Rack-mount or tabletop version of DEC RX50 floppy drive?

[Bob Smith]

I don't recall for certain, what floppy models were done as externals
for the DecMate I or II, but I think there were both RX01 and RX50
boxes as described. I don't recall hard drives til the VT278 desktop
box.
bb
On Tue, Oct 2, 2018 at 8:32 PM Ethan Dicks via cctalk
<cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
>
> On Tue, Oct 2, 2018 at 6:50 PM Eric Smith via cctalk
> <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
> > Did DEC offer a rack-mount or tabletop box version of the RX50 floppy
> > drive, as they did with e.g. the TU58 and TK50 tape drives?
>
> Yes.
>
> > I'm wondering
> > how they expected the RX50 drive to be packaged when used with a Unibus
> > PDP-11 via the RUX50 controller.
>
> We had an external RX50 on our 11/750 at work (so we could cut
> floppies for our MicroVAX customers right from our main machine).  The
> box was the typical external DEC 5.25" drive box of the day, also used
> for TK50 and RD5x drives - it could take a black sled, like the kind
> used with the BA23, and had a PSU inside next to the drive.  In the
> back was a transition board that was different depending on the drive
> type, but typically had between 1 and 3 DD50-P connectors.  We had a
> 10' DD50P cable that went from the back of the drive box to an I/O
> bulkhead plate on the 11/750, then an internal flat cable to the RUX50
> controller.
>
> I don't know the part number for the box, but with the cover off, they
> looked like this:
>
> https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images3/1/0816/09/dec-vax-pdp-rd-tk-drive-shelf_1_2c22716c08caa3df496022a1cd806fce.jpg
>
> (This one has the internal I/O board and cables for an RD5x drive.)
>
> I happen to have at least 3 of these boxes, all have dead PSUs.
> Nothing magical in them - 110/220 VAC inputs, and a single 4-pin Molex
> drive connector with +12V and +5V outputs at a enough amps to drive a
> TK50 or RD51.
>
> We usually positioned the RX50 on top of the 11/750 next to the
> console terminal so we could log in, fire off some DCL scripts and
> make some floppies.   The cable would have let it sit on a nearby
> table or in the next rack over, but not any further than that.
>
> -ethan