compact pdp11 and front panel

[Dave McGuire]

On Mar 2, 2009, at 4:33 AM, David Griffith wrote:
> Does anyone know anything about shoehorning a front panel with lots  
> of lights and switches onto a compact pdp11 (say, a /73 or /83)?

   I don't know anything about it specifically, but just from  
thinking about it...I think the best you'd probably be able to do is  
address and data LEDs, plus RUN, and maybe a few others...not much  
more (i.e., no address spaces, processor states, etc) because the  
signals aren't brought out to the pins on the J11 chip.

   But if that'd be enough, you could probably do it by using some  
buffers to drive the LEDs, and doing DMA cycles onto the bus for the  
switches.  I'd probably take a whack at it if I had some time.

            -Dave

-- 
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL