Able Computer
Able Computer was a company based in Irvine, California which made a variety of device controllers and similar devices (e.g. caches) for PDP-11s and other machines which used the UNIBUS or QBUS.
The controllers were usually program compatible to existing DEC products, but more cost-effective; their other boards offered performance and capability enhancements that DEC themselves did not offer.
The following table gives the part numbers and sizes of Able products, to aid in identification of un-identified boards:
| Product | Part Number | Size | Image | Host Bus or Machine | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNIVERTER | 10001 | quad* | Y | QBUS | UNIBUS output |
| CACHE/45 | 10003? (main) 10020 (jumper) |
hex (main) + double dual (jumper) | Y | PDP-11/45, etc | |
| REBUS | 10014 | double dual | Y% | UNIBUS | |
| QUADRASYNC/B | 10015 | quad | Y | UNIBUS | EIA only |
| SCAT/45 | 10017 (control) 10025 (data) |
hex (control and data) | Y control Y% (data) |
PDP-11/45, etc | |
| QUADRASYNC/C | 10022 | quad | Y% | UNIBUS | 20mA |
| QUADRASYNC/E | 10028 | hex* | Y | UNIBUS | EIA, modem control |
| CACHE/440 | 10031 | double dual | Y | PDP-11/40 | has termination resistors |
| CACHE/434 | 10033? | double dual | Y | PDP-11/34 | none, just sockets |
| Dual I/O | 10039 | quad | Y% | UNIBUS | |
| QUADRACALL | 10045 | quad | Y | UNIBUS | |
| DMAX/16 | 10048 | double hex | Y% | UNIBUS | |
| INTERLINK/LSI | 10062 | quad | Y | QBUS | BUSLINK |
| INTERLINK/UNI | 10064 | hex* | Y | UNIBUS | BUSLINK |
| QNIVERTER | 10067 (first version) | quad* | Y | QBUS | UNIBUS input/output |
| DZ/16 | 10090 | hex | Y | UNIBUS | |
| DH/DM | 10100 | hex | Y | UNIBUS | |
| VaxDZ | 10140 | hex | Y% | UNIBUS | |
| UNIMAP | 10143 | quad* | N | QBUS | UNIBUS output |
| VMZ/32 | 10185 | hex | Y | UNIBUS | |
| QNIVERTER | (second version) | quad* | Y# | QBUS | UNIBUS input/output |
| VMZ/LP | quad | Y | UNIBUS | ||
| DV/16 | hex | Y | UNIBUS | ||
| ENABLE | hex* (main board), quad (optional cache) | Y | MUD | UNIBUS input, output (optional) | |
| Q/DH | quad | Y | QBUS | ||
| QNIMAP | double dual | Y | QBUS | ||
| EASYWAY | hex | Y | UNIBUS | Ethernet |
* indicates a non-rectangular board; usually because there is a UNIBUS female connector on the back edge of the board
% indicates a poor image, from a sales brochure
# indicates we have images of a card that is probably the second version, but no confirmation from Able docs
The notation "PDP-11/45, etc" means it also applies to the -11/50 and -11/55 (machines which are physically identical to the -11/45, with different main memory configurations).
External links
- Able - manuals at Bitsavers
- ABLE product summary - synopsis and small image of all products
- ABLE product brochures - header sheet, and brochures for about a dozen ABLE products
