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The original PCs

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o81

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Feb 27, 2007
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I'm an old (ok, very old) systems programmer who grew up on IBM mainframe software; I worked for universities and then Amdahl, supporting MVS and VM. In 1981 I met with the VP of IT for a $60B company; he was working on the data center's annual budget using an Apple II and VisiCalc (40 columns on a small TV). It dawned on me then that if this guy preferred a $2K box to the $75M worth of stuff that we sold him that something was up. When the IBM PC was announced in August, I snatched one up (s/n 2500) and later worked for software companies that developed for XT, AT, PS/2, and for the big Intel-based servers. The 64-bit server that I use for development today can hold the contents of 3200 XT hard drives in RAM.

My interest is in preserving the 1st-of-breed in the IBM PC line; I still have the 1980 PC with its 192K and two diskettes. I saw the world change when these boxes hit business. We did a lousy job preserving the original generation of business mainframes (System/360 and some System/370's). Museums have a few pieces, but there's not much running. The old OS's are around, but the applications and program products are pretty much gone. Anyone using CP/67? Coursewriter III? ATS? Call/OS? CRJE? (If you know what these things are, suck on your oxygen!)

So, I have restored the following:

1) IBM PC-1 from 1980; all-original parts including the black-painted card edge mounts and DOS 1.00, Pascal 1.00. When I bought this machine, you could buy the CGA card, but there was no (IBM) monitor.

2) IBM PC-XT from 1985; also all-original parts.

3) IBM PC-AT from 1985; also all-original parts.

4) I am working on a PC/XT 370 from 1983 (see:- www.xt370.net).

I have found the AT parts the hardest (and most pricey) to come by. To get one working, all-original machine, I had to combine three old derilicts and source the IBM hard disks separately. XT's abound; PC2 (256K motherboard, B case) are also common. The original PC-1's are a little harder to find.

My objective is to maintain these four systems in operable, pristine condition for another 20-30 years; as I can, I gather the old software, tools, and spares -- the stuff a museum will eventually need to keep them running. No individual is really in a position to preserve (power up and operate) a System 370/168 or an Amdahl V6 (yes, I know about mainframe emulation), but we can preserve these important little boxes, and my interest is in helping with that.
 
hi, and welcome to the VC forum!! :D

i'm glad there are people like you keeping those old machines in top shape!! that is very cool. i'm not old enough to have seen the original release of the 5150 (i was born in 1984) but i remember fondly the Leading Edge (remember them?) 8088 i used to get on when i was 4. wish i knew what happened to that thing.

right i now have two XT clones (one was just acquired maybe a week and a half ago. amber monitor, dot matrix printer, software, manuals, and all!), two 286's, a 386, a 486, and countless (trust me, countless) early pentiums.

so do you actively use those machines, or just keep them around to preserve them?
 
Mike Chambers said:
hi, and welcome to the VC forum!! :D

<snip>
so do you actively use those machines, or just keep them around to preserve them?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the welcome; there's a thread in "PCs and clones" that asks this question, and I posted a longish reply there this morning.
 
o81, that's an awesome collection, history and purpose!

I love the old IBM PC's and XT's, although I haven't acquired one for my collection yet. I also enjoy the older Tandy TRS-80 systems. It's fairly easy to find them (especially on eBay), and every now and again you find a real gem. My TRS-80 Model IV is in only fair shape.

I'm with Mike Chambers. It's great to see someone restoring and maintaining these great old machines for the enjoyment of future generations. It would truly be a shame for all of these to end up in land fills!

Oh, and Mike, I like your graphic. I have the full-sized desktop wallpaper that I used on my Linux desktop for quite a while. :)
 
As another candidate for an IBM Oxygen canister, Welcome.

But in adding up the years (26 since 1981) you're still a kid, unless you were in your 40s at that time. I acquired a digital diploma around then thinking there could be a future in this technology, even at 40 but then went on to make "big bucks" as film crew

There are some of us (really, realy) old farts on the forum who actually worked with punch cards, and wired collators, sorters, and interpretors.

I'm sure as a programmer and nerd you have many futures to go.

Lawrence

As the old folk philosopher Eon McReddy said, " you may be quick son, but are you constant".
 
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missed out on the wired boards

missed out on the wired boards

But not the keypunches or interpreters; my boss used to back up proclib in a drawer (punched cards). I actually started out on a 360/75 and 360/50 in 1968. Keypunched in college; acoustic modems after that. Maybe these work for you:- ASR33 paper tape; "anchors away" on the N1; bad idea to type .DN on an RJE station; bony fingers; roll-in/roll-out.

I guess the olden days fascinate us old-timers so much because of the sense of discovery. I got hooked and became a geek as a freshman in college when I saw a 2741 type all by itself. Had to know how that happened. If I remember, it ran a couple of programs, "READY" and "LOGON PROCEEDING." (I'd put a smiley here, but I don't do them).

The other reason I think we're so enamored of our "glorious pasts" (and spare me my own war stories) is that we have spent 20, 30, or 40 years or more obsoleting everything as quickly as possible. A lot of it deserved obsolescence. (sysgen, WndProc). Believe me, when the ATs came out, I dumped my XT. When Compaq produced the 386-25 (a certified screamer), I dumped the AT; there's an unbroken chain of junked boxes leading to a water-cooled 'extreme edition' running just a little faster than the speed limit. There's really very little opportunity or reason to go back. We support what's current and junk everything else. That's how it has to be; the opportunities to compete or build a business come at the horizon, in the realm of things that are just-becoming-possible.

I guess you guys are a part of this forum and doing what you do because you have the sense that there are some key pieces that set directions or changed things. I think that's what we're attracted to; and we should tell the stories of the men and women behind them. It isn't really what these old machines can do, it's what they led to.

Some things, though, never change. I wanted and couldn't afford an Altair machine in 1975; I still can't afford one.
 
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