29 Oct
2008
29 Oct
'08
8:30 a.m.
--- On Tue, 10/28/08, David Griffith <dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu> wrote:
On Ebay auction number 110304716214 is what is claimed
to be
a keyboard
for assorted Wyse terminals with an RJ-9 jack. However the
keyboard shown
looks more like a VAXstation / vt220 keyboard. I'm not
talking just about
the layout, but the case too. I have some VAXstation
keyboards already.
Dare I try them with my Wyse 99GT?
That isn't a true DEC keyboard, it's definitely something else. Many third party
terminal manufacturers made almost identical-looking keyboards. I've also seen third
party Wyse keyboards (although, not DEC-ish, more like PC-ish). I've got several third
party terminal keyboards that came from VT-220 clones, and these are NOT compatible with a
real DEC terminal.
Terminal keyboards are almost always unique to the terminal model/series they came with.
You can't mix Wyse and DEC keyboards. You can't even be sure that a Wyse keyboard
will work on other models of Wyse terminals - there were several different types. Link
keyboards can sometimes be compatible with Wyse as well (they made third party Wyse
compatible keyboards, as well as terminals. Look for a switch on the bottom to change the
pinout). You'll also find rebadged Wyse terminals. For example, the Altos terminals
are generally just Wyse terminals with different logos.
But plugging an LK-201 into a Wyse isn't going to work.
-Ian