What kind of apparatus could this be?

Question

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I apologize in advance, if this isn't the right place to ask this. I want to find out, what kind of electronic device this is. The tape recorder is just on top of it, but I am talking about the device beneath it. It is integrated into a metal suitcase, it is manufactured by Siemens, and the keyboard doesn't have letters on it, but instead has weird combinations of letters on it, like OMN, OA etc.

Closeup of keyboard and other legends may help, e.g. around the keyswitch on the left. (And is there a model number next to "Siemens"? And whatever you do, don't cut the blue wire. — , Nov 01 '14 at 23:17

Julian Maza · Answer 1 · 2014-11-03T07:22:10.943

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May be an old plc programmer. The text of the three positions of the key may help to discover. Also the identification of the sub-D connectors. Could you tell us?

It seems to be a PLC programmer from the age of no-pc-at-home. The PLCs had very little RAM (a few Kbs) and only proprietary interfaces. I have never seen a programmer that big, just handheld devices. In fact, nowadays Siemens programmers are pc-based devices but still called suitcases.

edited Nov 03 '14 at 07:22

answered Nov 01 '14 at 23:19

Julian Maza

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I have just zoomed in to the key switch on the image. I can make out 2 of the three words. They're in German: "auslesen" (select), "einlesen" (read in), and the third position looks like "text halt". – Majenko Nov 01 '14 at 23:20
The key positions say: "Auslesen" "Einlesen" "Test bei Halt" which means: read, write, test on hold/test at hold – Andreas Hartmann Nov 01 '14 at 23:21
The Round connectors on the right say SS and MB, the parallel port beneath says DR – Andreas Hartmann Nov 01 '14 at 23:22
The LEDs next to the screen are saying: STAT, VKE, Betrieb (Operation) – Andreas Hartmann Nov 01 '14 at 23:23
Are there any key on the keyboard that says U, A, O, SP, SPN, E? Those are common Siemens plc commands. Any ref to S5 model? – Julian Maza Nov 01 '14 at 23:33
Yes these keys are present on the keyboard – Andreas Hartmann Nov 01 '14 at 23:46

What kind of apparatus could this be?

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