[pups] Introducing myself (long)

[Johnny Billquist]

On Fri, 2 Mar 2001, Jeffrey S. Sharp wrote:

> Hello there!  I just subscribed to the list, so I thought a message of 
> introduction would be in order.  That, and I've got about 1.3 sagans of 
> questions to ask :).

Nice to hear from ya. Ask as much as you feel like. I might also point out
the info-pdp11 list, which harbours all kind of pdp-11 fanatics, not just
the unix types. :-)

> * A kind person has offered to sell me an 11/70 (my first
> choice) system with a TE16 and TM03.  What does the tape drive look like?

First of all 11/70s are nice machines. But expect to use a soldering iron
once in a while, and try to get some spare cards. Also, I hope you have a
large house, and *lots* of electricity...

The TE16 is an upright standing drive with vaccum colons. It's a normal
full height 19" cabinet.

> * The TM03 is described as a 'formatter'.  Does 'format' in this case 
> mean 'prepare the tape for use' like a low-level PC hard drive format, or is it 
> some other meaning?  What does the TM03 look like?

The TM03 is a formatter in the sense that it interfaces to the massbus on
one side, and to a pertec "unformatted" interface on the other side.
It's a "small" box that resides in the lower part of the TE16 cabinet. You
normally won't ever look at it, except when it breakes.

> * 'Setting up Unix - Sixth Edition' says that you can install from a TU10 or 
> TU16.  Does this mean that the TE16 would be out of the question?  How is a 
> TE16 different from a TU16?

They don't differ.

> * I want to run V6 on 3 to 4 RK05s.  How many can be put into a system?  I need 
> a RK11-D controller for this, right?

I think each RK11-D can control up to eight drives.

> * From what I can tell, 2.11BSD needs a bit more disk space than RK05s can 
> offer.  Are there any drives that are big enough but still adhere to the older 
> black color scheme?  (Superficial, I know, but I want my system to be pretty.  
> I don't know how well a white RA81 would fit in with everything else... :)

If you want the "look", you should go with RP06 drives.
They fit 2.11, they are supported, and they are "pretty".
However, they *do* require 3-phase power, they stand on their own at the
floor, and they are *heavy*.
In exact numbers, an RP06 holds 176MB.

All "newer" drives are the off-white that DEC adopted.

> * What kind of controller would one of the above drives need?

RA81: UDA-50
RP06: Massbus (RH70 in your case)

> * The 11/70 system in question had its front panel replaced with a Datasystem 
> 570 panel at some point.  How hard would it be to find an original 11/70 front 
> panel to put back on it?

Could be tricky...

	Johnny

Johnny Billquist                  || "I'm on a bus
                                  ||  on a psychedelic trip
email: bqt at update.uu.se           ||  Reading murder books
pdp is alive!                     ||  tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol


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