24 May
2001
24 May
'01
4:49 p.m.
"R. D. Davis" wrote:
On Thu, 24 May 2001, Doug Carman wrote:
That would be doubtful, but not totally impossible. It would be
interesting to hear from anyone who has one of the large VAX-11
computers for a hobby system. Other VAX systems might be more suitable
for home use, but the 11/780 through 8650 were massive power hogs. I
still have the power plug and receptacle from one of our 8650's. People
are always amazed that it was used to power a single computer. A 60 amp
3 phase circuit is out of the range of any type of residential electric
service.
However, I do run a PDP-11/70 at home. The PDP-11 systems are more
easily adapted to residential power because most of the system
components use 120V single phase power. Even though it can be done, it
still draws quite a bit of power and generates a great deal of heat.
--
Doug Carman
pdp11(a)bellsouth.net
all left standing in the rain before the local
scrap dealer hauled them
away. I was able to salvage some parts from the 8650 before we got rid
of it, but it would have been impossible to have ever run the system
outside a data center environment. The size, weight, massive cooling
requirements and the 3 phase, 60 amp power circuit would prevent such a
system from being a practical hobbyist computer. It's a shame to see
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to recall there being people on
this list who do use such systems at home.