6 Jan
2026
6 Jan
'26
11:46 a.m.
On Tue, Jan 6, 2026 at 8:57 AM Bill Degnan via cctalk
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
good question. I have a CIT-101 which is the VT-101
clone. I never
tried swapping keyboards but it sure looks identical to any DEC
keyboard.
We had CIT-101 and CIT-101e terminals at work in the 80s/90s. They
use the same type of 1/4" connector as a VT100 but are not
cross-compatible. I still have a couple of CIT-101 terminals from
those days but I packed the box of keyboards away when we moved and
they haven't ever turned up (I do have a working CIT-101e w/keyboard
and have brought one to VCF East and Midwest). They do look the same
externally but don't generate any key events when tried. IIRC nothing
breaks from connecting the wrong keyboard, but you just don't get key
events.
I do not know anything about the CIT-220 but at least by the VT220
era, the physical connection was just a pretty plain async serial link
(not the bidirectional whatever the VT100 used). There are modern
microcontroller adapters for VT220s. Seems like they might make a good
starting point for a CIT-220 keyboard adapter.
-ethan