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DEC RL01/RL02 disk emulator with PCB board

Hello again, the RL utilities are now available, www.2jo.de/pdp11/rlutils/rlutils.zip and can also be
downloaded from my homepage. In cooperation they were completed by pdp11@2jo.de and consists of 3 programs:
DSK2DEC.exe : Convert DISK-Image-FILE-.DSK ===to===> RL-EMULATOR-FILE-.DEC
DEC2DSK.exe : Convert RL-EMULATOR-FILE-.DEC ===to===> DISK-Image-FILE-.DSK
RLTest.exe : Test program for RL-EMULATOR-FILE-.DEC to check CRC and data consistency.
To start these programs, just open via windows a DOS window(cmd). If you start the programs without
any arguments, it will provide you with details. The programs automatically distinguish between RL01 size
and RL02 size. Example:
D:\Board\rlutils>DSK2DEC.exe
DSK2DEC V1.1 (c) 2017 Jonny Jonas www.2jo.de
Disk Image Converter for SIMH .DSK Files to .DEC Files
usage: DSK2DEC filename
I have decided that I do not integrate these programs into my RL-emulator. It makes no sense and
runs offline under windows much more effective.
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Since I received no messages about additions, remarks, problems I assume that everything is ok with
my RL-Emulator. I will publish updates via my homepage. I'm here for a summer break, because I have
to take care of a GT40 to repair it and bring it up and running with the well-known lunar-lander.
Can be, that I will have some questions to you, Reinhard
 
Hi Ken:
I came across the RL emulator thread and I am interested in getting the RL drive<->RLV12 interface board discussed in Reinhard Heuberger website and git repository. From my readings on this thread, it seems you are the developer/supplier of the interface board.
What are the options you offer for getting the board (if still available)? Bare boards, parts list, kit form, fully assembled? costs?
I am an EE and open to all options.
Thank you for your help
Best regards,
John Hudak
 
Hi Ken:
I came across the RL emulator thread and I am interested in getting the RL drive<->RLV12 interface board discussed in Reinhard Heuberger website and git repository. From my readings on this thread, it seems you are the developer/supplier of the interface board.
What are the options you offer for getting the board (if still available)? Bare boards, parts list, kit form, fully assembled? costs?
I am an EE and open to all options.
Thank you for your help
Best regards,
John Hudak
Please email me directly: jhudak at gmail
THanks
 
Hi John,
Sorry for the delay in responding. I think I have board(s) and some, if not all, parts as not everyone who signed up when I coordinated the buy last year participated. I'll check this weekend and post here with my findings.
-Ken
 
I dug out my project box and found 3 bare boards and many of the parts. As it looks like John Hudak and Joe Meyer have inquired in the last couple of weeks, I can provide these to them. Should anyone on this forum be interested in continuing to provide boards and parts, I'll be happy to assist and can provide documentation, board manufacturer info, etc. I enjoy knowing the old DEC stuff has such a dedicated following.
Regards to all "DEC heads",
-Ken

Oh! I had to edit this to give Reinhard a shout out for his incredible work to put the RL Emulator out there ... and he keeps on advancing it! Please, give him a "thumbs up".
 
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A fantastic device. I don't see any recent posts and was wondering if this device is still viable. I've got a PDP 11/23 without mass storage. It does have an M8061 RLV12 RL01/RL02 disk controller.

Are Gerber files available? I haven't found any yet. They may not be necessary if the device requires updating. Has anyone checked availability of the parts lately? I suppose I could lay out a new PCB with updated components. I'd like to avoid that if there's a simpler method. Of course I'd share whatever I come up with if there's interest. It may take some time though as I have a full time job.

It might be more fun to find an RL01 or RL02. I've seen some available in California. I'm in South Carolina. Too far to drive.
 
I don't know how DREM can simulate/emulate an RL01/RL02 disk drive in realtime
and in a mixed environment of real and simulated RL drives. It is also not
clear to me how the POWER OK signal is controlled for the master(clone)/slave(emulator)
mode. Everything is correctly implemented in my design. But this is no longer important
to me and I definitely never want to discuss the different designs again. Unfortunately,
DREM is not open source either. Good success with the DREM based RL02 emulation.
 
I think mixed environment is not supported. It is not mentioned in the doc. But DREM officially supports Emulating 4 RL drives. It is well documented and it has specifically for RL emulation a 40 Pin header. If its open source or not I don‘t care. I don‘t either see more difficultiy to emulate RL Drives compared to emulate MFM and RLL drives as does DREM as well.

I‘m however still looking for a RLV12 as mentioned and not only to test DREM.
 
Reinhard has kindly sent me an assembled RL01/RL02 Emulator Board (Version 2.0).
I bought a Terasic DE-10 Lite, programmed the V2.2 firmware and plugged it into the emulator.

On the bench it appears functional, but I have not yet plugged it into my Unibus M7762 (RL11) controller.
I don't yet know the status of the M7762 controller and will carefully test it standalone (and if necessary repair it) before I plug it into my PDP-11/34.
After running RL11 controller diags I will make the cables and hook it up to the emulator.

Reinhard mentioned on 6 July 2017 that he has some RT-11 images on his website (RL02_0.DEC , RL02_2.DEC , RL02_3.DEC).
These images are no longer visible on his site. Has anyone downloaded these and share them?

I have also tried to rebuild the firmware using Quartus Prime Lite 16.1.
I succeeded rebuilding and loading version 1.5, but it appeared that the NIOSII software was not running.

When I copied the version 2.2 update files over the 1.5 files as suggested by the Readme, the Quartus build failed moaning about a missing "My_MFM_DEcoder_V2_2_MAX.bdf".
Indeed the file is not part of the set of files in the version 2.2 update.
Any ideas?

Interestingly the project is a mix of Verilog and schematic design. I wonder what the motivation was to do this mixed implementation.

Could those who built and use Reinhard's emulator please speak up and share their experiences with the emulator.

Thanks
Tom
 
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Hmmm - we are dealing with computers that are 50+ years old, so 6 years is not that much.
The DE10-Nano is expensive but the DE10_Lite is only about 50% of the price, so for someone on a lowly Australian pension it is much more affordable.
Lot of people have bought a kit from Ken, so I am very surprised about the silence when I ask about the emulator.
Hi there @kenwickvs, @Henk, @Elsid, @8008guy, @pbirkel@gmail.com , @jackrubin, @Mal, @m_thompson, etc. Are any of you still alive and care to comment?
 
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