Re: Mystery mid-70's keyboards
On 12/28/19 12:06 PM, Warner Losh via cctalk wrote: "marg set" sounds like a word processor. Looks like a data entry keyboard... Yup, the ASCII control codes on the keys seemed out of place for a wordprocessor, but then there's that "marg set" key. I'd wondered about some kind of early electronic typesetting system, but I'm hoping someone will know exactly what it is. The five blank keys are weird, too (particularly the out of place black one). The copper ground plane across the top of the PCB is kinda odd as well and not the sort of construction I'd expect from a mere keyboard. cheers Jules
Re: DEC Rainbow / Pro video on VGA monitors?
> On Jan 19, 2019, at 4:38 PM, Paul Koning wrote: > >> On Jan 19, 2019, at 1:57 PM, Warner Losh via cctalk >> wrote: >> >> Greetings, >> >> I'm trying to find a way to get my DEC Rainbow's monochrome output onto a >> newer monitor than my aging VR201 (especially since I zapped something in >> it and my diagnostic efforts to date haven't fixed it). >> ... > > I'd be interested in the answer also, for my Pro. Digging in old email... I've looked at this some more the other day. Two observations. 1. The "mono" video output from the Pro is a valid composite video signal, no surprise there. 2. For color signals, the approach I'm going to try in the near future is to convert to "component video". That's a trivial analog process, see https://www.analog.com/en/design-center/reference-designs/circuit-collections/lt6550-rgb-to-ypbpr-component-video-conversion.html for example. The reason this seems like a good approach is that component video inputs of typical TV sets support "480i" signals, which is what the Pro produces. Contrast that with VGA, which is effectively 480p (no interlace, 2x the horizontal frequency) so producing that is a much harder job. If you can change the color mapping, you could even just feed an RGB signal directly to a component video input, with G going to Y (assuming you have sync on green) and R/B going to Pr/Pb with a bias in the color map entries to make the result right. Haven't tried that either. paul
Re: Mystery mid-70's keyboards
2) Keyboard branded as Licon 55-500129, IC date codes in 1973 and '74. Has three blank white keys, one blank gray key, and one blank black key, also "home mem", "marg set" and "video rvs": http://www.classiccmp.org/acornia/tmp/licon.jpg On Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 12:38 PM Bill Degnan wrote: My initial thought is a clone dec terminal printer keyboard. But that cant be right "marg set" sounds like a word processor.
Re: Mystery mid-70's keyboards
But that cant be right On Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 12:38 PM Bill Degnan wrote: > My initial thought is a clone dec terminal printer keyboard. > Bill > > On Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 9:41 AM Jules Richardson via cctalk < > cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > >> >> Hey all, >> >> I was wondering if anyone knows what system either of these two keyboards >> came from: >> >> 1) APL keyboard made by Maxi-switch, IC date codes in 1976, p/n 2129-009, >> keyboard encoder has "NKBD-452 03-004-05": >>http://www.classiccmp.org/acornia/tmp/maxi.jpg >> >> 2) Keyboard branded as Licon 55-500129, IC date codes in 1973 and '74. >> Has >> three blank white keys, one blank gray key, and one blank black key, also >> "home mem", "marg set" and "video rvs": >>http://www.classiccmp.org/acornia/tmp/licon.jpg >> >> I picked up both hoping that at least one would be simple parallel output >> and so useful for homebrew stuff, but I am curious about what they >> originally came from. >> >> cheers >> >> Jules >> >
Re: Mystery mid-70's keyboards
My initial thought is a clone dec terminal printer keyboard. Bill On Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 9:41 AM Jules Richardson via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > > Hey all, > > I was wondering if anyone knows what system either of these two keyboards > came from: > > 1) APL keyboard made by Maxi-switch, IC date codes in 1976, p/n 2129-009, > keyboard encoder has "NKBD-452 03-004-05": >http://www.classiccmp.org/acornia/tmp/maxi.jpg > > 2) Keyboard branded as Licon 55-500129, IC date codes in 1973 and '74. Has > three blank white keys, one blank gray key, and one blank black key, also > "home mem", "marg set" and "video rvs": >http://www.classiccmp.org/acornia/tmp/licon.jpg > > I picked up both hoping that at least one would be simple parallel output > and so useful for homebrew stuff, but I am curious about what they > originally came from. > > cheers > > Jules >
Re: Two dead LK201 keyboards
On Sat, Dec 28, 2019 at 5:39 AM Pete Turnbull via cctalk wrote: > Those old adapters are definitely just passive wiring, and were commonly > supplied with dual-standard mice. That's why they're green. I have green ones for mice, and purple ones for keyboards (same signals on USB side, different pins on PS/2 side). > They only work with devices that inherently support both protocols. Yep. I don't even know which of my keyboards work with the adapter, but I should probably test a few and mark them and set them aside for 90s machines/projects (like Amiga PS/2 keyboard adapters which were popular at one point because of the scarcity and cost of genuine Amiga keyboards). -ethan
Re: Two dead LK201 keyboards
> On Dec 28, 2019, at 5:25 AM, Pete Turnbull via cctalk > wrote: > > On 28/12/2019 01:46, Paul Koning via cctalk wrote: > >> I can get one and test it with an Apple keyboard, but that doesn't sound >> right. There aren't enough wires on a USB connector to allow you to speak >> the PS/2 protocol. And there are PS/2 to USB adapters (for old keyboards) >> that are the same size; clearly the old keyboards don't speak USB. > > Enough wires? +5V, ground, clock, data vs +5V, ground, D+, D- > > Those old adapters are definitely just passive wiring, and were commonly > supplied with dual-standard mice. That's why they're green. I worked in the > IT department of a large university and it caused a lot of confusion back in > the day when they were common, when people expected them to convert any > keyboard or mouse to PS/2, and found they didn't. They only work with devices > that inherently support both protocols. Ok, it sounds like I jumped to conclusions on insufficient data. It sure is amazing to speak two so unrelated protocols on the same wires and somehow make it work. paul
ODS-1 structure examiner
Lee was looking for info on RSX ODS-1 earlier this year Looks like he's made progress groking it http://rsx11.blogspot.com/2019/12/opind-rsx11-ods-1-disk-structure-utility.html
Lockheed MAC-16
Are there any surviving Lockheed MAC-16 machines anywhere? And/or does anyone have a good photo of the front? (All I've been able to find online is the angled shot that's on the wikipedia page, plus a few grainy images from marketing info). I rescued a couple of panels a little while ago, but all I have are the PCB, switch and bulb-holder assemblies; it might be fun at some point to mock up a surrounding bezel/overlay, but I'd need some good quality reference material for that. cheers Jules
Mystery mid-70's keyboards
Hey all, I was wondering if anyone knows what system either of these two keyboards came from: 1) APL keyboard made by Maxi-switch, IC date codes in 1976, p/n 2129-009, keyboard encoder has "NKBD-452 03-004-05": http://www.classiccmp.org/acornia/tmp/maxi.jpg 2) Keyboard branded as Licon 55-500129, IC date codes in 1973 and '74. Has three blank white keys, one blank gray key, and one blank black key, also "home mem", "marg set" and "video rvs": http://www.classiccmp.org/acornia/tmp/licon.jpg I picked up both hoping that at least one would be simple parallel output and so useful for homebrew stuff, but I am curious about what they originally came from. cheers Jules
Re: Two dead LK201 keyboards
On 28/12/2019 01:46, Paul Koning via cctalk wrote: I can get one and test it with an Apple keyboard, but that doesn't sound right. There aren't enough wires on a USB connector to allow you to speak the PS/2 protocol. And there are PS/2 to USB adapters (for old keyboards) that are the same size; clearly the old keyboards don't speak USB. Enough wires? +5V, ground, clock, data vs +5V, ground, D+, D- Those old adapters are definitely just passive wiring, and were commonly supplied with dual-standard mice. That's why they're green. I worked in the IT department of a large university and it caused a lot of confusion back in the day when they were common, when people expected them to convert any keyboard or mouse to PS/2, and found they didn't. They only work with devices that inherently support both protocols. -- Pete Pete Turnbull
