PDP-1 front panel diversity

[Angelo Papenhoff/aap]

Since the PiDP-1 is a replica of the front panel i thought it would be good to share some pictures of different versions of the front panel here and spark some discussion :)

One early prototype had the front panel detached on a separate table. This is what we tried to imitate with the small stand-alone kit

[Angelo Papenhoff/aap]

Another very interesting version doesn't have the hexagonal panel. I believe this was the model for ADX?

I actually really like this version, it looks a bit like a PDP-6 :)

[AB]

these are fantastic Angelo!

cheers.. Andy

[John Mann]

Hi,

There's also a number of pictures of various colour PDP-1A, PDP-1B, PDP-1C's and their consoles in the posting

  https://www.masswerk.at/nowgobang/2021/pdp1-spotting

(previously mentioned re Spacewar controllers)

Thanks,

     John

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[Norbert Landsteiner]

The light-colored machine is the production prototype that went to BBN in 1960. This machine and the control panel are also seen in early DEC material/brochures on the PDP-1. It's especially interesting, because it features lights for an alternative extended memory memory architecture using an instruction field and a data field and a field selector. (There are also some dedicated instructions for this in early listings.) It came initially with a block of just a single K words, which is also why Ed Fredkin's FRAP assembler (Free of Rules Assembler Program) operates with just 1K of memory. (This block of memory was later returned to DEC and went around to fill gaps at various installations.) Later, this machine became the first timesharing implementation (thanks to the magnetic drum specified by Ed Fredkin and designed by Gordon Bell. Two drums where made and the second one went to MIT and was used for their timesharing implementation). In retirement, it was transferred to University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where it was eventually used to control a model railroad layout. This is also, were the (in)famous "PDP-1 at TMRC" photos were taken, which actually show the BBN PDP-1B at Amherst and J.A.N. Lee, head of the Amherst CS program.

Remarkably, at this time, the control panel isn't detachable anymore, but rather mounted to a paper tape reader assembly.

And yes, this cubistic packaging is a ITT ADX 7300 (which is also a PDP-1) – and Gordon Bell developed the UART, while working on this.

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