My expanded Display at the VCFE/CH 18 in Thun

The starting point was last year's display at VCFE/CH Zurich with my 8/E, VT 100 and Letterwriter 100, but something new needed to be added as well. The first improvement was the (replica) front-panel for the 8/E to make it more attractive to the casual visitor. The second idea was to add some related exhibits: the SCB6120 showing the miniaturized version of the 8/E CPU in the form of the Harris 6120 CMOS chip.

VCFE Thun 8/E Display
My PDP-8/E, VT 100 and Letterwriter 100 Display on Saturday afternoon - again working faultlessly! → click on picture to enlarge.

 

Hardware and Software

VCFE FP6120/TER 100  

The PDP-8 side was the same setup with the same functions as described for Zurich. The nice replica front panel was made by Rod Smallwood in the UK and is an excellent very original looking addition to any machine.

If you are in need for a similar panel, also for other PDP-8 or PDP-11 machines, contact Rod here.

The new addition to the display were an original SBC6120 board in a box to be examined closely and my FP6120 unit that has a reduced size 8/E front panel and ran OS/8 V3D from a SD card.

To see more details of the FP6120 click here.

Connected to it as console with RS232 at 9600Bd is the TADIRAN TER-100 tactical terminal that emulates all functions of a VT 100 and has the suitable VT 100 like keyboard for easy OS/8 operation. Extremely rugged for use in tracked vehicles and it worked right away after more than 30 years storage! Only the Li memory back-up batteries had to be replaced.

The unit shown was made in 1985 and uses internally a 8086 CPU (optionally complemented with a 8087) with a Z80 as coprocessor. It could be used with expanded functions and software as a powerful message terminal including audio and radio management. It was powered from the vehicle - here a separate 28VDC power supply was used.

The picture on the left shows the display as it was set up at VCFE Thun. Click on picture to enlarge.