IBM 3741 Data Station / System 3 Barn Find

JP! · 15 Jan 2018, 04:21

That is some good ergonomic information. I went with the Ikea Skarsta which was the cheapest option I found for a standing desk in my area. Also Uplift desk sells some attractive standing desks including a frame that goes for less than $500.

//gainsborough wrote: ↑I just realized - did you repaint the bottom part red?

I wanted to have the bottom part match the original so I had the paint color matched. The end result turned out as a lighter faded red. Not sure if it's as good as the original though. Perhaps the light blue ones are cooler? I've never seen another red one on the internet though.

//gainsborough · 15 Jan 2018, 04:30

JP! wrote: ↑That is some good ergonomic information. I went with the Ikea Skarsta which was the cheapest option I found for a standing desk in my area. Also Uplift desk sells some attractive standing desks including a frame that goes for less than $500.

//gainsborough wrote: ↑I just realized - did you repaint the bottom part red?
I wanted to have the bottom part match the original so I had the paint color matched. The end result turned out as a lighter faded red. Not sure if it's as good as the original though. Perhaps the light blue ones are cooler? I've never seen another red one on the internet though.

I think the red looks amazing - very nice work!

JP! · 15 Jan 2018, 04:48

//gainsborough wrote: ↑ I think the red looks amazing - very nice work!

Thanks dude

andrewjoy · 15 Jan 2018, 12:54

Menuhin wrote: ↑ http://images.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/Ergo010.gif

Thats interesting , i always find that kitchen worktops are far too low for "light work" and i am am of pretty average height ( around 5'11)

I would much rather they where taller and almost at the precision work height .

vometia · 15 Jan 2018, 17:38

I also like the red: I recall that though the default was "IBM blue" or whatever it's called, they were quite happy to paint their stuff whatever colour was requested. IMHO the resulting ubiquity of blue made it slightly boring: red is much nicer. I think my favourite colour for a mainframe's "accent panels" was a rather fetching yellow.

I'm also vaguely reminding myself of the endless wrangling about the colour DEC used for their DECsystem-20 flavour of PDP-10s, which was variously claimed to be "Terracotta" or "Chinese Red". I still can't remember which (if either) it actually was, nor the correct capitalisation of "DECsystem", which varied between the -10 and -20, though both were still PDP-10s.

I don't recall the exact height of my standing desk, though it's probably not especially useful for anyone who isn't also 5'7". I measured it so I could rest on it with a very slight lean, or more to the point that it would comfortably support my arms without straining my wrists while I was typing. ISTR my aim was a sort of "ideal bar height". That part of it seemed to work very well, and I would've considered it a success if not for my troublesome knee.

Edit: I find typical kitchen worktops to be of a sort of okay height and haven't spent a lot of time considering what would be perfect, but I suspect another couple of inches wouldn't hurt; and I'm 4" shorter than you...

JP! · 17 Apr 2018, 05:19

So I've come up with some neat ideas for this project but I think they may take me a while to complete them which is fine. I want to make this more interactive like the original, not just a keyboard and desk. Also the desk has two holes on the top I think this could use some finishing touches.

Here is a bit what I have in mind for the future.

: IMG_2905.JPG (311.83 KiB) Viewed 6451 times

: IMG_2920.JPG (188.44 KiB) Viewed 6451 times

nsmechkb · 17 Apr 2018, 06:48

JP! wrote: ↑So I've come up with some neat ideas for this project but I think they may take me a while to complete them which is fine. I want to make this more interactive like the original, not just a keyboard and desk. Also the desk has two holes on the top I think this could use some finishing touches.

Here is a bit what I have in mind for the future.

IMG_2905.JPG

IMG_2920.JPG

That looks like it's going to be so much fun!

__red__ · 17 Apr 2018, 20:55

Even though I respect your idea of trying to keep the 'spirit' of the device alive, it's a desk so if it's not something you use every day it's going to end up being anything but used. Raspberry Pis are cool because they're the size of a credit-card. It ceases to be (long term) cool when it's the size of a desk ;-(

If it were me, I'd wire in a full-blown, gnarly, desktop motherboard with 64G RAM, 24 cores, the works.

The display of course is the most difficult thing to modernize.

JP! · 17 Apr 2018, 21:40

__red__ wrote: ↑Even though I respect your idea of trying to keep the 'spirit' of the device alive, it's a desk so if it's not something you use every day it's going to end up being anything but used. Raspberry Pis are cool because they're the size of a credit-card. It ceases to be (long term) cool when it's the size of a desk ;-(

If it were me, I'd wire in a full-blown, gnarly, desktop motherboard with 64G RAM, 24 cores, the works.

The display of course is the most difficult thing to modernize.

It could still be both a retro Raspi desk and a modern desk at the very same time in fact. No compromises necessary. There are a number of potential use cases. A clamp on monitor stand could simply be added to mount one or two nice 4k monitors to provide modern functionality. The second option as desk / keyboard that fits beneath my standing desk.

The display won't be difficult to modernize at all in fact. The 7'' screen I have in mind is only $40 and is designed for the Raspberry PI and is perfectly dimensioned for the desk's cutout. Now I could even go old school industrial crt but that is much more expensive. The screen / mirror piece would be removable if it is in the way an so could have an optional cover for the screen cutout for protection. Now behind the desk is a ton of space for storage. I likely could fit an entire home lab with switches, routers, NAS, server, or full blown liquid cooled gaming rig and of course a Raspi.

mike52787 · 18 Apr 2018, 16:25

If I were you I would use the 7" monitor as a notification center or maybe for IRC. Its a really neat idea to keep it for its original use. Also, will you learn to use a mouse left handed or are you planning to use a trackball or something?

seebart · 18 Apr 2018, 16:26

Good to see this project still going strong.

__red__ · 18 Apr 2018, 16:51

mike52787 wrote: ↑If I were you I would use the 7" monitor as a notification center or maybe for IRC.

This(!)

A nice 80x24 oldskool font, get that on irc!

digital_matthew · 18 Apr 2018, 23:09

mike52787 wrote: ↑If I were you I would use the 7" monitor as a notification center or maybe for IRC. Its a really neat idea to keep it for its original use. Also, will you learn to use a mouse left handed or are you planning to use a trackball or something?

Soft-modding a flip-out mouse area on the right could work.

JP! · 18 Apr 2018, 23:54

digital_matthew wrote: ↑
mike52787 wrote: ↑If I were you I would use the 7" monitor as a notification center or maybe for IRC. Its a really neat idea to keep it for its original use. Also, will you learn to use a mouse left handed or are you planning to use a trackball or something?
Soft-modding a flip-out mouse area on the right could work.

Yeah, that's and idea or using a small table or desk at the same height.

JP! · 19 Apr 2018, 03:51

Here are some updated pictures. Sorry no video __Red__

: 9.JPG (888.25 KiB) Viewed 6264 times

More pictures:

Spoiler:

digital_matthew · 19 Apr 2018, 03:56

Looks like new. Amazing! I love the seriousness of those switches on the upper-left of the keyboard and the power switch. That's REAL industrial design.

Engicoder · 19 Apr 2018, 04:26

Fantastic work JP! ! If there is a DT award for restoration this should be a top contender!!

JP! · 19 Apr 2018, 04:43

Engicoder wrote: ↑Fantastic work JP! ! If there is a DT award for restoration this should be a top contender!!

No need for that. That wouldn't be fair though since most of the work was done last year

It was actually through the help of various people and extreme luck that any of this happened. Looking back though there was a definite possibility that I would have gave up and this would still be sitting in a barn.

j0d1 · 19 Apr 2018, 05:23

This is amazing.

DustGod · 19 Apr 2018, 13:10

Awesome work! This looks gorgeous!

seebart · 19 Apr 2018, 13:31

Looks awesome JP!. Great work.

green-squid · 19 Apr 2018, 13:42

Hello JP morgan! This project is very awesome!

Not sure if this may be useful, but if you wanted to put a mouse in this, I think this would look neat: other-devices-f3/panel-mount-usb-metal- ... 18195.html

Or maybe this one because it's a black one:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Black-c ... 9423&tpp=1

chzel · 19 Apr 2018, 14:53

Incredible restoration JP!

Ir0n · 19 Apr 2018, 15:33

I would literally flip that switch under the desk until it fell apart if I was to use this daily...talk about a fidget toy

ramnes · 19 Apr 2018, 15:55

Awesome.

tron · 19 Apr 2018, 18:22

Really curious to see a shot from underneath the desk(to see how much room the switches and inner assembly take up). Great job with this btw it looks brand new. Love the retro futuristic styling

JP! · 19 Apr 2018, 19:37

tron wrote: ↑Really curious to see a shot from underneath the desk(to see how much room the switches and inner assembly take up). Great job with this btw it looks brand new. Love the retro futuristic styling

Did you take a look at the more pictures spoiler link?

seebart · 19 Apr 2018, 19:39

JP! wrote: ↑
tron wrote: ↑Really curious to see a shot from underneath the desk(to see how much room the switches and inner assembly take up). Great job with this btw it looks brand new. Love the retro futuristic styling
Did you take a look at the more pictures spoiler link?

I did, and now I have new material for my desktop pic-rotation.

tron · 19 Apr 2018, 22:02

JP! wrote: ↑
tron wrote: ↑Really curious to see a shot from underneath the desk(to see how much room the switches and inner assembly take up). Great job with this btw it looks brand new. Love the retro futuristic styling
Did you take a look at the more pictures spoiler link?

Ok, wow. I didn't recognize it at first. Looks like IBM did a great job with the compact case design for the 3741. It really shows how much wasted space is in the full sized beamspring cases.

Mr.Nobody · 20 Apr 2018, 12:13

That's a labor of love, salute you.