IBM 5120 (was Re: My First S-100 System)

From: Scarletdown <SecretaryBird_at_SoftHome.net>
Date: Sat Oct 12 22:25:01 2002

On 12 Oct 2002 at 19:57, Eric Smith wrote:

> I wrote about the idea "Otter" <SecretaryBird_at_SoftHome.net> had
> of using an IBM 5120 as a terminal:
> > But it would make an absolutely *terrible* terminal. It only has
> > 16*64 video, and unless you got the terminal software with it,
> > you'll have to write your own. In BASIC or APL, depending on which
> > model you have. I seriously doubt that it can keep up at 9600 bps or
> > faster; as a terminal they were normally only used for dialup at 300
> > bps or slower.
>
> And I forgot to mention the main reason that it makes an awful
> terminal: it uses three different character sets internally, NONE of
> which is even similar to ASCII (or even EBCDIC).
>
> Of course, a terminal program could translate the character codes for
> the matching characters, but just like the ASCII-EBCDIC translation
> problem, there are some printing characters and many control
> characters that have no equivalents.

Thanks for the heads-up. The 5120 is hereby vetoed as a candidate
for the Cromemco terminal. :) I still plan on getting her connected
to my network somehow...eventually...one of these days.

One of our Kaypro II systems may serve as the Cromemco's console
instead. Or, even though it may cause a loss of geek points; I might
just build a very minimalist 386 or 486 system from spare parts I
have lying about here, set it up with FreeDOS or MINIX, and make that
the console. Either of these possibilities would still be only
temporary, and would eventually be replaced with a genuine Cromemco
Smart Terminal. :)


-- Scarletdown
Received on Sat Oct 12 2002 - 22:25:01 BST

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