Welcome to the Datatron 205 and 220 Blog

This blog is a companion to T J Sawyer's Web Page that outlines the history of the Burroughs Datatron 205 and Paul Kimpel's incredible 205 and 220 emulators. Please visit those sites and return here to post any comments.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Build Your Own Burroughs 205 Register

Modules for a Datatron come along only rarely, nowadays.  I can recall seeing them occasionally in surplus stores such as "G. I. Joes," in Portland, back in the late '60s - no doubt for just a few bucks.

The last one I saw trade on e-Bay, about five years ago, went past $150 the day before it finally sold.


But - if you act now!  There are three of the most common packages, the 50550 toggle module available for bid on eBay.  There were over 50 of these modules in the typical B-205.  They are labeled as "40" in the photo on this webpage on my Datatron site.



Here's the link to eBay.

 

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I have one of those modules that I found at a thrift store a few years ago for about a dollar. Wish I knew what tubes went in it so I can put a few in it (got it on display right now)

T J Sawyer said...

TetrisPlayer:

12AU7, 12BH7, 5963 are all possibilities. Half the tubes are used as cathode followers - these should ideally be the more rugged 5963. The half that are the actual flip-flops can be the weaker 12BH7.

Does your module have diodes in the diode clips? If so, I am curious what those are.

You got a bargain.

Good luck!

Unknown said...

Awesome thanks for telling me what kind of tubes were used. Think I'll look for a few and put them in it.

I don't think there are any diodes in the diode clips (will have to check again though) but as far as I remember they have these plastic or glass rods in some of the clips and the rest of them are empty. If there is one in there I'll let you know what it is.