21 May
2013
21 May
'13
7:13 p.m.
Folks,
A while back I posted about a mystery console a FOAF picked up at a DRMO auction. I wound
up purchasing an extra one from him for my own use and to help identify it.
The internal components are interesting. An 800x600 LCD display that takes XGA/VGA input.
An AT-based keyboard. Some of the trackballs are serial mice, and I think the joystick is
PC-style joystick.
Two photo albums:
http://imgur.com/a/tsxCP
http://imgur.com/a/t1eS9
I was originally led to believe this kit was US Navy, but after some googling and
guesswork I'm thinking its Air Force.
The massive multi-pin connector on the back looks similar (but it isn't the same) as
the connectors used to the ROLM 1602.
Any ideas?
21 May
21 May
8:07 p.m.
In article <2A7D5C68-9477-4B28-A3B0-48B669D9FC11 at jonworld.com>,
Jonathan Katz <jon at jonworld.com> writes:
The internal components are interesting. An 800x600
LCD display that takes
XGA/VGA input. An AT-based keyboard. Some of the trackballs are serial
mice, and I think the joystick is PC-style joystick.
Pictures of the inside of the cabinet would be nice.
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" free book
<http://tinyurl.com/d3d-pipeline>
The Computer Graphics Museum <http://computergraphicsmuseum.org>
The Terminals Wiki <http://terminals.classiccmp.org>
Legalize Adulthood! (my blog) <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com>
22 May
22 May
6:23 a.m.
On May 21, 2013, at 11:07 PM, Richard <legalize at xmission.com> wrote:
Pictures of the inside of the cabinet would be nice.
I can do that later today, but it isn't too exciting. It is very tidy, though. None of
the wires are color-coded. They're all mil-spec gray/white. It's not so easy to
trace through when they're all the same color.
There is a voltage converter inside, to go from 300VDC (or 28 VDC) to 5/12VDC for the
PC-like components. The power brick is fed from the J1 connector, which looks a lot like
the J1 connector on the pictures of the ROLM 1601/1602 I've seen. The
"wheels" all tie to a PCB as do some of the joysticks, and then they route from
there directly to ICs on the LCD display.
The keyboard, some of the trackballs, and video input all route out through the ginormous
J5 connector on the back.
The "display calibration" stuff seems to route to some kind of JTAG on the LCD.
The EPO button routes directly to the power brick.
LCD has a manufacture date of 1997.
Later today I'm going to cannibalize one of my PC power supplies (which I already
have) and hook up the 5VDC/12VDC to see if any kind of firmware pops up on the LCD.
7:28 a.m.
In article <70C2BFAC-4CE6-4F51-A3B2-F5CEF5130756 at jonworld.com>,
Jonathan Katz <jon at jonworld.com> writes:
The keyboard, some of the trackballs, and video input
all route out through
the ginormous J5 connector on the back.
Oh, I was thinking there was more brains inside. No point in pictures
of an enclosure filled with wiring harnesses from the connectors to
the devcies, then.
However, that does make the box more interesting in that the devices
are more readily repurposed since they are "dumb".
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" free book
<http://tinyurl.com/d3d-pipeline>
The Computer Graphics Museum <http://computergraphicsmuseum.org>
The Terminals Wiki <http://terminals.classiccmp.org>
Legalize Adulthood! (my blog) <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com>
7:36 a.m.
How about clearer pics of the buttons & keys?
Thanks,
Brad Arnold
On May 22, 2013, at 10:33 AM, "Richard" <legalize at xmission.com> wrote:
In article <70C2BFAC-4CE6-4F51-A3B2-F5CEF5130756 at jonworld.com>,
Jonathan Katz <jon at jonworld.com> writes:
The keyboard, some of the trackballs, and video
input all route out through
the ginormous J5 connector on the back.
Oh, I was thinking there was more brains inside. No point in pictures
of an enclosure filled with wiring harnesses from the connectors to
the devcies, then.
However, that does make the box more interesting in that the devices
are more readily repurposed since they are "dumb".
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" free book
<http://tinyurl.com/d3d-pipeline>
The Computer Graphics Museum <http://computergraphicsmuseum.org>
The Terminals Wiki <http://terminals.classiccmp.org>
Legalize Adulthood! (my blog) <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com>
8:02 a.m.
On May 22, 2013, at 10:36 AM, BE Arnold <bearnold at outlook.com> wrote:
How about clearer pics of the buttons & keys?
Ask and ye shall receive. It's a normal AT keyboard except for the labeling of the
number pad and option keys.
http://imgur.com/a/UQP0e
9:05 a.m.
On May 22, 2013, at 11:07 AM, "Jonathan Katz" <jon at jonworld.com>
wrote:
On May 22, 2013, at 10:36 AM, BE Arnold <bearnold
at outlook.com> wrote:
Originally I was thinking it smelled a bit like the fire control stuff we had on the boat.
Now, I'm feeling not, so yeah, you're probably right, Air Force.
How about clearer pics of the buttons & keys?
Ask and ye shall receive. It's a normal AT keyboard except for the labeling of the
number pad and option keys.
http://imgur.com/a/UQP0e 
9:52 a.m.
Am 22.05.2013 17:02, schrieb Jonathan Katz:
It has a gold key! And the PF1..4 labels remind me of DEC VTs!
Kind regards
Philipp
--
Dipl.-Inf. (FH) Philipp Hachtmann
Buchdruck, Bleisatz, Spezialit?ten
Alemannstr. 21, D-30165 Hannover
Tel. 0511/3522222, Mobil 0171/2632239
Fax. 0511/3500439
hachti at hachti.de
www.tiegeldruck.de
UStdID DE 202668329
8:26 a.m.
In article <BAY405-EAS501751BCAB20BD7AC64C49C1A90 at phx.gbl>,
BE Arnold <bearnold at outlook.com> writes:
How about clearer pics of the buttons & keys?
The picture is pretty high resolution, but you have to fiddle with the
web interface to get a larger version.
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" free book
<http://tinyurl.com/d3d-pipeline>
The Computer Graphics Museum <http://computergraphicsmuseum.org>
The Terminals Wiki <http://terminals.classiccmp.org>
Legalize Adulthood! (my blog) <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com>
7:53 a.m.
On May 22, 2013, at 10:28 AM, Richard <legalize at xmission.com> wrote:
Oh, I was thinking there was more brains inside. No point in pictures
of an enclosure filled with wiring harnesses from the connectors to
the devcies, then.
However, that does make the box more interesting in that the devices
are more readily repurposed since they are "dumb".
Exactly, which is why I'm thinking it could be hooked up to a ROLM 1602-ish or
successor or even predecessor?
I hooked up a PC power supply to the 12v and 5v and the LCD powers on; made by Pixelvision
which wound up getting bought by Avocent and is now a part of Emerson. Build-dates of the
components seem to be late 90s, with a 1997 date on the LCD, and one of the trackballs
with a '99 in the date code.
The big trackball (left) and tiny joystick (right) are chained together, and then go into
the PCB that also has all the "wheels" (like skew, z-axis, etc) goes into, which
then feeds the monitor. There is no discernible effect when playing with that stuff on the
monitor. The monitor also has a DB15 VGA hookup, which I may try to power from one of the
laptops to see if any of the image manipulation works on that.
Each of the inserts (joystick, trackballs, and one of the sets of light-up switches)
connect via DB25 or DA15 (game/joystick-style connector)
There is a manufacturer code, which is BAE systems stamped all over it.
Someone linked me to the DLA part-number dictionary. I can't find anything in there.
http://www.dlis.dla.mil/webflis/pub/pub_search.aspx
Here's an album of my break down of the system. Again, not too much to see, except for
the PCB that handles all the graphics manipulation. All the wheels are
resistors/potentiometers that feed into that PCB.
http://imgur.com/a/sM0GF
9 a.m.
In article <08D514F9-3F48-49E8-AB88-DA23F69BFC7A at jonworld.com>,
Jonathan Katz <jon at jonworld.com> writes:
Here's an album of my break down of the system.
Again, not too much to see,
except for the PCB that handles all the graphics manipulation. All the
wheels are resistors/potentiometers that feed into that PCB.
http://imgur.com/a/sM0GF
What's this board doing? <http://i.imgur.com/kmLg83d.jpg>
It has a port labelled RS-232. I can't read part numbers on any of
the chips because the picture is blurry.
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" free book
<http://tinyurl.com/d3d-pipeline>
The Computer Graphics Museum <http://computergraphicsmuseum.org>
The Terminals Wiki <http://terminals.classiccmp.org>
Legalize Adulthood! (my blog) <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com>
25 May
25 May
10:01 a.m.
On Tue, 21 May 2013, Jonathan Katz wrote:
Folks,
A while back I posted about a mystery console a FOAF picked up at a DRMO auction. I wound
up purchasing an extra one from him for my own use and to help identify it.
The internal components are interesting. An 800x600 LCD display that takes XGA/VGA input.
An AT-based keyboard. Some of the trackballs are serial mice, and I think the joystick is
PC-style joystick.
Two photo albums:
http://imgur.com/a/tsxCP
http://imgur.com/a/t1eS9
I was originally led to believe this kit was US Navy, but after some googling and
guesswork I'm thinking its Air Force.
The massive multi-pin connector on the back looks similar (but it isn't the same) as
the connectors used to the ROLM 1602.
Any ideas?
I just asked someone in the know, and according to him, it appears to be a
radar controller console from an E-3 AWACS plane. If this is the case, my
own guess would be that these were originally from the Block 30/35 upgrade
and were removed from service during the Block 40/45 upgrade. Does the
keyboard appear to have been made by IBM?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_E-3_Sentry
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/e-3.htm
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/e-3-rsip.htm
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/e-3-30.htm
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/e-3-40.htm
http://www.northropgrumman.com/Capabilities/AWACSAPY2/Documents/AWACS.pdf
4229
days inactive
4232
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11 comments
5 participants
participants (5)
-
bearnold＠outlook.com -
hachti＠hachti.de -
jon＠jonworld.com -
legalize＠xmission.com -
tothwolf＠concentric.net