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Quick & Dirty Keyboard Input for the PalmPilot!

Ever since I heard that one could attach a Newton keyboard to a PalmPilot, I've wondered whether it was possible to achieve the same result by connecting other devices that could function as terminals. Specifically, I was wondering what it would take to allow me to use my (very) old Tandy Model 100 as a keyboard input device for my PalmPilot.

It turns out to be a piece of cake, relatively speaking.

Historical note

For those of you old enough to remember the venerable Model 100, you know it was the most widely used portable computer of its time. When augmented to 32-KB of RAM, this little device - equipped with a 40-character-by-8-line LCD screen and a built-in 300-baud modem - was the weapon of choice for road warriors, writers, hackers, dreamers, and anyone else for whom portability was paramount.

Aside from my satisfaction with the ease with which this setup allows keyboard input into the PalmPilot, I must admit to a certain satisfaction in seeing an old and valued tool (which earned its cost back severalfold in the four years I used it) returned to useful service.

Here's how it's done...

Required hardware:

• PalmPilot (presumably, this also works with a Palm III);
• HotSync cable (or, naturally, a HotSync cradle - which does not pack as nicely when going on the road);
• Tandy 9-to-25-pin male/male "Port Adapter";
• Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100 Portable Computer.

There is only one sensible way to connect these four components. (The photo above reflects my try at it.)

Required software:

• HackMaster, available from DaggerWare.
• OpenKey (formerly KeyZ), available from Jeremy's Keyverse.

To get the Model 100 up and running:

1. On the Model 100, press the arrow key until TELCOM is highlighted, then press ENTER.
2. If the displayed parameters are not "88N1E,10 pps" then press F3 (which causes "Stat" to appear after the "Telcom:" prompt), and enter "88N1E". (My Model 100 documentation is long lost, but basically, this instructs the little fellow to talk at 9600 baud, with 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, and no parity.)
3. Press F4 to enter the terminal mode. Press F4 again to toggle "Full" (duplex) to "Half" so you can see what you are typing.

To get the PalmPilot up and running:

1. Use your favorite method to install HackMaster and OpenKey (formerly KeyZ)
2. Use your favorite method to activate the OpenKey hack.

To input keystrokes into the PalmPilot from the Model 100:

1. Start a text input application on the PalmPilot.
2. Begin typing on the Model 100.

Practically speaking, using the Model 100 does not permit you to take full advantage of the OpenKey hack, but you can nevertheless keyboard your input into the PalmPilot. Unless you have the habit (as I do) of sometimes simply thinking and typing while looking off into the middle distance, you'll probably want to pay more attention to the PalmPilot screen than to the screen of the Model 100. Among other "gotchas," for example, the arrow keys on the Model 100 don't really work very well to control the location of the cursor on the PalmPilot screen, and frankly, you'll want to use your stylus to do things like highlighting of text, etc.

If you want to use your Model 100 in "standalone" mode for a while and then "upload" text files to your PalmPilot, I have found that, for some reason, attempts to transfer text files via the TELCOM program (by pressing F3 on the Model 100) will not send more than about 520 characters. There may be a workaround for this, in the form of a really simple TRS-80 BASIC program, but I'll have to dig up some old printouts for this in order to remember the proper syntax. (I may also need a sip or two of well-aged, single-malt Scotch, but that's another story.)

(If the above date is a hundred years or so off, your browser's Java interpreter isn't current.)

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