One of the fine folks in rec.crafts.metalworking recommended posting this question here, and having browsed older posts on my news server, I think they were right.
At a surplus place I picked up a Greyline Operator Workstation, model 2125. I had no idea what it was, but it was new in the box and looked like something I might make use of. I'm a computer engineer and tend to monkey with all sorts of things electronic. I am also starting to dabble in some CNC machining, but that's not really related.
Anyway, I put power to the box and it appears to work great. So then I started doing research on what I have and found some manual downloads as well as software from the GE Fanuc website. I now know this is really a part of a big PLC type system, which I have no need for. That said, it appears the box could still be a neat interface to some other system. So the question is what's the best way.
I installed GUS and looked through the protocol list that this thing supports. Most of it looked completely foreign to me, but I also stumbled across a document on GE Fanuc's site outlining the Series 2 protocol. It looks like I could use that to make this thing talk to a custom microcontroller or a PC with the appropriate hacking on the other end to also speak Series 2. That said, there's a lot of overkill. If I had my druthers, I'd make this thing a dumb terminal. I see that GE Fanuc had another product called the microGreyline and there is a dumb terminal firmware download for it. I'm tempted to try it on this model, but I'm guessing it won't work. I'm also worried I'll brick the thing if I try. :-) But I couldn't find any such beast intended for this model. Anyone got any ideas?
I haven't tried to just hook it up to another terminal emulator to see what spits out when you hit keys, but the firmware in it seems to be controlling the screen already with output, so it isn't likely to act as a dumb terminal as it is.
Any thoughts on a *simple* protocol like that I can expect to get to work easily?
--Donnie