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GEC 4070 UK Minicomputer....

Unfortunately i cannot leave the systen connected up all the time, so it's about 20 minutes to connect up and the disconnect when i'm done, still it's all good fun.
Click to expand...

I know the feeling. I've been working on restoring a PDP-11/70 and we have to move the cabinets out of storage and connect the memory box and hard drives each time. At least you build some muscle.
 
Hi Pontus,

How about some pictures and info on your system that you are restoring?
I thought i'd post this picture of one of the core memory boards used in the GEC 4000 system computers (it came from a French web site - apologies, i don't have the address to hand), this is just the core array, it should have a large driver board mounted on top. It is 32kb and i have 4 of these which i have yet to try (i'm using their silicon replacement at the minute).
Amazingly the core memory boards may still contain the OS and programs intact when i finally get them installed and powered up :rolleyes:

Cheers,
Alan. :)
 

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  • GEC Core MemoryA..jpg
    GEC Core MemoryA..jpg
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Looks like quite a sizeable chunk of ferrite! What capacity is it?

WRT london transport, I did quite a bit of prodding, but no field trip :{(> It looks like the GEC units will be in service a bit longer & HP1000s are being used to keep the rest going.
 
Hello Nige,

Each panel is about A4 size and has 32k on board. So all in all i have 128k's worth, which was very large at the time and extreemly expensive (however at the moment i have 512K of silicon ram fitted - about £10,000 at the time !!). :eek:
The buying of one of these boards, complete with driver panel from e-bay was the reason i started all of this.
Cheers for the interest.

Alan. :)
 
Sorry to bump an old thread, but did you ever get this up and running - specifically:

Bassoonbloke said:
Amazingly the core memory boards may still contain the OS and programs intact when i finally get them installed and powered up :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

On the off-chance that you did actually have, and still have, a snapshot of the old Prestel software still embedded in there, would there be any way to get it out again? I've been trying to locate anything remaining, software or data-wise, of the old GEC based systems but so far none of the organisations they passed through seem to have any trace remaining. My aim was to get a service back up and running, probably in emulation, using as much of the original software and data as possible. Sadly, there is very little left.

Cheers,

Rob
 
Hi Rob,

First of all, "Happy New Year".
I'm sorry to say that i have nothing in the way of software for this computer system. I have tried installing the 'Core Memory' boards, but their power consumption is much higher than my current PSU's will support (+/- 15V and -5V), so i need to work on these first to have any hope of accessing any possible data still living on the boards themselves.
Like you i also seem to be hitting brick walls when trying to find anything relevant and usefull for these systems (i was lucky to find someone who supplied me with a whole set of boards and took the time to photocopy some of the reference books for me - which was brilliant), but the machines are all but forgotten.
Good luck with your project, and keep us posted if you manage to find anything.

Cheers,
Alan.
 
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