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You're looking at a serial terminal. It'll show information when it receives serial data. That temrinal has two RS-232 ports on the back. You'll need to wire that to something that is sending and accepting RS232 serial data.

You can use your PC or mac or the like) to do this if you like, by using a USB/Serial port adapter (like this: https://www.amazon.com/SIIG-JU-CB1S12-S3-USB-Serial-Adapter/dp/B000FOL6QI ) - you'll need a DB25/DB9 adapter, also available on amazon.

You can also wire that to a raspberry pi or linux machine and use it as a console for that. Serial terminals only require 3 pins to work (TX, RX, and GND), so you can wire that to your RPi.

One thing you might want to try is putting hte terminal into setup mode. I found a PDF on the net that says hitting SHIFT and SELECT at the same time on the terminal will put it in setup mode.

Try that, and see if you can see menus and stuff.

The characters you're seeing are almost certainly 'line noise'. Basically noise on the serial interface. It shows the terminal is working :)

If you get a setup screen, post a picture!

Not only do they still make the labels, they're available on Amazon with Prime shipping: https://www.amazon.com/Kroy-Model-2227501-Black-Clear/dp/B00006IARJ/

Wish I could say the same for a black ink cartridge for my Thinkjet

Edit: Wow, I just noticed it has font cartridges. Neat!

Like the others have said, I'd recommend just getting an adapter on eBay or Amazon or the like. They're pretty cheap indeed. ~$6

https://www.amazon.com/SF-Cable-Keyboard-Adapter-MiniDin6/dp/B0016RTMQE

PS/2 and AT are protocol-wise the same thing, just with smaller connectors.

If you go with Lithium AAs, add up the voltage. 3 alkaline AAs is 4.5V, and a single Li-Po or Li-Ion cell can deliver 3.7V nominal. If you use lithium, use only one IMO /u/bigdamnhero88.

edit: nevermind, he was talking about this kind of lithium, not this

Like the other commenter mentioned, a usb adapter is fantastic for these things. I kept something like https://www.amazon.com/AGPtek-Drive-Adapter-Converter-External/dp/B00BIE996S in my bag for a long time when I was frequently doing various recovery things; I don't really anymore but it's still come in handy at home for projects. It's super-cheap and covers basically any hard drive you're going to encounter in the wild. The power supply is a nice touch too.

If I remember correctly, the 28.8k - 36k modem sound was the screeching but when 56k came out, you would hear the “bong” noise at the end of the screeching. And I think 56k always maxed out at like 51 - 52k.

There was the US robotics modem that was the gold standard. And it looks like they still make them!

https://www.amazon.com/U-S-Robotics-005686-03-External-Modem/dp/B00001RMEB

I have stacks of the usrobotics v.everything modems. The very best for reliability, it's the gold standard your thinking of


https://www.amazon.com/Courier-Everything-Analog-Modem-us-3CP3453/dp/B00006BA2H

100v transformers are fairly cheap on Amazon and a good investment if you want to get further into Japanese computers (do it!).

I use one of these for my HB-101: https://www.amazon.com/VCT-VT-500J-Japanese-Transformer-Converts/dp/B000PC4JL4/ref=sr_1_1?

Here's a few to try:

In the Beginning...Was the Command Line: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0011GA08E/?coliid=I2AX4MNAR89GW9&colid=1J9YDKJ5WZ8PB&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

The Friendly Orange Glow:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1101973633/?coliid=IEUJX5OOWTAUK&colid=1J9YDKJ5WZ8PB&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

ROLM: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KGID6WU/?coliid=I1AQGJ83D1GS48&colid=1J9YDKJ5WZ8PB&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Apple: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00295MJHG/?coliid=I1Q8J5K347MYXY&colid=1J9YDKJ5WZ8PB&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Apple: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0986832278/?coliid=I1I3Q5B2K8YST7&colid=1J9YDKJ5WZ8PB&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Apple: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393330435/?coliid=I3IE3KZUF3E6WN&colid=1J9YDKJ5WZ8PB&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

TRS 80: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P8JNIS/?coliid=IUCSUMJN8ZWU8&colid=1J9YDKJ5WZ8PB&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Compaq: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DTEZ56I/?coliid=I259B8WXOE9LHT&colid=1J9YDKJ5WZ8PB&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC0WP6/?coliid=I28FZRAZ0WF3CA&colid=1J9YDKJ5WZ8PB&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

The cable linked in the article should work fine.

That's not an RJ45 port, it's a MMJ connector. They're a special 6-pin connector used on most older DEC serial equipment. Pacific Cable still sells some MMJ cables.

By the time the VT510 was released, they were staring to phase them out, and use more IBM-PC compatible stuff. If you're connecting to old VAXes or early Alphas, then MMJ cables would probably be the way to go. Connecting with anything else, you'll want to use the DB25 port.

IIRC, you could hook up 2 different computers (1 on the DB25 port, and 1 on the MMJ) and then use some key combinations to switch between them.

I've actually seen and used that setup before.

There is a PS/2 connector next to the DB-25 serial port. It will only work with a mouse. If you open up the case you should find that top slot isn't actually a PCI or ISA card, but a specialized riser card designed for that motherboard.

For the keyboard, you will need an adapter that lets you plug a PS/2 keyboard into the AT connector (found just above the DB-25 serial port). It's a cheap and simple electrical adapter as the protocal is 100% compatable with PS/2, looks like you can still find them on amazon.

If you've got Amazon and ten or so bucks I'd highly reccomend something like this book.

For through-hole components you want this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BKSLLG9/
For surface mount components a hot air rework station will melt the solder so you can remove the components. If you add some ChipQuik low-temp solder first it will make it easier to remove the components.

A lot of older 5.25 drives are edge connectors. Here's a cable that supports two floppies, each with edge or pin.

You just need an AAUI to RJ45 adapter and you should be able to get online:

https://www.amazon.com/Farallon-EtherMac-10Base-T-Transceiver-AAUI/dp/B0000510LJ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1522432670&sr=1-1&keywords=AAUI+Ethernet

Then just download the games from http://trilogyrelease.bungie.org

IDE CompactFlash reader on the old PC, USB CompactFlash reader on the new PC?

https://www.amazon.com/2-5-Laptop-Hard-Disk-Adapter/dp/B0010MKARA

https://www.amazon.com/AGPtek-Drive-Adapter-Converter-External/dp/B00BIE996S

This should let you copy files to the existing drive. If you need a slightly (laugh) more moden HDD to use the seagate st-225 works allegedly.

Why not get the story first-hand from his (imo, excellent) autobiography?

>which would use IDE ribbon cables

IDE cables were specific to IDE devices. Floppy drives were not IDE. They did, however use ribbon cables.

​

>I do not recognize whatever they use as a connector

Really? 5.25in drives tended to use an edge-connector and 3.5in drives tended to use pin-headers. The cable had 34-pins.

https://www.amazon.com/CablesOnline-Universal-Floppy-Ribbon-5-25in/dp/B00FZ3IL80

Edit: Fixed Pin Out

In regards to the PSU: others have already mentioned that you need an AT power supply. They're hard to come by these days unless you want to spend ~$75 on eBay, but can be installed into an ATX case provided you use:

• An ATX to AT PSU Converter Cable
  
• An AT style On/Off latching power switch
  
• And an ATX-to-AT I/O shield plate (I know they exist because I have one, but couldn't find where to buy one online; the link is to a Wikipedia image of one. The AT I/O shield is the farthest left one with the single circular cutout)