Pontus wrote:
On 01/07/2013
10:57 AM, silvercreekvalley wrote:
I have a working PDP 11/83 in a Pedestal (desk
side) type case. Its
fitted with a reasonable
sized Hard Drive, tape drive and 5.25" floppy disk. I think it has
ethernet, but need to check.
This is in good shape, and boots. Its the larger desk side case (not
sure on the case name)
so there is room for a second hard drive.
Sounds like the BA123 to me.
http://www.netbsd.org/images/machines/vax/microvax2-ba123.jpg
It does seem like a BA123 since a BA23 will not hold three drives.
In addition, there are 12 quad Qbus slots in the BA123 vs only
8 quad Qbus slots in a BA23. Overall, the BA123 is about twice
as large as a BA23, but is much more convenient since it stands on
four rollers on the floor. Also, there is room for a total of FIVE
5.25" drives, so there are two empty drive bays left. On the other
hand, if the floppy drive is an RX50 dual floppy, then the RQDX3
(M7555) disk controller can support only one more hard drive.
I assume that the 5.25" floppy disk is actually a dual RX50 drive
rather than a single RX33 drive. A TK50 tape drive is useful for
exchanging a few files, but a TK70 can actually be useful for backups
although it is still a bit slow compared to a hard drive.
Please verify:
(a) RX50 dual vs RX33 single floppy drive
(b) Tape drive is probably TK50, but might be TK70
(c) How much memory is available? 1M, 2M or 4M
These are
nice, 'office friendly' versions of the PDP 11, and quite a
bit easier than the UNIBUS
machines to manage.
Email me if interested. I can get full specs and pictures if there is
any interest.
It's a real nice PDP-11. I'm certain you'll be swamped with mail.
The BA123 probably uses about double the power as a BA23, but as long
as the BA123 is turned on only when it is being used, the cost is very
manageable.
Only a single power circuit is needed, probably 240 volts in the UK.
Freight cost will be high if pickup is not local. The BA123 is heavy,
probably
about 70 lb. Two normal men can handle that quite easily. If only a
single person
is available, remove the power supply to split the load. Since there
are rollers
under the box, moving the BA123 is very easy on a flat surface.
The BA123 is an excellent box for the serious PDP-11 user since there is
room for almost any possible boards that might be needed. There is also
a 13th slot for the distribution board for the RQDXn controllers. If really
needed, two RQDXn controllers may be used since the 13th slot can hold
two dual distribution boards. Note that each hard drive also needs a
front panel switch and there are blanks for FIVE front panel switches.
Jerome Fine
