Article View: comp.sys.dec
Article #264PDP 11/T55
From: Scott Statton
Date: Sat, 08 Aug 1992 07:42
Date: Sat, 08 Aug 1992 07:42
43 lines
2438 bytes
2438 bytes
Greetings!
I've had in my posession for some time a PDP-11/T55 that I picked up
for a song/dance at Stanford Surplus. After sitting in my garage for
precisely three months, I borrowed a truck, and three burly friends and
schlepped three six-foot racks up the two flights of stairs to my office
(where I don't have to pay for electricity/air conditioning). Now I've
got everything back in their racks, and most of the cabling hooked up.
I have some specific questions, but first some observations
1) The front panel says, "pdp 11/t55 integrated bipolar processor"
but the backplane for the CPU cab says, "pdp 11/45". (A much more
recognizable number)
2) It has an odd selection of memories. FIRST - in slots 17 through 20
are each 4K x 18 "Bipolar Memories"; THEN - in the second SU is a 32K
x18 core stack, and a 16K x 20 (!!) core stack [ I assume they are doing
16 + 2 parity, and happened to have a bunch of PDP-15 memory surplus :-)]
FINALLY - in a Unibus Expansion Cab there is a M7891-BC (128K x 18) that is
only half populated. (Total = 128k x 18)
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS:
1) How do I go about using the front-panel? I powered up just the two
CPU supplies [but not the Unibus expansion cab] and cannot seem
to get any sensible response. No matter what I set the address
switches to, none of the ADDR Led's illuminate (regardless of switch
position SD,SI,UD,UI,KD,KI etc.) As I turn the DATA PATH/BUS/etc
switch, the data lights show various values, irrespective of Addr
settings.
2) Where can I get a processor manual for this? Does DEC have a
warehouse somewhere for wacko's who collect ancient gear [before
this, I fed & housed an 11/730 and a few uVaxen]? Does DECUS
maintain a printed-material-library?
I'm certain to have more questions -- any tidbits of info you might
have would really be appreciated.
Scott
P.S. This machine belonged to the Stanford Med. Dep't and apparently
read data from some external device [It was hooked up to a DR11] and
computed on it. If you were around in the mid 80's, you might remember
Technical Details
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Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!wupost!csus.edu!netcom.com!n1gak From: n1gak@netcom.com (Scott Statton) Subject: PDP 11/T55 Message-ID: <wgzm=6p.n1gak@netcom.com> Date: Sat, 08 Aug 92 07:42:17 GMT Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Lines: 43