Fifty Years Ago .... from the pages of Computer Weekly
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April 1976 computing, compiled by TNMOC volunteer archivist, Brian Aldous.
A selection of stories from Computer Weekly from April 1976. The full archive of Computer Weekly can be seen at TNMOC, where there are special rolling displays of front pages from 25 and 40 years ago.
ICL gets its 2960 workhorse on the road:
Some 12 months after it was originally scheduled to be released, the ICL 2960 has now been formally announced. Seen as a mid-range machine which will appeal to many existing ICL 1900 users, the 2960 has just over half the power of the 2970 and sells for upwards of £520,000. Key features of the medium-scale machine are a new highly adaptable operating system, VME/K, and a Schottky-TTL central processor which is more economical in terms of size, power-consumption, cost and heat generation than the faster emitter-coupled logic used on the 2970 and 2980. The 2960 is intended to be the workhorse of the 2900 range, and in effect slots into the gap left by IBM’s unannounced 370/148. In ICL 1900 terms, its throughput capacity is 2.5 times that of the 1904S, yet prices start at £10,000 below the base price for that model. Its speed, measured in Post Office work units on a particular job, is 1.15 times that of the1904S, twice as fast as the 1903T and three times as fast as the 2T or 3A. (CW 491 1/4/1976 p1)
Honeywell release may fill ICL gap:
Coinciding with the release of ICL’s 2960, Honeywell has brought out a range of conversion software aimed squarely at the large gap in the ICL New Range below the latest machine. The products provide substantially automatic ICL 1900 to Honeywell Level 66 conversion for Cobol, Fortran and assembly language programs and data files. They are aimed, says Honeywell, at ‘the medium-scale ICL 1903/1904 bracket customer, looking to change within a two-year period’. A Honeywell spokesman confirmed that the ICL ‘gap’ was one of the chief reasons for pitching the attack on its rival at this level. Outside sources, however, are rather less confident. The 2960, they contend, could prove an attractive upgrade to these very users, and with the almost certain prospect of a 2950 release later this year. Honeywell has perhaps aimed a little high. Nevertheless, with or without the gap, the conversion programs will undoubtedly improve the competitive position of the Honeywell Series 60 machines over the 1900 and 2900 series. (CW 491 1/4/1976 p10)
DEC dual machine launched:
The dual processor DEC system expected from Digital Equipment has now been unveiled in the US. Called the DEC system 1088, it features two powerful KL-10 processors, high-capacity disc storage and an operating system called Galaxy which offers both batch and time-sharing facilities. Digital Equipment says that an existing DEC system 1080 with one 36-bit KL-10 processor, can be field upgraded to a 1088 in a few hours, by adding a second KL-10 and changing the software. Disc storage for the 1088 takes the form of the RP06 disc subsystem, announced with the 1088. Each RP06 drive holds 176 Megabytes, and up to 32 of them can be hung onto one system, giving a maximum capacity of about 5,600 Megabytes. Digital says that the RP06 offers twice the storage capacity per spindle as its existing drives, with only a 30 per cent increase in price. It is claimed that the 1088 is comparable in power with the IBM370/158, some Univac 1100 machines, the CDC Cyber 72 and 73 and the Burroughs 6700. The1088 comes with a PDP-11/40 as a front-end console and diagnostics supervisor. A basic DEC system 1088 configuration includes dual 256K word processors, 176 Megabytes of disc storage, 16 tape drives, a 1200 lpm printer and costs around £600,000. (CW 492 8/4/1976 p32)
ATC radar processing by Ferranti:
Under a contract worth about £350,000, Ferranti is to supply the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down, Dorset, with an air traffic control system for processing and displaying secondary surveillance radar and remote primary radar data. Based on two FM 1600D minicomputers, the Ferranti system will process SSR data received from the Civil Aviation Authority radars at Ventnor, Isle of Wight, and display it at Boscombe Down along with primary radar data from any one of three local radars. In addition, it is designed to handle both primary and secondary radar information from Burrington in Devon, Heathrow Airport in London, and from other sites if required. SSR data input to Boscombe Down will provide height and identity information from all transponder equipped aircraft. (CW 492 8/4/1976 p32)
US bureau provides database link in UK:
A major US bureau, Rapidata of Fairfield, New Jersey, which offers extensive economic and financial database facilities, as well as data processing, is to extend its services to the UK within the next few months. The Rapidata operation is based on seven Honeywell 400s, one IBM 370/158 and a dual DEC system KL 10. These form the centre of a US-wide network with Digital Equipment PDP-11s acting as local concentrators. One of these will soon be installed in London to link-in UK customers. Database facilities already offered by Rapidata include the International Monetary Fund economic modelling system, details of Fortune’s top 5,000 companies, and stock exchange prices. (CW 493 15/4/1976 p1)
Micro to monitor shipboard plant:
Application areas for the microprocessor are continually growing and GEC-Elliott Process Automation of Leicester has now added to the list with a micro based system for marine monitoring work. The company will demonstrate the system at the forthcoming International Marine Exhibition at Earls Court, London, on April 27 to 30. Based on the well-established March 4 series of equipment, the new system provides alarm monitoring and display, data logging and trend recording facilities. Although only intended for shipborne use, the company does intend to incorporate the system philosophy in industrial process control equipment in the future. When fitted on board ship, the modular system examines signals from the marine propulsion plant for status change and compares analogue signals with present high and low limits. When an alarm condition is detected the micro, which is supplied by an undisclosed manufacturer, initiates suitable audible and visual warnings. (CW 493 15/4/1976 p11)
Intel ready with ‘chip’ computer:
The ‘computer on a chip’ will come a significant step nearer in the summer when Intel launches its new 8048 device, which incorporates active and passive memory on the same chip as the processor itself. The 8048 will not be available before September at the earliest, but Intel sees it as the most important development in the microprocessor industry since the introduction of the Intel 8080 eight-bit microprocessor chip itself. Few details of the device are yet available, not least because its exact characteristics have yet to be settled. However, it is known that as well as the processor, the single chip will include 1K-bytes of programmable read only memory, 64 bytes of random-access memory, a clock powered by an external crystal, one level of interrupt and 27 input-output ports. (CW 494 22/4/1976 p1)
Mini aids the automatic analysis of EEGs:
Automatic analysis of electro-encephalograms using computers is the subject of research being undertaken at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, with the assistance of a Computer Automation Alpha LSI minicomputer system supplied by Sintrom Electronics of Reading. Led by consultant clinical neurophysiologist Dr C. D. Binnie, the team at Barts has adopted an approach of evaluating different methods of analysing a single data set, as opposed to testing one locally favoured technique, thus precluding the use of on-line analysis. It was seen that there was a requirement for a digital data acquisition system. Previous experience with analogue recorders had put them out of the running, in particular the time penalty incurred when converting data from analogue to digital for processing on a computer. (CW 494 22/4/1976 p7)
Navy installs voice system at charts HQ:
To digitise feature information of navigational charts, the office of the Hydrographer of the Royal Navy at Taunton, Somerset, has installed an EMI-Threshold Voice Information Processor 100 system. Interfaced to a Ferranti Freescan digitiser at Taunton, the VIP 100 voice recognition system is the third to be ordered by the Ministry of Defence. Data not recorded automatically by the Ferranti system is entered verbally via the VIP 100 machine. Digitising of co-ordinates using the cursor position of the Fresscan combined with such features as depth measurements spoken into the VIP microphone, fully automate the entry of chart data at Taunton. The VIP 100 system, announced 16 months ago, is built around a Data General Nova 1200 minicomputer with 8K core and a “black box” unit, otherwise known as the speech preprocessor. In addition, the equipment consists of a directional noise cancelling microphone, single-line alphanumeric display and teletype. (CW 495 29/4/1976 p3)
Canadian system to clear imports:
While HM Customs in the UK is still evaluating an online terminal system for import clearance at seaports, the Canadian Customs and Excise Authority has an online system for clearing imports at all seaports, airports and points of entry in Canada running live. CEPACS, Customs Entry Processing and Cargo System, based on dual Honeywell 600K machines at Montreal linked to terminals all over Canada. About 450 will eventually be connected on-line. Development of the network was aided by the consultancy, SPL International, which says it provided a critique of the overall design and made detailed assessment of software strategy for system. The UK firm is now monitoring the further development of the import processing operation which SPL describes as time-critical, transaction real time application. The only comparable system in the UK is the London Airport Cargo EDP Scheme LACES, although this is restricted to handling imports at Heathrow. (CW 495 29/4/1976 p32)
