Back in the day, in a galaxy far far away, I was system manager of a site that used TMS-11, a DEC product for newspaper/graphics arts production.
Among a lot of other DEC gear most people have never heard of, we used VT/61 and VT/62 terminals.
They indeed were block mode terminals, but could be used in VT52 mode by setting a switch on the motherboard. That made them work like a normal serial terminal.
Sorry, I got rid of my hardware manuals for these a long time ago.
I do recall that they were very popular at newspaper sites, since the area on them on the right side reserved for the wave graphics option was large enough and easily accessible enough to hold a fifth of whiskey, which was an important feature at a lot of newspaper sites.
-----Original Message----- From: Bob Armstrong
Sent: Friday, September 27, 2013 7:36 PM
To: hecnet at update.uu.se
Subject: [HECnet] VT-62?
What can be done (non-destructive suggestions only, please) with a
VT-62? This is NOT a VT52 (although it looks like one). The VT62 is a
block mode terminal that, I think, actually speaks DDCMP. AFAIK it's
incapable of being a plain ASCII terminal unless there's some hack I'm
unaware of.
Right now the only thing I can think of is to part it out as spares
for my VT52. I have two of the latter and it looks like at least some
of the major assemblies - CRT, keyboard, power supply - are identical.
I hate to do that, though, if there's a better use for it.
---
Bob
Hello!
And most of you wonder why I'm still interested in finding a (or any
of them) PDT-11 units. There's something about them that makes me
think of the phrase cute.
-----
Gregg C Levine gregg.drwho8 at gmail.com
"This signature fought the Time Wars, time and again."
On Fri, Sep 27, 2013 at 9:04 PM, John Wilson <wilson at dbit.com> wrote:
From: Bob Armstrong <bob at jfcl.com>
What can be done (non-destructive suggestions only, please) with a
VT-62? This is NOT a VT52 (although it looks like one). The VT62 is a
block mode terminal that, I think, actually speaks DDCMP. AFAIK it's
incapable of being a plain ASCII terminal unless there's some hack I'm
unaware of.
Have you tried it? I had a VT62 on my PDT-11/150 in college and I know
there was supposed to be a block mode, but it also worked fine as just a
VT52 clone, but with a speaker for keyclick/^G instead of a clacker, ESC T
switches you to reverse video and ESC U switches you back, and after column
72 there are tabs at every column. Other than that it's exactly a VT52 IIRC.
No idea if mine had been jumpered or had the ROMs switched or anything
to make it so normal. I bought it from an ex-DEC-employee (DEC dumped
a lot of the PDTs to their own employees) and I suppose it's possible
he got a special version.
John Wilson
D Bit
sampsa <sampsa at mac.com>
mobile +358 40 7208932
On 28 Sep 2013, at 03:14, Bob Armstrong <bob at jfcl.com> wrote:
On 2013-09-27 18:09, Dave McGuire wrote:
I might actually have a spare one of those, strangely enough.
My VT-180 will love you forever!
Might just wire my CBM 128D into the DECserver in Finland :)
It's not a Robin but it's old-skool.
sampsa
What type of connection? Serial? If you jumper 2 and 3 and type do you get anything?
Ian
Sent from my iPhone
On Sep 27, 2013, at 6:12 PM, Bob Armstrong <bob at jfcl.com> wrote:
On 2013-09-27 18:04, John Wilson wrote:
Have you tried it?
Yes - as far as I can tell it does nothing. The cursor blinks and one or two of the status LEDs are on (forget which ones, sorry) but other than that nothing I do seems to get any response out of it. Maybe mine's broken?
---
Bob
---
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On 2013-09-27 18:09, Dave McGuire wrote:
I might actually have a spare one of those, strangely enough.
My VT-180 will love you forever!
I know I have a spare VT1xx cover,
I've got a regular VT100 cover, but the cutouts aren't right for the extra boards in the Robin.
Bob
On 2013-09-27 18:04, John Wilson wrote:
Have you tried it?
Yes - as far as I can tell it does nothing. The cursor blinks and one or two of the status LEDs are on (forget which ones, sorry) but other than that nothing I do seems to get any response out of it. Maybe mine's broken?
---
Bob
On 09/27/2013 09:07 PM, Bob Armstrong wrote:
Probably. Speaking of terminals, I would LOVE to get my hands on a
working VT180..
You could maybe talk me out of one for the right swap, maybe, ....
I've also got a Robin (don't tell Sampsa!) but it's missing the
plastic cover that goes over the back of the card cage. Would you have
an extra one of those? I'll swap you a VT62 for one (you pay the
shipping :-)
I might actually have a spare one of those, strangely enough. I know
I have a spare VT1xx cover, but I'm not sure which submodel it's for. I
will have to dig for it. Keep after me about it when you think of it.
Doesn't interfere with the functionality, but I like my stuff to look
good :-)
Same here.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA
On 2013-09-27 17:52, Dave McGuire wrote:
On 09/27/2013 08:48 PM, Sampsa Laine wrote:
Probably. Speaking of terminals, I would LOVE to get my hands on a working VT180..
You could maybe talk me out of one for the right swap, maybe, ....
I've also got a Robin (don't tell Sampsa!) but it's missing the plastic cover that goes over the back of the card cage. Would you have an extra one of those? I'll swap you a VT62 for one (you pay the shipping :-)
Doesn't interfere with the functionality, but I like my stuff to look good :-)
--
Bob
From: Bob Armstrong <bob at jfcl.com>
What can be done (non-destructive suggestions only, please) with a
VT-62? This is NOT a VT52 (although it looks like one). The VT62 is a
block mode terminal that, I think, actually speaks DDCMP. AFAIK it's
incapable of being a plain ASCII terminal unless there's some hack I'm
unaware of.
Have you tried it? I had a VT62 on my PDT-11/150 in college and I know
there was supposed to be a block mode, but it also worked fine as just a
VT52 clone, but with a speaker for keyclick/^G instead of a clacker, ESC T
switches you to reverse video and ESC U switches you back, and after column
72 there are tabs at every column. Other than that it's exactly a VT52 IIRC.
No idea if mine had been jumpered or had the ROMs switched or anything
to make it so normal. I bought it from an ex-DEC-employee (DEC dumped
a lot of the PDTs to their own employees) and I suppose it's possible
he got a special version.
John Wilson
D Bit
On 09/27/2013 08:55 PM, Sampsa Laine wrote:
Yeah, it's a pity, I'm a big fan of VT terminals and CP/M boxes, and this is both.
Dream system really :)
I share your affinities on all three counts...the first, the second,
and the combination.
Actually the DEC Rainbow looks pretty cool too, could run CP/M-86 and -80 plus use it in VT102 mode.
Neat, yes, but the VT180 is nicer IMO.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA
