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Finally, a DECtape unit for the PiDP-11

A project log for PiDP-11

Replicating the PDP-11/70

oscarvOscarv 12/22/2019 at 23:510 Comments

Well, a pixelated one.

Rene Richarz just released an animated TU-56 DECTape unit for the PiDP-11. In the form of a rack-mounted HDMI display. Much time was spent thinking of how to replicate a DECtape unit for the PiDP-11, but Rene did what makes most sense: have a high-fidelity DECtape animation instead, on a low-cost HDMI screen.

DECtape was crucial in the early days of DEC, and having a timing-exact virtual unit gives a pretty realistic experience of life before floppy disks:


Thank you, Rene! Apparently, a TU-77 magtape unit is forthcoming. It's a good thing that the new Raspberry Pi 4 has two HDMI outputs.

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