VT103

Introduction

The VT100 form factor left significant room in the case for expansion, and DEC used this to produce several all-in-one stand-alone minicomputer systems. The VT103 included a card cage and 4×4 (8-slot) Q-Bus backplane, sufficient to configure a small LSI-11 system within the case.

The VT103 LSl-11 Video Terminal was designed to be a basic building block in an LSl-11 based microcomputer system. The VT103 combined the features of the versatile DIGITAL VT100 alphanumeric terminal with a 4 X 4 LSl-11 backplane. All the support hardware needed to build a complete LSl-11 microcomputer system within the video terminal was available. The VT103 offered complete versatility so you can configure the terminal using any of the available LSl-11 options.

A user could select a VT103 with a factory-installed TU 58 DECtape II. This is a dual mini cartridge system for inexpensive mass storage of data and for program loading. Each TU58 cartridge provides 256K bytes of storage for data or programs. The VT103 is available in the following models; VT103-AA, VT103-BA.

Description Video terminal with keyboard, VT103-AA with TU 58 DECtape II, The VT 103 has three basic support blocks.

• Video. Terminal: This consists of a video monitor. terminal controller. detachable keyboard. and monitor cabinet.
• LSl-11 support hardware: This consists of a VT103 backplane assembly and an H7835 power supply.
• TU58 DECtape II (optional): This is a factory-installed cartridge tape option installed below the video monitor.