🚀 go-pugleaf

In <861925020.2422@dejanews.com> schmoe@tlk.net writes:

>I recently aquired a sun 3/50 system with a sun ECL mono monitor.
>I am concerned that the monitor dosen't work. I was wondering, if
>when you turn the monitor on, if the screen should turn white, or
>brighten, or would it stay dark. Also, can I use a standard DB9 cable
>(such as those used for serial) to connect the monitor, or would I
>need a special cable?

I have a few of the old ECL mono monitors which I still use all the time
(they work great, and are very simple inside), and if they are turned on
with the video cable disconnected the gun driver circuit seems to turn on
the beam to make the screen completely white (up the the setting of the
brightness control). Once the video lead is plugged in the electron gun
turns off again.

In a way this is a good feature since it tells you that the tube is ok if
you think it looks bright enough in that state. The most common fault with
those old ECL units seems to be the tubes getting too old.

For a cable, you can't directly use a normal serial lead since the cable
needs a female connector on the monitor end and a male at the computer
end. If you have a web browser, point it at: 

http://lios.apana.org.au/~cdewick/data/framebuffers.html

for details on the pinout of the ECL video connector. The ECL video cables
are wired 'straight through', just like a modem cable though, but if you
do use a modem cable (with a gender changer) you need to watch how it's
wired because it might have the cable's earth screen connected to a pin
that corresponds to one of the video or sync pins on the ECL connector
pinout.

Regards,

Craig.

-- 
          Sun Ripened Kernels - http://www.zeta.org.au/~craig/srk.html
                Surplus and pre-loved Sun Microsystems equipment.
                     Based in Sydney, Australia. Operated by
        Craig Dewick - craig@zeta.org.au - http://www.zeta.org.au/~craig