new acquisition: an 11/73 running RSX-11 v4.6 and a question on cihper tapes & CDC SMD disks/controllers

From: John A. Dundas III <dundas_at_caltech.edu>
Date: Fri Dec 6 16:10:00 2002

At 10:02 AM -0800 12/6/02, David HM Spector wrote:
>I just got a new acquisition -- a PDP11/73 (born an 11/23 plus but
>upgraded) -- up and running.

Congratulations. I too have a /73; it's a lot of fun.

>Its an interesting little machine:
>
> Emulex HD controller (not SMD) -- model not (yet) known

This is the thing to explore next. In my case I have an Emulex SC02/C. It
is an SMD disk controller that acts like an RK611 (RK06/07) controller.

> Printronix P6000 ~400lpm line printer (biiig data center cabinet ..
>dot matrix, circa-1985)

I could be wrong, but I think that's a P600. The 600 lpm version of the
P300 (otherwise identical). I broke my back (literally) on one of these.

>It has some flavor of winchester that looks to the OS like an RA81 (but
>is a 5/25" HDA -- I haven't disassembled every part of the rack yet).
>Also in its low-boy case are two CDC SMD "Fixed Storage Disks" disks
>(27"+ deep, > 50 lbs, SMD interface) for which I have an empty slot but
>no controller for. The model # on the disks is: 72859381.
>
>
>Does anyone have any ideas on these disks and what kind of controller
>would bring these CDC disks back to life..? (anyone got controllers to
>trade? I have all sorts of goodies...) Als, any online pointers to
>maint manuals for the tape drive..?

Again, I also have a CDC drive hooked to the SMD controller. Don't have
the model handy, but I think what you have above is the serial number, not
the model. I don't have any docs, but am looking for some too.

As others have pointed out, probably the best thing is to find a SCSI
controller and ditch SMD. I have a Dilog SQ706A, for which I am unable to
find docs. However it does appear to be a SCSI controller emulating MSCP.
I recommend finding a suitable SCSI controller.

Good luck,

John
Received on Fri Dec 06 2002 - 16:10:00 GMT