Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82

From	kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey)
Newsgroups	comp.os.vms
Subject	Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82
Date	2025-12-01 13:02 -0500
Organization	Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000)
Message-ID	<10gkl83$qap$1@panix2.panix.com> (permalink)
References	<10culgg$1frnv$1@dont-email.me> <mnbobuF8hp0U1@mid.individual.net> <10gfvr3$3r98n$1@dont-email.me> <10gk4p4$1bcst$2@dont-email.me>

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>On 2025-11-29, Dave Froble <davef@tsoft-inc.com> wrote:
>>
>> Why would anyone want one of these drives?  It sure isn't for storage capacity. 
>> There are many things from the past, but show me anyone who has any real use for 
>> them.  I mean, I do not collect wheels, covered wagons, model T Fords, and 
>> certainly not an RA82 drive.
>>
>
>Because some people care about how we got to where we are today.
>
>Around Europe, there are carefully preserved and some maintained
>historical train locomotives that are many decades old. Some are
>over a century old.

The RA81 and RA82 are not Model T Fords.  They are Maxwells, prone to 
breaking down and leaving people stranded in the middle of the road.

When we were running many of them, we had a DEC FE who was on site a 
couple days a week replacing heads, and without that support I would
not want to be running them.

The things took three 6250 tapes to do a full backup too, and you
had to be religiously careful about backups.

There are many devices that should be preserved in working condition so that
new generations should see how they worked when they were new and experience 
them working.  The RA81 should be left in the rack broken, so that new 
generations can see how they were when they were new.
--scott

-- 
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

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Don't tell my wife! Subcommandante XDelta <vlf@star.enet.dec.com> - 2025-10-18 11:03 +1100
  Re: Don't tell my wife! David Meyer <papa@sdf.org> - 2025-10-18 09:29 +0900
  Re: Don't tell my wife! Michael Brown <brown_mi@decuserve.org> - 2025-10-20 10:48 +1100
  Re: Don't tell my wife! Subcommandante XDelta <vlf@star.enet.dec.com> - 2025-11-07 17:30 +1100
    Re: Don't tell my wife! Johnny Billquist <bqt@softjar.se> - 2025-11-07 13:50 +0100
    Re: Don't tell my wife! bill <bill.gunshannon@gmail.com> - 2025-11-07 08:06 -0500
      Re: Don't tell my wife! "John H. Reinhardt" <johnhreinhardt@thereinhardts.org> - 2025-11-07 12:24 -0600
        Re: Don't tell my wife! cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2025-11-07 21:47 +0000
      [OT] PDP-11 & RA82 Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2025-11-08 19:56 -0500
        Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82 Rich Alderson <news@alderson.users.panix.com> - 2025-11-08 20:50 -0500
          Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82 "John H. Reinhardt" <johnhreinhardt@thereinhardts.org> - 2025-11-08 22:19 -0600
        Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82 drb@ihatespam.msu.edu (Dennis Boone) - 2025-11-09 04:10 +0000
          Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82 Paul Hardy <p.g.hardy@btinternet.com> - 2025-11-09 08:57 +0000
          Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82 bill <bill.gunshannon@gmail.com> - 2025-11-09 09:55 -0500
            Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82 Dave Froble <davef@tsoft-inc.com> - 2025-11-29 18:33 -0500
              Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82 Chris Townley <news@cct-net.co.uk> - 2025-11-30 00:05 +0000
                Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82 Dave Froble <davef@tsoft-inc.com> - 2025-12-08 23:24 -0500
              Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82 Simon Clubley <clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP> - 2025-12-01 13:21 +0000
                Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82 kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) - 2025-12-01 13:02 -0500
                Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82 Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2025-12-01 13:31 -0500
                Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82 Rich Alderson <news@alderson.users.panix.com> - 2025-12-01 18:56 -0500
                Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82 bill <bill.gunshannon@gmail.com> - 2025-12-01 20:14 -0500
                Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82 Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2025-12-02 12:30 -0500
                Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82 Rich Alderson <news@alderson.users.panix.com> - 2025-12-02 19:25 -0500
                Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82 Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2025-12-02 19:40 -0500
                Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82 Johnny Billquist <bqt@softjar.se> - 2025-12-03 13:21 +0100
          Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82 Rich Alderson <news@alderson.users.panix.com> - 2025-11-09 21:03 -0500
    Re: Don't tell my wife! never-you-mind@home.org - 2025-11-07 15:19 -0500
      Re: Don't tell my wife! Johnny Billquist <bqt@softjar.se> - 2025-11-11 18:02 +0100
        Re: Don't tell my wife! Dave Froble <davef@tsoft-inc.com> - 2025-11-29 18:35 -0500

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