HP/DEC/Compaq

Buying a MicroPDP-11

Any advice on a buying a MicroPDP-11 in working order in the UK?

It seems quite impossible now to find one anywhere. I don't care if it is a 11/23, 11/73 or 11 anything in fact, as long as it can run RSTS/E.

Is the BA23 the smallest case available for the machine as well?

Funny, on eBay I can always find a huge number of listings for PDP manuals, docs and magazine spreads going back from '70 through the early '80's, but never *ever* a working system.

Any advice on seeking out stuff? Should i just buy all the parts separately (eBay often lists parts) and build myself? Is that possible?

I have pretty good experience of MicoVAX hardware, but none of MicroPDP.

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"Scud" East
Sun Blade 2500 'Silver' Workstation - Dual 1.6 USIIIi, 4GB, 146GB SCSI, Solaris 10U9
Sun V210, 2x1.33 USIIIi, 8GB, 73GB 15K, Solaris 10U9
Sun V100, USIIi 550, 1.5GB, 40GB, Debian Lenny 5.X
My advice is start going to electronic recyclers or flea markets. Hamfests are also a good source. I picked up a PDP 11/23 and a NeXT slab once. eBay is nothing but people trying to make a quick buck with outrageous prices. Occasionally people sell items on the ClassicCmp mailing list http://www.classiccmp.org/
Yupp. There was just an 11/83 offered on classiccmp (and claimed). Trades are not that common on classiccmp. You could check out vintage-computer.com/forums and broaden your horizon a bit, germany seems to have quite a bit of DEC stuff.

The BA11-VA is the smallest PDP-11 case I know of. But it is quite rare, go for the BA23, it is convenient and probably the most common. If you decide to build a PDP-11 from parts, make sure the case is decent and has the important bits. Boards seems to pop up here and there.

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