The RL02 disk drive and the RL11 (M7762) controller

How I got my unit..

I “met” Ed Groenenberg on vcfed.org where he wrote something on a tape unit that I was interested in. We started talking which ended with me visiting him. Ed has a very nice collection of ancient computing related material: a lot of teletypes, a PDP11/70 and a lot of other peripherals. And he had several RL02 drives - and gave me one! That was unexpected and I’m really happy with it, thanks Ed!

After a while I also got the RL11 (M7762) controller and cables that go with it, so now it’s time to go and play with it..

Pictures

The RL02 drive is an impressive beast:

More photos

It opens at the top to insert the cartridges:

The heads were protected during the trip by this little plate:

Opening the back panel exposes the motor and the power supply:

And the back panel itself holds the controller PCB: