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Is this a RX01 ?

leaknoil said:
What's the "Classic" thing about ? I don't have physical access to it so, I can't check the label.

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Hard to say for sure. One of mine says "Digital RX01". The other has not badge at all.
Most likely it's still an RX01. Even if it's an RX02 I think they can be switched to an
RX01 mode.
 
I actually went and picked it up and the tag does say RX01BA so, I guess it is. I'm still curious about the "Classic" thing. I can't find any pictures of RX01 online that don't say RX01.
 
What is the story behind this RX01? What kind of system did this come out of? The "classic" logo sticker is curious. If this unit is offered to you, you should take it (I sure would.)

Lou
 
It was from a ecycle place and its in my living room now. It just got dropped off and nobody knows anything about it. As far as anyone knows it came alone. That's always the answer though. Nobody actually keeps track of stuff like that.

I should add this may be the only upside of this recession. Before scrap metal prices bottomed out these guys wouldn't even talk to people that wanted to buy computers. The recyclers just moved it in the front door and 20 minutes later out the back. Now they can't sell it. Call your local county electronic recyclers and say you are looking for old computers. You will get a much warmer welcome then a year ago.

Of course, they aren't going to ship or warranty anything but, show up with cash and now they will let you dig around.
 
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DEC Classic drive

DEC Classic drive

Your drives are from a DEC Classic "personal computer" system - it was built into a desk with a PDP-8/A hidden behind the footwell on the right. This setup is currently wedged into a corner in my basement and I can't show the back where the 8/A was installed. The user had no direct access to the computer - there is a remote power-on and reset button just to the left of the console keyboard. Normally, the VT-52 sits in a slight recess and the drives sat next to the user with open deskspace above. The 8/E is sitting there for lack of space but has nothing to do with this system.

There's room for a second set of drives (4 drives total) below the existing set. I'd love to give your drives a home if you wish - or, a lot easier, maybe we could just swap faceplates - your "Classic" for a standard RX01-02 version.

Jack
 

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jackrubin said:
Your drives are from a DEC Classic "personal computer" system - it was built into a desk with a PDP-8/A hidden behind the footwell on the right. This setup is currently wedged into a corner in my basement and I can't show the back where the 8/A was installed. The user had no direct access to the computer - there is a remote power-on and reset button just to the left of the console keyboard. Normally, the VT-52 sits in a slight recess and the drives sat next to the user with open deskspace above. The 8/E is sitting there for lack of space but has nothing to do with this system.

There's room for a second set of drives (4 drives total) below the existing set. I'd love to give your drives a home if you wish - or, a lot easier, maybe we could just swap faceplates - your "Classic" for a standard RX01-02 version.

Jack
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That looks alot like my Dec Datasystem 310. And sure enough on the front of the
manual is a Dec Classic, and shows that logo. Never noticed that before. Mine do
not have Classic on it, since I guess these were for business. It ran COS and used
Cobol. Did the Classic come with the optional user panel, or just the basic? I was
finally able to locate the optional panel and added it to the 8a. But I prefer real
blinkenlights. :)
 
Tim,

My system came from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and was clearly an "educational" system. It ended up with the Carleton Radio Club and the patch panel in the second drive bay was part of a RTTY interface. I think I got some related software with the system but I can't remember if it was just code practice or an actual RTTY transmit/receive program.

The panel was just the minimal "operator's panel" and in normal use is completely hidden inside and behind the machine. I also snagged a "programmer's panel" but it doesn't get much use.

"Someday" the 8/E will be listening to through an R-390A and talking to an M28 teletype.

Jack
KC9HVE
 
jackrubin said:
Tim,

My system came from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and was clearly an "educational" system. It ended up with the Carleton Radio Club and the patch panel in the second drive bay was part of a RTTY interface. I think I got some related software with the system but I can't remember if it was just code practice or an actual RTTY transmit/receive program.

The panel was just the minimal "operator's panel" and in normal use is completely hidden inside and behind the machine. I also snagged a "programmer's panel" but it doesn't get much use.

"Someday" the 8/E will be listening to through an R-390A and talking to an M28 teletype.

Jack
KC9HVE
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Someday? What does it need? I see what looks like an RK05 disk pack sitting on top
of the RTTY interface.
 
jackrubin said:
"It" needs a metric buttload of round tuits. The disk pack is indeed for an RKO5 but the platter is ruined and due for replacement.
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Those "round tuits" will get you every time. :) What does the 8e have in it? How much
memory? Is is core? So you have an RK05 for it? You say replacement for the disk pack?
I am guessing you really mean a different pack? Or do you know some place that can
resurface a pack?
 
I have an RK05, though at the moment it is 550 miles away. The pack is a 16 sector pack and I figure to replace the platter with one from a PDP-11 if I can't come up with another one for my 8. I've got a few cartons of boards for the 8, so the actual configuration is "fluid" while I try to figure things out. Time will tell.
 
pontus said:
How would you go about replacing that? And where would you find a replacement?
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I have heard some suggest trying to keep the original center section which has the index marks, and use the platter from an 11 pack. They seem to be a bit more common. I don't know if this acutally works, but it makes sense.
 
Yes - that's the plan. I've got nothing to lose and much to gain if I can salvage the 8 hub and housing. I don't know about the rest of the world but among my sources, 11 packs are available while packs for 8s are not. I figure if I'm careful about torquing the platter down and can get run-out within specs, I've got a fair chance of succeeding.

Of course, if anyone has a spare 8 pack available, that would still be the first choice.
 
pontus said:
So if I get this right, a pack for RK05 was different whether it was made for PDP-8 or for PDP-11 ?
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Yep. pdp-8 packs are 16 sector. pdp-11 packs are 12 sector. Thus there are a different number of index marks on the hub.
 
jackrubin said:
Yes - that's the plan. I've got nothing to lose and much to gain if I can salvage the 8 hub and housing. I don't know about the rest of the world but among my sources, 11 packs are available while packs for 8s are not. I figure if I'm careful about torquing the platter down and can get run-out within specs, I've got a fair chance of succeeding.

Of course, if anyone has a spare 8 pack available, that would still be the first choice.
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I have a few extra. Since they are so hard to come by I don't let them go easily. I'd be interested to see how the first method works if you try it. I have a few crashed packs to and if that works I might be able to get a few more good packs.
 
tradde said:
Yep. pdp-8 packs are 16 sector. pdp-11 packs are 12 sector. Thus there are a different number of index marks on the hub.
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Are these read optically or magnetically?

I've read about a DF-32 restoration where the index marks are on the outer rim and had to be recreated.
 
pontus said:
Are these read optically or magnetically?

I've read about a DF-32 restoration where the index marks are on the outer rim and had to be recreated.
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I am not sure. I also don't know alot about DF32's. I have two, but have never used them
I do know the heads touch the disk on power on and off. Not a good thing. I have also
read you can flip the disk over, but then need a way to format the disk. There was schematics for the formatter somewhere I am told.
 
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