Digital PDP-8/E

UvA Computer Museum catalogue nrs 97.19, 97.30, 99.04

pdp8e ad
The DEC PDP-8/E (1971), a 12-bit minicomputer, was introduced in 1971 as a successor to the 'straight' PDP-8 (1965), the PDP-8/S (1966), PDP-8/I (1968) and PDP-8/L (1968). It was the first member of the PDP-8 family using the Omnibus. This bus (a wiring system for interconnecting the various modules composing the computer) is related to the PDP-11 Unibus.

The picture is part of an advertisement in Scientific American. The PDP-8/E still has the front panel, characteristic for early minicomputers, with a row of switches for the bit-by-bit entry of addresses and data, and LED's for reading the contents of registers and memory locations. In successors of the PDP-8/E (starting with the PDP-8/A) the functionality of this type of front panel was mainly taken over by the CRT-based console terminal, together with a monitor program in ROM.
In our collection we have a number of differently configured PDP8/e's and many spare parts. The computers were donated by Mr. M.V. de Jong; the Hoogovens steel factory; and the Physics Department of the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam

CM_homepage