A very sad PDP-8/S

[Guy Dunphy]

At 10:18 AM 4/11/2018 +1000, Steve wrote:
>The "PDP dash eight oblique S" back in 1968 in 'What the future sounded like':   https://youtu.be/8KkW8Ul7Q1I?t=638

Cool, thanks for that. Ah, Hawkwind...

Damn, that 'left all the synths in the basement, and it got flooded' story is painful.
In my opinion the ONLY way to preserve tech relics, is for individual(s) who understand the gear, to take personal responsibility for it.
Companies, beancounters, economics... all are deadly enemies of historic artefacts and documents.

Small world. All the way through that I was waiting for a mention of Fairlight Instruments (Synthesizer company in Sydney.)
But none. Oh well. I worked at Fairlight from the mid 80s for several years (till they shut down.)
There's even a clip online from Fairlight, with me in it: 
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21S1Okh2nlc
  Fairlight Instruments Factory Tour 1986 part 2

Starting at 2:18, the young fellow with the dumb haircut and too shy to say anything to the camera, is me.
Ha ha... and I can date that event as very shortly after I got married, since for the wedding was the only time in my entire life I ever shaved my beard off. I hate how I look without it. Since I married in June 1987, I think the year listed on the video is wrong.

Oh, and then the camera pans to a proto-board circuit I was working on. It's a bit of a tangle. I think that was part of a video timebase corrector system I was working on. My proto board, I still have it.


>If there are any special 8/S lightbulb housings that were plastic, I'm happy to CAD them up and 3D print for your (er, museum's) machine at no cost, if I had some measurements or good photos.
>I'm only 'up the road' in Brisbane.

Thanks for the offer, but it won't be necessary.
I'm spending today cleaning the machine and working out exactly how to make the 'clear protective base.' Bought most of the materials today.
The front panel is in pieces atm. And clean now.
Incidentally, several people called the material used for the lamps shroud plate 'MDF.'
It's not, it's that high density cloth+bakelite (or something) material used for electrical switchboard panels. Very tough stuff.

I'll try to get a blog page started for this machine tonight, or at least by tomorrow.

If you're ever down in Sydney and have spare time, you're welcome to visit. Address via email.

Guy