[TUHS] RL02 drives available

[TUHS] RL02 drives available

[Noel Chiappa]

Some guy on eBay has a flock of RL02 drives available (in New York, USA) for a
pretty reasonable price:

  http://www.ebay.com/itm/261288230510

I just bought a flock of them, and they are in very good condition. They were
only recently withdrawn from service (at the FAA, so they were professionally
maintained up until they went), and were properly prepared for moving (heads
immobilized, _and_ the motor was locked down - very rare to see that last
step, as is involves finding the right machine screws - or having saved them).

They are late-production ones, too (looked, but couldn't find a date) - they
have the anti-RFI/EMI 'finger' strips (the kind that make a pressure-loaded
contact with the incoming connector shell), which I personally had never seen
on any RL0x drives.

Alas, they have no packs or terminators available, nor cables or slides (any
more :-). But other than that, recommended.

     Noel

[TUHS] RL02 drives available

[Dave Horsfall]

On Sat, 4 Oct 2014, Noel Chiappa wrote:

> They are late-production ones, too (looked, but couldn't find a date) - 
> they have the anti-RFI/EMI 'finger' strips (the kind that make a 
> pressure-loaded contact with the incoming connector shell), which I 
> personally had never seen on any RL0x drives.

Ex-FAA?  Airport radar?  Those puppies are *powerful*.

ObReminisce: Back in the 70s-80s, the University of NSW put its new 
computer centre on the top floor of a 14-floor building (they were afraid 
of student riots at the time[*]), within clear view of Sydney Airport; the 
windows were lined with mesh, and you could hear them *click* every time 
the radar swung around.

[*]

Ah yes, the top floor.  The other reason was fear of flooding.  One day, 
the air conditioning sprang a major leak, and this corrosive green liquid 
ended up all over the brand spanking new high-speed CDC card reader...

-- Dave