4 ms·

Do you think that this device was entirely bespoke or do you think that the designers adapted another design (perhaps a commercial product)?

kens 5y ago
This device seems specific to its particular task. I wonder about the strange construction technique of pseudo-integrated-circuits on mini PCBs. It's hard to imagine that Control Data would come up with that specifically for this device. If I come across any other CDC systems that use the same technique, it will be informative.
- neuralRiot 5y ago
  Probably it was done to save down time in the event of a failure, if something happened you’d just replace the affected module instead of the whole test box or to match certain characteristics, you build several modules and use the ones with similar parameters.
- squarefoot 5y ago
  As a kid, in the mid 70s, I recall playing with a board similar to the one depicted in the article, purchased for a few coins at a surplus store. It had rows and columns of small modules stacked that way which consisted of one transistor, a few diodes and a bunch of resistors. All modules pretty much the same, but much smaller, with only one transistor and a few other parts, unlike the ones showed in the article. The equivalent circuit was indeed some sort of basic logic gate. Transistors were all TO72 packaged; I can't recall the manufacturer, possibly Motorola or SGS, and showed an unknown label as they were probably high grade parts relabeled for that customer which btw I'm sure wasn't NASA since I'm in central Italy. I salvaged what I could and ditched the board, so now you know who to blame if a rare piece of computer history has been lost forever:)
  - denton-scratch 5y ago
    I used to work at Burroughs, once upon a time. The groovy thing for proving you were an old-timer was a gate from a B5000, potted in perspex, and used as a paperweight. The gate consisted of two circuit boards, each about 2" square, with the discrete components wired between them, holding the two boards about 2" apart; so a gate was roughly a 2" cube. It's a long time ago, and I haven't seen one for 40 years; but I think these things had two transistors in them. No ICs.
    - kens 5y ago
      "Cordwood" is the name for that type of construction. It was used in the Apollo Guidance Computer and by Control Data, among other uses.
- projectileboy 5y ago
  CDC shaped the computing landscape in Minneapolis and St. Paul for many many years. Too bad Mr. Cray isn’t still with us; he could probably answer a lot of these sorts of questions.

kens 5y ago

This device seems specific to its particular task. I wonder about the strange construction technique of pseudo-integrated-circuits on mini PCBs. It's hard to imagine that Control Data would come up with that specifically for this device. If I come across any other CDC systems that use the same technique, it will be informative.

neuralRiot 5y ago
Probably it was done to save down time in the event of a failure, if something happened you’d just replace the affected module instead of the whole test box or to match certain characteristics, you build several modules and use the ones with similar parameters.
squarefoot 5y ago
As a kid, in the mid 70s, I recall playing with a board similar to the one depicted in the article, purchased for a few coins at a surplus store. It had rows and columns of small modules stacked that way which consisted of one transistor, a few diodes and a bunch of resistors. All modules pretty much the same, but much smaller, with only one transistor and a few other parts, unlike the ones showed in the article. The equivalent circuit was indeed some sort of basic logic gate. Transistors were all TO72 packaged; I can't recall the manufacturer, possibly Motorola or SGS, and showed an unknown label as they were probably high grade parts relabeled for that customer which btw I'm sure wasn't NASA since I'm in central Italy. I salvaged what I could and ditched the board, so now you know who to blame if a rare piece of computer history has been lost forever:)
- denton-scratch 5y ago
  I used to work at Burroughs, once upon a time. The groovy thing for proving you were an old-timer was a gate from a B5000, potted in perspex, and used as a paperweight. The gate consisted of two circuit boards, each about 2" square, with the discrete components wired between them, holding the two boards about 2" apart; so a gate was roughly a 2" cube. It's a long time ago, and I haven't seen one for 40 years; but I think these things had two transistors in them. No ICs.
  - kens 5y ago
    "Cordwood" is the name for that type of construction. It was used in the Apollo Guidance Computer and by Control Data, among other uses.
projectileboy 5y ago
CDC shaped the computing landscape in Minneapolis and St. Paul for many many years. Too bad Mr. Cray isn’t still with us; he could probably answer a lot of these sorts of questions.