dec/heathkit lsl-11
Peter Dewey
I just inherited a dec/heathkit lsl-11...
is this a PDP/* computer? any clues out there?
Thanks....
Steve Lionel
In article <78...@uswnvg.uswnvg.com>, pkd...@uswnvg.com (Peter Dewey) writes...
>I just inherited a dec/heathkit lsl-11...
>is this a PDP/* computer? any clues out there?
I built one of these and wrote a review on it for Kilobaud magazine
(later Microcomputing, now defunct). I may even still have the issue
sitting in my file cabinet somewhere - send me your snail-mail
address and I'll send you a photocopy.
It's basically a PDP-11/03. Max 60KB memory (4KB is I/O space), runs
RT-11, QBUS (not Q22, I don't think). I had it hooked up to a Heath
video terminal and paper tape punch/reader which I also built and
reviewed (I was working for Wayne Green's Kilobaud in my life before
Digital.) At the time, the Heath H11 was about the most powerful "PC"
you could buy - the Intel 8080 (and Zilog Z-80), Motorola 6800 and
the 6502 (I forget who made that) were popular at the time (1977-1978).
Steve Lionel lio...@quark.enet.dec.com
SDT Languages Group
Digital Equipment Corporation
110 Spit Brook Road
Nashua, NH 03062 "Free advice is worth every cent"
PDP11 Hacker .....
>I just inherited a dec/heathkit lsl-11...
>is this a PDP/* computer? any clues out there?
Ah, the good old H11. It's an original LSI11 CPU board (quad height Q-bus, with
4K DRAM on the CPU module), and kit-built PSU, backplane, RAM, IO boards, etc.
It's a PDP11 system, but no memory management, EIS optional, etc.
>Thanks....
-tony
Ron Natalie
(at least RT-11, I didn't try mini-unix) and worked with the contemporary
Qbus boards. Ours had a H-8 terminal with it that wins the prize as the
most atrocious terminal. To economize the key caps were all the same and
they gave you stick on letters for them. The thing not only was limitted
to upper case, but if you sent it lower case letters it would print arbitrary
characters rather than the upper case of that letter (like a teletype would).
Oddly enough, it fit in it's surroundings quite well. It was driving a test
to measure reaction times of schizophrenics. I've discovered that psycology
researchers don't appreciate a computer unless it's got a mess of wires and
other components dangling from it.
-Ron
J Lothian
|> It's an 11/03 in a funny Heath box. It ran the standard DEC software
|> (at least RT-11, I didn't try mini-unix) and worked with the contemporary
|> Qbus boards. Ours had a H-8 terminal with it that wins the prize as the
|> most atrocious terminal. To economize the key caps were all the same and
|> they gave you stick on letters for them. The thing not only was limitted
|> to upper case, but if you sent it lower case letters it would print arbitrary
|> characters rather than the upper case of that letter (like a teletype would).
|>
8080-based development system (with an extremely nice front-panel)?
I've still got the relevant Heathkit brochure in a box in the garage
somewhere...
|> Oddly enough, it fit in it's surroundings quite well. It was driving a test
|> to measure reaction times of schizophrenics. I've discovered that psycology
|> researchers don't appreciate a computer unless it's got a mess of wires and
|> other components dangling from it.
|>
|> -Ron
James
--
-------------------------------------------------------
James Lothian | "It's life, Jim,
ja...@uk.ac.ed.caad | but not as we know it"
-------------------------------------------------------
These opinions have nothing to do
with Edinburgh University.
Steve Lionel
In article <CCDqs...@festival.ed.ac.uk>, jlot...@castle.ed.ac.uk (J Lothian) writes:
|>In article <25iogl...@topaz.bds.com>, r...@topaz.bds.com (Ron Natalie) writes:
|>|> It's an 11/03 in a funny Heath box. It ran the standard DEC software
|>|> (at least RT-11, I didn't try mini-unix) and worked with the contemporary
|>|> Qbus boards. Ours had a H-8 terminal with it that wins the prize as the
|>|> most atrocious terminal.
|>8080-based development system (with an extremely nice front-panel)?
|>I've still got the relevant Heathkit brochure in a box in the garage
|>somewhere...
|>
Yup - H9 terminal, and there was also the H10 paper tape punch/reader.
The H8 was indeed 8080-based, I think.
I dug out my old issues of Kilobaud in which I reviewed the H9, H10 and
H11. What a blast - just looking at the ads made me realize how far we've
come in 15 years! The same issue that my H11 review appeared in had the
following additional articles:
Motorola's Latest: The MC6802
TRS-80 Update: Level II BASIC
Super Cheap 2708 Programmer
Baudot Interface Cookbook
There were also ads for the Commodore PET (complete with integrated cassette
tape drive), 16K Apple II and KIM microcomputers.
--
Mark C. Henderson
Well, at least I'm envious. These are somewhat hard to come by on the
used market (especially with OS/Manuals and such).
Mark
--
Mark Henderson ma...@wimsey.bc.ca (personal account)
RIPEM key available by key server/finger/E-mail
MD5OfPublicKey: F1F5F0C3984CBEAF3889ADAFA2437433
Megan
I got one of them and being somewhat of a hardware hacker, upgraded
it to an 11/23+ with an MSV11P, Ethernet and RD53/RX50. Had it up
and running on my home network. Still works fine, never tried
upgrading to an 11/73 (KDJ11-A), but it would be possible.
For anyone else who wants to try, remember that it was an 18-bit bus,
so you're limited in memory to 18-bits worth.
Megan
Tom Guptill
As a side note, I've got a Heath H9 terminal in my attic if anyone
wants it. It's been converted to a standard serial plug, I believe, and
does in fact display arbitrary characters in place of one case of letters.
--
Tom Guptill tgpt...@cc.rochester.edu
CPU Box 277445 UoR tgpt...@uordbv.BITNET
Rochester, NY 14627-7445 (716) 473-2763