Below is a PDP-8 computer in rackmount configuration with a TC01 DECtape controller and two TU55 DECtape magnetic tape drives. (I am indebted to Doug Jones of the "Greenkeys" Teletype enthusiasts' mailing list, who is restoring a PDP-8, for the positive identification of this machine and its configuration.) It was located (when this photograph was taken) in a newspaper in Parkersburg, WV in the 1970s. The terminal to the left is a Teletype Model 33 ASR. The paper tape drive on the table has not yet been identified, but I think that it is the same 6-level tape reader shown in the second photograph below. I'm pretty sure that this PDP-8 is being used as a part of an APS-2 photocomposing system.
(I do not believe that the unit in the coner at the left side of the photograph is associated with this system (instead, I think that it is the back side of a Mergenthaler Linofilm keyboard). The unusually wide scrap of tape underneath the PDP-8 table is 15-level Mergenthaler Linofilm paper tape.)
(The image above links to a 2048 pixel wide cropped JPEG version of this photograph, which should be sufficient for ordinary purposes. Here is the 1200dpi RGB PNG original scan (146 Megabytes): pdp-8-computer-used-in-APS-phototypesetter-parkersburg-wv-1200rgb.png)
The photograph below is from the same newspaper operation. These operators in the photograph above are working at Fairchild Light Touch 1035 Multiface Perforators. They're punching 6-level Teletypesetter tape. Now, given that we know nothing more about the setup, this tape could be the input to many different systems (including a conventional TTS-controlled Linotype). But the fact that the same tape readers are located on both the shelf above them and the PDP-8's table suggests that this is a part of the same operation. We know from Phillips that the APS-2 could receive input from "IBM compatible magnetic tape or 5, 6, or 8 channel paper tape" ( {Phillips 1968}, p. 567)
(Here's the original 1200dpi RGB PNG (155 Megabytes): fairchild-multiface-teletypesetter-perforator-parkersburg-wv-1200rgb.png)
Note: These photographs are from a set of four that I acquired showing 1970s era operation at this newspaper. For the others, see:
{Belzer 1976} Belzer, Jack, Albert G. Holzman, Allen Kent. The Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology, Vol. 5: "Classical Optimization to Computer Output/Input Microform." (NY: CRC Press, 1976.
{Phillips 1968} Phillips, Arthur. Computer Peripherals and Typesetting. (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1968.)
The Parkersburg WV newspaper photographs presented here were clearly done as works for hire for the newspaper, and thus originally owned by the newspaper. They were sold, and I am the ultimate purchaser of them. I am presuming that the copyright of these photographs passed with them when purchased, and that therefore I am the current copyright owner. I choose now to place them in the public domain (and their scans presented here, as well). I have since donated the original of the photograph which includes the view of the PDP-8 computer to the Southwest Museum of Engineering, Communications, and Computation. The scans presented here were done while I still owned it.
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