Northgate 386DX/25 w/Omnikey 102 keyboard \ VOGONS

Northgate 386DX/25 w/Omnikey 102 keyboard

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First post, by jasa1063

Posted on 2021-11-14, 18:57

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Location: Minnesota

I lived in Bloomington, MN from 1988-2011. There was a Northgate computer outlet store just a few miles down the road from me. My first 386 computer was a Northgate 386DX/20 I got in 1990. I have always wanted to recreate the experience of having a Northgate 386 and matching Omnikey keyboard. I got the Northgate 386DX/25 on eBay for only $110. They Omnikey keyboard came from the local Free Geek Twin Cities. That set me back $150, but eBay prices can be more than twice that. The computer was in very good cosmetic condition except for some rust on the right hand side that I was able to clean off. The motherboard used a Dallas DS1287 RTC, which has been long dead. but thankfully was socketed. I ordered a modern replacement from Glitchworks and it has been working perfectly. The Omnikey 102 keyboard was missing the Northgate logo on the dip switch cover. I was able to get a reproduction label from Robert Tibbetts, who is well known for his Northgate keyboard repair skills. Here are the computer specs:

Northgate 386 Elegance Rev 2 motherboard
386DX/25 CPU
387DX/25 Math Coprocessor
8MB ram
Diamond Speedstar 24 ET4000 1MB ISA video card
3Com 3C509B 10Mbs ISA Ethernet network card
Sound Blaster 16 CT4170 ISA sound card
540MB IDE hard drive
1.44MB 3.5" floppy drive
1.2MB 5.25" floppy drive

I removed the 2400Bps modem, dual joystick controller, and swapped out the Headland Video 7 ISA video card, 200MB IDE drive and HDD & floppy controller. The old controller lacked an IDE LED connector. The computer is running DOS 6.22 and Windows 3.11. This another memory I have recreated and a computer system I will be using for years to come.

Reply 1 of 7, by jasa1063

Posted on 2021-11-14, 18:58

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Location: Minnesota

A few more pictures.

Reply 2 of 7, by MN_Moody

Posted on 2021-11-15, 21:51

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Wow, your timing was perfect, those keyboards sold out FAST once they were put in the store, I think we had one left in the back room that just went last week out of a batch of 4-5 that were donated. Are you also on the FGTC Discord or was it random luck that you happened in at the right time? Congrats on the setup, looks great!

I'm doing a similar restoration on a Northgate Slimline 386dx/20 right now, it's also getting a Glitchworks clock chip, Orchid ProDesigner II Tseng et4000 / 1 meg graphics card, Sound Blaster CT1320c / 1.5 w/ CMS chips and eventually 8 megs of RAM, though I'm struggling with the RAM jumpers that don't match up with the mainboard documentation I found on Stason. Nothing like a little jumper "battleship" to find the right settings.

Reply 3 of 7, by Grem Five

Posted on 2021-11-15, 22:10

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Nice machine, when I lived in Minneapolis (multiple times and different suburbs) I dont know if I even remember Northgate which is funny as I lived in Eden Prairie twice. Machines I had when I lived there were Zeos and later Micron bought from local outlet stores, the Micron I still have but I so badly wish I still had my Zeos.

Reply 4 of 7, by BitWrangler

Posted on 2021-11-15, 22:25

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jasa1063 wrote on 2021-11-14, 18:57:

and swapped out the Headland Video 7 ISA video card,

Noes, not the Video 7 delete. How you gonna replicate the genuine experience of seeing each character of a directory listing print to screen now? 🤣

Unicorn herding operations are proceeding, but all the totes of hens teeth and barrels of rocking horse poop give them plenty of hiding spots.

Reply 5 of 7, by Anonymous Coward

Posted on 2021-11-16, 00:39

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Nice, a proper 386 system. Not one of those el-cheapo 40MHz clones.

"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium

Reply 6 of 7, by zapbuzz

Posted on 2021-11-16, 00:46

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i had exact same in 2001 it becaome my first mod project 486 DX 66 and it interfered with my tv DOH!

Reply 7 of 7, by jasa1063

Posted on 2021-11-16, 01:45

jasa1063 Offline

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Joined: 2013-01-31, 20:34
Location: Minnesota

MN_Moody wrote on 2021-11-15, 21:51:

Wow, your timing was perfect, those keyboards sold out FAST once they were put in the store, I think we had one left in the back room that just went last week out of a batch of 4-5 that were donated. Are you also on the FGTC Discord or was it random luck that you happened in at the right time? Congrats on the setup, looks great!

I'm doing a similar restoration on a Northgate Slimline 386dx/20 right now, it's also getting a Glitchworks clock chip, Orchid ProDesigner II Tseng et4000 / 1 meg graphics card, Sound Blaster CT1320c / 1.5 w/ CMS chips and eventually 8 megs of RAM, though I'm struggling with the RAM jumpers that don't match up with the mainboard documentation I found on Stason. Nothing like a little jumper "battleship" to find the right settings.

You were there the day I picked up Northgate Omnikey about 2 weeks ago and I got to talk to you for quite awhile. I made some donations that day including a Tandy 1000 SL which was in pieces at the time. It was just luck I happened to be there that day and 3 Omnikey keyboards available. I grabbed the best one you had. The replacement badge I got really makes the keyboard look nice. I just finished swapping out the memory, which had a combo of 4 80ns & 4 70ns 1MB 30-pin SIMMs for all 60ns memory. I also upgraded the 387DX/25 to a 387DX/33. I am going to swap out the 50MHz crystal for a 66MHz and get the computer running at 33MHz down the road.

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