I’m keeping a gmail task list of projects I could be/should be working on, but the usual “decision paralysis” sets in once it grows larger than five or so items (I think it’s up to about 20 now.) So I just chose one at random and spent a bit of time on it tonight: re-assembling the DEC SA600 rack I picked up last weekend in Madison, WI. It came with two RA90 (SDI interface, 1.2gb – in 1989!) drives, which weigh about 50-60lbs each, and judging from the blank plates in the front panel, it probably held six at one time. It came from UWM, so who knows what data might lurk on those platters…
I bent the panel mounts getting the rack in and out of the truck but I’ve got them more-or-less straight now. I put a side panel on and she’s looking pretty sweet. The major job that needs doing now is addressing the rust on the bottom third of the front panel. A trip to Home Depot is in my future, and a purchase of harsh steel-wool and some Rust-o-leum primer. Then I have to figure out how to match that distinctive DEC beige so I can re-paint the panel. I’d settle for a near-match if it weren’t for the painted logo on the panel – if I fail to mask that perfectly (and I will,) I’ll have a section of original paint around it that will be an obvious mismatch to the repainted sections.
Quite a bit of work for something I’ll likely end up giving away, or worse 🙁