From: TekScopes@... [mailto:TekScopes@...]On
Behalf Of larrys@...
Chuck Harris <cfharris@...> wrote:
I have an old PDP8/E with a TU56 dectape drive. In the
spirit of tektronix, I am looking for a 4010 to use with
it.
I *had* an LI-1000E clone of an IBM 1130, complete with 29M
12 platter top loading disk packs. It was card input (had the 029
keypunch, too) and had a 600lpm band printer. 'twas operational
in my living room. My oldies these days are considerably smaller
and newer. PDP8's & 11's are wonderful pieces of history. In fact
pretty much anything DEC made is nifty.
My first job was at a small laser scribing/trimming
shop, and my first task there was to build a plug-in
board for a PDP-8/e that would interface to an X-Y
positioning table. I remember how well-written the
DEC manual was, and how straightforward the circuit
design. The interface took me only a few days and
worked the first time. I'm not bragging - it was
mostly thanks to DEC.
Later when I was doing custom mods for Tek's
Information Display division, I regularly assembled
terminal firmware on an 11/45 running RSTS. Collecting
a printout, I would often snag on the front panel lights,
just gazing mesmerized as they went through their
tail-chasing idle pattern.
Nearby was a small photo lab, with a "RotoTrack" (sp?)
lightlock door. Some wag had put up a picture from the
Woody Allen movie "Sleeper" showing Woody emerging in a
somewhat disorganized state from the "Orgasmatron",
which bore an uncanny resemblance to the Rototrack.
Dave
