New book about the PiDP-10 including ITS, TOPS-10 and TOPS-20

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Andrew Barron

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Aug 24, 2025, 6:53:10 PMAug 24
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Hi everyone, I am pleased to announce that I have finished my book about the PiDP-10. When I finished building the kit, I was unsure how to make it do anything. The manual Lars Brinkhoff wrote was excellent and got me started. But I wonder how many completed kits never get much past running the 'Blinkin Lights' program. 

This is the link to the book on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FNJC5PQ7
It will be available from Amazon in:
  • USUKDEFRESITNLPLSEJPCAAU

    You can see what it looks like, check the Contents page, and read a sample on the Amazon website. The book is aimed at new users, not seasoned professionals. It will get you started on the ITS, TOPS-10, and TOPS-20 operating systems. There are small sample programs in Cobol, Fortran, Lisp, ALGOL, BASIC, FORTH, C, MacLisp, Interlisp, and a few others. Plus a little PDP-10 history and some of the specifications like disk sizes and blocks etc. It is aimed making the PiDP-10 and its operating systems interesting and fun!

    BTW you don't have to have a PiDP10 kit. The book is just as useful if you are just using the PDP-10 emulator software. 

This is a link to see my other books. https://www.qsl.net/zl3dw/Books.html 


This is the Amazon "sales pitch" for the book.
This book is about the PiDP-10 kit and the three operating systems that you can run on it. You can learn what it was like to operate a terminal, control the computer, write programs in computer languages such as LISP, FORTRAN, COBOL, ALGOL, or BASIC, and, of course, play some of the computer games that became the classics, which spawned the games we play today. The book is intended for beginners, like me. I went from looking at the Blinkin Lights display with no idea what to do next, to information overload from all of the available documents, websites, and videos. Nothing is stopping you from downloading the software to your trusty Raspberry Pi and using the software. It is fully functional without the PiDP-10 hardware.

Retro computing is driven by a sense of nostalgia and a strong desire to preserve the computing achievements that led to the technical world we live in today. Very few people have the room, the money, or the time to restore a full-size PDP-10. They were large installations that required a big climate-controlled room. However, due to the work by Richard Cornwell, the developer of the Simh emulator, we can run an accurate simulation of the DEC PDP-10 system.

I am standing on the shoulders of giants. All the hard work has been done by Oscar Vermeulen, the creator of the PiDP-10 kit, and Richard Cornwell, the developer of the PDP-10 KA10 emulator. Lars Brinkhoff has contributed a huge amount to the ITS reconstruction project and PDP-10 restoration projects. I am indebted to him and several members of the PiDP-10 forum who helped me when I was stuck.

PiDP-10 cover.jpg

Bob Eager

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Aug 24, 2025, 7:00:24 PMAug 24
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I ordered it 12 hours ago!

Steven Hirsch

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Aug 24, 2025, 7:13:07 PMAug 24
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Ordered my copy earlier today.

Andy

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Aug 24, 2025, 8:20:04 PMAug 24
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Just ordered it..... looking forward to the excellent read!

thanks
Andy

Eric Freeman

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Aug 24, 2025, 8:35:22 PMAug 24
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I need this book!  Just ordered from Amazon. Thanks Andy.

Eric


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Phillip Porch, MD

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Aug 24, 2025, 10:01:13 PMAug 24
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I just ordered a copy. Thank you. 

Phillip Porch, MD, FACS

On Aug 24, 2025, at 6:13 PM, Steven Hirsch <snhi...@gmail.com> wrote:

Ordered my copy earlier today.
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Charley Jones

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Aug 24, 2025, 11:01:16 PMAug 24
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I just did too, 
If you are shipping, could you sign? 
Sent from my iPhone 15pm!
Charley Jones, PMP

On Aug 24, 2025, at 7:01 PM, Phillip Porch, MD <ppp...@gmail.com> wrote:

I just ordered a copy. Thank you. 

Andrew Barron

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Aug 24, 2025, 11:43:53 PMAug 24
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Thanks, everyone! I will be interested to see your reviews. I hope you find the book interesting, helpful, and fun! Please spread the word to anyone who might be interested. I don't do any advertising, and I don't like to overload the forum with unwanted 'sales' spam.

Sorry, the books are printed and shipped from the country of the Amazon site you bought the book on. So it is not possible to sign copies. 

regards
Andrew B.

Anthony Eros

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Aug 25, 2025, 10:14:03 AMAug 25
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Just ordered a copy!

— Tony

Whit Turner

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Aug 25, 2025, 10:22:04 AMAug 25
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Ordered as well. Looking forward to it!

Whit

Alexander Jacocks

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Aug 25, 2025, 5:29:13 PMAug 25
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Indeed, thank you much. I ordered a copy as well.

- Alex

John Johnson

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Aug 25, 2025, 9:49:30 PMAug 25
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This sounds great! I should get mine tomorrow. 
Looking forward to your books on the PiDP-11 and Altair-Duino!
(Hint)

John


On Aug 25, 2025, at 5:29 PM, Alexander Jacocks <jjac...@gmail.com> wrote:



R H

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Aug 26, 2025, 7:37:39 AMAug 26
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Andrew, It looks very good on the sample, so ordered a copy straight away.

I too got in to computing on the TRS-80 back in 78/79 but as only just a teenager I could not afford one on my paper round wages so asked my local Tandy store if I could use their in-store Model I .. they said yes if I wrote some demo programs for them .. then I got a part-time job with Tandy and eventually bought my own Model I in ’81 (which still works) and computing has been core to my life ever since. I also have an understanding wife and too much retro kit .. and last year I branched out to computer control of model railways which is taking up more space, time and pension.

Cheers, Richard

R Clark

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Aug 26, 2025, 10:32:53 AMAug 26
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Order one up too. Thank you for putting this together.  Should be a good reference!

Now I am just waiting on word on the PDP-1 kit!

Tim Radde

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Aug 26, 2025, 12:22:28 PMAug 26
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Ordered my copy just now.

Richard Cini

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Aug 26, 2025, 12:24:12 PMAug 26
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Mine’s coming tomorrow as well. Can’t wait to read it. 

Rich


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Thomas Niccum

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Aug 27, 2025, 10:16:39 AMAug 27
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Mine arrived today!

Peter Fall

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Aug 27, 2025, 10:16:44 AMAug 27
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Yep - looks good. I ordered mine yesterday
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Steven Hirsch

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Aug 27, 2025, 11:03:58 AMAug 27
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Received my copy yesterday and read it through.  A lot of work went into to compiling that and it should prove helpful for beginners.  That being said, there are a number of areas that could benefit from review.  In particular I almost never have a keyboard, mouse and display connected to my unit and have found remote access of various types to be quite doable.  For example, there's not a single mention of the official Raspberry Pi screen sharing!  It's far more responsive than VNC and lets you deal with both graphics displays and console prompts remotely with no sacrifice.

Tim Radde

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Aug 27, 2025, 1:00:08 PMAug 27
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My copy just arrived.

Anthony Eros

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Aug 27, 2025, 7:23:58 PMAug 27
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Just got my copy.  Looks great!

I did scratch my head a bit reading the introduction.  Lots of references to SIMH, but Bob Supnik isn’t mentioned at all.  In fact, the first reference to SIMH implied that Richard Cornwell had written it.

I’m looking forward to working my way through the book.  I think it will be an invaluable resource for getting the most out of my PiDP-10, once I finally get it up and running. 😀

— Tony

Tim Radde

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Aug 27, 2025, 10:11:13 PMAug 27
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That part bothers me.  How could the author not know Simh was not created by Richard Cornwell?  The Github site for the pidp-10 stuff was created by him.  Yes.  But if he doesn't know about
Bob Supnik what else is not correct in this book?

Andrew Barron

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Aug 28, 2025, 12:14:24 AMAug 28
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I am sorry, I had never heard of Bob Supnik. https://simh.trailing-edge.com/ does not mention his name!  I will make an immediate change to the book to credit Bob.

I am now very confused.  Perhaps you can clarify the roles of Bob Supnik and Richard Cornwell so that I can improve the accuracy of my book.

Wikipedia says,  SIMH is a free and open source, multi-platform multi-system emulator. It is maintained by Bob Supnik, a former DEC engineer and DEC vice president, and has been in development in one form or another since the 1960s.  So that is clear. I will credit Bob Supnik with developing simh. 

But what did Richard Cornwell do? Should I credit him anywhere in the book, or remove him completely? 
https://github.com/obsolescence/pidp10 states "  @rcornwell wrote the PDP-10 KA10 simulator (the Engine), " Is the KA-10 simulator not part of Simh? Does it sit on top of the Simh platform? 


Regarding "Yes.  But if he doesn't know about Bob Supnik what else is not correct in this book?" I have said several times that I am only a beginner. I have done the best I can. I am fully aware that there will be errors, and I am happy to make changes when  mistakes are brought to my attention. If the whole book is a crock of sh--- I will remove it from sale and not attempt another book about retro computers.

Andrew Barron.

terry-...@glaver.org

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Aug 28, 2025, 1:43:06 AMAug 28
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On Thursday, August 28, 2025 at 12:14:24 AM UTC-4 zl...@outlook.co.nz wrote:
Regarding "Yes.  But if he doesn't know about Bob Supnik what else is not correct in this book?" I have said several times that I am only a beginner. I have done the best I can. I am fully aware that there will be errors, and I am happy to make changes when  mistakes are brought to my attention. If the whole book is a crock of sh--- I will remove it from sale and not attempt another book about retro computers.

Don't beat yourself up too badly. You tried to perform a service for other PiDP-10 users and you have some errors. If you revise the book, I suggest you do what O'Reilly did and publish a complete list of errata and corrections and make that list freely available.

I have one or two small subjects where I'm probably the leading US expert  in them. Yet when I write a book (or extensive online documentation) on those subjects I solicit other experts as reviewers before publishing / posting the final version. They usually don't find anything, but sometimes they do. I'd suggest you do the same in your future books.

Charley Jones

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Aug 28, 2025, 2:36:19 AMAug 28
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I also got my copy and enjoyed the history and programming examples very much.  As a longtime c programmer, might I suggest that you are missing #include <stdio.h>

That may be why you had warnings.  Not certain.

Sent from my iPhone 15pm!
Charley Jones, PMP

On Aug 27, 2025, at 10:43 PM, terry-...@glaver.org <terry-...@glaver.org> wrote:


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Bob Eager

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Aug 28, 2025, 4:58:15 AMAug 28
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Andrew, I suggest you start by looking at these papers:


Bob is a very helpful guy. I am currently in the throes of writing a new simulator, based on the SIMH code. Bob has been very helpful when I have had questions; he knows SIMH inside out, and he wrote many of the DEC simulators. He was also heavily involved with the design of at least some of the later VAXes.

Ken Hansen

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Aug 28, 2025, 9:05:26 AMAug 28
to terry-...@glaver.org, PiDP-10
See in-line comments below

On Aug 28, 2025, at 00:43, terry-...@glaver.org <terry-...@glaver.org> wrote:


On Thursday, August 28, 2025 at 12:14:24 AM UTC-4 zl...@outlook.co.nz wrote:
Regarding "Yes.  But if he doesn't know about Bob Supnik what else is not correct in this book?" I have said several times that I am only a beginner. I have done the best I can. I am fully aware that there will be errors, and I am happy to make changes when  mistakes are brought to my attention. If the whole book is a crock of sh--- I will remove it from sale and not attempt another book about retro computers.

It's not a "crock of sh--", don't beat yourself up. This was a non-trivial effort on your part and the community appreciates it. Really, we do.

Don't beat yourself up too badly. You tried to perform a service for other PiDP-10 users and you have some errors. If you revise the book, I suggest you do what O'Reilly did and publish a complete list of errata and corrections and make that list freely available.

The book is printed on-demand, revisions are easy and Andrew already said he'd make changes.

I have one or two small subjects where I'm probably the leading US expert  in them.

How modest of you.

Yet when I write a book (or extensive online documentation) on those subjects I solicit other experts as reviewers before publishing / posting the final version. They usually don't find anything, but sometimes they do. I'd suggest you do the same in your future books.

Do you not see how that comes across?

I concede you meant that to come across as constructive feedback, but...

Andrew has 25 other books published, as listed on the back of his latest book - this book was a departure from his typical topic (how-to on amateur radios), this wasn't his first attempt at writing.

Ken

Andy

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Aug 28, 2025, 9:17:55 AMAug 28
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Totally agree - you're living the life Andrew!

And yep an errata would be perfect. We've got some very sharp people here :-)

Tim Radde

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Aug 28, 2025, 9:27:29 AMAug 28
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I havre to admit I have (had) never herad of Richard Cornwell before now.  I've used Simh quite extensively over the years.  Then again I am more of a pdp-8 and pdp-11 person than a pdp-10 person.  Yes, I was an operator of the KA-10 at Penn State but until Oscar's kit came along
I never really used any of the pdp-10 simulators.  Never had a reason to until then.  But I would think that any research into Simh would pop up Bob Supnik's name.  I had to look up the name Richard Cornwell to see who he was.  I did not mean to come off so harsh to the book.
I have not had time to read it yet.  I like to finish the book I am currently reading before I pick up another.

Steven Hirsch

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Aug 28, 2025, 9:55:26 AMAug 28
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You've done a great job pulling that book together, but it could benefit greatly from community review and input/corrections.  Definitely not a "crock", but more a good work that needs iterative refinement.

It sounds like you may be unaware of two useful remote access methods:  X11 forwarding over ssh and Raspberry Pi desktop sharing.  X11 forwarding allows you to start the simulator remotely and have the Type 340 display window pop up on the remote host.  I've only done this from a Linux system, but it should be possible from Mac and Windows as well.  Desktop sharing behaves like VNC, giving you a complete rendering of the RPi screen in a large window.  In my setup RPi sharing is faster and smoother than VNC - YMMV.  There are instructions on the official RPi website to help you get it going.

Lastly, if you have been unable to get certain things working, it may be a good idea to raise them here.  Perhaps you have hit actual program bugs that should be logged or are missing a step somewhere?

If you are amenable to feedback, I'll make some notes during my next pass through the book as it differs from my experience.

On Thursday, August 28, 2025 at 12:14:24 AM UTC-4 zl...@outlook.co.nz wrote:

Andy

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Aug 28, 2025, 11:01:35 AMAug 28
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Fantastic book - just got mine this morning!
IMG_3265.JPG

On Wednesday, August 27, 2025 at 10:16:44 AM UTC-4 peter...@gmail.com wrote:
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Clem Cole

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Aug 28, 2025, 2:50:32 PMAug 28
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below...  and I guess I should put on my OpenSIMH SG hat here ...

On Thu, Aug 28, 2025 at 12:14 AM Andrew Barron <zl...@outlook.co.nz> wrote:
I am sorry, I had never heard of Bob Supnik. https://simh.trailing-edge.com/ does not mention his name!  I will make an immediate change to the book to credit Bob.

I am now very confused.  Perhaps you can clarify the roles of Bob Supnik and Richard Cornwell so that I can improve the accuracy of my book.
Please see https://opensimh.org/about/ and discussion below please. 

Wikipedia says,  SIMH is a free and open source, multi-platform multi-system emulator. It is maintained by Bob Supnik, a former DEC engineer and DEC vice president, and has been in development in one form or another since the 1960s.  So that is clear. I will credit Bob Supnik with developing simh. 
You might skip Wikipedia and got directly to the project website.. 

But what did Richard Cornwell do? Should I credit him anywhere in the book, or remove him completely? 

Remember https://opensimh.org is the >> official << website for the primary code base is: 
https://github.com/open-simh/simh

from the filehttps://github.com/open-simh/simh/README.md:
Open SIMH machine simulator
This is the codebase of SIMH, a framework and collection of computer system simulators.

SIMH was created by Bob Supnik, originally at Digital Equipment Corporation, and extended by contributions of many other people. It is now an open source project, licensed under an MIT open source license (see LICENSE.txt for the specific wording). The project gatekeepers are the members of the SIMH Steering Group. We welcome and encourage contributions from all. Contributions will be covered by the project license.

The Open SIMH code base was taken from a code base maintained by Mark Pizzolato as of 12 May 2022. From that point onward there is no connection between that source and the Open SIMH code base. A detailed listing of features as of that point may be found in SIMH-V4-status.

PLEASE NOTE
Do not contribute material taken from github.com/simh/simh unless you are the author of the material in question.


Please note the name open-simh -- I'll leave out the commentary of the core history, but take you to the end state. The Project is FOSS, and there are many derivatives, both open source and proprietary [as I type this Open SIMH V4.1-0 Current        git commit id: c064bb66 is the current].  It is noted that Bob works on an older version (V3) and releases independently of the OpenSIMH code base.   Bob is also a member of the OpenSIMH SG, and supports the position of OpenSIMH as the mainline.   Later versions of his code start to add a number of features, particularly WRT to UI) that Bob did want to track; he has continued to want to broaden the number of systems (ISPs) covered.  Thus, when Bob makes a change to his code base and it is known to be stable, companion changes are pushed to OpenSIMH ASAP. 

That said, Oscar forked his original work from https://retrocmp.com/, which was based on an older version of the simh v4 line, and had added a fork to all REALCONS as opposed to the built-in console to simh.  He has pulled from different versions, and indeed, the PiDP-10 simulator is based on the bloodline Richard maintains. Just so you know, Richard is also a member of the SG.  I have not rebuilt any of Oscar's versions in a while, but I believe there was some attempt to come closer to the mainline this spring as I know someone fixed and verified some pull requests in the space.  But I can not say, because I have not looked at the current PiDP-10 package Oscar has.  I do know that I run the OpenSIMH version of the PDP11, 8 and 10 versions on my Mac and use a number of the same virtual disks as those have my different flavor PiDPs, so I know that they are close enough alike in format to be compatible.

I will state that there is a desire at some point to have a set of hooks in OpenSIMH that are a tad more elegant than the original retrocmp changes, but that all of Oscar's and other people Blinkenlights can be made to work across all of the OpenSIMH simulators [which is essentially why it has been done imported yet = the changes are relatively profound and the test matrix is larger than th small group of people behind the scenes to check].  Speaking for myself, not the OpenSIMH team, I would love to see Oscar be able to pick up a simulator binary for the project for each system and go.  That his code was 100% on top of ours without modifications.

Back to your question. As for cudos and credit, of course, Bob's name should be on his work as it is the foundation and inspiration for it all and following the first paragraph from the project makes good sense.   Similarly, Richard was influential with the PDP-10 family specifically (as well as a number of the other simulators BTW), so including it seems reasonable, but a pointer to the entire project and the other simulators that run on platforms without Oscar's excellent piece of hardware, which seems appropriate also. 
https://github.com/obsolescence/pidp10 states "  @rcornwell wrote the PDP-10 KA10 simulator (the Engine), " Is the KA-10 simulator not part of Simh?
Yes...

The key point here is that several different PDP-10 simulators are available, and each has its own fan base, as they each excel in a specific area.  For a long time, the "klh" set for the PDP-10 was the cat's meow. However, I can think of a few others as well.  There are a number within the simh base, but the set that Richard maintains is the strongest in the SIMH suite.
 
Does it sit on top of the Simh platform? 
No, the KA/KI/KS 10 simulators are all an integral part of the entire platform.  There are other simulators for many other systems. Please go to the website for more details.


Regarding "Yes.  But if he doesn't know about Bob Supnik what else is not correct in this book?" I have said several times that I am only a beginner. I have done the best I can. I am fully aware that there will be errors, and I am happy to make changes when  mistakes are brought to my attention.
Great.  It might be a good idea to have someone from the OpenSIMH SG to review -- you can follow up off this list with an email directly cl...@ccc.com or the entire SG: SIMH Steering Group <s...@opensimh.org> 


Respectfully, 
Clem

terry-...@glaver.org

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Aug 28, 2025, 9:05:31 PMAug 28
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On Thursday, August 28, 2025 at 9:05:26 AM UTC-4 n2...@w5fc.org wrote:
See in-line comments below
On Aug 28, 2025, at 00:43, terry-...@glaver.org <terry-...@glaver.org> wrote:
Don't beat yourself up too badly. You tried to perform a service for other PiDP-10 users and you have some errors. If you revise the book, I suggest you do what O'Reilly did and publish a complete list of errata and corrections and make that list freely available.
The book is printed on-demand, revisions are easy and Andrew already said he'd make changes.

Paper books on technical subjects (other than histories) become out-of-date. Until the number of changes justifies a reprint (and even then, for people who don't want to purchase another copy to just get the fixes), which is why I suggested the O'Reilly method, for example: https://www.oreilly.com/catalog/errata.csp?isbn=9781491949467 
I have one or two small subjects where I'm probably the leading US expert  in them.
How modest of you.

Take it or leave it, I'm not justifying myself to you.

The comment was intended to convey that despite that, I still seek reviewers / feedback before "going to press" (either on paper or as downloadable books) to catch things I might have missed or under-explained because I'm so familiar with the material.  
Yet when I write a book (or extensive online documentation) on those subjects I solicit other experts as reviewers before publishing / posting the final version. They usually don't find anything, but sometimes they do. I'd suggest you do the same in your future books.
Do you not see how that comes across?

I concede you meant that to come across as constructive feedback, but...

Andrew has 25 other books published, as listed on the back of his latest book - this book was a departure from his typical topic (how-to on amateur radios), this wasn't his first attempt at writing.

How DOES it come across? I'm not saying that Andrew is an inexperienced author, just that it is better to have others (preferably subject experts) read and provide feedback on the book before proceeding to the publishing stage. In the case here, there are a number of PDP-10 experts, such as Lars, here that could have provided beneficial insights and prevented incorrect information from appearing.

I'm not talking about the level of commentary / criticism that you get when you submit a paper to a scientific journal where there is a mandatory review by other experts on the editorial review board (I've done that, it isn't fun), just some constructive feedback.

Richard C

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Aug 28, 2025, 10:01:58 PMAug 28
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Hi,

   In terms of contributes to this project. Bob Supnik wrote the original SimH framework. He also did a KS10 emulator. I started writing a KA10 emulator and it kind of grew into emulating all PDP10 models. With Lars's and Eric's help we were able to get ITS running on all models. I did much of the work to get Tops10 and Tops20 systems running. Lars's is also responsible for many of the ITS devices the emulator supports.

   For the PiDP10 I did extensions to my emulator to run the display. I started with Oscar's code and did a bunch of cleanup. I maintain a fork of his PiDP10 repo where I update the sources periodically. Oscar does a build for the various platforms he supports. Lars's and many many others contributed to build ITS. The Tops10 that Oscar provides was built by me for testing.

  If anyone is interested I can go over a more detailed history of the development of my PDP10 simulators.

Rich

Andrew Barron

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Aug 29, 2025, 12:48:04 AMAug 29
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Thanks to everyone who bought the book. I am sorry that some people resorted to abuse when they could have made a polite suggestion.  I got my copy today and I quite liked it. 

I have made the suggested change regarding crediting Bob Supnik. Ironic that that person had not heard of Richard Cornwell. But I didn't flame him for that. I have no intention of writing this book by committee. It was written by a beginner for beginners. If it lacks some feature you feel is important, please go ahead and write a better book. 

I am leaving this forum and going on holiday, so please don't expect any further comments from me. 

regards
Andrew Barron.

Andrew O'Neill

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Aug 29, 2025, 2:51:37 AMAug 29
to Andrew Barron, PiDP-10
Thank you for all of your efforts Andrew. I look forward to receiving my copy shortly and enjoying it for its intended purpose. Please enjoy a well earned break.

Andrew

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John Johnson

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Aug 29, 2025, 7:28:34 AMAug 29
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No good deed goes unpunished. 


On Aug 29, 2025, at 12:48 AM, Andrew Barron <zl...@outlook.co.nz> wrote:

Thanks to everyone who bought the book. I am sorry that some people resorted to abuse when they could have made a polite suggestion.  I got my copy today and I quite liked it. 
--

Ric Werme

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Aug 29, 2025, 3:42:04 PMAug 29
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Minor math error on page 213/214.

My copy arrived yesterday, while thumbing through it, I noticed an error in describing some machine code.  If I don't log it now, I'll probably forget it.

The code is a lights program that looks like it moves a block of one bits around the data lights.  It has this delay loop:

MOVEI 2,60650 ;Decimal 25,000
LSH 2,4 ;Shift left four bits (multiply by 16)
SOJN 2,. ;Delay for a while

The description says "The MOVEI 2,60650 command puts ... and the 4 bit shift makes it 606500000."  You described a four octet (12 bit) shift.  A three bit shift makes it 606500, one more yields 1415200.  The delay loop executes decimal 400,000 times, not 102,400,000 times.

Lawrence Fisher

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Sep 4, 2025, 10:48:59 AMSep 4
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Just got my copy in yesterday. Revision 1.2. includes the changes to reference Bob Supnik. 

Gotta love Amazon publish on demand!

Anthony Eros

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Sep 4, 2025, 11:37:39 AMSep 4
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I just ordered an updated edition for my office.  

The first copy I bought is going on the shelf in the family room, next to my first edition of “Hunt for Red October” 😀

— Tony



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Greg Taylor

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Sep 4, 2025, 3:00:49 PMSep 4
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Andrew, I've been enjoying the book and was wondering if you'll also make a Kindle version available for those of us whose eyesight is not as good. Thanks for your consideration. 

-- Greg

Francis King

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Sep 6, 2025, 7:00:34 AMSep 6
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In the sample it says that the console doesn't work on ITS, but it works fine on my ITS system.

Helium Phoenix

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Sep 8, 2025, 1:53:03 PMSep 8
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Got my copy Saturday.  Looking forward to reading it thoroughly!

Enjoy your holiday, and DLTBGYD!

Robert White

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Sep 9, 2025, 7:01:59 PMSep 9
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Mine just arrived - the first few things I tried have been expertly written and are really easy to follow - well done

Are you writing one for the pidp-8/11 and when its released the new pidp-1? I buy all three.

Randy E (OoMOR)

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Sep 12, 2025, 3:08:51 PMSep 12
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Andrew,

I am about to place an order for this book and thought I should send this note. I glanced at the first page and a couple of typos jumped out at me from the screen. The first one was when you said "plus all of its peripheral devices including a paper punch reader". This may be nit-picking, but I have never heard this device called by that name. Maybe simply adding the word "tape" and "/" to have it say paper tape punch/reader would be enough to better describe it to those that have not yet had the "privilege" to actually use real paper tape to load or save programs to a vintage computer (and eating a nice leisurely meal during the wait...). Please note that I am NOT a writer, so there are probably even better ways to phrase this.

The 2nd issue is when you called the Raspberry Pi a "signal board computer". As you are probably aware, this should be "single board computer".

I know you said you were "leaving this forum and going on holiday, so please don't expect any further comments from me". I hope you reconsider and don't let some heated comments push you out of the group.

Enjoy your holiday.
Randy

Ken Hansen

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Sep 12, 2025, 3:30:53 PMSep 12
to Randy E, PiDP-10
As I read his note from a few days ago (8/24/225), he's not returning to the group, based on the comment about having no desire to "write the book by committee". I could be wrong, but that's how I read it.

Andrew has written over 2 dozen books on various amateur radio topics, and he doesn't (to the best of my knowledge) linger in support groups collecting suggestions from group members, so leaving the group is consistent with his previous efforts, I suspect.

Perhaps he will lurk in the group to help him enjoy his new PiDP-10, I hope he does, and I suspect he'll be amenable to corrections/errata if sent to him directly, but that's just speculation on my part.

Ken

On Sep 12, 2025, at 14:08, 'Randy E (OoMOR)' via PiDP-10 <pid...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Andrew,
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Tim Radde

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Sep 12, 2025, 4:10:55 PMSep 12
to Ken Hansen, Randy E, PiDP-10
Well, if he can't take the time for a few people (people in the know thus pdp-10 folk) to proof read before he publishes then to me he's not much of a writer.  I did order the book but after seeing
all the various comments I just stuck it to  the side.  Why do I need to read possibly invalid infornation?  Maybe it's just me.   He claims it's for newbs.  Newbs are the ones that really need to know
the information is correct.  If not they will disappear after some frustrating attempts at doing something that is documented wrong.  Flame me all you want. :)

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David Bakin

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Sep 12, 2025, 6:13:43 PMSep 12
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The book is useful, and needed, and (like nearly all books) had minor flaws.  A couple of people on this group behaved like dicks about it, because trashing the author with personal remarks due to minor flaws is MUCH easier and so more satisfying than writing a book oneself.  The author didn't need to take that sort of feedback for an effort that will certainly never ever in a million years recoup any insignificant amount of money - don't even _think_ of the possibility it might return a _significant_ amount of money - it was a labor of love given to the community of PiDP-11 users and he didn't want to hang around and be trashed for offering it. 

Or that is my impression of what went on. YMMV, but that's what I saw, and how I interpreted it.

I LIKE the book and my only wish is that he'd do the same for the PiDP-10.  Too bad.

David Bakin

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Sep 12, 2025, 6:19:00 PMSep 12
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Please switch PiDP-10 <=> PiDP-11 in the previous message.  Or flame me for being stupid, I don't care.

Tim Radde

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Sep 12, 2025, 6:38:22 PMSep 12
to David Bakin, PiDP-10
This book IS for the PiDP-10.  It's even titled as such.  There is tons of information out there on the pdp-11.  And many more people used them.  Not so with a 10.  Many have never used one ever.  Or even seen one.

Ric Werme

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Sep 12, 2025, 8:57:50 PMSep 12
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"Newbs are the ones that really need to know the information is correct."

Up to a point.  They need to know how to boot and login to a pidp-10, they likely don't need to know what simh looks like inside.  OTOH, my pidp-10 experience so far has far more simh and schematic reading than than writing PDP-10 assembler I expected, but we'll benefit from it.

I haven't looked at my copy of the book closely yet, but I skimmed through it and reported one error.  It is an impressive work, and I'm thrilled to see and support new faces coming to PDP-10 land with such enthusiasm.  One thing I want to accomplish with my involvement here to help keep he memory of the -10 alive and share why the machine and software are so fondly recalled.

That a PDP-10 newbie is willing to spend an immense amount of time to write a guide for fellow newbies is really impressive.  That some people here attacked his missing institutional knowledge is horrific and is completely counter to my goals and expectations here.


"Why do I need to read possibly invalid infornation? "

The TOPS-10 folks always mentioned in the release notes each new release of the OS has bugs.  They also pointed out that if they waited to fix everything before a release, they'd never release at all.  No one, and I just scanned the posts here, has pointed out a significant error in the book.

I would have spent more time with the book by now, but backed off from ITS to simplify the Pi/simh/interface/OS learning curve with the far more familiar TOPS-10 environment.  I may write an extra TOPS-10 program before getting back to ITS.


"Andrew has written over 2 dozen books on various amateur radio topics,"

I have only weak ties to the ham radio community.  From what I've seen, they are tremendously supportive of people who want to join the community.  They very much want to see their community grow, or at least shrink more slowly.  I'm disappointed to see that some of our "grandfatherly" types here have a "Get off my lawn" mentality instead of "look at this really neat thing I wrote " or "I wish someone had told me on my first week that...".

  -Ric

Tim Radde

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Sep 12, 2025, 9:33:57 PMSep 12
to Ric Werme, PiDP-10
Get off my lawn?  That's your take?  I'd say we just complained there were some errors and suggested he have someone proof before.  He then says he does not write by comittee.  Fine.  I expect any OS has bugs. so TOPS-10 is not special in that way.  All software has bugs.  But a book can
have most erros (bug) found by proofing. I don't get why that was such an issue.  Or this dude has a big ego.  Tough.

Message has been deleted

Randy E (OoMOR)

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Sep 15, 2025, 11:30:03 AMSep 15
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I have on multiple occasions attempted to build Linux based systems using just what is presented in a "cookbook" format, only to have to start from scratch with by brain patched in to get anything to actually work. It seems that there is always a few steps left out. When I communicate with the author concerning the issues, I usually get a response similar to "Well yeah, you should have known to do the missing steps!"

Curtis Dean Smith (史國興)

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Sep 15, 2025, 11:30:08 AMSep 15
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I must admit that I was a little put off by the "I don't write by committee" comment.  Writing is a tough process and I am grateful to anyone who is willing to proofread for me.  There is no way one can write a perfect manuscript all alone, and especially on a topic new to the author.  Now, if this book were put out online as a free document, then I would agree with some of the comments about taking it easy on a frail ego, but this book is "published" and he is charging and making money off of it.  Why not just say "thank you for your help" and make the corrections?  
I have gotten through about half of the book and have found some useful information, but as with his other books, there was nothing I could not find here and elsewhere with a little digging.  For the convenience this book provides, I am thankful.  I could also make some suggestions to make the book much more concise, readable, and useful, but will not be so offensive as to proffer any suggestions.  We will have to wait for someone else to write such a book, I guess. Perhaps an errata could be compiled by this group, though?

Ken Hansen

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Sep 15, 2025, 11:59:14 AMSep 15
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This. Exactly.


"Perhaps an errata could be compiled by this group, though?"

An errata hosted here, might encourage the author to update his book (if warranted), and the dates those items are addressed could be noted.

This book is printed on-demand, so updates to the manuscript will appear on subsequent copies purchased.

As for the "committee' comment, in context people were not just correcting errors (proofreading), they were asking for additional material, major rewrites ("How could you not include..."), etc.

It is my impression that the writer found this little tidepool of activity, was drawn in, and as part of his process of learning he harvested, collected, and out of habit assembled all the info he needed to do what he wanted as if it were a writing project, and in the end he self-published the book, not to make money, but as the final step of his process.

He may be gone for two weeks, he may be gone for longer, but there's NO REASON all the folks that had strong opinions/ideas can't write them up and have someone collect that info as an Errata for the book.

Ken, N2VIP

On Sep 15, 2025, at 10:30, Curtis Dean Smith <smi...@gmail.com> wrote:



terry-...@glaver.org

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Sep 15, 2025, 3:47:13 PMSep 15
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All I said was "Yet when I write a book (or extensive online documentation) on those subjects I solicit other experts as reviewers before publishing / posting the final version. They usually don't find anything, but sometimes they do. I'd suggest you do the same in your future books."

And got flamed for it. So this group has a bunch of people who are "locked, loaded, and ready to flame". I'm sorry the author felt they had to leave, but it's a tough crowd.

Tim Radde

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Sep 15, 2025, 3:54:53 PMSep 15
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I just aksed how he could not know of Bob Supnik if he had done much research.  And then of course admitted I did not know who wrote the original KA-10 simh code.  Up until the adven of the pidp-10 I had no reason to even run the KA-10 emulator code.  The author made a snide comment
of me saying he did not know someone while I also did not know somone involved.  I just don't see the issue of having a few people proof a paper much less a book.   Especially since he said he's new to this.  To me he came off quite arrogant and snooty.

Ken Hansen

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Sep 15, 2025, 4:10:16 PMSep 15
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I'm not quite sure why this is still being discussed...

Rather than talking about PiDP-10, or even talking about the content of the book about the PiDP-10, we're talking about the discussion about the book?

For various reasons my PiDP-10 is still unassembled, so I haven't gone too deep into The Book yet, but surely we can move on from this, can't we?

It's been two weeks since Andrew announced his book here, surely a few folks have read/flipped-thru The Book, comments?

Ken

On Sep 15, 2025, at 14:54, Tim Radde <timr...@gmail.com> wrote:



Adam Morris

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Sep 15, 2025, 5:11:37 PMSep 15
to pid...@googlegroups.com
There have been some comments about the content of the book (in a positive way) and some minor corrections. 

I have not (yet) read (or purchased) the book in question, and I don't think that this particular discussion is useful any more.

We all write, and learn, in our own ways.  Someone has written a book.  Don't like it, write your own. 

R Clark

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Sep 15, 2025, 9:35:22 PMSep 15
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I haven't made any contributing comments yet as it has been a few months since I've touched the PiDP-10. My PiDP-10 is just sitting on the shelf humming away running ITS and other Linux services in the background. I've thumbed through the book and it will make a good reference. I am sure there probably is a few errors as writing this type of book isn't a simple task I am sure. A lot of effort. Over time it should get better with each major revision of the book.  I like reading/referencing  a 'book' rather than searching the net for what I am looking for ... if possible.  And I know exactly where to look because it is sitting right there on my shelf, or by the easy chair for 'light' reading.  Personal preference. 

Ken Hansen

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Sep 15, 2025, 11:16:34 PMSep 15
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Good point - I suspect folks old enough to remember these 'classic' systems may be of an age that prefers book, printed books, over pages of hyperlinks or a folder full of PDFs.

I know that's where I am after 60+ trips around the sun...

Thanks,

Ken

Haritech (Gmail)

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Sep 16, 2025, 1:38:03 AMSep 16
to Ken Hansen, PiDP-10
Yes a book is good. I only have so many monitors out documents up on :-). I have a book of url’s from the early days. Sort of like a yellow pages of the World Wide Web. It was very useful in its day. I think this is a great compromise. Good reading and references to other sites where it seems appropriate.

Lawrence

> On Sep 15, 2025, at 20:16, Ken Hansen <n2...@w5fc.org> wrote:
>
> Good point - I suspect folks old enough to remember these 'classic' systems may be of an age that prefers book, printed books, over pages of hyperlinks or a folder full of PDFs.
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Francis King

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Sep 16, 2025, 4:00:49 PMSep 16
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There are a few minor errors. On my copy, page 9, for example, a bit of confusion arises. PDP-10 numbers bits 0 for MSB to 35 for LSB, the opposite to modern practice. He writes - 

"Data switches 33-35 (bits 0-3) are used to tell the software to boot the KA10 simulation for either ITS or TOPS-10. Switches 30-32 (binary bits 4-6) are reserved for booting the KI10 processor version (no operating system softwre yet), and switches 27-29 (binary bits 7-9) are reserved for booting the KL version for TOP-20". 

The bits should be 0-2, 3-5, and 6-8 respectively.

Of the whole the book is well written. Sometimes he says that he doesn't understand things - those areas could be tightened up. He also doesn't appea to be aware of how to start an operating system using the STOP and READ IN switches.

I have my own 'book' coming which I can share if it is of interest.

Francis. 

Charley Jones

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Sep 16, 2025, 6:04:02 PMSep 16
to Francis King, PiDP-10
I do concur there.  I’m not interested in something he couldn’t get to work. It was distracting. 

Overall, an excellent book and in my lab, next to my 10. 

Sent from my iPhone 15pm!
Charley Jones, PMP

On Sep 16, 2025, at 1:00 PM, Francis King <francis...@gmail.com> wrote:

There are a few minor errors. On my copy, page 9, for example, a bit of confusion arises. PDP-10 numbers bits 0 for MSB to 35 for LSB, the opposite to modern practice. He writes - 
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oscarv

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Sep 19, 2025, 6:42:32 AMSep 19
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Hi,

I got the book as well and I really recommend it! It reads like a exploration journey through the PDP-10 universe and I learned stuff that I did not know - and rediscovered things that I had once figured out but had since forgotten.

Since most of us here have no history with the real PDP-10, I think of the PiDP-10 as a way to explore that (interesting AND fun) part of computer history. Having the book is like having a guide that takes you through the jungle to visit the most interesting beauty spots. 

So I hope many people get the book. At the $20 cost, I think it hugely leverages the 'return' on the $370 investment in the PiDP-10 hardware for most kit builders. And just to say, I regret that the PiDP-10 ended up costing so much... I wanted it to be lower cost. But that injection mold and the sheer number of parts is what it is - or what I felt is what it needed to be Right.

I've got some annoying health issues and the new PiDP-1 I did with Angelo soaked up all my time and energy the last 6 months. But I hope to do my part in PDP-10 exploration again soon. This machine, of all the PiDP replicas, has so much to explore and yet, it is hard to cut a path through the jungle to experience it all, on your own. Because only a few of us have the prior experience with the Real Ten. So documenting what is there is - well, Important. And that's exactly what Andrew did. It is a travel guide.

Anyway - I loved the book! (and being Print on Demand, the credits to Rich Cornwell and Bob Supnik are updated)

Kind regards,

Oscar.

Michael Spitrey

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Sep 19, 2025, 9:31:11 AMSep 19
to oscarv, PiDP-10
Hi everyone,

I'm pleased to share that I've also ordered my copy of the new PiDP-10 book. I also ordered the pdp-1 kit and I already received the kit which is fantastic news. I'm looking forward to diving into it soon.

On a related note, I wanted to take a moment to commend Oscar and the entire team behind these projects for their outstanding work. I've had the pleasure of ordering every kit they've released, and the support and communication throughout the process have consistently been excellent. It truly makes the retro computing experience even more enjoyable and accessible.

I'm eagerly anticipating the next retro build from Oscar and the team! Keep up the great work!

Best regards,
Michael

michael spitrey

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R Clark

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Sep 21, 2025, 4:07:00 PMSep 21
to PiDP-10
Still waiting for word to order my PDP-1 .  I am still on the list I was told :) .

Last night I did read up a bit on the TOPS-20 and started play around with that OS.  So far, the book was right on for what I needed to do to get logged in, do a few things, and log out/shutdown.  Cool!

oscarv

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Sep 23, 2025, 1:38:42 PMSep 23
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Michael,

The confirmation email might be in your spam folder, but don't bother looking for it. I'll make sure you are on the list.

We had parts to make 200 of the kits, but PCB manufacturer JLCPCB had some QC problems (scratched surfaces) so we can only make 150 or so.
And then, we ordered parts for 300 more and it took them *a month* to produce them. So we're eagerly waiting for them to arrive.

Start-up problems, the logistics are always a nightmare. Like, we ordered 400m cables for the game controllers. Paid the full price, only received 40m. That took another two-week delay to solve. But we're gaining steam, we make 5-6 kits per day at the moment. We'll just run out unless the new PCBs arrive soon.

But that is all part of the fun :-)

Kind regards,

Oscar.

R Clark

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Sep 23, 2025, 2:32:46 PMSep 23
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Got my email notification today!  Ordered up the console PiDP-1 as that is about all I have room for.  Cool Beans!  Thanks Oscar (and crew) for making this happen.  Lots of work/headaches I am sure.

Still working my way through the TOPS-20 section of the book as that is what I have running on the PiDP-10 at the moment.  Interesting history and way of operating!

R Clark

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Sep 28, 2025, 3:40:41 PMSep 28
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Little off topic, concerning PDP-1...   I got a notification from DHL that I had to pay an additional import duty of ~$43 .  Shipping was already $45 which seemed high ... So, to get into the USA it will cost me $88 to have the PDP-1 kit shipped to me.  I paid it, but was a bit put out with the total 'shipping' cost....  So it goes...  I'll enjoy the kit/front panel ...  but...

Ken Hansen

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Sep 28, 2025, 10:29:04 PMSep 28
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It ships internationally in a large box, so the cost is high - the increased shipping costs are (I believe) offset by the lower overhead of "assembling" the kit in South America vs doing so in, say, the U.S. or in the EU.

As for tariffs, well, that not really anything Oscar can predict or control. As I understand it, a portion of the $43 in tariffs you are paying is a DHL processing fee, and the rest is the actual tariff being charged. Again, Oscar has no ability to do anything to reduce that cost, he can't pre-pay the tariff, the tariff is charged to the importer, and in these transactions that's you, the buyer. Tariffs are collected when goods cross the border and are collected from the one bringing the goods across the border (DHL in our case), who in turn collects the tariffs from the recipient of the goods (you, the buyer).

That you were "only" charged $43 makes me think that DHL has finally settled on the proper tariff of 10% (I think Oscar said), and that's good.

Being charged tariffs on "small" imported items is and has been common for buyers outside the U.S. for years, we Americans are struggling with the new reality of import tariffs. It reminds me of the way people reacted when Internet purchases across state line escaped sales tax collection from where the package shipped from. In time, buyers just accepted it and stopped complaining about paying, say, Georgia sales taxes on an expensive item bought from a California seller - it was outside anyone's control.

Sorry for the long, rambling response to a U.S.-specific issue. If this topic continues, it should be under a new thread, not a conversation about the new PiDP-10 book.

My $0.02,

Ken

On Sep 28, 2025, at 21:40, R Clark <rbclar...@gmail.com> wrote:

Little off topic, concerning PDP-1...   I got a notification from DHL that I had to pay an additional import duty of ~$43 .  Shipping was already $45 which seemed high ... So, to get into the USA it will cost me $88 to have the PDP-1 kit shipped to me.  I paid it, but was a bit put out with the total 'shipping' cost....  So it goes...  I'll enjoy the kit/front panel ...  but...
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