Finally, a LUNCHBOX!

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I've been wanting a nice LunchBox portable for the longest time, looks like I got a doozey, with expansion chassis:



Check the profile in the pics, it looks like a double-stuffer Oreo lunchbox. Six full slots and room for a pile of racked test modules on the backside! }



Tekelec Chameleon Open Analyzer

Middle little bro may know a bit about this one. I'm hoping the case is top notch, because that's the rep of the gang he started to work with a little after this piece of test equipment was made.

Chameleon Open was GonzoBUCK$$$ back in the day.



Just to have this Alps Mechanical KeySwitch beauty will be nice!

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=21119.0

 

[ClassicHasClass]

Wow. Kaypro flashback!

 

[tecneeq]

That looks like a very unique design. Never saw one quite like it.

 

[Gorgonops]

Check the profile in the pics, it looks like a double-stuffer Oreo lunchbox. Six full slots and room for a pile of racked test modules on the backside! }

Actually, I really wish the Ebay poster's pictures weren't so blurry and muddy because it's really hard to tell *what* is going on on the backside of that thing. It's odd that it has all those cover plates with individual screws above the power supply/parallel/serial port cluster but I'd be really surprised if there is any sort of expansion backplane under there. My *tentative* guess is those panels are there so vertical market re-sellers of the OEM case have a place to screw custom patch panels for "built-in" ports that internally are cabled to interface cards in the standard PC expansion slots (which Tekelec didn't do), and most of the space behind them is used for shock-mounting the internal hard drive bay(s). But it'll certainly be interesting to see what's inside when you get it.

It's slightly irritating that the listing doesn't delve into the specs of the computer, but given the size of the LCD and the copyright date you can see on the screen for the analysis software I'm going to guess it's a 486. Might be interesting to see if it includes something exotic like VESA local bus, but the LCD is probably driven by a 512k CHIPS AND TECHNOLOGIES-based ISA card, that was the go-to solution for these things. The fit and finish looks somewhat inferior to the DOLCH lunchboxes you often see utilized for these old network analyzers so... I'd be willing to bet a nickel or two that if you had access to a mid-1990's issue of "Computer Shopper" magazine you could find the same OEM case for sale from several clone builders. A dead giveaway that it's "generic Taiwan OEM" sourced is how the keyboard connects via the motherboard's original DIN connector on the side, underneath the expansion slots; DOLCH machines hide that internally and run it to a proprietary RJ-11 (or was it RJ14?) connector that's positioned so you can stow the cable and close the box without unplugging the KB. Pretty sure they've done that since the 80286 era.

So what are you plans for the thing? Before I decided to give it away to someone who had a good use for it as-is (DOS machine to run an EPROM burner) I was pondering the idea of finding a widescreen aspect-ratio LCD that as-much-as-possible filled up the front bezel space on my Pentium-based DOLCH and completely modernizing it by junking all the internal components. Upon reflection I decided I didn't have the handycrafting skills to pull it off as a completely "stealth" upgrade and didn't really need such a thing anyway.

 

[Gorgonops]

... and holy cow, I just noticed what they did with the "?/" key on the keyboard for that thing. That's a crime against nature right there. Yeah, not a DOLCH.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I'd rather have the cursor pyramid intact! :lol:

DOLCH got Alps? :?:

I've got a 19" 1080p that might just fit. It was headed into the side of the Compaq Portable II . . .

. . . so we'll see. }

 

[onlyonemac]

What the heck is that thing???

 

[IIfx]

OOM:

It is an 80486 desktop PC repackaged to be a portable computer. This one seems to have a card to test fiber optic networks by my guess looking at the connector, which matches the ones on my Nortel switches for fiber connection.

Trash, I hope that Compaq Portable II that was going to receive the LCD mod is dead - I assume they are quite rare in working condition. (Were the huge luggable CRT portables ever popular to begin with?) That lunchbox PC is pretty cool, I like the shade of grey they used on the casing. Hopefully it will have an Active Matrix LCD panel in it!

Let us know exactly what the tester is designed to do when you get it.

 

[uniserver]

man, i'm jealous. that thing is awesome.

I want one!

Looks a tad bit proprietary, I wonder if its running dos or unix?

to me that thing is Coooooool!

PORTS?

 

[Gorgonops]

DOLCH got Alps? :?:

The Dolch had Cherry MX Blue, actually. It was *awesome*, Alps ain't got nuttin' on it.

I've got a 19" 1080p that might just fit. It was headed into the side of the Compaq Portable II . . .. . . so we'll see. }

The face of the Dolch pretty much would have topped out at a 15.2" laptop screen. (I briefly considered sticking the guts of a PowerBook G4 in it.) 19" ain't happening. There are a few 1366x768-ish res. 14" monitors out there that would probably be appropriate. *Maybe* you could get a 17" in there if you completely rebuilt the front end to have a *very* thin bezel. For scaling purposes I doubt the original monitor is bigger than 11" or so. My Dolch was newer and sported a 12". (and of course being a 4x3 monitor that made it about as tall as a 14" widescreen. On the Dolch height was the serious limiting factor because the design sported a "front porch" to hold the keyboard cable.)

Looks a tad bit proprietary, I wonder if its running dos or unix?

They almost always run DOS. Or at least boot DOS and then load a big fat DPMI binary that completely takes over the machine.

 

[Brett B.]

Neat score! I've always wanted a luggable.

Were the huge luggable CRT portables ever popular to begin with?

Yup! Even out here in BFE South Dakota they were pretty common. A friend still has his IBM 5155:

 

[CelGen]

The blue/red tagging on the box indicates it was for testing FDDI cables and networks. Essentially fiber optic token ring.

Looks a tad bit proprietary, I wonder if its running dos or unix?

It will be DOS. there was no reason why you would anything else back then.

Everything will most likely have at least one or two proprietary cards to drive the frame for the modules and external hardware buth otherwise it will be purely common parts down to the Baby AT motherboard.

I would stuff an Asus P5A-B in that with a flash disk, half a gig of ram and a decent AMD processor and call it a day though you have the potential of running an LCD panel on that which is NOT VGA and would require modification to replace.

Chameleon Open was GonzoBUCK$$$ back in the day.

"in the day". Remember you paid $15 for it. All the value now is in the proprietary parts and software.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Yep . . . and my bone stock IIfx cost a large percentage of that 10-20k$SSS with just MacWrite and MacPaint on it 4-5 years earlier! ;D

They're all junk! Lovely stuff!

Trash, I hope that Compaq Portable II that was going to receive the LCD mod is dead - I assume they are quite rare in working condition.

Ahem! : Let's just say that it was liberated from on top of a garbage can outside of a Thrift Shop in such a state that they apparently weren't willing to accept it for sale as was . . . I left it pretty much untouched until about 5 years ago, The KBD/cable attachment was a lost cause and I didn't feel any pressing need to rehabilitate such a junker at the time . . .

. . . I have no regrets now, functional CPqPIIs don't go for enough on eBay to bother selling one like this was in today's market, but I've kept the system boards safe . . .

. . . this is way more fun. }

As for the Tekelec . . . :lol:

 

[Bunsen]

Oh man, I has a serious jealous now.

The local telcoms test gear recycler had a cutedorable tiny alalyzer like that for sale for $35 - I forget the brand, I will search for pics in a bit. It had an amber gas-plasma display (seriously love those) barely taller than the 3.5" floppy drive mounted vertically in the front face beside it, showing a 386 BIOS boot test.

Now it seems they've tested it out, found it working, and relisted it for $300

/ETA/ Ah, here it is:

Wandel & Goltermann DA-30 Protocol Analyzer

Later colour version:

(Image removed because resize fail, but you can click thru to the original)

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

That's got a ginormous cuteness index! :approve: Did it have an O-Scope fraternal twin brother? )

The Tekelec, on the other hand, has a nicely padded out bustle on its ginormous tuschie with a thin surround:



. . . making it just right for a two-faced vintage/modern rendition.

Eyeballing it from the size of the KBD, I'm pretty sure it'd need to be a closer approximation of Kim Kardashian's booty to house the 17" wide 18.5" AOC 1080p LCD 's metal rims. But I just had to bid on the TekelecTrunk™ cuz middle lil' bro still works for them . . .

. . . and it looks kinda like a DuoDockPortable™

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Customer Recall: This event indicates that an Express Mail Hold For Pickup item was recalled by the sender.

Dang! I wonder WTHeck this means about the delivery date? :-/

 

[IIfx]

I would contact the seller straight away. Why is he recalling the package?

Never saw that in 7 years of using eBay and getting packages via USPS. I did not even know you could recall a package after its sent!

Knowing the USPS, the package will be recalled 1 month after you have received it. They will come to your door asking for it. :lol:

 

[uniserver]

man i shouldn't of messaged him telling him i would pay double what ever you paid

LOL

Just kidding.

 

[uniserver]

Wandel & Goltermann DA-30 Protocol Analyzer/

Later colour version:

(Image removed because resize fail, but you can click thru to the original)

awesome awesome awesome! MY GOD those had to of been so expensive!!!!!!! Super cool!