Restoration : TAPE19 : Max Burnet

LETTER_BABBAGE_INSTITUTE.TXT

                                                17th Oct 1992



The Archivist
Charles Babbage Institute
103 Walter Library,
117 Pleasant St,. SE
University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis,
MN  55455  USA

Dear Sir,

I note in the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing Vol 14, No, 3,
that you are assembling a list of collectors of computer artifacts.

I would appreciate being added to the data base.

I have a collection of all the early DEC computers that came to
Australia. ie PDP-5, PDP-6, PDP-7, PDP-8, PDP-9, PDP-10 etc. 


                                        Yours sincerely


                                        Max Burnet

                                        Burnet@decus.com.au











Stored on       VS2000 at 138
Directory       dua0:[max.museum]
Name            LETTER_BABBAGE_INSTITUTE.TXT
Listed on       17th Oct 1992
4 Likes

DUA1:[MAX.MUSEUM]MICRO_VS_LOGBOOK.TXT;2

Micro_VS log book  ex Elcom
---------------------------

To slide whole chassis out from plastic tower, undo 4 philips 
screws on the metal plates at the top rear of chassis.  

Unit slides out to the rear. (You can only take it half out to the front
because of a metal tag to stop it).

Module slots looking into the back.

1       2       3       4       5       6       7       8

empty   M8639   M3106   M3106   M7551AC M7551AC CPU     CPU
empty   quad    dual    dual    quad    quad      ribbon
empty   quad    M9047   M7504   quad    quad
empty   quad    dual    dual    quad    quad


M7551-AC = MSV11-QA 1Mb Q22 memory, Parity, Fujitsu 64K chips.

M8639    = RDQX1    Q bus control for RD52 and RX50

M3106    = DZQ11-M  4 line asych mux modem ctrl

M9047    = Qbus grant continuity , so spare slot

M7504    = Qbus to ethernet adapter

So actually have 3 dual Q bus slots available now. 
Or one full height quad and one dual. 

I cannot remove RX50 and controller because same controller for RD52.



Stored on       VS at 138
Name            Dua0[max.museum]micro_VS_logbook.txt
Listed on       10th Nov 1992.


$ 

DUA1:[MAX.MUSEUM]PDP8_CONFIG.TXT;1

Goals of PDP-8/E Omnibus project.               Doc # 10195
--------------------------------
The PDP-8/E was the pinnacle of PDP-8 development. It is also the 
easiest PDP-8 to restore due to its modular construction and "one module 
per peripheral" design philosophy. Therefore the goal is to have a 
PDP-8/E with as many of the peripherals installed as possible as a 
master unit. By having this as a full, working, known-good, system, we 
can use it for further testing of other machines and FRU's in the museum 
collection. 

The PDP-8/E can run either the OS/8, OS/78, COS, or WPS operating 
systems. See the last page of 8/E brochure for details.

System 1. 
This system is on show at Rhodes as the most interesting configuration. 
Six ft cabinet with 16KW CPU, R/T clock, EAE, 2400 EIA console to VT100, 
high speed paper tape reader, high speed paper tape punch, dual dectape, 
RK05 2Mb cartridge disk, dual 8" floppies, DECtape hardware bootstrap, 
RK05 bootstrap. It allows all the OS/8 software to be read off the 
dozens of DECtapes in storage. The PDP-8/E also connects to Easynet via 
a second KL8E at 2400 baud. (probably the only PDP-8 in the world to do 
so!)

System 2. Low height Data System cab with 16Kw (so OS/78 can run) CPU, 
1200 baud EIA console, with one RX01 and a PC8E paper tape reader/punch. 
Nice and transportable for demos. Needs hardware bootstrap.

System 3. 
Museum workhorse. Two 6 ft cabinets bolted together with 16Kw CPU, power 
fail, 2400 baud EIA console, one RK05F, one RX01. Has set of D/A and A/D 
modules with a real time panel (not yet checked out). Also provides 
storage for other PDP-8 items and modules and 70 DECtapes etc. No 
hardware boostrap. Needs TD8E and PC8E

System 4.
Classic-8 desk. This desk based PDP-8 was known as a DATAsystem 310 in 
the business market, or the Classic in the Edu market. It has 32Kw, VT52 
console and RX01 floppies. It can have either an 8E CPU or 8A Harris 
6120 chip CPU. 

System 5. 
A little 8/F box with Red LEDS in working condition. Has CPU, 110 20mA 
console, 8Kw. Ran OS/8 in 8K from RX01 in Jan 92. Could use half height 
foreign RX01 and controller. 

System 6. 
Another 8/F cabinet full of spare but untested modules.    



















OS/8 device codes
--------------------
High speed paper tape reader    01
High speed paper tape punch     02
Console keyboard                03
Console printer                 04
KP8E power fail                 10
Memory extension ctrll          2N
RL01
LE8E parallel line printer      66
RK8 early disk controller       73
RK8E disk pack with RK05        74
RX8E floppy controller          75      (70-77 selectable)
TD8E dectape                    77
Data break dectape TC08         76,77


Storage sizes
-------------

        1 block = 256 (decimal) words= 512 (decimal) 6 bit bytes


                BLOCKS          WORDS           6 BIT MB

RX01 8" OS/8      494             126,464          .25
RX01 8" byte      627
RX50 5" DM2       779
RX02 8" OS/8      980 
DECtape           737             188,672          .33
RKO5         2 x 3290?
RKO5J        2 x 3248           1,662,976         3.30
















           +-------------------------+    Main PDP-8/E cabinet
           |          RX01           |
           |   Dual 8 inch floppy    |    Museum picture & sign on side
           +-------------------------+             of cabinet
           |    TD8E  TU56           |
           |    Dual DECtape         |
           +-------------------------+
           |          PC8E           |
           |    Paper tape Rdr/pch   |
           +-------------------------+
           |      PDP-8/E CPU 16Kw   |
03/04      |KL8E 2400b   EIA  console+---> VT2XX & LA100 on printer port
30/31      |KL8E 2400b   EIA comms   |     VT100 also works fine.
           +-------------------------+     VT52)
           |         RK05            |     VT05) keyboard too primitive
           |  2.4Mb cartridge disk   |
           +-------------------------+
           |Storage rack 10 DECtapes |
           |115 power distribution   |
           +-------------------------+H960

Slot            Module          Description
1 (front)       lamps           Console
2               M8330           Timing crystal
3               M8340           EAE
4               M8341           EAE
5               M8310           Major registers)
6               M8300           Major registers) jumpered
7               -----           Chassis broken, do not use
8               M8655           2400b Ctrler 03/04 code, Berg to EIA
9               M8655           2400b Ctrler 30/31 code, Berg to EIA
10              M837            KM8E extended memory controller & T/s
11      PC8E    M840            High speed paper tape Rdr & Punch
12      TD8E    M868 Rev H      TD8E dectape controller
13              n/a             space needed by H241 ROM piggy back
15              M880            MR8E read only memory for TD8E
16      RX8E    M8357           RX01 floppy controller
17              M7104   )
18              M7105   )
19              M7106   ) RK05F disk controller , 3 boards
20              M935            Bus jumpers
21              M935            Bus jumpers
22      MI8-EJ  M847-YJ Bootstrap for RK05J
32......
33      KK8E    M849 shield
34      MM8-EJ  G111
35              H212    8K x 12 bit memory
36              G233
37      MM8-EJ  G111
38              H212    8K x 12 bit memory
39              G233
40              M8320           Bus loads
Known problems:
HSR not reliable. 
861B blows earth leakage - why?

















                DEC data system, orange cabinet

Museum item number 110

PDP-8E  in Data System cab, big box with 40 slots.

KC8EA           lights
KA8E    M8330   CPU
KA8E    M8310   CPU
KK8E    M8300   CPU
KM8E    M837    time share
KL8JA   M8655   03/04 console   1200 baud  EIA to VT100
        G753    initialiser from panel switch
PC8E    M840    has some extra holes being punched
        M935
        M935    bus jumpers to rear omnibus
KK8E    M849 shield
        G104
        H220            4 K of memory
        G227
        G104
        H220            4 K of memory
        G227
        G104
        H220            4 K of memory
        G227
        G104
        H220            4 K of memory
        G227
        M8320   bus loads

Would be great to have an RX01 Boostrap module to save toggling in the 
boot. Manual boo to RX01 hangs?? RX01 and Ctrler and cable OK in green 
8E so must be good. Paper tape reader won't load RIM tape. Need some 
mainDEC work on CPU. 













                Green Lab 8/E config
Full length chassis
        Lights
        M8330
        M8310
        M8300
        M837    ext memory
KP8E    M848    Power fail and restart with 7007128 power cable
KL8E    M8655   2400 console cotnroler
        empty
        M7104   )
        M7105   )
        M7106   ) RK05F disk controller , 3 boards
        empty
        empty
        M935 JUMPER
        M935 jumper
        empty

AD8-EA  M869    10 bit A/D
        M885
        M841
AM8-EA  A231    64 chan mux
        A232
DK8-EA  M860    real time clock
        M518
        empty
        M8326  interprocessor buffer
        empty
        buses to lowr box
K?8-EA  M863    12 channel buffered digital I/O
        M863
KK8E    M849 shield
        G104
        H220            4 K of memory
        G227
        G104
        H220            4 K of memory
        G227
        G104
        H220            4 K of memory
        G227
        G104
        H220            4 K of memory
        G227
        M8320   bus loads

The dual cab is main repository of PDP-8/E material, spares, DECtapes. 
Fans in top of cabinets not working - no 115V transformer in cab
Need to check out power fail, LAB-8E options eventually. 
Need to check out real time options with diagnostics & Basic
Needs RK05 boot but not essential as only 2 instructions
Unit needs to be turned on for 2 mins before booting at 0030 to RK8E.
Needs TD8E and PC8E to be complete. 




















        DSD 2131 A      Blue handle RX08 third party controller
        Half height RX01 controller in black box could go on 8/F

         +-------------+           +-------------+
         |  PDP-8/F    | Config of |  PDP-8/F    |
         | Red LEDS    | dual cab  | used to hold|
         | working 8K  |  GREEN    | spare       |
         |             | PDP-8/E   | modules     |
         +-------------+           +-------------+
   +--------------------------+--------------------------+
   |    (old) Dectape lights  |                          |
   +--------------------------+     RX01 dual floppy     |
   | 1                     10 |                          |
   |  Rack for 20 DECtapes    +--------------------------+
   |11                     20 |                          |dead RK8E
   +--------------------------+     Green real time      |in here
   |21                     30 |   connection panel       |
   |  Rack for 20 DECtapes    +--------------------------+
   |31                     40 |                          |
   +--------------------------+         PDP-8/E          |
   |                          |                          |
   |       RK05F disk         +--------------------------+
   |      working OS/8 SYS    |  BA8E expansion box      |
   +--------------------------+  4 x 4Kw memory          |
   |41Rack for 10 DECtapes 50 |                          |
   +--------------------------+--------------------------+
   |51                     60 |                          |
   |  Rack for 20 DECtapes    |                          |
   |61                     70 |                          |
   +--------------------------+--------------------------+
   |                          | Omnibus with spare       |
   |                          | modules behind panel     |
   |                          |                          |
   +--------------------------+--------------------------+












                Davis PDP-8/I Six foot cabinet 

        DW8E expansion box
        -------------------
        just like 8/F box without panel
        Could later use with a restored 8/I to get RK05J on to it.
        M8320   Bus loads
        M7104YA 3 jumpered modules for RK8E controller
                A tech tip says these are special for the DW8E and no 
                use plugged into an Omnibus (drat it)
        W966    home brew probably facit high speed reader


         +--------------------------+
         |                          |
         |                          |
         |                          |
         +--------------------------+
         |   DW8E box with Omnibus  |
         |                          |
         |                          |
         +--------------------------+
         |       PC8I paper tape    |
         |       reader & punch     |
         |                          |
         +--------------------------+
         |                          |
         |  PDP-8/I console lights  |
         |                          |
         |     8K words memory      |
         |                          |
         |                          |
         |                          |
         |                          |
         +--------------------------+
On 29th May I decided to stop work on the 8/E project. Too tedious and 
the final outcome not that impressive as I have OS/8 up anyway.











Status of this PDP-8/I at end May 1990.
It can be plugged into 240V. Power supplies seem OK and it runs an 
increment AC routine. Attempting a TLS routing causes PC to hang.

This is very difficult restoration because of separate modules, power 
supply was a 115V originally, panel lamps impossible to fix, which type 
of bus did it have etc etc. 


I stripped out ATL 8/I and kept all its modules on box in room. Threw 
out ATL cab shell with no wheels.

Work should proceed as follows.
Check red white cable to top fan is OK
Put this cable into 115 volts
Top of cabinet fan may be buggered as I plugged it into 240 once
There is a spare fan in cabinet.
Get CPU bay OK, with little console routines
Try to repair lamps, but difficult, because double sided board.
Get 115V transformer on back and power up top fan and PC8I drawer
Plug in PC8I and get running
Load other diagnostics and focal, basic in 8K etc.
Plug in -ve I/O bus DW8E and try RX08 in omnibus slot
Try RK8E controller with cables over to onto RK05 in Green 8/E cabinet
Get OS/8 running in 8K
























                PDP-8/F with red LED console. 
                -----------------------------
Was used at 138, might have failed on p/t rdr
Has perspex top for viewing.

Slot            Module          Description

1               lamps           LED lamps

2               M8330           Timing crystal

3               M8310           Major registers)
4               M8300           Major registers) jumpered

5               M837            KM8E ext memory controller & T/s
6
7               M8650           console controller
8                               spare slot
9                               spare slot
10                              spare slot
11                              spare slot
12                              spare slot
13              M849            shield 
14              G104
15              H220            4K of memory, jumpered
16              G227

17              G104
18              H220            4K of memory, jumpered
19              G227
20              M8320           Bus loads

Power supply has annoying high pitched whistle
Ideally needs hardware bootstrap and RX01 controller.
Ran O/S8 in 8K and RX on 15 Jan 92
May have problem - seems to clear location 0000 on turn on ????
Stored on top of Green 8/E cabs.










                        ARL PDP-8/F

Serial Number   566
Museum item number 108
Fully filled with spare but untested 8/E modules
Stored on top of ARL cabinet


2/      M8330   CPU
1/      M8310   CPU
2/      M8300   CPU
2/      M848    KP8E Power fail detect restart
        M8350   long berg???    interprocessor buffer??
        M8350   long berg???    ribbon cable in cable box. 
        M837    mem ext
        M849    shield
        M8326   ??

G104
        4K memory
G220

M8320   bus loads


Have never turned it on. 






















                Anpac COS-310 CLASSIC desk based PDP-8/A

PDP-8A/500 with 8A hex CPU module
Museum items 81 and 81A

M8315           KK8A CPU hex
M8317-YB        Option board number 2, ext mem, PF, boot for RX01
M8316           Option board number 1, SLU, RTC, prog console interface
G650
H219B   16K 12 bit core memory
G650
H219B   16K 12 bit core memory
M8357   RX01 controller
RX01    dual floppy drawer
M8365   LA180 LC8P parallel printer interface
simple switch console (into M8316 if no programmers console
programmers console plugged into M8316
20mA (cable) to 240 v VT50 
861B power controller

                    +---------------------------++-----------------+
                    |    M8315   8A CPU         ||M9200 bus loads  |
                    +---------------------------++-----------------+
                    |    M8317-YB boot, pf      |
                    +---------------------------+
                    |    M8316    console SLU   |
      7 Hex slots   +---------------------------+
                    |                           |
                    +---------------------------+
                    |                           |
                    +---------------------------+
                    |                           |
                    +---------------------------+
                    |                           |
                    +----------------------+----++-----------------+
                    |                      |     |                 |
                    +----------------------+     +-----------------+
                    |                      |     |  M8357 floppy   |
                    +----------------------+     +-----------------+
                    |    M8357 floppy      |     |        8E CPU   |
      5 quad slots  +----------------------+     +-----------------+
                    |                      |     |        8E CPU   |
                    +----------------------+     +-----------------+
                    |                      |     |        8E CPU   |
                    +----------------------+     +-----------------+

                        Power supply

                        861B Controller
























2.      Ina's WS200 PDP-8/A
Huge box with 8E CPU and 2 power supplies at rear. different box to 1. 
and 3. Museum item no. 109. Interesting config - lots memory with 8/E 
CPU modules


DKC8-AA M8316-YB Option number 1 SLU, RTC, Prog console interface!!
                needs two BC08S cables, 
KM8-A   M8317   Option number 2 ext mem, pf, boots 

M8417   16K by 12 bit )                 hex backplane. 
M8417   16K by 12 bit ) total 48K!!!
M8417   16K by 12 bit )

M1846   Memory address expansion to 128K!!
M8319   4 line SLU
M8391   4 line SLU

M8433   RL8A RL01 controller, hex

M8310
M8300   jumpered PDP-8/E CPU set
M8330

M8366   Quad LQP8E controller -         get LQP going on classic
simple switch console
M8365   LA180 20 pin berg connector

3.      Lane cove F/S one

Busted box
M8315   CPU hex module
M8317   Option 2
G6501
H2195   16K x 12 memory
KC8A-A programmers console hurrah - needs cables. plugs into M8316












        Omnibus 20 slot backplane full of spare modules, some tested. 
        -------------------------------------------------------------
DSD 2131 A5     Blue handle RX08 third party controller( not quite same 
                as DECdata system one??/)
M863    12 channel I/O
G227
M835            Positive I/O bus interface
M8320 Rev D     bus loads, not tested, ex Ina WS200  
                Jumper for 8A. Remove for 8/E or it kills omnibus.
M8350           Positive I/O bus interface used for 8/I peripherals
M8360           Data break interface used for DF32/TC08
M8365           LA180 parallel interface
M848C           KP8E power fail and auto restart
M8350           positive I/O bus
M8360           TC08 detape
M841
M8329
M8655   Switches5.068 Xtal burnnt out resistor and worse? no go apr 92
Front panel board with LEDS to use as spares

Wish list.
MI8-EA  PC8e bootstrap loader        
        RX01 bootstrap loader
        M8655 KL8E serial lines


Known good modules in cardboard slash folders
---------------------------------------------
M8650 Rev ?     KL8E 1200 baud 03/04 Console ctrl perfect Jan 92
M8357           RX8E RX01 controller perfect Jan 92  

M868 Rev D      TD8E from Ray stone, tests OK both drives 29/6/89
                        one in main 8/E is rev H
M8650   03/04   110 Xtal   working apr 92
M8650   03/04   150 Xtal removed 
M8650   03/04   110 Xtal   working apr 92

RX01 Cable
----------
Red edge line to front of RX01 drawer, and to outer edge of R6537 etc.


Number          10195
Name            PDP-8/E module configuration
Folder          Museum
Author          Max Burnet
Listed on       19th Sep 1992. 

$ 

MUSEUM_JOBS.TXT

List of Museum Jobs since Melb Decus Aug 92.

Achievements
------------
Almost fixed up DECdatasystem 8/E, and moved to Rhodes
Moved WT/78 to Rhodes
Moved PDP-5 to Rhodes
Fixed GT40 power supply and moved to Rhodes
Got SMUFFY MicroVAX II up and running with memory changes
Got ELCOM  MicroVAX 1 up and running VMS V4.6
Got DEC2020 back from Roy Morgan/Timeline for future 36 bit platform
Got two VAX780's back for the unit of 1 platform
Fitted 20mA kit to VT100 so it can be used with PRS01
Got .PS files to print at 138 LA210 as poor man's postscript
Got fully automated printing of .PS on double sided LN06.
Rescued display items from Box Hill foyer.
Got PDT-150 with RT11 at home.

Jobs to be done.
----------------
Get PDP-11/40 platform going as major Unibus engine
Get Monash PDP-11 and DECtape controller going
Can I get a second GT40 going as a spare?
Fix the Classic 8/A desk pedestal 
Move the Classic 8/A desk pedestal to Rhodes
Get CDrom on Qbus onto Smuffy
Check out and document Main 8/E BASIC and Focal and Chess demos
Get main 8/E on line to Easynet with KL8E??????
Get a DL11E onto GT40 at Rhodes for Easynet transfers
Dig out Vt11 module for Bob Dean in ACT
Kevin Daniel HRCAA has LQP daisy wheel which don't talk to PC?



System          VS2000 at 138
Directory       DUA0:[MAX.MUSEUM]
File name       MUSEUM_JOBS.TXT
Listed on       18th Mar 1993.  

$ 
2 Likes

DUA1:[MAX.MUSEUM]PALETHORPE.TXT;4








                A Salute to Peter Palethorpe 








Doc no. 47739 edited on 28th Mar 93, by:-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Max Burnet                                
Corporate Technology Consultant, Decus Delegate & Museum Curator
Digital Equipment Corporation (Australia) Pty Limited.

Postal: PO Box 384 Concord West,          Location:     410 Concord Rd.,
        New South Wales                                 Rhodes,
        Australia   2138                                New South Wales

DEC mailstop: SNO1-3/F5                   Phone work:   02 561-5225
Easynet A1:   Max Burnet @SNO             Phone pocket: 018-29-7103
Easynet VMS:  SNOC01::Burnet              Phone home:   02 484-6772
Internet:     Burnet @Decus.com.au        Phone DTN:     8-730-5225
Internet:     Burnet @snoc01.dec.com      FAX:          02 561-5850
Internet:     Max.Burnet @sno.mts.dec.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------






[Blank]
        In position zero.

[A Salute to Peter Palethorpoe 

        This is not a story of dull grey computer boxes, it is really a 
        history of some great people who made a great company, all known 
        as Digits, And one particular one who we are honouring today. 

[Software guru]
        Peter joined on the 26th March 1973 as a software guru.

[Peter P with chart]
        Here he is with a software project plan

        Always known as Peter P. Funny.... the early PDP-8 was know

[Petey P eight]

        I have heard it said that Peter comes from a family of sausage makers
        in UK or New Zealand. Well I have researched this and it is true. 
        It you collect Hornby trains, one of the rarest of 4 wheel vans 
        is the Palethorpes sausauges, see here.

[clock tower]

        He was soon sent off to Boston for training as were all keen young
        Digits in those days. 
      

[Data General]

        And these were the dark days of the early 70's because Data 
        General split off from DEC and took their designs with them. 
        Ken hates them to this day. They had a 16 bit computer and we 
        didn't.

[[PDP-11/20]

        This first PDP-11 didn't have a /20 because we did not know if 
        we would build more than one model.

        1972
[Willoughby Rd]
        In July 1972, John Jones got us into 123 Willoughby rd, a 
        building which was designed to hold us all for 10 years. 
        It had a very low basement, and after a Friday night drinks we 
        came back to find John Kilkenny's rover stripped of its wheels 
        and we couldn't a tow truck in because the roof was too low. 


[Sydney branch]
        I always thought of this one as Ken Hungerfords building with 
        the Sydney branch doing their own thing round the corner from 
        H/O. 

[George Place Artarmon]
        CSS moved out of the basement in Willoughby Rd and set up their 
        own show. 

[CSS Solutions that fit]

[Korean chara set]
        They did useful products like a Korean character set terminal

        We were pretty poor in those days and had to do our own 
        advertising. So Bob Starkey was the first model. 

[Bob Starkey]
        Joined as an engineer in CSS - one of the longest holders of a 
        job in SPR I think. 


[DEC-100]
        In 1973 the company began the DEC-100 award system for 
        salespeople who met their goals. Needless to say, Peter 
        qualified. 

[PDP-11/70]
        PDP-11/70 announced. At last we had a machine powerful enough 
        for commercial applications

[Data System]
        In 1976, DEC put the 11/70 into low blue cabinets, called it a 
        Data System 570, and put pretty ladies in front of it to fool 
        IBM into thinking we had some commercial applications.

[SPRMC]
        About 1975. Wal Lambeth was head of CSS and Peter Watt, of
        Software. Peter hired Peter P. 


[VAX 780 announced]
        In Oct 1978 the VAX line was announced. 

[NICK[
        By now Nick had been made CSS manager.

[Sid trevenna and Judy Dunn]
        Two of the memorable people of CSS

        Then Peter heard that Chris Fink 

[FINK]
        might be made CSs manager and decided to join sales. 

        Just before the VAx came along, you might be interested to 
        see what we were selling in the way of CPU's 

[# CPU's]
        In 1979, the VAX was just a glimmer










        In 1980 the SPRMC decided to build a great tower, and wisely 
        located it equidistant between the 
[Chatswood Club]
        Chatswood Club, the Chatswood RSL, the Orchard tavern and the 
        even more salubrious Charles Hotel. 
[Charles Hotel]

[Tower being built]
        Lend lease built our tower. 

[Finished tower]
        So the great tower arose, and was topped off with a Digital 
        sign which could be seen in Newcastle.

[Nifty and MMB]
        And the premier Nifty neville came and opened it for us
        on the 21st March 1981.

[Peter P in tower]
        Here is peter hard at work in the tower

        Unfortunately, the Tower had a few leaks on the 12th floor, 
        but the Digits carried on and called the facilities man.

        Now the building maintenance was done by a certain Alex, who 
        lived in the basement. Actually Alex, not Frank Wroe ran the 
        company, and if you fell out with Alex your life was a misery.

[Alex in beanie]
        Alex decided he would fix the leak by putting a bucket in the 
        roof above the ceiling.
        Unfortunately, Alex forgot about the bucket. After the next 
        storm, the bucket filled up, overflowed, the water made the 
        ceiling soft and 
[Bucket thru tiles]
        it came through the ceiling together with 30 gallons of water. 
        Right above the Legal department on the 12th floor.

[Jumbo]
        We were the first company to fly chartered wholly loaded jumbos 
        into Australia.






        Peter won many accolades for his salesmanship

        His manager at the time, Paul Williams, entered into the 
        tropical spirit and made a fine congratulatory speech. 

[Paul Williams]
        Retired in Jan 91, sends his regards to Albert. Says retirement 
        is OK once you get after the initial shock.

[Kidd]
        In July 1981 the NSW Commercial sales Unit was started by Colin 
        Kidd with Peter Palethorpe, Albert C, Roger Evans, John 
        Cavenagh. 

[Hayman]

        Les Hayman was Northern Distric Manager

[Albert]

        In March 81, Albert wrote a memo suggesting the formation of a 
        VAX commercial users group in downtown Sydney, and it started 
        with a lunch at the Hilton SFO grill, with Amatil, CSR, Lend 
        Lease, TCN-9 and Elcom in attendance. This lead to the 
        formation of the Metro Decus Local User Group. On Feb 1991, 
        over 135 members of the Metro LUG came to Rhodes for a meeting 
        and tour. So Albert started a good thing. 

[big account logos]
        A couple of Peter's accounts here. Good commercial names used
        in Max's slides sets

        All this pressure meant that Colin Kidd took to the bottle.

[Colin Kidd in chair]

        It may be worth remembering how quickly technology 
        progresses.

[Telex room]
        Now its 1982 and soon the Chatswood tower throbbed to the sound 
        of industry and was awash in messages to Maynard. This is the 
        telex room after a night of paper tape transmission to GIA.


        1983
[First ethernet]
        First ethernet in the Southern Hemisphere on show at Auckland 
        Decus symposium

[Truck - Rainbow]
        Corporate truck on 495, lasts 10 years, Rainbow didn't. 




















        1984
        By 1984, PETER P had sold so well he had won DEc-100's and 
        Decathlons, and went off to all the exotic places where the 
        Decathlon winners engaged in stimulating intellectual, 
        marketing debates.

[tug of war]
        By now Albert had won more Decathlons than any other salesman 
        in the world and was becoming a celebretary. At each DECathlon, 
        
        Now there were some compensations for all the long hours in the 
        office, slaving for hours over a hot secretary
[Albert and dolly]

        and ??? would always be ready to assist 
[dolly and first aid kit]
        with tea and sympathy







[Metro district]
        a fourth district created in 1984, downtown sydney.
        Brian Mitchell hired. 


[Rim Keris]
        Rim returned to Sydney and became Sales Manager. Rim is a very 
        good strategist. Here is Rim outlining Digitals marketing 
        strategy, with a content free slide.

        And the sales manager, Rim Keris, was well pleased

[Rim - fairy god mother]
        with all the business that Peter P gained. 

[Nick on boat]
        Doing it hard in the great outdoors of the barrier reef.

        Even hard nose District Sales managers 

[Baynes and Kidd]
        were seen to be smiling. They were probably ahead of budget in 
        those days.

























        And these were the days of the great sales meetings



        In 1985, the Digits again made the painful trek to Ayers Rock

        Peter of course qualified,  


[Ayers rock digits]
        and were wisely lectured by one Harry Butler. 
        They then all climbed the rock. 

        However it was important to keep in touch with the office 
        thanks to CSS,



        When the Digits got to the top, they found JohnTetley and CSS 
        had lugged a honda generation, transmitter, MUx server and 
        VT200 up the Rock. You typed in your name and a certificate of 
        achievement was printed out down the bottom.

[Sid and Miss A]

        It just happened that the reigning Miss Australia was with the 
        party and she had some trouble with her log-on, and Sid 
        Trevenna volunteered to show her the way. The Olga's in the 
        background

[Albert at rest]
        Unless Jenni Johns has three hands which Digit is holding on to 
        her leg and why?















        1985, 86

[Peter P]
        A salesman with a bag full of awards

[Fun run]
        Others went in Digi teams across the harbour bridge. 
        Albert had stopped smoking by now and taken up running.

[Amatil ad]
        One of Peter P's accounts


[Frank in office]
        Frank sat in his office in 1986, and did a 5 year plan which 
        had this vision. 

[Vision for 1991]
        A billion dollars by 1991. 

[Flying carpet]
        We started getting special editions of newspaper on DECA

        Now Peter has survived in spite of being surround by 
        and receiving guidance from some
        dubious managerial talent. 

        Some notable sales managers at the time
[Tony Baynes]
        Also known as Tiny Brains

[Dave Mackay]
        Given a shovel to get rid of the BS.


[Mick Duncan]

[Geoff Slocombe]










        And so we come to the end of 20 years and the end of 
        other eras.

[KO in canoe]
        And our President of 35 years lost his job because he stood 
        up in a canoe. 


        It came to pass that we grew out ot the tower and went 
        looking for some real estate. 

        We found it in the upmarket, bustling suburb of Rhodes. 
[Rhodes sign]

        And so now all the Digits live happily ever after here, and are 
        known of course as Rhodents.



        So we say Thank you to Peter for 20 years of hard work
[thank you]

        and there remains one great last mystery. 

        What offer did the blonde security guard make to
        Peter at the 1987 sales meeting. 
[dolly guard]

[the end]



















Stored on       VS2000 at 138
Folder          dua0:[max.museum]
Listed on       28th March 1993.

$ 
1 Like

DUA1:[MAX.MUSEUM]PETER_P_TWENTY.DOC;1




??? Years of Digital Experience.
The Digits who gathered at the O'Connell Street office on the ?? April 1993 to c
elebrate 
Peter Palethorpe's 20 years of service , represented a total of ??? years of ser
vice. 

Standing:: Ray Whitfield 19??=?? years, David McKay 19??=??years, Graeme Shorter
 
19??=??years, Rim Keris 19??=?? years, Albert Cuscherie 19?? to 19??=?? years, M
artin 
Kenny 19??=?? years, Geoff Slocombe 19??=?? years, Mick Duncan 19??=?? years
Seating; Robin Frith 19?? to 19??=?? years, Colin Kidd 19??=?? years, Peter Pale
thorpe 
1973=20 years, Elaine Ray (customer for 11 years), Max Burnet 1967=26 years. 

Stored on       VS at 138
Folder  dua0:[max.museum]peter_P_twenty.doc
Listed on       9th April 1993

$ 

DUA1:[MAX.MUSEUM]MUSEUM_CATALOG_MAR93.TXT;1

 
                Catalog of Museum Documentation.

                        Document # 10288

This list provides the details of the Australian Museum Collection Documentation
 
set. Each item has a serial number, that is placed on the spine of the folder. 
Almost all the items are stored in numerical order at the museum store at CRS, 
Alexandria. 

Some items are at the Chateau Burnet library, others with the actual museum 
pieces on display. 

The pages of this listing are generally organised by specific product type.

The text includes details such as size and type of folder, spine marking, 
summary of contents, version number, date of publication etc. 

This document No. 10288, prepared on 16th Mar 93. is maintained by:- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Max Burnet
Corporate Technology Consultant, Decus Delegate & Museum Curator
Digital Equipment Corporation (Australia) Pty Limited.

Postal: P.O. Box 384 Concord West,      Location:       410 Concord Rd.,
        New South Wales                                 Rhodes,
        Australia   2138                                New South Wales

DEC mailstop:   SNO1-3/F5               Phone work:     02-561-5225
                                        Phone home:     02 484-6772
Easynet A1:     Max Burnet @SNO         Phone pocket:   018-29-7103
Easynet VMS:    SNOC01::Burnet          FAX:            02-561-5850
Internet:       Burnet@Decus.com.au     Phone DTN:      8-730-5225
Internet:       Burnet @SNOC01.DEC.COM
-------------------------------------------------------------------------






DUA1:[MAX.MUSEUM]TREASURES_SPEECH.DOC;37

An Update on the Museum Treasures
M. M. Burnet
Digital Equipment Corporation Australia Pty Ltd
Sydney

Abstract

By virtue of long service the author is the de facto museum curator for Digital 
in Australia.
This paper provides an update on the museum collection. It outlines the present 
status
of the collection, some recent acquisitions and the current re-furbishment progr
am. 


Introduction
In my travels with Digital throughout Austra
lia, many people ask me, "How is the Museum go
ing?". 

This paper is an attempt to provide a snapshop 
in time of the answer to that question. While a for
mal museum with working exhibits remains a re
tirement dream for the curator, at least a large num
ber of DEC artefacts have been preserved and kept 
for posterity.
The Museum Goals
The museum goals are:
To have representative hardware of each of the 
major DEC computers.
To have a working version of each major DEC 
operating system.
To provide conversion facilities for all old me
dia types. 
To provide a collection of the major DEC lit
erature.
To preserve a working VAX 11/780 as the 
original unit of 1 VUP.
To educate and amuse our staff, our customers 
and the public. 
To preserve these treasures for future genera
tions. 
The Early DEC machines
The original goal was to collect all the early 
(hence rare and valuable) DEC computers that 
came to Australia. This goal has been achieved. 
Digital had an easy sequential numbering sys
tem in the early days. The lowest numbers were:-

PDP-1
None came to Australia
PDP-2
Never built
PDP-3
Never built
PDP-4
None came to Australia
PDP-5
Only one came to Australia. It was installed at 
the Uni of NSW as a demo, then sold to BHP Re
search Labs in Newcastle. It is in the museum and 
on show at Rhodes. It is in working order, although 
the soldered joints are very fragile. It runs 4K Focal 
via paper tape and a teletype console. 
PDP-6
This famous timesharing machine was in
stalled at the University of Western Australia in 
1964. It was far too large to be archived but a rep
resentative set of circuit modules have been 
mounted on a display board. (in storage)
The actual two-bay console has been preserved 
in Western Australia at the Wireless Hill Radio mu
seum on Canning Highway. It has been fitted with 
"flashing" lights. 

PDP-7
The only PDP-7 to come to Australia was de
livered to Atomic Energy Commission in 196?. It 
ran for 14 years and was returned to the museum in 
19??. It is intact and on display in the main foyer at 
Rhodes. Its backplane and connectors are too unre
liable to make restoration to working condition 
worthwhile attempting. The PDP-7 was the ma
chine that Ritchie and Thompson first wrote UNIX 
on. 
The PDP-8 Family
The twelve bit PDP-8 of 1966 was undoubt
edly the machine which started Digital on the road 
to fame and fortune. It arguably started the "mini-
computer" revolution. There were many models in 
the family over a period of years and all are repre
sented in the museum collection. 
Classic PDP-8
The first and original PDP-8 is best known in 
its table top configuration with blue Plexiglass 
doors. The collection has a fully working unit on 
display in the Rhodes Cafeteria. It has a choice of 
ASR-33 Teletype or VT05 as console and runs 4K 
Focal. It is seen daily by the staff and many visitors 
to the Educational classes at Rhodes. Two others 
exist in the Christchurch and Auckland offices.

The cabinet mounted model (with wood grain 
doors) is also available in the collection. A 
Typeset-8 configuration is located in the foyer of 
Digital's Brisbane office. (Returned from Queens
land Newspapers)
PDP-8/S
The PDP-8/S was the first computer priced at 
under $US 10,000. It operated on one bit at a time 
in a serial fashion and was extremely slow. There 
are two static models in the collection. One table
top, one cabinet mounted. 
LINC-8
One LINC-8 came to Australia (Sir Charles 
Gairdner Hospital WA) and one to New Zealand 
(NZ Navy). We are fortunate to have both in the 
collection. Both restorable.

PDP-8/I
This was the first integrated circuit version of 
the PDP-8. There are 2 units in the collection, both 
defying all attempts to get them going. The large 
number of modules and the dense back-plane wir
ing make them a restoration nightmare. 
PDP-12
We have two examples of this amazing green 
machine. One in full working order. 
PDP-8/E
The PDP-8/E was the pinnacle of 12 bit devel
opment. The "E" stood for "everything". As the 
most popular and versatile of the PDP-8 family, the 
museum collection has concentrated on this model 
to provide the representative work-horse for the 
PDP-8 Operating Systems. 

It is also the  easiest PDP-8 to restore due to its 
modular construction and "one module  per periph
eral" design philosophy. A restorers delight, in fact. 

The main PDP-8/E is a six foot cabinet on 
show at Rhodes outside the Curators office. It is his 
pride and joy. It is in full working order and com
prises 16K words of memory, fast paper tape, dual 
DECtape, dual eight inch floppies and an RK05 re
moveable disk. It has hardware bootstraps for the 
DECtape and the RK05.

It runs the OS/8, OS/78, WPS-8 and Dibol Op
erating systems and supports Fortran, Basic and Fo
cal. Of the 100,000 computers conected to Easynet, 
it is probably the only PDP-8!!

The collection also has a working LAB-8/E 
and two working PDP-8/F's in table top boxes. 

The 6ft cabinet configuration at Rhodes is 
shown below:-RX01

         Dual 8 inch floppies  

         TD8E TU56
         Accumulator transfer 
         Dual DECtape

                PC8E
         300cps rdr, 50cps pch 
         Paper tape      

         PDP-8/E CPU with EAE 
         16K words memory
         KL8E 2400 baud EIA cons 
         KL8E 2400 baud EIA comms 
         DECtape boot, RK05 boot 
         Real time clock 

                RK05     
         removeable
         2.4Mb cartridge disk 

        Storage rack for 10 DECtapes
                 
         H861 power distribution 


The 18 bit family
We have one static model of each each of the 
PDP-9, PDP-9/L and the PDP-15. They will prob
ably not be restored as they were not a significant 
product family in the history of computing. 

The Unibus PDP-11's
The early PDP-11's were based on the modular 
structure of the Unibus. The collection has several 
PDP-11/20's undergoing re-furbishment to provide 
a platform for a lot of PDP-11 peripherals and a 
number of PDP-11 Operating systems. 
The collection has three PDP-11/20's, one 
PDP-11/45, one PDP-11E10 packaged system, one 
PDP-11/34, one PDP-11/35 and two PDP-11/70's. 

GT40 Graphic workstation
The GT40 was an 11/10 based graphic workst
tion . It is best remembered for the famous Lunar 
Lander program. The collection has two GT40's, 
which run Lunar Lander. It is loaded from paper 
tape via the PRS01 reader.  
The Qbus PDP-11's
The collection has ... and an LSI-11 based
Heathkit. 
MINC-11
The collection has a MINC-11 running RT-11 
on RL02 disks. 
The 1982 Personal Computers
No collection would be complete without the 
1982 family of Personal Computers They were 
probably the best made and best documented prod
ucts that Digital ever made. Surprisingly, the sim
plest of the gamily, the DECmate became the most 
successful. 
The collection includes
Rainbow running CP/M and MS DOS V2.
DECmate II with WPS and CP/M on 5" and 8" 
disk
DECmate II with  hard disk WPS and MS 
DOS
Professinnal 380 with PO/S and RT-11

The Early VAX's
Given the number of VAX's that have been in
stalled in Australia (over 10,000) they can hardly 
be regarded as museum pieces. However, a per
sonal goal of the curator is to  preserve an original 
VAX 780 in running order an the original "unit of 
1".There is one such machine in the colleciton, a 
VAX 780 obtained back from monash University. 
It was exhibited at the 1992 Melbourne Decus 
show to contrast its 1 VUP against the Alpha AXP 
of 150 VUPS.
Other VAX's awaiting restoration are a VAX 
750, 730, 725, and 8250. 

Bits and pieces
A lot of minor DEC items (such as terminals) 
exist in the collection and are generally in full 
working order and used as consoles and test gear 
for the major items. 
Item    Year    Comment
ASR-33  1960    Teletype
KSR-35  1962    Heavy duty teletype
VT05    1971    First DEC VDU
LA30    1971    First hard copy
VT50    1975    un-erganomicVDU
LA36    1975    Hard copy
LA180   ??
LA100   ??
PRS01   1977    F/S tape loader
LS120   1977    Printer
WT78    1977    Work processor
LQP02   1977    Daisy wheel
LA120   1978    Printer
VT100   1979    Famous VDU
PDT-150 1980?   Early PC??
VT125   1982    VDU with graphics
LA12    1982    Portable terminal

Some comments on 
restoration philosophy
When you see people happily driving round in 
a 25 year old HQ Holden car you have to wonder 
why a 25 year old computer cannot still be happily 
working?
A computer of any vintage has few moving 
parts, and if it was well designed initially, there is 
no reason why it should not last for a very long 
time. 
To achieve the goal of having working operat
ing systems, it is usually easiest to restore the last 
(most recent) in the family. This is an example of 
BURNET's theorem, first postulated in 1979:-

THE SOFTWARE BECOMES PERFECT AS 
THE HARDWARE BECOMES OBSOLETE.

It is nice to be offered a "working" unit for the 
museum, but it is a sad fact that when we receive 
such a computer for the museum, any damage will 
have been done on the day it was turned off. Items 
have been souvenired, cables cut, etc. The rule for 
the curator is BE THERE THE DAY IT IS 
TURNED OFF.
In renovating an old computer, the major task 
is to ensure all the pieces are present. Very rarely 
will an faulty piece of gear be found. It is always 
missing modules, switch settings, cables swapped 

over that cause the problems. The only perishable 
that the curator has found is the foam rubber used 
for filters
This leads to BURNET's second theorm of 
1985:-
ANY OLD COMPUTER CAN BE FIXED SO 
LONG AS YOU HAVE THREE OF THEM.  

 So why should we approach a 1970 computer 
as a relic. One has to asume you can make it work.

The 10 Year Collection Window
There seems to be a 10 year window in which 
old computers have to be collected for archiving. 
Most computers are bought, then depreciated in the 
assets register over 5 years, then run for another 2 
or so, then kept for another 3 years just in case, 
then thrown out. So that is the time when they have 
to be archived or it is too late and they have gone to 
the tip. 

Thus in the late 1970's I realised that I should 
collect all the early DEC computers that came to 
Australian in the late 1960's. In many cases, only 
one model of each came to these shores. 

Other Interesting Items
Over the years I have received many offers of 
non-DEC item, some of which I could not refuse as 
they were such significant items in the history of 
computing:- 
A piece of the ATL mechanical totalisator in
stalled at Doomben racecourse Qld c. 1930. Static. 
An NCR ledger machine. c 1960 Static
An IBM 026 card punch. c 1970 Working.
A relay based computer used for wool research 
by CSIRO. c 1950. Static.
A Curta calculator. c 1960 Working
An ICL hand card punch. c 1970 Working
An Olivetti Programma 101 calculator c 1967. 
Static
A Canon Canola programmable calculator c 
1970. Working.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this paper has provided a reference 
document to describe the present status of the col
lection. In 50 years time these items will seem posi
tively pre-historic. We hope future generations will 
be grateful for our archival efforts. 

Museum Posters
During the last few years we have produced 
some wall posters featuring some of the museum 
artfacts. These posters have been distributed by the 
NOP SIG at Decus, and are readily available. Just 
ask. 
1. Thirteen generations of PDP-8's. From Clas
sic plexiglass PDP-8 to the DECmate II
2. The first Unix machine. Featuring the PDP-
7 and a VS2000 runing Ultrix windows.
3. The 20th anniversary of the PDP-11. Show
ing 11/20, 11/34 and 11/70.
4. The original unit of 1. featuring the first 
VAX 11/780.


Summary of Collection

Want List
Even with the present extensive inventory, 
there remains a few relics to be collected. In the 
hope that some reader might still possess them, 
here is a "want" list. 
The VT100 based DECmate 1
The GIGI terminal

Literature Database
A data base has been establised for all the mu
seum literature. It currently runs to 3000 lines and 
provides an accession number, physical description, 
content description, Digital number, date of publi
cation, version and physical location. 
The collection comprises hardware manuals, 
software manuals, glossy brochures and software 
on a variety of media. 

Thank you
  


Trade marks
It may be possible to submit this paper to the 
Journals of the Annals of Computing. That would 
be fame indeed. Would need photos.
The museum logo and the NOP SIG log can be 
linked in but they take up hundreds of blocks and 
are too un-wieldy. Do as a separate cover page is 
needed. 
$ 
2 Likes

I am disappointed to see that Max didn’t think that the PDP-9 and PDP-15 were not worthy of restoration. It is a very interesting transistor-only microcoded design. A PDP-9 with EAE and a disk drive will run UNIX V0, which would make a compelling demonstration. It would also be possible to write a DECtape System Handler and use a DECtape as the root disk and swap device.

Mike, I presume this may have changed from when he wrote this in 1993.

Probably not. A PDP-7 was the machine used to develop UNIX, so that makes it historically significant. The LCM got UNIX V0 running on their PDP-7, so if you have one that would be a very interesting project. The PDP-9 was much more technically advanced, but would run most PDP-7 code, including UNIX V0. The PDP-15 was built from integrated circuits and was much more complex and capable than the PDP-9. The operating systems that ran on the PDP-9 & PDP-15 were very advanced for the time, but not useful enough to get ported to a more modern machine. So Max is probably right, the 18-bit family was interesting, but a dead end for DEC.