Free Craig-Voelkner terminal

[Micom 2000]

With some of the recent interest in terminals, I decided to offer an early one for free plus shipping. It's a Craig-Voelkner CV404 and despite constant criticism was one of the best-selling terminals. Googling the documentation will show it was used at Oxford University early on in computer and other courses to feed overhead projectors. I have neither the desire nor expertise to test it. It gives a "beep" when powered on. That makes sense since no monitor will give a rastor without a computer attached.

I believe this was formerally used as a phone terminal system for the audio impaired.
I can take some pictures of it if anyone is interested. I hate to toss it because the Craig-Voelkner terminals were so central to early computer history. A Canadian product too !!
Since my hopes of establishing a computer museum in Manitoba have fallen on deaf manitoban ears, it is now simply dross and taking up space.

> RANT: Considering the many museums which spring up all over the place, even for "John Deere" agricultural implements, and considering the numbers of vintage computer enthusiasts, and including the many contributions which Canadian developers have made to IT why aren't there more historical representations of it other than a small museum in Waterloo (?) and a minuscule effort at York university in Toronto. The Science Center in Toronto which has an international reputation and attracts thousands of visitors every week
has no real computer exhibit and rebuffed every effort of a small group of collectors of which I was part who were willing to donate their collections for free. As a result Canada has no real examples of it's immense contribution to computer technology despite the presence of many massive corporations such as ATI and Blueberry now, much less the dominating presence of the Universty of Waterloo in earlier years which gave birth to so many computer and software companies. It's a shame which falls on Canada and it's IT industry.
End RANT<

OK here are some pics. I believe the older terminals like the CV 404 were known as 'dumb terminals" meaning they were passive receivers and couldn't transmit on thier own without the intercession of a computer or a modem. They simply received the output from a serial source and then sent or displayed it. The main connector on this is the 25pin serial connector. It has a switch to change baud values from 200 up to 19.2k. The large BNC type connector labelled composite video was likely used to connect to such things as the large overhead display used in classrooms, etc. When used, for example, for phone displays used by audio-impaired people(I forget the protocol name) it would display on the screen, the message typed by the sender. A computer device with a modem would then send a message similarly, TMK. A wonderful system for those derogatorily labelled "deaf and dumb".
Yeah, sure, just like Stephen Hawking. Who has also used IT to overcome physical limitations because of MS.

Lawrence

 

[Yzzerdd]

/interested

How much would shipping be to...say, Sutton, WV 26601? Could you post pics of the front, and of the rear connections?

I dont know much (OK, bare minimum) about terminals, but have been wanting to toy with them, dialing in to a host computer via a phone line. With my Mom's and Grandma's house within 5 miles of eachother, it'd be perfect for toying with this sort of thing; If I set it up and find something doesn't work (Trust me, that WILL happen) then I just have to drive a few miles to fix it.

You mentioned it doesn't have a monitor... What type of connection does it use? I'd really like to get an all in one type terminal(wouldnt have to deal with the monitor issue), as I like the looks, but this one seems like a good specimen. Also, does it come with a keyboard? If not, what type does it use? And finally, what type of port does it use for the connection to a host/modem? Serial?

--Ryan

 

[MikeS]

Lawrence, you don't mean Volker-Craig by any chance? But I agree with your rant; some little efforts here & there but unfortunately no serious museum for Canadian stuff. Must get up to York one of these days; maybe Zbigniew will take my Ogivar Internote laptop and some more Gandalf junk.

Yzzerdd, at the risk of speaking for Lawrence I think it does have a monitor and keyboard and communicates via RS-232; this is what modems were first used for back in ancient days (note RS-232 terms like Data Terminal Ready, Data Carrier Detect, etc.).

m

 

[Yzzerdd]

Oh, I see now. A reread of the first bit of the post was necessary.

I figured it used RS-232 serial, but wanted to check. I suppose I could connect it to a modem, then send the codes direct to it, or would I need to run it through a PC connected to a modem to establish a connection to a server across the lines?

--Ryan

 

[MikeS]

Well, I'm not sure what you have in mind, but there are two possibilities:

To talk to a computer on the Internet you would need a bridge, either a standalone converter/switching hub or a computer connected to the Internet and running software to translate ASCII RS-232 serial to TCP/IP.

To talk directly computer-to-computer as we did before the Internet, you need a modem at each end.

Of course what you can actually *do* on the remote computer is going to be somewhat limited considering the low speed and lack of graphics & colour...

m

 

[Yzzerdd]

Here's the rundown on my plans:

At 1 home, have the physical server. It will be a NT 4.0 machine that will be accesable by modem and by Telnet/FTP. It will be a file server with 1 or 2 programs on it. Why do I need a server? I'll keep files like finances and other files that change frequently on it, as well as use it as a place to put large files so that i can access them from many locations without lugging around an external MFM drive. When I am travelling or at the other house (grandmothers, I have a 2 story "shack" on her land(1 large room and family room stacked)) I'd like to be able to access these files by dialing in, as well as keep backup. If something happens to the disk, I dont want to have to travel back home to get the backup disk. Plus, I could use this server to maybe make a file BBS for people to get rare files they don't have.

Anyhow, on the other end will be a terminal or normal PC that will dial in to the main server to exchange files, and maybe even control a machine remotely, but that is for a whole different post. I plan to be able to dial in when travelling as well, such as at lodging locations overnight.

As for PC-PC, I do plan on messing aorund with the sort of thing such as S-100 machines where one must have a terminal connected to the PC to do anything, and gain may try controlling a Linux box via terminal. But the server setup will be mostly for basic file exchange.

--Ryan