Andrew (Television Executive)Sep 20, 2018

Hey retroheads, I'm looking at getting a replica of one or more computers from the 1970s.

I'm specifically looking at replicas of the PDP-8, the PDP-11, and the Altair 8800.

Which of the above (if any) would you kit build? Which others should I consider?

Show threadbhtooefr (copper-doped zinc sulfide aspect)Sep 20, 2018
@ajroach42 Depends on the replica!

AFAIK there are Altair replicas that are actually replicas, whereas the PDP-8 and PDP-11 replicas that I'm aware of are based on a Raspberry Pi running an emulator, which isn't exactly my cup of tea...
Andrew (Television Executive) (@[email protected])

90.6K Posts, 1.77K Following, 7.94K Followers · Trying to reshape the future of television. I write and build stuff. Est. 1990. (He, Him, Etc.) http://andrewroach.net Original posts CC-BY-SA 4.0 - Share them, but link to the original.

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Show threadAndrew (Television Executive)Sep 20, 2018

@bhtooefr There are legit altair replicas, and there's the Altairduino. For the moment, the arduino based model is what I'm looking at right now, due to space constraints.

The PDP replicas I've looked at are Pi based, which I'm okay with for a start.

Show threadbhtooefr (copper-doped zinc sulfide aspect)Sep 20, 2018
@ajroach42 So ultimately I think it's a matter of what system interests you more.

An Altair basically means that when you scale up from gefingerpoken das blinkenlichten, you're running CP/M.

A PDP-8... I know there's a lot of stuff for it, but it's "here there be dragons" territory to me.

A PDP-11... you get a lot of stuff that eventually evolved into VMS, and you get various Unices.
Andrew (Television Executive) (@[email protected])

90.6K Posts, 1.77K Following, 7.94K Followers · Trying to reshape the future of television. I write and build stuff. Est. 1990. (He, Him, Etc.) http://andrewroach.net Original posts CC-BY-SA 4.0 - Share them, but link to the original.

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Show threadAndrew (Television Executive)

@bhtooefr

Exactly!

I've never run CP/M, but i'd like to experience it.

I know that there is a Lot of software for the PDP-8, but I know next to nothing about it, and I'm certain that I'd like to know more.

The PDP-11 is towards the bottom of my list right now, because it's the closest to the stuff I already know. OTOH, an excuse to explore early Unix would be fun.

Sep 20, 2018 at 2:13amWeb
Show threadbhtooefr (copper-doped zinc sulfide aspect)Sep 20, 2018
@ajroach42 Of course, the other thing is, a lot of that stuff for PDP-11 doesn't need the blinkenlichten, you can just run simh on a computer.
Andrew (Television Executive) (@[email protected])

90.6K Posts, 1.77K Following, 7.94K Followers · Trying to reshape the future of television. I write and build stuff. Est. 1990. (He, Him, Etc.) http://andrewroach.net Original posts CC-BY-SA 4.0 - Share them, but link to the original.

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Show threadAndrew (Television Executive)Sep 20, 2018
@bhtooefr That's a good point, too.