Dumb terminals floppies?

I should have asked this question about 3 years ago. I keep meaning to
but somehow I never got round to it until now.

Has anyone ever seen a 3487 type dumb terminal that stayed where it was
put? I don't think I've ever been to an installation where these have
been working properly. The lifting mechanism usually seems to work,
though not in every case, but the tilting mechanism never does. If you
raise the screen to the correct working height there is a sad gentle
hissing sound as it rotates slowly backwards to point at the ceiling.

As a result, users have either to stand the whole thing on some kind of
raised platform, usually a pile of listings, with the lifting arm down
flat, or wedge something between the raised arm and the base of the
monitor. This would usually be a rolled up computer magazine, but in my
case I am using a 2" diameter nut that fell off an oil rig. It's perfect
for the job. The other commonly employed solution is to jam it back
against the wall or cubicle partition so that it can't move.

There are holes at the top and bottom on opposite sides of the raised
arm that look as if they might take a special tool. Do these do
anything? The top left one on mine has a little spring almost poking out
that makes it look as though someone has had a determined go in the
past. The bottom right one seems empty. Also, is the blue lever meant to
lock the raising/lowering action, the tilting, or both?

It occurs to me that either all the units ever shipped must be faulty,
which cannot be, or virtually no-one (least of all me) knows how to set
them up properly. Which is it? It seems a sad state of affairs for such
an elegant looking piece of hardware.

Dave Kahn, TCO, Kazakstan
=========

kahn@tengizchevroil.com   (to November 25)
dkahn@cix.compulink.co.uk (from November 26)

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