Re: Sovier/Russian 132-pin PGA Ceramic IC Packaging

[Holm Tiffe via cctalk]

Joshua Rice via cctalk wrote:

> Though i’m no expert, it looks like those are more an artefact of production, 
> rather than usable test points. It seems like those pins extend throughout 
> the ceramic substrate, and were most likely produced by pushing the pins 
> through holes in the substrate and then soldering them. This may have been a 
> solution used when the factory making them had limited tooling, or the chip 
> was particularly low volume and more dedicated tooling was uneconomical.
> 
> > On Feb 9, 2021, at 10:27 AM, Paul Birkel via cctalk  
> > wrote:
> > 
> > In item https://www.ebay.com/itm/265045229011 I am curious as to whether the
> > gold islands on the top-side are functional test-points giving electrical
> > access to the underside pins?  Was there a clip designed to attach to the
> > top-side of these chips for use in circuit analysis?  Was this design unique
> > to Russian manufacture (I don't recall ever seeing this design previously)?
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > paul
> > 

:-)

is it symtomatic for US people that things that russians do and that 
they couldn't explain, must have something todo with "limited tooling"
or other limitations that russians "must have"?

Nazis had the same idea, all other people seemed to be limited in on or
another way. You already know what came later.

Regards,
Holm

-- 
   Technik Service u. Handel Tiffe, www.tsht.de, Holm Tiffe, 
 Goethestrasse 15, 09569 Oederan, USt-Id: DE253710583
i...@tsht.de Fax +49 37292 709779 Tel +49 37292 709778 Mobil: 0172 8790 741

Re: VT340 Emulation

[Paul Koning via cctalk]

> On Jun 24, 2021, at 8:51 PM, Grant Taylor via cctalk  
> wrote:
> 
> On 6/22/21 9:12 AM, Ethan Dicks via cctalk wrote:
>> The OP said he meant with "real" connectors, but in my case, I've 
>> encountered strange buffering issues with USB serial dongles (since they are 
>> really block-mode devices, not character-at-a-time) and I've definitely had 
>> problems supporting lines with odd parameters (especially speeds slower than 
>> 300 baud or with 5-bits-per-char, like one would use for a Model 19 or Model 
>> 28 teletype).  The hardware UARTs on AVR processors implement those juse 
>> fine (though for "50 baud", you often have to put a slower crystal on the 
>> processor because the 16-bit divisor overflows at 16-20MHz).  The "soft 
>> serial" libraries often just hard-code 8-bit implementations.  Fine for 
>> modern stuff but I have uses for connecting to electromechanical serial 
>> devices.
> 
> These seem like real problems, which can't be overcome by a passive physical 
> adapter.
> 
> These also seem like implementation problems to me.  At least more than they 
> seem like a USB spec problem.  I naively assume that if someone wanted to 
> produce a USB-to-Serial adapter that supported the things you're describing 
> that they could do so.  But sadly, I believe that RoI will be on the wrong 
> side of the demand curve.

An Arduino or something of that size can easily do a USB to serial adapter in 
software.  That would let you do any data rate and character length the device 
can so (if you use its UART) or whatever you can generate in bit-banging 
software.  For example, a Raspberry Pico can clearly do any rate you want, 
including strange slow ones or oddballs like 134.5 baud 6 bits (or is that 7 -- 
for the serial line 2741).  45.45 baud 5 level and some strange fractional stop 
bit, not quite 1.5 -- no problem.  10 bit characters (for the classic PLATO 
terminal to host direction) -- no problem.  

paul

Re: VT340 Emulation

[Grant Taylor via cctalk]

On 6/22/21 9:12 AM, Ethan Dicks via cctalk wrote:
The OP said he meant with "real" connectors, but in my case, 
I've encountered strange buffering issues with USB serial dongles 
(since they are really block-mode devices, not character-at-a-time) 
and I've definitely had problems supporting lines with odd parameters 
(especially speeds slower than 300 baud or with 5-bits-per-char, like 
one would use for a Model 19 or Model 28 teletype).  The hardware UARTs 
on AVR processors implement those juse fine (though for "50 baud", 
you often have to put a slower crystal on the processor because the 
16-bit divisor overflows at 16-20MHz).  The "soft serial" libraries 
often just hard-code 8-bit implementations.  Fine for modern stuff 
but I have uses for connecting to electromechanical serial devices.


These seem like real problems, which can't be overcome by a passive 
physical adapter.


These also seem like implementation problems to me.  At least more than 
they seem like a USB spec problem.  I naively assume that if someone 
wanted to produce a USB-to-Serial adapter that supported the things 
you're describing that they could do so.  But sadly, I believe that RoI 
will be on the wrong side of the demand curve.


In terms of a CRT terminal, though, most modern serial implementations 
are fine.


*nod*



--
Grant. . . .
unix || die

Re: VT340 Emulation

[Grant Taylor via cctalk]

On 6/22/21 5:26 AM, emanuel stiebler via cctalk wrote:

Why? I love the new ones, as I travel a lot ;-)


The 4k monitors that I've worked with have been ultra high DPI.  This 
means that things that don't have DPI settings end up being tiny on the 
screen.


It's especially a problem if you try to mix non-4k and 4k monitors.


OK, sorry. "Real" is for me here, physically the same connectors like
DB25/DB9/MMJ/etc ...


So how does that differ than a USB-to-RS-232 with the proper passive 
adapter to go from DB-9 to DB-25 / MMJ.


Season to taste regarding DB vs DE.



--
Grant. . . .
unix || die

Re: Serial Multisession

[Gavin Scott via cctalk]

The patent goes into considerable depth on the "preferred embodiment"
with descriptions of the protocol with flow control etc. and it looks
like it could be pretty easy to reverse engineer if the actual
implementation is similar to the description in the patent. If one had
a working example to play with of course. Could be a fun little
project.

The flow control is kinda interesting. The receiver sends "transmit
credits" to the sender who will consume them in the process of sending
data and then stop until more credits are received.

On Thu, Jun 24, 2021 at 4:25 PM Glen Slick via cctalk
 wrote:
>
> >
> > Also supported by the VT420, VT510, VT520, VT525
> >
>
> Actually as far as I can tell the VT510 does not support TD/SMP
> (Terminal Device/Session Management Protocol). No mention of multiple
> sessions in this VT510 manual as there are in this VT520 manual.
>
> http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/terminal/vt5xx/
> http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/terminal/vt5xx/598-0013866_VT510_Installation_Nov96.pdf
> http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/terminal/vt5xx/EK-VT520-IN_VT520_Installation_and_Operating_Information_Apr94.pdf

Re: Serial Multisession

[Glen Slick via cctalk]

>
> Also supported by the VT420, VT510, VT520, VT525
>

Actually as far as I can tell the VT510 does not support TD/SMP
(Terminal Device/Session Management Protocol). No mention of multiple
sessions in this VT510 manual as there are in this VT520 manual.

http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/terminal/vt5xx/
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/terminal/vt5xx/598-0013866_VT510_Installation_Nov96.pdf
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/terminal/vt5xx/EK-VT520-IN_VT520_Installation_and_Operating_Information_Apr94.pdf

Re: Serial Multisession

[Glen Slick via cctalk]

On Thu, Jun 24, 2021 at 1:41 PM Grant Taylor via cctalk
 wrote:
>
> Does anyone know anything about the "Serial Multisession" that the VT
> LAN 40, and presumably other terminals, supports?
>
> I've not heard about it before and intend to do some research.  But I
> figured that it was an interesting enough topic, that is multiplexing
> terminal sessions over a single serial link, to warrant further discussion.
>

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TD/SMP
TD/SMP, short for Terminal Device/Session Management Protocol, was a
terminal multiplexer system introduced by DEC on their VT330/340
terminals in 1987. The terminal-side was referred to as SSU. TD/SMP
allowed data from two separate host sessions to be sent to a
compatible computer terminal over a single serial port. The format was
patented and never described in depth, limiting it to DEC's own
terminal servers and terminals.

Also supported by the VT420, VT510, VT520, VT525

Terminal device session management protocol
https://patents.google.com/patent/US4791566
https://patents.google.com/patent/US5165020

SSU software was available on OpenVMS

Serial Multisession

[Grant Taylor via cctalk]

Does anyone know anything about the "Serial Multisession" that the VT 
LAN 40, and presumably other terminals, supports?


I've not heard about it before and intend to do some research.  But I 
figured that it was an interesting enough topic, that is multiplexing 
terminal sessions over a single serial link, to warrant further discussion.




--
Grant. . . .
unix || die

Re: VT340 Emulation

[Grant Taylor via cctalk]

On 6/23/21 4:08 PM, Mark Matlock via cctalk wrote:
One VT340 emulator that works quite well is the VT Lan 40. This was 
one of the last terminals made by DEC. It ran Windows 3.1 from ROM 
and used the LK411-AA keyboard (with the round PC keyboard connector) 
displaying on a Super VGA LCD display (1024 x 768 x 16 colors)


It could connect to several (unto 8) systems simultaneously using a 
DB25 serial, a MMJ serial, then over its ethernet connector: multiple 
LAT, CTERM (DECnet) and Telnet (TCP/IP) sessions. The session windows 
allow cut and paste between Windows.


The VT340 emulation seems to be perfect displaying Regis and pixels 
correctly and handling mouse movements correctly in the VT340 mode. 
Output from Saturn Graph for VMS works great!


It also displays APL overstrike characters correctly with VAX APL 
using the ^D prefix described in the APL documentation. It also 
handles some escape sequence quirks that RSX KED does that mess up 
other VT100 emulators.


I think the VT LAN 40 looks super interesting.  Though the mentioned 
price is out of my /want/ range.  Maybe if I /needed/ it.  But I don't 
/need/ it.


I wonder what terminal emulator it's running on top of Windows 3.x.  I'd 
be interested in playing with it on a comparable system.




--
Grant. . . .
unix || die

Re: VT340 Emulation

[Al Kossow via cctalk]

On 6/24/21 12:34 PM, Zane Healy wrote:
paul


Thanks.   That's a crazy high price for what "untested, for parts" with a thick 
coat of dirt.   I find a conventional PC layout good enough for what I need.

paul


Geeze, at that price, do I need to start clearing out my keyboard collection? 


ccmp'ers blissfully ignorant at what keyboard ghouls have done to prices

$70 is cheap for a Cherry kb now

Re: VT340 Emulation

[Zane Healy via cctalk]

On Jun 24, 2021, at 10:11 AM, Paul Koning via cctalk  
wrote:
> 
>> On Jun 24, 2021, at 1:07 PM, Al Kossow via cctalk  
>> wrote:
>> 
>> On 6/24/21 9:06 AM, Paul Koning via cctalk wrote:
>> 
>>> LK201s use 4800 baud UART interfacing.  PC keyboards with DIN connectors 
>>> (PS-2) have a very different type of interface, nothing like a UART.  If 
>>> the terminal you are talking about wants a PS-2 keyboard, as my VT501 does, 
>>> you need a protocol translator.  It would essentially be the reverse of the 
>>> LK201 emulator for PS-2 keyboards I released a while back, and possibly the 
>>> same board could be used with a rather different program running on it.
>>> paul
>> ebay seller wooch22 has been selling cherry wyse ansi layout keyboards that 
>> are restorable, if you want something to convert
>> with the right layout
>> 
>> https://www.ebay.com/itm/313552477333 
> 
> Thanks.   That's a crazy high price for what "untested, for parts" with a 
> thick coat of dirt.   I find a conventional PC layout good enough for what I 
> need.
> 
>   paul

Geeze, at that price, do I need to start clearing out my keyboard collection?  
Nope, not going to do it...

I’m actually in pretty good shape, plenty of LK201’s & LK401’s (from my 
VT320’s, VT420’s, and workstations), plus a couple LK450-AA’s and a PCXAL or 
two.

I’m just not clear on if there is any difference between a LK412-AA and a 
LK450-AA, both have the WPS keycaps, both have the PS/2 style DIN connector.

I do wish I had a couple LK402-AA's (basically a 401 with WPS keycaps).

I also wish I knew why I have two LK450-AA’s. :-)  Though I’m glad I do.

Besides a terminal with ReGIS Graphics, the only other terminal that would 
tempt me is a Honeywell, but then I can connect to Multics from a VT420 just 
fine.

Zane

Re: Interesting photos of a computer graphics lab from 1968

[Paul Koning via cctalk]

> On Jun 24, 2021, at 1:37 PM, Mike Begley via cctalk  
> wrote:
> 
> A friend of mine collects old photos, and sent me a link to this set he just 
> recovered from film.  He doesn't know much about the provenance, but it might 
> be interesting to figure out what we can about them.
> 
> The link is here:
> 
> https://www.espressobuzz.net/Found/GeorgeClark/GraphicsLab/
> 
> The film roll was dated June 1968, which was a month before I was born.
> 
> The most interesting (to me) is the photo of the Adage Graphics Terminal.  
> I'd never heard of the company before, but it looks like they were one of the 
> many tech companies that sprang up in the MIT & Harvard orbit in the 60s and 
> 70s.  There's a small amount of info about the company on Wikipedia: 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adage,_Inc.
> 
> Also in the same photo, to the right of the terminal is a silver box that 
> might be an early joystick.  It's hard to say.

Seems like it.  Amusing to see what was standard equipment in computer rooms 
early on: an ash tray.

> ...
> Other recognizable hardware are a couple of ASR33 teletypes (one of which was 
> rebadged as Adage), 

The first two pictures seem to show an ASR35, the heavy duty terminal, while 
the third one is indeed an ASR33.

paul

Interesting photos of a computer graphics lab from 1968

[Mike Begley via cctalk]

A friend of mine collects old photos, and sent me a link to this set he just 
recovered from film.  He doesn't know much about the provenance, but it might 
be interesting to figure out what we can about them.

The link is here:

https://www.espressobuzz.net/Found/GeorgeClark/GraphicsLab/

The film roll was dated June 1968, which was a month before I was born.

The most interesting (to me) is the photo of the Adage Graphics Terminal.  I'd 
never heard of the company before, but it looks like they were one of the many 
tech companies that sprang up in the MIT & Harvard orbit in the 60s and 70s.  
There's a small amount of info about the company on Wikipedia: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adage,_Inc.

Also in the same photo, to the right of the terminal is a silver box that might 
be an early joystick.  It's hard to say.

The pictures of the graphics terminal output is pretty cool, given that it's 
probably really pushing state of the art at the time.  Also, they're in color, 
which was still not terribly common at the time.  The only few photos I was 
able to find of Adage terminals are all black and white.

Other recognizable hardware are a couple of ASR33 teletypes (one of which was 
rebadged as Adage), and some tape drives, the manufacture I don't recognize.  
Everything else, I pretty much can't make out what any of it is, but perhaps 
someone recognizes the particular layout of the blinkinlights?

He was told that the pictures were taken "somewhere in the northeast".  I 
suspect Boston, and therefore probably MIT or maybe Harvard.  On the same roll 
were some pictures of "a colonial ship with lots of cannons", which I suspect 
was the USS Constitution in Boston Harbor, but I haven't seen those pics yet.  
I wonder if the tile pattern on the floor is distinct enough or recognizable?

Anyway, it's an interesting set of archival photos, and I figured someone here 
might find them interesting or might recognize more than I do.

-mike

Re: VT340 Emulation

[Mark Matlock via cctalk]

> On Jun 24, 2021, at 11:06 AM, Paul Koning  wrote:
> 
> LK201s use 4800 baud UART interfacing.  PC keyboards with DIN connectors 
> (PS-2) have a very different type of interface, nothing like a UART.  If the 
> terminal you are talking about wants a PS-2 keyboard, as my VT501 does, you 
> need a protocol translator.  It would essentially be the reverse of the LK201 
> emulator for PS-2 keyboards I released a while back, and possibly the same 
> board could be used with a rather different program running on it.
> 
>   paul

Paul,
   The VT LAN 40 does use the PS-2 keyboard protocol like the VT501. The main 
board
of the unit is a PC mother board running Windows 3.1 from ROM. It has some 
amount of
non-volatile memory to store session settings.

   It does sound like a protocol translator like you design but in reverse 
would allow the
older more common VT keyboard to be used.

Mark

Re: VT340 Emulation

[Mark Matlock via cctalk]

> On Jun 24, 2021, at 9:36 AM, Zane Healy  wrote:
> 
> Hi Mark,
> Thanks!  That’s not bad at all considering what VT525’s are going for, and 
> I’d really like to get a terminal with ReGIS Graphics (though I finally have 
> a VAXstation 4000/90 running as a VAXstation).  Mind you, I’m not sure why I 
> need one. 
> 
> I wonder if an LK450-AA keyboard will work, I have a couple with WPS 
> key-caps.  I know those will work on an AlphaStation.  The VTLAN40 page 
> indicates it needs a LK412-AQ for the WPS version of the keyboard, so i’d 
> probably better figure that in the cost.  This makes me wonder, has anyone 
> ever documented what all the different keyboards go to, and how they’re 
> different?
> 
> I’m more awake this morning, and took another look through the webpage, this 
> time on my computer, rather than an iPod.  This looks like the perfect 
> replacement for the VT420 & DECserver 90TL in my Office.  The ReGIS graphics 
> helps to sell it.  Most of the time I simply use SecureCRT on my Mac Pro, but 
> occasionally I need a real DEC keyboard.
> 
> Zane

Zane,
Does the LK450-AA keyboard have a round 6 conductor PS/2 style connector? 
If so I think it would work.
I looked up a pin out for that PS/2 connector and Pin 1 is data, Pin 2 is 
ground, Pin 4 is +5V, and Pin 5 is Clock
with Pins 2 and 6 not used. I suspect that a common cheap PS/2 keyboard would 
also work fine except that
keyboard mapping especially the keypad needed for EDT, KED, etc. might not work 
quite right.

I do think this would make a great replacement for a VT420 and DECserver as 
few terminal emulators do LAT
although Reflection did in the past. My favorite Mac VT terminal editor at the 
moment is ZOC which continues to
get better with each update (although no VT340).

   I’ll send you a .pdf of the user manual for the VT LAN 40 separately that 
will give you a better picture of the unit.

Best,
Mark

  

Re: VT340 Emulation

[Paul Koning via cctalk]

> On Jun 24, 2021, at 1:07 PM, Al Kossow via cctalk  
> wrote:
> 
> On 6/24/21 9:06 AM, Paul Koning via cctalk wrote:
> 
>> LK201s use 4800 baud UART interfacing.  PC keyboards with DIN connectors 
>> (PS-2) have a very different type of interface, nothing like a UART.  If the 
>> terminal you are talking about wants a PS-2 keyboard, as my VT501 does, you 
>> need a protocol translator.  It would essentially be the reverse of the 
>> LK201 emulator for PS-2 keyboards I released a while back, and possibly the 
>> same board could be used with a rather different program running on it.
>>  paul
> ebay seller wooch22 has been selling cherry wyse ansi layout keyboards that 
> are restorable, if you want something to convert
> with the right layout
> 
> https://www.ebay.com/itm/313552477333 

Thanks.   That's a crazy high price for what "untested, for parts" with a thick 
coat of dirt.   I find a conventional PC layout good enough for what I need.

paul

Re: VT340 Emulation

[Al Kossow via cctalk]

On 6/24/21 9:06 AM, Paul Koning via cctalk wrote:


LK201s use 4800 baud UART interfacing.  PC keyboards with DIN connectors (PS-2) 
have a very different type of interface, nothing like a UART.  If the terminal 
you are talking about wants a PS-2 keyboard, as my VT501 does, you need a 
protocol translator.  It would essentially be the reverse of the LK201 emulator 
for PS-2 keyboards I released a while back, and possibly the same board could 
be used with a rather different program running on it.

paul



ebay seller wooch22 has been selling cherry wyse ansi layout keyboards that are 
restorable, if you want something to convert
with the right layout

https://www.ebay.com/itm/313552477333

Re: VT340 Emulation

[emanuel stiebler via cctalk]

On 2021-06-24 10:36, Zane Healy via cctalk wrote:

> Thanks!  That’s not bad at all considering what VT525’s are going for, and 
> I’d really like to get a terminal with ReGIS Graphics (though I finally have 
> a VAXstation 4000/90 running as a VAXstation).  Mind you, I’m not sure why I 
> need one. 

If you just need Regis, get a GIGI, keyboard built in ;-)

Re: VT340 Emulation

[Paul Koning via cctalk]

> On Jun 24, 2021, at 9:30 AM, Mark Matlock via cctalk  
> wrote:
> 
> 
>> On Jun 24, 2021, at 1:25 AM, Zane Healy  wrote:
>> 
>> And all this time I thought that I wanted a VT525!  How much are the 
>> VTLAN40’s going for?
>> 
>> Zane 
> 
> Zane,
>If you explain to Mitch Miller at Keyways that you are a hobbyist, he will 
> sell them for $400,
> at least he has in the past. He also has new and used LK411-AA keyboards. The 
> last one I
> bought was $190 for new. That seems expensive but it has the round connector 
> like a PC
> used to used for keyboard before USB. It might be possible to make an adapter 
> to convert
> an old VT420 keyboard to the round connector if one knew how the pin outs for 
> each mapped?

LK201s use 4800 baud UART interfacing.  PC keyboards with DIN connectors (PS-2) 
have a very different type of interface, nothing like a UART.  If the terminal 
you are talking about wants a PS-2 keyboard, as my VT501 does, you need a 
protocol translator.  It would essentially be the reverse of the LK201 emulator 
for PS-2 keyboards I released a while back, and possibly the same board could 
be used with a rather different program running on it.

paul

Re: VT340 Emulation

[Mark Matlock via cctalk]

> On Jun 24, 2021, at 1:25 AM, Zane Healy  wrote:
> 
> And all this time I thought that I wanted a VT525!  How much are the 
> VTLAN40’s going for?
> 
> Zane 

Zane,
If you explain to Mitch Miller at Keyways that you are a hobbyist, he will 
sell them for $400,
at least he has in the past. He also has new and used LK411-AA keyboards. The 
last one I
bought was $190 for new. That seems expensive but it has the round connector 
like a PC
used to used for keyboard before USB. It might be possible to make an adapter 
to convert
an old VT420 keyboard to the round connector if one knew how the pin outs for 
each mapped?

  On the SVGA displays, I’ve been using the NEC Accusync LCD 71VM and it works 
well.
As the unit comes it will operate at 800 x 600 256 color, but if you go to the 
Windows 3.1 
settings it can be changed to 1024 x 768 x 16 colors which works better to have 
multiple 
sessions windows open at once.

Mark

Re: On compiling. (Was a way off topic subject)

[Paul Koning via cctalk]

> On Jun 24, 2021, at 1:02 AM, ben via cctalk  wrote:
> 
> On 2021-06-23 6:48 p.m., Paul Koning via cctalk wrote:
>> Somewhat related to the point of compiling and executing mixed together is a 
>> very strange hack I saw in the Electrologica assembler for the X8 (the 
>> company issue one, not one of the various ones built at various labs for 
>> that machine).  It is essentially a "load and go" assembler, so the code is 
>> dropped into memory as it is assembled, with a list of places to be fixed up 
>> rather than the more typical two pass approach.  You can use a variation of 
>> the usual "start address" directive to tell the assembler to start executing 
>> at that address right now.  In other words, you can assemble some code, 
>> execute it, then go back to assembling the rest of the source text.  Cute.  
>> Suppose you want to do something too hard for macros; just assemble its 
>> input data, followed by some code to convert that into the form you want, 
>> then go back to assembling more code.  And that can start by backing up the 
>> assembly output pointer ("dot") so the conversion code doesn't actually take 
>> up space in the finished program.
>> It sure makes cross-assemblers hard, because you have to include an EL-X8 
>> simulator in the assembler... :-)
>>  paul
> But at least it not a 386. Did any other computers have built in rom or 
> protected core used as rom for 'standard' routines like I/O or floating point.
> Ben.

Sure.  A few examples:

The Electrologica X1 (from 1958) has what one might call the first BIOS, in 
core ROM; the standard version (by E.W. Dijkstra, see his Ph.D. thesis) 
contains basic I/O services, a rudimentary assembler, and some operator 
interface mechanisms.  Customers could order additional ROM, and several did to 
add run time library routines for their compilers to the ROM, things like 
floating point operations since the hardware did only integer arithmetic.

The Electrologica X8 (1964) had an I/O coprocessor called CHARON which the main 
machine talks to via semaphores and queues; it does the detailed control of the 
various peripherals.  It either came with ROM or with read/write core loaded at 
the factory, I'm not sure.  It wasn't customer-programmable.

The IBM 360/44 (early 1970s) with the very obscure Emulator option implements 
an emulation of the string and decimal instructions of the 360 instruction set 
in an emulator that lives in a separate memory, not addressable from the normal 
execution environment.  It's read/write core memory, loaded (if it ever gets 
messed up, which I never saw happen) from a binary card deck using the 
"Emulator IPL" console button.

I assume the Apollo Guidance Computer (1968 or thereabouts) is an example since 
it has a substantial core ROM, and also I believe loadable programs, but I 
don't know the details.

There probably are quite a lot more but those are a few I know of.  

paul

Re: VT340 Emulation

[Zane Healy via cctalk]

On Jun 24, 2021, at 6:30 AM, Mark Matlock  wrote:
> On Jun 24, 2021, at 1:25 AM, Zane Healy  wrote:
>> 
>> And all this time I thought that I wanted a VT525!  How much are the 
>> VTLAN40’s going for?
>> 
>> Zane 
> 
> Zane,
>If you explain to Mitch Miller at Keyways that you are a hobbyist, he will 
> sell them for $400,
> at least he has in the past. He also has new and used LK411-AA keyboards. The 
> last one I
> bought was $190 for new. That seems expensive but it has the round connector 
> like a PC
> used to used for keyboard before USB. It might be possible to make an adapter 
> to convert
> an old VT420 keyboard to the round connector if one knew how the pin outs for 
> each mapped?
> 
>  On the SVGA displays, I’ve been using the NEC Accusync LCD 71VM and it works 
> well.
> As the unit comes it will operate at 800 x 600 256 color, but if you go to 
> the Windows 3.1 
> settings it can be changed to 1024 x 768 x 16 colors which works better to 
> have multiple 
> sessions windows open at once.
> 
> Mark

Hi Mark,
Thanks!  That’s not bad at all considering what VT525’s are going for, and I’d 
really like to get a terminal with ReGIS Graphics (though I finally have a 
VAXstation 4000/90 running as a VAXstation).  Mind you, I’m not sure why I need 
one. 

I wonder if an LK450-AA keyboard will work, I have a couple with WPS key-caps.  
I know those will work on an AlphaStation.  The VTLAN40 page indicates it needs 
a LK412-AQ for the WPS version of the keyboard, so i’d probably better figure 
that in the cost.  This makes me wonder, has anyone ever documented what all 
the different keyboards go to, and how they’re different?

I’m more awake this morning, and took another look through the webpage, this 
time on my computer, rather than an iPod.  This looks like the perfect 
replacement for the VT420 & DECserver 90TL in my Office.  The ReGIS graphics 
helps to sell it.  Most of the time I simply use SecureCRT on my Mac Pro, but 
occasionally I need a real DEC keyboard.

Zane

Rockwell 65001EAB3

[Jim Brain via cctalk]

I know it's a long shot, but wondering if anyone might have a Rockwell 
65001 EAB3 type IC lying around in a discard pile or otherwise willing 
to go to a new home.  Here's a pic of one in the Commodore C900 keyboard:


https://i.ibb.co/tZ2m68x/IMG-1538.jpg

I see one online for sale, but the both the pricing is untenable for a device I 
don't need to use but just wanted to research and I also don't want to prohibit 
a known good device from being available if needed.

Jim

--
Jim Brain
br...@jbrain.com
www.jbrain.com