RC11 controller (Was: Reproduction DEC 144-lamp indicator panels)

[Paul Koning]

> On Dec 9, 2021, at 11:15 PM, Jay Jaeger via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
> 
> On 12/9/2021 7:49 PM, Noel Chiappa via cctalk wrote:
>>     > From: Steven Malikoff
>>     > Was there ever an indicator panel for the RC11? .. I have a set of RC11
>>     > modules .. No backplane though. I've not found any docs for these, I suppose
>>     > they're probably on bitsavers and have overlooked them.
>> Looking at the manual and engineering drawings (at BitSavers, as you guessed), no lights.
>> I've added links to those to the CHWiki RC11 page:
>>   https://gunkies.org/wiki/RC11_disk_controller
>> The engineering drawings have the wirelist for the backplane, so it would be
>> possible to wire a new one. (I'm in the process of doing that for my KE11-A.)
>> Not sure it would be much use without an RS64 drive, though.
>> 	Noel
> 
> One could perhaps emulate the RS64 data stream using a fast-enough micro, ala the MFM emulator.

Quite easily, I'm sure.  The RC11 runs at a word per 16 microseconds, a megabit per second.  The RF11 transfer rate is the same.  So either one could easily be emulated: a $4 Raspberry Pico is more than enough for the task (the BeagleBone of the MFM emulator would be massive overkill).

	paul