On Fri, 1 Nov 2002, Mike wrote:
I picked up a rainbow this evening, but it is
missing the monitor and
keyboard.
But there was 2 floppy disks still in the drives.
I've looked the case over and the only ports on the back seem to be the
video, printer and COMM.
If I connect a VT-100 to COMM can I still access the CPU's?
Probably not. The monitor for it is actually a 'VR201' .. a VT220 minus
the terminal interface part. The video output is actually monochrome
NTSC-compatible video (i've used my TV for that), and the keyboard is
either an LK-201 or LK-401 (they're electrically compatible with each
other). Somewhere I found a pinout of the 'video' port, if you want I can
look again.
If it has a graphic card you can also use it with a VR241. The original Byte
review claimed the VR201 was compatable with the VT102.
Jeff Armstrong who wrote the Rainbow FAQ claimed there was a built-in
terminal that could be accessed at the start-up menu by typing T altho I have
never tried it. He also said a friend of his was using it for a terminal on his
VAX II.
Tony Duell posted the pin-outs for both mono and color a while back on the
list to make a monitor cable, which can be hard-to-find. The LK201's are
fairly plentiful.
The main source of Rainbow stuff is archived at:
ftp.update.uu.se/pub/rainbow/
I also have the FAQ and some other stuff gleaned from Jeff Armstrong's now
defunct Rainbow site.
Don Maislin can supply the OS disks IINM at a ridiculously low price.
Lawrence
I made an adaptor for my PRO380 (same video connector)
that just gives an
RCA jack and keyboard jack from the connector and it works fine.
Pat
--
Purdue Universtiy ITAP/RCS
Information Technology at Purdue
Research Computing and Storage
http://www-rcd.cc.purdue.edu
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