Decitek Reader and Remix punch

[Joe R.]

At 12:04 PM 7/22/05 -0400, you wrote:
>Today I obtained a Genrad 1797 programming station.  It consists of a
PDP-8a, 3 RK05s, a Decitek paper tape reader, a Remix paper tape punch, and
a Genrad interface unit.  Also with the system is a DecWriter III and 3
RK05 16 sector packs, as well as an alignment pack.

    He threw in alignment pack? Nice! It's probably worth $300 by itself.


>
>I have not begun to study the system yet.  Quick questions:
>
>1) The Decitek reader appears to have a serial (EIA / RS232) interface.
Can someone point me to some documentaion on how this might be interfaced
to a PDP-11?
>
>2) Same question as #1, but for the Remix paper tape punch

   Can you see what cards they're connected to?



>
>3) What were these GenRad programming stations used for?

   They were very big, very expensive and very sophistaced circuit card
test stations. I looked at one at Thom's and it was far larger than your
complete PDP-8.



>
>4) What is the purpose of the GenRad 1795-3010 interface unit?

    Probably a TTL interface.  Unfortunately I didn't keep any of the GR
docs.  There were just too many of them and I would have had to leave
some^H^H^H^H  MORE of the DEC stuff to bring them.

    I have some info for you about the RK-05s in Melbourne. I'll e-mail you
directly about them.

    Joe


>
>BTW, the system looks to be in good condition and was said to be running
before it was decomssioned just a few months ago.  Once I get a 30A 4-prong
receptacle installed for it, I'll fire it up and see what it's all about.
There is a boot pack for it.
>
>Any help or pointers on where to find information on the Decitek reader,
Remix punch, and GenRad equipment in general would be greatly appreciated.
>
>Thanks,
>Ashley
>