Computing at The Wolery

The Wolery has an eclectic collection of mostly (but by no means limited to) DEC computers, collected since 1982.

The active computers are:

toyunix, a 64 MB K6/233 based mongrel running NetBSD, used for development, webstuff, email etc. Basically my main machine.
gw, Accton 32 MB P120 LAN Station box with an extra ethernet card to connect to the Internet via a cable modem. Runs RedHat Linux with a mail forwarder, Apache, Squid, DNS etc and NAT to allow the inside machines to reach the world.
toypc, cheap-and-nasty K6-II/400 running Windows 98. General dogsbody machine, doing the accounts and so-forth. Equipped with scanner, inkjet printer, Zip drive & fax modem.
toyvax, a MicroVAX 3100, 12 MB memory, 1.2MB SCSI disk and TZ30 SCSI cartridge tape. Runs VMS.
toyncd, an NCD 15b X terminal.
toynote, A Twinhead P300 based laptop, running Windows 98. Very small, very light.
toybox, another Accton box, running Linux or whatever I feel like putting on it. Usually turned off, Used for development of standalone network applications, testing etc.
bigvax, technically a VAXstation 3600, at least that's it says it is if you ask it. 2.5 VUPS (VAX Units of Power) CPU, 32 MB main memory; 1.5GB disk storage, in three full height 5.25" ESDI disk drives in outboard pedestal chassis, using a Webster WQESD controller, TS05 1600 bpi 9 track drive, RX02 dual 8" floppy drives, TK50 (95MB) and TK70 (297MB) cartridge tape drives, RX50 dual 5.25" floppy drive, VMS operating system. Was in active service until 1998 when turned off to cut power bills, is occasionally brought to life to use its peripherals and to demonstrate operation of a real computer (i.e. one that doesn't have a motherboard).
Teletype model ASR 33. Uppercase-only, 110 bits per second printing terminal/teleprinter. Hooked to toyvax via a fairly ghastly hack to convert the RS-232 modem port into something vaguely compatible with the '33's 20mA current loop interface. Paper tape reader and punch work fine. The whole unit is a bit dicey when just fired up, but gets its marbles together once the oil warms up. All electromechanical operation, no digital electronics.
An LA100 240 cps dot-matrix printer, acquired after much time in storage and in surprisingly good condition. Fast and noisy, used extensively for listings.
Two VT510 dumb character cell terminals. Only one in active service, connected to toyunix.

Also, in storage, but (mostly) in working order:

A Kaypro II, circa 1983 luggable dual-floppy CP/M machine. Lovely machine to use - the keyboard is one of the nicest feeling I've found, and the built in 9" green monitor is very sharp.
The ubiquitous MicroVAX II, of which I have sufficient parts to build several.
A PDT-11/150, an LSI-11 based box with dual 8" floppies, 30 kwords of memory and half a dozen serial ports. Runs Space Invaders under RT11 just fine.
An old 386sx/16 in an old Commodore PC-40 box. Assembled repeatedly from whatever was handy at the time, used to be used for testing PC-based networking software.
A PDC-03 portable computer. Portable, that is, if your idea of portability is to have handles on both sides for two people to carry it, with a third to bring a terminal and some cables. The beast consists of a small LSI-11 bus, with an LSI-11/2 processor, 30 kwords of memory, 4-port serial controller, a 4-way digital to analogue converter and a 16-way analogue to digital converter. Storage is provided by a dual TU58 tape transport. This beast was originally used to calibrate turbines at hydro-electric power stations.
A Cambridge Computer Z88. Clive Sinclair's last computer (or at least the last one anyone noticed). Last used as a packet radio terminal on top of Mt Ruapehu (before the eruption).
A DECmate III+ mid-80s vintage wordprocessor. Has a dicey disk (RD31, aka Seagate ST225) but if allowed to warm up for 15 minutes works well.
A DEC GIGI, aka VK100. An 8085 based half computer, half graphics terminal. Speaks ReGIS, VT52, ANSI (but not full VT100) and BASIC, can load/save BASIC programs via a serial port, and has a bizarre printer sharing arrangement using daisy-chained serial ports. Suffering video memory problems

I also have a small "museum" of minor relics on display, including:

LSI-11 CPU board with 4k words of memory, made in 1977 (LSI-11 released 1975).
DCJ11 (pdp11/73) chipset on ceramic carrier (1984).
MicroVAX II CPU (1985).
8 k x 16 bit core memory plane from a pdp11 (1973).
Hand-made core plane from a mid-1960s CSIRO prototype.
H4000 "battleship" Ethernet-II transceiver (early 80s).
3 foot MASSBUS cable.
RA81 14" disk platter (crashed).
5.25" hard-sectored floppy.
2400' 9-track magtape reel (containing 800bpi RSX-11M distribution).
Paper tape diagnostic kit for LSI-11.