Nameplates (DEC and other)
Douglas W. Jones,201H MLH,3193350740,3193382879
It was bolted to the original relay rack (which had been stripped and
reused as a generic relay rack, with coat hooks in the narrow side
extension). The color scheme is from the early 1970's, light green stripes
above and below the |d|i|g|i|t|a|l| PDP-12 trademark, which is in light
grey against a dark green stripe.
In my (must humble?) opinion, the DEC color schemes of the late 1960's and
early 1970's were some of the most striking color schemes I've seen on
computers. If I remember correctly, the basic cabinets tended to be black,
with colored accents on the nameplates running across the top, and
sometimes colored vertical elements on the half-width parts (such as the
narrow side bay on the PDP-12 rack I got my name plate off of).
My question for the old time DEC folks out there is the following: It
looks to me like each family in the DEC product line at the time had its
own color code -- from the ones I've seen, I infer the following:
PDP-11 Red/Purple (lettering in the purple)
PDP-12 Light Green/Dark Green (lettering in the dark green)
What were the color schemes for the others from that era? (My guess is
that the PDP-8, PDP-9, PDP-10, PDP-11, PDP-12, PDP-15 and PDP-16 may all
have had color codes from this era, not that they were necessarily
distinct.)
---
Note 1: I also have a nameplate from an Scientific Data Systems
machine (model not given on plate).
Note 2: Am I right in remembering that the PDP-12 was closely related
to the LINC-8?
Note 3: The two nameplates I own look great stacked on top of the
IBM Megapel monotor on the RT in my office.
Note 4: I still collect and trade punched cards, preferably unpunched,
and preferably with interesting print, corporate logos, special forms,
or things like that on them.
Doug Jones
jo...@cs.uiowa.edu
Alan Frisbie
> In my (must humble?) opinion, the DEC color schemes of the late 1960's and
> early 1970's were some of the most striking color schemes I've seen on
> computers.
Agree.
> PDP-11 Red/Purple (lettering in the purple)
Ahem! That is ROSE and MAGENTA! Us true PDP-11 fans get upset
when non-fans do something terrible like getting the colors wrong. :-)
In addition to rose/magenta, DEC also used light/dark green, light/dark
blue, and red/white/blue. These were generally used to indicate the
product line selling that particular model. Sometimes, the same
model would be available in several different colors, depending on
which salesman you bought it from. In addition to the ones I mentioned
above, there were probably others.
I am sad to see those color schemes (and front panels) go away. In
those days, I could look at the front panel of a PDP-11 and tell you
what operating system it was running, what the load was, and if there
were any serious problems. Since the short cut to the rest room was
through the computer room, I got lots of practice. :-)
--- Alan E. Frisbie Fri...@Flying-Disk.Com (Preferred)
--- Flying Disk Systems, Inc. or ...elroy!flying!frisbie
--- 4759 Round Top Drive or Flying!Fri...@Elroy.jpl.nasa.gov
--- Los Angeles, CA 90065 or Frisbie%Fly...@oxy.edu
--- (213) 256-2575 or ...oxy!flying!frisbie
Terry Kennedy, Operations Mgr.
> I am sad to see those color schemes (and front panels) go away. In
> those days, I could look at the front panel of a PDP-11 and tell you
> what operating system it was running, what the load was, and if there
> were any serious problems. Since the short cut to the rest room was
> through the computer room, I got lots of practice. :-)
I have a nameplate that Alan doesn't have 8-}. It's an entire engraved
front panel of a custom system from 1960. It's made out of the same stuff
desk signs are made of - white base with a blue coating [sane people use
black or wood-grain for the top layer. This is that disgusting wanna-barf
shade of blue used in 50's swimming pools]
I don't recall if it says "equipment corp." or "equipment co." after the
"digital" part. Yep, it's that old.
Alan - next time you drop in, it's in the warehouse we couldn't find the
key for last time.
Terry Kennedy Operations Manager, Academic Computing
te...@spcvxa.bitnet St. Peter's College, Jersey City, NJ USA
te...@spcvxa.spc.edu (201) 915-9381