VT2040: RP2040 based portable serial terminal | Hacker News Reader

VT2040: RP2040 based portable serial terminal

github.com

65 pointszdw13 comments

This is adorable. Makes me want to add features to it - double width/height, overline, smooth scrolling, extra fonts (the VT series could have, IIRC, 3 extra sets), bold, italic and so on...

Nice to see the Psion 5 being reinvented 25 years later! https://psion.gtkc.net/psion-gmbh/doc/s5comms.pdf

Unfortunately mine doesn't work anymore. It's tempting to take it apart and put an ESP32 inside, but it somehow feels unethical to dismember it.

I bet you could just remove the PCB without damaging or permanently altering the device. Then drop in a ESP32 dev board and perhaps a little custom PCB or perf board to mount it on and you could likely have a reversible build that you could put back to stock if you ever desired.

Reminds me of MINEC 1000, which came out in the early 90s (I think), had a decent enough mechanical kb, came with a built in modem (and serial ports ofc), and could be used as a generic terminal thanks to its VT100 emulation.

https://flickr.com/photos/zachetus/535850505/in/photolist-Pm...

https://flickr.com/photos/zachetus/535850501/in/photolist-Pm...

Damn, I have the parts on my desk to build an rp2040 terminal emulator on my desk right now. I’ve been trying to find the time to do this for a couple of months. I’m a bit disappointed that someone beat me to it!

Same, but I enjoy when someone else has done the software part for me :)

There are definitely times where it'd be convenient to have a physically tiny serial terminal. Heck, if the parts are cheap enough, I'd even get several and dedicate them to certain bits of hardware.

The keyboard, though, has to be tough. It's hard enough to find the pipe character (|) on some keyboards... Perhaps this project would better serve more uses with more traditional keyboard options.

Otherwise, very nice!

I used to carry an AirCable bluetooth-to-rs232 dongle so I could use my phone as a terminal with random hardware. I wonder where it went...

These days I should probably just make a new one, plus a TTL-voltage version since that's what I encounter more often anymore. Heck, maybe a current-loop version too, in case I drop in on my minicomputer-and-telephone-switch friends...

You already have that tiny serial terminal, is called cellphone

The tactile quality of the keys is extremely low, the screen is too small, we left the social era years ago and entered the notification era so its too spammy. Latency is usually extremely high compared to dedicated hardware.

I've tried the various bluetooth terminals for android over the years and have been quite disappointed, but who knows maybe it'll work someday.

So larger screen, proper keyboard, low latency? I think you're looking for an UMPC.

I'm also still waiting for some other manufacturer other than GPD to make something proper at a reasonable price.

A Psion 5/5mx would do really nicely too and it has a serial port as standard.

Or a 3a/b/c/mx, much more readable screen but less keys (though I find it a bit nicer to type on than the 5)

I've used both for this purpose and later even soldered a Bluetooth to serial module in my 5mx.

I love this but it looks like there are no free GPIO pins after all this is setup. I was hoping to use a terminal like this to sort of rapid prototype a design for an embedded program using the GPIO pins.

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