David Gesswein — DEC PDP 8

David Gesswein — DEC PDP 8

Filmed for the Vintage Computer Festival West, 2020.

[bobdinitto]

I have used paper tape on both the PDP-8 and PDP-11. Fortunately I used DEC paper tape reader/punch rather than a teletype. With PAL-11 you first read in the editor program. Next you typed in an assembly language program and punched a source tape. Next you loaded the two pass assembler program. Next you ran your source tape through the reader for the first pass. Next you read your source tape again for the second assembler pass. Next the assembler punched out an object tape. Next you loaded the linker program tape. Next the linker read in the object tape (or several for a large program) and then punched the executable program tape. Next you load the executable program tape and it runs. Or not. If not you load the debugger tape and load the program tape again. You debug, then load the editor and read in your source tape. Edit, punch another source tape and try all over again.

[michaelbruce]

I just loved the PDP8. I worked with a PDP 8/I at Watford College of Technology which would work standalone providing a 4 workstation BASIC environment. It also worked as a remote station to a PDP 10 (KI/10) at Hatfield Polytechnic via a 2400 bps MUX. Two awesome computers from an awesome manufacturer. I have happy memories as well of keying in the RIM loader. 7756 'Load Address' etc. happy days when the world was sane.

[larryh]

Thanks so much for the memories! Our computer lab at Mohawk College had a PDP8e. I had the bootloader memorized by the end of the course.

Our assignments were all in assembly using PAL8. I’m happy that I got to experience this vintage machine back in the 70’s…

[rpk]

At DEC when I worked there in Maynard's old mill, we'd start a load and go take a break. I worked on a display interface called a KV8I that connected to a Tektronix vector graphs display. The interface was connected to a PDP8 the same as the one in this video. But it had a PC05 high speed paper tape reader and punch. We also had tapes that were video games much more complex than pong. These were usually written by people over at MIT. My favorite was a lunar lander program which ran on the vector graphic display. Each time you played it as you were nearing the landing site you would fly over the crashed lunar modules from your previous failures. At the landing site there was a McDonalds, a little guy would climb out of the LEM, go into the place, a bubble would appear over the place reading "give a cheese burger and a coke", he'd come out, get back in the LEM and take off. End of game. I played that game a lot. There were readouts telling you speed, altitude, distance to landing site, angle of thrust, amount of thrust, remaining fuel, all kinds of data. Usually you'd run out of fuel until you figured out how to make it. Not bad for 1969 ! When even I describe a PDP 8 to someone I say "It was a desktop computer. But it has to be a really strong desk".

[maxmn]

A very well structured and presented video, thank you so much! I really enjoyed watching

[heinerwutz]

Thank you very much for the video! I really enjoyed the relaxed way of presenting this fascinating machine!

[liakada]

Thanks for the comprehensible representation of this historical machine. Fascinating. How proud one was of this piece of cutting-edge technology when it was newly unpacked from the crates.

[glhaynes]

This was great. Interesting content and presented so well. Thanks!

[ilisagadgets]

Amazing to see this machine in working condition! Seems new! Congrats!

[choppergirl]

Glad I saved up and waited for the VIC-20 aka microPET to come out... it was miles ahead of this thing. Having any fullscreen editor was miles ahead of working with a teletype.
I just bought a PiDP-8 kit today for a friend who was a PDP programmer.
Looking at the WIki page there are a lot of different variations on the front panel just in the 8 series.
I liked the campus VAX 11/780 and VT100 terminals myself... esp. the inter communication features like mail and msg...

[DavesGarage]

Thanks a lot for the great detail! It was very educational, and I'd love to see a similar one for the PDP-11 showing a daily developer's life with it!

[paulschmitt]

Excellent work! Thank you for preserving the past and making it so interactive - brings back many memories of high school (PDP-8/e).

[proxxima]

Thanks for showing your machine. A PDP8 or a PDP8/S is still on my wish list... Just because of the fully transistorised circuits. Who knows in the future...

[terrysouthwood]

Thanks for going over the complete cycle for correcting a programme. I now understand why compilers have discrete passes, because the machines had to load each phase and data tape to complete the process. Fascinating. I would love to have such a beautiful machine but they were so loud. It would have to be in a sound proof box and a electronic terminal not the even noisier ASR3a.

[bt]

so much effort for loading, editing, compiling...i am feeling lucky :)

[TheSchleeb]

I cut my computing teeth on a PDP8. We used it as a controller for a large inspection system. I remember spending hours with these paper tapes... it finally got to be such an issue that we added a 5 mb hard drive to make life a little easier. We used 2K BASIC to program the functions it needed to perform.

[marianaldenhoevel]

I have a PiDP-11 on order and am fully aware that that is just posing when compared to you people caring for the real machines. Thank you for that and sharing in the form of videos like this!

[krielow]

Incredible content!! Pretty stoked that I found your channel!

[jerrywansack]

David, I loved your video! I collected 8s and 11s, 20 years ago in college and have since been away from the fun big iron. I've unfortunately traded out my big iron many moons ago and just now catching the bug to recollect. thanks for the awesome video. Hoping to grab an 8 again!

[anticat]

Very interesting display of the machine, would have been nice to see it a bit closer up 😊