5 Feb
2009
5 Feb
'09
10:37 a.m.
--- On Thu, 2/5/09, John Floren <slawmaster at gmail.com> wrote:
I may soon be acquiring a PDP-11; I do not know the
exact
model. My
question is, what kind of power supply might this require?
It sounds
like some can use 110V and others require 220? Are there
models that I
can just plug into my apartment's wall socket, or do I
need to get an
extension cord from the washer/dryer socket (which is not
in use right
now)?
If anyone can summarize what models need what sort of
power, I'd appreciate it.
While I don't have an exhaustive list, I can say that most of the later PDP-11's
will readily plug into a standard 110v wall socket, and draw about as much power as a
fairly hefty modern PC. This would include the 11/73, 11/83, 11/84, 11/05, 11/23, 11/23+,
and a lot of others - basically all the Q-bus and late Unibus boxen. The only thing that
might get you into trouble would be something like an 11/70, but those are pretty rare.
Peripherals, on the other hand, will vary. If it's got a couple hefty disks with it,
it might draw a lot more. A couple large SMD disks can blow a 15a breaker if you spin them
all up at once.
By and large, the majority of the PDP-11's you are likely to come across should be set
for standard 110v - no funny plugs or special power. Some machines were configured for
220, either for convenience of installation or something else - but I've not seen one
in person.
Now Vaxen, on the other hand, are a different story. And Primes. But I wouldn't worry
about being able to power a PDP-11 unless it's a very old or very large model (like
the 11/70), or has a whole pile of big peripherals.
-Ian