#48 is alive and well

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Adam Thornton

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Sep 29, 2025, 3:01:19 AM (12 days ago) Sep 29
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Matthias Barthel

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Sep 29, 2025, 4:24:49 AM (11 days ago) Sep 29
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Wow this looks amazing, nice dec family on your desk 🙃 have fun 👍

Adam Thornton <atho...@gmail.com> schrieb am Mo., 29. Sept. 2025, 09:01:

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Oscar Vermeulen

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Sep 29, 2025, 3:21:47 PM (11 days ago) Sep 29
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Adam,

Thank you! For the picture and for building them all :-)

You see the problem, though, right? There is a gap on the top left. What to do, what to do? Well, nothing for a while. I want to delve deep into the 1 and then go back to the others. Much has happened over the years in terms of new stuff, and updating these four will keep me occupied.

Kind regards,
(and thanks for being one of the Daring 200! That's what we call the builders of this first batch of kits)

Oscar.
the-daring-200.png
(yeah, chatGPT, I admit)

DR

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Sep 30, 2025, 9:20:14 AM (10 days ago) Sep 30
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One thing from the tour at Cray I picked up on was his using color and
design not only for function but also esthetics.


Another commenter here said he'd like to see the PDP-12 done, because he
thought it had the 'prettiest' panel.


The Data General Eclipse computer looked a lot like the DEC stuff with
it's switches.

The kits (-8, -10, -11) show Oscar's devotion to matching the look and
color of the originals.

So the question becomes, how did DEC come up with the colorful front
panel look that graces their products?

Dale

Michael Thompson

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Sep 30, 2025, 9:28:59 AM (10 days ago) Sep 30
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There are actually two colors of PDP-12 front panels. Two-tone blue was for PDP-12 "clinical" systems, and two-tone green was for laboratory systems. There is another color scheme for "industrial" systems.
 
Another commenter here said he'd like to see the PDP-12 done, because he
thought it had the 'prettiest' panel.

So the question becomes, how did DEC come up with the colorful front
panel look that graces their products?
 
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Michael Thompson

Clem Cole

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Sep 30, 2025, 10:08:01 AM (10 days ago) Sep 30
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DEC had an in house industrial design group in the Mill.  Jim Bleck was the lead for the PDP-11 and some of the later PDP-8 family (which actually includes 12).   In 1982, he left DEC and created Bleck Design Group (BDG) in North Chelmsford, MA where he and his team would also go on to design the Apollo small ‘refrigerator’ cabinet and follow ons, as well as the Masscomp cabinets. 


Sent from a handheld expect more typos than usual


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Oscar Vermeulen

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Sep 30, 2025, 10:23:52 AM (10 days ago) Sep 30
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I remember an email conversation with the gentleman that designed the PDP-11 (might have been Mr. Bleck), who was surprised and amused his design from all those years ago was called iconic and worthy of replication in the 21st century...
Cray did it even better, though :-)

R Clark

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Oct 1, 2025, 11:31:56 PM (9 days ago) Oct 1
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Looks good!  I think I am going to go with the blue front panels as well. What can go in your empty space is a DEC 340 round terminal :)  

I just completed the diodes and resistors all soldered on the main board of Kit #127.  

I have two 'shelves' full of small computers, so something is going to have to 'give' to make room so all 4 PiDPs can be together and talk shop  -- so to speak! 
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