Subject: Re: Identification of an old machine

From: Hans B Pufal <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu Mar 27 12:44:50 2003

Hills, Paul wrote:
> This is going to be rather difficult I think. In 1977 when I first went to
> high school, we had a visiting computer science teacher (the school didn't
> own it's own computer). He used to come in with a PET mostly, but one day he
> couldn't bring the PET so came in with this old machine which was roughly
> cubic, each side about 2 foot. On the front it had a wiring panel where you
> had to plug in patch leads, and a rotary dial like on old telephones which
> was used to dial the numbers in. I don't remember how it displayed its
> results.

Interesting, I presume from your email address that this was in the UK. 
The first thing that came to mind was the Wireless World computer, this 
was a construction project published in the Aug thru Dec 1967 issues of 
that magazine. (on my long list of things I to scan someday).

The 'computer' had an 8 bit word and a 3 word memory and an accumulator. 
It could perform various arithemetic operations. The actual published 
articles do not show a telephone dial but ISTR some mention of 
extensions based on telephone equipment : dials and strowger switches.

The size and propotions seem to fit, the published design had switches 
and lights on the front panel and no plug-board.

Do you recollect if the machine was homebrewed or manufactured?

   -- hbp

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From: "Hills, Paul" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu Mar 27 12:45:13 2003

Being a first year student and never faced with a computer before I had no
idea what to do with it, and so don't remember much about it. However, now
I'm intrigued - what was that beast? Does anyone have any ideas?

cheers,
paul

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From: Vintage Computer Festival <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu Mar 27 12:46:50 2003

> that magazine. (on my long list of things I to scan someday).

Ooh.  I'd love to get a copy of that.

-- 

Sellam Ismail                                        Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger                http://www.vintage.org

 * Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com *

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From: "John Allain" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu Mar 27 12:51:25 2003

> wiring panel where you had to plug in patch leads, and a rotary dial
> Does anyone have any ideas?

Here's a MiniVac 601 with its prominent spinning dial
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~hl/c.minivac601.html

Here's the nearly cubic Heathkit EC-1
http://www.thocp.net/hardware/pictures/heathkit_analogue.jpg

These two were about the most common, if not one of these,
 your professor's may have been a rare one.  Of course they're
all rara now.

John A.

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From: [email-masked] (Tony Duell)
Date: Fri Mar 28 12:47:23 2003

> I'm intrigued - what was that beast? Does anyone have any ideas?

Are you sure it was a computer? And not a digital electronics 'trainer'?

There was a popular-ish school digital electronics trainer in the UK that 
fits most of your description. It wasn't cubical, it was flat -- about 2' 
long, 1' wide and a few inches high. There was a rotary telephone dial, 
light bulbs, and patch sockets on the front. Inside were 5 or 6 
flip-flops and a number of gates connected to the patch sockets. There 
may have been other circuits, like a clock oscillator, monostables, etc too.

You could patch them together to make counters, shift registers,
combinatorial circuits, etc. Some of the 'applications' were quite fun 
(there were certainly simple games for it, for example).

-tony