11 May
2000
11 May
'00
8:03 p.m.
At 07:37 PM 5/11/00 +0100, you wrote:
Yeap, I have to go back and look for the monitor. I didn't know what it
used so I couldn't pick it out.
This is a cool machine! I got into it today too. I found out that it has
a Q-bus HP-IB card in it made by Tektronix! I saw the manuals and software
for the card in the load that just came in. This machine was used a a
controller for a Tektronix 7912(?) Digitizer. Besides the Tektronix card,
it has a M8190, a M7551, and a M8639 card in it. Can anyone ID them?
I also took a bunch of pictures of this one. I'll post them as soon as I
can.
Joe
Hi,
I was helping to sort a load of surplus test equipment yesterday and
found a couyple of DEC computers. Since I'm not a DEC head I don't know
anything about them so can someone tell me more about them and if they're
worth rescueing. The first is a DEC Por 350, there are two of them. The
The PRO 350 (Professional 350) is essentially a desktop PDP11. There's an
F11 chipset in there (like in an 11/23) linked to a somewhat strange bus.
The video display system in also on that bus (like on a PC) -- it's not a
serial terminal which is more conventional for PDP11s. You link a VR201
(composite mono) or VR241 (colour) monitor up the machine -- I believe
the latter needs some kind of video expansion card. User input is via an
LK201 keyboard (same keyboard as the VT220, etc).
There's most likely an RX50 dual floppy drive in the right hand drive bay
and an RD50 or RD51 (5 or 10M winchester) in the left bay.
I went through both machines today. The 350 has a RD51 and a RX50.
There are 6 bus connectors. The front 2 are for the hard and floppy
controllers. The next 2 are for the video card and video expansion card.
The next one might contain a memory expansion card. The last one might
contain an ethernet card (if you're really lucky) or a VAX interface card
(which, IIRC contains RS232 and GPIB ports). To look at the expansion
slots, pull the cover (catches under the lip on the sides), take off the
end plate of the expansion bay (3 thumbscrews IIRC) and unplug the cables
on top of the cards (note where they all go!). Then pull the 'flag' on
the card outwards towards the right side of the machine) and turn it (I
forget which way, but it only turns one way). This spreads the contacts
in the connecotr. The board now slides out towards the right side of the
machine.
I didn't pull the cards but it has a 000401, a 002004, a 001002 and a
000034. Can anyone id these?
It also has two daughterboards (with memory) attached to the main
circuit baord. This one is also mounted in a tower style case.
I took a lot of pictures and I'll post them on the web as soon as I can.
other is is a Micro PDP 11/73. Both are roughly
the size of a large tower
The MicroPDP11/73 is a PDP11 using the J11 CPU chip (one of the later and
faster single-chip PDP11 CPUs, with 22 bit addressing, etc). The
backplane bus is Qbus. And from the description, it's in a BA23 cabinet,
which is one of my least favourites because it's so small that I always
manage to catch my hand on something when working in one...
You need to take off the back panel (2 screws just below the power supply
connectors, etc) and look at the handles of the boards. Each will have an
'M-number' on it (M followed by 4 digits). If you post a list of the
numbers here, somebody can tell you what you have.