billdeg
Technician
Somewhere in the deep woods of the New Jersey pinebarons there are two sheds containing 10 PDP 8i's with various parts. Some IBM stuff and a few Teletypes (not asr 33's)...Each PDP 8i computer system consists of 3 racks...I am looking for persons who want one so I can approach the owner about it. My pitch is going to be "why let them rot away?" If I can get enough $$ maybe they'll bite and let us take them. The person with the machines is hard to track down, I am going to make a trip to the person's house with hopes that I can make contact. I am hoping one will be donated to VCFed (people who run this site).
If you can find a way to travel to Southern NJ with a truck (with a liftgate) to haul the machine(s) out of the shed let me know how much you'd pay for one and when you can get it. I am hoping to pick a single day or weekend for this perhaps soon. My parents live nearby so I can help everyone out. I don't really want one, or at least I'd not want to spend too much for one. Where would I put it? There are three racks per system, this is not a desktop unit. That said if there is enough interest, I can get them and store them near my house and people can pick them up. I will want $$ for my trouble/storage costs however so the cheapest option is to come get them yourself.
vintagecomputer.net/pictures/2016/pdp8i/
The owner wants $$ for these but I don't know if they're realistic. I want therefore to deliver a number of honest offers so I can help educate what the actual value would be, see what they think. I know these have sold for many thousands of dollars, when they're in nice shape. These on the other hand are fixer-upers, not in great shape and will require a lot of TLC to get up and running. If you already own an 8i, these would be good for parts perhaps. The tape drives are from IBM (I think) not DEC. These systems came out of a real estate business, not sure if each three-rack system was in a separate office, but that's my guess. There were 10 offices or so, each had their own PDP 8i, with Teletype printer terminals, etc. My guess is that they were in production through the 1970's.
Best way to contact me is through my web site, vintagecomputer.net/contact.cfm. The form on my site collects your contact info, so I can pass it on should the owner want to speak with someone directly.
I am going up there THIS SATURDAY...so let me know by then! Again, I don't really want one for myself, just the good karma of doing something for the hobby.
Bill
If you can find a way to travel to Southern NJ with a truck (with a liftgate) to haul the machine(s) out of the shed let me know how much you'd pay for one and when you can get it. I am hoping to pick a single day or weekend for this perhaps soon. My parents live nearby so I can help everyone out. I don't really want one, or at least I'd not want to spend too much for one. Where would I put it? There are three racks per system, this is not a desktop unit. That said if there is enough interest, I can get them and store them near my house and people can pick them up. I will want $$ for my trouble/storage costs however so the cheapest option is to come get them yourself.
vintagecomputer.net/pictures/2016/pdp8i/
The owner wants $$ for these but I don't know if they're realistic. I want therefore to deliver a number of honest offers so I can help educate what the actual value would be, see what they think. I know these have sold for many thousands of dollars, when they're in nice shape. These on the other hand are fixer-upers, not in great shape and will require a lot of TLC to get up and running. If you already own an 8i, these would be good for parts perhaps. The tape drives are from IBM (I think) not DEC. These systems came out of a real estate business, not sure if each three-rack system was in a separate office, but that's my guess. There were 10 offices or so, each had their own PDP 8i, with Teletype printer terminals, etc. My guess is that they were in production through the 1970's.
Best way to contact me is through my web site, vintagecomputer.net/contact.cfm. The form on my site collects your contact info, so I can pass it on should the owner want to speak with someone directly.
I am going up there THIS SATURDAY...so let me know by then! Again, I don't really want one for myself, just the good karma of doing something for the hobby.
Bill
