Difference between revisions of "HP 2641A"

From Terminals
Jump to: navigation, search
m (→‎External Links)
m (More because I fail at proofreading the first 37 times.)
 
(3 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 5: Line 5:
 
| intro_month = September
 
| intro_month = September
 
| intro_year = 1976
 
| intro_year = 1976
−
| intro_price = $14,100
+
| intro_price = $4,100
 
| discontinued_year = 1982
 
| discontinued_year = 1982
 
| interface = RS-232C
 
| interface = RS-232C
Line 17: Line 17:
 
| cpu = Intel 8080
 
| cpu = Intel 8080
 
}}
 
}}
−
The {{PAGENAME}} terminal was introduced in September, 1976 at a price of $14,100 and up, depending on configuration.{{Computerworld
+
 
 +
The HP 2641A APL Display Station was introduced in September 1976 at the same time as the APL\3000<ref>{{cite web
 +
| url=https://aplwiki.com/wiki/APL%5C3000
 +
| title=APL\3000 on the APL Wiki
 +
| accessdate=September 18, 2023
 +
}}</ref> language software product for the HP 3000 Series II.  
 +
 
 +
While a Computerworld{{Computerworld
 
| id=MVkKFPuJBdkC
 
| id=MVkKFPuJBdkC
 
| page_prefix=PT
 
| page_prefix=PT
Line 31: Line 38:
 
| number=11
 
| number=11
 
| date=July, 1977
 
| date=July, 1977
−
}} It was discontinued in 1982.<ref>{{cite web
+
}} article at the time stated: "''Cost of the firmware/software APL\3000 package — which can be field installed on existing HP 3000-IIs — is $15,000. The 2641A terminal costs from $14,100 up depending on memory and other options.''", these numbers appear to be erroneous, having had an extra 10,000 added on somehow, as the actual price of APL\3000 was $5,000 (still substantially more than its other language systems such as BASIC and COBOL which were $1,500 each) and the APL Display Station was $4,100, $600 more than the 2645A of which it was a variant.
 +
 
 +
It was discontinued in 1982<ref>{{cite web
 
| url=http://www.sieler.com/hp_terminals.html
 
| url=http://www.sieler.com/hp_terminals.html
 
| title=HP Terminals
 
| title=HP Terminals
 
| accessdate=October 23, 2015
 
| accessdate=October 23, 2015
−
}}</ref>
+
}}</ref> with no replacement as the APL\3000 product had effectively died by around 1980 after initially suffering from poor performance (reportedly resulting in at least one lawsuit) which caused HP sales to stop expending any effort on marketing it (which is unfortunate as it was a very advanced product for its time which would have scaled very well as future machines expanded in performance and capacity).
 +
 
 +
The 2641A is essentially a 2645A with an additional firmware card and a few replaced ROM chips and the additional character set ROMs with the APL character set. The remainder of the ROMs are identical between the 2645A and the 2641A. Three character sets are used, one for regular 2645A USASCII upper and lowercase, one for uppercase and underlined ASCII with APL symbols, and one for an additional set of APL characters including overstruck character simulation. That left room for an optional fourth character set which could hold any one of the normal 264x options such as line drawing, large characters, math (Greek) symbols, etc.
 +
 
 +
The 2641A keyboard is almost identical to that of the 2645A except that the Memory Lock button and its red LED indicator have been changed to toggle in and out of "APL Mode" (which can be done programmatically by sending ESC> to enter APL Mode or ESC< to return to non-APL mode). In non-APL mode the terminal is essentially identical in features and behavior to the 2645A. In APL mode, unshifted character entry gives upper-case characters and shifted characters give the special APL characters. Also in APL mode, the terminal supports simulation of character overstrikes to produce composite APL characters (of a limited set that have glyphs in the character set) So for example if the user types a character, then hits backspace, then enters a second character, the terminal will replace that triplet with a single APL overstrike character if it has a mapping/glyph for that pair of characters superimposed (for example the APL "domino" character which consists of the APL QUAD (box) character with a traditional division sign overstruck). It will perform the same translation bidirectionally when communicating with the host, so if you transmit the combined character to the host it will get expanded back into the three character sequence. The same mechanism supports APL-style underlined letters as well.
 +
 
 +
In 2020, as part of a project to resurrect the APL\3000 software under MPE V/R on the HP 3000 SIMH simulator, accurate images of the 2641A ROMs were acquired and a MAME driver was created (derived from the exiting HP 2645A driver) that successfully simulates the hardware of the 2641A using those ROM images. The 2641A driver is now included in the standard MAME distribution.
  
 
==[[Manx]]==
 
==[[Manx]]==
Line 42: Line 57:
 
* {{manx details|7,21552|HP 13255 Backplane Module Data Terminal Technical Information}}, October, 1977
 
* {{manx details|7,21552|HP 13255 Backplane Module Data Terminal Technical Information}}, October, 1977
 
* {{manx details|7,21553|HP 13255 Power Supply Module Data Terminal Technical Information}}, August, 1976
 
* {{manx details|7,21553|HP 13255 Power Supply Module Data Terminal Technical Information}}, August, 1976
 +
* {{manx details|7,21555|Roseville Terminals Cabling Manual}}
  
 
==[http://www.hpmuseum.net HP Museum]==
 
==[http://www.hpmuseum.net HP Museum]==

Latest revision as of 02:20, 19 September 2023

HP 2641A
Manufacturer HP
Model 2641A
Lifetime
Introduced September, 1976
Introductory Price $4,100
Discontinued 1982
Communication
Interface RS-232C
Baud Rates 110, 150, 300, 1200, 2400, external
Display
Size 5x10-inch
Phosphor P4 white
Refresh Rates 60 Hz, 50 Hz
Character Modes
Resolution 80x24
Matrix 7x9
Firmware
CPU Intel 8080

The HP 2641A APL Display Station was introduced in September 1976 at the same time as the APL\3000[1] language software product for the HP 3000 Series II.

While a Computerworld[2][3] article at the time stated: "Cost of the firmware/software APL\3000 package — which can be field installed on existing HP 3000-IIs — is $15,000. The 2641A terminal costs from $14,100 up depending on memory and other options.", these numbers appear to be erroneous, having had an extra 10,000 added on somehow, as the actual price of APL\3000 was $5,000 (still substantially more than its other language systems such as BASIC and COBOL which were $1,500 each) and the APL Display Station was $4,100, $600 more than the 2645A of which it was a variant.

It was discontinued in 1982[4] with no replacement as the APL\3000 product had effectively died by around 1980 after initially suffering from poor performance (reportedly resulting in at least one lawsuit) which caused HP sales to stop expending any effort on marketing it (which is unfortunate as it was a very advanced product for its time which would have scaled very well as future machines expanded in performance and capacity).

The 2641A is essentially a 2645A with an additional firmware card and a few replaced ROM chips and the additional character set ROMs with the APL character set. The remainder of the ROMs are identical between the 2645A and the 2641A. Three character sets are used, one for regular 2645A USASCII upper and lowercase, one for uppercase and underlined ASCII with APL symbols, and one for an additional set of APL characters including overstruck character simulation. That left room for an optional fourth character set which could hold any one of the normal 264x options such as line drawing, large characters, math (Greek) symbols, etc.

The 2641A keyboard is almost identical to that of the 2645A except that the Memory Lock button and its red LED indicator have been changed to toggle in and out of "APL Mode" (which can be done programmatically by sending ESC> to enter APL Mode or ESC< to return to non-APL mode). In non-APL mode the terminal is essentially identical in features and behavior to the 2645A. In APL mode, unshifted character entry gives upper-case characters and shifted characters give the special APL characters. Also in APL mode, the terminal supports simulation of character overstrikes to produce composite APL characters (of a limited set that have glyphs in the character set) So for example if the user types a character, then hits backspace, then enters a second character, the terminal will replace that triplet with a single APL overstrike character if it has a mapping/glyph for that pair of characters superimposed (for example the APL "domino" character which consists of the APL QUAD (box) character with a traditional division sign overstruck). It will perform the same translation bidirectionally when communicating with the host, so if you transmit the combined character to the host it will get expanded back into the three character sequence. The same mechanism supports APL-style underlined letters as well.

In 2020, as part of a project to resurrect the APL\3000 software under MPE V/R on the HP 3000 SIMH simulator, accurate images of the 2641A ROMs were acquired and a MAME driver was created (derived from the exiting HP 2645A driver) that successfully simulates the hardware of the 2641A using those ROM images. The 2641A driver is now included in the standard MAME distribution.

Manx

HP Museum

External Links

References

  1. ↑ "APL\3000 on the APL Wiki". https://aplwiki.com/wiki/APL%5C3000. Retrieved September 18, 2023. 
  2. ↑ "HP Puts APL on 3000 Series II With Software/Firmare Duo", Computerworld, September 20, 1976, pg. 16
  3. ↑ "CRT Terminal Provides both APL and ASCII Operation", Warren W. Leong, HP Journal, 28(11), pg. 25, July, 1977
  4. ↑ "HP Terminals". http://www.sieler.com/hp_terminals.html. Retrieved October 23, 2015. 
This article is a stub. You can help the Terminals Wiki by expanding it.
Retrieved from "https://terminals-wiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=HP_2641A&oldid=19005"