18 Jun
2019
18 Jun
'19
7:16 p.m.
I bought a large package of DEC gear last year and it came with a PDP
11/15. I have no need for this classic, and put it on the list. A few
people responded, but because of my problems, I never followed up with
them.
For those who responded, I apologize for dropping the ball. If anyone is
interested in it, please contact me off list.
BTW, I have started on pulling a few things out of the warehouse.
Thanks, Paul
18 Jun
18 Jun
8:15 p.m.
Paul,
That is so cool!
How much space would it take?
That is my first computer (outside of timesharing and Z-80 homebrew).
My first job was on the PDP-15 to transcribe the APOLLO analog range tapes of the lunar
experiments, primarily the seismometer moonquake data for the University of Texas
Geophysics Lab (they designed the seismometers).
The machine was a pretty good wall, 4-5 racks. On the other side of the room were the
FM/Direct Bell and Howell analog range tape players and demodulators.
I ran this stuff all night long, hanging tapes, using the scope to adjust analog heads for
the best signal and transcribe to the digital tape.
NASA was not interested in this stuff anymore, they were onto Skylab. The ALSEP lunar
stations were TEG powered and would go on for decades transmitting, probably still are.
All we got was freetime gratis from the range stations to point at the moon and hang a
tape, the data was always bad and a challenge to tweak heads the best we could.
We had a Versatec electrostatic plotter to output the continuous seismic record as I was
decoding the tapes.
Anytime there was an 'event' on the plotter, I had Dr. Yosio Nakamura's home
number to call him in and take a look.
Many nights, we re tweaked heads, to get the last bits of clean seismometer data.
Randy
Trivia: As I hung a tape out of sequence once, Fortran coders fixed that next day. Next
time it happened, the TTY chatters, RANDY! DIDN'T YOU ALREADY ENTER GMT JULIAN DATE
XXX:XXX:XXX
It was a all night job alone in the computer room, and I am listening to Foghat between
tape hangs and alignment.
________________________________
From: cctalk <cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org> on behalf of Paul Anderson via
cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 18, 2019 7:16 PM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts; cctech at vax-11.org
Subject: PDP 11/15
I bought a large package of DEC gear last year and it came with a PDP
11/15. I have no need for this classic, and put it on the list. A few
people responded, but because of my problems, I never followed up with
them.
For those who responded, I apologize for dropping the ball. If anyone is
interested in it, please contact me off list.
BTW, I have started on pulling a few things out of the warehouse.
Thanks, Paul
19 Jun
19 Jun
10:49 a.m.
IIRC, there are two models called //15.
The original, 10.5 high, an 11/20 with no power fail. We dold that to
Aeroflot with about 10 racks of periphs.
although I have never seen one, there have been refs to another more
modern unit, based on LSI=11 or later chip set,
so I wonder if it is one of those or the orig.
tks
bb
On Tue, Jun 18, 2019 at 11:40 PM Al Kossow via cctalk
<cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
On 6/18/19 8:15 PM, Randy Dawson via cctalk wrote:
Paul,
That is so cool!
How much space would it take?
10.5" of rack space
it is a PDP-11 model 15 (first generation)
10:58 a.m.
On Jun 19, 2019, at 1:49 PM, Bob Smith via cctalk
<cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
IIRC, there are two models called //15.
The original, 10.5 high, an 11/20 with no power fail. We dold that to
Aeroflot with about 10 racks of periphs.
although I have never seen one, there have been refs to another more
modern unit, based on LSI=11 or later chip set,
so I wonder if it is one of those or the orig.
tks
bb
That's odd, I only ever heard of an 11/15 as the 11/20 relabeled for OEM markets, the
same way 11/05 and 11/10 are the same machine but different markets. Power fail was an
option on the 11/20 too, as I recall. I suppose the different marketing might produce
different sets of options, or different choices for what was "the standard
package".
11/15 as a designation for an LSI based machine doesn't ring any bells at all.
paul
9:46 p.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctech [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Paul
Koning via
cctech
Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2019 1:59 PM
To: Bob Smith; General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Cc: Al Kossow
Subject: Re: PDP 11/15
...
11/15 as a designation for an LSI based machine doesn't ring any bells at
all.
paul
PDT-11/150? It is based on an LSI-11 and if you squint at the designation a
bit ...
-----
12:01 p.m.
On Tue, Jun 18, 2019 at 11:15 PM Randy Dawson via cctalk <
cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
Paul,
That is so cool!
How much space would it take?
That is my first computer (outside of timesharing and Z-80 homebrew).
My first job was on the PDP-15 to transcribe the APOLLO analog range tapes
of the lunar experiments, primarily the seismometer moonquake data for the
University of Texas Geophysics Lab (they designed the seismometers).
The machine was a pretty good wall, 4-5 racks. On the other side of the
room were the FM/Direct Bell and Howell analog range tape players and
demodulators.
I ran this stuff all night long, hanging tapes, using the scope to adjust
analog heads for the best signal and transcribe to the digital tape.
NASA was not interested in this stuff anymore, they were onto Skylab. The
ALSEP lunar stations were TEG powered and would go on for decades
transmitting, probably still are. All we got was freetime gratis from the
range stations to point at the moon and hang a tape, the data was always
bad and a challenge to tweak heads the best we could.
We had a Versatec electrostatic plotter to output the continuous seismic
record as I was decoding the tapes.
Anytime there was an 'event' on the plotter, I had Dr. Yosio Nakamura's
home number to call him in and take a look.
Many nights, we re tweaked heads, to get the last bits of clean
seismometer data.
Randy
Trivia: As I hung a tape out of sequence once, Fortran coders fixed that
next day. Next time it happened, the TTY chatters, RANDY! DIDN'T YOU
ALREADY ENTER GMT JULIAN DATE XXX:XXX:XXX
It was a all night job alone in the computer room, and I am listening to
Foghat between tape hangs and alignment.
You know, one of the reasons I'm still on here is for the anecdotes
and this is far and away the coolest anecdote I've read in quite some time!
Thanks for sharing, Randy; more, please!
12:30 p.m.
On Wed, Jun 19, 2019 at 3:11 PM Mark Linimon via cctalk <
cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
On Wed, Jun 19, 2019 at 03:01:50PM -0400, Jacob
Ritorto via cctalk wrote:
I am a big fan of bargain 11/15 too, that and the anecdotes of course.
b
You know, one of the reasons I'm still on
here is for the anecdotes
Agreed!
mcl
1793
days inactive
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days old
8 comments
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participants (9)
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