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GravityLens — Computer Archaeology
Published: 2006-07-08 23:54:42 +0000 UTC; Views: 168; Favourites: 11; Downloads: 3
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Description
From a Singer System 10 circa 1975.They don't make them like that any more.
It is 12" by 7".
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Comments: 21
Well this is really cool...Looks like an old radio I took apart
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Yes, I feel that those old circuit boards had a bit more flair.
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I would guess this board performs simple arithmetic.
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Quite possibly. Is that based on the layout of it?
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Yes, I see rows of ICs which might be flipflops, possibly chained together in some fashion, as if to store and manipulate many-bit numbers. It resembles a schematic for a simple binary adding machine seen in "The Way Things Work".
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Interesting. I worked on it as a programmer and never got involved at an engineering level. The System 10 was unique in my experience though, as it was designed to operate in decimal. All digits were stored as bytes and arithmetic was performed (at a hardware level) in decimal on strings of up to 10 digits. Decimal places were notional. It was, perhaps, not the most efficient use of the hardware but it was surprisingly easy to program.
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I think it would be interesting to see a software or hardware arithmetic engine built around base 30. This way, the most common fractions can be represented exactly, and each base-30 digit can be stored rather efficiently in 5 bits.
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That would be fun to play with.
Hmm, 0-9 A-V excluding I and O maybe?
That would make you N perhaps.
And I'm only 1U. Teenager again.
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Well, ideally, the base-30 data should never be output directly. Even from a programming standpoint, a minor extra step at the beginning of compilation can translate decimal numeric literals into base 30.
In any case, the base 30 is just for numerical data, with the "11110" and "11111" pentets still available for binary data storage. String data might be stored using 10 bits per character, if the hardware actually works on 5 bit clusters. If binary data ever needs to be represented in a human-readable yet low-level form for some reason, it would probably be most convenient to represent each pentet with a couple of octal digits (00-37). So I'd be 27 and you'd be... 0136?
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I think it's just 134 and I feel like it some days too.
But I'm following you on this, the conversion is analogous to working with dates as date serial numbers and converting them on output. It's an interesting idea and I'm sure it could be simulated.
The machine above was programmed in an assembler type language and this has set me wondering if it is possible to capture the artistic quality of the software code in a similar manner to the hardware.
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As far as I recall, the memory modules were even more bulky!
I only acquired this board because it was being scrapped, but I don't remember what its function was.
There were a _lot_ of boards in the computer but individually they didn't do nearly as much as on a modern machine.
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I bet this machine wasn't even as fast as the pimped 387 in my bath but the board design of this old part seems quite lovely compared to any old stuff I have.
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Everything was slower to an extent that seems ridiculous now.
Even the 10Mb disk packs took an hour to back up!
But I agree with you that the designs are attractive.
I have another different one that I have been meaning to photograph.
I think that I will have to get on with it.
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Well done! I think this would sell well, as a print, to a world full of geeks - my son included. I think he has kept every electronic device he's ever owned, as collectors' items. The only piece he's missing is his original Vic 20...
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Thanks ... I have never thought of selling anything ...
Your son must need plenty of space, but I understand him;
I have several bits and pieces salvaged from old kit because I found
them aesthetically pleasing. This board was from a computer that
occupied half a room and had about 100k memory. lol.
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The 1st computer I saw (in person) was one that filled an entire room - I think it even had tubes! 
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Ah those were the days.
I have a couple of thermionic valves that I've been meaning to photograph.
They are so dated that they are beginning to look futuristic.
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