4 ms·

My first job was at Westinghouse instrumenting a nuclear power plant. Our entire hardware-software package was a freebie given to the customer as part of a $200

My first job was at Westinghouse instrumenting a nuclear power plant. Our entire hardware-software package was a freebie given to the customer as part of a $200 million refueling contract (and that's in 1988 dollars). We, a team of 10, created a bespoke application stack which was effectively a web browser. The client machines were Sun 3 workstations. The server was some industrial mini computer that didn't have a TCP/IP stack - so we did in fact have to roll our own network stack.

RealityVoid 1mo ago
Hah, the first engineering job I had was on Ovation DCS doing power plant controls. That system traces the lineage to the WDPF systems. Was the server you mention here the actual DCS? With the Motorola CPU's? Running vxworks? Pretty cool recognizing something niche that is still, vaguely familiar. :)
- intrasight 1mo ago
  The plant computer wasn't a DCS. I think it was a DEC. It gathered data from the control systems and instrumentation and had a bespoke in memory realtime-ish database. That database was then partially replicated down to the Sun workstations (code the 23 year old me wrote). Then the browser consumed that via a unix shared memory interface.
  - p_l 1mo ago
    Was it perhaps DEC Baseway[1] system? It would arguably qualify as a form of DCS, with central VAX servers and running high level software, PDP-11 "shop floor" computers, which in turn talked with PLCs and related devices. And additionally, TCP/IP was an optional layered product - either DEC's own UCX (Ultrix Communication eXtensions) or 3rd party [1] https://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/vax/vms/baseway/ https://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/vax/vms/baseway/
    - intrasight 1mo ago
      I guess they didn't buy the optional network software. I remember working with this engineer writing in the lower level TCPIP stack on the deck - maybe in Fortran? Anyway, he didn't understand why he wasn't getting all the data transmitted and while I was no expert in TCP/IP, I was already familiar with packets and maximum segment size (MSS). I remember being impressed that he banged out a network stack in a couple weeks.
      - p_l 1mo ago
        Baseway, and various other industrial control systems that also ran on VMS and related, tended to either use DEC-suggested (DECnet) protocols or implemented custom Ethernet-layer ones
diath 1mo ago
...what kind of credentials did you have to become a hw/sw engineer at a nuclear power plant as your first job?
- intrasight 1mo ago
  Graduated and figured I should get a job. Honestly wasn't enthusiastic about the idea. Saw an ad in the paper. It may have mentioned C programming. I went and interviewed with two senior engineers. All they asked was do I know how to do TCP/IP. I said that I did and was working the next week. Honestly the coolest job I've had in my career. Colleagues were all engineers - mostly nuclear.
  - diath 1mo ago
    Huh. Boomers really did live their lives on tutorial mode.
    - defrost 1mo ago
      Two decades before stack exchange and writing their own tools, yep.
      - deleted 1mo ago
        [deleted]
    - intrasight 1mo ago
      "tutorial mode"? Not familiar with phrase. Also, not a boomer.

RealityVoid 1mo ago

Hah, the first engineering job I had was on Ovation DCS doing power plant controls. That system traces the lineage to the WDPF systems. Was the server you mention here the actual DCS? With the Motorola CPU's? Running vxworks? Pretty cool recognizing something niche that is still, vaguely familiar. :)

intrasight 1mo ago
The plant computer wasn't a DCS. I think it was a DEC. It gathered data from the control systems and instrumentation and had a bespoke in memory realtime-ish database. That database was then partially replicated down to the Sun workstations (code the 23 year old me wrote). Then the browser consumed that via a unix shared memory interface.
- p_l 1mo ago
  Was it perhaps DEC Baseway[1] system? It would arguably qualify as a form of DCS, with central VAX servers and running high level software, PDP-11 "shop floor" computers, which in turn talked with PLCs and related devices. And additionally, TCP/IP was an optional layered product - either DEC's own UCX (Ultrix Communication eXtensions) or 3rd party [1] https://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/vax/vms/baseway/ https://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/vax/vms/baseway/
  - intrasight 1mo ago
    I guess they didn't buy the optional network software. I remember working with this engineer writing in the lower level TCPIP stack on the deck - maybe in Fortran? Anyway, he didn't understand why he wasn't getting all the data transmitted and while I was no expert in TCP/IP, I was already familiar with packets and maximum segment size (MSS). I remember being impressed that he banged out a network stack in a couple weeks.
    - p_l 1mo ago
      Baseway, and various other industrial control systems that also ran on VMS and related, tended to either use DEC-suggested (DECnet) protocols or implemented custom Ethernet-layer ones

diath 1mo ago

...what kind of credentials did you have to become a hw/sw engineer at a nuclear power plant as your first job?

intrasight 1mo ago
Graduated and figured I should get a job. Honestly wasn't enthusiastic about the idea. Saw an ad in the paper. It may have mentioned C programming. I went and interviewed with two senior engineers. All they asked was do I know how to do TCP/IP. I said that I did and was working the next week. Honestly the coolest job I've had in my career. Colleagues were all engineers - mostly nuclear.
- diath 1mo ago
  Huh. Boomers really did live their lives on tutorial mode.
  - defrost 1mo ago
    Two decades before stack exchange and writing their own tools, yep.
    - deleted 1mo ago
      [deleted]
  - intrasight 1mo ago
    "tutorial mode"? Not familiar with phrase. Also, not a boomer.