Terak 8510a

From: Alexios Chouchoulas <alexios_at_vennea.demon.co.uk>
Date: Fri Jun 13 17:28:14 1997

On Thu, 12 Jun 1997, A.R. Duell wrote:

> Oh, you lucky thing!. The Terak is a machine I'm looking out for, and I've
> never managed to find one. Whatever you do, look after it.

  I hadn't heard of it a month ago, but the moment I read about it I just
wanted one. Guess what happens a few weeks after that. Can't be abysmally
unlucky /all/ your life. I may not have a PDP-{8,11}, but I have something
extremely close. And it's my first ever non-Motorola/Zilog/MOS platform. :-)


> Any ideas as to which model? If it's the long-lost PERQ T4, serial number
> DEMO01, I'll not be responsible for my actions :-)....

  I can't identify them, I'm afraid. It's got the (typical, I think)
portrait screen and a big floor unit with a single 8" floppy drive. I doubt
it's got a serial number that low, but here's its story. Maybe it's useful
and maybe it'll make you berserk, grabbing the first plane to Edinburgh with
froth coming out of your mouth. :-)

  Anyway, according to DAI's Systems Manager, Edinburgh University (or DAI,
specifically, can't remember) was evaluating workstations on behalf of UK
universities. Among the candidates (maybe the ONLY candidates) were the Sun 2
series and the Perq. I believe the Sun 2 was considered better in the end,
but there were some Perqs left around the university. My estimation is that
happened sometime around 1982.

  Whether this is a particularly rate Perq or not, three people went to that
storage room. Three people bathed the Perq in saliva until the Systems
Manager had to tell us something to the effect of "don't even think about
it, we're keeping the Perq".

  Can't complain, really... I wouldn't be able to give the Perq a good
enough home. It's safe in the storage room.


> Seriously, if you are looking out for a PERQ, and don't really mind which
> model you get (They are _ALL_ fine machines), you are very likely to find
> one. An advert on alt.sys.perq will often get results.

  I'm looking for any and all good machines. Unfortunately, I suffer from
two problems: lack of space and a requirement to ship or lug all of my stuff
across Europe. It's distressing, sometimes. Maybe I ought to get a driver's
license and buy a 2nd hand truck (oh yes, and lots of razor blades, just in
case). :-)


> Pity. That machine should be kept running, and not just stuck in a
> museum...

  I agree. Thing is, it's going to the new wing of the Edinburgh Museum
(right across the street from DAI), along with (I think) a PDP-8, its ASR-33
and the Freddy, the world's first (and HUGE) intelligent assembly robot,
controlled by the PDP-8. They might actually get the machines to work every
now and then. We can only hope.


> Or like I did when faced with 10 tables covered in DEC spares and the
> comment 'Take whatever you want' !

  Heh, that was almost the case in there. With some notable exceptions (the
Perq), it was a "help yourself" thing.


--------------------------- ,o88,o888o,,o888o. -------------------------------
Alexios Chouchoulas '88 ,88' ,88' alexios_at_vennea.demon.co.uk
The Unpronounceable One ,o88oooo88ooooo88oo, axc_at_dcs.ed.ac.uk
Received on Fri Jun 13 1997 - 17:28:14 BST