DECMATE I - Chicken or the Egg?

[CRC]

A friend came across a DECMATE I and we have been playing with the  
beast, but are unable to figure out how to get a system loaded  
without the necessary floppies for the RX02. It talks nicely to my  
VAXStation 3540 as a VT100 (DP278A option), but it looks only like a  
terminal.

I've Googled DECMATE and am totally FAQed up with the history and  
long lists of software with little in the way of description. Is  
there any runes to cast or incantations to key in so that we might be  
able to load in a system over the RS232?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

     CRC