Latest Acquisition: Imlac PDS-1D

From: Sellam Ismail <foo_at_siconic.com>
Date: Tue Apr 10 19:30:33 2001

On Tue, 10 Apr 2001, Tom Uban wrote:

> All of my Imlac displays have some amount of this disease, but not nearly
> as bad as the one in your picture. I am planning on trying a test on one

The Imlac PDS-1 I have has a similar problem, but not nearly as bad.
Though it is itself in less than stellar shape. You can see it in the
pictures on the Blinkenlights site I posted.

> of mine if I cannot find a replacement tube. The test constists of building
> an enclosure with a pan in the bottom in which I can soak the face of the
> tube in acetone in order to disolve the resin which is between the face of
> the actual tube and the plastic protection layer. If the two can be
> separated in this way, then the plastic can be re-attached to the tube
> with a new layer of resin. This design is similar to the process used to
> hold camera lenses together as they are often made up of multiple layers
> of glass. I have a friend who repairs antique cameras and he suggested this
> approach. As someone else noted, it would not be safe to operate the tube
> with out the protective layer, but I hope that with careful handling, it
> can be repaired back to new condition.

Wouldn't this require potentially harmful amounts of acetone?

> The console in your picture is also different than that of the PDS-1.
> You have a wood enclosure and mine has what I think is a fibreglass
> enclosure. More importantly you have a knob and mine has some discrete
> switches.

The PDS-1 did not come with one so I have no basis for comparison, other
than a photo I remember seeing either in a manual or on some website
(maybe yours?)

> The keyboard on my PDS-1 is detached, but is molded/styled to match the
> display enclosure. Interesting on the memory. Of the different models
> I have seen, the memory does seem to move around a lot from design to
> design.

Interesting...the terminal on my PDS-1 is one piece with the CRT. Mine is
serial #12 :)

> It would be great if you get the machine up and running for VCF 5.0! I
> have been considering bringing my this year as well, so if we both do,
> perhaps we can "network" them...

That would be perfect, and would complete the exhibit as I intended it.

> Do you have the prints that you need. I have prints for all of my
> machines, but they may be different enough that they would not help
> you. Let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Yes, I do fortunately. Also, John Tinker was kind enough to send me his
batch of documentation, which is mostly PDS-1D docs as well. Thanks,
John...and I am planning to get your docs back to you at some point! :)

> Your pictures have inspired me to put up a better set of images on my
> site. I will try and do that tomorrow...

Great! I'll be interested in checking them out.

Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
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International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
Received on Tue Apr 10 2001 - 19:30:33 BST

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