26 Sep
2001
26 Sep
'01
5:30 a.m.
OK, I'm thinking of doing a wierd mod on a VT100, just how much room is
inside one of them? I need room for a 7 1/2" x 9" x 2 1/2" board (the
2 1/2" is thanks to the heatsink and RAM), and would also like to be able
to fit in a smallish 250W PS (3 1/2" x 5 1/2" x 6"), and a 3 1/2" HD.
I've got 2 or 3 VT100's, but they're so buried it's going to take a lot
of
work to get to them so was hoping to get an idea if there is room first.
Basically I'm trying to build a PDP-10 into a VT100 by using an Intel
D810EMO MicroATX board.
Zane
--
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator |
| healyzh(a)aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast |
| | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| PDP-10 Emulation and Zane's Computer Museum. |
| http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |
27 Sep
27 Sep
8:06 a.m.
"Zane H. Healy" wrote:
OK, I'm thinking of doing a wierd mod on a VT100, just how much room
is inside one of them? I need room for a 7 1/2" x 9" x 2 1/2" board
(the 2 1/2" is thanks to the heatsink and RAM), and would also like
to be able to fit in a smallish 250W PS (3 1/2" x 5 1/2" x 6"), and
a 3 1/2" HD.
I've put two photos of a topless VT100 in http://vt100.net/zane/ which
might give you some idea of the shape of space available.
On the left hand side of the photos you see the card cage. The space
there is 10.5"H x 10.5"D x 3.25"W (but only 2" unobstructed to the
back). You might be able to make that 2.25"W to the back with a bit of
persuasion.
The PSU occupies the space at the back of the terminal, but only extends
halfway forward, so there is space underneath the flare of the tube of
10"W x 4.75"H x 5"D. Of course you'd not want to disrupt the picture.
(Memo to self: must sort out vertical linearity on mine!)
At the back right hand side (again, as you look at the picture),
underneath the high tension wire to the tube, there is a space 4"W x
3.5"H x 5"D.
Regards,
Paul
28 Sep
28 Sep
12:37 a.m.
Zane H. Healy wrote:
OK, I'm thinking of doing a wierd mod on a VT100,
just how much room is
inside one of them? I need room for a 7 1/2" x 9" x 2 1/2" board (the
2 1/2" is thanks to the heatsink and RAM), and would also like to be able
to fit in a smallish 250W PS (3 1/2" x 5 1/2" x 6"), and a 3 1/2" HD.
Jerome Fine replies:
I don't know if this information will help, but here goes:
The VT103 is based on the VT100 and used the same shell. Inside, the
power supply is a bit more powerful. There is also a small fan just under
the vent holes on the right hand side. In that same area is enough space
for a 4 * 4 Qbus backplane in addition the the normal video interface
board. To be specific, 4 quad Qbus boards can fit there.
In addition, I have also put a 5 1/4" full height hard disk drive under the
tube. I was a VERY, VERY tight squeeze as far as the width of the
drive is concerned. As for the length of the drive, there was a lot of spare
room where the cables were located. At first I used an RD51 and later
upgraded to an RD53. Since power was very limited, I normally supplied
the power to the hard drive via an external PC power supply, but for
short periods of time, I did use the VT103 power supply.
I've got 2 or 3 VT100's, but they're so
buried it's going to take a lot of
work to get to them so was hoping to get an idea if there is room first.
Basically I'm trying to build a PDP-10 into a VT100 by using an Intel
D810EMO MicroATX board.
I hope the above information in helpful.
At one point, I wanted to see how far I could push the envelope. I used
a dual M8192, a DLV11-J, a quad 4 MByte memory card (a friend attached
the extra wires to convert the 18 bit backplane to 22 bits), an RQD11-EC
(quad ESDI hard drive controller) and a DHV11. In this case, the ESDI
hard drives were attached to cables running out the back, as were the
cabinet kits for the DHV11. Power is very limited to 16 amps on the
5 Volts for the VT103. Whenever I used and ESDI hard drive, I always
used an external PC power supply for the power for the ESDI hard drive.
Sincerely yours,
Jerome Fine
1:12 a.m.
At one point, I wanted to see how far I could push the
envelope. I used
a dual M8192, a DLV11-J, a quad 4 MByte memory card (a friend attached
the extra wires to convert the 18 bit backplane to 22 bits), an RQD11-EC
(quad ESDI hard drive controller) and a DHV11. In this case, the ESDI
hard drives were attached to cables running out the back, as were the
cabinet kits for the DHV11. Power is very limited to 16 amps on the
5 Volts for the VT103. Whenever I used and ESDI hard drive, I always
used an external PC power supply for the power for the ESDI hard drive.
Sincerely yours,
Jerome Fine
One guy in Sweden put a uVaxII in the VT100 with IIRC a DZV11.
I had the wire list for the backplane mods but I think I lost it.
Bill
--
d|i|g|i|t|a|l had it THEN. Don't you wish you could still buy it now!
bpechter@shell.monmouth.com|pechter@pechter.dyndns.org
1:50 a.m.
Bill Pechter wrote:
One guy in Sweden put a uVaxII in the VT100 with IIRC
a DZV11.
I had the wire list for the backplane mods but I think I lost it.
Jerome Fine replies:
Why did DEC not make such low cost systems available for hobby
users?
I also heard that someone down under (Australia) also did so with a
VT103 backplane. Seems that the first two slots need to be ABCD,
but I have no idea at all. Maybe not since the memory access is via
the cable over the top. Adding an ESDI controller and a DHV11
would make that quite powerful and with a DHQ11, there would
even be room for a TKQ50.
However, with a uVAX II CPU, and especially with an ESDI controller
(i.e. with just an ordinary PDP-11 CPU), I would use an external PC
power supply for the hard drives and keep them outside the VT103.
Plus, give each ESDI hard drive its own fan.
I do that in any case even with a BA123 (i.e. put the ESDI hard
drives on an external PC power supply) since I have had two power
supplies on a BA123 go on me while I was using the internal power for
just 8 boards, an RX50 and a TK70.
2:54 a.m.
Bill Pechter
wrote:
One guy in Sweden put a uVaxII in the VT100 with
IIRC a DZV11.
I had the wire list for the backplane mods but I think I lost it.
Jerome Fine replies:
Why did DEC not make such low cost systems available for hobby
users? 
7:44 a.m.
Bill Pechter wrote:
One guy in Sweden put a uVaxII in the VT100 with
IIRC a DZV11.
I had the wire list for the backplane mods but I think I lost it.
Jerome Fine replies:
Why did DEC not make such low cost systems available for hobby
users? 
2 Oct
2 Oct
3:01 a.m.
At 12:44 PM 9/28/01 -0700, Mike Ford wrote:
I think base Teraks were about $20,000 circa 1979.
Not quite for the hobby market.
- John
Bad management,
no vision. The VT103 supply barely was enough
for the 11/23 and was designed to handle stuff like hasp
printing at IBM shops via RSX11-S downloaded apps with network booting.
What about the Terak?
28 Sep
28 Sep
12:55 p.m.
Bill Pechter wrote:
Jerome Fine
replies:
Why did DEC not make such low cost systems available for hobby
users?
Bad management, no vision. The VT103 supply barely was enough
for the 11/23 and was designed to handle stuff like hasp
printing at IBM shops via RSX11-S downloaded apps with network booting. 
4:24 p.m.
New subject: Pre-Ebay Offer
Hi,
I'm preparing to move and while packing I ran across several VHS tapes
which I would like to offer to the mailing list first before considering
Ebay, all tapes are $5 each plus shipping or all for $30 plus shipping:
MS Win NT Training (The Domain Enviroment)
IBM AS/400 Advanced Server 1994 Challenge
Lotus Notes: Fastest Way to Responsive Organization
IBM PS/2 Model L40 SX Laptop Service Training
Compaq STIMAC Video 1 & 2 (9/21/93)
Compaq Removal & Replacement Procedures for the LTE
Apple 100 Macintosh Service Course April 1990 (The Shocking Truth)
Apple 100 Macintosh Service Course April 1990 (Intro to Apple Service
Training)
29 Sep
29 Sep
1:28 a.m.
New subject: Pre-Ebay Offer
Hi Curt,
I have yet to receive the Canon Cat video and papers we agreed were
included with the Canon Cat I purchased from you at VCFe several months
ago. What's the problem?
Sincerely,
Tom
Applefritter
www.applefritter.com
1:29 a.m.
New subject: Pre-Ebay Offer
I have yet to receive the Canon Cat...
That was supposed to be a private message. I'm so sorry.
Tom
Applefritter
www.applefritter.com
8482
days inactive
8488
days old
11 comments
9 participants
participants (9)
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celigne＠tinyworld.co.uk -
curt＠atari-history.com -
healyzh＠aracnet.com -
jfoust＠threedee.com -
jhfine＠idirect.com -
mikeford＠socal.rr.com -
owad＠applefritter.com -
pechter＠bg-tc-ppp1657.monmouth.com -
pechter＠bg-tc-ppp494.monmouth.com