Should I add a "Micro" PDP11/73 to the Herd?

From: Douglas Quebbeman <dhquebbeman_at_theestopinalgroup.com>
Date: Thu Jun 22 07:51:22 2000

Good Morning, Fellow Classicians...

A MicroPDP 11/73 (that's how it's listed) is available on
E-Bay, it's not selling, so I can probably get it for the
starting bid of five bucks, and it's local. I have no
backround with the PDP-11 (and thus my recent query
regarding those cards I have).

It comes with a TS05 tape drive, which from the photo
appears to be a Cipher F880 Microstreamer. I'm thinking
of getting it just to have a spare for the Prime's tape
drive.

Here is what the seller has to say about it:


: This is a Digital Equipment Corp Micro PDP11/73 computer
: with a TS05 tape drive mounted in a rack. Also included is
: what I think is a hard disk unit mounted below the computer.
: The front panel of this unit says 'USDC CSS-800 Compact
: Storage System'. Also included is a VT320 amber video
: terminal. If you look at the photos below you will see that
: there is a large space in the middle where something is
: missing. I think that there were 2 hard disks mounted in this
: space, but they were gone when I got the equipment. I bought
: this stuff from the University of Louisville Medical School.
: This is one part of a larger system. I have powered the
: PDP11/73 up and it seems to boot up OK. When booted, this
: is what come up on the screen: Testing in progress - Please
: wait 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Starting ROM boot 173356 _at_ I think
: the '_at_' is a command prompt, but I don't know what to do
: from there. The CSS-800 unit has lights that come on in the
: front, and so does the tape drive, but I have no way to test
: them. I can't be sure if this equipment is working properly, so
: it is sold AS-IS.
:
:

Should I rescue this machine? What OS do I need to acquire for it?

Thanks for all replys,
-doug quebbeman
Received on Thu Jun 22 2000 - 07:51:22 BST