3phase power for VAXen [was Re: VAX 780 on eBay]

[Chris Zach]

On 1/4/2022 5:17 PM, Rich Alderson via cctalk wrote:
> I've been reading this thread for the last few days, without the time to reply.
> All the statutes of limitations have run out, so I can tell the story; it will
> be clear shortly why I'm piggybacking on Guy's post.

Someday we will all gather around the bonfire, ringed by our black 
helicopters and will share the tale of Doug's KA10 that ran in his 
apartment unit.....

> We did not have a 3phase outlet on the second floor of the building where the
> collection was housed, and there was no room for the first VAX in the small
> computer room on the third floor, so Ian and Keith came up with an alternative:
> They tested all the outlets on the second floor and determined that there were
> three within reach of the room in which Ian was going to work on the 785 which
> were fed from 3 different phases off the big honking breaker panel (200A
> service, IIRC).  Keith put together a box with the appropriate NEMA socket and
> three heavy duty cords feeding into it, which in turn were plugged into three
> outlets on the walls around what eventually became the vintage exhibition hall
> at Living Computers: Museum + Labs (the eventual name of the place after the
> modern exhibit space on the first floor was built).

It was far worse than that....

CZ