I decided to run over to the surplus store this morning for a closer look at the nicolet. It's in the front window so even though they're closed I could get a good look at it. I also saw some other gear I never really noticed before and would like to ask the list members for info. 1) Nicolet There are two units. The first is a model NIC-80 Data Processor. It looks identical to the unit on sellam's website. There's three rows of lights labelled AC (18 lights +1 L light), IR, and PC. Below that is a set of switches for the SR (switch register?). Top left is a "sweeps complete" display. There's two yellow buttons in the upper right labelled "data processor". Top center is a row of buttons labelled 'memory allocation', with labels off to the left and right of "start" and "size" respectively. There is a rotary knob labelled "vertical display scale", and several buttons below that labelled 'ADC resolution'. Below that is two knobs labelled Constant A and Constant B. Across the bottom are buttons for step, deposit, examine, load PC, single ins, continue, and start. Finally on the bottom right there are two buttons called Execute and Stop. Bottom right is AC power keyswitch. The second unit is a Nicolet model NIC-298 "diskette storage unit". It has two 8" floppy drives. There's a row of lights vertically on the side called read, write, and ltrack. There's an unlabelled pushbutton on the upper right, and the lower right is a power switch. Questions: The cpu definitely says model NIC-80. How does this relate to the model sellam has? More to the point, can someone tell me about operation of this unit with regards to what OS it ran, what compilers or languages, etc. Did one hook up a terminal to this or was it just console input? What made this unit different from more well known computers (ie. what was it's specialty)? Most importantly, is any real documentation around on this unit (operators guide, schematics, logic diagrams, programming info)? 2) Paper tape reader There was what appeared to be a paper tape reader. Had the leftbay/rightbay arrangement like a PDP PC04/05 with the read cells in the center. The brand name appears to be Decitek. There were two switches in the center, one was a toggle for power, the other I couldn't make out. I could easily be mistaken, but the bays looked much wider than a PC04/05, making me wonder if it took wider paper tape than I'm used to seeing. Questions: Anyone have any ideas what type of system this was compatible with, what type of interface it might use, and does anyone have docs for it? 3) Data General Mag Tape Unit There is a DG 1/2" mag tape unit there too. The unit is about 13" tall by 19" wide, with a clear blue plastic cover. The takeup reel is on the left, and it looks like it supports a very slightly smaller than normal 1/2" tape reel (but larger than the little 8" jobs). The other hub is on the right for your tape. There is a row of controls down the center sticking through the blue cover. The top is a rocker switch for power, next is a group of two lights marked 'ready' and 'write protect'. Lower is another group of two lights marked 'bot' and 'eot'. Next is a rocker switch marked 'unload' on the left and 'bot' on the right. At the very bottom is an offline/online rocker switch, and a light on the online side. Questions: There's no model on this unit I could see from the front. Anyone hazard a guess as to the model number? What type of DG was this usually used on, what interface does it use (pertec, scsi, proprietary, etc.), could it be used on other systems (till I get a DG :) ), and are there any docs available? Finally - I'm still trying to decide if I want to get all of this or some of it (depends on the prices, when I looked today none of this stuff was marked so I'll have to ask the owner). If there's any of it I decide I don't want that others here are interested in - let me know! Jay West