15 Aug
2007
15 Aug
'07
12:23 a.m.
On 8/14/07, Jim Leonard <trixter at oldskool.org> wrote:
All this talk has inspired me to get a rack. But do
such things exist
as "personal" racks and/or half-height racks? Or should I be resigned
to just finding a full-height rack somewhere for $400 and find a place
to put it? (I have only about 10us of stuff to rack -- two scan
converters, two computers, that's it...)
6' and taller racks are the most common in my experience, but there
were plenty of 4' and shorter racks made, too.
I just picked up a really short DEC rack from Patrick at VCFmw. I'd
quote the model number, but it's hundreds of miles away and I can't
check the label. It was a semi-common item - it originally contained
a PDP-11/03 and RX01 and has approx 21" of rack space (12 U) and a
wood-grain Formica top.
DEC also made a large number of 42" cabinets with a curved-top profile
that was meant to be suitable for office or machine-room environments.
They will hold 3 RL02s or a CPU and two drives or whatever (approx 18
U, plus room in the bottom-back for a 3 U power controller (with a
kick-plate in the front). A bit older than those were some
similar-height racks from the 11/34 and PDP-8/e era with 3"-ish-tall
45-degree bevel/bezel on the top-front-edge, but I think those might
be a bit rarer.
If you want just your "10 U" and not any more, the table-topped rack I
described would work. If, OTOH, you would rather have things more
than a few inches off the ground, you could use a 42" rack and load it
from the top down (and have room in the future for more
toys ;-)
-ethan
15 Aug
15 Aug
2:30 a.m.
On 15 Aug 2007 at 0:23, Ethan Dicks wrote:
If you want just your "10 U" and not any
more, the table-topped rack I
described would work. If, OTOH, you would rather have things more
than a few inches off the ground, you could use a 42" rack and load it
from the top down (and have room in the future for more toys ;-)
I'm assuming that the best way to load a rack is to put the heavy
items on the bottom, right? (e.g. a 150 lb. tape drive). An anti-
tip outrigger is probably a good idea for the taller racks if you're
going to put heavy stuff on top.
Cheers,
Chuck
3:34 a.m.
On Wed, 2007-08-15 at 00:23 -0400, Ethan Dicks wrote:
If you want just your "10 U" and not any
more, the table-topped rack I
described would work. If, OTOH, you would rather have things more
than a few inches off the ground, you could use a 42" rack and load it
from the top down (and have room in the future for more toys ;-)
Or get a 42" rack and a saw, and make two 21" racks ;-)
Gordon
11:15 a.m.
On 8/14/07, Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> wrote:
I just picked up a really short DEC rack from Patrick
at VCFmw. I'd
quote the model number, but it's hundreds of miles away and I can't
check the label. It was a semi-common item - it originally contained
a PDP-11/03 and RX01 and has approx 21" of rack space (12 U) and a
wood-grain Formica top.
Jim, you should have taken the Gandalf that I passed up at VCFmw :)
The place I've seen the most half-height racks has been music stores,
like Sam Ash or Guitar Center (in our area.) The downside is that
most of them are made of MDF, not metal, so may not hold a 150lb tape
drive or the like. And some have rack rails only on the front, as
they're mostly intended to hold short, light f/x units.
16 Aug
16 Aug
12:53 a.m.
New subject: shorter 19" racks (was Re: Suggestions for rackmount floppy mounting)
Jason T wrote:
Jim, you should have taken the Gandalf that I passed
up at VCFmw :)
I knew someone was going to point that out sooner or later :-)
I got the impression from talking to the vendor (name escapes me at the
moment) that the Gandalf was a non-standard size.
--
Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org) http://www.oldskool.org/
Help our electronic games project: http://www.mobygames.com/
Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/
A child borne of the home computer wars: http://trixter.wordpress.com/
10:16 a.m.
On 8/15/07, Jim Leonard <trixter at oldskool.org> wrote:
I knew someone was going to point that out sooner or
later :-)
I got the impression from talking to the vendor (name escapes me at the
moment) that the Gandalf was a non-standard size.
Hmm, may well have been. And this would have been something I'd have
discovered *after* getting it home :)
15 Aug
15 Aug
11:23 p.m.
On 8/14/07, Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> wrote:
On 8/14/07, Jim Leonard <trixter at oldskool.org> wrote:
These were probably H9612, H9613, or H9642's.
A bit older than those were some
All this talk has inspired me to get a rack. But
do such things exist
as "personal" racks and/or half-height racks? Or should I be resigned
to just finding a full-height rack somewhere for $400 and find a place
to put it? (I have only about 10us of stuff to rack -- two scan
converters, two computers, that's it...)
6' and taller racks are the most common in my experience, but there
were plenty of 4' and shorter racks made, too.
I just picked up a really short DEC rack from Patrick at VCFmw. I'd
quote the model number, but it's hundreds of miles away and I can't
check the label. It was a semi-common item - it originally contained
a PDP-11/03 and RX01 and has approx 21" of rack space (12 U) and a
wood-grain Formica top.
DEC also made a large number of 42" cabinets with a curved-top profile
that was meant to be suitable for office or machine-room environments.
They will hold 3 RL02s or a CPU and two drives or whatever (approx 18
U, plus room in the bottom-back for a 3 U power controller (with a
kick-plate in the front). similar-height racks from the 11/34 and PDP-8/e era
with 3"-ish-tall
45-degree bevel/bezel on the top-front-edge, but I think those might
be a bit rarer.
Sounds like the H967.
Paul
If you want just your "10 U" and not any more, the table-topped rack I
described would work. If, OTOH, you would rather have
things more
than a few inches off the ground, you could use a 42" rack and load it
from the top down (and have room in the future for more toys ;-)
-ethan
11:32 p.m.
On 8/15/07, Paul Anderson <useddec at gmail.com> wrote:
On 8/14/07, Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at
gmail.com> wrote:
Those numbers all look familiar, especially the H9642. I think I have
a few of those.
DEC also made a large number of 42" cabinets
with a curved-top profile
that was meant to be suitable for office or machine-room environments...
These were probably H9612, H9613, or H9642's. A bit older than those were some
That's the one.
-ethan
similar-height racks from the 11/34 and PDP-8/e
era with 3"-ish-tall
45-degree bevel/bezel on the top-front-edge
Sounds like the H967. 
16 Aug
16 Aug
12:25 a.m.
New subject: shorter 19" racks (1 - 4 available .on.ca)
6' and taller racks are the most common in my
experience, but there
were plenty of 4' and shorter racks made, too.
I have a 42" DEC rack available in SW Ontario, and should have up to three
more short racks available once I eventually finish reorganizing.
--
Kevin Schoedel <schoedel at kw.igs.net> VA3TCS
6186
days inactive
6187
days old
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