IBM 3604 Model 2 Keyboard Display (Beamspring) restauration

[Gusher123]

I got lucky and bought a 1987 'IBM 3604 Model 2 Keyboard Display', housing a Beamspring keyboard and a 240 character Gas Panel 7 x 9 Dot Character Display.


The unit has been stored away in an upstairs cupboard for (i guess) the last 30 years after it had been retired from a Dutch Bank (ABN/AMRO). The bank clerk who had been using this keyboard, was allowed to take it home with him and has not been used since. When the house he was living in needed to be cleared, it was put up for sale. I bought the unit from his son this week and am hoping to restore it and connect both the display and keyboard to my laptop.

The unit is in very good condition, not missing any parts (as far as I can tell), no rust, no damage, just one badly behaving Beamspring key (the enter) and the crumbling black plastic sheet on top of the beam springs, which I read is common.



The 3604 was part of the IBM 3600 Finance Communication System and is described by IBM as:

"a keyboard display unit using an electronic keyboard. The 240 character display utilizes Gas Panel technology. There are two models, the Model II having teleprocessing capabilities for attachment of Remote Loops.

The 3604 features

Loop Attachment, Magnetic Stripe/Encoder/Reader, Alphanumeric Keyboard and 600/1200 BPS Intergrated Modem.

The brochure also states that

Multiple terminals can be controlled by a 3601. Terminal connection is by a local, two-wire, closed loop; or remotely via a teleprocessing link to the 3604 Model II. The Loop operation uses Time Division Multiplex (TDM) method of transmission.

The 3604 seems to be a teletype-like keyboard and display, featuring bothe a male and female 6,35mm jacks on the bottom of the unit. On the bottem there is also an address selector (i guess for the TDM multiplexing?) and speed selector (i guess for selecting the modem).



Any tips on where to start and how to proceed are welcome! Can I use the teletype jacks to convert the keyboards output to something a laptop can use as input? Are there any other users of a 3604 or similar units on Deskthority?

I have not powered the unit, only took the top of, removed the keycaps for a deep clean and removed and vacuumed the crumbling black plastic cover on top of the beamsprings.

All tips are welcome!

Thanks!

[mathdude3]

That's pretty cool. Those blue keycaps especially are sick. I think this is going to be very difficult to convert to something a modern PC could understand, though. I can't imagine too many people have units like this, so I doubt anyone has done a conversion on one before, especially since it's a complete terminal and not just a keyboard.

[mcmaxmcmc]

Honestly, you may be in a one-hand-count of people who currently owns one of these, congratulations! I'd personally like more pictures of the system if possible. Looks great!!

[Gusher123]

Honestly, you may be in a one-hand-count of people who currently owns one of these, congratulations! I'd personally like more pictures of the system if possible. Looks great!!

It's rarity is a bit of a double edged sword; there is really litte to no info available and because it's a 94 key keyboard, it uses (I guess) a 24x4 matrix which is not compatible with the xwhatsit capsense controller.

I have added some extra pictures to the opening post and below are some pictures from the inside and keyboard unit itself.