Well Chris... not too hard of a find. I bought everything from one member
here! (I usually buy most of my systems from factories.
Kevin Stumpf of (www.unusual.on.ca) sold me:
PDP-8/S
PDP-15
PDP-8I (and this baby is mint...... I plugged it in and every bulb worked
and it's real happy!)
About a 1000 flip chips
All the manuals and docs, software.. even 5 trays of PDP 5,5/8 decus
programs...
Nova-2
Nova-3
A skid full of PDP 8, PDP 11, and Nova spares and parts and docs...
None of them were running or had been plugged in. All of them came from
McMaster University LAST YEAR!
I have to hand it to Kevin. He did not miss a SINGLE piece of documentation
or software. I don't think he ever really expected to sell all of it. I
bought the 8/S first. (How we got in contact is really funny. I just
finished scrapping an 8/E and emailed him about his Keronix mini.. for some
reason I liked the way the 8/S looked in the picture on his website). I then
picked up a Nova 2, then the Nova 3, then finally he agreed to sell me
EVERYTHING he had left in Dec/Data General (PDP-15, PDP-8I).. (A good 14'
UHAUL truck full.)
The 8/S is fully restored. I am adding the DF32 and AX08 next week to it
(finally, oscilloscope video games!).
The 8I was well cared for by a DEC employee. It came from McMaster Hospital
(section of the university). I was amazed when I got home how many goodies
were inside. DF32, Sykes 8", 24K core, and many processor peripherals, flip
chip extenders, racks of spare cards plugged into new backplanes - original
flip chip single sided stuff). It was modified to run TSS/8, though it did
run OS/8, disk monitor, and a bunch of other stuff. I powered up the 8I and
it worked perfectly..BUT
HAHAHAH... Common DEC guys!! a PC0 is NOT aligned the same way as a PC04..
This PC01 was set up wrong and did not work... ... It does now :-)
I hope to have the 8I running OS/8 by next week.
PDP-15, serial #49 - looks like it is plug and play... filled with toys...
Kevin Stumpf did an amazing job of moving this equipment safely and ensuring
it was not subjected to any bad weather.
Me: I am still hurt from the move (Off work).. My Internet was down for 5
days as my new toys damaged some of my Internet stuff. I got most of the
equipment and docs out of our living room.
I took a bunch of pictures I will have online tonight.... I still have to go
in and clean out a couple of plants filled with PDP-8s/IBM before the New
Year.... ugh,....
I met William Donzelli at Kevin's the last time I was there. He bought the
IBM System 3... he was moving the HDs in his mini van (yikes!).
It looks like McMaster bought minis and peripherals from DEC as soon as they
came out (judging by the serial numbers).
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Kennedy <chris_at_mainecoon.com>
To: dylanb_at_sympatico.ca <dylanb_at_sympatico.ca>
Date: Sunday, November 07, 1999 2:50 PM
Subject: Re: Just picked up a HUGE PDP-8I and PDP-15 and .....
>Hi John,
>
>John B wrote:
>
>[details of an incredible haul, deleted]
>
>> Bought a large box of Nova core memory/FPU
>>
>> I picked up around 10 core memory planes and tons of Nova 2/3 spares.
>
>On behalf of the other DG collectors on the list, I can only
>offer congratulations tinted with the slightest trace of envy :-)
>A Nova FPU is a rare beast indeed.
>
>An incredible find, and a job well done.
>
>Best regards,
>Chris
>
>--
>Chris Kennedy
>chris_at_mainecoon.com
>http://www.mainecoon.com
>
Received on Thu Nov 11 1999 - 12:46:14 GMT