Uncreative Labs

Joined: 23 Mar 2012 Posts: 5

I bought a event business that includes a Shinko 545 printer and a futura 100 graphics system with a ikegami monitor. Supposedly it all worked but when I got it home the monitor just comes up green. What monitors will work with this system? I know its ancient but I want to see it work. Any suggestions.

Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 5:40 am

I'm not familiar with the system in question, but some things are common to all systems.

Are there brightness and contrast knobs for the monitor? Try moving them somewhere towards the middle.

Check the connectors for bent pins. They can usually be straightened with gentle use of a pen.

Watch the screen closely as the monitor is powered up or down. Sometimes the settings move what little is displayed off screen and watching the monitor as it powers up or down can reveal this.

The monitor displaying only green text is probably fine. Green monochrome monitors were extremely common in the early '80's.

Joined: 23 Mar 2012 Posts: 5

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate it. The system is an old QLT / CASI system used for printing graphics to transfer paper to put on mugs, t-shirts etc. I guess it was pretty state of the art for its day and from the little I have been able to find on line about them most of the users were sorry to see them go. I have tried messing with all of the knobs doesnt seem to effect anything on the screen. There is no text on the screen. The whole screen is green. I was thinking about getting a new /old monitor somewhere. I read somewhere that they would only work with a rgb monitor. Any suggestions where I could get one of those and I am sure they are probably below the resolution that can be displayed these days. Thanks for any and all help.

Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 594 Location: Western NC

Likely e-bay or a refurb computer shop/site would be your best bet. They're probably not being manufactured any more, and those that are still around may have issues. They were popular for CAD systems and high graphics programs (which sounds like what you have)...

Joined: 19 Apr 2006 Posts: 261 Location: WisConSin

I own several futura 100's and never had much issue with them.

A newer Futura 100 has a RGB IN and an RGB out along with a BNC composite video in and a BNC composite video out.

My futura drives (3) video monitors and (2) video printers along with a vidjet, Hp2500 and a shinko.

What I will say is get a $5 adapter from radio shack to convert the BNC connector on the back to RCA composite (the yellow red white) connectors on your TV.

You can then hookup the futura to any TV set.

A few things to remember

1. Your futura must have a good keyboard an AT->ps2 is a must, a bad or missing keyboard will result in strange video problems and the black/white flashing block screen of death.

2. You must have the monitor or tv or both hooked up to the OUT port(s) not in ports (this would give you a green screen)

3. Most monitors that work on a futura have many modes, you need to click buttons on the front and back of the monitor to select the right port and the right video mode, Digital WON"T WORK! Sometimes the 9pin RGB analog port (Amiga/Commodore/Atari mode video at tv sync) is adapted to something else, in these cases you need to make sure the right end of the cable is to the futura and the correct end of the cable goes to the monitor since the pinouts are different.

4. The most common failure on the futura 100 was the hard drive, the 2nd most common was the power supply, the hard drive can just be disconnected and everything will work.
The PSU will need to be replaced and an old AT computer power supply will need to be wired up into all the random wires in there.

5. Sometimes ram dies but if it does the machine will work, it just will not display the right colors.

6. Many times the floppy disk (not drive) dies or is missing, you need a boot disk or the machine might well sit with a green or blue screen (color depends on the monitor in question)

If you really want to get the thing working I can probably fix it. Its free for me to look but remember I am very slow as I have a day job.
Your only cost would be the shipping here and back if its something simple, which it might be.

Otherwise a few questions.

Does the monitor have a 9 pin cable? Does it have more than one 9 pin hookup?
Is there a small cover on the front or back of the monitor with different modes or buttons to push?
Does the futura light the red light, make noise and kick the floppy disk?
If it kicks the floppy does it go tick tick tick tick ervm ervm?

If the futura isn't booting you won't get much to see.

IF it does boot but doesn't display its probably cabling issues or mode issues on the screen. I would definately hook it up to a TV set to see if it works.

Good Luck
Ryan May

Joined: 23 Mar 2012 Posts: 5

My day off and some time to play. In my basement trying to get this dinosour to run. Ok lets see, to answer your questions:

The monitor has a bnc connector, does not have a nine pin.

The futura has a 9 pin and a BNC connector.

Currently I have the BNC connector hooked to the video out on the futura and the bnc connector on the monitor to video in. Is this correct? I have tried switching them around but does not seem to make any difference at all.

There is a cover on the front of the monitor which houses the power button, and the hue, chroma, contrast and bright dials. No buttons concerning ports or things of that nature. On the back there is one switch which has high at the bottom when pushed down and when pushed up it has 75 and a weird little symbol that resembles a horseshoe.

The red light in the lower left hand corner of the futura does turn on and seems to boot up. The disk drive makes a ticking noise (tick, tick, tick, evrm sort of) but the light on the floppy drive does not light up.

The keyboard has an at hookup but it does have a spot on it that looks like someone dropped a cigarette or something on it. I have an old ps2 keyboard so I am on my way to radio shack to get an at-ps2 adapter and a bnc to rca adapter. I hope this works.

Another quick question, is it worth getting this thing running? I have seen some of the pictures she made using a shimko 545 and frankly they lack the definition of the capabilites of today. Are these capable of higher quality prints with upgrades? I am kind of a hobbyist and would like to see it run for the fun of it. The lady I bought it off of has now resurfaced and want to buy it back, at least the software because she has another machine. Of course she says its not worth much to anybody but her. Whats it worth if I should decide to sell it and again do you think it would be worth my while to keep it and get it working. Currently I am using photoshop with a green screen and swapping out backgrounds but the history buff in me is very curious to watch this thing in action.

Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 6:23 am

The little horseshoe symbol is an Omega. It's used to represent Ohms. BNC cables don't always connect end-to-end like almost all the cables out there, they sometimes require a T-adapter and terminator. Some devices may provide the termination for you, which might be what that switch is for. I'm speculating here, but I believe the termination impedance has to match.

If the drive is making noise, there's a good chance that it works even if the LED (light) does not. LEDs do occasionally quit working, but it could be as simple as a disconnected cable.

Joined: 23 Mar 2012 Posts: 5

I got a bnc to rca adapter and plugged it in to the tv I still get jibberish. When we wiggle different things it flickers but nothing you can make sense of. What does the opening screen look like? I am so inclined to ship it to you and see if you can fix it. Is the qualify of the prints worth the time? You said that you are still using them so I am guessing you.are satisfied with them.

Joined: 19 Apr 2006 Posts: 261 Location: WisConSin

girlpostal wrote:

I got a bnc to rca adapter and plugged it in to the tv I still get jibberish. When we wiggle different things it flickers but nothing you can make sense of. What does the opening screen look like? I am so inclined to ship it to you and see if you can fix it. Is the qualify of the prints worth the time? You said that you are still using them so I am guessing you.are satisfied with them.

The opening screen should be diagonal random colors (yellowish and greenish) (the test pallet that clears the bubble memory) Then there should be a blue screen where your System Greeting Screen pops up in black white and gray.

usually will say something Like
System 6 Chromagraphics
FIFO
Copywrite QLT 1996
4m

Anyway..

Yes we still use them about once a year now, up until 2 years ago it was about 12 times a year.

I am uncertain if it is "worth" the effort or not, in my case my parents know how to use the machine and cannot make a modern one function, we also have a base of clientel that love the retro machine and grew up with these.

it is
1. Simple
2. Fast
3. Compatible with the stuff we happen to have a basement full of.

The prints are high contrast glossy colorfull images (65k color), these systems are 3/4's analog video toaster so the images are quite unique and impressive (the way the system maps color is very interesting), although not at the type of resolution a modern rig outputs (aka they are not that clear). They do make old farts look less old and gray hair look less gray and my machine has a hollywood makeover to gloss over any imperfections it can pick up.

In my case I like using the futura for wiggly kids because it can take a photo every 1/30 of a second one right after the other so I can "catch" them in just the right pose (can't do that with a modern camera easily)

The colors also "pop" much more on a futura, this can be good or it can be bad (like when taking a picture of a very white person with a very dark person which takes more skill) A futura does however require manually setting up the color which takes time and skill, bad lighting is a real pain with one of these rigs if you don't have the blue adjust on the camera.

Generally a futura has beautiful color compared to a normal camera (unless you photoshop the picture) but is showing its age, some people still like it, others won't. The images are great on a video printer 4x6 or smalller or on 8x10 or larger on fabric (you don't notice the image is a little less clear than a typical digital camera pic then)

Also in our case these machines bring back a lot of memories for both us and clientel because many people grew up with these, many times the grandparents are bringing in grandkids or parents are bringing in their kids because they remember these products back in the 70's and 80's.

They are a novelty you don't really find anymore.

Cheers
Ryan May

Joined: 19 Apr 2006 Posts: 261 Location: WisConSin

girlpostal wrote:

Is the qualify of the prints worth the time? You said that you are still using them so I am guessing you.are satisfied with them.

The quality depends a lot on the operator and a little less with which equipment you have attached.

If you want to pay a few bucks I can ship some golden oldies examples of images done right on the machine. (some of the fabric displays might be a bit dirty or used but you will get an idea of what it can do, I keep good displays for the booth as long as they last outside Sad

)

I will state which printer or video printer made the image so you can see for yourself what quality it is capable. You may think it looks like crap, you might like it.

Remember this was a $25000 machine in 1988 that was continually improved upon until about 1996, so it is by no means new but it also does things modern cameras cannot it ways they will not without a lot of post processing.

It gives you the ability to make perfect color but at the expense of lower resolution.

Cheers
Ryan

Joined: 23 Mar 2012 Posts: 5

I am interested in getting it working. I would be willing to ship it to you if you think you can get it working. I did get it attached to a old tv but still did not see anything that made sense. Send me your address and I will ship it to you. Thanks for all of your help. I do really appreciate it.

Joined: 19 Apr 2006 Posts: 261 Location: WisConSin

email me rmay635703 at aol dot com

Joined: 11 May 2016 Posts: 1 Location: Kansas

Does anyone know where I could find a disc for the Futura 100? Not sure that is my problem but the unit powers up and worked great last time I used it but that has been many years ago. All I get is the green screen.

Joined: 19 Apr 2006 Posts: 261 Location: WisConSin

If the futura is hooked to the Correct monitor your first screen should be blue (on Targa, RGB+SYnc)

on a TV set it might show green.

If its green on targa you probably have failing dual port ram.

I have disks for the machine, if you have an old windows 98 box get herm data systems Maxidisk.

email me once you have a proper box setup and locate some 720kb disks.

I will send you an image, if you can't find 720kb floppies you will need to tape over the hole in a blank 1.44mb floppy and pray, it usually won't work or if it does it might be intermittant, if intermittant, get it up and running then use the futura itself to create a new disk. Another option is to remove the floppy from the futura, tape over the hole and format with the drive. Odd factoid is that the floppy disk drives in a futura were indeed setup differently than a normal PC drive, they typically have a bank of 12-30 jumpers.

Good Luck
Ryan