Rexon RX205 Computer, What Does Anyone Know About Rexon Computers?

[whyohwhyguys]

I recently came into possession of a Rexon RX205 (the nameplate on the back says the model is 091-A1). I picked it up for cheap at a garage sale but I don't have any experience with computers this old. The nameplate says it was manufactured in 1987 which means this unit is older than I am. I have searched the internet but couldn't find any information on the computer itself and found only basic information on Rexon in general. I was wondering if anything could tell me anything about this computer. I took off the top of the case and saw it has a Wangtek tape drive as well as a Priam MFM hard drive inside. I haven't taken it apart further than at the moment. At first glance I don't see a way to hook up a monitor to it either, though I do see some 9 pin serial ports on a board coming out of the back. The computer does power on but I can't do anything else until I am able to hook it up to a monitor of some sort.

Any information someone could provide for me about the RX205 or Rexon computers in general would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Pictures are on the imgur album below.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Rexon Business Machines, 5800 Uplander Way, Culver City, CA 90230 Founded in 1978, filed for Chapter 11 in 1995. Manufacturer of QIC tape drives; division later spun off and renamed Tecmar (you've heard of them, surely).

Rexon had a few subsidiaries. Surely you've heard of Wangtek and WangDAT (named after the founder, Brian Wang). Sytron, maker of the SyTOS tape backup software was another.

Scientific Solutions web site was a spinoff from Tecmar and is still extant today. Data acquisition products.

The RX250 is an 80286 box with an 85MB hard drive and 1MB of memory running multiuser RECAP (a business BASIC) on 4 serial ports. Almost certainly not PC-compatible.

 

[whyohwhyguys]

I'd honestly only heard of Wangtek because of the tape drive, hadn't heard of any of those subsidiaries. I only recently got into vintage computing more seriously and I was very young in 95.

I have some rudimentary experience with basic from using a Commodore 64 but can't say I have ever used business basic. I am still curious how I would hook this up to a screen of some sort so I can actually use it. Would I need to hook it up to a monitor with a serial hookup like the IBM 5153 or would I need some other proprietary cable or monitor?

 

[Chuck(G)]

Well, the "proper" thing to use is a terminal. You'll have to do some digging to see exactly what kind of terminal would be involved--there were many different protocols. You could use a PC running something like Procomm Plus under DOS or perhaps even HyperTerminal under Windows. Of course, the connection is RS232C async--and you should be prepared to use a jumper box to account for handshaking and the possibility of needing a null modem connection.

Regardless, you'll first have to see if the thing will boot and come alive.

 

[whyohwhyguys]

Okay sounds good. I appreciate the assistance, you have given me quite a bit to go on here. I will do some more digging myself and play around with it.