RQDX3 on an 11/23?

[Fred N. van Kempen]

David,

> I have a PDP-11/23 and would like to add a hard disk. Would the RQDX3
> be the way to go? What do I need besides the board itself and an MFM
> drive? Obviously, I need some sort of cable to connect the two. Is
> there anything else I need? Will RT-11 V5 support an MFM drive on an
> RQDX3?
The RQDX3 is a great controller.  Assuming you can get drives (not
always easy!) you need the usual two cables, plus an RDRX distribution
board, which splits out the signals.  Many people just made a custom
cable going from the RQDX3's 50-pin header to the drives, with some
pullup R's added in.

Failing that, I'd strongly suggest a SCSI controller if you can find
(and afford) one, or, quite nice as well, an ESDI controller that
does MSCP- it then basically presents the ESDI drive(s) as
RAxx drives to the system.

Personally, I use all of the above.  ESDI is a very good middle
way solution.. drives are available, cheap and fast.

--f