> > This raises the question of how people got into this hobby. Was it
> > a single event or something which happened over time (with or without
> > you being aware of it?)
>
> Well, I'm not sure whether there was a single event that got me
> started (other than an offer of my original Nova 1210), but I can
> honestly state that there was an event that made me get serious about
> the preservation of older machines.
Well, I'd collected the odd machine before I seriously started, but it was
a single event that made me realise that something had to be done. It
happened like this.
I was building my own Z-80 based microcomputer back in 1986, and needed a
keyboard. Now, back then, you couldn't pick up a PC-clone keyboard for a
few pounds in any PC shop, so when I saw an advert in the back of a
magazine ('Electronics and Wireless World', I think) for a factory sale
where encoded keyboards were being sold for \pounds 4.00, I became
interested. Even better, said sale was in Cambridge, where I was living at
the time.
I went along (and, indeed, bought a keyboard). I noticed a Philips P850
minicomputer being sold as scrap metal for \pounds 25.00. Now, I knew
nothing about the machine, but it looked _beautiful_, with a toggle-switch
front panel, etc. There were even some I/O boards and manuals with it.
So I bought it, and somehow got it home. I spend the afternoon looking at
it (2K words core memory, a CPU built from TTL on 5 boards, a pair of
large linear PSUs, etc) and reading the manuals. I toggled in a trivial
program to add 2 numbers. It ran. I was hooked. This is what computing
should be like.
I talked to some friends about this machine, and realised a few things :
1) The P850 seemed to be rare - nobody had ever heard of it.
2) Something had to be done - and soon - since otherwise machines would
be lost for ever.
3) Somebody had to do it. Museums (at that time) were preserving things
like the Pilot ACE, but weren't bothering with minis and micros
4) That somebody was going to be me. I proposed collecting as much
computer hardware (machines, peripherals, manuals, boards, whatever) as I
could - stuff that would otherwise have been lost. I'd restore it, get it
working, learn from it, etc.
5) A few other people thought likewise. We got together, and have never
looked back.
Since then I've rescued a large number of other machines (micros, minis,
handhelds, etc), but I'll never forget the day when I got my P850.
> While I'm greatly pleased that folks are preserving microcomputers,
> I've never felt a "bond" to that particular realm of design. I like
> things like time-states, core memory, and pulse-logic. I guess that
> makes me an "old fart".
Ditto. I have micros, I use micros, and heck, I even restore micros, but
given the choice I'll pick a multi-chip CPU any day. Hand-stepping
microcode is great fun...
BTW, I have nothing made by DG, so if anyone knows of one being given away
in the UK (or sold for a reasonable amount), please get in touch.
> | Carl Richard Friend (UNIX Sysadmin) | West Boylston |
--
-tony
ard12_at_eng.cam.ac.uk
The gates in my computer are AND,OR and NOT, not Bill
Received on Thu Apr 10 1997 - 09:55:52 BST