Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82

From	bill <bill.gunshannon@gmail.com>
Newsgroups	comp.os.vms
Subject	Re: [OT] PDP-11 & RA82
Date	2025-12-01 20:14 -0500
Message-ID	<mp6sr7Fjl5nU3@mid.individual.net> (permalink)
References	(2 earlier) <10gfvr3$3r98n$1@dont-email.me> <10gk4p4$1bcst$2@dont-email.me> <10gkl83$qap$1@panix2.panix.com> <10gkmto$1ia5h$1@dont-email.me> <mddh5u9oixj.fsf@panix5.panix.com>

Show all headers | View raw

On 12/1/2025 6:56 PM, Rich Alderson wrote:
> =?UTF-8?Q?Arne_Vajh=C3=B8j?= <arne@vajhoej.dk> writes:
> 
>> On 12/1/2025 1:02 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
>>>> 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.
> 
>>> 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.
> 
>> RA81's and RA82's on a 8650.
> 
>> The RA82's were okay, but the RA81's crashed frequently. DEC field
>> service knew that site very well.
> 
>> I have been told here that there were a manufacturing problem with
>> RA81's and when the problem got fixed they stopped crashing all the
>> time.
> 
> You've got the RA81 and RA82 backwards.  We had RA81s on a CI cluster at
> Stanford, and they were pretty solid.
> 
> RA82s were not available for the 36 bit systems, but we heard about them from
> our DEC FEs.
> 


I had both RA81 and RA82 disks.  Brought them to PA from NJ stacked in
the back of a Volvo station wagon. No special padding or handling. None
of them ever failed and they were still fully functional when I gave
them away after a few years use on my 11/44's.  ANd, I think I used a
couple on one of the VAX installations at the University where I worked.

bill

Back to comp.os.vms | Previous | Next — Previous in thread | Next in thread | Find similar

Thread

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

csiph-web