25 Feb
2003
25 Feb
'03
7:59 a.m.
cctech-request(a)classiccmp.org schrieb am 25.02.2003:
Subject: PDP-11/04 on Ebay - whats wrong with it?
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 13:27:37 +1100
From: "Kane, David (DPRS)" <David.Kane(a)aph.gov.au>
Hi,
A PDP-11/04 on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1247&item=34…
748&rd=1
I have to start by stating I am in Australia. Our dollar might have
crept back up to a smidgen over 60 cents US today, but the opening bid
on the PDP will still be considerable, then add international shipping
and ooooooh ouch. But despite all that I am still toying with the idea
of bidding on the item. I do need a little assistance before making a
definitive decision. For those unaware the item was listed before
recently but was passed in unbid. I did not get interested last time
since the description did not list a CPU card, and the seller did not
reply to an enquiry regarding a CPU card. I notice that this time there
is a CPU card listed (M7263). My quandary is over the seller's comment
that the "Unit powers up and reads 0002777" although the pictures have
it reading 000277. My worry is that the unit is severely broken. Can any
take a stab at guessing what might be wrong, is it possibly just the
lack of a boot device (floppy of hard disk)?
The lack of boot devices is certainly one reason, but I dont see any memory in
that machine either. The seller advertises a Plessey PM1116, a 16 kw module,
but it's not in the machine.
If you compare the photos, you will see different board-configurations, so they
are actively playing with what to take out and what to leave in.... :-((
This is a very bad sign in my eyes, as they say that they cannot test. If thats
true, why do they swap the modules around ?
Also the far-end unibus-terminator is missing, pointing to a canibalised
backplane and/or expansionbox. Will you be able to find that terminator?
Without that the machine will never run.
Anyway aske a detailed list of all the included modules from the seller.
Further this machine will weight some 50 - 60 kg. At the same weight and thus
shipping cost you can get an 11/34. Thatone will be a lot more fun, as it will
allow you a bigger selection of os's.
The 11/04 is limited to 28 (31 with a trick) kwords of memory, has no memory
management and will therefore never run the bigger PDP11 SW-packages.
If I were to decide, I would leave thisone where it is now, too uncertain at
the probably huge cost of shipping. You better stick to a system that hasn't
been altered after its decommisioning. Its always better if you can talk to the
people that were previousley using the maschine you get, although this happens
seldom.
Finalley, look at the selles feedback, (which is realley good) he's selling
just about anything from anywhere. Don't expect any expertise on the item sold.
Frank