23 Jan
2001
23 Jan
'01
6:37 a.m.
Hi everybody-
I just recently acquired a whole bunch of stuff out of a company's
basement, including a VAX-11/780, VAX-11/750, 4 RA81's, a TU80, a
pdp-11/44, 4 RL02's, an RP06, a TS11, and spare parts and printsets
galore. (Yes, John Foust, the little pdp-11/44 in Milwaukee led to all
that.) All the equipment was brought up a flight of carpeted stairs by a
refrigerator dolly and human power, except the RP06 and the 780 where we
used a come-along and a lifting frame I made. Heavy!
Anyway, the 780 needs a floppy to boot. The previous owner says he
doesn't have it, and I can't find it (although I'm not done searching
yet). Is this the sort of thing that is generically available, on the WWW
for instance, or is it something that is built up specifically for the mix
of options I have in the machine?
Incidentally, does anyone here that has a 780 (I know there are several in
the group) run theirs? It takes 3 phase power, but there are no loads
connected phase-to-phase, only phase-to-neutral (although there is a small
3-phase transformer in the power controller, it could probably be wired to
only use one phase or else bypassed completely) so it can run entirely on
110 volts, at about 60-70 amps continuous draw. I was thinking of using
split-phase 220, putting 2 phases on one hot and 1 on the other, then
putting the Unibus cabinet and disk and tape drives on the hot with only 1
phase on it. I figure this would about balance the draw at 40 amps, 220
volts, which isn't too unreasonable.
Richard Schauer
rws(a)enteract.com
23 Jan
23 Jan
7:55 a.m.
Anyway, the 780 needs a floppy to boot. Is this the
sort
of thing that is generically available, on the WWW for instance
Don't take this for the definitive answer, but...
"S'matter, Don't you think one of us has one?"
I have a collection of old DEC 8"/Vax era at home.
If you don't get lucky elsewhere there may be something
you can use.
I used to have exactly what you wanted in my travel case
in 1982. Since I didn't steal that one from work we'll
see if there's another one from history since (mainly
the MIT swap meet).
John A.
3:08 p.m.
Re: VAX-11/780 boot 8" floppies
The best hit I have is this one:
Feb 25 1981
AS-E989H-YE
RX4 11780 Remote Console
(c) 1978,80 Digital Equipment Corporation
and there is one, other, with handwritten label:
"VMS V3 WCS Boots DR0 BAD"
Speak if'n you want.
John A. (from Home)
3:52 p.m.
Hi Richard,
On Tue, 23 Jan 2001, Richard W. Schauer wrote:
Hi everybody-
I just recently acquired a whole bunch of stuff out of a company's
basement, including a VAX-11/780, VAX-11/750, 4 RA81's, a TU80, a
pdp-11/44, 4 RL02's, an RP06, a TS11, and spare parts and printsets
galore.
Lucky B******D... Nobody in denver has a basement full of neat stuff
like that... cept Will... (haven't forgotten the 11/34 printset yet)
(Yes, John Foust, the little pdp-11/44 in Milwaukee
led to all
that.) All the equipment was brought up a flight of carpeted stairs by a
refrigerator dolly and human power, except the RP06 and the 780 where we
used a come-along and a lifting frame I made. Heavy!
Cool... I'm planning on moving my '780 into the basement with the same
concept...
Anyway, the 780 needs a floppy to boot. The previous
owner says he
doesn't have it, and I can't find it (although I'm not done searching
yet).
I have at least one (in the machine), but it may be bad... I bought one
from ebay, but again, it may be bad... I need a quick
way to hook an
8" floppy up to a running computer to read it...
Anyone know if I can plug an RX01 drive & QBus controller into a uVAX II?
Is this the sort of thing that is generically
available, on the WWW
for instance, or is it something that is built up specifically for the mix
of options I have in the machine?
I haven't found anyplace yet, and once my toilet stops leaking (long
story), I'll be putting together 780 & 750 software and paperware on
a website...
Incidentally, does anyone here that has a 780 (I know
there are several in
the group) run theirs? It takes 3 phase power, but there are no loads
connected phase-to-phase, only phase-to-neutral (although there is a small
3-phase transformer in the power controller, it could probably be wired to
only use one phase or else bypassed completely) so it can run entirely on
110 volts, at about 60-70 amps continuous draw. I was thinking of using
split-phase 220, putting 2 phases on one hot and 1 on the other, then
putting the Unibus cabinet and disk and tape drives on the hot with only 1
phase on it. I figure this would about balance the draw at 40 amps, 220
volts, which isn't too unreasonable.
There is a single unregulated 25V supply (unknown current) which runs off
a three phase x-former... This supply is then regulated down to +15V to
run the airflow and temp switches, and also a 12mA(?) current source for
some reason which escapes me... I think you should disconnect the
three phase transformer before hooking up two phases to the same hot...
My plan is to just set up a new 25V unregulated supply once I figure
out how much current it needs to supply...
Richard Schauer
rws(a)enteract.com
5:34 p.m.
On Tue, 23 Jan 2001, Clint Wolff (VAX collector) wrote:
Actually, it didn't work all that well. If I had to do it all over again,
I'd seriously think about taking the machine to bits. Of course, if you
have something you can fasten the come-along to, it's easier. My lifting
frame was intended to distribute the lifting force laterally on the
bottoms of the walls of the building. The other problem is that there
isn't a good place to pull on the 780; I bent the frame rails somewhat on
the right side. Also it is top-heavy- once when we had to back up a bit
it wanted to flip itself over. It took some persuasion to keep it
sliding.
refrigerator
dolly and human power, except the RP06 and the 780 where we
used a come-along and a lifting frame I made. Heavy!
Cool... I'm planning on moving my '780 into the basement with the same
concept... I have at least one (in the machine), but it may be
bad... I bought one
from ebay, but again, it may be bad... I need a quick way to hook an
8" floppy up to a running computer to read it...
Ebay is the last place I would have thought of, but I guess it figures,
everything else is sold there.
My plan is to just set up a new 25V unregulated supply
once I figure
out how much current it needs to supply...
You could probably do one of two easy things: 1. Unhook two phases and
only run off one. I don't know what the current draw is, but the
transformer may be able to handle it. It goes to a 6-diode bridge
rectifier anyway. 2. (Temporary) Skip the power controller altogether.
Richard Schauer
rws(a)enteract.com
24 Jan
24 Jan
3:07 p.m.
On Tue, 23 Jan 2001, Richard W. Schauer wrote:
This is the only time I've seen them listed, they are backup copies
of the console and a couple diagnostic disks...
I don't think a single phase will rectify to anywhere near 25V dc...
Perhaps two phase (with the third left open) will work...
Another thought I had was to use a power controller from another
machine like a PDP-11... I'll have to check the current carrying
capabilities of them though... I've got four or five of the things
that someone dumped in my office one day ("Well, they say DEC
on them, and you collect DEC stuff") ("DEC COMPUTERS, stupid" under
my breath)...
On Tue, 23 Jan 2001, Clint Wolff (VAX collector) wrote:
Actually, it didn't work all that well. If I had to do it all over again,
I'd seriously think about taking the machine to bits. Of course, if you
have something you can fasten the come-along to, it's easier. My lifting
frame was intended to distribute the lifting force laterally on the
bottoms of the walls of the building. The other problem is that there
isn't a good place to pull on the 780; I bent the frame rails somewhat on
the right side. Also it is top-heavy- once when we had to back up a bit
it wanted to flip itself over. It took some persuasion to keep it
sliding.
Hmmm... I have a return air duct in line with staircase... The plan
is (was?) to chain a pulley to the floor joist inside the duct and
run the cable from the come-along through it and to a nylon tow strap
around the base of the VAX... I'll have to check where the center of
gravity is on the machine at the angle of the stairs, I might need to
raise the strap higher on the side of the machine (thus risking the
bends)...
refrigerator dolly and human power, except the RP06 and the 780 where we
used a come-along and a lifting frame I made. Heavy!
Cool... I'm planning on moving my '780 into the basement with the same
concept... I have at
least one (in the machine), but it may be bad... I bought one
from ebay, but again, it may be bad... I need a quick way to hook an
8" floppy up to a running computer to read it...
Ebay is the last place I would have thought of, but I guess it figures,
everything else is sold there.
My plan is to
just set up a new 25V unregulated supply once I figure
out how much current it needs to supply...
You could probably do one of two easy things: 1. Unhook two phases and
only run off one. I don't know what the current draw is, but the
transformer may be able to handle it. It goes to a 6-diode bridge
rectifier anyway. 2. (Temporary) Skip the power controller altogether.
Richard Schauer
8561
days inactive
8562
days old
5 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
-
allain＠panix.com -
John.Allain＠Donnelley.InfoUSA.Com -
rws＠enteract.com -
vaxman＠qwest.net