Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-7A - S# 112
Edinburgh University (UK)

Image ©2009 Edinburgh Computer History Society

S# 112 during delivery Image ©2009 Edinburgh Computer History Society

The PDP-7 Service list (1972) shows that machine #112 was shipped to Edinburgh University in February 1966 and consisted of the following options -

If you know of any information about any of the PDP-7 systems worldwide, options, location of existing systems, spare parts, ancillary bits, software, tapes or manuals, then please let us know here.

Documents associated with PDP-7A S# 112 - (see below)

A document was found at the Edinburgh Computer History Project which briefly describes the use that the Edinburgh University's PDP-7A Computer was put to.  The website however went offline for a while following technical problems, it currently resides here but not in a very accessible form, we have copy of the relevant document here
"A PDP7 with a model 340 (?) vector graphics display and later a Honeywell 316 were linked to the 4130 through a "high-speed" data link (into the ATU of the 4130 for devotees).  The PDP7 was used by John Oldfield and his group for early CAD system research."

120 PDP-7 and PDP-7A systems were forecast to be built in total, but at this time we do not have any information about the possible remaining 21 systems or who they were delivered to.  The 1972 18-bit service list, available here (6.5Mb pdf), details the 99 known PDP-7 and PDP-7A systems in the list at that time.  The PDP-7 appeared to have sold well into Government research and University sectors with 11 systems shipped to the UK alone, almost 10% of the forecast production run !.  Serial numbers are concurrent for both PDP-7's and the PDP-7A's, so the missing 21 could be of either type, however we are reasonably confident that the 99 systems shipped were the only ones ever built.