30 Mar
2018
30 Mar
'18
10:14 p.m.
Hi, All,
Watching some of the recent traffic about what newer Qbus boards will
and won't work with 2.11BSD, I've remembered a thing I was once
looking for. Back when I did DEC hardware for a living, we stopped
buying new stuff after we got a MicroVAX-II. As such, I have plenty
of LSI-11 to KA630 parts but very little from after that era. I do
happen to have 2-3 boards with S-box handles including a KDF-11 CPU
and a SCSI card, a great start to a system. What I don't have is the
enclosure.
I have a BA123 "World Box" and it's great. I know a BA213 is roughly
the same size, but I've never had one. The BA215 looks more
interesting to me as a match for size and power requirements (1 PSU
and 6 slots, half the BA213) but I've never even seen a BA215.
Anyone here have much experience with the BA215? Any "gotchas"? So
far, from my looking on eBay, I think I spotted one loaded as a VAX.
I'm more interested in setting mine up as a PDP-11, so the VAX end of
one is not exactly a selling point to me. An empty box would do just
as nicely.
I'd say 80% of my Qbus work has been with two boxes, the BA-11N and
the BA-23, thus all the S-box questions.
Thanks for any tips, tidbits and stories.
-ethan
30 Mar
30 Mar
11:16 p.m.
On Fri, Mar 30, 2018 at 10:14 PM, Ethan Dicks via cctalk
<cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
I have a BA123 "World Box" and it's great. I know a BA213 is roughly
the same size, but I've never had one. The BA215 looks more
interesting to me as a match for size and power requirements (1 PSU
and 6 slots, half the BA213) but I've never even seen a BA215.
Anyone here have much experience with the BA215? Any "gotchas"? So
far, from my looking on eBay, I think I spotted one loaded as a VAX.
I'm more interested in setting mine up as a PDP-11, so the VAX end of
one is not exactly a selling point to me. An empty box would do just
as nicely.
I have a BA215 box that was configured as a MicroVAX 3300 when I got
it with an M7624 KA640 CPU. Currently I have it configured as a VAX
4000-200 with an M7626 KA660 CPU and maxed out with 64MB with a 3rd
party Camintonn CMX-4200-48 48MB board and an M7622 16MB board. With
DSSI and Ethernet controllers built in with the KA660 that leaves 3 of
the 6 slots free for an S-handle M5976 KZQSA to attach a SCSI CD-ROM
and an S-handle M3119 CXY08 for 8 async lines.
Loaded up the BA215 is certainly not light, but you can easily wheel
it around, and if necessary I can pick it up and carry it a short
distance by myself. I won't try to move a BA123 or BA215 / BA430 /
BA440 box by myself beyond just rolling them without stripping them
down to completely empty boxes.
If you want to set up a BA215 as a PDP-11 a nice way to go is with an
S-handle M7554 KDJ11-D DECserver 550 CPU, the 18MHz version with
1.5MB. Sometimes good deals on those can be found. Then add either a
2MB M7551 MSV11-Q or a 2MB M8637 MSV11-J for 3.5MB. Add an S-handle
M3127 DESQA Ethernet controller, and an M3119 CXY08 if you want more
than the 2 async lines on the M7554 KDJ11-D. If the BA215 box came
with any DSSI drives installed add an M7769 KFQSA. The KFQSA is MSCP
compatible so later PDP-11 software should be able to use it.
If you can find a decent deal on a BA215 box it is worth grabbing one.
Most of the time I would rather work on a BA215 box than a BA23 /
BA123 or BA215 / BA430 / BA440 box (ok, the BA440 VAX will be much
faster). In some cases only 6 slots might be limiting if you wanted to
use something like a 3 board set M7168 / M7169 VCB02 or a 2 board set
M7164 / M7165 KDA50-Q.
31 Mar
31 Mar
8:45 a.m.
Ethan;
I have owned both BA213 and BA215 microvaxes.? The one recurring problem
I had was with the power supplies, H7868 I think the number is.
Luckily, I picked up a couple of Dec Serv 550's which gave me spares and
a PDP11/53 S box CPU.
I was able to run the PDP11 in one of the VAX based BA boxes, the BA215
would make a good choice based on size and weight.
If I remember correctly, the BA215 had space for one full height drive
and a tape drive.
Maybe someone else knows, but I think both boxes could use ordinary
power cords, not like the VAX 4000-400 series which has that 20 amp cord.
Doug
On 3/31/2018 1:14 AM, Ethan Dicks via cctech wrote:
Hi, All,
Watching some of the recent traffic about what newer Qbus boards will
and won't work with 2.11BSD, I've remembered a thing I was once
looking for. Back when I did DEC hardware for a living, we stopped
buying new stuff after we got a MicroVAX-II. As such, I have plenty
of LSI-11 to KA630 parts but very little from after that era. I do
happen to have 2-3 boards with S-box handles including a KDF-11 CPU
and a SCSI card, a great start to a system. What I don't have is the
enclosure.
I have a BA123 "World Box" and it's great. I know a BA213 is roughly
the same size, but I've never had one. The BA215 looks more
interesting to me as a match for size and power requirements (1 PSU
and 6 slots, half the BA213) but I've never even seen a BA215.
Anyone here have much experience with the BA215? Any "gotchas"? So
far, from my looking on eBay, I think I spotted one loaded as a VAX.
I'm more interested in setting mine up as a PDP-11, so the VAX end of
one is not exactly a selling point to me. An empty box would do just
as nicely.
I'd say 80% of my Qbus work has been with two boxes, the BA-11N and
the BA-23, thus all the S-box questions.
Thanks for any tips, tidbits and stories.
-ethan
9:04 a.m.
On Sat, Mar 31, 2018 at 11:45 AM, Douglas Taylor via cctech <
cctech at classiccmp.org> wrote:
Ethan;
I have owned both BA213 and BA215 microvaxes. The one recurring problem I
had was with the power supplies, H7868 I think the number is.
Luckily, I picked up a couple of Dec Serv 550's which gave me spares and a
PDP11/53 S box CPU.
I was able to run the PDP11 in one of the VAX based BA boxes, the BA215
would make a good choice based on size and weight.
If I remember correctly, the BA215 had space for one full height drive and
a tape drive.
Maybe someone else knows, but I think both boxes could use ordinary power
cords, not like the VAX 4000-400 series which has that 20 amp cord.
Doug
FYI - Not sure if I mentioned this but I too am working on setting up a
DECServer 550 to be an 11/83. Useful tips recently, thanks all.
b
11:50 a.m.
On Sat, Mar 31, 2018 at 9:04 AM, Bill Degnan via cctech
<cctech at classiccmp.org> wrote:
FYI - Not sure if I mentioned this but I too am working on setting up a
DECServer 550 to be an 11/83. Useful tips recently, thanks all.
b
Using an M7554 KDJ11-D DECserver 550 CPU (in which case it would be an
11/53), or with an M8190 KDJ11-B CPU?
Using an M7554 KDJ11-D DECserver 550 CPU is nice in that you get 1.5MB
of RAM on board and the two MMJ async ports on the S-handle bracket,
but of course it is slower than an M8190 KDJ11-B CPU because it has no
cache, no support for adding an FPJ11 FPA, and no support for PMI
memory.
With an M8190 KDJ11-B CPU you would have to hack up some sort of
bracket for the console async port, and for the diagnostic LED display
if you wanted that too. If DEC ever made an S-handle console panel for
the M8190 KDJ11-B CPU I have never seen one.
5:28 p.m.
On Sat, Mar 31, 2018, 4:26 PM Glen Slick via cctech <cctech at classiccmp.org wrote:
On Sat, Mar 31, 2018 at 9:04 AM, Bill Degnan via
cctech
<cctech at classiccmp.org> wrote:
I am starting with the
M8190 AE (CPU)
M8637 EH (or EA?) RAM
M8637 EH RAM
I have other cards here:
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=715
With these I should be able to get started, thanks all for the info.
Bill
FYI - Not sure if I mentioned this but I too am working on setting up a
DECServer 550 to be an 11/83. Useful tips recently, thanks all.
b
Using an M7554 KDJ11-D DECserver 550 CPU (in which case it would be an
11/53), or with an M8190 KDJ11-B CPU?
Using an M7554 KDJ11-D DECserver 550 CPU is nice in that you get 1.5MB
of RAM on board and the two MMJ async ports on the S-handle bracket,
but of course it is slower than an M8190 KDJ11-B CPU because it has no
cache, no support for adding an FPJ11 FPA, and no support for PMI
memory.
With an M8190 KDJ11-B CPU you would have to hack up some sort of
bracket for the console async port, and for the diagnostic LED display
if you wanted that too. If DEC ever made an S-handle console panel for
the M8190 KDJ11-B CPU I have never seen one.
2224
days inactive
2225
days old
5 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
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billdegnan＠gmail.com -
dj.taylor4＠comcast.net -
ethan.dicks＠gmail.com -
glen.slick＠gmail.com