Allison, (01)
Testing them is definitely non-destructive. We plug the connector
on the keyset into the matching 15 pin connector of either the "A" or
"B" cable, then plug the cable into the laptop USB using a commercial
game port adapter. Then we run an application that reads the keyset
as though it was a joystick as we press the keys. If the "A" cable
doesn't work, it causes no harm to the keyset. We simply try the
same thing with the "B" cable. (02)
The benefit to the museum is that you will have valuable information
about the keysets in your collection, as they relate to the keysets
on loan to us from Doug Engelbart. For any SRI vintage keysets, you
will know the exact pinout configuration for that keyset, and how to
connect it to a standard computer. The schematics for both "A" and
"B" pin configurations are on the NLS Restoration project WIKI. We
don't expect to see a third type at this point, but you never know. (03)
For any Xerox vintage keysets, you will know whether they are the
same or different from the ones from SRI, as far as their interfaces
are concerned. The Xerox keysets were built by people who left SRI,
so I would expect them to be the same, but again you never know. If
the Xerox keysets are neither "A" nor "B", then determining the
pinout information would help relate the SRI and Xerox models.A
qualified electrical engineer from Sun did the work of determining
the pinouts for us, and he is now very familiar with the issue of
working with vintage keysets. (04)
As a starting point, it would be good to create an inventory of all
SRI and Xerox vintge keysets in the collection. Is that something
that is possible to do on-line, or does it require going to the shelves? (05)
Thanks for your quick response, and I apologize for seemingly trying
to rush things. I understand your concern and appreciate your
willingness to consider our request. (06)
At 01:52 PM 3/15/2006, Allison Akbay wrote:
>Paula Joabloner forwarded me your message about testing chord keysets in
>the Museum's collection. Can you please explain what you do when you
>test these? Once we are sure tha the work won't damage the chord sets I
>would be happy to arrange a time for you to gain access to the chord
>sets.
>
>Best regards,
>
>Allison Akbay
>Registrar
>Computer History Museum
>1401 North Shoreline Boulevard
>Mountain View, CA 94043-1311
>
>Tel: 650 810 1022
>Fax: 650 810 1055
>E-m: akbay@computerhistory.org
>WWW: http://www.computerhistory.org
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Paula Jabloner
>Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2006 1:20 PM
>To: Philip Gust
>Cc: Allison Akbay
>Subject: RE: Would like to test chord keysets in CHM collection
>
>Phil,
>
>You'll need to give us more lead time then a few hours to set this up.
>I'm going to forward your message to Allison Akbay who is the keeper of
>the objects. I only work with documents. Allison or someone else in the
>department will have to get back to you. Be aware that since these are
>Museum artifacts, many we can't actually use depending on their
>fragility and other factors. All are available for research use in that
>they can viewed, even if they can't be used.
>
>You can help the process by searching our catalog which is publicly
>accessible and includes all the objects cataloged so far at
>http://archive.computerhistory.org/search/.
>
>I hope this helps and is clear,
>
>Paula
>
>I have a cold and probably won't be able to make it to the meeting this
>evening.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Philip Gust [mailto:gust@NouveauSystems.com]
>Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2006 1:02 PM
>To: Paula Jabloner
>Cc: nls-technical@chm.cim3.net
>Subject: Would like to test chord keysets in CHM collection
>
>Paula,
>
>Jonathan Cheyer is doing a project to characterize all available
>chord keysets by the type of interface they use to connect to the
>computer. He has all six remaining ones from Doug Engelbart,.He's
>discovered that they all have "joystick-like" interfaces, and that
>there are two different wiring pinouts, which we refer to as "A" and
>"B". Thanks to Jonathan's work, we're actually able to read them on
>our computers using a custom "A" or "B" cable and a commercial
>joystick adapter.
>
>We'd like to test any chord keysets that CHM has in its collection to
>determine whether they fall into one of these two categories. Those
>keysets may be from the SRI group, or ones subsequently built by
>Xerox for the Alto. I know that there is one such keyset on the Alto
>in the lobby area, and there may be others.
>
>Would it be possible for us to take a few minutes and test the Alto
>keyset in the lobby after the SCC meeting? If that's not a
>convenient time, could we make an appointment to come over some other
>time to do that? We'd also appreciate it if you could search your
>catalog to identify any other keysets that we can test at the same time.
>
>Thanks in advance for your help. Will you be at the meeting this
>afternoon?
>
>
>
>Philip Gust
>Nouveau Systems, Inc.
>3120 De La Cruz Blvd., Suite 120
>Santa Clara, CA 95054
>
>phone: +1 650 961-7992
>fax: +1 520 843-7217
>
>mailto: gust@NouveauSystems.com
>
>Nouveau Systems collaboration-enabled infrastructure and applications
>provide integrated information management, process automation and
>knowledge capture. To learn how Nouveau Systems products can help
>your knowledge-based organization drive innovation, visit:
>http://www.NouveauSystems.com (07)
Philip Gust
(650) 961-7992 (daytime)
(650) 367-7763 (evening)
gust@acm.org (08)
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