Hello! I'm looking for an old Digital Equipment computer, a PDP-12, to
purchase for a computer restoration project. Since they once had fairly
wide use in medical labs, especially for neurological studies, I'm
hoping someone here may know of one that may be available.
The PDP-12s were built as laboratory instruments back in the late 1960s;
they usually come in a cabinet about 6 feet tall, have one or two
small magnetic tape drives on the front, and have an operator's console
with several dozen impressive-looking lights and rocker switches on them.
A picture of one, which I'm hoping some of you may find familiar, can be
seen at:
http://flyingmoose.org/pdp12.jpg
I'm hoping to find one that's in reasonably-restorable shape, and if by
chance there's software and/or documentation as well that would be a
great bonus. There's a restored PDP-8/I here to keep it company, too. :)
Price is negotiable, depending on condition, and of course I'll be
willing to arrange and pay for shipping. (If it happens to be in or
near Seattle, that would certainly make it easier.)
Does anyone know of (or, perhaps, even have) one that's available for
purchase, or may be available later? If you do, please e-mail me. I'll
be grateful, to the point of a small reward. :) Thanks!
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ohh@drizzle.com Um, yeah, I guess preserving thirty-year-old
data processing equipment _is_ kind of an odd
hobby... :)
John Gentile - 18 Nov 2003 03:57 GMT
Check out the Retro Computing Society of Rhode Island -
http://www.osfn.org/rcs/ They share your enthusiasm for old computer
systems. I've donated some stuff to them and checked out their collection -
they even have a Lisa - the very 1st Macintosh.

Signature
John Gentile Secretary, Rhode Island Apple Group
yjgent@cox.net RIAG Web page: www.wbwip.com/riag/
"I never make mistakes, I only have unexpected learning opportunities!"
> Hello! I'm looking for an old Digital Equipment computer, a PDP-12, to
> purchase for a computer restoration project. Since they once had fairly
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
> data processing equipment _is_ kind of an odd
> hobby... :)
O. Sharp - 18 Nov 2003 21:46 GMT
John Gentile <yjgent@cox.net> suggests:
> Check out the Retro Computing Society of Rhode Island -
> http://www.osfn.org/rcs/ They share your enthusiasm for old computer
> systems. I've donated some stuff to them and checked out their collection -
> they even have a Lisa - the very 1st Macintosh.
I've been trying to contact RCS for a couple of months, actually. They
managed to find _three_ PDP-12s in one place(!), and have successfully
restored one of them, so I'm hoping they'll be a good resource once I
find a machine.
I have a strong hunch, though, that they won't be willing to let me have
one of theirs. :) :)
Thank you for the thought! In the meantime, I'm still looking. If anyone
knows of a place where another PDP-12 can be found, I'd be glad to hear
it.
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ohh@drizzle.com Well, nobody said this would be easy. :)