A DEC communications device from the seventies has a message for y'all !

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JizzMaxwell@reddit

These look the self-serve kiosk computers where you’d order catalog items at Best Products or Service Merchandise.

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SoleSurvivorX01@reddit

“A strange game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?”

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I learned to program on a teletype, using paper tape for storage, but the DEC VT-52 was the first CRT interface I ever used in the mid 70s. I loved using the K-52 keypad editor, which evolved into KED on the VT-100. So much better than vi editing. Great machine, thanks for posting.

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Gatsby1923@reddit

I knew a lot of people who worked in the Westfield MA facility

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viperadamr@reddit

Phosphor loss on the screen, or delaminating?

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Laser_Krypton7000@reddit (OP)

No, as i wrote repair is done; but cleaning etc. still has to be done:-(

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luxurious-tar-gz@reddit

What a beauty she is!

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Firebird071@reddit

Man what a old beast.

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Blurghblagh@reddit

An ancient unassuming computer is brought back to life.. feels like the prologue to book about the enslavement and eradication of the organics.

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Maleficent-Aside-744@reddit

Looks like the same one that Kurt Russell plays chess with at the beginning of the thing, that cheats and he blows it up by pouring his glass of whiskey into it 😂😀

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Mega_play4r_862@reddit

Is the screen dirty, or does it just look like that normally?

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Push-the-pink-button@reddit

I shall show my dad this, he used to work for DEC

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Oleplug@reddit

I worked for DEC too but used the VT52 before that. One of the best 'feel' KB I can remember. Most were 20ma and used a RS232 interface board. The IC's would give up frequently and I replaced a lot of them. Was a software guy but did hw also. Some good memories from that time.

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TheMightyGamble@reddit

Echoing OP please come back with stories if he's willing to share

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Laser_Krypton7000@reddit (OP)

And eventually he can tell you some stories from his work there you then can tell us 😁

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Laser_Krypton7000@reddit (OP)

pls do it - you are welcome:-)

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kacoef@reddit

sell me that thing for $1k plz

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Glad-Lobster-220@reddit

What a beast, I love that keyboard.

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Livid-Brain5493@reddit

Totally agree. Those things were total tanks.

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TheOnlyCraz@reddit

Are the keys domes or like concave I can't tell by the pictures, but definitely looks like I wouldn't wanna get hit with it

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guiverc@reddit

I recall the vt52 rather fondly, but I can't recall why... Was the keyboard the reason?? I've not used one in (*can't recall how many decades!*)

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Livid-Brain5493@reddit

It wasn’t just the keyboard, everything about those things was overbuilt. There are tear downs on YouTube and you can see that half of the box is empty space so it all stays super cool. Until the VT100 came out it had the sharpest CRT and as hard as it may seem to believe now, it was very futuristic looking.

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Cottabus@reddit

I had one of these on my desk, connected to a decsystem20. Wrote lots of programs with it. The keyboard had a relay attached to it that would make a "thump" with each keystroke. It gave a nice feel. When I upgraded to a VT100, the thump was gone.

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istarian@reddit

Do you know what the purpose was of that relay if any? Was it just so the user had some audible feedback?

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Cottabus@reddit

It was tactile, too. You felt the relay with your fingers.

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Laser_Krypton7000@reddit (OP)

AFAIK yes.

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Laser_Krypton7000@reddit (OP)

That relay is also a good starting point to see if there is some life into the vt:-)

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JoeSlap@reddit

This is super cool. Keep it alive and well!

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cbelt3@reddit

I loved those keyboards….

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teknosophy_com@reddit

Such a great messages of peace, love, and fellowship! Old tech forever!

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qwikh1t@reddit

Ken and Harlan would be proud

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Adorable-Cut-4711@reddit

Fun fact: I think the VT-52 is the first device to have the physical alphanumeric keyboard layout that later would be used on for example the Commodore VIC 20, C64, C128 and whatnot. I'm referring to the amount of non-letter/digit keys on each side of 1-0, Q-P, A-L and Z-M, and also the size and position of the return and shift keys. Except for the key that is delete on the VT-52 and restore on the Commodores, I think that the alphanumeric part of the keyboard would physically fit in each others cases (and with a different PCB they would work as replacements for each other). The larger amount of keys to the right of 0,P,L and M as compared to a PC is what makes some of these hard to emulate. For a VT52 I don't think anyone cares that much about the keyboard layout as emulation is more about emulating control commands (escape sequences and whatnot), but for those that are actual computers rather than terminals this is a bigger issue.

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istarian@reddit

QWERTY has been around since before electric typewriters if I remember correctly, because it was created to resolve issues where a fast typist could get key bars (metal arm with a letter on it) hitting each others. Some of what you're talking about likely goes back to teletypes which came before terminals (sometimes called 'glass teletypes' at one point way back).

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NaoPb@reddit

Pleased to meet you, DECscope VT52!

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GogglesPisano@reddit

I always loved the old DEC terminal font. Is there a TrueType version of it out there anywhere?

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Mofuntocompute@reddit

Wow always saw the term VT-52 in terminal emulators but never saw a real one, nice!

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mycall@reddit

It is begging for an RS232 ChatGPT interface.

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Laser_Krypton7000@reddit (OP)

This is doable, f.e. this one with an Teletype !: https://www.retrocmp.com/tools/tty2pi-multifunction-adapter-for-asr-33-teletype/337-tty2pi-raspberry-apps

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ElevatorGuy85@reddit

Or MIRC or the original AIM or 140-character-limited Twitter, or …. Lots of possibilities!

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Blackholeofcalcutta@reddit

That is awesome!!! Totally jealous - I’d love to get my hands on just a VT-100. But you’ve got a VT-52?! Take good care of it, as I am sure that you will. :)

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Laser_Krypton7000@reddit (OP)

I'll try my best:-) If you would have been EU based i would eventually be able to help you, but most who pop up nowadays are missing the keyboard:-(

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FTFreddyYT@reddit

Holy moly that thing is A N C I E N T I want one

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mojorific@reddit

I love how crisp the text is on these devices.

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Adorable-Cut-4711@reddit

Monochrome CRT FTW!

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graybotics@reddit

Those cooling fin vents on the back though. So excessive and so period. Has 70s oscilloscope vibes.

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Ornery-Practice9772@reddit

Hello world!❤️

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OgdruJahad@reddit

Back when computers were fun, dumb and very expensive.

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zalzis@reddit

I bet most products from Digital could survive a nuclear explosion they built stuff like tanks.

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2raysdiver@reddit

Now if it had that menu from Fallout....

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jetkins@reddit

XLNT!

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WingedGundark@reddit

Amazing contraption! When the picture popped on my screen, at first glance I thought that it was Amstrad CPC 464 bolted on to something else lol

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RetroGamer87@reddit

Can it run Zork?

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nixiebunny@reddit

My high school got one of these in 1977 with the PDP-11/34. A fine video display terminal. I never got to see inside. How many boards full of TTL does it hold?

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