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11/34a in need of rescue - Coachella Valley, CA
- Thread starter kgober
- Start date
ClassicHasClass
Veteran Member
While I'm not terribly far from this, I have nowhere to put it. I've got a PDP-11 rotting in my own storage unit I've yet to power up myself.
NF6X
Veteran Member
legalize
Experienced Member
As I said in email, sweet!
Also, looking at that twitter thread gave me a tip to possibly rescuing 2x PDP-11/34s in SLC, so double sweetness!
I've been looking for a UNIBUS PDP-11 because the VT11 graphics board set is UNIBUS only.
Also, looking at that twitter thread gave me a tip to possibly rescuing 2x PDP-11/34s in SLC, so double sweetness!
I've been looking for a UNIBUS PDP-11 because the VT11 graphics board set is UNIBUS only.
legalize
Experienced Member
@tradde I can't send you private messages anymore because this forum claims your private storage space is exhausted. LOL. I don't know why we have limits here when 2 TB drives are like ~$60?
NF6X
Veteran Member
A small status update:
I've been doing cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning. The Kennedy 9000 tape drive has a new set of hub clamping O-rings, and it can now load a tape and move it around using the test mode buttons. My first attempt to power up the CPU resulted in dimming a light on the same circuit while the main power relay rapidly clattered... I turned it off before anything blew. That may have been just a matter of trying to run it off an AC circuit that couldn't provide its starting surge current, but it did prompt me to dig inside the CPU cabinet and examine/test/reform most of the large electrolytic capacitors. I found two bad ones in the -15V regulator and replaced them. As of last night, the CPU powers up and enters the console emulator from its bootstrap module, and serial communication works over the console port. I have not yet tried powering up either the Fujitsu M2284K hard drive or the System Industries 9400 SMD controller.
The card configuration is:
It's a nicely configured system! RAM is maxed out (I think), and it has 16 serial lines plus the console port. I presume that the Emulex SC11 was originally connected to a single drive outside of the rack; the 60-pin control cable and one 26-pin data cable were left dangling. Amusingly, the 9400 controller and M2284K drive are right next to each other in the rack, but they're connected with something like 20 feet of ribbon cable! :D
I figure I'll probably only keep one SMD controller in the system; I don't know yet whether it'll be the Emulex one or the System Industries one. Keeping the Emulex one would free up about 5U of rack space, since the 9400 lives in its own cabinet. I have an RL11 controller that I may stick in so I can use an RL02 and/or an emulation of one. I'd like to acquire a Pertec interface tape card so I can also plug in one of my Kennedy 9600 drives. I may pull out one of the DZ11 cards to free up a slot and drop power supply load, since 8 ports is probably about 7 more than I need. Hmm, I might add an RX01/02 floppy drive. I think I have an RX11 card.
I've been doing cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning. The Kennedy 9000 tape drive has a new set of hub clamping O-rings, and it can now load a tape and move it around using the test mode buttons. My first attempt to power up the CPU resulted in dimming a light on the same circuit while the main power relay rapidly clattered... I turned it off before anything blew. That may have been just a matter of trying to run it off an AC circuit that couldn't provide its starting surge current, but it did prompt me to dig inside the CPU cabinet and examine/test/reform most of the large electrolytic capacitors. I found two bad ones in the -15V regulator and replaced them. As of last night, the CPU powers up and enters the console emulator from its bootstrap module, and serial communication works over the console port. I have not yet tried powering up either the Fujitsu M2284K hard drive or the System Industries 9400 SMD controller.
The card configuration is:
- KD11-EA CPU (2 cards)
- M9301-YF bootstrap/terminator
- M7859 KY11-LB programmer's console
- M7850 MM11-BP/CP parity card
- Two aftermarket RAM cards totaling 128k x 18 RAM
- Emulex SC11 SMD controller, not connected to any drive
- M7856 DL11-W real-time clock and serial console
- 2x Plessey DZ11 8-port serial card clones
- Emulex TC11 with PE (1600BPI)
- System Industries 9400 SMD controller, connected to Fujitsu M2284K
It's a nicely configured system! RAM is maxed out (I think), and it has 16 serial lines plus the console port. I presume that the Emulex SC11 was originally connected to a single drive outside of the rack; the 60-pin control cable and one 26-pin data cable were left dangling. Amusingly, the 9400 controller and M2284K drive are right next to each other in the rack, but they're connected with something like 20 feet of ribbon cable! :D
I figure I'll probably only keep one SMD controller in the system; I don't know yet whether it'll be the Emulex one or the System Industries one. Keeping the Emulex one would free up about 5U of rack space, since the 9400 lives in its own cabinet. I have an RL11 controller that I may stick in so I can use an RL02 and/or an emulation of one. I'd like to acquire a Pertec interface tape card so I can also plug in one of my Kennedy 9600 drives. I may pull out one of the DZ11 cards to free up a slot and drop power supply load, since 8 ports is probably about 7 more than I need. Hmm, I might add an RX01/02 floppy drive. I think I have an RX11 card.