24 May
2001
24 May
'01
7:19 a.m.
On May 24, Jonathan Engdahl wrote:
It looks like what you have here is 1/2 of an SDI
adapter.
Yup.
Now the next question: what is SDI? I'll assume
for now that is was an early
approximation to SCSI, something proprietary to DEC.
It has *nothing* to do with SCSI. SDI is a relatively
high-performance (amazing for its day) high-level command-based
interface that is used to connect to DEC RA-seris drives. It uses
small cables that contain four pieces of 1/8" coaxial cable that
terminate in an 8-pin Berg-like connector.
It's useless without the other board, and they're both useless if
you don't want to run RA-series disks. Contrary to popular belief,
not all RA-series disks are huge (14" platters) and power hungry. I
have a stack of 1GB 5.25" RA73 disks that are rather nice.
-Dave McGuire
25 May
25 May
1:46 a.m.
On Thu, 24 May 2001, Dave McGuire wrote:
It's useless without the other board, and
they're both useless if
you don't want to run RA-series disks. Contrary to popular belief,
not all RA-series disks are huge (14" platters) and power hungry. I
have a stack of 1GB 5.25" RA73 disks that are rather nice.
True, but another thing to remember is that the KDA-50 itself is a
power hog. It will not work just stuffed into an existing BA23 (or
even a BA123, I think). The only one I have running is in a sepparate
box with it's own power supply. And yes, I tried putting one in a
MVAX-II in a BA23 before I knew this and while it did no permanent
damage, it definitely didn't work and kept the box from even starting.
Boy could I use some of those disks, though. I have RA80's, RA81's
and Fuji Eagles. I run them on both of my Ultrix machines, a VAX and
a PDP-11.
bill
--
Bill Gunshannon | de-moc-ra-cy (di mok' ra see) n. Three wolves
bill(a)cs.scranton.edu | and a sheep voting on what's for dinner.
University of Scranton |
Scranton, Pennsylvania | #include <std.disclaimer.h>
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