Digital VT220 and VT320 found at my university!
Posted by Ok-Opportunity-8660@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 25 comments
Posted by Ok-Opportunity-8660@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 25 comments
catplush00@reddit
are they single
Ok-Opportunity-8660@reddit (OP)
B
astonishing1@reddit
You can make a cable that crosses pin-2 on terminal-A to pin-3 on terminal-B and pin-3 on terminal-A to pin-2 on terminal-B and connect pin-7 on terminal-A to pin-7 on terminal-B.
A B 2--3 3--2 7--7
Then, you can type back and forth between the terminals.
Kellerkind_Fritz@reddit
Have a Linux host, a usb to serial port adapter and expose a getty on the serial port. That'll allow you to login to a command line session on the VT attached to said serial port.
It should actually work quite well, but mind that a lot of modern CLI tools might print unicode chars or use some more fancy screen updates. But you can usually get around that with some environment variables.
Ok-Opportunity-8660@reddit (OP)
it has a db25 connector so i need db25 to db9 and then to usb... I dont know if it will work though.
theonetruelippy@reddit
It will absolutely work, you may need to fiddle with hardware flow control settings. Search for serial tty or serial console how-to's from the 90's for more info on how do the config. There's something really cool about logging in to a desktop/laptop linux device over serial and running emacs etc. It's easy to forget that linux support concurrent multi-users. For a long time, I had a VT220 on serial sitting in the kitchen so I could check mail and newsnet using the server in the cupboard. Sadly the prevalence of html email and death of newsnet means it's no longer realistic for everyday use, and is more of a novelty.
Kellerkind_Fritz@reddit
Yes that's all you should need. It's just the software setup after that.
000927kd@reddit
Use it as an daily driver for university
JBYTuna@reddit
Sweet finds!
GogglesPisano@reddit
Sweet finds!
The keyboards on those terminals were excellent - rock-solid and responsive.
LinuxMan10@reddit
I 2nd that!!! I miss those keyboards. But... I still have and use my Wang 724 keyboard I swapped a buddy for way back in the mid-90's. It still works great after 30 years of use.
Laser_Krypton7000@reddit
You lucky bastard 😁👍
Have fun with those - now you still need a PDP11 or VAX or an Alpha to get the real feeling of those times:-) Enjoy!
ElevatorGuy85@reddit
Or you can get SIMH and emulate your favorite PDP or VAX on readily-available hardware including Windows and Linux. Even a Raspberry Pi can run SIMH-hosted OS images at speeds much faster than many original VAX models.
rgwatkins@reddit
DEC-10, then on to a VAX 11/750. I miss those days.
BASerx8@reddit
DEC Emulators were one of the first use cases for the pc's our hospital IT department bought in the 80's.
Emergency-Resolve807@reddit
Love it! Looks great!
carlMRcat@reddit
I bought an ADM3 at a garage sale, and took it to work. I used it as the debug terminal on Win 3.1.
JuniorSwing@reddit
Fuuuuck that’s awesome
2cats2hats@reddit
Used to jam Telengard on the 220 for hours at a time!
Oleplug@reddit
Since I still do some programming and support on OpenVMS, I certainly miss the LK keyboards. One of the dev servers has DECset and the keys can be redefined, but the term-emulator they force me to use makes the PF1 key work only half the time. The other has not dev tools so even editing DCL scripts is a pain.
osxdude@reddit
Luck is on your side. Hopefully I'll come across another since I missed the first one I found 🥲
generalemiel@reddit
Nice, lets hope your uni doesn't dispose of them any time soon
Ok-Opportunity-8660@reddit (OP)
they are all saved
generalemiel@reddit
YEEHHHH😁
ElevatorGuy85@reddit
Just remember that the VT220 was built in an era when RS232 interfaces had +3 to +15V and -3 to -15V signals on its pins. Some modern RS232 devices might only be TTL level, in which case hitting it with +15 or -15V could do damage. Just be careful with knowing what voltages you are using on your modern devices.
See section 5.2.4 (page 5-12) of the VT220 Technical Manual
https://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/terminal/vt220/EK-VT220-TM-001_VT220_Technical_Manual_Nov84.pdf