A New Addition to the Collection - DEC VT-180 Robin

Knowing of my interest in both Digital Equipment Corporation and CP/M Machines a friend recently offered to sell me his DEC VT-180 Computer, also known as the Robin.  I jumped at this chance and I consider myself very fortunate to be the next owner / caretaker of this survivor from 1982.

My system came with some but not all of the software that has been archived.  I was able to write out floppy disks from the images on BitSavers which are listed here. and I have converted these to the more universal IMD format (Dave Dunfield's Image Disk) and uploaded them to Archive.org.  Also, I used the KERMIT80 software which was included on one of the disks to send data over a serial link to create disks for ZORK 1, 2 & 3, as well as send three floppy disks full of Basic games.  I've uploaded disk images (In IMD format) for this "new" contribution to Archive.org if there are others that can use this.

As we all know, gaming is the "Killer App" for Retro Computers, so I've also tried finding a couple of other CP/M Games like Ladder and a text-based PacMan clone.  The only archives of these that I've found, do not appear to contain versions that will run on the DEC, although I do see one YouTube video showing these games, so I do think they are out there.  Please leave a comment below or reach out via email (address in my Profile) if you have disks you'd be willing to swap, send, or image?

The Robin has been a super interesting machine to learn about.  As many of the earlier personal computers, it has single sided double-density floppy drives, and to make up for that it supports up to four drives at a time.  The machine is hosted inside of a VT-100 terminal.  It has two serial ports, one "general purpose" that could be used for a Modem or terminal emulation, and a second to connect to a printer.  The system is not expandable beyond the ports on the back as there are no open card slots.  This machine is built like a tank, and each of the drive enclosures is also solid sheet steel and amazingly strong.

Perhaps in the future I will blog about a hands on comparison and contrast between the DEC Robin and the IBM PC, but for now I'm just going to bask in the warm glow of the VT-180 experience.  Perhaps it's finally time for me to play through Zork, that's something I never did finish back in the day?

The IBM Model 5150 Personal Computer

In 2021 I saw a tip from a friend on the Free Geek Twin Cities Discord, he pointed out what the seller was calling "one of the early IBM PCs".  I followed up with the seller and was able to acquire the PC without even knowing for sure which model number it was.  As it turns out, it was an original IBM 5150 that had been upgraded over the years.  I was able to roll back some of the upgrades, and install a "stealth" upgrade of my own, an XT-IDE interface to allow this machine to boot from a Compact Flash card.  

One of the downgrades I performed on the machine to get it back to the original look was to install full height 5 1/4" drives into it.  The original machines shipped with Single-Sided drives, but I'd found out about a Minnesota Computer History connection.  One of the companies making "mini" 5 1/4" drives was called Magnetic Peripherals.  Magnetic Peripherals drives were manufactured in Oklahoma City but were owned by the Minnesota firm Control Data in the early eighties.  I was able to borrow a drive out of a different computer, purchase a parts drive from eBay, and I got two additional magnetic peripherals drives off the free pile @ VCF Midwest in the Fall of 2021.  Between these four drives I was able to combine parts and get two working drives.

Here's a picture of the 5150 after I'd done some work on it to restore it...

I have very few memories of this computer from back in the day.  We didn't have this type of computer at school (We had Apple IIs at school), but one of my parents friends did and he let us play games on it when we visited.  I remember being frustrated when I accidentally exited the game we were playing and was confronted with my first DOS prompt.  I didn't know what to do and was surprised when turning the computer off and back on again only brought up another DOS prompt.

In the modern day, we know that the IBM PC was a huge success, and so much has already been written about that, but what can I add about the machine based on my own experiences in 2021 and 2022?

I can report from personal experience that the keyboard, the Model F, is truly amazing.  I still enjoy the buckling spring keyboard and use a Unicomp keyboard as my daily driver, but it's not the same, the vintage board is just so much heavier and has a much better feel and sound.  This is probably the high point of the machine. 

The documentation is also a high point.  This owner had kept all the floppy disks and manuals along with the machine.  The manuals are truly amazing, covering in detail how the machine works.  I understand that this was an intentional decision on IBM's part to copy the openness and expandability of the Apple II that had enabled so many third parties to create compatible hardware for the machine.  So interesting that this design decision, which was intentional and did work as planned also planted the seeds for IBM to loose control of the PC compatible market within less than 10 years.

The 4 color CGA graphics leave much to be desired, although I do find it interesting that out of all the Retro machines and games that I have, both PCs and Apple, my kids ask to go back to Alley Cat over and over again.  The game designers certainly did their best to make this an engaging experience with the 4 colors and PC speaker.

One other item of note I should cover is the overall build quality.  Very heavy sheet metal was used in everything from the base of the keyboard to the top cover of the case.   The build quality surpasses anything that we see in the modern computing era, and I expect these machines will outlive many modern devices.

In summary, I'm very glad to own one of these, certainly an important part of the history of computing and of the Personal Computer revolution.