Tektronix 8002 uProcessor Lab

From: Innfogra_at_aol.com <(Innfogra_at_aol.com)>
Date: Fri Dec 22 05:58:08 2000

In a message dated 12/21/2000 6:54:03 PM Pacific Standard Time,
rigdonj_at_intellistar.net writes:

> I have to take a look at the CPU on this one but I'm pretty sure that
> these don't use the DEC CPU. The model that uses the DEC CPU is a Tek 8560
> or somrthing like that. I have one of them too but It's not here so I can't
> check the model number.
>
Joe is right. It is the 85XXs that used the DEC cards. I have had several of
both. The 8540, 8550 & 8560 were Tektronix Microcomputer Development Labs.
The 8540 hosted emulator/debugers and interfaced to VAX 780s. The 8560s were
more stand alone and had an 11/23 processor. The 8561 was the Software
Developing Unit and worked in combination with the integration emulator 85XX
unit and a logic analyzer.

To quote the 1984 Tek catalog, the 8561 had an 11/23 processor, 256K of Ram,
13.5 MB of HD, 1 Meg floppy (8"), 2 user ports and 2 printer ports. It could
be upgraded to 8 users, 35.6 Meg of HD and 1 Meg of ram. It ran TNIX.

The 8002 that Joe has is earlier and had been discontinued by '84.
When Tek had their big Ross Dove auction here I got a truckload of this
stuff. Includes were several 8002s and their associated Dual 8" floppy disk
drive units, 8003s? The cards in these reminded me of overgrown S100 cards
but they were tek's own. Stupidly I let my partner scrap them, not realizing
it is the first units that are the ones to save. These date to the late
1970s. It reminded me of a 12 slot? S100 buss machine. The cards were about
the same width but taller than S100 cards. I think the architecture was
different but I never investigated.

I am sorry, Joe, but I don't think I have anything left of that vintage, but
I sure remember them.

Paxton
Portland, OR
Received on Fri Dec 22 2000 - 05:58:08 GMT