On Thu, 1 Feb 2018, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote:
I guess--using crimp type DC37M connectors, it's not a big deal to go
from 50 conductor ribbon to DC 37. I've even got a couple adapter PCBs
that go from 50 pin to 34 pin headers.
Which, other than the TG43 feature, is what FDADAP is.
If you want to get fancy, there used to be readily available DC37 on a
bracket with short cable 34 pin header adapters, for using external drives
on machines after 5160 (after 5160, IBM stopped including a DC37 on the
FDC card). IBM sold one of those along with its external 720K 3.5".
Then, if you really don't want stuff visible, put the FDADAP (or similar)
inside the case for the 8" drive. Now you have an 8" drive that connects
as if it were a 5.25" external.
I simply used a larger table. I had an AT, with no lid for its case on
the table, an 8" drive on the table, a power supply on the table; the
"other" 4096 on the table, along with a PC power supply for it, a DC37
A/B/C switch box, a small box with its own power supply with 3", 3.25",
and 3.5" drives. That AT also had an Eiconscript board for HP PCL and
Postscript, cabled to another DC37 A/B/C switch sitting on a Corona Data
Systems CX printer (which also connected to Cordata and Jlaser boards in
other PCs.) There was no need to snake cables out of bracket slots,
because there never was a lid.
My 2.8M, Floptical, and CD-ROM drives were on other PCs.
