum receiving a
> complete PDP-6 and then chopping it up to sell as gifts truth or
> urban legend?
Until someone comes up with hard evidence that BCM had one then
scrapped it - something like photographic evidence of the PDP-6 in the
collection, inclusion in an official inventory (and then not), or
otherwise - I discount it as just a story. Nearly everyone I have
talked to about it is very insistent about BCM scrapping a PDP-6, but
the sources of their information is always someone else with the same
unsupported and often inconsistent facts. Basically, the whole story
has too many of the red flags that make up a good urban legend.
I don't know about the BCM, but I have a
couple of boards from
decomissioned PDP-6's. They were not disassembled out of malice
but out of lack of facility to store them.
When was this?
--
Will
9:28 p.m.
--- William Donzelli <wdonzelli at gmail.com> wrote:
I have in my possession a PDP-6 module purchased by
myself at the BCM museum store in 1989. It may have
come from spares rather than being stripped from a
machine in the collection, but it was a very large
double-height, double-width system module of the type
that I believe was only used on the PDP-6, and it was
described as a PDP-6 board when I bought it. I find
it highly suspicious that Philco and CDC 6600-style
modules were also on sale. I have several modules
purchased at the same time that look identical to
those in the Philco on display now at CHM, formerly at
BCM. The CHM's machine is conspicuously missing large
numbers of modules, as in an entire backplane stripped
clean. Not that this proves anything, but I left after
that visit to BCM in 1989 with the distinct impression
that machines from the collection had been stripped
for
souvenirs. The BCM seemed to be much more
concerned with education, including with respect to
contemporary machines at the time, rather than
historical preservation and scholarship. Despite
this,
Gwen was there when I visited, and, although I had not
met her previously, she saw me and apparently detected
that I was not all that interested in the "kiddie
stuff" and took me into the back storage area and
showed me the "good stuff". She certainly appreciated
the historical machines, and was like an excited kid
showing it off. It is hard to imagine machines being
stripped or scrapped on her watch.
--Bill
> 3) Are
the stories about the Boston Computer
Museum receiving a
> complete PDP-6 and then chopping it up to
sell
as gifts truth or
> urban legend?
Until someone comes up with hard evidence that BCM
had one then
scrapped it - something like photographic evidence
of the PDP-6 in the
collection, inclusion in an official inventory (and
then not), or
otherwise - I discount it as just a story.
4 Apr
4 Apr
7:59 a.m.
I have in my possession a PDP-6 module purchased by
myself at the BCM museum store in 1989. It may have
come from spares rather than being stripped from a
machine in the collection, but it was a very large
double-height, double-width system module of the type
that I believe was only used on the PDP-6, and it was
described as a PDP-6 board when I bought it.
I do not dispute TCM selling modules and things. What I dispute is
where they came from.
I have worked with enough technical museums to know that there is a
constant stream of parts and things coming thru the front door.
Engineers, radiomen, soldiers, sailors, whomever (or more likely these
days, the widows or children of these) will find a bunch of things
during a cleanup of the basement or closet, and send them to the
museums as-is. After the museums pick out the good things and add them
to the collections, the piles are generally sold or traded off, often
in garage sale or gift store settings.
It seems very likely to me that TCM often received boxes of boards and
things from DEC engineers, or DEC scrap as has been mentioned, and
these were the items that were sold.
--
Will
6246
days inactive
6247
days old
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