10 Aug
2019
10 Aug
'19
12:39 p.m.
On Aug 10, 2019, at 2:56 PM, Paul Birkel via cctech
<cctech at classiccmp.org> wrote:
The DEC VT20 terminal apparently included a PDP-11/05 with a direct mapped
character display and was intended for text editing and typesetting. It
seems to have been followed by the VT21, and then VT71/VT72, all three based
on an LSI-11 (KD11-F). There's a real lack of documentation about these
online, although the VT72 does have a print set.
...
Looking in a DEC "Options and Modules" listing I see VT20 bundles including
Typeset-11 and DECset-11, and it appears that the VT20 could be configured
with two displays & serial lines in a single 11/05.
So . is the boot device in these systems the remote host via the serial
line? What protocol would that have been? Something native to Typeset-11
and DECset-11?
I've never heard of DECset-11, but I worked on Typeset-11 1978-1980. The VT71 was the
standard high end terminal for that system. I saw a VT20 sitting in a corner of our lab,
but it was collecting dust and I never saw it operate, or connected to anything.
As far as I know, no trace of Typeset-11 or TMS-11 (same software pretty much, ported to a
stripped-down IAS instead of RSX-11/D) have been preserved.
It seems plausible that the download protocol would be DDCMP MOP mode, since that was a
standard protocol supported by DEC for this purpose. But it could have been something
custom as well -- it's not something I was ever exposed to.
Yes, as far as I know the 11/05 controller for the VT20 could drive two independent
displays. The VT71 had a single display, the control processor was built into the
terminal case.
I'm fairly sure the VT71 software was derived from that of the VT20, but just how
close they were I do not know.
paul