deskthority

This is my early 80's Honeywell hall effect keyboard. There's a similar version that's been posted here a few times, but this one is different. There's no numpad and the navcluster is diamond shaped. Strangely, the A,S,D,F and J,K,L,: keys are all indented more than the other keys. The switches are very nice and smooth.

Here's a picture of the keyboard and the terminal it goes with. Now to pictures of the keyboard!
The keyboard itself has three LEDs, one on the caps key, and two on the top And if anyone's curious, here's what it looks like operating!

Wow, happened to buy one similar version last week, maybe the one you mentioned. Now Im looking forward to typing on it more.

Nice kit with host, envy.

Always thought these were some of the nicest looking terminals. Yours is no exception, very clean!

Are those switches the SD linear type? I have yet to come across one of their own keyboards in the wild.

What model terminal is that?

One of the first video terminals I ever used, back in 1981, was a Honeywell VIP 7801.

Invisius wrote: ↑

21 Apr 2020, 07:47

Always thought these were some of the nicest looking terminals. Yours is no exception, very clean!

Are those switches the SD linear type? I have yet to come across one of their own keyboards in the wild.

I believe so!

zslane wrote: ↑

21 Apr 2020, 19:06

What model terminal is that?

One of the first video terminals I ever used, back in 1981, was a Honeywell VIP 7801.

I believe the model is a of the “BCRU” variant - however, there’s no telltale way to know for sure on this one. The information about these systems online is extremely limited, and there’s no documents to match up specific models with one another.

I felt like doing some research tonight, and managed to find a bit of history about this terminal. It does appear to be a BCRU211G-001 model, which were part of the Honeywell Test Instruments lineup. This was a distinct division in Honeywell, and had their own set of terminals completely unique to mostly scientific and military applications. From what I could find, they were only produced in Littleton CO between 1979 and ~1984, with most labeled as BTRM and BCRU series. They were most likely originally sold as part of larger DST/500 (Distributed Systems Terminal) and later Multics DPS8 systems.

This tiny label is the only clear giveaway to tell them apart, note the "ti": I can imagine most of these have long since fallen off.

The VIP (Visual Information Projection) series came first, and was produced by the Honeywell Information Systems factories from 1971 onward starting with the 765, 775, and 785 series. These terminals were for general enterprise applications, and manufactured through the 782x series of 1986, when the HDS (Honeywell Display System) replaced them.

Confusingly, towards the end they marketed both lineups as general enterprise level systems in their catalogues and brochures. Here's some cool pictures I found from a 1982 brochure:

Source Brochure
Source Catalog Listings

I love this. Another old keyboard I intend to make a modern interpretation of.

I've never seen it with just the grey and white keys like that. I think it looks quite beautiful that way!

Invisius wrote: ↑

27 Apr 2020, 10:29

Multics DPS8 systems.

Otherwise known as "the first great love of my life".

zslane wrote: ↑

27 Apr 2020, 19:11

Invisius wrote: ↑

27 Apr 2020, 10:29

Multics DPS8 systems.

Otherwise known as "the first great love of my life".

Did you work on these in an industrial setting? I'm curious as to how they were actually used, and if they were actually nice to work with day-to-day. The manuals make it seem like they put just as much thought and engineering brilliance in as IBM of yore.

Mine also has the ti label. I assumed there was some sort of tie-in with Texas Instruments but didn't do any follow up research.

Mine is labeled BKBD004B-001

post mine also.

It's cool to see so many variants of these. I did a little more poking around, and it looks like the BCRU models with the + style nav cluster as in OP were made for the DPS7, original DPS8 and similar systems from 1979-1981. Here's some examples:


Those with the double 5x3u nav clusters came with the 1982 introduction of DPS8/M and DPS88 models. Muirium's thread from 2013 also supports this with a 1983 date, and shows that some used 4B3E switches. This one looks to match JPs aside from the break cap. I've seen this layout come with both BTRM725A and BTRM121C terminals.

The more I look, the more layouts and double/tripleshot cap variety these seemed to have- especially the later ones. I'd be curious to see if they all had the same SD linear type 4B3E switches used in the space cadet. All in all, a very interesting series of keyboards.

Ooh, nice vintage pics! The promo shot of the idealised Honeywell office says it all.

Invisius wrote: ↑

02 May 2020, 01:00

zslane wrote: ↑

27 Apr 2020, 19:11

Invisius wrote: ↑

27 Apr 2020, 10:29

Multics DPS8 systems.

Otherwise known as "the first great love of my life".

Did you work on these in an industrial setting? I'm curious as to how they were actually used, and if they were actually nice to work with day-to-day. The manuals make it seem like they put just as much thought and engineering brilliance in as IBM of yore.

Multics was my introduction to computing back in high school, circa 1981-83. I had access to System M in Phoenix through Explorer Scouting Post 414, and from the moment I first saw the send_message command used in real-time I was hooked. So, no, I did not work on the system in any kind of commercial or industrial capacity; I was a high school student who used Multics to learn how to use and program computers.

(I have access to Multics today via DPS-8 simulation.)