Fifty Years Ago .... from the pages of Computer Weekly
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Spring 1973 computing, compiled by TNMOC volunteer archivist, Brian Aldous.
A selection of stories from Computer Weekly from the Spring of 1973. 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.
Marconi system for the Army:
Based on a GEC 920B with high-speed drum storage, the first mobile computerised store and forward message switching system to be developed in Europe is to be produced by Marconi Space and Defence Systems Ltd, a GEC-Marconi Electronic company, for the Ministry of Defence in a £500,000 contract. Known as Tarif (Telegraph Automatic Routeing In the Field), the message switching unit will be capable of handling 5,000 messages a day on up to 48 lines of 50 or 75 bauds simultaneously, with a typical cross-office handling time of one second per message. Messages will be analysed and routed in accordance with standard Allied Communications procedures. Incoming messages are automatically forwarded in response to a coded message heading or are stored for onward transmission when the recipient’s line is clear. (CW 1/3/1973 p1)
Calcomp launches Model 7000 flatbed plotter:
A new flatbed plotter, the Model 7000, has been introduced by Calcomp Ltd as the most sophisticated system in its range. The company says it will provide drawing quality comparable to that of a skilled draughtsman at speeds of up to 42 inches per second, with a resolution of 0.002 inches. To overcome the problem of quality as good as that done by generating lines of constant width and ink density, a new pressure inking system using four pens has been developed. The four pen reservoirs have separate air pressure tubes. An electromechanical system senses plotter speed and regulates the pressure to each pen as a function of plotter speed. The pressure ranges from a vacuum to one high enough to provide uniform lines at 42 inches per second diagonally on paper or synthetic materials. The operator can select from a range of performance modes by a simple cartridge load. If he has a good tape, the quality mode assures him of line quality as good as that done by hand, or alternatively, the performance can be adjusted to suit scribing or film cutting. The operator can scale the plot by factors of 2, 1, 0.5, 0.25 and 0.125. (CW 1/3/1973 p5)
TriStar used by holiday airline:
The first Lockheed TriStar flight simulator to be used in Europe has just come into service for Court Line Aviation, the British holiday airline, which officially accepted its first TriStar last week. It will be the first TriStar to operate anywhere in Europe, and will come into service in April. A second TriStar will be added to the Court fleet in May. The simulator was designed and built by Redifon Flight Simulation Ltd, is located at Aylesbury, and will be used in preparation for the introduction of the TriStars. The simulator is linked to two digital computers designed and built by Redifon specially to cope with flight simulation problems, and known as the Redifon R2000. The TriStar has two instructors’ stations, one for the pilot instructor and one for the flight engineer, so that individual training for pilots and engineers can be carried out simultaneously. The instructor’s console has twin slide projection units allowing him to feed in a multitude of faults to the engines, flight systems, instruments and so on. The simulator has six degrees of freedom: pitch, roll, heave, yaw, surge (fore and aft displacement) and sway (lateral displacement), the last being particularly important in the case of a wide-bodied aircraft like the TriStar. A Redifon visual system presents to the pilot in the simulator a view seen by a TV camera overflying a large terrain model in the same attitude as the simulated aircraft. (CW 8/3/1973 p14)
Europe’s Met Centre in the UK:
A £9 million weather centre equipped with a giant computer will be established at Shinfield Park, near Reading, following a decision on the siting of the centre, taken in Brussels on March 5 by representatives of 19 countries which have agreed to cooperate in scientific and technological research. When fully operational the centre will undertake medium term — four to 10 day — forecasts on behalf of the 19 countries, providing estimated savings of £80 million a year for those throughout Europe whose business is weather dependent. The centre will be an independent body, administered by the EEC Commission, but initially, for a transitional period of two or three years, it will rely heavily on support provided by the Meteorological Office at Bracknell which is equipped with a 360/195. According to Mr Patrick Meade, director of services at the Met. Office, the centre will be accommodated in the Bracknell area while the necessary buildings are being erected at Shinfield Park. During this period staff of the new centre will have access to the Met Office’s 360/95 and will make use of its worldwide telecommunications system. Mr Meade told Computer Weekly that the centre would require a far more powerful computer than that currently installed at the Met Office. Studies carried out by the European countries suggest that a system capable of carrying out 50 million instructions per second will be required. This compares with the eight to 10 mips capacity of the 360/195. (CW 15/3/1973 p1)
ICL launches addition to Key-Edit series:
A new key-to-disc system which is available with as few as four keystations at a rental of £370 a week has been introduced by ICL. It is a member of the Key-Edit series to be known as the Key-Edit 50. Like its bigger brother, which will now be known as the Key-Edit 100, it uses a PDP-8/E as the central processor, but with a maximum of 24K core. The major new feature is re-designed software, a necessary requirement if the core maximum was to be adhered to. One result of this is a multibatch grouping feature, said to be unique to the new system, which enables the supervisor to group up to 200 batches of the same type. The supervisor can list them, write them to tape or delete them with one command instead of 200. A basic Key-Edit 50 system comprises processor, memory, fixed head disc of 1.4 million characters capacity, a magnetic tape unit of 556 or 800 bpi, a supervisor console and four keystations. (CW 29/3/1973 p1)
RCA enters telex switching business:
Following Astrodata’s new telex switching system, another US company has entered this potentially lucrative market with the announcement by RCA of a new range of stored program control, solid-state telex exchange equipment. Available in four sizes handling up to 125, 500, 1,000 and 4,000 terminations, the operation of the equipment conforms to all CCITT standards and the system can accommodate any subscriber/trunk ratio with full occupancy capability, five to eight level codes and speeds up to 200 baud. The smallest system, CCT3/100, can be used as a private automatic telex branch exchange to provide subscriber-to-subscriber and subscriber-to-trunk services or as a telex concentrator for subscriber-to-trunk switching, and will interface up to a maximum of 125 terminations. The medium capacity CCT3/500 can handle up to 500 lines. The larger CCT3/1000 and CCT3/4000 systems can be used as tandem exchanges in trunking applications and as subscriber exchanges to include optional billing features. The new product family also includes a small-capacity telex/TWX converter, the TTC3/250. Units of the new products are already in operation in the new RCA Global Communications Inc telex exchange serving midtown Manhattan in New York City. (CW 29/3/1973 p10)
Mobile Mod Ones to test satellite:
The computing demands of the US space programme have been of considerable benefit to the US computer industry and although this whole application area has been largely shut off to European computer manufacturers, Computer Technology has now picked up a worthwhile order from the European Space Research Organisation. The order, valued at around £300,000 is for two 56K dual processor Modular One configurations with disc stores which will be used to check out the systems incorporated in the GEOS satellite during the development and launch period. An interesting feature of the proposed application is that the Modular One computers will be sent to the various contractors responsible for development of the satellite systems. Because of this requirement the computers will be subjected to stringent environmental checks including vibration and drop tests. Although the computers will be sent initially to ESRO’s space research and technology centre, ESTEC, at Noordwijk in the Netherlands, they will subsequently be moved around to the premises of contractors engaged in the manufacture of systems for the GEOS satellite. A detailed definition study for the GEOS satellite, valued at £254,000 has been awarded to what is known as the “Star” consortium and it is almost certain that a development contract will be awarded to the same group. (CW 5/4/1973 p1)
Robot package gets Datafair launching:
The new Robot, Record Organisation Based on Transposition, database handler from Software Sciences is being released onto the market for ICL 1900 machines at the end of this month. Developed by Software Sciences under the DTI’s Advanced Computer Technology Project scheme, Robot differs from most database handling packages in that it employs a method of “transposed” file handling which does not depend on classifying individual data items into complete records. Each data item under Robot has equal standing, so that, for example, an individual’s salary can be extracted from the database without first having to access a complete record of the information on that individual. It also uses its own high-level language which is easy to learn and considerably simplifies the process of maintaining and interacting with a “living” database. (CW 15/4/1973 p1)
NPL gets the first Minimod:
Valued at £13,500, the first Computer Technology Minimod processor has been delivered to the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington, Middlesex, to assist in the NPL’s experimental packet switched network. The Minimod will act as a communications concentrator interfacing to the network via the British Standard Interface to help extend the NPL capabilities, such as an information retrieval system called Scrapbook, to be available to external users. The NPL Minimod will have 16K words of semiconductor memory, an executive teletype and paper tape reader. Additional interfacing equipment includes a communications multiplexer with four lines for user teletypes and two 1,400 baud synchronised lines. Minimod was introduced by CTL at the end of last year as the smallest member of the Modular One range. Software for the system at Teddington will be written by NPL staff. (CW 12/4/1973 p10)
In-store PoS system installed:
With the opening of the new Bentall’s department store at Bracknell. Berkshire, NCR has installed what it claims to be the first complete “in-store” point-of-sale terminal system in the UK. As reported exclusively in Computer Weekly, Bentall’s has opted for the NCR 280 retail terminal and 45 of these units, together with two NCR 723 data collectors, have been installed. At present, sales data collected by the system is processed at an NCR computer bureau in London, but Bentalls have plans for an in-house computer, likely to be an NCR machine, before the end of year. The terminals, which each have a 5I2 byte memory, are programmable to enable a company’s specific transaction requirements to be handled. Also incorporated in each terminal is a small display screen, a magnetic tape cassette unit, a receipt printer, and a sales bill printer. It is anticipated that light pens will be used in the near future to read tags and labels marked with bar codes. This will enable management to obtain a more detailed sales analysis than at present possible. (CW 12/4/1973 p17)
File Handling Made Easier:
A new system which combines source data capture with the facility of interrogating and updating master files has been announced under the name of System 4007 by Terminal Display Systems Ltd of Blackburn, formerly known as Datatex. A system is comprised of the 4007 controller, which is based on a Data General Nova mini, a disc store of up to 100 million characters, a magnetic tape drive and a number of video terminals up to a maximum of about 32. Each video terminal can be situated either locally or remotely from the controller. They access the disc, which can contain a master file from a computer system, transferred from magnetic tape, or be blank for use as in a key-to-disc system. A feature of the system is ease of control; the only operator intervention necessary is the loading and unloading of magnetic tape and the control of tape/disc and disc/tape dumps. If hard copy is required a printer can be provided, either common to all terminals under control of the minicomputer or dedicated to a single terminal. All system software is supplied by Terminal Display Systems, which also offers a growing range of applications packages, such as payroll, stock recording and order processing. These packages are designed to interface with existing mainframe batch programs and replace the first program in a suite. (CW 19/4/1973 p3)
Automation plan for local radio station:
The London commercial radio station, Capital Radio, which is due to take to the air within the next 12 months as a general entertainment channel, is finalising negotiations with EMI for an automation system worth more than £20,000. Capital are acquiring an EMI 903 system equipped with a solid state direct access memory which can be directly interfaced with either a computer or teletype system. The 903 can provide a full 24 hours of continuous broadcasts — the memory being programmed to select on a time or sequential basis pre-recorded material. The operator, using a 16-position keyboard, can insert a complete broadcasting programme for a day in the memory, building it up on a minute-by-minute basis if required. EMI says that the 903 can be equipped with a plain language logging system which automatically produces a printed record of an entire broadcast schedule after transmission; this is considered particularly useful to verify the transmission of commercials. The system will cue all random access devices in advance by searching the programme time-file for up to six hours ahead of the material currently playing. (CW 19/4/1973 p3)
2903 spearheads ICL’s drive to win new markets:
As first predicted in Computer Weekly on March 15, ICL have launched an important new product aimed at the lower end of the market which, although compatible with the 1900 series, is eventually likely to become part of the New Range product line. Called the 2903, the new system. which is to have its first public showing at Hanover Fair which opens today, is a microprogrammed “soft machine” that currently looks like a 1900 series system. It is disc-based, has video operator’s console and direct data entry capabilities, provides IBM compatible RPG2 as the main software language, as well as Cobol and Fortran, and has a wide range of applications packages available, including bill of materials, order entry, stock control. Pert and Prosper. (CW 26/4/1973 p1)
Sintrom launches cartridge memory:
A new memory system, believed to be the first produced in the UK to make use of the 0.25-inch 3M magnetic tape cartridge, has been announced by Sintrom Electronics Ltd of Reading. It is called the Perifile 6000 and is manufactured by Perex Ltd, also of Reading. Designed to meet ECMA and ANSI format specifications, recording density is 1,600 bpi phase encoded. The drive is bidirectional at the normal speed of 25 ips, resulting in a data transfer rate of 40,000 bps. Forward and reverse search is at 90 ips, as is fast rewind. The cartridge uses an isoelastic drive system which maintains tape tension and tape motion with a single drive motor. The cartridge contains 300 feet of computer grade tape as well as internal tape guides for reliable recording. The four-track head offers dual gap read-after-write, and every track is equipped with a separate erase gap to ensure against accidental erasure. (CW 26/4/1973 p32)
Logica to sell ARPA know-how:
Access to the expertise which has gone into the development of the ARPA network — the world’s most advanced computer network — will become available, at a price, to European organisations, following an agreement between Logica and their French associates, SESA, on one hand and Bolt, Beranek and Newman Inc, on the other. BBN, a US consultancy with a great deal of know-how in the communications field, has been involved in the four-year-old ARPA project virtually since its inception and has been responsible for development of the communications protocols and the Interface Message Processor (IMP) and Terminal IMP (TIP) packet switching systems, on which the network is based. The network, which has been developed by the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the US Department of Defence, currently links more than 40 large and medium sized computers installed throughout the US, at sites such as MIT, Harvard, NASA’s Ames Research Centre — home of ILLIAC IV, Stanford Research Institute and the Rand Corporation. An offshore link to Hawaii has also been established and agreement has been reached on the establishment of a link to Norway with a connection to London University’s Institute of Computer Science. Under the new agreement Logica and SESA will have access to BBN’s communications know-how, and consultants from both companies will spend several months with BBN at Cambridge, Massachusetts, familiarising themselves with BBN’s work on the ARPA project and possibly studying future developments such as the transmission of data via satellite and the further enhancement of IMP and TIP systems. (CW 3/5/1973 p1)
Banks sign for SWIFT service:
The international banking message switching network, SWIFT achieved official status last week in Brussels when 240 leading banks in 13 countries from Europe, Canada and the US became founder members of the non-profit-making Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications. Based on switching centres in Brussels and Amsterdam with concentrators in 14 other countries, the SWIFT network will provide its members with a private international telecommunications network which will enable the banks to transmit international payments, statements and other related messages. The objective of the new service, which is scheduled to become operational in 1976, is to provide more convenient and reliable transmission capabilities than mail and telex facilities and to make possible reductions in the banks’ message handling and processing costs by the introduction of a number of measures of standardisation. (CW 10/5/1973 p1)
GLC extend London traffic control system:
As a further development of the GLC’s London Traffic Control System, an additional 200 signal intersections are to be controlled by next March, extending the area of the system radially outside its present approximate boundary marked by a line linking the main London railway termini. The system has been operating since mid-1972, following a pilot project covering 70 signals in West London, starting with 23 signals in the Baker Street and Marylebone area. Computers for the system were supplied by Siemens under a £759,000 contract awarded in 1970 against two British tenders from Plessey and GEC -Elliott Traffic Automation. Two Siemens 306 computers, one with 32K and the other with 48K of core, were installed in 1972 at the GLC’s offices in County Hall. Both machines have now been moved to a new traffic control centre at New Scotland Yard, and the 32K 306 has been enhanced with a further 16K of core. In addition, a further four Siemens 81/52 display consoles are being installed. Work by Siemens is being carried out under the terms of the initial contract, which also planned for the control of 1,070 of the 1,500 traffic signals in London by 1976. Environmental control for a new computer suite at New Scotland Yard to house the Siemens system is being provided by Precision Air Control Ltd under a £33,000 contract. (CW 17/5/1973 p20)
Memorex launches floppy disc drive:
A new OEM floppy disc drive, the 651 Flexible Disc Drive, has been announced by Memorex UK Ltd. This is an improved version of the 650 which was announced last year but was never strongly marketed. The improvements include a faster track-to-track access time of 10 milliseconds, with 10 milliseconds settle time. The average latency time is 80 milliseconds, and the transfer rate from unit to unit, 250 kilobits per second. Another new factor is the FD/IV extended life disc, giving a minimum life of 50 million passes, evenly distributed. Data can be written in either sector or index mode, starting with 132-byte records with 32 records per track (on 64 tracks), up to one record of 4,880 bytes per track, giving a maximum capacity of 312,500 bytes, or 2.5 million bits. Applications envisaged include auxiliary storage, remote terminal data acquisition, data logging, key-entry recording, point-of-sale recording, accounting machine storage and programmable calculator storage. Other uses are as a microprogram loader in writeable read-only memories, and as a diagnostic program loader. (CW 17/5/1973 p20)
Digital record of 30 years of rain:
A new method of processing rainfall records has led to an agreement between the Nuclear Physics Laboratory at Oxford and the Meteorological Office, whereby the laboratory will convert records from all over the UK into data on magnetic tape suitable for input to the Met Office’s IBM 360/195. The converter is a system known as the Precision Encoding and Pattern Recognition device (PEPR), which was developed at Oxford with Science Research Council support, for the purpose of identifying and measuring the tracks left by the reaction of nuclear particles in hydrogen bubble chambers. This is done under control of a DEC PDP-10. The data accumulated is output to magnetic tape so that analysis can be carried out on the IBM 370/195 at the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory at Chilton. In its first two years of operation PEPR has measured automatically over two million frames of bubble chamber events photographed on 50mm film. Most of this film records experiments carried out at the CERN Centre, Switzerland. PEPR is in essence a converter with microfilm input and magnetic tape output, so its applications are not restricted to nuclear physics. This however is the first time it has been used for a different purpose. There is no output compatibility problem as the 360/195 at the Met Office is essentially the same machine as the 370/195 at Chilton. (CW 31/5/1973 p32)