[vcf-midatlantic] Working on a historical microprocessor exhibt

[Dave McGuire]

On 2/11/20 4:05 PM, Ethan Dicks via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
> Packing a full VAX into a box the size of suitcase for ~$20,000 was an
> amazing feat in 1985.  We were definitely on the small end of DEC's
> customers then - we ordered an 11/750 the week they were announced
> (S/N BT0000354) because the price point was enough below the 11/780
> that we could manage it.  We also got one of the early 11/730s
> because, again, the low price point made it affordable for a second
> VAX in the company.  Similarly for the uVAX-I, more because we needed
> a Qbus VAX for our new Qbus product, but right after we bought a
> second one (for code development), the uVAX-II came out and we paid
> the full upgrade price ($17K?) to replace the CPU, disk controller,
> disk and RAM (and software license!)  Totally worth the cost for our
> needs - we now had a machine that was the fastest number cruncher in
> the building, and for 1-3 users, it was way faster then our 11/750,
> for 20% the cost!
> 
> Yes, the uVAX-II was slower than the full-sized lineup of the day, but
> at a hell of a price-performance point.
> 
> I have a bare CVAX die in an acrylic block I got at DECUS - "Without
> Ultrix, it's just a paperweight!"

  Nice!  Is that actually a CVAX (78034, MicroVAX-3) or a 78032
(MicroVAX-II, -2000, etc)?  I've never seen a 78032 paperweight, if
that's what it is I'd love to see a picture of it.

             -Dave

-- 
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA