What to look for in a PDP machine?

Andy Sporner andy.sporner at networkengines.com
Thu Jun 1 06:01:37 AEST 2000


Could be any number of things...  The cable is probably
a bus connector and the cabinet in the other rack is
an expansion cabinet.  What you are looking at could
be a PDP 11/05 (I used to have one), although since you
didn't mention there being a row of switches across the
front, probably not.  

There are so many different possibilities.  If you could
describe the front of the boxes that are in the rack it
would be very helpful.  The PDP 11 possibilities and fit
in a 5 1/4" (half box) would be a pdp 11/05 (with a 
row of white keys (16 of them), a pdp 11/23 (which is 
mostly white with 3 white keys in a small inset area)
and others that might have a rotary switch or perhaps
a telephone-like keypad).  Otherwise I would wonder if
it is even a DEC machine...  If it has an orange lighted
rocker switch it might be any number of later Q-BUS 
machines....  (and probably so if this has a SCSI device).



Andy

> -----Original Message-----
> From: rdkeys at unity.ncsu.edu [mailto:rdkeys at unity.ncsu.edu]
> Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2000 3:19 PM
> To: pups at minnie.cs.adfa.edu.au
> Cc: rdkeys at unity.ncsu.edu
> Subject: What to look for in a PDP machine?
> 
> 
> Interesting, there may be a PDPsomethingorother machine come 
> available in
> surplus here.  A quick glance at it showed it to be in a 1/2 
> height rack,
> with some custom name that meant nothing to me.  But, it had two rack
> cabinets about 6 inches high each, with definite looking DEC cards,
> 4 wide cards, with an interconnecting cable between the two cases.
> The thing had a half gig scsi drive and scsi tape (60 or 150mb).
> Alas, I was able only to make a quick glance at it, before I had to
> leave.  What might such a critter actually be?  It had half a dozen
> RS232 terminal lines out the back, and a wyse terminal sitting on top
> of the case.  It is not the kind of thing the PeeCee mongers are going
> to dive into, so it might go for a song if I wait a couple of weeks.
> It was not DEC badged, but definitely had what I would interpret as
> DEC boards inside.
> 
> Bob
> 
> 
> 

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