9 Dec
2003
9 Dec
'03
10:08 p.m.
A friend who manages some communications systems expects to be decommissioning 3 or 4 PDP
11/84 systems soon (~ end of 2003). These systems have been functioning for
approaching-two-decades in a (presumably) good environment.
Sorry to be a little vague on details (I'm recalling this from a quick verbal
discussion) but each system is something like:
PDP 11/84 CPU
RL02 removable-platter disc drive
MD17 / MD175 fixed disc (?)
tape drive (9-track I believe, but that seems a little odd, like it would more likely be
those mid-80s DEC cartridges)
other I/O interfaces presumably
I don't know what OS they were running/installed with. Email me and I'll try to
get clarifications if desired.
I know these aren't the most desirable units of the PDP 11 family (too young and no
blinkenlights) (poor not-so-little things), but any takers for adoption? Any bits or
modules to be rescued for someone?
Location is Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Price is take-it-away-it's-yours (unless we can
twist your arm into making a donation to the radio museum with which we are associated).
(Smaller bits I will consider doing for the price of shipping.)
--------------------
http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~hilpert/eec
10 Dec
10 Dec
12:58 a.m.
Brent Hilpert wrote:
A friend who manages some communications systems
expects to be decommissioning 3 or 4 PDP 11/84 systems soon (~ end of 2003). These systems
have been functioning for approaching-two-decades in a (presumably) good environment.
Sorry to be a little vague on details (I'm recalling this from a quick verbal
discussion) but each system is something like:
PDP 11/84 CPU
RL02 removable-platter disc drive
MD17 / MD175 fixed disc (?)
tape drive (9-track I believe, but that seems a little odd, like it would more likely be
those mid-80s DEC cartridges)
Probably a TSV05. Fairly common on 11/8*'s. 9-track autoload drive,
1600bpi only.
Could be just about anything else without a description. It may be a TK50
you are thinking of, or the nasty TK25.
other I/O interfaces presumably
I don't know what OS they were running/installed with. Email me and I'll try to
get clarifications if desired.
I know these aren't the most desirable units of the PDP 11 family (too young and no
blinkenlights) (poor not-so-little things), but any takers for adoption? Any bits or
modules to be rescued for someone?
Nice machines, and require a lot less power to run than an 11/70. Also a lot
less room. Has 22-bit bus, and split I&D space.
Location is Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Price is
take-it-away-it's-yours (unless we can twist your arm into making a donation to the
radio museum with which we are associated). (Smaller bits I will consider doing for the
price of shipping.)
3:27 a.m.
Kevin,
sounds like you're thinking of the 11/83: the TSV05 would be Qbus, as
are 22-bit buses. The 11/84 should be UNIBUS, if I am not mistaken. So
it should be TSU05 then (same drive, different controller). I/D space
and large memory is still right, of course. Nice machine for sure! I
wish I could afford having one sent to Germany!
Andreas
Kevin Handy schrieb:
Brent Hilpert wrote:
A friend who manages some communications systems
expects to be decommissioning 3 or 4 PDP 11/84 systems soon (~ end of 2003). These systems
have been functioning for approaching-two-decades in a (presumably) good environment.
Sorry to be a little vague on details (I'm recalling this from a quick verbal
discussion) but each system is something like:
PDP 11/84 CPU
RL02 removable-platter disc drive
MD17 / MD175 fixed disc (?)
tape drive (9-track I believe, but that seems a little odd, like it would more
likely be those mid-80s DEC cartridges)
Probably a TSV05. Fairly common on 11/8*'s. 9-track autoload drive,
1600bpi only.
Could be just about anything else without a description. It may be a TK50
you are thinking of, or the nasty TK25.
other I/O interfaces presumably
I don't know what OS they were running/installed with. Email me and I'll try to
get clarifications if desired.
I know these aren't the most desirable units of the PDP 11 family (too young and no
blinkenlights) (poor not-so-little things), but any takers for adoption? Any bits or
modules to be rescued for someone?
Nice machines, and require a lot less power to run than an 11/70. Also a lot
less room. Has 22-bit bus, and split I&D space.
>Location is Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Price is take-it-away-it's-yours (unless we
can twist your arm into making a donation to the radio museum with which we are
associated). (Smaller bits I will consider doing for the price of shipping.)
>
>
>
8:35 p.m.
Over half-a-dozen people have expressed interest in everything from entire systems to
simply manuals. I'm quite surprised by the number of responses! ... I may need a small
spreadsheet to keep it all organised.
To everyone who responded: I phoned today and the principal in this is away on holidays
for another week or so. When he returns I will endeavor to find out more precisely what is
available, when, and for how long, then start trying to figure out how it can be
distributed. Priority will be given to complete systems, ahead of breaking them up. (Even
with that said there may be more demand than supply (I was expecting the reverse!).)
(Thanks also for all those responses about 9-track tapes.)
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3 comments
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participants (3)
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Andreas.Freiherr＠Vishay.com -
hilpert＠cs.ubc.ca -
kth＠srv.net