[rescue] what are these?

[Mike Hebel]

On Mar 5, 2005, at 10:13 PM, Jonathan C. Patschke wrote:

> On Sat, 5 Mar 2005, Patrick Giagnocavo wrote:
>
>> digital rackmount item RA81
>
> That's a HEAVY 450 megabyte SDI hard drive.  If it hasn't been parked
> properly, it won't survive shipping, anyway.

If it's the same as the RA82 you have to lift up the cover on it and 
verify that the small plastic park lever is locked.

http://www.vaxman.de/my_machines/digital/vax/8250/2.jpg

It's the little white lever on the drive casing just in front of the 
circuit board.

*google* Ahhh!   Here we go!

http://www.carrott.org/vax/bigdisk.html

Complete pics of an RA81 with commentary.

>> are either of them something interesting to those on the list?
>
> The RA81 will work with a PDP/11 or VAX that has the proper controller.
> They're big, heavy, and power-hungry.  For anyone wanting to one them
> for any reason other than to relive old memories, I'd recommend an SDI
> bridge with a newer drive on the other end.

These take greater than 10A (AMPS) to just spin up.  I have a Microvax 
II with an RA82 that I'm not currently running because I don't have 10A 
to get the drive up to speed before it times out it's startup.

Mike Hebel
----
"The very young do not often do what they are told." - The Nox