1 Sep
2014
1 Sep
'14
4:49 a.m.
On Sep 1, 2014, at 6:24, Nigel Williams <nw at retrocomputingtasmania.com> wrote:
If I interpret the manual correctly the two modules are M7165 SDI
module and M7164 processor module. These modules are connected via a
40-pin flat cable and a 50-pin flat cable. This pair needs 68W and the
manual suggests a H3490 expansion bay, but is this for the additional
power or just the slot capacity or both?
Probably both; two slots is a bit of room, but 68W is a LOT of power.
I'm a little surprised/impressed to see that DEC
SDI can run to
50-foot cables between host and device.
They're actually bundled coaxial cables running off of serializers, so they should go
a fairly long way. There's a great post on Erik Klein's VCF about making adaptors
to run it over Cat5 cable, at least for short runs, because those cables are hard to find
and expensive.
As someone who has barely tinkered with DEC SCSI and
never used MSCP
(does TK70 count?) DEC SDI seems quite exotic.
MSCP is more of a host adaptor abstraction protocol (kind of like SCSI is a device
abstraction protocol). SDI is weird and exotic, but everything I've read on it (the
HSC50/70 manual has a lot of detail), it SEEMS well-engineered.
- Dave