From: bill.gunshannon@gmail.com   
      
   On 12/1/2025 6:56 PM, Rich Alderson wrote:   
   > =?UTF-8?Q?Arne_Vajh=C3=B8j?=  writes:   
   >   
   >> On 12/1/2025 1:02 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:   
   >>>> On 2025-11-29, Dave Froble  wrote:   
   >>>>> Why would anyone want one of these drives?  It sure isn't for storage   
   capacity.   
   >>>>> There are many things from the past, but show me anyone who has any real   
   use for   
   >>>>> them.  I mean, I do not collect wheels, covered wagons, model T Fords,   
   and   
   >>>>> certainly not an RA82 drive.   
   >   
   >>>> Because some people care about how we got to where we are today.   
   >   
   >>>> Around Europe, there are carefully preserved and some maintained   
   >>>> historical train locomotives that are many decades old. Some are   
   >>>> over a century old.   
   >   
   >>> The RA81 and RA82 are not Model T Fords.  They are Maxwells, prone to   
   >>> breaking down and leaving people stranded in the middle of the road.   
   >   
   >>> When we were running many of them, we had a DEC FE who was on site a   
   >>> couple days a week replacing heads, and without that support I would   
   >>> not want to be running them.   
   >   
   >>> There are many devices that should be preserved in working condition so   
   that   
   >>> new generations should see how they worked when they were new and   
   experience   
   >>> them working.  The RA81 should be left in the rack broken, so that new   
   >>> generations can see how they were when they were new.   
   >   
   >> RA81's and RA82's on a 8650.   
   >   
   >> The RA82's were okay, but the RA81's crashed frequently. DEC field   
   >> service knew that site very well.   
   >   
   >> I have been told here that there were a manufacturing problem with   
   >> RA81's and when the problem got fixed they stopped crashing all the   
   >> time.   
   >   
   > You've got the RA81 and RA82 backwards.  We had RA81s on a CI cluster at   
   > Stanford, and they were pretty solid.   
   >   
   > RA82s were not available for the 36 bit systems, but we heard about them from   
   > our DEC FEs.   
   >   
      
      
   I had both RA81 and RA82 disks.  Brought them to PA from NJ stacked in   
   the back of a Volvo station wagon. No special padding or handling. None   
   of them ever failed and they were still fully functional when I gave   
   them away after a few years use on my 11/44's.  ANd, I think I used a   
   couple on one of the VAX installations at the University where I worked.   
      
   bill   
      
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