General Information

Serial #

1582

Part Number

2

Total Parts

2

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

PLASTIC CASING & KEYS/ METAL & SYNTHETIC WORKING PARTS

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

15.7 cm

Width

7.0 cm

Height

3.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Computing Technology

Category

Digital peripheral devices

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Northern Telecom

Country

Canada

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

1982-1985

Canada

This part of a Canadian developed & manufactured Telidon graphics decoder system. The Telidon program began on August 15, 1978 and ended on March 31, 1985.

Function

Used to input data into a wieless Vista Telidon videotext decoder used during the Bell Vista field trial.

Technical

According to Douglas O'Brien, system engineer on the Telidon project, keyboards were usually used for business, office or laboratory environments as keypads were meant for Telidon home systems. This keypad was manufactured from a repurposed calculator. Plastic injection molding was very expensive, so it was cheaper to purchase and modify an existing calculator with a new circuit board. This was especially the case when equipment was manufactured for a field trial, which only used a certain amount of equipment. In 1983, the North American Presentation Level Protocol Syntax (NAPLPS) graphics language develop from the Canadian Telidon system was formalized, ratified and adopted as a world standard for graphics transmission by computer.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

WHITE LETTERING READING 'VISTA' & 'BELL'/ GREY DECAL READING 'SER 1582'/ WHITE LETTERING FOR KEYS & INSTRUCTIONS ON BACK

Missing

N/A

Finish

BLACK CASING & KEYS

Decoration

RECTANGULAR BLACK SYNTHETIC PLATE ATTACHED TO FRONT ON WHICH IS A WHITE CIRCLE