11 Oct
2002
11 Oct
'02
9:46 a.m.
Hi,
what is THE favorite terminal you folks here use ?
Now I have all this nice VTxxx I ever wanted, but they always
miss the graphics capabilities, I had on my terminals in the office.
(not talking about GUIs, just few nice lines on the screen)
So, is there something like emulating VTxxx (52,100,200,320,340) and
tektronix ? (probably even 38400 baud ?
I really like to talk about terminals, not software for PC's
emulating those ...
cheers & thanks
11 Oct
11 Oct
10:01 a.m.
what is THE favorite terminal you folks here use ?
I've got VT100's, VT220's, VT320's and VT420's. Plus I've used
VT520's,
Wyse, and HP terminals as well as a couple others. My favorite is the
VT420. Though I must admit I lust after a VT340+, but I have yet to get my
hands on one.
Oh, and the new VNC terminals that one or two companies make now, look most
interesting....
Zane
--
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator |
| healyzh(a)aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast |
| | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| PDP-10 Emulation and Zane's Computer Museum. |
| http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |
10:16 a.m.
On 10/11/02, Zane H. Healy scribbled:
Agreed. My favorite is the VT420 also, with the LK401 keyboard.
And I'm referring to the black and white one, not the black and orange.
What I like about the VT420 is 2 simultaneous login sessions. Either on 2
different TTY ports on one machine, or TTY on two different machines...
--
--- David A. Woyciesjes
--- C & IS Support Specialist
--- Yale University Press
--- (203) 432-0953
--- ICQ # - 905818
what is THE
favorite terminal you folks here use ?
I've got VT100's, VT220's, VT320's and VT420's. Plus I've used
VT520's,
Wyse, and HP terminals as well as a couple others. My favorite is the
VT420. Though I must admit I lust after a VT340+, but I have yet to get my
hands on one.
12:44 p.m.
Agreed. My favorite is the VT420 also, with the LK401
keyboard.
And I'm referring to the black and white one, not the black and orange.
What I like about the VT420 is 2 simultaneous login sessions. Either on 2
different TTY ports on one machine, or TTY on two different machines...
The VT420 came in three types B&W, Green, and Amber, personally my favorite
is the Amber, but I think I've got at least one of each type. I've got two
I use all the time, one is the console on my two main servers, the other is
plugged into two ports of a DECserver. If I had the desktop space, I'd
probably have at least a couple more plugged into the decserver.
Zane
10:28 a.m.
--- "Zane H. Healy" <healyzh(a)aracnet.com> wrote:
I'm happy with a VT102 or a VT220 (but not for VT-52 emulation - it
doesn't accurately run the VTEDIT TECO macro) for most stuff. I also
have a quantity of C-Itoh 101 (VT102 clones) and 101e (logically a
VT102 clone, physically with a base and a tilt-screen) terminals. We
were happy with them at SRC. One nice feature about the 101e is the
internal digital clock on the setup screen (I had a DCL script called
what is THE
favorite terminal you folks here use ?
I've got VT100's, VT220's, VT320's and VT420's. Plus I've used
VT520's,
Wyse, and HP terminals as well as a couple others. My favorite is the
VT420. Though I must admit I lust after a VT340+, but I have yet to get
my hands on one. from my login script that shot the right escape
sequence to my 101e
so I could check the time by tapping the SETUP key). Another
nice
feature was that the printer port could also be used to provide a
second session, but without the modern fancy real-time capture and
refresh of the second session - if something comes down the pipe for
the non-active session, it goes to the bit bucket. It was handy when
in an app like an editor that could be refreshed, though. Stuff on
the command line was gone forever if missed, so bad for compiles.
When using an actual terminal these days, I'd say that 90% of my
time is spent on a VT-220, one I've had since 1984. I'd love something
newer. Nothing has fallen on me since I sold a MicroBus full of VT320s
for 90% of the cost of the VAX they were attached to (bought uVAX-2000
with 6 terminals, DHT-32, and an external (2nd) RD54 for under $800, sold
the terminals on the way home to a 3rd-party reseller in town for ~$100
each).
If a VT-420 appeared locally (to save shipping costs), I'd snap it up in
a heartbeat.
-ethan
__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos & More
http://faith.yahoo.com
10:33 a.m.
"Zane H. Healy" wrote:
I've got VT100's, VT220's, VT320's and VT420's. Plus I've used
VT520's,
Wyse, and HP terminals as well as a couple others. My favorite is the
VT420.
Dual session, is nice if you have to test something & work on the other
machine ...
Though I must admit I lust after a VT340+, but I have
yet to get my
hands on one.
Yeeeeesssss. But they are still expensive, even VERY used.
Oh, and the new VNC terminals that one or two
companies make now, look most
interesting....
And a vnc client for my pdp11 ?
;-)
cheers
11 Oct
11 Oct
10:02 a.m.
Favorite terminal depends on what you're using it for:
My favorite terminal to use as a system console.... MicroTerm ACT IV. This
is just a keyboard, and you use a 9" composite security monitor with it.
LOVE the feel, high coolness factor. Not something you would use for
programming everyday.
My favorite terminal to use for everyday use... Either MicroTerm Act V -
Very compact, no frills, bulletproof. Or - WYSE-30.
My favorite terminal not to use, but just for looks and coolness factor -
ADDS Consul 580. Very old, very cool, very vintage.
Jay West
----- Original Message -----
From: "emanuel stiebler" <emu(a)ecubics.com>
To: <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Friday, October 11, 2002 1:48 PM
Subject: Favorite terminal
Hi,
what is THE favorite terminal you folks here use ?
Now I have all this nice VTxxx I ever wanted, but they always
miss the graphics capabilities, I had on my terminals in the office.
(not talking about GUIs, just few nice lines on the screen)
So, is there something like emulating VTxxx (52,100,200,320,340) and
tektronix ? (probably even 38400 baud ?
I really like to talk about terminals, not software for PC's
emulating those ...
cheers & thanks
---
[This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus]
10:29 a.m.
Now I have all this nice VTxxx I ever wanted, but they
always
miss the graphics capabilities, I had on my terminals in the office.
(not talking about GUIs, just few nice lines on the screen)
So, is there something like emulating VTxxx (52,100,200,320,340) and
tektronix ? (probably even 38400 baud ?
I used to have a VT52(?) terminal that I bbs'd on with a 300 baud acoustic
modem. The keyboard was pretty neat in that it was nearly identical to
what you'd find on a Kaypro 2 or 4.
g.
10:37 a.m.
Gene Buckle wrote:
I used to have a VT52(?) terminal that I bbs'd on with a 300 baud acoustic
modem. The keyboard was pretty neat in that it was nearly identical to
what you'd find on a Kaypro 2 or 4.
Yes, the vt52 was a nice one. The only "stackable" terminal I know of
;-)
cheers
4:32 p.m.
At 01:39 PM 10/11/02 -0600, you wrote:
Yes, the vt52 was a nice one. The only
"stackable" terminal I know of
;-)
I've got an Hewlett-Packard 2382A, the "one cubit foot" terminal that
stacks quite nicely. The detached keyboard is another issue.
I'd really like to find an AsciiScope, if only for the nostalgia factor.
I used one in the late 1970's to program an HP 2000 ACCESS
Timeshared BASIC system but haven't seen one since.
Cheers,
Dan
http://www.decodesystems.com/wanted.html
19 Oct
19 Oct
12:30 p.m.
New subject: VT52 repair [was: Favorite terminal]
I used to have
a VT52(?) terminal that I bbs'd on with a 300 baud acoustic
modem. The keyboard was pretty neat in that it was nearly identical to
what you'd find on a Kaypro 2 or 4.
Yes, the vt52 was a nice one. The only "stackable" terminal I know of
;-) 
2:59 p.m.
New subject: VT52 repair [was: Favorite terminal]
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21 Oct
21 Oct
5:50 p.m.
New subject: VT52 repair
VT52, but I
only have the power cord. Inside there is something that
looks like a connector, but I'm not sure if it really is one.
There's a little daughterboard that plugs into one of the logic boards.
It contains the circuitry to convert between TTL levels and current loop
or (I guess) RS232. Do you have this board? If you get no other replies, I know I have the VT52
printset. Be warned
it's not an easy device to debug unless you're used to it. It's basically
a special-purpose processor + firmware ROMs, and about 90% of the
circuitry has to be working to get a display. But there are clearly tests
you can do to eliminate the sillys (like 'is the master clock running' :-))
-tony
thanks, but if Eric Smith scans them, I hope I can start.
I'll see if I can repair it....
Thanks, lothar
22 Oct
22 Oct
2:42 p.m.
New subject: VT52 repair
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11 Oct
11 Oct
10:40 a.m.
On Fri, 11 Oct 2002, emanuel stiebler wrote:
what is THE favorite terminal you folks here use ?
Now I have all this nice VTxxx I ever wanted, but they always
miss the graphics capabilities, I had on my terminals in the office.
(not talking about GUIs, just few nice lines on the screen)
So, is there something like emulating VTxxx (52,100,200,320,340) and
tektronix ? (probably even 38400 baud ?
I've used VT100s, VT220s, VT320, VT420, VT525s, and various Wyse gear.
In the VT series, I've two favorites--the VT320 w/LK201 keyboard would
be the first. The second is the VT525 because it takes a standard SVGA
monitor and PS/2 style keyboard. Another nice thing about the VT525 is
all the various ISO character sets it supports by default which include
Cyrillic, Hebrew, Greek, and Turkish.
Many of the VT series have graphic plotting capabilities and they've
also got sixel graphics modes. And don't forget the GIF viewer for
VT320 terminals:
ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/packages/pkgsrc/graphics/gif320/README.html
-brian.
1:17 p.m.
Brian Chase wrote:
I've used VT100s, VT220s, VT320, VT420, VT525s, and various Wyse gear.
In the VT series, I've two favorites--the VT320 w/LK201 keyboard would
be the first. The second is the VT525 because it takes a standard SVGA
monitor and PS/2 style keyboard.
I have them here, but still miss something with graphics, or even
tektronix
emulation. And don't like to have the noise of a PC around my desk ...
Many of the VT series have graphic plotting
capabilities and they've
also got sixel graphics modes. And don't forget the GIF viewer for
VT320 terminals:
ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/packages/pkgsrc/graphics/gif320/README.html
Never tried it.
cheers
noon
what is THE favorite terminal you folks here use ?
Sounds like the favorite is the VT-group, eh?
My personal all-time favorite is the Pr1me PT-100 (which I believe was a
rebranded terminal of another name... anybody?) It rocked for emacs.
Currently I use a Wyse-50 and VT-320 as a Unix console, and a Televideo 912C
on my North Star Horizon (not my favorite, but it was original to the unit).
I also have a NEC SpinWriter 5520, a daisy-wheel monster with a
Selectric-style keyboard, which I like very much, but my wife complains
bitterly about the size of it. I just show her some of the pictures you
other guys have posted of your PDP-8s and -11s, 11/750's, etc., and it keeps
her quiet for a while. ;-)
Patrick
12:30 p.m.
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1:46 p.m.
On 2002.10.11 20:48 emanuel stiebler wrote:
what is THE favorite terminal you folks here use ?
Well, I have two favorites: VT420 because it has this nice dual session
feature (one for the alpha, one for the VAX) and a nice, white screen.
But I dislike the DEC LK201 / LK401 keyboards. The other one is a newer
Wyse. (Can't remember exact type) Only one session, but good, white
screen and much better keyboard.
Ahh, and the Tektronix 4006. Althogh its use is not the normal use of a
terminal. This device (around 25 years old) has a storage tube and the
primary use is to provocate astonished looks of unbelief. :-)
--
tsch??,
Jochen
Homepage: http://www.unixag-kl.fh-kl.de/~jkunz/
5 p.m.
On Fri, 11 Oct 2002, emanuel stiebler wrote:
what is THE favorite terminal you folks here use ?
Ok, I'll chime in.
Mine is the Soroc IQ 120. I lusted after some big assed DECwriter
teletype in my high school computer science class but Mr. Novak wouldn't
let me have it no matter that it was dead, was no longer used to access
the school district mainframe, and that I begged him incessantly. When I
bought his killer Apple //e setup when school ended that summer he threw
in the Soroc because he knew I would like it. I used to love just
clacking away on that thing with no purpose other than to see the letters
come up on the screen.
I still have it. The first terminal of my collection. Now I have dozens.
What do ya know? Someone OCR'd the manual.
http://neurosis.hungry.com/~ben/hardware/soroc/
Rad!
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
* Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com *
11:30 p.m.
Hi,
emanuel stiebler <emu(a)ecubics.com> said:
what is THE favorite terminal you folks here use ?
I'm using a Qume QVT103 which is ok, and I'm hoping soon to acquire
a keyboard for my Cifer T5 which I believe does Tek graphics.
--
Cheers,
Stan Barr stanb(a)dial.pipex.com
The future was never like this!
12 Oct
12 Oct
5:14 a.m.
How about the BBN BitGraph?
VT-100, with a 'real' VT-100 keyboard, and Tektronics emulation, all
done on a 68000
CPU.
One of my personal favorites has always been the HP 2647's though, built
like tanks!
emanuel stiebler wrote:
Hi,
what is THE favorite terminal you folks here use ?
Now I have all this nice VTxxx I ever wanted, but they always
miss the graphics capabilities, I had on my terminals in the office.
(not talking about GUIs, just few nice lines on the screen)
So, is there something like emulating VTxxx (52,100,200,320,340) and
tektronix ? (probably even 38400 baud ?
I really like to talk about terminals, not software for PC's
emulating those ...
cheers & thanks
11:26 a.m.
I donated mine to Tom Uban, who used to work for BBN as I recall.
The biggest problem with the BitGraph was that is is simply HUGE. Not
so large as a VT-52, but
close!
emanuel stiebler wrote:
Bob Shannon wrote:
How about the BBN BitGraph?
VT-100, with a 'real' VT-100 keyboard, and Tektronics emulation, all
done on a 68000
CPU.
Now we're talking !
And where to get such a beast ?
cheers
11:39 a.m.
New subject: BBN BitGraph, was Re: Favorite terminal
So, is there any information on the net about this thing ?
Manual ? ...
cheers
Bob Shannon wrote:
I donated mine to Tom Uban, who used to work for BBN as I recall.
The biggest problem with the BitGraph was that is is simply HUGE. Not
so large as a VT-52, but
close!
emanuel stiebler wrote:
> Bob Shannon wrote:
>
>> How about the BBN BitGraph?
>> VT-100, with a 'real' VT-100 keyboard, and Tektronics emulation,
>> all
>> done on a 68000
>> CPU.
>>
> Now we're talking !
> And where to get such a beast ?
>
> cheers
>
1:53 p.m.
New subject: Favorite terminal At&t/WE Blit
I'd love to have one, never seen a live one - but
it was one of the experimental 68k based terms
brought to you by the makers of Unix(tm) ;)
My fave terminal that I actually own is a working
VT05 (looks like a stingray) - a picture of a VT05can
be seen on some pdp11 handbooks, with the funky 60's
pedestal and matching chairs and DecBabes.. The V05
predates even the VT52 abd VT100's, not much in the
way of control sequences - but hey it's got a 20mA loop
and a termcap for unix/linux ;)
Heinz
Bob Shannon wrote:
How about the BBN BitGraph?
VT-100, with a 'real' VT-100 keyboard, and Tektronics emulation, all
done on a 68000
CPU.
Now we're talking !
And where to get such a beast ?
cheers 
5:37 p.m.
New subject: Favorite terminal At&t/WE Blit
On Sat, 12 Oct 2002, Heinz Wolter wrote:
I'd love to have one, never seen a live one - but
it was one of the experimental 68k based terms
brought to you by the makers of Unix(tm) ;)
I think it uses a Ma Bell CPU, not a 68K...
My fave terminal that I actually own is a working
VT05 (looks like a stingray) - a picture of a VT05can
be seen on some pdp11 handbooks, with the funky 60's
pedestal and matching chairs and DecBabes.. The V05
predates even the VT52 abd VT100's, not much in the
way of control sequences - but hey it's got a 20mA loop
and a termcap for unix/linux ;)
Heinz
Peter Wallace
Mesa Electronics
Bob Shannon wrote:
How about the BBN BitGraph?
VT-100, with a 'real' VT-100 keyboard, and Tektronics emulation, all
done on a 68000
CPU.
Now we're talking !
And where to get such a beast ?
cheers 
10:44 p.m.
New subject: Favorite terminal At&t/WE Blit
At 06:54 PM 12/10/2002 -0400, Heinz Wolter wrote:
My fave terminal that I actually own is a working
VT05 (looks like a stingray) - a picture of a VT05can
be seen on some pdp11 handbooks, with the funky 60's
pedestal and matching chairs and DecBabes.. The V05
predates even the VT52 abd VT100's, not much in the
way of control sequences - but hey it's got a 20mA loop
and a termcap for unix/linux ;)
I wish I had a VT05 - I spent a lot of time programming on
a DECsystem-10 with it. In fact we hacked a copy of VTEDIT
to automatically save files you were editing every 5 minutes
as at one stage we had a slightly unreliable version of the
monitor installed. The only problem with a VT05 is that it
is an upper/lower case terminal with uppercase only display.
This lead to interesting problems with earlier versions of
tops-10 which didn't understand lower case versions of commands:
.dir
?dir?
Huw Davies | e-mail: Huw.Davies(a)kerberos.davies.net.au
| "If God had wanted soccer played in the
| air, the sky would be painted green"
13 Oct
13 Oct
10:13 a.m.
New subject: Favorite terminal At&t/WE Blit
On Sun, Oct 13, 2002 at 05:45:32PM +1000, Huw Davies wrote:
monitor installed. The only problem with a VT05 is
that it
is an upper/lower case terminal with uppercase only display.
This lead to interesting problems with earlier versions of
tops-10 which didn't understand lower case versions of commands:
.dir
?dir?
If the display was uppercase only, wouldn't that have been
.DIR
?DIR?
(and I can see how that would have driven even the most
experienced person insane)?
-- Derek
8:41 p.m.
New subject: Favorite terminal At&t/WE Blit
At 12:14 PM 13/10/2002 -0700, Derek Peschel wrote:
On Sun, Oct 13, 2002 at 05:45:32PM +1000, Huw Davies
wrote:
Indeed you're right and you can see that the insanity from that VT05
20 years ago still persists :-)
Huw Davies | e-mail: Huw.Davies(a)kerberos.davies.net.au
| "If God had wanted soccer played in the
| air, the sky would be painted green"
monitor installed. The only problem with a VT05
is that it
is an upper/lower case terminal with uppercase only display.
This lead to interesting problems with earlier versions of
tops-10 which didn't understand lower case versions of commands:
.dir
?dir?
If the display was uppercase only, wouldn't that have been
.DIR
?DIR?
(and I can see how that would have driven even the most
experienced person insane)? 
14 Oct
14 Oct
10:03 a.m.
Hello,
once I get the power supply fixed, I will happily return to my Visual
603: when it came out, the DEC equivalent would have been a VT220, and
the emulation is good. I have never seen any problem with compatibility.
White phosphor, Keyboard layout as a LK201. The keyboard has its stands
permanently attached like a LK401, not pluggable like a LK201.
The terminal does Tektronix graphics, and as opposed to a VT240,
provides a good picture (the VT24x only look good in ReGIS mode). A zoom
mode would have been nice, as in a Selanar HiREZ or Tektronix 41xx
terminals.
Though undocumented, the Visual 603 can also handle a TeX previewer that
generates Sixel output for VT24x. Maybe the GIF viewer mentioned earlier
would also work.
The terminal uses a 68000 processor and has three applications in local
ROM: a calendar, an alarm clock, and a calculator. The figures in the
"display" of the calculator can be sent to the host as if you typed
them. Now if the calculator only had a hex mode...! ;-)
Further, there is an optional permanent clock display in the status
line. I used to have little programs on TOPS-10 (MACRO-10), VAX/VMS
(DCL) and RSX-11 (MACRO-11) download the current time into the terminal
upon login.
Drawback: the terminals seemed to be too cheap, i.e. some components
would go bad faster than you expect from real DEC stuff. Of the four
devices I ever touched, three were gone within about two years. Mine was
the only surviver. I didn't turn it off in the evening, that's the only
difference in handling that I know of. One of the others let out the
magic smoke with a clearly audible sound that I would estimate to
several kV. Luckily, this was within the warranty period.
My device died silently, and currently behaves as if the power plug had
been pulled. Unfortunately, I have no experience with switch-mode power
supplies. Apparently, no blown fuses. Startup resistor, perhaps?
Regards,
Andreas
emanuel stiebler wrote:
Hi,
what is THE favorite terminal you folks here use ?
Now I have all this nice VTxxx I ever wanted, but they always
miss the graphics capabilities, I had on my terminals in the office.
(not talking about GUIs, just few nice lines on the screen)
So, is there something like emulating VTxxx (52,100,200,320,340) and
tektronix ? (probably even 38400 baud ?
I really like to talk about terminals, not software for PC's
emulating those ...
cheers & thanks
--
Andreas Freiherr
Vishay Semiconductor GmbH, Heilbronn, Germany
http://www.vishay.com
10:58 a.m.
Andreas Freiherr wrote:
Hello,
once I get the power supply fixed, I will happily return to my Visual
603: when it came out, the DEC equivalent would have been a VT220, and
the emulation is good. I have never seen any problem with compatibility.
I had some of those with the "transtec" logo, however I'm not sure ...
I liked it a lot, because of the VTxxx & tektronix emulation ...
cheers
7940
days inactive
7951
days old
33 comments
21 participants
participants (21)
-
Andreas.Freiherr＠Vishay.com -
ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
bshannon＠tiac.net -
dan＠ekoan.com -
daw＠yalepress3.unipress.yale.edu -
dpeschel＠eskimo.com -
emu＠ecubics.com -
erd_6502＠yahoo.com -
foo＠siconic.com -
geneb＠deltasoft.com -
h.wolter＠sympatico.ca -
healyzh＠aracnet.com -
Huw.Davies＠kerberos.davies.net.au -
jkunz＠unixag-kl.fh-kl.de -
jwest＠classiccmp.org -
lothar.felten＠gmx.net -
patrick＠evocative.com -
pcw＠mesanet.com -
stanb＠dial.pipex.com -
vance＠neurotica.com -
vaxzilla＠jarai.org