[Find & Restoration] IBM 5281 Beamspring loot

[karlmartin95]

Hi guys, It's me again. Today I want to show you a loot of IBM boards that I found in a "Financial Company".

- x2 IBM 5281 Complete Terminal (Keyboard and Data Terminal)
- x2 IBM Terminal Model M (Silver and Blue badge)
- A bag full of diskettes and tapes for 5281 machines

The gold here is the 5218 Beamspring Spanish layout. I searched around the web for more info about them but I found nothing, only one post from a user here, in DT. I don't know either how rare they are, perhaps you guys can help me. One detail about these boards, the top case is all PLASTIC.

Some images of the loot:







I've never seen a Beamspring keyboard with a buzzer/speaker inside, somebody knows anything about it?


Overall, the beamsprings are in good shape I think, but they need a good restoration for sure.

PD: This will be a RESTORATION post, like my old F77 Restoration one.

[Sturmtiger001]

Awesome find!

[Weezer]

Thats amazing! Great find.

These were part of the IBM 5280 distributed data system. The 5281 model works like a dumb terminal and is attached to the control unit.

You're right that there's not much info. But what info there is about the system can be found here.


http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/ ... _Jun81.pdf

[John Doe]

Two 5281s in one time, I'm jealous this time

Spoiler:

Hope I could share a little bit of your happiness.

6D854F5D-31AB-4903-BC37-3D06453AE14D.jpeg (2.06 MiB) Viewed 10862 times

[karlmartin95]

Two 5281s in one time, I'm jealous this time

Spoiler:

Hope I could share a little bit of your happiness.6D854F5D-31AB-4903-BC37-3D06453AE14D.jpeg

Hey, did you convert your 5281?

[John Doe]

Two 5281s in one time, I'm jealous this time

Spoiler:

Hope I could share a little bit of your happiness.6D854F5D-31AB-4903-BC37-3D06453AE14D.jpeg

Hey, did you convert your 5281?

Yes and no.

I tested it with xwhatsit and all keys worked as expected, but havn't given the restoration&cleaning thoroughly. Maybe I should begin this now.

[Weezer]

Yeah they work with the 5251 rev4 xwhatsit

[inmbolmie]

Alright congrats on the findings. Now searching for finance company that is liquidate their stuffs aroundme :p

Well, if they are selling Beamsprings for pennies it's not a big surprise they went bankrupt if they managed all their assets in the same way.

Great great find, very beautiful boards indeed!

[karlmartin95]

Two 5281s in one time, I'm jealous this time

Spoiler:

Hope I could share a little bit of your happiness.6D854F5D-31AB-4903-BC37-3D06453AE14D.jpeg

Hey, did you convert your 5281?

Yes and no.

I tested it with xwhatsit and all keys worked as expected, but havn't given the restoration&cleaning thoroughly. Maybe I should begin this now.

Regarding the buzzer, does it work?

[John Doe]

Hey, did you convert your 5281?

Yes and no.

I tested it with xwhatsit and all keys worked as expected, but havn't given the restoration&cleaning thoroughly. Maybe I should begin this now.

Regarding the buzzer, does it work?

Original aim is to test the xwhatsit&solenoid driven board. The solenoid worked so I think the buzzer should also, though havn't done the test in reality.

[karlmartin95]

Yes and no.

I tested it with xwhatsit and all keys worked as expected, but havn't given the restoration&cleaning thoroughly. Maybe I should begin this now.

Regarding the buzzer, does it work?

Original aim is to test the xwhatsit&solenoid driven board. The solenoid worked so I think the buzzer should also, though havn't done the test in reality.

I wonder.. the top case of your 5281 is metal or plastic?

[Invisius]

A little yellowed, but other than the contamination shield they look to be in pretty great condition. Have you tested the terminals yet to see if they work? Would be so cool to see a working double-sided setup with these!

That "0" key in the corner is just as unusual as the speaker, it looks almost stuck on and wired up by an external switch. Does it have a capacitive contact, or is it wired into the matrix somehow?

To answer your question, I think the buzzer was a later solenoid emulator type thing, but isn't very common to see on any beamspring. I look forward to some more resto shots!

[karlmartin95]

A little yellowed, but other than the contamination shield they look to be in pretty great condition. Have you tested the terminals yet to see if they work? Would be so cool to see a working double-sided setup with these!

That "0" key in the corner is just as unusual as the speaker, it looks almost stuck on and wired up by an external switch. Does it have a capacitive contact, or is it wired into the matrix somehow?

To answer your question, I think the buzzer was a later solenoid emulator type thing, but isn't very common to see on any beamspring. I look forward to some more resto shots!

That 0 is glued on the plastic case, I don't know why. I powered up the terminals but they do nothing, I don't know if they need some special sequence to start.

Yes, the case is a bit yellowed but I like the look. Perhaps I can repaint it.

Regarding the buzzer, interesting...

[John Doe]

Regarding the buzzer, does it work?

Original aim is to test the xwhatsit&solenoid driven board. The solenoid worked so I think the buzzer should also, though havn't done the test in reality.

I wonder.. the top case of your 5281 is metal or plastic?

Plastic...

[shine]

Wow, i just got another beamfoot as well, but at 8,12 times the price for just one that's missing one key. Mine is spanish too.

If you have a spare "Campo +" keycap contact me!

viewtopic.php?f=56&t=24264

[karlmartin95]

Wow, i just got another beamfoot as well, but at 8,12 times the price for just one that's missing one key. Mine is spanish too.

If you have a spare "Campo +" keycap contact me!

viewtopic.php?f=56&t=24264

Nice! And yours have the speaker on footer side. When and where did you get it?

[shine]

Wow, i just got another beamfoot as well, but at 8,12 times the price for just one that's missing one key. Mine is spanish too.

If you have a spare "Campo +" keycap contact me!

viewtopic.php?f=56&t=24264

Nice! And yours have the speaker on footer side. When and where did you get it?

I bought it yesterday to a collector here in Spain.

[karlmartin95]

Wow, i just got another beamfoot as well, but at 8,12 times the price for just one that's missing one key. Mine is spanish too.

If you have a spare "Campo +" keycap contact me!

viewtopic.php?f=56&t=24264

Nice! And yours have the speaker on footer side. When and where did you get it?

I bought it yesterday to a collector here in Spain.

Nice, can you tell me how much did you pay? These boards are very rare and it would be cool to know their price.

[shine]

Nice! And yours have the speaker on footer side. When and where did you get it?

I bought it yesterday to a collector here in Spain.

Nice, can you tell me how much did you pay? These boards are very rare and it would be cool to know their price.

around 600€, if you are going to sell one speak to me as well

[Weezer]

I bought it yesterday to a collector here in Spain.

Nice, can you tell me how much did you pay? These boards are very rare and it would be cool to know their price.

around 600€, if you are going to sell one speak to me as well

As far as your missing key, the one on the 5251 is actually identical to the one on the 5280. You may be able to scavenge one from one of those instead of hunting down a second 5280 keyboard considering that the 5251 might be easier to find.

[karlmartin95]

Good news guys, I finished the restoration of one Beamfoot.

Internal metal plate repainted:



I built the kmnov's controller with an Arduino Pro Micro and it works perfectly! The only problem was that, the controller was designed to be placed horizontally, and this board only allowed to put it vertically so... I had to think how to place it correctly but I managed to do it:



Final result:



I prefer to keep the original paint in this one, also I don't know why but I looks like an old Commodore 64 and I like it.
I should make the buzzer work, now it's disconnected, but I have some ideas about how to make it work, I should need some time.

Regarding the other beamfoot, I only repainted the top plastic case. I'm very happy with the result!





Internally, It isn't restored this board, but it was in better shape that the one I restored.
That's all for now, happy clicking!

[mode1ace]

Really nice work mate

[Yasu0]

Have to admit, that beige/taupe/whatever color you want to call it, it looks nice. Both look great. Nice work!

[ZedTheMan]

What color is that repainted case? I really like it!

[karlmartin95]

What color is that repainted case? I really like it!

RAL 9016, it looks very nice

[karlmartin95]

I just finished restoring my other beamfoot. The plastic top case was already repainted, but all the internal hardware completely restored as you can see in the following images.

[sharktastica]

I just finished restoring my other beamfoot. The plastic top case was already repainted, but all the internal hardware completely restored as you can see in the following images.

Damn, that's gorgeous! Nice work!

[ro0llo]

Nice work on that paintjob! How did you got such a nice result with that?

[karlmartin95]

Nice work on that paintjob! How did you got such a nice result with that?

Thanks! I didn't paint it, a friend of mine did the job, a nice one.

[ifohancroft]

Might be a bit of a weird request, but can you please take and post a picture of the keycaps dead on from the top, like a straight up 90 degrees angle between the camera and the keycaps?