BA213 Enclosure

DECserver 550 in a BA213 pedestal enclosure, front cover installed

DECserver 550 in a BA213 pedestal enclosure, front cover removed

Plastic key for locking/unlocking BA213 front covers

The BA213 Enclosure is a QBUS mounting box from DEC which is available in rack-mount, wall-mount, pedestal, single-cabinet (in an H9644), and double-cabinet versions. It is the 'bigger brother' to the BA23 Enclosure, and the sibling to the BA123 Enclosure.

It contains a single, 12-s1ot, quad-height backplane, with all 12 slots are Q/CD slots; that backplane cannot be expanded.

Pedestal mounted BA213 enclosures may include a front cover, which is removed by unlocking with a universal tubular plastic key. Once unlocked, the front cover lifts up and pulls forward.

The BA213 power supply uses an IEC C16 high-temperature 15A power inlet connector, which is not compatible with the more common IEC C13 power cables typically used with computers.

Airflow

The BA213 draws cooling air from the bottom, blows it through the QBus cards, and exhausts it through the top. Cooling fans may be variable speed.

Wheels

Pedestal mounted BA213 enclosures include wheels, which allow the enclosure to be rolled around. These wheels are not caster wheels, they are fixed roller-type wheels, which makes turning difficult. This feature does increase appropriateness for VAX jousting applications.

BA213 Usage

The BA213 enclosure was used for a number of MicroVAX systems, as well as the DECserver 500 series of terminal server devices. When used as the enclosure for a DECserver 500, the top space does not include drive mounting hardware, and there is no translucent window in the front cover.

External links

• BA213 Enclosure Maintenance (EK-189AA-MG-001)
• BA213 power supply replacement from MicroVAX II Museum