I won that original DECDataSystem310. I’ve been looking for a DEC restoration project so I threw a bid in, fully expecting to lose, I was actually quite surprised when I ended up winning! Oh man, then I needed to go get it though, tempering my elation. Had been trying for a PDP-8 with blinken lights but those seem out of my price range so this will do, especially since I needed a DEC terminal.
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Road trip ended up being a 30 hour drive (round trip) over two days a couple weekends later. Pretty brutal, I don’t want to do that again any time soon.
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Interestingly, I checked with the seller on the missing controller card before bidding and he said he had it/would be included, so it pays to inquire. A standup seller too IMO, came in on a Sunday morning and even helped me load, which took about 3 hours since I had to break it down somewhat into manageable sized pieces. I made the solo trip in my pickup truck and that equipment is quite heavy, so I was grateful for the help. I also had the opportunity to look around a bit and there were some VERY interesting things to see. I won’t say more out of respect for privacy but lets just say I’m bookmarking this seller. :D
I did end up buying a DECWriter II while there, which appeared to be still on the original shipping palette. No keyboard though, I think I lost out to you on that one Chris.
Printer inside looks immaculate:
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Someone asked about memory; it appears to have one 4K core (yea!) memory board H219A (but also drat, the original sticker said it should have TWO of those) and that white handled mystery card, which I think is 4K RAM, and which may have replaced that second core memory board for some reason?
Lots of 7744s:
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Overall I’m satisfied, it’s in good shape for the age and I think it’ll be a fun restoration attempt. I was hoping to score some software for the DEC too while there, but unfortunately that didn’t work out. Lots of documentation though. Once I get it running maybe I can work with folks here on the boot media front. Really curious to see what might still be on that 4K core memory.