On Thu, Jun 26, 2025 at 2:49 PM Alan Frisbie via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > Paul Anderson <used...@gmail.com> wrote: > > 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?
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. > 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
