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*Detailed Pics* Wang 4230 terminal

G

generic486

Experienced Member
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Mar 30, 2012
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So I decided to open my old Wang terminal for some pics.
I don't think this is a dumb terminal as it has processing capabilities. ]
I no very little about terminals so I hope you can fill me in on some things.
The board was made 21-June-1984 but the power supply was made on the 15-4-1986?? Replacement?? the brand of the power supply is an IMC.
Maybe runs CP/m as it has a z-80.
okPyM.jpg

Some DIP switches for configuration??
3UXYP.jpg

The only internal connector on the board. I think it is 50 pins. Don't know what it does.
3ogfJ.jpg

These connecters for the keyboard and two for the monitor. One for power, the other for video.
vRMXg.jpg

Connections for Ring topology?????? One is standard BNC, the other is threaded. Anyone one know what this is used for. Conection to host?
etPoh.jpg

The LED in the computer turns on when i filp the switch. It flashes a few times and then stays on. Error code?
O5qwl.jpg
 
I doubt that this is more than a termnal. It seems to me that the Wang terminals were block-mode. In any case, microprocessors have been part of terminals since the early 1970s and reflect some of the earliest microprocessor applications.

Wang had their own networking hardware and protocol.
 
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Can you see the pictures? Info says 14.6kb and 1600px X 1200px and scaled to 745 X 559. I don't know where it was scaled, but it didn't work here. 1600 x 1200 is way too large to post anywhere so I guess some program didn't expect it.

PS: I'm using Firefox, but just tried a few different browsers and get the same result.
 
The board itself is quite a site to look at. Hundreds of DIP's and lots of rework done to it. I thought I up loaded a pic of the whole board but maybe I didn't.
The odd thing about this machine is that it has a place for a second board to be put on top of the lower board. MAybe the 50 pin connector is to connect between the two boards.
 
Chuck(G) said:
Ole, I'm viewing these with Firefox 16.0.1 on Ubuntu with no problems. Try right-clicking on the image and do a "View Image".
Click to expand...

I did that and got the same result. I also tried a bunch of other browsers and no go on this machine. However, I just tried FF 15.0.1 on another machine and I can see them now. Interesting that it's not going to happen on this machine. I've got 84 windows open so perhaps I reached some kind of limit. Funny that I just did a bunch of photo editing in the Gimp and it didn't complain about that.

Caluser2000 said:
Pictures are fine. Could be just your set up Ole Juul.
Click to expand...

Thanks for reporting. :) Yes, it looks like it. I'm starting to get the signs that it's time for a hardware upgrade.
 
This is part of a terminal used on the Wang VS or OIS system. You could consider it a small Z80 computer - it has 64K of memory, a CRT controller, a keyboard interface, etc. But the EPROM only contains a diagnostic program and once it has completed diagnostics, it sits around in a loop waiting for the host to communicate with it. This is what the BNC and TNC connectors are for - a 4.25Mbps connection to the VS or OIS system using a proprietary protocol.

Now, the connectors on the main board were used to attach a second board. This was usually a serial interface used by applications to transfer files or access an IBM mainframe. I have never seen one of these boards, though.

Somewhere around here I have schematics for the 4230. Those connectors actually had the entire Z80 bus brought out to them. Some enterprising person could make a disk interface card, burn themselves a new EPROM, and turn the thing into a small standalone Z80 computer. Of course, the Wang monitor and keyboard would be necessary. It uses the same keyboard and monitor that was used on the Wang Professional Computer.
 
pine-koan said:
This is part of a terminal used on the Wang VS or OIS system. You could consider it a small Z80 computer - it has 64K of memory, a CRT controller, a keyboard interface, etc. But the EPROM only contains a diagnostic program and once it has completed diagnostics, it sits around in a loop waiting for the host to communicate with it. This is what the BNC and TNC connectors are for - a 4.25Mbps connection to the VS or OIS system using a proprietary protocol.
Click to expand...

So, basically a terminal? IOW, don't expect to run CP/M on it.
 
pine-koan said:
This is part of a terminal used on the Wang VS or OIS system. You could consider it a small Z80 computer - it has 64K of memory, a CRT controller, a keyboard interface, etc. But the EPROM only contains a diagnostic program and once it has completed diagnostics, it sits around in a loop waiting for the host to communicate with it. This is what the BNC and TNC connectors are for - a 4.25Mbps connection to the VS or OIS system using a proprietary protocol.

Now, the connectors on the main board were used to attach a second board. This was usually a serial interface used by applications to transfer files or access an IBM mainframe. I have never seen one of these boards, though.

Somewhere around here I have schematics for the 4230. Those connectors actually had the entire Z80 bus brought out to them. Some enterprising person could make a disk interface card, burn themselves a new EPROM, and turn the thing into a small standalone Z80 computer. Of course, the Wang monitor and keyboard would be necessary. It uses the same keyboard and monitor that was used on the Wang Professional Computer.
Click to expand...

Would it be possible to connect the BNC to an emulated VS system? But tracking down a keyboard and a Monitor will be hard.
 
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