[GreenKeys] Heavy Metal - ASR35 keyboard doesn't work like I want it to...

[gil at baudot.net]

Hi Bryan:

Well, this is a question for Buzbee I suppose, but I'll add my 2 cents. 
Since that 35 is an ascii machine, you don't need the baudot conversion
provided by HeavyMetal -- I didn't know it had an ascii mode, but I
suppose it does if you can print to your 35.

What happens when you just run an ascii terminal emulator?  You can use
the confusing and buggy HyperTerminal that comes with winblows, or you
can grab the nice little "Terminal by Bray" shareware app, which I
happen to have at: 
http://www.vauxelectronics.com/misc/Terminal-by-Bray.zip
This guy did a nice job;  it is a clean terminal, which has separate RX
and TX windows, and all the config stuff visible.  The only odd thing I
ran across was that you should check the "Auto-connect" box, so it
connects to the com port when opened (should be the default), and I
think you need to click in the tx window before typing.  Other than
these minor things, it is a very nice terminal.  Win HyperTerminal, on
the other hand, has all sorts of legacy BBS dial-up crap still in it,
has been buggy since day one (set xon/xoff flow control or you tx chars
may come out 3 seconds apart), and does not echo typed chars until you
enable that in "ascii options" or someplace.

But all that aside, when you run a terminal, at 110-baud, and connect
your com port to your 35's 232-converter gizmo, can you type in the
terminal and have the 35 print, and type on the 35 keyboard and have the
terminal show your chars?  This is kinda the fundamental test.  Are you
running into some parity issue that allows print but not input?  Try
none/mark/space/odd/even to see if it makes a difference.  Someone here
likely knows the 35 better than I do, but I seem to recall that on the
33, the keyboard produced mark or even parity (IIRC), while the printer
didn't care -- your 35 issue might be along the same lines.

The other thing you could try is to hang a separate PC/terminal-emulator
in place of your 232-adapter/M35 machine, and see what is being sent and
received using your HeavyMetal session.  Again, it could just be a
keyboard parity issue.  If you try this, keep in mind that you probably
need to swap the 232 rx/tx lines -- a null-modem adapter is handy for
fixing this (swapping pins 2 and 3).

Once you get the basic ascii communication stuff figured out, you can
try a telnet session instead of a direct com port test.  I'm not quite
sure what you want to do though.  If you have an ethernet-to-232 gizmo
connected to your 232-adapter/M35, then you should be able to use any
telnet software to connect a session to the ethernet
address/port-number, and then send and receive text just as if you had a
direct terminal connection.  You can use HyperTerminal in telnet mode
omehow, though I have never done it.  You can also do a
Start/Run/Command (to get a dos) window and then telnet someplace.

FWIW,

gil



gil smith
greenkeys moderator
gil at baudot.net
www.baudot.net
Vaux Electronics:  480-354-5556



> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: [GreenKeys] Heavy Metal - ASR35 keyboard doesn't work like I
> want it to...
> From: Bryan Brodie <greenkeys at vaporland.com>
> Date: Wed, February 18, 2009 3:37 pm
> To: greenkeys at mailman.qth.net
> 
> 
> Hi folks,
> 
> I have my ASR35 connected to a Windows PC serial port via a Telebyte
> Model 65a RS232 to current loop converter. Output from the PC (Windows
> XP, HeavyMetal) prints fine, but the keyboard on the teletype will not
> accept input. It does not register or echo back.
> 
> I am using an older version of HeavyMetal which supports telnet
> sessions, which I need in order to use some legacy software (SIMH /
> HP2000 minicomputer emulation) like in the "old days".
> 
> I have enabled keyboard input in HM. While "on line", when I type on
> the TTY kb,  the loop converter is showing data transmitted in both
> directions, but nothing prints or gets through to the telnet session.
> 
> I can use the PC's KB / HM buffer, and press enter, whereby data
> transmits to the telnet session, but does not print on the teletype.
> 
> In local mode everything prints fine.
> 
> If anyone has experience with initiating a telnet session through the
> serial port in windows so that the telnet session is interactive over
> a Teletype, I'd be grateful for any advice.
> 
> My UNIX / LINUX knowledge is not extensive, but I suspect that this
> could work for what I want to do.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Bryan Brodie
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