VAXstation keyboard on a Wyse terminal?

[Mr Ian Primus]

--- On Tue, 10/28/08, David Griffith <dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu> wrote:
> On Ebay auction number 110304716214 is what is claimed to be
> a keyboard
> for assorted Wyse terminals with an RJ-9 jack.  However the
> keyboard shown
> looks more like a VAXstation / vt220 keyboard.  I'm not
> talking just about
> the layout, but the case too.  I have some VAXstation
> keyboards already.
> Dare I try them with my Wyse 99GT?

That isn't a true DEC keyboard, it's definitely something else. Many third party terminal manufacturers made almost identical-looking keyboards. I've also seen third party Wyse keyboards (although, not DEC-ish, more like PC-ish). I've got several third party terminal keyboards that came from VT-220 clones, and these are NOT compatible with a real DEC terminal.

Terminal keyboards are almost always unique to the terminal model/series they came with. You can't mix Wyse and DEC keyboards. You can't even be sure that a Wyse keyboard will work on other models of Wyse terminals - there were several different types. Link keyboards can sometimes be compatible with Wyse as well (they made third party Wyse compatible keyboards, as well as terminals. Look for a switch on the bottom to change the pinout). You'll also find rebadged Wyse terminals. For example, the Altos terminals are generally just Wyse terminals with different logos.

But plugging an LK-201 into a Wyse isn't going to work.

-Ian