"Hacker Oscarv wanted a PDP-8 mini computer" the question needs to be asked... why? This is part of humanity I just don't understand. An infinite number of useful potential projects lay before me and the thought of playing around playing with or restoring 'vintage hardware' is just opportunity cost.
Same reason why some pilots prefer flying Piper Cubs over flying jets.
Or why folks prefer old muscle cars over today's cars.
Or why many photographers prefer film over digital.
I used a PDP-11 and I actually kind of miss it. Booting it up by flipping orange and white switches and hitting "Run" and "Halt" on the front panel...
Writing a program and just a program and not having to worry about UI, bells (OK We did have bells), eye candy, "user experience", yadda yadda yadda...
Yeah, I almost bought a surplus PDP-11 from my college surplus about fifteen years ago. Held off because I'd have had to unplug my stove to power it, and my small apartment was not suited to having a minicomputer in it. It would have cost me less than $100 for two racks worth of equipment.
Same for me. But you could install a memory rack over the i/o rack in processor box and find a HDD controller instead of removable packet drives. It would give you an usable PDP-11 in a half-height 19-inch rack (Processor/memory, FDD and HDD in it, magtape controller). I fed my PDP-11 from a simple outlet while the electricians invented the special attachment.
Why??? (Score:0)
"Hacker Oscarv wanted a PDP-8 mini computer" the question needs to be asked... why? This is part of humanity I just don't understand. An infinite number of useful potential projects lay before me and the thought of playing around playing with or restoring 'vintage hardware' is just opportunity cost.
Re: (Score:0)
Same reason why some pilots prefer flying Piper Cubs over flying jets.
Or why folks prefer old muscle cars over today's cars.
Or why many photographers prefer film over digital.
I used a PDP-11 and I actually kind of miss it. Booting it up by flipping orange and white switches and hitting "Run" and "Halt" on the front panel ...
Writing a program and just a program and not having to worry about UI, bells (OK We did have bells), eye candy, "user experience", yadda yadda yadda ...
We wrote a program to help sol
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Why??? (Score:2)
Same for me. But you could install a memory rack over the i/o rack in processor box and find a HDD controller instead of removable packet drives. It would give you an usable PDP-11 in a half-height 19-inch rack (Processor/memory, FDD and HDD in it, magtape controller). I fed my PDP-11 from a simple outlet while the electricians invented the special attachment.