File talk:KA10FrontPanel.jpg

Which one?

Which KA10 does this front panel come from? It's unusual because it says "KA10" rather than "PDP-10", or at least it's the only one I have seen on photos online. Since there's a label saying it's from MIT, it must be either AI or DM. ML looks like this Larsbrinkhoff (talk) 09:22, 10 January 2022 (CET)

Ok, I see the number 144 on one of the labels, which is the DM PDP-10 serial number. May I post this photo on (anti)social media? Larsbrinkhoff (talk) 09:30, 10 January 2022 (CET)

Yes, DM. (AI eventually went to Sweden, or some, didn't it? I seem to recall some discussion of how, after it went to some group whose name escapes me at the moment, they decided they couldn't do much with it, and it was given to some group in Europe.) Whatever happened to ML?

The image comes under the same license as all other content here: the GFDL license. So do with it what you will! :-)

Speaking of DM and AI, how many KA's are left in the world? I was just reading about one that was run in someone's apartment? And ISTR that the LCM has/had one - perhaps the same one? Jnc (talk) 12:41, 10 January 2022 (CET)

The AI KA went to the Concurse program with an understanding it would be taken care of. It was scrapped somehow.

I don't know exactly what happened to the DM or ML KAs, but obviously bits and pieces scattered around. Bawden has the ML console in the photo above, and the DM pager indicator panel.

The MC KL did go to Sweden, but is now in storage at LCM.

Another KA from Finland, #175, went to Sweden and on to LCM. It was restored and runs TOPS-10.

The KS10s that replaced the above are mostly intact. The one called AI is also at LCM; I helped install ITS on it.

Digex did have a KA in his apartment, but I think he traded it away for a KL.

Larsbrinkhoff (talk) 13:22, 10 January 2022 (CET)

News and tidings about ITS machines can be found here: https://github.com/PDP-10/its/issues/181

Various photos are here: https://github.com/PDP-10/its/issues/425

Larsbrinkhoff (talk) 13:30, 10 January 2022 (CET)

I'm pretty sure that DM was scrapped; it was in the basement storage rooms at Tech Sq, and IIRC they needed the space for something else. The panels were all removed at that point - an action which would not have been taken if the machine had any potential future life. I don't specifically recall it being scrapped, but...

I think Alan must have the ML pager indicator panel; the DM one is with the DM front panel (and the large CPU display inlays from the top of the CPU bays - but not the underlying display panels, alas - and the E+S box's display panel).

It's funny, back then we treated obsolete computers like that like things like Ferrari GTOs and Cobra Daytonas got treated after their front-line racing careers were over in the mid-60s: they were worthless junk, and disposed of in whatever way was fastest/easiest. Back then you could (and some people did - although not for investment, nobody's crystal ball was that good) buy a Ferrari GTO or Cobra Daytona for almost spare change - a couple of thousand US$. Now they're worth millions. WWII war-birds are the same - to the point that people are digging up some crashed ones so they can totally re-build them! I'm not sure PDP-10's will ever be that valuable - but who knows? Jnc (talk) 15:20, 10 January 2022 (CET)

3D model

Noel, I emailed you about possibly making a 3D model from your specimen, but I don't think I got an answer. Of course, I understand if it's not an option. Please let me know what you think. Larsbrinkhoff (talk) 08:26, 21 October 2022 (CEST)

Oh, right; sorry; it's in my in-box, un-answered. In the fall, as the days get shorter, I almost always go through a spell of Seasonal Affective Disorder, and my energy drops to a very low level, and I fall behind on everything. I started to dig out yesterday, so it's passing; I'll try and get to that message today.

Speaking of things that never got completed, the discussion at Talk:PDP-10#PDP-10 Buses never reached a conclusion. Now that I have explained my thinking more fully, did you have a reaction? Jnc (talk) 12:51, 21 October 2022 (CEST)