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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: hwood34 on Thu, 03 April 2014, 22:12:23

Title: Identify and Appreciate
Post by: hwood34 on Thu, 03 April 2014, 22:12:23
I just bought this IBM terminal board. I couldn't figure out what model it was, looking to get some help here. The quality of the board is great, everything is either hard plastic or metal.

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

The innards

[attachimg=3]

[attachimg=4]

Back

[attachimg=5]

The feet

[attachimg=6]

And the knob for them

[attachimg=7]

And the massive terminal connector

[attachimg=8]
Title: Re: Identify and Appreciate
Post by: ComradeSniper on Thu, 03 April 2014, 22:19:30
Looks like a Model F 5291.
Title: Re: Identify and Appreciate
Post by: Techno Trousers on Thu, 03 April 2014, 22:22:50
Colloquially known as the IBM "Bigfoot" terminal keyboard. It's the same odd layout as the XT keyboard that came with the original IBM Personal Computer 5150, but in a bigger case.
Title: Re: Identify and Appreciate
Post by: Linkbane on Thu, 03 April 2014, 22:43:43
Can identify this is a Model F, it's the same layout as the XT one I used which Techno Trousers mentioned.
Title: Re: Identify and Appreciate
Post by: Pacifist on Thu, 03 April 2014, 22:45:04
bigfoot, pretty pointless as nobody has a converter yet made for it
Title: Re: Identify and Appreciate
Post by: Parak on Thu, 03 April 2014, 22:47:04
Soarer's controller (http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=50437.0) works with it.
Title: Re: Identify and Appreciate
Post by: Parak on Thu, 03 April 2014, 22:55:24
On second thought, that's not quite a 5291. That has a 15 pin connector and this has a 25 pin one... hmmm.. most interesting. Can you take more shots of the controller? I Think this may be a rarer variant for more secure purposes.
Title: Re: Identify and Appreciate
Post by: hwood34 on Thu, 03 April 2014, 23:31:09
On second thought, that's not quite a 5291. That has a 15 pin connector and this has a 25 pin one... hmmm.. most interesting. Can you take more shots of the controller? I Think this may be a rarer variant for more secure purposes.

[attachimg=1]
Title: Re: Identify and Appreciate
Post by: Parak on Thu, 03 April 2014, 23:42:04
Yeah, that's considerably different from a 5291 keyboard controller. The mystery deepens :p
Title: Re: Identify and Appreciate
Post by: ch_123 on Sat, 05 April 2014, 05:21:46
Very interesting find. The layout looks like that of the System/23 Datamaster rather than that of the 5291, but I never have heard of a free-standing keyboard with the Datamaster layout... See:

(http://deskthority.net/w/images/b/be/Datamaster.jpg)

Compared with:

(http://deskthority.net/w/images/0/06/5291.jpg)
Title: Re: Identify and Appreciate
Post by: fohat.digs on Sat, 05 April 2014, 10:16:17

The quality of the board is great, everything is either hard plastic or metal.


After opening up a Model F, you realize that virtually all other keyboards are plastic junk.