mechaniputer
Experienced Member
- Joined
- May 23, 2015
- Messages
- 59
Hi,
I was just looking through some the "archived" items in my collection to see what projects I might dig up. I have three "Superflow" boards from an old Kevex-branded (x-ray?) controller. I found my PDP-11/73 in the same cabinet actually, see my post from 2015. These seem to be part of a DAQ system.
Here are the boards I have:
1002 Central Processing Unit "ASSY 1200A-1002 B REV B(not legible) SuperFlow (C) 1989"
1003 Communications Interface "REV A6 SuperFlow (C) 1985"
1188 Servo/Data Controller "ASSY 1200A-1188 REV B5"
These boards were designed to be connected to a shared backplane which I think was proprietary. I do not have the backplane, but then again I also don't have an x-ray haha.
The backplane side has two connectors, each with two rows of 32 pins (total 128 pins). One connector on each board has a plastic 12-finger shim that looks like it is designed to ensure that each board can only fit in the correct slot with an opposite shim.
Anyway I am interested in learning more about these boards. Two of them (the 1002 and the 1188 ) have 6809 CPUs and COM ports on the front. Actually, the 1002 has two COM ports, and they are RS432. The 1188 has one that is not marked as 232 or 432, simply "COM". Interestingly the 1003 "communications interface" that has no external connections other than the backplane.
One idea I had was to try powering on the 1002 (or the 1188 ) just to see what comes out of the COM ports.
I think I can safely apply power to the 1002 since it actually has power jacks (GND, +5, -15, +15) on the front which seem to go to the right places. It also has "LOAD1, EX, BA, EX" jacks (in that order) which I do not know the meaning of.
The 1188 has some more cryptic jacks on the front alongside some pots and a toggle switch labeled CAL/RUN. But I'm sure I could figure out how to feed it 5V to see what it does if I decided to.
Even if I can power it on though, I don't know how I would deal with RS432. I have RS232 cables and adapters but not RS432.
I am looking for recommendations on how to proceed. I want to learn about (and tinker with) these boards rather than going with my original plan which was to eventually reuse the components for my own projects. Due to the rarity of them, it is also possible that these are valuable to someone in which case I would consider an as-is sale or trade. If someone wants to dump the ROMS I could also facilitate that, but I do not have the means to do it myself and I'm not sure if it would be considered interesting.
I was just looking through some the "archived" items in my collection to see what projects I might dig up. I have three "Superflow" boards from an old Kevex-branded (x-ray?) controller. I found my PDP-11/73 in the same cabinet actually, see my post from 2015. These seem to be part of a DAQ system.
Here are the boards I have:
1002 Central Processing Unit "ASSY 1200A-1002 B REV B(not legible) SuperFlow (C) 1989"
1003 Communications Interface "REV A6 SuperFlow (C) 1985"
1188 Servo/Data Controller "ASSY 1200A-1188 REV B5"
These boards were designed to be connected to a shared backplane which I think was proprietary. I do not have the backplane, but then again I also don't have an x-ray haha.
The backplane side has two connectors, each with two rows of 32 pins (total 128 pins). One connector on each board has a plastic 12-finger shim that looks like it is designed to ensure that each board can only fit in the correct slot with an opposite shim.
Anyway I am interested in learning more about these boards. Two of them (the 1002 and the 1188 ) have 6809 CPUs and COM ports on the front. Actually, the 1002 has two COM ports, and they are RS432. The 1188 has one that is not marked as 232 or 432, simply "COM". Interestingly the 1003 "communications interface" that has no external connections other than the backplane.
One idea I had was to try powering on the 1002 (or the 1188 ) just to see what comes out of the COM ports.
I think I can safely apply power to the 1002 since it actually has power jacks (GND, +5, -15, +15) on the front which seem to go to the right places. It also has "LOAD1, EX, BA, EX" jacks (in that order) which I do not know the meaning of.
The 1188 has some more cryptic jacks on the front alongside some pots and a toggle switch labeled CAL/RUN. But I'm sure I could figure out how to feed it 5V to see what it does if I decided to.
Even if I can power it on though, I don't know how I would deal with RS432. I have RS232 cables and adapters but not RS432.
I am looking for recommendations on how to proceed. I want to learn about (and tinker with) these boards rather than going with my original plan which was to eventually reuse the components for my own projects. Due to the rarity of them, it is also possible that these are valuable to someone in which case I would consider an as-is sale or trade. If someone wants to dump the ROMS I could also facilitate that, but I do not have the means to do it myself and I'm not sure if it would be considered interesting.
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