A vector graphics workstation from the 70s

Digging into this vintage beast, the Tektronix 4051—a 1975 vector graphics workstation that packed a Motorola 6800 CPU and up to 32KB of RAM into a hefty 35kg frame—shows how early tech giants blended oscilloscope smarts with computing to deliver affordable (for the era) graphics terminals that blew away competitors like IBM. I recently resurrected one from a dusty shed by fixing a dodgy power switch, a loose transformer wire, and a fried resistor, then tweaking its finicky high-voltage CRT calibrations to get that crisp 1024x780 resolution back in action, proving that with some basic soldering and a HV probe, even 50-year-old gear can boot up without too much drama. While it’s no slouch for its time, running BASIC with vector drawing routines and supporting ROM expanders for extra functionality, it’s a quirky reminder for SMBs and MSPs that understanding legacy systems can spark innovation or secure old data archives. If you’re a tech-curious maker or small-business owner itching to tinker, check out Monty McGraw’s GitHub for emulators and programs, or even mod in a modern GPIB emulator to load code without typing a million lines of BASIC—trust me, it’ll make you appreciate today’s hardware a whole lot more.

Source: https://justanotherelectronicsblog.com/?p=1429