9 Jun
2015
9 Jun
'15
3:59 p.m.
On Jun 9, 2015, at 15:44 , Glen Slick <glen.slick
at gmail.com> wrote:
An alternative would be to look for a cheap Fujitsu M2444AC tape drive
(often seen with Sun badges). They have Pertec interfaces, but it is
probably easier and cheaper most of the time to find a Pertec tape
drive interface for a DEC system than a SCSI interface, and they can
be interfaced to ISA bus PCs. They are built like tanks and weigh
around 200 pounds, which is why they can sometimes be had for cheap if
you find one within driving distance because no one would want to pay
to ship one.
I'm looking for a SCSI interfaced drive so I can hook it up to my Sun Ultra 60,
running Solaris 8. I don't run any ISA bus machines other than a 5155 Portable PC and
a very crappy old 386 box dedicated to running ImageDisk, and my Sun would be much easier
to use for this purpose, I think. It's also just new enough that it's not hard to
get it talking to my current machines over the network, so it makes a nice bridge
machine.
I already have a magtape drive on my VAX, and was pleased to see it pass the diagnostic
tests this weekend. It's a TU80. It hooks up to my VAX with a couple of 50-pin
connectors... Hmm, maybe it has a Pertec interface, so another option might be to find a
Pertec to SCSI adapter and use the same drive on multiple systems?
I also already have a front-loading Kennedy drive with a Pertec interface which is
earmarked for use on my future PDP-11/44 project. It needs some work, as it lost hub drive
in one direction shortly after I got it. Once I repair it, using it with a SCSI to Pertec
adapter would also eliminate the need to shipping yet another magtape drive around.
So based on your comments, let me amend my request to say that I would also consider some
sort of SCSI to Pertec interface. Thanks!
P.S.: For those of you who don't mind clicking on a Twitter link, here's a picture
of my VAX system as I was working on it this weekend, shortly before I took a break to let
the room cool back down:
https://twitter.com/nf6x/status/607650728459407360
The MacBook on top of the VAX is running tu58em. The Ultra 60 is sitting on the floor in
front of the TU80 after a previous dead-end attempt to get tu58em running on it, before I
figured out how to fix the issue I was having running it on my Mac. The two VAX cabinets
are bracketed by my PDP-11/03 on the left, and my Nova 3 on the right. The DECwriter III
is working nicely as the VAX console terminal. Oh, and my PDP-8M is sitting on top of the
PDP-11/03 rack waiting for its next turn on the workbench. Photobombing the picture from
the right is my IBM Mag Card II typewriter, also waiting for restoration.
--
Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net>
http://www.nf6x.net/