Hello,
I have a clone PDP11, including an SMS QBUS board and a 8" drive.
Not sure if it's the same model as yours.
The controller runs MSCP for floppy with RX02 or IBM format , and for an
MFM hard disk like Seagate ST251.
Board code is SMS FWD0106.
I should have some manual and drivers for it somewhere, if you manage to
find the board, but utilities like formatter aren't for VAX, IIRC.
Andrea
i rescued 2 today that were buried for a yr in mud cleaned it up the one
that was still one peic
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/882x662q90/923/M4e2cc.jpg
noticed it was starting to curve as it dried so i cleaned the mud off it
and put it between a towel and some concreat blocks? that should stop it
>from curving right and help corect the bit that started?
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/496x662q90/922/RjHMCe.jpg
i got a second one of these thats snaped in half i found in the same
location still has all the studs atached so prolly use it for parts to fix
this one or ill fire up the shop bot at the hackerspac
any advice?
So it seems in the early days of the PET a company by the name of
Forethought Prouducts sold an expansion module called the BETSI which
plugged into the expansion bus of the PET and gave you four S100 slots. If
you google around you can find a flyer advertising the unit and optional
power supply and the owners manual which touches on assembly, component
locations and the schematics. It talks about adding sound voards, additional
video outputs, expanding ram and attaching directly to a larger S100 frame.
Beyond that I can find absolutely nothing else about it, much less a more
recent photo of one. Has anyone here ever used one? How practical were they
in reality? Suppose I went and built one. Does anyone have the PCB layout
templates so I could get a board etched or will I have to stick to the
schematic and build one by hand?
-John
Hi Michael,
dear board
Did you solve your power supply problem?
My Draftmaster I did work for 1 hour, I did even manage to do a demo plot.
Then it died, right before my eyes the display got brighter and brighter and now - nothing when powering on, except a humming sound.
I think that I?m responsible for the dead, as the plotter stood in an attic for 20 years, meanwhile power was raised from 220 to 230v (+-10%)
in Europe.
I realized that the input power can be adjusted between 220 and 240v at the power inlet of the plotter (on the top
there is a small stage for a screwdriver, then the cover opens and the rotating think can be taken out)!!
Anyhow, now I have 41 and 83 Volts at the 42 and 85V test points,
but always 0 Volts at the +5,-12,+12,+15V test points.
The fuses are good and the secondary transformer seems good as well.
Right now I am waiting for an esr-meter to test the capacitors,
any clue would be extremely helpful for me!
With nice greetings Philipp
PS: tinkering with this masterpiece of engineering is fun, but now my back hurts, but it is worth it
> Date: Mon, 8 May 2017 21:02:39 -0400
> From: william degnan <billdegnan at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: BETSI Expander for the Commodore PET
>
> On Mon, May 8, 2017 at 8:35 PM, John Ball via cctalk <
> cctalk at classiccmp.org>
> wrote:
>
> > So it seems in the early days of the PET a company by the name of
> > Forethought Prouducts sold an expansion module called the BETSI which
> > plugged into the expansion bus of the PET and gave you four S100 slots.
> If
> > you google around you can find a flyer advertising the unit and optional
> > power supply and the owners manual which touches on assembly, component
> > locations and the schematics. It talks about adding sound voards,
> > additional
> > video outputs, expanding ram and attaching directly to a larger S100
> frame.
> > Beyond that I can find absolutely nothing else about it, much less a more
> > recent photo of one. Has anyone here ever used one? How practical were
> they
> > in reality? Suppose I went and built one. Does anyone have the PCB layout
> > templates so I could get a board etched or will I have to stick to the
> > schematic and build one by hand?
> >
> > -John
> >
> >
> At VCF SE Don French talked about the S100 expansion he created for the TRS
> 80 Model 1. Guess these did not meet with much success.
>
BTW, I spoke with Don over dinner after the show and he told me that his
son apparently
archived some stuff when he moved out to NV (he had told me earlier that
most of his
machines got sold/trashed/lost during his divorce ). I particularly asked
him to look for
one of the S100 expansion boards... Will let you know if he found any...
Earl
All this talk about 8 inch floppies got me to look at a unit I have
stored away. It is a rack mounted dual 8 inch floppy drive, SMS FWT
Series.
Model - FWT0522I-R
It has one IDC connection on the back, 34 pin.
The formatter in the unit has numbers - 1001828-0001 H and 0003451-0001
J written on it.
Bitsavers didn't have anything about the FWT05 model, does anyone know
if a Qbus controller exists for this?
If it does perhaps I could get it working and hook it up to my MicroVax
II, that would be an odd combination.
Doug
