A very sad PDP-8/S

[Noel Chiappa]

    > From: Steven Malikoff

    >> The bulbs had "flying leads" coming out of the glass, no bases ... The
    >> bulbs just hovered over the PCB

    > It makes me wonder if the 11/15 is much the same. 

I just had a look at my -11/20 (the two are basically the same machine; the
/15 was intended for the OEM market, the /20 the end-user), and it has an
intermediate between this, and the final incandescent bulb form (as on the
-11/45), where there were bulbs with plastic bases plugged into sockets.

The -11/20 has the same bulbs, but apparently soldered directly into the
panel; I looked at the prints (it's in the 'KY11-A Programmer's Console'
stuff - I see Manx says the prints aren't online, I'll have to scan my set),
and there are bulbs in the parts list, but no sockets.

    > From: Ethan Dicks

    > I think some later DEC light blockers were MDF or perhaps something a
    > bit denser .. Definitely a fibrous wood product.

Per the prints, the later ones were Benelex, an early form of MDF (although
some -11's later used thick sheet aluminium).

	Noel