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DEC RL02 slide rail compatibility

obsol33t

Member
Joined
Jul 6, 2017
Messages
41
Location
Ontario, Canada
I have an H960 rack for my PDP 11/45 and want to mount a PC05 high speed paper tape reader/punch and a TU60 DECassette drive. I found a couple pairs of DEC RL02 Slide Rails, Accuride 1213686-00 Rev F or H. The seller says they came out of an H9642 cabinet, but I can't find any pictures of that cabinet on the Internet. I'm wondering if anyone knows if these rails will work with my rack and those two drives? https://www.ebay.com/itm/133240909429

Can anyone tell me what a fair price for these rails would be?

Also I'm looking for two pairs of the front feet for H960 cabinets to help prevent tipping when drives are pulled out. I have three H960 cabinets with peripherals and computer, but only one has the feet.
 
The RL01 and 02 use a unique set of slide rails that were built for those drives only and will not work with or on anything else. For something like the RX or paper tape transport think just regular set of slide rails like General Devices C-300 or any rack rails for rack mount equipment would work but you are wasting your time and money if you try to use RL rails on anything other then a RL drive.
Take a look at:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/265103852702?hash=item3db96bc49e:g:bioAAOSwQ9BgX~kf
 
Another point to keep in mind is that the RL01/RL02 rails don't attach directly to the rack. The ends of the rails are attached to brackets that then attach to the rack. Those aren't all that easy to find either.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/133240909429

In this picture you can see a trapezoidal shaped bracket on each end of the rails. Those have their own DEC part number and don't always come with a replacement rail.

I believe the RL01/RL02 documentation has the separate part numbers for the right and left rails (they are different, note one in the picture is stamped F-R and the other F-L for right and left) and the brackets (you will need 4)

My drives came to me out of the "rack" which was actually a DEC "Business Cabinet". I did find all 8 brackets in the bottom of the cabinet, but i was missing one rail. I paid around $120 to Pinnacle Microsystems for a replacement rail about 30 years ago so I don't see the price on that ebay auction to be that far out of line for a pair of rails and four brackets..
 
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Wow, you guys saved me a lot of money. I thought I'd only be able to use those rails on eBay and might have to pay the full asking price ($500 for both pairs). I would have been really upset if I bought them then realized they will not work with my drives and rack. Thanks for the suggestions of other rails I can use. I'll definitely look into those options. Too bad, those will be the only non-original parts in the system.
 
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