With two screws removed from the rear of the case the computer can be removed from its skin. The skin itself is very heavy and once gone the computer can be easily lifted on to a bench by two people.
The front panel comes off with the removal of several screws. The drives are on skids and can be released by pressing on the handles at the bottom of the case.
Two screws retain the back panel. Two ground leads need to be disconnected for the panel to be free and the rack to be revealed.
I pulled each of the cards for a photo and to confirm the ID. The ejection handles are solid and require a fair bit of effort to operate. They have to be positioned precisely when the cards are inserted into the rack. The levers pull the cards home.
The machine has:
- A KA610/KD32 CPU consisting of two cards M7135 Data Path Module and M7136 Memory Controller.
- Memory modules including 1x M7551 MSV11-QA 1MB Memory Module and 2x M8067 MSV11-PL
- M8639 RQDX1 Disk Controller – not sure of version. Could also be RQDX2.
The only external I/O is the console serial port, so this is very much a standalone system. If it shows promise then i could acquire some additional cards.
A few screws and some cable disconnections and the power supply is out. There are 4 RIFA line filtering capacitors and they were cracked as expected. There were no obvious issues with any other components.
My DECDOC database tells me that your MV I model 610QK-XZ (MicroVAX I System 1 MB, RX50, RD52, BA23 Floor/Table Top) was sold without a software license and cost 16,985.00 US$ in 1984 according to the EE-26108-68-84 DIGITAL Microcomponents Products U.S. Price List October-December 1984.
You are very lucky that your RD52 is still working – most of the MFM disks of the time have stopped working years ago.
My MicroVAX I is not an original unit; instead, it was assembled from parts acquired over the years into a BA23 enclosure that originally housed a VAXstation 3200.
Ulli.
I expect that the disk in this one will eventually die, but for now it’s doing ok. I’m not quite sure what i’ll do when it fails.