Magazine - 1000 BiT

process of restoring a p;~rtic~~I~r 1'1)l'-1 1 ~ninico~nkx~tcr.'The scconti section ciisc~~sscs the simulationof olci computers on modern s!?stcms. It describes asirnillation framc\\,ork callccl SIIM, \\,hich has beenused to implement simul,~tors for the I'D1'-S, I'l>P-11,PDP-4/7/9/15,and Nova ~ninicomputcrs.Restoring Old ComputersSince the complltcl- bccn~ne 3 ~i~;~ss-proti~~ccd itemthe late 1960s, its n-picnl life c!,clc has consisted of iluti,llinst~lllation, rcnt~l or cicprccintion hl- 'lbo~~t fi\,c \rc;~~.s,retention .~nti use for a fen. more ycnrs (just in case), aldthen retircmcnt and a trip to the rcflsc dump. There isonly a b~-ief\\zindo\\. of opport~~ni~, to collect old coniputersat the end of their \vorlting life. Once that \\indo\\,is closed, the compiltcrs arc gone ti)rc\ler.The Australian Museum CollectionIn Sydney, Australia, this \\fincio\\~ of opportunityfirst bccamc .lppnrcnt in 1971, \\lhcn the early PDPsystcms rcachcd tl~c ends of tlicir life c\clcs. Digital'sA~~stralj,lli si~I>siJi'~ry 1)cgan collecting systems by acre,lti\rc program OF trade-ins for new ecli~ipment.' It\\!,IS cspccially urscnt to obtain csaniplcs of the 12-bit,18-bit, and 36-hit 1'131' series, as the!' \\.ere rclati\,elyfe\~ in n ~~~nbcr. .l'nblc 1 lists the pcrccntnge of a\.ailableunits that have bccn collcctcd. The status of each isStatic-canreasonsncvcr be madc to \\.ark fix \.ariousl