DEC PRO380/VAX Console real time interface.

[leegleason]

I have a PRO380 that was formerly a VAX Console system. It has the Real Time Interface installed in slot 5, along with the cable gizmo that goes out the top of the card cage, over and down, and connects to a "block" DB style connector, that is somehow attached to the cabinet of the system. I need that slot for another option. It's not obvious to me how to get that cable gizmo off the machine, and it has to come off to use that slot for something else. Anyone here ever had occasion to install/remove that part?

 

[leegleason]

OK, I figured this out - replying to my question in case anyone else runs into one of these. The real time cable/connector/block gizmo is attached by two screws recessed in deep holes facing into the block. It's obvious now - they're hard to see unless you get down to where they are at eye level.

 

[marmotking]

Do you still have the VAXconsole hard drive? I have an 8550 and haven't been able to find the VAXconsole software for it. Without an image of that drive, the machine cannot be booted and is a very large brick.

 

[stanp]

OK, I figured this out - replying to my question in case anyone else runs into one of these. The real time cable/connector/block gizmo is attached by two screws recessed in deep holes facing into the block. It's obvious now - they're hard to see unless you get down to where they are at eye level.

Do you have a part number on that internal cable/block? I am trying to locate one. Failing that, is there a way you can provide the pinout from the blue card connector to the external connector. I have the external block pinout, but I don't know how it maps to the card connector to create my own cable.

 

[leegleason]

Do you have a part number on that internal cable/block? I am trying to locate one. Failing that, is there a way you can provide the pinout from the blue card connector to the external connector. I have the external block pinout, but I don't know how it maps to the card connector to create my own cable.
View attachment 1272286

The part number on it is 17-00404-01A1. Sorry, don't have any info on how the pinout above maps to the connector on the other end. A quick search shows that VARX has one, called "PC38N RTI-NAUT DIST KIT", for $99 - ouch - still, I'd pay that just to avoid building a cable with that many lines in it.

 

[stanp]

Many thanks for the part number and source reference. I'll check it out. I found some of these inventory lists are stale, and parts listed are not there or impossible to locate. I still may need to make a cable because that internal block connects to an external cable that is also difficult to find. But at least I will have the pinout to the card.

 

[leegleason]

Many thanks for the part number and source reference. I'll check it out. I found some of these inventory lists are stale, and parts listed are not there or impossible to locate. I still may need to make a cable because that internal block connects to an external cable that is also difficult to find. But at least I will have the pinout to the card.

Well, if you get hard up against it and have to make the D connector to blue connector cable, let me know and I'll map the D connector pins to the correspnding rectangular connector pins with a continuity tester. But please don't have me do this until you become really serious about making a cable....there's a lotta pins...also would take some effort making sure we agreed on what pin is where, numbered what on each end.

 

[stanp]

Well, if you get hard up against it and have to make the D connector to blue connector cable, let me know and I'll map the D connector pins to the correspnding rectangular connector pins with a continuity tester. But please don't have me do this until you become really serious about making a cable....there's a lotta pins...also would take some effort making sure we agreed on what pin is where, numbered what on each end.

Much appreciated. I have several searching for the cable. I'll let you know if I meet with any success before resorting to ringing out a 62-pin cable.

 

[czunit]

Interesting. What are you replacing it with, and why does it have to be in that slot?

Do you have a TMS adapter as well? Or Ethernet?

 

[leegleason]

Interesting. What are you replacing it with, and why does it have to be in that slot?

Do you have a TMS adapter as well? Or Ethernet?

I had to take it off while I was testing the MicroVAX softcard, which takes up two slots, and I was out of room, so the RTI had to come out temporarily.

 

[czunit]

Oh yeah, that weird softcard. How is it going?

 

[pbirkel@gmail.com]

Much appreciated. I have several searching for the cable. I'll let you know if I meet with any success before resorting to ringing out a 62-pin cable.

FWIW, I see this on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/305377555471
At least you know that it's real (in stock!). And you can try a more realistic Best Offer.

 

[leegleason]

Oh yeah, that weird softcard. How is it going?

Other projects are interfering with progress on it. I've put it in a PRO and have probed it looking for registers and memory, with mixed results.

 

[czunit]

Ok. I mean it's weird and interesting, not sure what the universe would do with it. Are there ROMs that can be dumped/probed?

 

[leegleason]

Ok. I mean it's weird and interesting, not sure what the universe would do with it. Are there ROMs that can be dumped/probed?

There's a ROM, but it doesn't contain any code - it was almost all 1's. I'm hoping I can find a way to load software in it and tell it to go. Writing standalone MicroVAX code is pretty trivial, so I'm sure I could get it to do something interesting...if I can just find a way to load it and tell it to start. Well, after I get caught up, anyway. Gotta fix a BA23 power supply and fix a 7551 memory board first, to get enough room on the desk to put the PRO back on the air.

 

[stanp]

FWIW, I see this on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/305377555471
At least you know that it's real (in stock!). And you can try a more realistic Best Offer.

Yes. With the part number leegleason provided, I found a source (C-U Digital) and more importantly, they were able to locate the part in their inventory. They had a couple. I grabbed one and they put the other on eBay along with some other PRO components that he found along the way. Thank you leegleason. I have yet to find any external cables for the RTI for its application as a data acquisition board.

 

[pbirkel@gmail.com]

You mean the PC3XX-AB RTI Cable & Pod I presume? At least the RTI documentation defines all of the connector pin-outs so wiring up a substitute is feasible. Apparently there were specialty cables for subsets of the interfaces (serial = BCC10-03, IEEE-488 = BCC11-03, programmable port = BCC12-03) as alternates to the pod-based all-in-one approach. So you could also search for those PNs.

http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/brochures/DEC-Professionan300SeriesRealTime-Solutions.pdf

 

[stanp]

You mean the PC3XX-AB RTI Cable & Pod I presume? At least the RTI documentation defines all of the connector pin-outs so wiring up a substitute is feasible. Apparently there were specialty cables for subsets of the interfaces (serial = BCC10-03, IEEE-488 = BCC11-03, programmable port = BCC12-03) as alternates to the pod-based all-in-one approach. So you could also search for those PNs.

http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/brochures/DEC-Professionan300SeriesRealTime-Solutions.pdf

Yes. I have not been able to find any of those BCC cables or pod. The RTI documentation defines the pin-out for the external connector and not the board-side. Hence the reason to acquire the internal cable.

 

[stanp]

I received my RTI internal cable and it is a piece of work. At first glance, I wasn't sure how it was going fit into my PRO 380. But those good hardware engineers at DEC had it all worked out. The cable fits to the PRO like a Tetris piece. It has a U-connector to reach over the side of the card cage and connect to the RTI card in the last slot. There are two screw holes on the top of the card cage to screw it in my place. It runs down the left side of PRO as you look at it from the back. I removed a plastic insert in the case and the D62 connector slots in perfectly, adding a D62 shell connector to the back of the PRO just above the DECnet D-shell, like it was built-in. I'm very impressed.

I took a multimeter to the cable to ring out the D62 pins to the card connector. The internal connector has 60 pins in 3 rows of 20, while the external connector has 62 pins in a three-row d-shell. The connector graphic I posted earlier is the female side of the external cable (note pin 1 at the top). The internal cable presents the male side of the D62. Below is the mapping between the card connector and D62 male side for those who do not have the internal cable. At least you can identify the pins on the card and build your own cable. I found a breakout board for the D62 shell connector and will use that in place of the pod.

D62 (Male)	Internal Board Connector	Signal
1	A1	NDAC
2	A2	NRFD
3	A3	DAV
4	B4	DIO8
5	C5	DIO7
6	B5	DIO6
7	A7	GND SLU
8	A8	Receive Data B BB
9	A9	Transmit Data B BA
10	C10	Carrier Detect B CF
11	A11	Receive Data A BB
12	A12	Transmit Data A BA
13		GND Parallel 1
14	C13	PAJ7 H
15	C14	PAJ6 H
16	C15	PAJ5 H
17	C16	PAJ4 H
18	C17	PAJ3 H
19	C18	PAJ2 H
20	C19	PAJ1 H
21	C20	PAJ0 H
22	B1	GND 1 (IEEE)
23	B2	GND 2 (IEEE)
24	B3	GND 3 (IEEE)
25	C4	REN
26	A5	DIO5
27	C6	DIO4
28	B6	DIO3
29	C7	GND Parallel 2
30	B8	Clear to Send B CB 106
31	B9	ROST to Send B CA 105
32	B10	Clear to Send A CB 106
33	B11	ROST to Send A CA 105
34	B12	GND Parallel 1
35	B13	PBJ7 H
36	B14	PBJ6 H
37	B15	PBJ5 H
38	B16	PBJ4 H
39	B17	PBJ3 H
40	B18	PBJ2 H
41	B19	PBJ1 H
42	B20	PBJ0 H
43	C1	ATN
44	C2	SRQ
45	C3	IFC
46	A4	EO1
47	A6	DIO2
48	B7	DIO1
49		GND SLU
50	C8	Data Set Ready B CC 107
51	C9	Data TRM Ready B CD 108 2
52	A10	Carrier Detect A CF 109
53	C11	Data Set Ready A CC 107
54	C12	Data TRM Ready A CD 108 2
55	A13	PCJ7
56	A14	PCJ6
57	A15	PCJ5
58	A16	PCJ4
59	A17	PCJ3
60	A18	PCJ2
61	A19	PCJ1
62	A20	PCJ0

 

[pbirkel@gmail.com]

@stanp Thank you for documenting this!