The cashier above is using a cash register made by Data Terminal Systems of Maynard, Massachusetts. The best I can tell, it’s either a Series 300 or Series 400 cash register. I am looking for any information I can get my hands on for these two series of registers by DTS. If you have any receipts, documentation, photos, anything, it would be most welcome.
There is very little information on the Internet about Data Terminal Systems, even though they were one of the first electronic cash register companies in the world and their technology was everywhere, especially in the 1970s and 1980s.
I’d like to get as much information about Data Terminal Systems online as possible, before it’s all lost to forgotten history.
For about six months in 1982-83, I worked for DTS Australia as a support tech. Customer base was mainly: KFC, Red Rooster (scored lots of free chicken meals), some petrol (gas) stations and 2nd-tier supermarkets (eg Half Case Warehouse). Programming macros was one aspect of the software side. And I recall that setting the two keys into the X & P positions and simultaneously pressing CLEAR @ % LINE FEED would wipe the machine. In early ’83 there was a merger with National Semiconductor. I was a poor fit in the client-facing tech role; and the cross-training for the N.S. equipment was inadequate, so I left. Nevertheless, the (rare) photos make me very nostalgic. Trivia – In ~1986, a former DTS colleague was shot dead by a farmer while holidaying in France. RIP Gerry.
What POS pre-1982 would have black keys, “ITEM” “PRICE” and “QTY” keys (also in black) and a 10 alphanumeric characters vfd display? I’m trying to identify a prop from a TV show.
Thanks
Hello Andrea, this could have been a myriad of machines, but we can rule out DTS, NCR, IBM, and Datachecker, as they had multicolored keys. The 10-character alphanumeric display is throwing me off; I’m wondering if it was a Sweda machine. Do you have a photo?