Floppy drives for uVAX II

From: Jerome Fine <jhfine_at_idirect.com>
Date: Tue Dec 21 08:34:16 1999

>John Lawson wrote:

> Greetingz classiccmpistas.. I am in the market for a floppy drive
> for the MicroVax II... the machine I wish to add to has a TK50 and
> an RD54 (I think) and a Cipher 880 looking like a TS11.
>
> Even if there are aftermarket units existing, I would still like to
> get a DEC unit. I saw one on a nice uVax at one of the recent TRW
> swaps here in SoCal, but its custodian wanted $300 for the chassis
> and was rather offended when I suggested that he had got the decimal
> point shifted one decade to the right.. ;o
>
> Is anything other than the physical drive needed? Cards? Cables?
> Drivers? VouDou/Santeria rites?.. (and if so, a good source for live
> chickens in the LA area...?)

Jerome Fine replies:

If your question about a floppy drive for the MicroVAX II is in respect
of a 5 1/4" drive, then the RQDX3 will accept either an RX50 or an
RX33 (either single or dual). You require only the usual 34 pin cable
for either drive, except that the connections on the drive side are different
for the RX33 as opposed to the RX50. This assumes that you really do
have an RD54 in a BA123 box (you mention at least 3 drives and a BA23
box allows only two drives - opps, I just noticed that the 3rd drive is a
tape drive - not sure how big that is). If it actually is a BA23, you can
still hang the floppy drive outside the box and have the cables running
into the I/O distribution panel inside. If you need additional help
with the cables, let us know more about the hardware configuration.

I have a few spare RX50 drives which I could send, but I presume you
would be able to obtain locally. If you can't find an RX33, then I may
be able to purchase one for you. I bought 2 * RX33 drives about 3 years
ago and was rather annoyed about the lack of a box. So I took an old
box from a bad RX50 drive and bolted both RX33 drives inside. The
cables then stuck outside the box. I don't have the time this century to
put another pair together, but next century, I could find some time.

Sincerely yours,

Jerome Fine
Received on Tue Dec 21 1999 - 08:34:16 GMT