How hard it is to replace is up to the
scarcity of MFM drives in your area.
Does DEC, for example with the RQDX3, only
accept the RD5{0..4} _geometries_ with this
controller or can there be others. Could a larger
drive be used in a "waste some tracks" mode
with the RQDX3?
This all assumes a seperate formatter, mv2000
or XXDDP.
John A.