yann64andClaude Opus 5.5
b274874139
1,289 discussions, 9,527 archived comments; pages no longer carry the comments themselves. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ
122 lines
5.4 KiB
Markdown
122 lines
5.4 KiB
Markdown
---
|
|
title: Digital Equipment Corporation VT78
|
|
categories:
|
|
- Computers
|
|
types:
|
|
- Professional Computer
|
|
origins:
|
|
- U.S.A.
|
|
years:
|
|
- '1978'
|
|
cpus:
|
|
- Intersil
|
|
params:
|
|
name: VT78
|
|
image: /media/museum/photos/dec_vt78_2.jpg
|
|
company: /companies/digital-equipment-corporation
|
|
company_name: Digital Equipment Corporation
|
|
specs:
|
|
- label: NAME
|
|
value: VT78
|
|
- label: MANUFACTURER
|
|
value: Digital Equipment Corporation
|
|
- label: TYPE
|
|
value: Professional Computer
|
|
- label: ORIGIN
|
|
value: U.S.A.
|
|
- label: YEAR
|
|
value: '1978'
|
|
- label: END OF PRODUCTION
|
|
value: '1980'
|
|
- label: KEYBOARD
|
|
value: Full-stroke keyboard with numeric keypad
|
|
- label: CPU
|
|
value: Intersil/Harris 6100
|
|
- label: SPEED
|
|
value: 2.2 Mhz
|
|
- label: RAM
|
|
value: 16k words of DRAM
|
|
- label: ROM
|
|
value: Unknown
|
|
- label: TEXT MODES
|
|
value: Unknown
|
|
- label: GRAPHIC MODES
|
|
value: None
|
|
- label: COLORS
|
|
value: Built-in monochrom VT52 terminal
|
|
- label: SOUND
|
|
value: Unknown
|
|
- label: I/O PORTS
|
|
value: Two serial interfaces (from 50 to 19200 bps) - Two parallel interface - FDD interface
|
|
- label: BUILT IN MEDIA
|
|
value: dual 8'' FDD (RX-01)
|
|
- label: OS
|
|
value: OS/78 (an extended version of the PDP-8's operating system OS/8 version III)
|
|
- label: POWER SUPPLY
|
|
value: Built-in PSU
|
|
- label: PERIPHERALS
|
|
value: RX01 and RX02 8'' dual drives, boot ROMs
|
|
- label: PRICE
|
|
value: $7,995 ($5,436 in lots of 100)
|
|
tabs:
|
|
- photos
|
|
- emulators
|
|
- links
|
|
forum_thread: 370
|
|
photos:
|
|
- title: COMPLETE VT78
|
|
subtitle: ''
|
|
text: The VT78 was sold with a RX-01 8'' dual disk-drive.
|
|
image: /media/museum/photos/dec_vt78_1.jpg
|
|
emulators:
|
|
- title: SIMH
|
|
url: http://simh.trailing-edge.com/
|
|
platform: Windows
|
|
text: Windows emulator for a lot of mini computers. Sources are available so you can compile them for your own platform.
|
|
- title: PDP-8/E
|
|
url: http://www.bernhard-baehr.de/pdp8e/pdp8e.html
|
|
platform: Apple
|
|
text: emulator for the DEC PDP-8/E minicomputer running on the Apple Macintosh
|
|
links:
|
|
- title: Douglas W.Jones's DEC PDP8 Home Page
|
|
url: http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/pdp8/
|
|
text: Wow, tons of doc and info here !
|
|
- title: More information about DEC PDP8 operating systems
|
|
url: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/dec-faq/pdp8/section-10.html
|
|
text: With PDP8 FAQ as well
|
|
- title: PDP-8 Technology Before The Millennium
|
|
url: http://www.pdp8.com/
|
|
text: PDP-8 Restoration Notes
|
|
- title: Yet Another PDP-8 Web Site
|
|
url: http://www.pdp8.net/
|
|
text: Lot of information and pictures
|
|
related:
|
|
- /museum/digital-equipment-corporation-pdp-8
|
|
oc_id: 369
|
|
source:
|
|
url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230131173446/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=369
|
|
date: '2023-01-31'
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
*The following information come from the excellent [PDP-8 FAQ](http://www.faqs.org/faqs/dec-faq/pdp8-models/preamble.html) :*
|
|
|
|
The VT78 system, also called DECstation or DECstation 78, is based on the Intersil/Harris 6100 microprocessor and is packaged in a VT52 case. The 6100 processor was able to run at 4 MHz, but in the VT78, it was only clocked at 2.2 MHz because of the speed of the DRAM used and the deliberate use of graded out chips.
|
|
|
|
Using TTL MSI and LSI components, DEC could pack a system into the vacant space in a standard terminal case, allowing PDP-8 systems to compete with personal computers in the small business and office automation market. This was a natural follow-on to the desk-mounted workstation configurations in which the PDP-8/A was already being sold.
|
|
|
|
Apart from some minor details, it is fully PDP-8/E compatable, even at the level of I/O instructions for the standard periperals; this was the last PDP-8 to offer this level of compatability.
|
|
|
|
It was not possible to continue from a halt without restarting the machine. In addition, none of the peripherals available on this machine needed DMA (data break) transfers.
|
|
|
|
The VT78 was sold with 16k words of DRAM with the keyboard and display of the VT52 terminal. An RX01 dual 8" diskette drive was included, packaged in a teacart pedestal under the terminal. The console (device 03/04) and the serial ports (devices 30/31 and 32/33) are compatible with the M8650 KL8E, with the latter extended to allow software controlled baud rate selection. There are two parallel ports; device 66 (compatible with the M8365 printer controller) and device 47, compatible with the nonstandard port on the M8316 DKC8AA. There is also a 100Hz clock compatible with the clock on the M8316 DKC8AA.
|
|
|
|
The standard ROM boots the system from the RX01 after setting the baud rates to match that selected by the switches on the bottom of the VT52 case.
|
|
|
|
This was a closed system, with few options. The base configuration was able to support two RX01 drives (later RX02), for a total of 4 transports. Various boot ROM's were available, including a paper-tape RIM loader ROM for loading diagnostics from tape. Another ROM boots the system from a PDP-11 server in the client/server configuration used by WPS-11.
|
|
|
|
*All the above information come from the excellent [PDP-8 FAQ](http://www.faqs.org/faqs/dec-faq/pdp8-models/preamble.html)...*
|
|
|
|
The V778 came with a FORTRAN, a BASIC compilers, the PAL-8 assembler and various other utilities.
|
|
|
|
The standard DECstation configuration, which includes the VT78 (video terminal, mainboard, memory, real time clock and floppy drive interface) and a dual floppy disk was priced at $7995.
|