PDP-8/e Documentation

PDP-8/e Documentation covers four Digital Equipment Corporation documents for the PDP-8/e, PDP-8/F and PDP-8/m, with the PDF of each, and lists further material on bitsavers.

Maintenance Manual, Volume 1: Processor (DEC-8E-HMM1A-D-D)

DEC's PDP-8/E, PDP-8/F, PDP-8/M Maintenance Manual, Volume 1: Processor, order number DEC-8E-HMM1A-D-D. First edition April 1971, second edition December 1972; this copy is the seventh printing (revised), September 1973. 296 pages with an OCR text layer.

Contents:

1. Introduction and description, with Table 1-1, technical characteristics (pp. 1-7 to 1-8).
2. Installation: site, unpacking, inspection, AC power check, module jumpers (Table 2-2) and order (Table 2-3), initial operating check, Teletype set-up and acceptance tests (Table 2-4).
3. Principles of operation: OMNIBUS, timing, memory, registers, the H724 power supply (section 3.47, pp. 3-172 to 3-176) and the H740 power supply (section 3.48, pp. 3-177 to 3-181).
4. Maintenance: test routines, preventive maintenance (Table 4-2), corrective maintenance, processor troubleshooting (Table 4-3), memory troubleshooting (Tables 4-4 to 4-6, strobe procedure), H724 troubleshooting (Tables 4-7 and 4-8, Figure 4-7), H740 troubleshooting (Table 4-10), Teletype maintenance and I/O cables.
5. Spares: first- and second-level spares for the 8/E, 8/F and 8/M, and recommended spare parts for the H724 (Table 5-4) and H740 (Table 5-8).

Appendices: IC descriptions and signal sources and destinations.

It gives circuit descriptions and troubleshooting tables for both power supplies but no component values for their filter capacitors; those are in the parts breakdown and the drawing sets below. Volumes 2 and 3 (internal and external bus options) are separate books.

Download: PDP-8E Maintenance Manual Volume 1 (DEC-8E-HMM1A-D-D).pdf

Illustrated Parts Breakdown (DEC-PDP8E-IPB-1)

DEC's Illustrated Parts Breakdown, PDP8E 12 Bit Computer, 35 scanned pages, filed on bitsavers as February 1974. Figures: major assembly locator; H960 cabinet; super cover; H724/H724A power supply assembly (figure 4, pp. 13 to 18); A1 control board (figures 5A to 5C, etch revisions C to E); A2 control board (figures 6A to 6C); heat sink housing (figure 7); turret board (figure 8). Each part has its DEC part number and the ECO at which it changed. It is the source for the H724 capacitor values on PDP-8/e Power Supply Guide.

Download: PDP-8E Illustrated Parts Breakdown (DEC-PDP8E-IPB-1).pdf

PDP-8/M Engineering Drawings (November 1973)

DEC's customer print set for the PDP-8/M (and 8/F), 132 scanned pages: drawing directory and indexes, engineering specifications, software and accessory lists, unit assemblies and power wiring, line sets for 115 V and 230 V, the H740 power supply assemblies, the regulator board assembly and parts list E-IA-5409728-0-0 (PDF p. 30) and its circuit schematic (PDF p. 31), timing diagrams, and the processor module drawings. The regulator board parts list is the source for PDP-8/m Capacitor Replacement Guide.

Download: PDP-8M Engineering Drawings (November 1973).pdf

H740 Power Supply Engineering Drawings (revision H)

DEC drawings for the H740-D power supply at revision H, 25 scanned pages: customer print set index and drawing directory, the H740-D circuit (block level), assembly drawings, parts list H740-D-0 (sheets for the H740-D and H740-DA), and engineering specification SP-5409728-0-8 with input ratings, output load ranges by regulator board revision, current limits, crowbar levels, AC LO and DC LO thresholds, cooling and component selection. It has no regulator board schematic or component list; those are in the PDP-8/M set.

Download: H740 Power Supply Engineering Drawings (Rev H, 1974).pdf

Pages that cite these documents

• PDP-8/e, PDP-8/e General Maintenance, PDP-8/e Troubleshooting, PDP-8/e Power Supply Guide
• PDP-8/m, PDP-8/m General Maintenance, PDP-8/m Troubleshooting, PDP-8/m Capacitor Replacement Guide

Other documents on bitsavers

The PDP-8/E directory on bitsavers also holds Maintenance Manual volumes 2 and 3, earlier editions of the maintenance manuals, the PDP-8/E engineering drawings (December 1972), an earlier PDP-8/M drawing set (May 1973), an ECO log, training handouts, and option manuals. The 1973 Small Computer Handbook covers the 8/E and 8/M for programmers and installers.