TK50Z-GA and MicroVax 3100/90?

From: Christopher Smith <csmith_at_amdocs.com>
Date: Wed May 22 11:12:20 2002

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ethan Dicks [mailto:erd_6502_at_yahoo.com]

> Perhaps. Large RD-series drives are somewhat rare these days.

I will say that with a (pretty common) seagate 40M disk, you
can get a bare install of VMS 5.5 on there, and that's more
than enough to drive a tk50 and transfer files to other systems
over DECNet.

Could also netboot it from the other system.

> single memory card over 4MB (and only one ethernet module). The uVAX

Really? I don't believe I've ever seen one without the ethernet module.
That is to say, the cable that comes out of the ethernet ports on all
of the ones I've seen is always plugged into something. I know that the
ethernet was optional, and that the co-ax/aui ports were there whether
the board is there or not.

> MMJ adapter is also somewhat hard to find unless you get it with the
> computer (it fits over the DA15/DE9 and give you three serial ports
> from the mouse/keyboard/console ports)

Were they sold apart from the systems? I wouldn't expect them to be
available in most cases apart from a system that was sold as a MicroVAX.

That said, DEC was supposedly very prolific with these systems, and you
ought to be able to get plenty of parts for them. The extreme
configurations (color graphics, 8/12[?]MB memory options, etc) are going
to be more difficult. The median seems to be b&w VAXStation, ethernet,
4M RAM option. That kind of thing ought to be pretty easy to find.

The "box" that the 2000s set on, which exposed the SCSI port, etc, is a
bit harder to find, but there are a few around. More common on the
"MicroVAX" variant, so if you have the choice, go for one of these.
(Unless, of course, the VAXStation would give you the color framebuffer,
or a large memory board)

Also, you have a better chance of finding a disk in the "MicroVAX" systems,
too. The VAXStations (more common too, I think) were lots of times run
diskless. It's interesting, because they put "load boards" in them for
that. Basically these are resistor packs that load the PSU up so that it
won't panic due to the lack of disks. They're nice to have for -- for
instance -- running a system with no disk, or use with Wolfgang Moeller's
SCSI drivers for these systems. (Which I've not tried yet, but will
eventually, supposedly, you can put SCSI disks in them that way. It's
_very_ unsupported, of course :)

> If all you want is a disk formatter, though, a uVAX-2000 with no
> ethernet, 4MB of RAM and no disk should be cheap.

Honestly, any 2000 you find will probably be reasonably cheap (like in the
$20 range, max) At best, you'll find one in a scrap pile somewhere.
They're solid systems, so even if it's gotten left in a warehouse for ages,
I wouldn't expect much trouble with it.

Chris


Christopher Smith, Perl Developer
Amdocs - Champaign, IL

/usr/bin/perl -e '
print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n");
'
 
-------------- next part --------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The information contained in this message is proprietary of Amdocs,
protected from disclosure, and may be privileged.
The information is intended to be conveyed only to the designated recipient(s)
of the message. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient,
you are hereby notified that any dissemination, use, distribution or copying of
this communication is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful.
If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately
by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer.
Thank you.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Received on Wed May 22 2002 - 11:12:20 BST