CZ's Computer Museum
Sigh. In 2004 I sold my pdp-8/I system to a person who really wanted it. The problem was that I simply didn't need it anymore, and after having it for over 15 years it was time to let it go to someone else who might use it. The fact that I was able to pay off my debts with the proceeds did help however...
Next I'll be selling my pdp11/05 and other gear. In the meantime, this page is up in memory of TALOS...
Side picture of my pdp-8/I. This is a pretty interesting beast, and yes it is fully operational. To the right of the 8/I is the RK8 disk controller rack. And I mean *RACK* The RK8 is not the same as the RK8E. The RK08 was a one year custom produced system. In fact it was the first removable pack system that Dec built. The core of it is the RK03 drive (I have two) and the RK8 controller (which is most of a 6 foot rack filled with DEC FlipChips.) It does run, however it is a bit balky at times.
Fortunately it has it's own display which sequences through every state on the controller. Not quite a computer, but very close.
This is the console for the RK08 controller. It records the status, commands, disk address, and all state tables. Very very handy when you're trying to figure out what is going where...
The top half of the PDP-8/I. Note the key in the system (that is an OTB key fob :-) and the PC01 paper tape punch. Once again, this is not the PC8/E; the PDP-8/I was a PosiBus system. But the PC01 was run on Negibus, you might ask. Well, I just happen to have a Posi-NegiBus converter in the system which allows me to run the really old stuff along with the shiny new drive and FPP12 floating point unit.
This and a large crate of Flip-Chips are all that remains of my other PDP-8/I. It was in very bad shape; and took a hit on it's backplane. So I salvaged the parts for spares for my main PDP-8/I system. I really wish now that I had kept it, but the 8's are *huge* and I didn't have the space 15 years ago. Glad I have what I have.
Ah, the DecWriter II. No home should be without it. However this isn't an LA36, no no no. If you look closely, you might see that the baud rates are 110,300, and 1200. 1200? Yes, this is the fabled LS120. It's basically an LA36 with a faster servo head and clocked at 1200 baud or 120Cps. It does not have bidirectional printing, so when the head comes back, it comes back four times faster than the LA36's did.
Very tough on the mechanism. So Dec rebuilt the whole thing into the LA120 DecWriter III. Not many LS120's exist; the extra speed was right at the edge of what an LA36 could handle. I've got a spare head; LA36 print heads last almost forever.
Plus it runs on 20ma closed loop. You can't talk to an 8/I with RS/232; you need closed loop.