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Hi, there, sorry I'm a bit new to all this stuff but have recently effectively inherited a collection of old computers I don't know much about, whether they're worth keeping/selling or whether there's even a market in the UK for this kind of stuuff. I have only just started going through stuff I have and so far I have a Dec PDP-11/84 - this is on the second floor of a house, God knows how they got it up there, a tektronix 4010, and a Decmate ii that I have uncovered, as well as a very big box of circuit boards etc, pretty sure there's other stuff too, I was just wondering if anyone could give me any advice, are these worth keeping, are they valuable, or are they collectable, I don't know if they still work as they've been stored for at least 10 years in a room no-one ever went into. I've found some info online about the machines but not really how they're thought of nowadays.

Apologies if this is on the wrong part of the forum or is inappropriate to ask, I was just curious.

Thanks

Stuart

Can't be sure about the British market but PDP-11/84 have frequently attracted bidding interest in the US though it does tend to be most profitable for the shipping company. You will probably make enough on it to be worth cataloging what is there.

Short answer: yes, it's very likely to be worth figuring out what you have -f rom looking at ebay the boards seem to go for $50 to $100+ each. There's a dedicated DEC section here on the forum that could answer your questions about the PDP and Decmate for sure: http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?23-DEC

Does it look like this one (a pdp-11/83, of which the 11/84 is a variant): http://www.psych.usyd.edu.au/pdp-11/11_83.html ? Take some photos and let the DEC forum check them out.

I will try to get some pictures at the weekend, thanks everyone, much appreciated.

My first advice is probably to not to try switching things on, unless you want to actually fix them. Second is they are nice sounding devices, (I would like a DecMate II and a Tek4010) but you would probably get the best prices on E-Bay. However whilst there is a UK market it is smaller than the US market. On the other hand there are fewer items that come up for sale, e.g. I have never seen a DecMate II on e-bay UK, but I think Woodchips has a TEK40XX of some kind ...

If you do decide to sell on E-Bay be very wary of its sometimes unnaturally high suggested starting prices. It really doesn't understand the nuances of the Vintage Computer Market. So long as at least two people want an item it will usually rise to fair price. (Just search this Forum for Ebay Prices)..

There is also a Dectec mail list here:-

http://dectec.info/mailing-list.html

lots of DEC techies on there. You may have to fight them off...

Stuart,

Whereabouts in the UK are you? There may be people on this forum local enough to help you catalog and test what you have.

Regards,
Dave

Thanks for all of the suggestions I'll get some photo's this weekend, I'm very much out of the way in not so sunny, currently flooded Aberdeen.

Lots of stuff, some worth selling , some probably worthless (SPARC IPX perhaps). Where are you and how do you want to proceed?

Sorry I see, Aberdeen, very much out of the way so what ever you decide to do its likely to be fun.

Im just really looking for an idea of what might be worth selling, what might be worth keeping - what some stuff is , I'm guessing if I sell it'll be pick up only but I believe theres some quite sought after stuff there, just have no idea what some of it is, with things such as a box of circuit boards I'm not really sure what to do with it yet but that whole room needs to be cleaned out so I can access some of the stuff too.

Im just really looking for an idea of what might be worth selling, what might be worth keeping

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That is the question, and there is no answer. Most of us on here have sold things and later regretted it, yet still have more stuff than most people consider reasonable. IMHO its worth keeping what you find interesting. Of the rest, some may be sought after, but most collectors only have a limited budget, so even if its sought after, if its heavy and in North East Scotland the cost of getting it some where is likely to be prohibitive, and reduce the market. Its bad enough spending a day getting from Manchester to somewhere south to collect things....

... OK and as we still don't have a detailed list of "stuff" its also hard to advise. Looking at the photos, which are not too useful as the identifying labels can't be read, in the first post:-

1. Two terminals on top of Cabinet. Can't see make or model. Fairly modern. May have issues selling, but can be usefull on many old systems.
2. Rack with two disk drives. If there is a CPU and you have space for a large tower may be worth keeping. Genuine DEC keyboard dangling. Pity we can't see the terminal its attached to.
3. PDP/11 rack . Nothing showing. Heavy to move. Label many be worth saving. On top is a BT modem. Almost certainly junk. On top is printer. looks like a matrix printer. These seem to have little value but I like them.
4. Tek Graphics display. Probably usefull. Probably desirable. Would not trust to shipping company. Old music center -> free-cycle it, Disk Packs. Always usefull.
5. DecMate II (does the keyboard match this?) Rare(ish) but not sure how sought after. (I would like one)

Second posts

1. Disk Packs. Always usefull. Should be kept with system that uses them.
2. Manuals. Probably already scanned to bitsavers (www.bitsavers.org). Difficult to shift as they are generally dead space, but any that are unique should be scanned.
3. PostOffice Modem from days when Post Office ran phones. Usefull as super-tanker boat anchor, or for using as ballast on large oil rig. Probably needs four people to lift.
4. At least four boards, PDP/11 for the use of. The two underneath look like PDP/11 70 Cache boards. One on left with four big chips looks like four port serial/terminal card, but it doesn't match the usual DEC card which is shown here:-

http://www.avitech.com.au/pdp-11-03/ba11nc.html

(You need to scroll down a bit)

5. More boards and cables. Depends on what goes with what. For the boards, if they have an "M" number , so the cache boards should be M8145 post a list of those. You can also google the "M" numbers adding "dec", "digital" or PDP and seei9ng what pops up. The PDP/11 70 Installation and maintenance manual is here so you can check how much of a PDP/11 70 you hace..

http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/dec/pdp11/1170/EK-11070-MM-002_May79.pdf

Do you have the space to keep a large PDP/11 system (or whatever the system in the rack is, the photo of the PDP/11 rack shows lots of empty space)? Would you be OK with a non-graphics based OS and typing stuff on a terminal, or isn't that what gets you going. If you live in the modern world I would move it on.

Thabnks for the advice, I think the best idea might be for me to clear as much as I can from around them and start seeing exactly whats there, as you say there isnt a lot of actual tags etc Ill try and get some stuff around it moved and see what i can make out. Thanks

g4ugm said:

Second posts

1. Disk Packs. Always usefull. Should be kept with system that uses them.
2. Manuals. Probably already scanned to bitsavers (www.bitsavers.org). Difficult to shift as they are generally dead space, but any that are unique should be scanned.
3. PostOffice Modem from days when Post Office ran phones. Usefull as super-tanker boat anchor, or for using as ballast on large oil rig. Probably needs four people to lift.
4. At least four boards, PDP/11 for the use of. The two underneath look like PDP/11 70 Cache boards. One on left with four big chips looks like four port serial/terminal card, but it doesn't match the usual DEC card which is shown here:-

http://www.avitech.com.au/pdp-11-03/ba11nc.html

(You need to scroll down a bit)

5. More boards and cables. Depends on what goes with what. For the boards, if they have an "M" number , so the cache boards should be M8145 post a list of those. You can also google the "M" numbers adding "dec", "digital" or PDP and seei9ng what pops up. The PDP/11 70 Installation and maintenance manual is here so you can check how much of a PDP/11 70 you hace..

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The small boards with the black connector are most probably out of a CDC 14 inch drive. Very likely the same as the disk packs come from. I would guess a 40Mbyte (9760) or 80 Mbyte (9762) drive.