eeproks@gitpyr.gatech.EDU (K. J. Seefried iii) (12/03/86)
--
I have been offered an old DEC pdp 11/2 system very cheap. It consists of
one pdp 11/2 CPU board with math chip, 2 2 si/o + 32k boards, a non-DEC floppy
disk controller in an 8 slot double wide card cage. It also has rt-11 v.4 & 5
plus some disks marked VMS.
The problem is that I know very little about these boards and rt-11. I
would like to play with the though (and the price is right).
Questions:
1) Can this board be updated to use virtual memory (I would like Unix)
2) How inexpensive are hard disk controllers?
3) Where can I get manuals?
4) Does anyone support the software and where can you get more software?
5) What services does DECUS provide its members?
Any general comments about this board would be greatly appreciated!
P.S. Who sells used DEC equipment?
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Programming is one of the few arts where a copy is as good as the original.
K. J. Seefried iii
P.O. Box 30104, Georgia Insitute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
...!{akgua,allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!eeproksrdp@teddy.UUCP (Richard D. Pierce) (12/03/86)
In article <2757@gitpyr.gatech.EDU> eeproks@gitpyr.gatech.EDU writes:
->
->I have been offered an old DEC pdp 11/2 system very cheap. It consists of
->one pdp 11/2 CPU board with math chip, 2 2 si/o + 32k boards, a non-DEC floppy
->disk controller in an 8 slot double wide card cage. It also has rt-11 v.4 & 5
->plus some disks marked VMS.
-> The problem is that I know very little about these boards and rt-11. I
->would like to play with the though (and the price is right).
->Questions:
->1) Can this board be updated to use virtual memory (I would like Unix)
Yes, by replacing the 11/2 board with something like an 11/23 or 11/73,
up to 2 megabytes can be supported
->2) How inexpensive are hard disk controllers?
They can be had for around $1000 and up new, supporting a variety of
winchester drives. However, RLV-11 controllers can be obtained used for
as little as $150, but may not fit in your backplane. RLV12 controllers
will work, but are more expensive. Both controllers support RL01 and RL02
removable drives, which have 5 and 10 megabytes apiece.
->3) Where can I get manuals?
RT-11 V5 is a currently supported software product from DEC, a manual set
could cost about $200. The ones you need to get started, however, would
run about $75 (Introduction to RT-11, System User's Guide, SYstem Utilities
guide, etc.)
->4) Does anyone support the software and where can you get more software?
DEC fully supports RT-11, and has a variety of add-on software for it.
Languages from DEC include BASIC, FORTRAN, PASCAL, and FORTRAN-77. Outside
sources have languages including APL, C, COBOL, PASCAL, MODULA-II, and so on.
DECUS has a good C system for not very much money, although it is best
run with hard disks.
There are a variety of spreadsheets, db managers, and commercial stuff
available from a wide variety of sources.
->5) What services does DECUS provide its members?
Call DECUS and find out!
->Any general comments about this board would be greatly appreciated!
->
->P.S. Who sells used DEC equipment?
Eli Heffrons, Cambrodge, MA., Midwest Systems, etc. Check out any issue of
Hardcopy Magazine or DEC Professional for adds.btb@ncoast.UUCP (Brad Banko) (12/05/86)
Are there easy to get a hold of sources of the Software Tools Unix for the pdp's? How much does it cost? -- Brad Banko ...!decvax!cwruecmp!ncoast!btb Cleveland, Ohio
bzs@bu-cs.BU.EDU (Barry Shein) (12/06/86)
>Yes, by replacing the 11/2 board with something like an 11/23 or 11/73, >up to 2 megabytes can be supported Hang on there buckeroo...I think you have to have a backplane that can support the extended addressing. Of course, you can always pick that up at Heffron's while you're picking up your 11/23... -Barry Shein, Boston University