26 Jun
2025
26 Jun
'25
6 p.m.
On Thu, Jun 26, 2025 at 2:49 PM Alan Frisbie via cctalk
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
Paul Anderson <useddec(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Huh. I've had one for decades. I got my RKV11-D from a former boss
in the late 80s. It was attached to an 11/03 in a 42" DEC rack. He
just threw a bunch of working parts into an available empty cabinet,
not a standard DEC configuration. I think he mostly used it for
testing RK05 packs not for writing or running code.
It was last used when I loaned it (and an RK05) to Jerome Fine so he
could image off his stacks of RK05 packs (he was successful). That
was more than a few years ago. I've thought about getting it all
working again, along with an RK05 emulator to copy my own stack of
12-sector RK05 disks to modern media.
If you have an original 11/03... RKV11-D...
Wow, someone who actually knows about the RKV11-D!!! I've had DEC
people visit my place, see the RKV11-D, and proclaim that "DEC never
made that!". Since you know what it is, can you tell us anything about
how it came to be, and why it is so little-known? I bought mine back in 1978 or so from Newman Computer
Exchange for
my 11/03. I later added the missing wires (and chip) to enable 18-bit
addressing when I got an 11/73.
I need to track down the 18-bit mod instructions for mine.
I haven't used it since I moved to
Oregon six years ago, but it would take just a few hours to remove
the RK05 head locks and plug things in, assuming that all the
capacitors are still good.
I also have a couple of drives that haven't been used in many years.
I plan to check the positioner bulbs and the plastic elbow that tends
to get brittle over time before mounting a pack.
It came in handy to prove to the RSX development group
that RSX-11M
version 2.0 would run on an 11/73. :-)
Fun use!
-ethan