On Feb 5, 0:11, Zane H. Healy wrote:
> >-Only 1 copy of a machine. Keep the best & cleanest. Trash, sell or
>
> Hmmm, there is the problem of spare parts for some of these systems....
>
> >-No books. Only one or 2 max complete reference per system. Or then it
gets
> >outta control.
>
> OK, this one I flat out disagree with!!!!
No, he wrote "one or 2 ... *complete* reference" (my emphasis). Per
system.
> Without documentation an old computer is worthless.
Agreed. Absolutely. Whenever I find old kit, I look around and ask around
for any and all manuals, documents, whatever.
As for complete, here's what I'd consider "complete", for, say, an 11/40
(like the one I got last year):
- complete printsets for all boards etc, a pile about 6" to 12" high.
- complete set of diagnostics (XXDP) listings, 12" - 18" wide on a shelf
- manuals for the CPU, bootstrap loader, DL11-W, etc etc, 6" wide
- technical manuals ditto for the RX02, RK05s, etc, 6" - 12"
- manual set for RT-11 or RSX-11 and languages etc, 20" - 40" of shelf
space
- IC and other components references, Texas Instrument TTL handbook, etc,
etc
- probably other things I've forgotten.
That 11/40 came with some of the original logbooks but not the invoices
etc. My 11/34 even had some of the original orders and invoices,
installation sheets, and the like.
As for the suggestion someone made that you can get documentation from the
web, well, that's sometimes true, but often the information is incomplete,
or in an unsuitable format, or disappears after a while. I can't count
the number of times I've been grateful that I downloaded a copy of some
document onto one of my own hard drives, because the original online
version has gone. Besides, a printed copy is often much more useful,
especially for circuit diagrams and large manuals.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Received on Tue Feb 05 2002 - 15:28:21 GMT