🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <57...@internal.Apple.COM> cass...@apple.com (David Casseres) writes:
>In article <1989Dec13.0...@NCoast.ORG> mi...@NCoast.ORG (Mike 
>Squires) writes:
>> The CDC 3800 I worked on had a register hooked to am amp and a speaker
>graphics on screens and user interaction via a "light gun," i.e. a large 
>and clunky version of what we now call a light pen).  Anyway, the hardware 
>was two identical vacuum-tube-based computers hooked up back
>one operational and one on standby.  
>David Casseres

I visited the Computer Museum on Boston (next to the Children's
museum near the site of the Boston Tea Party).
What they have on display sound like this - it was just a portion of
the giant tube computer.
They have diagrams showing what the entire complex looked like.

The airflow through the frames was quite interesting.
The tubes required a lot of cooling, so air was blown up
between the two front panels, forming an air duct.
There were fire extinguisher modules that attached at the
base so the CO2 would use the air channel as well
(and also cut off the air flow).
I was impressed - a build in fire extinguisher.
All the computer installations I see today just have
an external halon system.  Perhaps that is just as well - 
they cover the entire room including the peripherals,
piles of paper, etc.

The giant core planes are quite beautiful to see.
Of course, I have a nice collection of core planes
from stuff I scavangered.
The IBM 1620 core planes feature the largest cores I've got.
The IBM 1130 core planes may still contain parts of my
FORTRAN programs.  They were light and airy - small cores
still spaced far apart.

Jeffrey Jonas
je...@pecnos.tinton.ccur.com