General Information

Serial #

2933

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

METAL CASING & PARTS/ SYNTHETIC CONTROLS, POWER CORD/ GLASS INDICATOR LIGHTS

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

29.5 cm

Width

18.4 cm

Height

9.5 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Computing Technology

Category

Digital peripheral devices

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Gandalf

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

City

Ottawa

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

1980S & EARLY 1990S

Canada

Gandalf, founded in Ottawa in 1971, displayed the LDS-140 at the annual meeting of the International Communications Association in Las Vegas in1978. It's price was $450 (USD). This particular example was the modem for the computer system used by the National Museum of Science and Technolgy from 1981 to the mid-1990s. Succeeding the PDP-11/34A (used from 1978), the VAX system was located in the computer exhibit, where it operated games and interactives. It also supported all administrative and collections management functions.

Function

A device that enables data to be transmitted between computing devices using existing telephone lines. This example was used to link a superminicomputer to personal computers in several adjacent buildings so the latter could be used as terminals.

Technical

Example of an asynchronous modem used in a local area network. According to a report in Computerworld (May 22, 1978), the LDS-140 was a four-wire, full-duplex unit that could transmit data up to 19.2 km on loaded telephone lines (wire pairs) at 4,800 bits per second; on unloaded lines it could transmit up to 9.6 km at 9,600 bits per second.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

WHITE LETTERING ON FRONT READS "gandalf LDS 140"/ LABELS ON BACK READ "LDS 140/ LR 29473/ 115V 60Hz 10W/ gandalf/ DATA COMMUNICATIONS LTD." & "S.N. 2933"/ WHITE LETTERING FOR CONTROL FUNCTIONS ON FRONT & BACK

Missing

APPEARS COMPLETE

Finish

TEXTURED BLUE PAINTED FINISH ON CASING/ BLACK ENAMEL PAINTED FRONT & BACK PANELS/ BLACK & WHITE SYNTHETIC PARTS/ GREY POWER CORD/ RED LIGHTS/ BLACK FEET

Decoration

N/A