Satellite cabinet¶
The smallest ND-100-line machine, and the one that gave COSMOS its name.
| Used from | 1981 |
| Type | Cabinet |
| Family | ND-1xx standalone |
| Takes which CPU | Any one ND-1xx CPU board |
| Coprocessor? | No |
The short version¶
A small desk-side unit introduced as its own range in 1981, and refreshed with the ND-110 in 1986. It is the reason ND's networking system was called COSMOS - the name was an internal pun on the recently released Satellite.
Specification¶
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Format | Small desk-side unit |
| Backplanes | One - the ND-100 bus |
| CPU | One 1xx CPU board |
| Sold as | "ND-100 Satellite" from 1981, "ND-110 Satellite" from 1986 |
| Drawings | ND Book 2: B2C4 assembly, B2C5 cable and wiring |
| 3D model | Hardware/3D-Models/ND100-Satellite.FCStd and STL parts - measured |
| Named after | ND-COSMOS took its name from this cabinet, as a joke |
What goes in it¶
| Slot / backplane | Holds |
|---|---|
| ND-100 bus backplane | 1xx CPU, memory, I/O controllers |
Disk interface¶
The ND-110 Satellite product sheet (June 1987) specifies a "Fixed Winchester disk drive with controller" on all four models - 60 MB on the S5 and S9, 125 MB on the T9 and T17.
In ND's vocabulary "Winchester" means ST-506, not merely "a fixed disk".
Reference-Manuals/Devices/ND-11.015.01 Winchester Disk Controller.md (1983) is
titled "5 1/4 inch (ST506) & 8 inch Winchester Disk Controller" and says: "The
ST506 (5 1/4 inch Disk Controller, card 3041, controls one or two Winchester
Disk drives with the standard 5 1/4 inch interface connection ST506." The
ND-5000 ES System Administrator Guide writes the pairing as one term -
"ST-506 (Winchester) disk". [P]
So all four Satellite models shipped with ST-506 (MFM) disks. The S and T grades differ in capacity, not interface.
ND kept the two interfaces on different cards:
| Card | Interface |
|---|---|
| 3041 | ST-506 Winchester (also prepared for ESDI) |
| 3201 | SCSI and floppy, combined |
A trap for anyone reading a preserved machine: ND-110 Satellite 9883.21005 on
ndwiki carries a 3201 SCSI/FLOPPY card and a modern SCSI drive - but that machine
arrived with no hard drive at all, and the SCSI parts are the current owner's
retrofit. It is evidence that the ND-110/120 could take SCSI, not evidence of
what the Satellite shipped with.
Notes¶
- A photograph survives of an ND-110 Satellite booting SINTRAN III VSX/500 K.
- There is also an ND-5000 Satellite / Technostation cabinet (drawings B2C20) - a different, larger thing sharing the name.
Sources¶
- Primary: cabinet drawings B2C4, B2C5 in the mirror - not yet imported
- Secondary: ND-COSMOS
Index: ../README.md. Full context: ../../MACHINE-TIMELINE.md.