Search Google, 1960:s-style

[Bob Milutinovic]

"Andy Wood" <woodag@trap.ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
news:gtSdnZQviIyqTlfNnZ2dnUVZ_gmdnZ2d@westnet.com.au...

"Bob Milutinovic" <cognicom@gmail.com> wrote:

. . .

Bah, nothing beats the sawmill-like sound of a dot matrix printer... First
time I heard one was at the inaugural computer show in Sydney, in the
basement of the Town Hall in 1979; thought they'd amalgamated the computer
show with the woodworking expo!

Humbug. The first dot matrix printer I encountered did not sound
anything like a sawmill. It was in fact in an IBM keypunch machine,
used to print a human-readable version of what was punched along the
top edge of the card.

Introduced in 026 keypunch (over 60 years ago!), it printed 5x7 dot
characters. Unlike later dot matrix printers it contrived to hit all
of the required pins to form a character at the same time, using a
fascinating mechanism called a code plate -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keypunch#IBM_024.2C_026_Card_Punches

Egad!

I certainly hope that was developed for alphanumeric output; if it was
purely for numeric, it would've been a hell of a lot easier to simply have
ten pre-formed digits (as did the "Nixie Tube").

It's amazing looking back at the ingeniousness of earlier generations of
engineers, having to straddle both electronics and mechanics in order to get
something done - something which seems so trivial these days.

--
Bob Milutinovic
Cognicom

 

[Rod Speed]

"Bob Milutinovic" <cognicom@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:kaf3qh$3as$1@dont-email.me...

"Andy Wood" <woodag@trap.ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
news:gtSdnZQviIyqTlfNnZ2dnUVZ_gmdnZ2d@westnet.com.au...

"Bob Milutinovic" <cognicom@gmail.com> wrote:

. . .

Bah, nothing beats the sawmill-like sound of a dot matrix printer...
First
time I heard one was at the inaugural computer show in Sydney, in the
basement of the Town Hall in 1979; thought they'd amalgamated the
computer
show with the woodworking expo!

Humbug. The first dot matrix printer I encountered did not sound
anything like a sawmill. It was in fact in an IBM keypunch machine,
used to print a human-readable version of what was punched along the
top edge of the card.

Introduced in 026 keypunch (over 60 years ago!), it printed 5x7 dot
characters. Unlike later dot matrix printers it contrived to hit all
of the required pins to form a character at the same time, using a
fascinating mechanism called a code plate -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keypunch#IBM_024.2C_026_Card_Punches

Egad!

I certainly hope that was developed for alphanumeric output;

Corse it was.

if it was purely for numeric, it would've been a hell of a lot easier to
simply have ten pre-formed digits (as did the "Nixie Tube").

It was never purely numeric.

It's amazing looking back at the ingeniousness of earlier generations of
engineers, having to straddle both electronics and mechanics in order to
get something done - something which seems so trivial these days.

Yeah, the ASR33 teletype was a mechanical monstrosity compared
with the printing terminals that replaced it like the LA36.

 

[yaputya]

"Bob Milutinovic" <cognicom@gmail.com> wrote in message news:ka947s$gh8$1@dont-email.me...

"terryc" <newsninespam-spam@woa.com.au> wrote in message news:ka8rni$a5b$2@dont-email.me...
On 12/12/12 12:31, keithr wrote:

Just think of us poor sods of CDC customer engineers who had to fix all
that stuff

but it was built from real components in those days and not a pile of bland chips like to day. <vbg

Yes, right down to the ferrite beads and hand-would enamelled copper wire for the memory... Try explaining that to the kids
getting their IT diplomas these days!

My first computer had a whopping 4Kb of RAM. Yes, it _was_ whopping for that time. Also featured a 250 baud cassette interface for
storage and a 64x16 uppercase-only monochrome video output, fed to a monitor so wobbly that you'd get motion sickness if you tried
too hard to focus on the writing.

--
Bob Milutinovic
Cognicom

I built my first computer myself from an article in Electronics Australia.
My first 'computer' was the EA 'Baby' 2650, with a whopping 256 bytes of RAM
and a 110 baud TTY interface - so I also had to build the Applied Technology/ETI
dumb terminal (VDU) to use it! (The latter was far more complicated than the former.)

 

[Alan]

On Sat, 15 Dec 2012 03:48:14 +1100, "Rod Speed"
<rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote:

Yeah, the ASR33 teletype was a mechanical monstrosity compared
with the printing terminals that replaced it like the LA36.

The 32/33 was quite a neat and simple machine. Or are you thinking of
the 28/35 machines - they were much more complicated!

--
Sell your surplus electronic components at http://ozcomponents.com
Search or browse for that IC, capacitor,
crystal or other component you need.
Or find new components at http://auscomponents.com

 

[Sylvia Else]

On 12/12/2012 4:49 AM, Don McKenzie wrote:

Search Google, 1960:s-style

Found this one on "alt.folklore.computers" newsgroup.

Should bring back memories for the people that worked with punch cards,
and what I call real computers, that at least had flashing lights on the
front panel.

http://www.masswerk.at/google60/

Don...

Ah yes, punched cards.

How I hated them!

Sylvia.

 

[Rod Speed]

Alan <noone@128.0.0.1> wrote

Rod Speed <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote

Yeah, the ASR33 teletype was a mechanical monstrosity compared
with the printing terminals that replaced it like the LA36.

The 32/33 was quite a neat and simple machine.

Pigs arse it was compared with an LA36.

Or are you thinking of the 28/35 machines

Nope.

- they were much more complicated!

The 33 was much more complicated than the LA36 that replaced it.

Such a complicated mess of a design that we ended up with
one very senior maintenance management fella who still had
to do the maintenance on the few remaining 33s, because
no one else had a fucking clue how to repair them. That
pissed him off completely.

 

[Rod Speed]

Sylvia Else <sylvia@not.at.this.address> wrote

Don McKenzie wrote

Search Google, 1960:s-style

Found this one on "alt.folklore.computers" newsgroup.

Should bring back memories for the people that worked
with punch cards, and what I call real computers, that at
least had flashing lights on the front panel.

http://www.masswerk.at/google60/

Ah yes, punched cards.

How I hated them!

Some loved them. I had to physically remove the 029
and card reader so the dinosaurs couldn't keep using them.

I still use them for writing on.

 

[T.T.]

"Sylvia Else" <sylvia@not.at.this.address> wrote in message
news:aj3b86F8itkU1@mid.individual.net...

On 12/12/2012 4:49 AM, Don McKenzie wrote:
Search Google, 1960:s-style

Found this one on "alt.folklore.computers" newsgroup.

Should bring back memories for the people that worked with punch cards,
and what I call real computers, that at least had flashing lights on the
front panel.

http://www.masswerk.at/google60/

Don...


Ah yes, punched cards.

How I hated them!

Sylvia.
At least you always had something to write on.

 

[terryc]

On 16/12/12 06:13, T.T. wrote:

"Sylvia Else"<sylvia@not.at.this.address> wrote in message

Ah yes, punched cards.

How I hated them!
Try mark sense cards.

Sylvia.
At least you always had something to write on.
They do eventually run out, unfortunately.

 

[Alan]

On Sun, 16 Dec 2012 04:52:43 +1100, "Rod Speed"
<rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote:

Alan <noone@128.0.0.1> wrote
Rod Speed <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote

Yeah, the ASR33 teletype was a mechanical monstrosity compared
with the printing terminals that replaced it like the LA36.

The 32/33 was quite a neat and simple machine.

Pigs arse it was compared with an LA36.

Or are you thinking of the 28/35 machines

Nope.

- they were much more complicated!

The 33 was much more complicated than the LA36 that replaced it.

Such a complicated mess of a design that we ended up with
one very senior maintenance management fella who still had
to do the maintenance on the few remaining 33s, because
no one else had a fucking clue how to repair them. That
pissed him off completely.

Used to love repairing/maintaining the 33s (and 32s). Not so keen on
the 28/35 models though! Never worked on the LA36 so can'y comment.
Found if the maintainance was done properly then there were virually
no service call outs - so that made life a lot easier!

Creed 7s and Siemens T100s were also in the mix. The Creed 7s were
really quite basic and could be stripped and rebuilt in about one and
half hours.
--
Sell your surplus electronic components at http://ozcomponents.com
Search or browse for that IC, capacitor,
crystal or other component you need.
Or find new components at http://auscomponents.com

 

[Rod Speed]

Alan <noone@128.0.0.1> wrote

Rod Speed <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote
Alan <noone@128.0.0.1> wrote
Rod Speed <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote

Yeah, the ASR33 teletype was a mechanical monstrosity compared
with the printing terminals that replaced it like the LA36.

The 32/33 was quite a neat and simple machine.

Pigs arse it was compared with an LA36.

Or are you thinking of the 28/35 machines

Nope.

- they were much more complicated!

The 33 was much more complicated than the LA36 that replaced it.

Such a complicated mess of a design that we ended up with
one very senior maintenance management fella who still had
to do the maintenance on the few remaining 33s, because
no one else had a fucking clue how to repair them. That
pissed him off completely.

Used to love repairing/maintaining the 33s (and 32s).

Irrelevant to whether the LA36 was VASTLY easier to work on.

Not so keen on the 28/35 models though! Never worked on the
LA36 so can'y comment. Found if the maintainance was done properly
then there were virually no service call outs - so that made life a lot
easier!

That's true of any maintenance.

Creed 7s and Siemens T100s were also in the mix.
The Creed 7s were really quite basic and could be
stripped and rebuilt in about one and half hours.

You don't need to do anything like that with an LA36,
just replace whats failed if it has, and that happened rarely.

 

[Andy Wood]

"Bob Milutinovic" <cognicom@gmail.com> wrote:

I certainly hope that was developed for alphanumeric output; if it was
purely for numeric, it would've been a hell of a lot easier to simply have
ten pre-formed digits (as did the "Nixie Tube").

It sure could print alpha characters (but upper case only), as well as
some special characters like ( ) / * . , etc. There would have been no
pressing need for a "numeric only" printer on those keypunch machines
- to see why go to the search link given by Don at the start of this
thread, and observe what gets punched if you type 0123456789.

It's amazing looking back at the ingeniousness of earlier generations of
engineers, having to straddle both electronics and mechanics in order to get
something done - something which seems so trivial these days.

Yep. Any fool can come up with something like:

if Temp < Min then Min=Temp

But it took a really clever bloke to come up with the idea for the
old-style minimum and maximum thermometer.
Andy Wood
woodag@trap.ozemail.com.au

 

[SG1]

"Andy Wood" <woodag@trap.ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
news:-ImdneNLffHezlLNnZ2dnUVZ_jWdnZ2d@westnet.com.au...

"Bob Milutinovic" <cognicom@gmail.com> wrote:


I certainly hope that was developed for alphanumeric output; if it was
purely for numeric, it would've been a hell of a lot easier to simply have
ten pre-formed digits (as did the "Nixie Tube").

It sure could print alpha characters (but upper case only), as well as
some special characters like ( ) / * . , etc. There would have been no
pressing need for a "numeric only" printer on those keypunch machines
- to see why go to the search link given by Don at the start of this
thread, and observe what gets punched if you type 0123456789.


It's amazing looking back at the ingeniousness of earlier generations of
engineers, having to straddle both electronics and mechanics in order to
get
something done - something which seems so trivial these days.


Yep. Any fool can come up with something like:

if Temp < Min then Min=Temp

But it took a really clever bloke to come up with the idea for the
old-style minimum and maximum thermometer.
Andy Wood
woodag@trap.ozemail.com.au

As an old BOM dude, we used a minimum thermometer and a maximum thermomter
as in 2. The minimum used a barbell that was dragged down with surface
tension of the alcohol and the maximum used mercury and a thinner "neck"
that caused the column to break and leave a part of the column above it to
show max temp.
The min was reset with a magnet and the max by shaking/swinging to rejoin
the mercury.

 

[Rod Speed]

"SG1" <lost@the.races.com> wrote in message
news:50cf9aac$0$24028$c3e8da3$9b4ff22a@news.astraweb.com...

"Andy Wood" <woodag@trap.ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
news:-ImdneNLffHezlLNnZ2dnUVZ_jWdnZ2d@westnet.com.au...

"Bob Milutinovic" <cognicom@gmail.com> wrote:


I certainly hope that was developed for alphanumeric output; if it was
purely for numeric, it would've been a hell of a lot easier to simply
have
ten pre-formed digits (as did the "Nixie Tube").

It sure could print alpha characters (but upper case only), as well as
some special characters like ( ) / * . , etc. There would have been no
pressing need for a "numeric only" printer on those keypunch machines
- to see why go to the search link given by Don at the start of this
thread, and observe what gets punched if you type 0123456789.


It's amazing looking back at the ingeniousness of earlier generations of
engineers, having to straddle both electronics and mechanics in order to
get
something done - something which seems so trivial these days.


Yep. Any fool can come up with something like:

if Temp < Min then Min=Temp

But it took a really clever bloke to come up with the idea for the
old-style minimum and maximum thermometer.
Andy Wood
woodag@trap.ozemail.com.au

As an old BOM dude, we used a minimum thermometer and a maximum thermomter
as in 2. The minimum used a barbell that was dragged down with surface
tension of the alcohol and the maximum used mercury and a thinner "neck"
that caused the column to break and leave a part of the column above it to
show max temp.
The min was reset with a magnet and the max by shaking/swinging to rejoin
the mercury.

Still took a clever bloke to come up with those.

 

[felix_unger]

On 12-December-2012 4:49 AM, Don McKenzie wrote:

Search Google, 1960:s-style

Found this one on "alt.folklore.computers" newsgroup.

Should bring back memories for the people that worked with punch
cards, and what I call real computers, that at least had flashing
lights on the front panel.

http://www.masswerk.at/google60/

Don...

cool!

--
rgds,

Pete
-------
“If Julia is the answer, then what was the stupid question?!”

"If the WORLD as a whole cut ALL emissions tomorrow, the average temperature of the planet's not going to drop for several hundred years, perhaps over on thousand years" - Tim Flannery, Climate Commissioner