Hello, all:
Part of the haul this weekend was a DEC RX02 floppy drive and RX211
controller (for my 11/34a). I don't have any data on the controller, so how
do I set it up properly? What are the default settings and what do the
switch positions mean?
Also, the cable that I got seems to have one contuctor broken (the pin-1
designator/red stripe). Is there any magic to the length of the cable? Can I
create a new one of the same length using standard 40-pin IDC connectors and
ribbon cable? Can I shorten it to the break point or should I just patch it?
Any tips here are appreciated.
Rich Cini/WUGNET <nospam_rcini(a)msn.com>
- ClubWin/CW7
- MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking
- Preserver of "classic" computers
<<<< ========== reply separator ========== >>>>>
OK, I've spent around 8 hours today going through the pile of PDP-11 stuff
that I got. In doing so I've made a disturbing discovery. Of the 4 RL02
disk packs that contain the media kit for RSX-11M 4.1, 3 of them have red
markers. You know the ones that say don't use if marker is red.
What I want to do is transfer the data off of those packs onto disk images
using one of my MV2's. This isn't a problem as I've done it before, what
concerns me is the safety of doing it since the packs are "Red".
Secondly, can a RL01 be read in a RL02 drive, or will I have to get one of
the RL01's that I got today up and running in order to archive the RL01
packs. I want to get one of them archived ASAP as it has Whitesmith C on
it (and I think Pascal).
None of the RL01's have white/red markers so I've no idea how safe they are.
Zane
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator |
| healyzh(a)ix.netcom.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast |
| healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| and Zane's Computer Museum. |
| http://www.dragonfire.net/~healyzh/ |
Hello, all:
I made *another* trip to Temple University this weekend, so here's a
rundown on the haul:
- Magazines: the remaining Radio-Electronics and Popular
Electronics issues. I have most issues from mid-1976 to 1982. Byte
Magazine -- 1978 to 1981, scattered issues. I still have to get mid-1981to
1987 (they have to 1993, but Byte
stopped being Byte around 1987 I think). Interface Age -- a handful of
issues. Kilobaud -- a handful of issues. A+ -- random issues.
- some random PC/XT/AT cards (CGA video, floppy cards with a DB37
external port)
- SWTP dual external floppy drive with interface card. This one, plus
two SWTP motherboard units (which I did not take), were under a pile of
new-looking RA81
drives. This is up for trade, since I have no SWTP stuff.
- RX02 and interface card
- Small Houston Instruments flat-bed plotter. Once I get the model#
off of it, I'll be asking for info :-).
I will have go back one more time for the rest of the Byte's :-). After
that, I think that I'm through there.
Rich Cini/WUGNET <nospam_rcini(a)msn.com>
- ClubWin/CW7
- MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking
- Preserver of "classic" computers
<<<< ========== reply separator ========== >>>>>
Unfortunatly the subject line describes how a bunch of the PDP-11/03 boards
that I got today came. What is the chance that they are operational?
Zane
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator |
| healyzh(a)ix.netcom.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast |
| healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| and Zane's Computer Museum. |
| http://www.dragonfire.net/~healyzh/ |
At the risk of turning you into more of an appreciator, here is how to run
Trek80 on your SOL:
1. Assuming that you have your cassette player properly attached to the SOL,
press the "play" button - the tape won't start until the SOL tells it to.
2. Make sure your CAPS LOCK in on. Then at the '>' prompt enter XEQ
<return>.
3. Alternatively, enter GET. After a few moments the SOL will respond with
something like 'TREK80 0000 23AB' (the beginning and end addresses). Then
enter EX 0 and you are aboard the Enterprise.
BTW, I would make a copy of the tape rather than using the original. Old
tape literally get flakey, and I've had to replace the pressure pad on
several of my original PT tapes.
And if you like Trek80 as an arcade game, you must try TARGET by Steve
Dompier. It was almost always used as an attention getter in its demo mode
by PT dealers. You fire missles at 'airplanes' and if you play an AM radio
nearby, you can hear the sound effects of missle launches, explosions, and
falling debris.
email me with your address if you would like xerox copies of Trek80, Target,
or most SOL documentation (though I don't have FOCAL docs or a copy of that
tape - are you listening, Frank?)
Bob Stek - Keeper of lost SOLs
bobstek(a)ix.netcom.com
>On a separate note, I ended up with 3 more VT100's with this, and one of
>them had a loose top, so I took a look inside, and noticed that it has
>what looks to be a Q-Bus backplane. What is the story here? Can I put
>some cards in here and have a working PDP-11? (I know figure the odds)
>I took a look through the VT100 tech manual I got today, but couldn't
>find anything about the backplane.
What you have there is a VT103... it has a 4x4 backplane (Q/Q) and a
more gutsy power supply than a standard VT100. Yes, you can build
a working pdp-11 into it... One of my 'workhorse' machines when I was
in the RT-11 development group was a VT103 with an 11/73 (KDJ11-A),
256kb and a DSD880/20 controller. I did lots of RT development and
testing on that machine... I still have the machine in my office
in Nashua, even though I am doing Alpha work nowadays.
Megan Gentry
Former RT-11 Developer
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry zk3.dec.com |
| Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg world.std.com |
| Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of ' ' |
| 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ |
| Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler |
| (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
I was surprised by an ad for a "PDP 11 plus plotter, monitors, disc units,
printer $20" and I did a half-hour drive across town to see it this morning.
What I found was a hotch-potch of branded components stacked inside a
garage, but nothing from Digital apart from the RT-11 and other software
manuals. The processor cage, or at least a separate "spare" cage, was badged
General Robotics Corp Microcomputer GRC 11/X3 and contained boards marked on
the tabs M8192, M7504 and two M8043 as well as others without marked tabs. I
guess this was a PDP clone? This computer is in the Comprehensive Computer
Catalog I last downloaded (Dec 97 date) on the "undated list".
The "in use" processor cage was mounted in the front of a steel cabinet
about 2-3' deep, about 3' high and 2' wide with a Cipher brand tape drive
(Magnetic Peripherals Inc) above it. Separately boxed was a Control Data
Drive CDC-CMD and to top it all off there was a BIG plotter, a Nicolet Zeta
3653sx (if I can read my scrawled notes correctly) about 4' wide and 18"
high. A Compaq brand monitor went with it. The folder of documentation
contained a manual for a F880 Magnetic Tape Transport but the present owner
said he sent a 5-6' high tape unit to the tip a year ago so that might have
been it. He also dumped a printer. Other documents referred to a M224X
Fujitsu 51/4" 31-86MB drive and a SRQ011 Winchester Drive Controller but I'm
not sure if they were there. There were certainly other boxes mounted in the
main cabinet.
There were two cardboard boxes full of manuals for SCO Xenix System V, LP1
Fortran, RT11 Fortran IV, RT11 Macro-11 and something called TSX-Plus V6.01,
the RT-11 User Guide and many other fat folders of RT-11 stuff.
There was heaps of irrelevant stuff stored on top and around these units so
it was difficult to see everything, and as I was not going to take it away
myself, I couldn't hang around keeping the owner away from what he was doing
any longer. He said it all came from a geophysical company office and was in
working order two years ago. All he had done is store it, but it appears to
have suffered some damage - some panels were hanging loose, and there was a
large old TV stored on the CDC drive causing the metal top to be bent in.
If any Australians (or others?) are interested in this gear, you can contact
me and I will put you in contact with the owner directly. He says he wants
the space cleared, but will keep the gear for a little while yet - he does
seem to want it to go to someone who can do something with it - and he is
not asking much money. But remember, to take it all away, you will need at
least a 1t truck!
It's out of my league to get this going - I really only collect micros! The
day wasn't wasted - I did pick up a CoCo3 128K system with a Tandy dual
floppy disk drive and Tandy monitor plus manuals, heaps of Rompacks,
magazines etc for $40, and all in perfect working order.
Phil Guerney
Brisbane - Australia.
guerney(a)uq.net.au
At 03:00 PM 8/14/98 -0500, you wrote:
>My point is that the Altair's significance has been way overstated. The
Whether that is true or not is completely irrelevant to the pricing of
Altairs as collectibles.
For example, Beanie babies are neither new in concept, well made, or even
terribly uncommon. Yet they sometimes sell for ridiculous prices.
Meanwhile, quality toys, which are far more uncommon, and were, in their
time, ground-breaking, often sell for much less. Collector value is a
function of perceived importance and perceived rarity. It may or may not
have any basis whatsoever in actual fact.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/
< Unfortunatly the subject line describes how a bunch of the PDP-11/03 boa
< that I got today came. What is the chance that they are operational?
Ok, I'll guess.
You got some PDP-11 board for an older 11/03.
They arrived wrapped in aluminum foil.
Are they any good?
Well, I don't know. However, wrapping them in foil is a excellent way
to protect them from static damage. REALLY! If they were good that
will insure they stay that way assuming no mechanical damage occurs.
Allison
