You want big? We got big!
Whenever families wiith children visit, they are always amazed just how big the systems from the 60s, 70s and 80s really were. Their only knowledge of computing might be the PC or laptop they have at home, or the iPod and mp3 player in their pocket (which has many times more processing power than all the systems on display). We have also had many complimentary comments from those of yesteryear who actually worked on or maintained the systems on display, and are often amazed that we have them working.
The aim of the large systems gallery is to show just how big those early systems were and, where possible, actually working.
In one of the largest galleries in the museum, we have highlighted some of those systems below:
Elliott 803B from around 1962
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This is an (almost!) fully functioning machine which, having been found at a breakers yard some 15 years ago surrounded by bushes and trees, has taken long-standing volunteer John Sinclair many years to restore to the great condition that it is in today. As well as the system we have on display, John has also restored and maintained the 803B system at the Science Museum in London.
As with any good system we have it working hard each Saturday... playing tunes to amuse the visitors and Museum volunteers(who are not finding it quite as amusing after listening to it for several hours a day for many months) . This is a far cry from its original use of planning bakery delivery routes or accounting, but it does allow the system to be demonstrated doing something and in doing so ensures its continued operation.
TAC - Transistorised Automatic Computer from around 1958/60
This is one of the more unusual systems we have on display. Contained within four large cabinets and a control desk, it was one of the first transistorised computers made in the UK. Ours was used as a monitoring system for a nuclear power station. It gave stirling service for many years from its installation in the early 1960s to finally being decomissioned in 2004 - that's over 40 years! which is amazing considering the technology being used, or perhaps a bit worring considering the equipment used!. It was kindly donated to the museum.
ICL 2966 from around 1982/3
This is by far the largest system we have on display at the museum, taking up almost a third of the floor space in the large systems gallery. What is more surprising is that we did not actually have room for all of it. What you see is possibly only 30 -> 40% of the actual size when originally in operation.
The system itself was used up until about 15 years ago at TARMAC, who after having decomissioned the system, donated it to the museum where it was put in storage for 13 years. It was not until early 2008 that we had enough floor space to put it out on display and it certainly is impressive to see.
As is our mission, work began late last year on the long and difficult process of restoring the system to full working order. Volunteer Peter Hyde has taken on the lead role in this work and, having contacted various people in the industry, is now being helped in the restoration by three ICL/Fujitsu engineers, one of whom, we found out recently, was the person who actually decommissioned it at TARMAC. This system uses a lot of power and thus generated a lot of heat, so we suspect, when running, the large systems gallery will be comfortingly warm on cold winter days!
And there's more...
Hopefully that gives you a flavour of some of the exhibits that we have on display and a little background on where the systems came from.
Become an extra in our daily movie...
If you visit our webcam page you can see the exhibits detailed above. The Elliott 803 is in the forground, the ICL is the large orange/cream system top and right, and the TAC cabinets can be seen top left. If you do decide to visit and stay in the picture long enough you could feature in that day's video! Don't forget to wave.
Latest movie here