PC04/PC05 High-Speed Paper-Tape Reader/Punch
The PC04 and PC05 Paper-Tape Reader/Punches are the DEC-supplied paper tape peripherals for the PDP-8 and PDP-11 respectively. The '04 was also used by early PDP-10 models, and '05 by the PDP-12 and PDP-15.
The mechanical portions are the same in the '04 and '05 types, but they differ in the control electronics in them. Both types include an electro-mechanical punch, and a photo-electric reader, which are completely separate, but housed in the same frame, and share a power supply.
There are also reader-only and punch-only models: the reader-punch model of the PC04 is the PC04B, the reader-only model is the PR04R, and the punch-only model is the PC04P; the reader-punch model of the PC05 is the PC05C, the reader-only model is the PR05R, and the punch-only model is the PC05P.
All the models listed above come in 50Hz and 60Hz versions (which are identical except for the punch pulley; so there are no separate 50Hz versions of the reader-only models).
There is also a backplane to hold the control electronics, which are a number of FLIP CHIPs. The backplane in the PC04 has 8 slots; that in the PC05 has 12 slots. (In addition, there is also a controller in the computer.)
Versions
There are a myriad of different versions, in addition to the variants above, particularly in the '04.
To start with, there are two generations of each type: in the earlier, input data is strobed during reading by a signal from the stepper motor; the later strobes the data by sensing the feed holes.
There are also different versions of the PC04 for different PDP-8 models (they differ as to which FLIP CHIPs are used, per the tables below):
- PC04-B, PC04-C - PDP-8, PDP-8/S (also the KA10)
- PC04-BB - PDP-8/I
- PC04-BL - PDP-8/E, PDP-8/F, PDP-8/L, PDP-8/M
along with equivalent versions of the punch-only and reader-only models.
(There is disagreement between the May 1973 revision of the manual, DEC-00-PC0A-D, and the April 1972 revision of the engineering drawings as to the model numbers. The above are from the drawings, which also do not show a punch-only model for the -8/I, with the reader-only being the PC04-RB; the manual claims the -8/I reader-only and punch-only are the PC04-R and PC04-P, which the prints list as being for the -8 and -8/S.)
There is also a special version of the reader/punch model for the KI10, the PC04-CL. (The 50Hz versions of all of these differ in the last letter, which is incremented; e.g. the KI10 50Hz version is the -CM.)
The control switch array on the front panel differs between the reader-punch, reader-only, and punch-only versions; the PDP-10 versions have their own switch array formats.
Electronics
The tables below show the FLIP CHIPs used in each version; the location of boards which end cables, and are plugged into the backplane to carry signals to/from the backplane, are also shown. Cards/cables used for the punch are shown in italics; the others are for the reader. Reader-only and punch-only models will have only the associated cards/cables.
PC04
PC04-B:
| Slot | B | A |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | W077 Punch control cable | W077 Reader control cable |
| 2 | W023 Punch assembly cable | |
| 3 | W040 Solenoid driver | |
| 4 | W040 Solenoid driver | |
| 5 | W040 Solenoid driver | |
| 6 | W040 Solenoid driver | W512 Level converter |
| 7 | G918 Photo amplifier | |
| 8 | W077 Reader photocell cable | W512 Level converter |
PC04-BB:
| Slot | B | A |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | W077 Punch control cable | |
| 2 | W023 Punch assembly cable | W077 Reader control cable |
| 3 | M040 Solenoid driver | |
| 4 | M040 Solenoid driver | |
| 5 | M040 Solenoid driver | |
| 6 | M040 Solenoid driver | |
| 7 | G918 Photo amplifier | |
| 8 | W077 Reader photocell cable | |
PC04-BL:
| Slot | B | A |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | W033 Punch control cable | W033 Reader control cable |
| 2 | W023 Punch assembly cable | |
| 3 | M040 Solenoid driver | M044 Solenoid driver |
| 4 | M040 Solenoid driver | M044 Solenoid driver |
| 5 | M040 Solenoid driver | M044 Solenoid driver |
| 6 | M040 Solenoid driver | M113 Ten 2-input NAND gates |
| 7 | G918 Photo amplifier | |
| 8 | W077 Reader photocell cable | |
PC05
| Slot | B | A |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 3 | M715 Reader clock | |
| 4 | M705 Reader control | |
| 5 | M710 Punch control | |
| 6 | W023 Punch assembly cable | M044 Solenoid driver |
| 7 | M040 Solenoid driver | M044 Solenoid driver |
| 8 | M040 Solenoid driver | M044 Solenoid driver |
| 9 | M903 Reader control cable | M040 Solenoid driver |
| 10 | M903 Punch control cable | M040 Solenoid driver |
| 11 | G918 Photo amplifier | |
| 12 | W077 Reader photocell cable | K303 Timer |
The M705 Reader control card was later replaced by the M7050; the K303 was not included when later revisions of the M710 Punch control card were used.
