HP 5181A (based on 9915) on eBay - what does it do though???

[Tony Duell]

> 
> Hi,
> 
> There is an HP 5181A currently on eBay for $50:
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7521170381
> 
> This looks to be exactly the same as the HP 9915A (ie the industrial version 
> of the HP 85A, part of the series 80), with the tape interface but sadly no 
> operator interface (ie no video out and keyboard connector). I guess it has 
> some special software on EPROM though.

It's not certain that it's got the normal 9915 boards inside, even though 
the front and rear panels look identical.  Actually, on a 9915 without the 
Operator Interface boardm, do you get a back panel with the holes present 
but blanked off, or do you get a back panel without holes? As the back 
panel is part odf the chassis, I would have guessed the former (making it 
possible to field-upgrade to the Operator Interface later), but I am not 
sure.

If it is a 9915 in there, it's possible the system ROMs are non-standard. 
Or that a special ROM is fitted to one of the ROM module connectors.

> 
> Has anyone on this list any info on using this machine, I can't see from the 
> photos for example how it connects to the X-Y display it is attached to for 
> example.

Well, the normal way to link one to a 9915 is to put an HPIB interface in 
one of the slots and hang a 1350 or 1351 'graphics translator' off it.

I wonder if this 5181 is designed to have an HPIB interface in one of the 
slots. It may be designed to act as a listener/talker only (not a 
controller), and to connect to some other computer as a storage device. 
The hardware, assuming it is 9915-based is capable of that, obviously.

-tony