13 Jan
2008
13 Jan
'08
5:22 p.m.
Someone just posted a complete 11/70 board set on e-bay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300190400927
-Snip-
You are bidding on 18 cards pulled from a working PDP11/70 CPU headed for the dump.
?
Sadly I had no way of transporting the several hundred pound rack
and was only able to remove the cards.
-Snip-
(Sadly, I can't bring myself to tell him that the?front panel alone?would
?probably have been?worth?3?or 4?times what he'll get for the boards. . . . )
T
?
________________________________________________________________________
More new features than ever. Check out the new AIM(R) Mail ! - http://webmail.aim.com
14 Jan
14 Jan
4:29 p.m.
To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 17:22:17 -0500
From: tiggerlasv at aim.com
Subject: 11/70 board set on e-bay. . .
Someone just posted a complete 11/70 board set on e-bay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300190400927
-Snip-
You are bidding on 18 cards pulled from a working PDP11/70 CPU headed for the dump.
?
Sadly I had no way of transporting the several hundred pound rack
and was only able to remove the cards.
-Snip-
(Sadly, I can't bring myself to tell him that the?front panel alone?would
?probably have been?worth?3?or 4?times what he'll get for the boards. . . . )
T
?
Hmmm, the last board listed is the M8255. That is the board that goes into slot 40.
It is used on the 11/70's with the "remote console", so this stripped 11/70
probably
did not have the "blinkenlight" console. Nevertheless, a shame that the machine
is
scapped and only the boards survived.
- Henk.
6:45 p.m.
In article <BAY141-W10B269662BC83BA4F935D986460 at phx.gbl>,
Henk Gooijen <henk.gooijen at hotmail.com> writes:
[...] Nevertheless, a shame that the machine is
scapped and only the boards survived.
Better that than nothing. How hard is it to get a suitable cabinet
and unibus backplane? (Assuming this is unibus.)
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download
<http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html>
Legalize Adulthood! <http://blogs.xmission.com/legalize/>
9:31 p.m.
The 11/70 CPU is *not* a unibus backplane. It is a *very* large
backplane that fills an entire BA11F.
Richard wrote:
In article <BAY141-W10B269662BC83BA4F935D986460 at
phx.gbl>,
Henk Gooijen <henk.gooijen at hotmail.com> writes:
--
TTFN - Guy
[...] Nevertheless, a shame that the machine is
scapped and only the boards survived.
Better that than nothing. How hard is it to get a suitable cabinet
and unibus backplane? (Assuming this is unibus.)
10:02 p.m.
In article <478C1B0E.8090407 at shiresoft.com>,
Guy Sotomayor <ggs at shiresoft.com> writes:
The 11/70 CPU is *not* a unibus backplane. It is a
*very* large
backplane that fills an entire BA11F.
Interesting, I just assumed it was unibus. Is the /70 the only PDP-11
that has a custom backplane? I thought the PDP-11 family had standard
backplanes: unibus and Q-bus.
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download
<http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html>
Legalize Adulthood! <http://blogs.xmission.com/legalize/>
10:26 p.m.
On Monday 14 January 2008 22:02, Richard wrote:
In article <478C1B0E.8090407 at shiresoft.com>,
Guy Sotomayor <ggs at shiresoft.com> writes:
No. Every UNIBUS -11 has a custom CPU backplane to some extent.
The QBUS ones have a mostly common backplane (ignoring differences in
how many bits are wired on the address lines) mostly because the CPU
fits all one one board.
FWIW, UNIBUS is a bus, not a backplane type. A DD11 is pretty much the
only UNIBUS backplane that isn't custom to the device that's in it.
Pat
--
Purdue University ITAP/RCAC --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/
The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org
The 11/70 CPU is *not* a unibus backplane. It is
a *very* large
backplane that fills an entire BA11F.
Interesting, I just assumed it was unibus. Is the /70 the only
PDP-11 that has a custom backplane? I thought the PDP-11 family had
standard backplanes: unibus and Q-bus. 
15 Jan
15 Jan
11:31 a.m.
On Jan 14, 2008, at 10:02 PM, Richard wrote:
No, (most) PDP-11s have standard *peripheral buses*, Unibus and Q-
bus. In fact, most (all?) Unibus PDP-11s have backplanes that are
specific to the processor being used, as nearly all of them are multi-
board sets (LOTS of boards in the case of the 11/70) and the card-
edge connectors carry processor-internal signals, not high-level
Unibus signals.
Some PDP-11s have their memory on the Unibus or Qbus, and some
don't. The 11/70 (which I mention because that's what started this
thread) does not.
Some of them are "close relatives" like the 11/04 and 11/34, which
share the same backplane. In those systems, for example, the first
few slots are not Unibus, but carry CPU-internal signals. Later
slots are Unibus.
Qbus PDP-1s are more standardized across the product line. Most
(all?) of them use an all-Qbus backplane and the CPU is contained on
one board.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL
The 11/70 CPU
is *not* a unibus backplane. It is a *very* large
backplane that fills an entire BA11F.
Interesting, I just assumed it was unibus. Is the /70 the only PDP-11
that has a custom backplane? I thought the PDP-11 family had standard
backplanes: unibus and Q-bus. 
11:42 a.m.
Dave McGuire wrote:
Qbus PDP-1s are more standardized across the product
line. Most
(all?) of them use an all-Qbus backplane and the CPU is contained on one
board.
Chuckles at the typo.Is the PDP-8 the only classic architecure from the mid 1960's
that was made with VLSI components.
-Dave
11:41 a.m.
On Jan 15, 2008, at 11:42 AM, woodelf wrote:
Eeeek! Sorry about that. It was a funny one, though.
Qbus PDP-1s
are more standardized across the product line. Most
(all?) of them use an all-Qbus backplane and the CPU is contained
on one board.
Chuckles at the typo. Is the PDP-8 the only classic architecure from the mid
1960's
that was made with VLSI components.
Hmmm, that is a good question!
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL
3:13 p.m.
To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
From: legalize at xmission.com
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:02:48 -0700
Subject: Re: 11/70 board set on e-bay. . .
In article 478C1B0E.8090407 at shiresoft.com,
Guy Sotomayor <ggs at shiresoft.com> writes:
As far as I know from my collection (I have a few UNIBUS machines)
I can say the following.
The PDP-11/10 and PDP-11/05 (OEM version of the /10) have 4 different
backplanes, the difference is in the memory and some peripherals supported.
I don't have the /20 (and OEM /15) and don't have the /24.
The /04 and the /34 (and 34/A and /34C) have a 9-slot backplane of which
the first slots are CPU module specific (backplane is the DD11-PK).
The 11/40 (and OEM /35) have the same backplane KD11-A, again CPU specific,
here 5 slots are for the basic CPU, and 3 slots are dedicated for CIS, FIS and MMU.
The /44 has a 14-slot backplane (KD11-Z) and almost all slots are dedicated
to specific boards. A few slots are for memory.
The /45 and /55 are new in my collection and I have not yet had time to look
at them. I suspect that, together with the /50, these 3 share the same
backplane (KD11-B or KD11-C), but as said, I can be wrong.
The PDP-11/60 backplane (KD11-K) is also 14-slot, and here all slots are
dedicated to the CPU modules.
The 11/70 backplane, as just written, is physical two parts of each 22 slots,
but they are heavily interconnected by wire wrapped wires. Consider the in total
44 slots backplane unseparable.
The 11/84 (and /94) are a bit "weird", in that the backplane starts as a
sort-of
QBUS backplane, and after the "unibus-bridge" continues as a UNIBUS backplane.
Several months ago there has been a very good discussion about this backplane!
For most of these backplanes you can take a peek on my website, in the folder
called "CPU information" under each PDP-11/xx folder. Sorry, the 11/45 folder
is "under construction", and the 11/55 folder is still "off-line" ...
- Henk.
www.pdp-11.nl
The 11/70 CPU is *not* a unibus backplane. It is
a *very* large
backplane that fills an entire BA11F.
Interesting, I just assumed it was unibus. Is the /70 the only PDP-11
that has a custom backplane? I thought the PDP-11 family had standard
backplanes: unibus and Q-bus.
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download
http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html
2:50 p.m.
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 18:31:42 -0800
From: ggs at shiresoft.com
To: General at shiresoft.com
CC:
Subject: Re: 11/70 board set on e-bay. . .
The 11/70 CPU is *not* a unibus backplane. It is a *very* large
backplane that fills an entire BA11F.
--
TTFN - Guy
Yes, that's very true what Guy says, but it is even worse than that.
The backplane does fill the entire space from front to rear in a BA11-F,
but it is actually *two* equally large backplanes. The two halves are
just connected by the wire wrapped wires!
The first part is the CPU, the second part are the 4 Massbus controllers
and a few UNIBUS slots, IIRC. You can look it up in the handbook.
So, if the entire backplane is taken out of its BA11-F, you have to
handle that beast very careful! If that was to be shipped, I would put
it on a piece of wood with screws to transport it safely.
- Henk.
14 Jan
14 Jan
9:36 p.m.
On Monday 14 January 2008 18:45, Richard wrote:
In article <BAY141-W10B269662BC83BA4F935D986460 at
phx.gbl>,
Henk Gooijen <henk.gooijen at hotmail.com> writes:
The cardcage would be difficult, but probably not impossible, especially
if you had the backplane. With out the (custom to the 11/70)
backplane, you can have man-months of joy-filled wire-wrapping to
create a new one...
Pat
--
Purdue University ITAP/RCAC --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/
The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org
[...] Nevertheless, a shame that the machine is
scapped and only the boards survived.
Better that than nothing. How hard is it to get a suitable cabinet
and unibus backplane? (Assuming this is unibus.) 
15 Jan
15 Jan
5:39 a.m.
On Tuesday 15 January 2008 02:36:27 Patrick Finnegan wrote:
On Monday 14 January 2008 18:45, Richard wrote:
You never know, it might be worth contacting the seller and asking if they can
pull the backplane if it hasn't gone already...
A boardset is indeed better than nothing though.
Gordon
In article
<BAY141-W10B269662BC83BA4F935D986460 at phx.gbl>,
Henk Gooijen <henk.gooijen at hotmail.com> writes:
The cardcage would be difficult, but probably not impossible, especially
if you had the backplane. With out the (custom to the 11/70)
backplane, you can have man-months of joy-filled wire-wrapping to
create a new one... [...] Nevertheless, a shame that the machine is
scapped and only the boards survived.
Better that than nothing. How hard is it to get a suitable cabinet
and unibus backplane? (Assuming this is unibus.) 
7:59 a.m.
Gordon JC Pearce wrote:
On Tuesday 15 January 2008 02:36:27 Patrick Finnegan
wrote:
FWIW, I have two 11/70 machines plus a spare backplane. One of my machines
was a complete original, the other I put together from spare parts. Before
anyone dives into this sort of project, they should fully understand what
they are in for. In order to add the conventional core memory used on an
11/70, there is another set of external boxes required as the 11/70 does
not use the ordinary Unibus memory. Then there is the consideration of power,
front panel, etc.
Still, while I would love to have this set of boards as spares, if they
go for some large price tag and someone needs a backplane for a BIG project,
I would be willing to part with my spare backplane.
--tom
On Monday 14 January 2008 18:45, Richard wrote:
You never know, it might be worth contacting the seller and asking if they can
pull the backplane if it hasn't gone already...
A boardset is indeed better than nothing though. In article
<BAY141-W10B269662BC83BA4F935D986460 at phx.gbl>,
Henk Gooijen <henk.gooijen at hotmail.com> writes:
The cardcage would be difficult,
but probably not impossible, especially
if you had the backplane. With out the (custom to the 11/70)
backplane, you can have man-months of joy-filled wire-wrapping to
create a new one... [...] Nevertheless, a shame that the machine is
scapped and only the boards survived.
Better that than nothing. How hard is it to
get a suitable cabinet
and unibus backplane? (Assuming this is unibus.) 
10:20 a.m.
Tom Uban wrote:
Gordon JC Pearce wrote:
I will be attempting to bid on the boardset, and I would love to acquire
your backplane if I win.
Peace... Sridhar
On Tuesday 15 January 2008 02:36:27 Patrick
Finnegan wrote:
FWIW, I have two 11/70 machines plus a spare backplane. One of my machines
was a complete original, the other I put together from spare parts. Before
anyone dives into this sort of project, they should fully understand what
they are in for. In order to add the conventional core memory used on an
11/70, there is another set of external boxes required as the 11/70 does
not use the ordinary Unibus memory. Then there is the consideration of
power,
front panel, etc.
Still, while I would love to have this set of boards as spares, if they
go for some large price tag and someone needs a backplane for a BIG
project,
I would be willing to part with my spare backplane. On Monday 14 January 2008 18:45, Richard wrote:
You never know, it might be worth contacting the seller and asking if
they can pull the backplane if it hasn't gone already...
A boardset is indeed better than nothing though. In article
<BAY141-W10B269662BC83BA4F935D986460 at phx.gbl>,
Henk Gooijen <henk.gooijen at hotmail.com> writes:
> [...] Nevertheless, a shame that the machine is
> scapped and only the boards survived.
Better that than nothing. How hard is it to get a suitable cabinet
and unibus backplane? (Assuming this is unibus.)
The cardcage would be difficult,
but probably not impossible, especially
if you had the backplane. With out the (custom to the 11/70)
backplane, you can have man-months of joy-filled wire-wrapping to
create a new one...
6028
days inactive
6030
days old
14 comments
10 participants
participants (10)
-
bfranchuk＠jetnet.ab.ca -
ggs＠shiresoft.com -
gordonjcp＠gjcp.net -
henk.gooijen＠hotmail.com -
legalize＠xmission.com -
mcguire＠neurotica.com -
pat＠computer-refuge.org -
ploopster＠gmail.com -
tiggerlasv＠aim.com -
uban＠ubanproductions.com