28 Feb
2005
28 Feb
'05
4:55 a.m.
On Fri, 25 Feb 2005, Ethan Dicks wrote:
With all the DG stuff happening around here, I thought
I'd mention
that I'm trying to work out a rescue of some unknown DG rack from a
machine shop in Central Ohio that was bought new, approx 25-30 years
ago by said machine shop for approx $50K. I have no idea what to
expect except a tape drive in the top of the rack and a "very heavy
disk drive" in the bottom of the rack.
My contact has no idea what any DG equipment is, so I'll get a
surprise when I show up, I suppose. In the meantime, from the rough
age and cost, would anyone care to speculate what I might be facing
when I see it?
I'm hardly a DG expert, and actual experts may have replied
off-list, but 1980 plus/minus five years it's probably very
approximately like mine.
DIsk drive heads need to be locked down before transport or
they'll likely self-destruct.
If it's one of the typical top-loader disk drives, there's little
lock levers on each side of the front rack handles, flip these
down and slide the cabinet out. If it won't come out more than 1"
there's a latch on the rear, lift it up.
Remove the cartridge (dust cover, slide lever on handle to engage,
lift >BONK< place in dust cover, fold handle). There "ought to be"
a shipping dust cover to fill up the hole...
With the drive all the way out, take the 4? 6? screws from the
sides and lift off the cover. There's a red bracket bolted with an
allen screw on the right of the head motor assembly, take it off
and flip it around, that locks the heads.
Non-removable disks have a similar system but I don't know it.
If it's got small metal toggle switches it's a rare early Nova, by
all means take it! If it's a plastic front panel it is newer.
If it's from some CNC thing it prpbably has paper tape.