How scarce (valuable) is core for the PDP-8?

From: Marvin <marvin_at_rain.org>
Date: Mon Apr 19 10:35:27 1999

The only real measure I have seen is on ebay, although others can talk about
what goes on in the newsgroups. The last PDP-8i core stack ended at $76.00
with 14 bids and the reserve was not met. The URL is:

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=91272199

Ethan Dicks wrote:
>
> I have a chance to buy a 4kW core stack for the PDP-8/i (-8/L). It's
> more than I want to pay, $100. My question is, what are these things
> going for these days? I don't really *need* it. The guy selling it
> has more core than this that he saved from a "recycler", but he's in
> it for the money, not out of a love for classic machines. Most of his
> memory, he sells to people who want something to stick on the shelf and
> "ooh" and "aah" at. :-(
>
> So... for those people who have been trying to get core over the past year
> or two, what's it costing? I'm trying to decide if I want to grab this
> stack to put into my -8/i and bring it up to 8kW, an entirely optional
> project (I have all the other parts I would need for the upgrade from a
> PDP-8/L that I got in 1982 that was sold as parts-only, bad core, and most
> of the I/O and part of the CPU missing).
>
> I think he's charging too much, but maybe I'm disconnected with the
> current pricing. I do know that if I pass on it, there are several
> other people who are waiting for this exact piece, so it'll be sold
> one way or the other when I answer him.
>
> OTOH, I do have a broken (20-30 fractured cores) -8/L stack that I've
> contemplated repairing. It's a parity stack, so I can scavenge wire
> and cores from the parity plane (or just use the parity plane intact
> as another bit, then use one pad of broken core to repair the other,
> less damaged pad of broken core). Any thoughts out there on core repair?
> It's 1968 DEC core with, AFAIK a seperate sense and inhibit wire, which
> is both good and bad - good because the cores are larger than three-wire
> core, bad because I'd have to thread up, down and two diagonals.
>
> Of course, I could always sell the broken plane to a collector and use
> the money to fund part of this working stack. So many options. In terms
> of time spent, it's cheaper for me to work a few hours and earn the money
> that the core pirate wants; in terms of lessons learned, repairing a 30-year-
> old core stack would be a big thrill, *if* it worked.
>
> Thanks,
>
> -ethan
>
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Received on Mon Apr 19 1999 - 10:35:27 BST

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