21 Oct
2018
21 Oct
'18
12:34 p.m.
On 10/21/18 11:25 AM, Al Kossow via cctalk wrote:
Because of my job, I have to think about what the
museum needs to collect
at the bottom of the supply bathtub curve, and I get nervous when things
start to come up on the tail side.
I should probably expound on that a bit more.
I've noticed our collection is pretty weak in IBM and compatible
comms gear. I had some documentation to fill in some holes, but
that made me think more about 3rd party devices, which are a little
easier to document because it isn't full of IBM ASICs.
I've been making some calls, you'd think the stuff would still be
out there, but after they stop laughing the brokers either
say they threw that stuff out decades ago, or want thousands
of dollars for it then don't have the documentation.
Maybe I'm just calling the wrong places.
The one thing I'm really looking for is the AT&T/Memorex MCS 6542
control unit. I stumbled upon the hardware description looking for
something else about two weeks ago, but can't find anyone that still
has one. 6541s are easy to find, but they use a proprietary "standard
serial interface" which only works with AT&T terminals.