Thanks Aaron. The DEC display is quite a bit newer than the old Plato design. I had one of the Plato terminals at one time and am quite familiar with them. I also had a digivue standalone display at one time, but don't recall what I did with it over the course of the years. At that time, I did have a full manual for it, including schematics, but I'm sure that went with the display to it's new home.
I need to open the DEC VRE01 to see what the design looks like. The newer design allowed it to be very compact... --tom On 8/13/20 3:53 PM, Aaron Woolfson wrote: > Here's a photo of one of the restored PLATO terminals (which had the plasma > display) > Does the power supply for the PLASMA look like the one in this photo of one > of the terminals with > the covers off? > > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Aaron Woolfson <mailto:woolf...@telswitch.com> > *To:* paulkon...@comcast.net <mailto:paulkon...@comcast.net> ; > u...@ubanproductions.com > <mailto:u...@ubanproductions.com> ; cctalk@classiccmp.org > <mailto:cctalk@classiccmp.org> > *Sent:* Thursday, August 13, 2020 1:50 PM > *Subject:* Re: DEC VRE01 terminal documentation > > Hi Tom. > > Thanks for your message. Well, the Plasma panels use a pretty unique. > I'm attaching the > precise waveforms that the Plasma Panel expects to see in order to > achieve the illumination of > the dot. And while this may not be exactly or precisely what you're > looking for, this will > explain much about the technology involved. The fact that you can see > any illumination at all > is perhaps the most important part - beacuse the gas is probably there, > and the "actuation" > voltage might just not be high enough, or the sustainer voltage might > have an issue. > > The power supplies were manufactured by Electro Plasma and were typically > separate from the > actual unit itself. I am going to see whether I can find the schematics > for those power > supplies, which discuss the characteristics . > > Also, check to see whether the back of the plasma panel itself has an > edge connector that is > similar to the attached TYCO specified connector. That might give you > some insights into where > to go. > > When I gave all my equipment and test gear to the LCM up in Seattle, I am > pretty sure that they > also got a lot of the original manuals and notes that had been hand > written. But I typically > had scans of most everything. I will see what I can find.... > > > ----- Original Message ----- > Subject: Re: DEC VRE01 terminal documentation > Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2020 16:38:39 -0400 > From: Paul Koning <paulkon...@comcast.net <mailto:paulkon...@comcast.net>> > > You may want to see if the PLATO terminal documentation is any help, look > on Bitsavers under > University of Illinois. Those plasma display power supplies are hairy > devices; the panel is > actually a memory device and the power supply produces a high voltage AC > waveform to make that > work. Those panels normally light up around the rim; the fact you see > that briefly but not > sustained gives some hope that adjusting may be all that is needed. > > That's quite a display; the usual plasma panels were 8 inches square, 512 > by 512 pixels. I'm > guessing this is a 1k by 1k pixel display, which I have seen once or > twice, at SAI in San Diego > in some military displays. > > I know a plasma terminal expert; I've forwarded your message to him. > > paul > > > On Aug 13, 2020, at 3:23 PM, Tom Uban via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org > <mailto:cctalk@classiccmp.org>> wrote: > > > > I have a DEC VRE01 terminal that I bought NIB years ago. For those who > don't know about this > model, > > it has a flat plasma (orange/black) display of about 17". It worked > when I bought it, but now, > years > > later, I tried powering it up and the light comes on for a moment and > goes out. I suspect a power > > supply issue, but bitsavers does not seem to have this one. > > > > Does anyone have schematic (or other) documentation for it? > > > > --tnx > > --tom >
