IBM 5251 Display Station

[Jugostran]

The day has finally come. I am now a proud owner of a 5251 keyboard and terminal. Unfortunately, the terminal is in a rough state. The CRT is cracked and missing the yoke. Also, both the keyboard and terminal cables have been cut. Either way, for the price, I can't complain. It does look quite lovely sitting on my kitchen table.

[TNT]

Those things are massive. Very nice picture. What are you going to do with it?

[AnnoyedWalrus]

What a beautiful machine and picture. Would it be considered sacrilege to build a modern computer into the case?

[Icarium]

Admit it you just put that keyboard in front of a microwave oven!

[roqueofstuff]

Looks amazing! if you don't mind, could you tell me the height at the back and front of the keyboard? I've always wanted to make my own case similar to it. I'd love to replicate the look of it.

[kbdfr]

[…] It does look quite lovely sitting on my kitchen table.

If I had to choose between food and anything IBM on my kitchen table, I would clearly take food

[Muirium]

Pretty sweet panel for dialling in the cooking time tho, you must admit.

[Jugostran]

[…] It does look quite lovely sitting on my kitchen table.

If I had to choose between food and anything IBM on my kitchen table, I would clearly take food

I prefer IBM myself.

[Jugostran]

Pretty sweet panel for dialling in the cooking time tho, you must admit.

You can even choose the contrast and brightness of your food...in German.

[Jugostran]

Those things are massive. Very nice picture. What are you going to do with it?

I'd like to get it working, but I am not sure it is even possible considering the state it is in.

[jsheradin]

I'd like to get it working, but I am not sure it is even possible considering the state it is in.

As long as the corrosion isn't too bad, anything is possible. Big challenge might be sourcing a new tube. IBM didn't make tubes so it will (hopefully) be a normal Sylvania, Phillips, etc. Check inside for a sticker on the tube itself. It was almost certainly used in a bunch of stuff of that era. If you find one try to get it with the yoke assembly still attached to save you some time aligning it.

Pictures of the insides would definitely help spot other issues.

[Jugostran]

I'd like to get it working, but I am not sure it is even possible considering the state it is in.

As long as the corrosion isn't too bad, anything is possible. Big challenge might be sourcing a new tube. IBM didn't make tubes so it will (hopefully) be a normal Sylvania, Phillips, etc. Check inside for a sticker on the tube itself. It was almost certainly used in a bunch of stuff of that era. If you find one try to get it with the yoke assembly still attached to save you some time aligning it.

Pictures of the insides would definitely help spot other issues.

The electrical bits should all be fine.
The tube is a Philips, and I do know the model. However I haven't been able to find a replacement.

[Polecat]

I'd like to get it working, but I am not sure it is even possible considering the state it is in.

As long as the corrosion isn't too bad, anything is possible. Big challenge might be sourcing a new tube. IBM didn't make tubes so it will (hopefully) be a normal Sylvania, Phillips, etc. Check inside for a sticker on the tube itself. It was almost certainly used in a bunch of stuff of that era. If you find one try to get it with the yoke assembly still attached to save you some time aligning it.

Pictures of the insides would definitely help spot other issues.

The electrical bits should all be fine.
The tube is a Philips, and I do know the model. However I haven't been able to find a replacement.

Monochrome CRTs basically came with one of two gun types. 1) High G2 (~450V) and negative focus voltage, or 2) low G2 (~150V) and positive focus voltage. Match up the size and mounting (and phosphor color) and you have a 50 percent chance of it working correctly. Or look up the specs on the Philips tube and match that to possible substitutes.

[ArtyomTheMetroHopper]

Personally I would keep the monitor case and the curved CRT screen, but gut everything else. Fit either an LCD monitor behind the CRT glass or a totally new CRT assembly of a similar resolution. Then, strip the dials and switches down and rewire them to a micro controller and flash it to control the brightness, color or even just switching the monitor on or off.

Then I would get that lovely beam xwhatsit-fied and fit a USB port where the old keyboard terminal plug would interface and then wire that to anouther USB port at the back of the case. Then depending on what type of monitor you decided to go with you can fit a make shift HDMI or VGA at the back and then plug a HDMI cable and USB cable in the two back ports to connect the display station up to your main computer.

From there you could run a hardware emulation of the original 5251 or just use your bog standard modern windows/linux/mac os. I know it may seem a little sacrilegious but its just an idea. I do think however it would be a lot easier and more useful compared to trying to restore the already dubious cathode assembly. Heck, you will be the only person with bragging rights to browse the forum with a full IBM 5251 set up!

[Jugostran]

Personally I would keep the monitor case and the curved CRT screen, but gut everything else. Fit either an LCD monitor behind the CRT glass or a totally new CRT assembly of a similar resolution. Then, strip the dials and switches down and rewire them to a micro controller and flash it to control the brightness, color or even just switching the monitor on or off.

Then I would get that lovely beam xwhatsit-fied and fit a USB port where the old keyboard terminal plug would interface and then wire that to anouther USB port at the back of the case. Then depending on what type of monitor you decided to go with you can fit a make shift HDMI or VGA at the back and then plug a HDMI cable and USB cable in the two back ports to connect the display station up to your main computer.

From there you could run a hardware emulation of the original 5251 or just use your bog standard modern windows/linux/mac os. I know it may seem a little sacrilegious but its just an idea. I do think however it would be a lot easier and more useful compared to trying to restore the already dubious cathode assembly. Heck, you will be the only person with bragging rights to browse the forum with a full IBM 5251 set up!

That is a really neat idea, but I am not sure how I'd pull it off.

[ArtyomTheMetroHopper]

Beamspring conversion to standard USB is fairly simple (assuming you dont know before hand) and it is just a case of sliding out the old PCB and slotting in the new one, plenty of guides are on here and on other sites as well going over the process.

If you want to convert the rest of terminal like the monitor I admit you would need to be more DIY inclined, but if you are going as far as restoring the cathode assembly its not too out of reach. Technically you can skip a lot of what I have listed in my previous post and just fit the monitor and a socket in the case. You would need to measure width and height of the frame that the CRT is fitted in and NOT the curved glass screen.

Then you would look online for a monitor that fits the dimensions of the frame and order a power extension cable (male to female) and a HDMI lead to go with it. You will also need to order a HDMI female to female hub. With all of these on hand you would then remove all of the electronics you have already installed in the computer case and line up the new monitor in place. From there you would need to figure out how to secure it, either something as sophisticated as large glass/wooden panel connectors or as simple as hot glue.

Finally you would scribe the shape of the HDMI female to female hub and the male end of the power cable against the back of the monitors case with a pen. Follow it up with a Stanley knife or sharp enough blade to cut out the scribed shapes and fit in the HDMI port and the end of the power cable. If its a tight enough fit you could leave it at that, but I would recommend at least use tape if not hot glue or a home made bracket to secure them firmly in place.

Never really emulated a 5251 system so I would not be able to walk you through that process, but I am pretty sure there are plenty of guides online going through the downloading and setting up of an emulator.

To be real though, while I do think it is all doable it would be neat if you can pull off restoring the CRT and have it functioning stock. Worth waiting on finding replacement parts and if by then it still wont work perhaps try this out as a plan C. May also be worth checking out vintage computer communities for guidance.

At the end of the day they will have a lot more material and experience to work from than here.

[Jugostran]

Beamspring conversion to standard USB is fairly simple (assuming you dont know before hand) and it is just a case of sliding out the old PCB and slotting in the new one, plenty of guides are on here and on other sites as well going over the process.

If you want to convert the rest of terminal like the monitor I admit you would need to be more DIY inclined, but if you are going as far as restoring the cathode assembly its not too out of reach. Technically you can skip a lot of what I have listed in my previous post and just fit the monitor and a socket in the case. You would need to measure width and height of the frame that the CRT is fitted in and NOT the curved glass screen.

Then you would look online for a monitor that fits the dimensions of the frame and order a power extension cable (male to female) and a HDMI lead to go with it. You will also need to order a HDMI female to female hub. With all of these on hand you would then remove all of the electronics you have already installed in the computer case and line up the new monitor in place. From there you would need to figure out how to secure it, either something as sophisticated as large glass/wooden panel connectors or as simple as hot glue.

Finally you would scribe the shape of the HDMI female to female hub and the male end of the power cable against the back of the monitors case with a pen. Follow it up with a Stanley knife or sharp enough blade to cut out the scribed shapes and fit in the HDMI port and the end of the power cable. If its a tight enough fit you could leave it at that, but I would recommend at least use tape if not hot glue or a home made bracket to secure them firmly in place.

Never really emulated a 5251 system so I would not be able to walk you through that process, but I am pretty sure there are plenty of guides online going through the downloading and setting up of an emulator.

To be real though, while I do think it is all doable it would be neat if you can pull off restoring the CRT and have it functioning stock. Worth waiting on finding replacement parts and if by then it still wont work perhaps try this out as a plan C. May also be worth checking out vintage computer communities for guidance.

At the end of the day they will have a lot more material and experience to work from than here.

Thanks for all the helpful information.
Since the keyboard has quite a foreign layout, I will probably keep it with the terminal. And with regards to the terminal, I'd love to keep it stock. I need to find the correct M38 Philips tube and yoke for it.

[Jugostran]

I'd like to get it working, but I am not sure it is even possible considering the state it is in.

As long as the corrosion isn't too bad, anything is possible. Big challenge might be sourcing a new tube. IBM didn't make tubes so it will (hopefully) be a normal Sylvania, Phillips, etc. Check inside for a sticker on the tube itself. It was almost certainly used in a bunch of stuff of that era. If you find one try to get it with the yoke assembly still attached to save you some time aligning it.

Pictures of the insides would definitely help spot other issues.

Sorry for taking ages to respond, but I just now opened up the terminal. Here's the sticker on the tube;