PDP-11/34 & RK05 Questions

For the cleaning of dirty packs I use a lazy susan (rotating table) and put the pack on it. This allows me to rotate it and view a various angles to look for dust and other defects. If you put a light at the correct angle dust will show up much better. I use the alcohol to clean disks like others have said and also use the canned "compressed air" dust off to blow the dust off. Make sure you squirt the first bit away from the disk in case some of the liquid comes out. I also use a photo/lens brush to remove the stubborn dust. Depending on house dust level you may have trouble getting it all off. Running a air cleaner or filtered fan in a closed room can cut the airborne dust down. If the packs may of been dropped at some time you need to watch out for them being bent. Most lazy susan will have a lot of play so may not allow you to see. If you have the top of the drive off and watch the shadows on the pack from the head positioner assembly they will move if the pack is bent. Just blip the run switch for a short time to get a slow rotation or rotate by hand. You should also check that the battery pack is still good. It is a rechargable nicad and will go bad after a while. Measure with a load after charging if needed. This is used to retract the heads if power is lost. It is located on the left side near the back. I have various maintenance information for the RK05 available at http://www.pdp8.net/query_docs/query.shtml RK05 docs: http://www.pdp8.net/pdp8cgi/query_docs/query.pl?Search=rk05&stype=Parti… This search/convert to PDF is new so let me know if you have problems. David Gesswein http://www.pdp8.net/ -- Old computers with blinkenlights