Conference 7.286::digital

458.0. "Does your Microvax have a Simpact board in it?" by TIXEL::ARNOLD (Life is fragile, handle with care) Thu Feb 04 1988 08:54

	I wasn't real sure where to put this note, since the
	DECWORLD_87 conference is write-locked and it really doesn't
	apply to the DECWORLD_89 conference.

	Anyway, in our area at DECworld '87 (Travel Services Industry)
	we had a total of about 14 Microvaxes.  On 5 of those MV's
	we had a Simpact board & distribution panel installed.  During
	tear-down, I was told NOT to take the boards out of the MV's
	at that time, that the boards would be returned to the group
	after the massive inventory in Franklin had been completed.

	It has recently come to my attention that the boards were never
	returned.  All (or at least most) of the DECworld 87 hardware
	was used to fill internal orders, so I tracked down who had
	gotten the 5 specific MV's that had the Simpact boards, based
	on the DEC number from the DECworld IOF.  Those people claim
	that there is no Simpact board on any of their MV's.

	According to IEG, there is not (or at least *was* not) a way to
	match the actual CPU serial number to the DEC number on the
	IOF, so what may have happened is that when it came time to
	fill an IOF after DECworld, they just got xx CPU(s), and not
	necessarily the actual CPU(s) that belonged to that specific
	DEC number, and shipped them to the requesting group.

	OK, I don't want to discuss the goodness or badness of this
	particular way of handling things, but my group still has a
	problem: some internal group(s) got MV's that have Simpact
	boards installed on them, and I have no way to track down who
	they are.  The Simpact boards will [probably] do them no good
	whatsoever; however, they cost our cost center around $5K each,
	and we need them.

	Can anybody help?  It's relatively easy to determine if a
	particular Microvax has the Simpact board installed without
	tearing the whole machine apart.  Yes, the Simpact board plugs
	into the backplane, but each MV also had the Simpact distribution
	panel, so if you look in the back where you plug the terminals
	in (DHV11 on these), you'll see an additional 4-port panel
	that is simply labelled "SIMPACT".

	If you know of any of these missing items, please call or
	mail me, DTN 264-5748.

	Thanks
	Jon

Notesfiles being a "read when and if you want to" type of communication, I
would suggest trying to assemble a mailing list of the people who have 
received MicroVaxes and sending them electronic mail.  This way, you are sure
that the people who need to see your request will do so.   Also, I might 
suggest that you target a specific manager at each possible site, and mail
your request to him/her with a request to distribute within their 
organization... This will reduce network traffic.

Bob

P.S.   This is just a suggestion...  There may be a better (or official) 
       approach that I am unaware of...i.e. the usual disclaimers apply to
       suggestion!  8-)

    My reasoning for placing .0 here: based on the scenario described
    in .0, I would have to send mail to people who ordered any one of
    about 400 Microvaxen that were present at DW87.  My hope is that
    when/if people read this note, they will think "gee, we got a Microvax
    only a few months ago, maybe I'll open the back of it and see if
    it's got one of those crazy boards in it".
    
    Of course, I could also be dreaming...
    
    Jon

	My suggestion would be to contact each Area ACT manager and Area Sales 
Support Manager (SWS).  Between those two, they should know EVERY loaner that 
comes down the pike!

    Jon,
    If all these microvax's went internally, then you might try in
    IN-DEC Area. This covers all N.E. Digital sites and Colorado,
    PNO,ABO, and Tempe. This does not cover an office like Minneapolis,
    MN but Would cover the major Digital Sites.
    
	Jim Neumann DTN:262-8300 IND-2/E8 is the Area Manager. I will
    forward your base note to my manager here in CXO and we can get
    this out to our PL01 people. 
    
    If you need additional info please contact me on SSDEVO::Ekholm
    
    	Good Luck
    	Greg

    I suggest that you also ask your cost center's IEG contact to forward
    a note through all the IEG contacts to all groups.

    Can't offer any help, but this sounds like a real adventure story.
    PLEASE let us know how you get on!!