VAX 11/725

[Ethan Dicks]

On Sun, 28 Nov 2004 14:40:28 -0500, Heinz Wolter <h.wolter at sympatico.ca> wrote:
> I have one.

I have one too, the second one I've owned (my first one went AWOL
while on loan to a former business associate).

> it's a big paperweight without the microcode tape..

Agreed.

> the 725 was a cab with an integreated internal/etc rc25 combo.
> memory is very limited .

It has the same backplane as the original model 11/730 - so IIRC, you
_can_ stuff 5MB in it (even though DEC said 3MB was max).  It's also
possible to stick a Unibus tape cable in the slot the terminator
normally goes to, and hang a BA-11 off the side.  It's no longer
compact and portable, but depending on what you want to do, it's
really handy (the PSU is _not_ particularly beefy - I would hesitate
to put high-draw cards on the internal backplane, like a UDA50 or
DEUNA... in fact, I specifically sought out some 3rd party RAM that
used a smaller number of a higher density chip than the standard 1MB
boards from DEC, just to give myself some extra margin).

> your tape drive wheel may be mush with age,
> so try to check it before sacrificing your ony boot tape ;0

Good advice.  TU58 capstans are notorious for turning to goo.

-ethan