O
Obsolescence
obsolescence.dev · Personal blog · on HN since 2024
Obsolescence Guaranteed makes replicas of classic DEC computers, such as the PiDP-10 and PiDP-11, and documents Arpanet and PDP-1 history.
What HN saysHN commenters recommend its Raspberry Pi-based PDP replica kits, with working switches and LEDs, and note FPGA options for the PDP-11.
15HN people shared it
4linked it in comments
16stories submitted
250story points
4 months agolast shared
2024people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1Arpanet Reconstruction Project4 people · 11 points · first shared 2024 · 1 comments on HN
- 2PiDP-10 – a modern replica of the PDP-103 people · 123 points · first shared 2024 · 39 comments on HN
- 3PDP-11 Replica: The PiDP-113 people · 2 points · first shared 2025 · discussion on HN
- 4Classic Computer Replicas1 people · 82 points · first shared 2025 · 28 comments on HN
- 5A 2025 manual to the DEC PDP-11 people · 20 points · first shared 2025 · discussion on HN
- 6The Early Days: The History of Interactive Computing1 people · 4 points · first shared 2026 · discussion on HN
- 7Exploring PDP-1 Lisp (1960)1 people · 3 points · first shared 2026 · 1 comments on HN
- 8The Arpanet Reconstruction Project1 people · 2 points · first shared 2026 · discussion on HN
- 9Building Instructions1 people · 1 points · first shared 2025 · discussion on HN
- 10PDP-1 Replica: The PiDP-11 people · 1 points · first shared 2026 · discussion on HN
- 11The Its Reconstruction Project1 people · 1 points · first shared 2024 · discussion on HN
- 12Manual.docx1 people · first shared 2024
- 13Homepage1 people · first shared 2025
What HN people wrote when they linked it
anonymousiam · 2025-04-08
I've got a PiDP-11 from the same group. It's a faithful replica, and it brings back memories from 50 years ago.
https://obsolescence.dev
JKCalhoun · 2026-06-17
Obsolescence Guaranteed makes a PDP-11 replica [1]. At the heart is a Raspberry Pi running emulation software. All switches, LEDs are physical—all wrapped up in a clever case that looks like the original.
I have bought a couple of their kits and can vouch for the quality of them.
[1] https://obsolescence.dev/pdp11.html
claudex · 2025-04-23
It depends, for the PDP-11, you can plug a FPGA https://obsolescence.dev/pdp11.html
skilled · 2024-06-09
See also,
https://obsolescence.wixsite.com/obsolescence/pidp10
Relevant links,
PIDP-10 SYSTEMS USER’S GUIDE
https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fobsole…
(direct download: https://obsolescence.dev/pidp10-sw/manual.docx)
PiDP-10 system software package (https://github.com/obsolescence/pidp10)