9 Nov
2010
9 Nov
'10
11:05 a.m.
On 9 Nov 2010 at 11:18, Richard wrote:
I need to figure out how to cobble together a PPU and
suitable driver
circuitry in order to fake out the back end of the machine. Ideally
I'd like to interface this to the CDC emulators out there.
Wow, you've got your work cut out for you, starting with the 3-phase
400Hz power feed. Did you manage to get the controller for the
display also?
My own experience mostly was with the older two-tube display:
http://bit.ly/aRrdrc
I seem to recall that the CRTs for the things were very expensive and
imported from Germany.
The 7600 used a single-tube display and was driven by the MCU. I
think the single-tube displays on other equipment came in on the
Cyber 170 series. Earlier models were the two-tube variety--no
difference in programming. The usual order of things was to have the
system dayfile on the "A" display and the running job display
(control point) on the "B" side.
The console driver used auto-completion for commands, so typing "7RO"
would cause autocompletion to "7,ROLLOUT". There were probably
around 20 different displays that could be brought up, each assigned
a letter.
Lots of room to spread out listings, spill coffee, etc...
--Chuck