PDP-12 (2)

Serial number 255 (very early!)


I assume you've read the page concerning my first pdp-12 system, so you'll be familiar with the story of the three machines at the Burden Neurological Institute, and the One that Got Away. The One that Got Away finally turned up out of the blue last summer!



This particular system was the final one to be used at the Burden Neurological Institute - it was in use until 2001. The identity of the new owner remained a mystery until he got in touch in June 2004; he had had the system in his garage all this time, and his wife finally wanted it out... a deal was quickly done and I turned up with a large truck. Two racks and a LOT of spares! The main rack is pictured above...




This is the second rack - LINCtape, memory expansion and RK05 subsystem...




Inside we can see there's also an FPP12




Primary rack/backplane very similar to my other -12, down to the small daughterboard which was a Burden custom mod for RS232 console.




Inside the primary rack.




In the bottom of the secondary rack is the very rare pdp-12 RK05 controller - not even sure what you call it - RK12???
Consists of an Omnibus backplane, an apparently standard Omnibus RK8E controller, and some M-series logic to hook the thing up to the pdp-12 Negibus.




The front panel on this system was 1) vulnerable to shipping damage and 2) absolutely clapped-out already, so it was removed - which is what Yours Truly is doing in the above picture!




The front panel after removal - perspex is fine, thank the Goddess, but the rest is comprehensively knackered - I've never seen a panel so worn by thirty years of sweaty hands! Half the paint is just *gone*, and the switches will need careful cleaning. In fact, the whole machine is pretty much worn out - needs proper stripping, cleaning, painting & lubrication etc. etc. I'd also like to remove some of the custom Burden mods and return it to a plain vanilla DEC pdp-12 configuration.




Came with a very comprehensive selection of spares, software, and manuals - including a *complete spare cpu*. There had originally been a fourth machine at the Burden, but it was broken up in the 1980s - I remember seeing parts of it when I visited in the early 1990s. The CPU backplane has been cut into three sections (terrible waste) and fitted into boxes, but at least it's all there, with a full set of boards.




Also included was a spare RK05 - looked so good I decided to power it right up, and what do you know? Came 'RDY' first time up, no smoke, no nasty noises - clean as a whistle!




Lashing down in the back of the truck...




...And finally dragging it all home!


Some useful pdp-12 links (LINCs?):

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/dec-faq/pdp8/section-7.html LINC and pdp-12 FAQ
http://www.parse.com/~museum/pdp12/index.html Robert Krten has one
http://www.cca.org/tech/rcs/pdp12.html RCSRI have *three* pdp-12s!
http://www.spies.com/~aek/pdf/dec/pdp12/ Al Kossow's invaluable collection of pdp-12 manuals (I contributed the FPP12 printset :-)