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 1959 IBM 1401 mainframe construction 
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Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2012 8:03 am
Posts: 285
Location: California
Get a load of this construction!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwftXqJu8hs
the wire-wrap modules with 100+ PC boards plugged in with a few transistors on each, the core memory, the 10-line-per-second printer, etc..

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http://WilsonMinesCo.com/ lots of 6502 resources


Sat Jan 30, 2016 6:37 am
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Joined: Wed Jan 09, 2013 6:54 pm
Posts: 1780
There are some great posts by Ken Shirriff about the 1401, see for example
http://www.righto.com/2015/10/repairing ... nside.html
where he debugs a memory access problem. A commentator adds:
Quote:
I though this was a brilliant debug. Stan, our experimentalist extraordinaire, had helped considerably by testing the machine over several days and narrowing the fault to this 4k block of memory and noticing the particular address pattern. I was already busy at the back re-reading the address decoding section of your previous core memory blog post... We all said "we wish Ken was here" as we walked towards the machine room, ready for an arduous session of deciphering the "nearly incomprehensible" ALDs. And there you were! You found the faulty card in maybe 10 minutes, using only the power of logic. Usually we use the power of the oscilloscope, the power of trial and error, and the power of arguing around a cup of coffee a lot more. Your in-depth knowledge and detailed reverse engineering of the core memory system paid of big time. It's an asset to have you around!


Ken has other articles about the hardware and about writing software on the machine. Have an explore:
http://www.righto.com/search/label/ibm1401


Sat Jan 30, 2016 10:10 am
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Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2012 8:03 am
Posts: 285
Location: California
The men who worked on those remind me of the tale of our grandparents having to walk to school and back home in the snow, barefoot, five miles, and uphill both ways. We have it so easy now.

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http://WilsonMinesCo.com/ lots of 6502 resources


Sat Jan 30, 2016 5:30 pm
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