my pdp11/53 and pdp11/73

Hi, Ever since I first saw them at the University where I worked in the late 80's and early 90's, I wished I had one to experiment with myself, but they have neither gotten cheap nor plentiful over the years. My first computers ran CP/M, SCO Unix, then SunOS on a SPARC-4/110. So my 11/53 just arrived, and my 11/73 is on it's way, both in BA23 chassis. Inventory of the 11/53 is: KDJ11-D/S CPU Dataram 4093 with 2MB RAM RQDX3 controller The power supply checks good, the cabinet is remarkably clean inside, and I get the countdown from the console port, then it tries to boot system. No network card in this one, but the 11/73 will have a Delqa with it. I'm pleased there are still so many links that haven't expired to documentation, and nice web pages and youtube videos by others like myself who have resurrected these systems. I wish I hadn't thrown out all my MFM drives, years ago when I moved, since I don't think I can do much more until the 11/73 with a hard drive shows up, and that machine will have the Delqa card too. I have some questions that I have either not been able to answer, or for which I've found confusing answers. - What are the rules for cards & slots in a BA23? - If I wanted to get bsd2.11 running on either of these, do I need an additional board with some kind of RTC, or some other hardware than I already have? (I see comments about an MXV11-B, at least for 11/23 users?) - I can't find a Dataram 4093 manual online. I might never need it, but I'd like documentation for all the cards in my system. - Is there some kind of diagnostics I can perhaps use PUTR to copy onto a bootable floppy, that would do further hardware tests? I'm not even clear if the ROM power-on memory test is thorough. I've found useful references from hobyists working with similar hardware: http://home.windstream.net/engdahl/pdp-11.htm http://www.retrocomputingtasmania.com/members/nw-retrocomputingtasmania-com… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGTX13MnRLQ (and the followup videos) http://lordkalvan.typepad.com/blog/2009/11/nablopomo-dec-micro-pdp-1173.html Mark -- Mark G. Thomas (Mark at Misty.com)