8iLights $50

I have made some replacement lights boards for the 8/i front panel.



The 8iLights board is a replacement for the lights board of the PDP-8/i. This board was relatively delicate, and repeated soldering and desoldering has often damaged the originals. (The bulbs burn out with age, and occasionally take the drive transistors with them.)

This board has extra wide holes for the bulbs, allowing the installation of machine pin sockets (nearly flush to the board), to reduce this wear on the boards.

Connections are provided for the traditional surface mount ribbon cable attachment, or the installation of headers and IDC connectors for the ribbon cables. Mechanically and electrically, these are drop-in replacements for your existing 8/i lights boards.

Provision is also made for an optional series resistor (install a jumper if omitted), per bulb. Since 15V bulbs with the original specifications are getting quite hard to find, this allows the substitution of a lower voltage bulb, with an appropriate series resistor. (This also allows the installation of LED indicators, with their required resistor.)

The boards are double-sided, with plated through holes, solder mask on both sides, and silk-screen on the bulb side. Power and ground traces have been widened with polygon fill, as the supply for these boards is about 89*.030A or 2.7A worst case, and probably about 1A in normal operation.

Note that this is the circuit board only. You'll also need to obtain bulbs, PN2222 transistors, and series resistors, as well as the 1/4" PCB-mount spade lugs. (Contact me if you need help locating parts.)

8iSwitches $30

I have also made some replacement switches boards for the 8/i front panel.



The 8iSwitches board is a replacement for the switches board of the PDP-8/i front panel. This board isn't usually a problem, but it happened that this board in my spare panel was trashed.

Connections are provided for the traditional surface mount ribbon cable attachment, or the installation of headers and IDC connectors for the ribbon cables. Mechanically and electrically, these are drop-in replacements for your existing 8/i switch boards.

Since switches that fit this board are virtually impossible to find, it isn't clear that there will be demand for these. I do have 3 extra boards, though, because I had to order the minimum quantity.

The boards are double-sided, with plated through holes, solder mask on both sides, and silk-screen on the switch side.

Note that this is the circuit board only. You'll also need the unobtainium switches (good luck!) as well as the 1/4" PCB-mount spade lugs. Contact me if you need help locating the latter.

Last updated on 12/20/11 09:11 vrs