[HECnet] VT-62?

[Jerome H. Fine]

>John Wilson wrote:

From: "Jerome H. Fine" <jhfinedp3k at compsys.to>

In another 30 years, it is almost certain that no one will even know
what these terminals are, let alone that any will actually work or that
there will be systems to use them with.

Even after the first 30 years, here's a dumb question:   what color is
a VT52?   Mine (which does work) is a nice cirty yellow, like coffee-stained
linoleum, even after a good scrub.   But when I was working on an icon for
emulated VT52 sessions, it occurred to me that making it look like *my*
VT52 might be dumb.   Were VT52s always yellowish, or did they begin life
as sparkly white as the bottom of a VT100 keyboard, and it takes 30 years
of sunburn to get them where they are now?   I bought the stuff to make
some Retro-Brite ages ago but still haven't gotten around to mixing it up.

I can't EVER remember any VT52 being any color except "a nice dirty yellow"!!!!!
It is even possible that I used a VT52 before I used a VT100 at one of the many
consulting jobs in the 1970s or less likely in the 1980s.   Still NO memory of any other
color.

It is very likely that my VT52 does still work, but I don't have a working PDP-11 at
the moment and even if I did, there is no purpose that seems useful to play with the
VT52.   Since I write almost 100% of my code in MACRO-11, the VT100 support
for 132 columns is almost essential to read a listing.   Although there is an option in
MACRO-11 for 80 column listings, that substantially reduces the number of
instructions per page of the listing.

NO, I will probably stay with the emulated VT100 terminal support provided by
Ersatz-11 which includes support for more than 24 lines.   When I first used that
feature, it was a minor disadvantage since the text characters did seem a bit
challenged (in a vertical sort of manner).   But now that I have used the feature
for over a year with K42.SAV (either 80 columns by 50 lines OR 132 columns
by 44 lines - largest options supported by my video card for my monitor in FULL
SCREEN mode), going back to 24 lines seems like SHOUTING when I look
at the text characters, especially for 80 columns by 50 lines.   In fact, I almost
always use the 132 columns by 44 lines even for non-KED displays so that
I don't need to change my focus as I switch back and forth from and to each
emulated VT100 "terminal" under Ersatz-11 using <ALT/Fn>.   My real DEC
PDP-11/83 system has SIX   DEC   VT100 terminals on the desktop (I have
a huge desk and they are stacked two high).   With just the <ALT/Fn> key to
switch back and forth, the same monitor can be used to display all of the
terminals.   And since my eyes can focus on only one "terminal" at a time,
using <ALT/Fn> instead of turning my head seems like a useful alternative.

Jerome Fine