PDP-8/e and terminals in West Sussex, UK

[Tony Duell]

> 
> Tony Duell wrote:
> 
> > What do people consider to be the 'holy grails' of classic computer 
> > collecting? 
> 
> Do people collect CPUs that no longer have peripherals or are bereft 
> of any sort of software?

I believe they do. 

I find it sad when somebody raids a complete system -- CPU + mass storage 
+ ionterfaces + terminals and just keeps the CPU box. TO me the other 
parts of the system are at least as interesting [1]. But it's quite 
reasonable IMHO to rescue just the CPU box (if nothing else is around) 
with the hope of either obtaining peripherals for it, or making them, 
writing software for it, and so on.

In fact I did that myself. My first classic computer was a Philips P850 
minicomputer. It came with the paper tape intefaces and a serial card, 
but no peripherals and no software. I got it to work with a paper tape 
punch/reader that I had, a fried wrote a monitor program and a 
cross-assembler, etc. If I'd not rescued that machine, I'd probably not 
be on this list now ...

[1] Feel free to generalise my original question to cover very rare 
periperhals, etc.

> 
> If so, what is done with them, other than to use them as doorstops?

See above.

-tony