[comp.org.decus] 11/23's

marco@andromeda.UUCP (01/29/87)

What can you do with PDP 11/23 's ?? I've got a couple of the things
hanging around from old projects, and while I hate to throw 'em out,
I really can't think of anything useful to do with the beasties.  They're
too tall for terminal stands and too big for paperweights :-)  I think
they have something like 16 K and two RL02's each.  Any ideas ?


	                                         W.rat

If I put three of them together will I get a PDP 11/69 ?

kludge@gitpyr.UUCP (01/30/87)

In article <221@andromeda.UUCP> marco@andromeda.UUCP (the wharf rat) writes:
>
>What can you do with PDP 11/23 's ?? I've got a couple of the things
>hanging around from old projects, and while I hate to throw 'em out,
>I really can't think of anything useful to do with the beasties.  They're
>too tall for terminal stands and too big for paperweights :-)  I think
>they have something like 16 K and two RL02's each.  Any ideas ?

   I use mine mostly for a terminal emulator.  It can turn my cheap
Televideo into any possible terminal, even an IBM EBCDIC machine.  Very
useful.  And RT-11 is a fun operating system for process control.  Put
some more core in your machine and you got a nice thing for running a
BBS, for use as a printer controller or terminal controller, and so on.
Hey, after seeing UNIX running on an 11/03 with 8-inchers, I am astounded
at the power of these 'primitive' machines.  
   Of course, if you have nothing else to do with them, you could
give them to me.  I could always use another one.  They make nice
coffee tables, if youm put them on their side :-).


-- 
Scott Dorsey   Kaptain_Kludge
ICS Programming Lab (Where old terminals go to die),  Rich 110,
    Georgia Institute of Technology, Box 36681, Atlanta, Georgia 30332
    ...!{akgua,allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!kludge

lawitzke@msudoc.UUCP (01/31/87)

Sell them.

Their only good use now is as data gathering and analysis in a lab where
you want an open system to modify.

Sell them. Buy a PC. You'll be a lot happier. Anything useful in an
office is best done by a PC or workstation.


-- 
John H. Lawitzke                 UUCP     ...ihnp4!msudoc!eecae!lawitzke
Division of Engineering Research
Michigan State University        Office:  (517) 355-3769
E. Lansing, MI, 48824            Home:    (517) 332-3610

yerazuws@rpics.UUCP (01/31/87)

In article <221@andromeda.UUCP>, marco@andromeda.UUCP (the wharf rat) writes:
> 
> What can you do with PDP 11/23 's ?? I've got a couple of the things
> hanging around from old projects, and while I hate to throw 'em out,
> I really can't think of anything useful to do with the beasties.  They're
> too tall for terminal stands and too big for paperweights :-)  
	
Use them for LAT's.  If they have enough terminal boards...and an
ethernet card.
	
Or donate them to some high school.

	-Bill Yerazunis

ciaraldi@rochester.UUCP (02/01/87)

In article <221@andromeda.UUCP> marco@andromeda.UUCP (the wharf rat) writes:
>
>What can you do with PDP 11/23 's ?? I've got a couple of the things
>hanging around from old projects, and while I hate to throw 'em out,
>I really can't think of anything useful to do with the beasties.  They're
>too tall for terminal stands and too big for paperweights :-)  I think
>they have something like 16 K and two RL02's each.  Any ideas ?

As some who followed this newsgroup a few months ago know,
I know someone who ran a large bookstore with  an 11/23.
He had 256K RAM, 2 (later 4)  RL02's, and 3 terminals,
all running TSX+.

The system worked fine for many years, and was recently
(2 weeks ago) upgraded to an 11/73.

Thanks to the help and suggestins of several people on the et,
we were able to upgrade by buying a new (to us)  22-bit chassis,
11/73 processor, and a 4Meg memory board.  Cost was about $5500.
Now it runs three times as fast, and should be able to handle
the 6 terminals we want quite easily.

Only snag so far is that the version of TSX+ we have (2.1) will
only address 256K, so we have to spend another $600 to get
the new release (6.4).

The lesson is that, with enough memory (not all that
expensive), a PDP-11/23 can do quite a bit.

My recommendation:  Either find a used computer
dealer who will buy the parts, or donate it
to  a school or other non-profit organization.
It will be a lot more useful than the
Ataris peole are giving them.

Mike Ciaraldi
seismo!rochester!ciaraldi