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Nov 29, 2021 โ€ข 22 tweets โ€ข 6 min read โ€ข Read on X
here's an amazing thing! it is a 370 channel simulator. what is that, you ask? well, read on! ๐Ÿงต Image
the System 370 was a series of IBM mainframes from the 1970s. it was the follow-on to the System 360. Image
you could connect a variety of peripherals to your System 370, including things like printers, disks, tapes, and so forth. except these peripherals were typically quite large, like this array of hard disks! Image
an interface bus connected each peripheral to the computer. something like USB or a parallel port, but much larger (natch). IBM used a system called Bus and Tag. you need two of these large cables. one (Bus) carried 8 bits of data, and the other (Tag) carried control signals. Image
it was (sort of) descended from these giant connectors from the '40s and '50s.

anyway, what does a 370 channel simulator do? it lets you perform low-level testing of a System 370 peripheral (or peripherals, since Bus and Tag supported multiple daisy-chained peripherals).
sharp-eyed folks will notice that this 370 channel simulator doesn't say IBM anywhere on it, just Control Data. Image
this is because CDC made plug-compatible peripherals for the System 370, so presumably this device was designed for testing them.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug_compโ€ฆ
let's take it apart! it's very tightly packed inside, with a card cage on the left, a smaller card cage on the right, a big power transformer in the middle, and the power supply regulator in the lower right. Image
the card cage swings out! ๐Ÿ˜ Image
take a look at the wiring harness! all the front panel controls have been wired by hand. ๐Ÿ˜ Image
made in minneapolis Image
the wiring harness feeds into wire-wrapped edge connectors on the back of the card cage. you can also see two powerful cooling fans. Image
the cassette deck is no ordinary audio tape player. it has some pretty serious electronics on the back. check out the row of test points at the top of each card. Image
this card has four 74S281 chips. these are ALU chips -- this device is actually a full-blown computer! Image
factory bodge: a dead-bugged logic chip. lol. Image
so it is a computer -- and the instruction set is on a printed card on the inside of the lid! Image
the architecture is very simple, but includes conditional branches, ALU instructions, tape IO, and (of course) instructions to manipulate the bus and tag peripheral interface.
the tape looks like an ordinary audio cassette, but it's a specialty data tape. the transport is digitally controlled and can read and write entire blocks of data, automatically performing CRC checks. Image
another cool feature is that you can manually adjust the CPU clock! it's handy for slowly stepping through a program. Image
๐Ÿคค Image
did i mention it comes in this really cool aluminum suitcase? match it up with an elegant wool suit, aviators, and handcuff it to your wrist to deter would-be thieves. Image

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More from @TubeTimeUS

Jun 13, 2023
here's a weird object! it's some kind of foot pedal with an IBM logo. is it for a sewing machine? electronic synthesizer? what do you think? ๐Ÿงต Image
it's got a cursed connector! what IS that? Image
amazingly enough, I found something with the mating connector on it! but what is it? Image
Read 24 tweets
Jan 11, 2023
hey so remember the world's cutest oscilloscope i picked up last year? i think it's time to fix the probe socket issue.
i printed a new panel insert that has two BNC sockets on it (the original probes would have had captive cables)
the tricky part is that this oscilloscope has a 333K ohm input impedance instead of 1M like umm every other scope on the planet. fortunately someone designed a little conversion circuit...
Read 11 tweets
Jan 5, 2023
in honor of Sim Wong Hoo, here's a quick historical review of the Sound Blaster! ๐Ÿงต
but first we have to go back to their first sound card, the Creative Music System from 1987. (image credit: Bratgoul on Wikipedia)
this card has some special "CMS-301" chips. if you peel back the sticker, they have had their top marks removed. they're actually SAA1099 synthesizer chips made by Philips. Creative wrote music composition software for musicians on the PC.
Read 23 tweets
Dec 31, 2022
Tube Time: a 2022 retrospective ๐Ÿงต
(and stuff you might have missed!) Image
starting things off in january, i found a tube of super old 555 timer chips! i also decapped one of them.
i also started fixing up an old HP 150 computer. it's not PC compatible but it runs MS-DOS--how odd!
Read 65 tweets
Dec 29, 2022
today's mini project: fixing this Radius Thunder IV GX daughtercard. it looks fine, but... ๐Ÿงต Image
one of the chips has some broken pins! Image
looks like two of the pins got mashed and broke right at the plastic package. Image
Read 11 tweets
Dec 8, 2022
on the bench of healing tonight: my coffee grinder which decided to bite the dust. Image
symptoms: i push the start button and the motor just bumps a little bit and stops.
how to take it apart? hmm, i bet there are screws under the rubber feet. Image
Read 23 tweets

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