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Photos of my IMSAI PCS-80/30

K

Ken Vaughn

Experienced Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2010
Messages
138
Location
Colorado, USA
Hello all,

I got my first PC out of storage over the holidays. It is an IMSAI
PCS-80/30 that I bought in late 1977. Fired it up and everything works!
Trying to figure out what to do with it. I'm, well lets just say 70
something, and neither of my kids will ever want it. There is a computer
museum here in Colorado, but from what I can determine it is not set up to
display computer systems as yet. Don't really want to sell it on eBay.
Here are some photos -- please ignore the temporary computer desk -- a piece
of plywood resting on some chairs in my basement.

http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65c/imsai_pcs_80_30.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65c/interior.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65c/backside.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65c/external_monitor.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65c/printer_front.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65c/orig_documentation.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65c/hard_sector_floppys.jpg

It will boot and run Northstar Dos, CP/M, and the UCSD Pascal p-code system.
For those who might be interested, here are the details.
http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65c/imsai_pcs_80_30.txt

Ken Vaughn
 
That's in great shape!! You've taken excellent care of it, it would look like! I'm sure no matter where it goes, it will make someone very VERY happy!!

Kyle
 
That's neat. I'm not an expert but I've never seen an IMSAI like that with the built-in monitor and no front panel. We have an auction site here if you wanted to post it there (there's no cost to post and no percent taken out of the sale or anything. It's just a free posting site for us to use and 100% of the transaction is yours). But that's only assuming you'd want to sell it and/or ship it.

Beautiful system.

- John
 
Hi! I'm not one to recommend sending classic/vintage computers to the museum (lets use them instead) but I think in this case its a good idea.

Yours is a truly beautiful system and should be preserved as is IMO.

Please consider.

Thanks and have a nice day!

Andrew Lynch
 
That is a wonderful system, and not a version of the IMSAI that I've seen before. Just the documentation is a valuable resource, especially since a lot of it has never been scanned for online preservation.
 
Erik said:
You might also consider checking with the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. They may not have one yet and, if not, they may want it. . .
Click to expand...

I looked at their "want" and "don't want" lists. While they don't say specifically it looks like a "don't want". They include IMSAI 8080 and S-100 CPM Systems on the "don't want" list. The DigiBarn museum has a PCS-80/30 -- it was the system on which WordStar was developed. A preliminary search of other computer museums around the country shows 3 or 4 which list the IMSAI systems on their "want" lists, but all but one of those are in the collect and store mode. I would prefer that the system not just gather dust in a warehouse.

It would appear that to be really desirable, an IMSAI would have to have a front panel with all those toggle switches. If the IMSAI 8080 was a first generation Altair clone, then my system would be a second generation IMSAI (1977). The monitor program in ROM took the place of the toggle switches, and did a lot more as well. I built my system up by adding disk drives and memory to be a pretty robust software development system, which was my interest.
 
That is an incredible system. Very beautiful and very complete. If I had the money and you were willing to sell I would drive up there and pick it up personally. Whatever you do, don't trash it!
 
Ksarul said:
That is a wonderful system, and not a version of the IMSAI that I've seen before. Just the documentation is a valuable resource, especially since a lot of it has never been scanned for online preservation.
Click to expand...

I have scanned many of the manuals (28 to be exact). See my recent post in the "Online Manuals Forum"
 
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