30 Dec
1999
30 Dec
'99
8:55 a.m.
Upon the date 08:48 PM 12/30/99 +0001, Hans Franke said something like:
Yes, and I'll have _you_ ask Beverly to allow it ;-)
Hmmm, this is a good definition :-)
Still, the fully loaded BA11 box that my 11/34A is contained within is on
the border of that definition. Some well conditioned, weight lifting
athletic type fellow could easily lift it. Even though my upper body
strength was enhanced a little this Spring during The Great Move, I still
cannot lift it alone except with difficulty. I estimate it weighs around
120+ lbs (55 kg).
The CPU of my IBM 9370 (a 9375-60) weighs around 280 lbs (130 kg) and
_that_ qualifies as big iron :-) even though I *could* have the whole
system in a single tall cabinet similar in size to the single-rack 11/34A.
Even digital AM broadcast is appearing occasionally in North America.
>>
I'm still wondering that myself ;-) "Have the room . . ."? What's
>> that?! :-)
>:)) Chritian, you have a wonderfull house ... and still room in
>the basement ...
Oh ho ho! Not now fella!!! :-) Thanks for the
compliment about the house,
but _a lot_ has been moved into it and the attic from the old house since
you and Christine visited last year. The second garage at the back of the
backyard (garden) is full too (or I should say "too full") and the main
garage at the house still has much of the big DEC gear in it (soon to go to
a new home :-) Nice lab area in the basement now though <g>. Next time you
visit you'll be pleasantly surprised. It's in that dark, dirty open area
you may recall seeing.
Well, yes, I remember - great you had time to finish that.
But ther's for shure some room in the garden ... as I remember
one could build there a nice add on, cover the top with grass,
and nobody will ever notice :) >And Paul, to get this straight, a PDP
isn't realy Big Iron - unless
>you name your Palm Pilot a full size server system.
Wel-llll, my 11/34A is in a tall rack and with
two RL02's, cables and
accessories it probably weighs in at around 400 lbs (180+ kg). An 11/44 I
understand can be big. Certain PDP-8's too. So it's argueable that some are
'big iron' machines. My 34A is in the basement in the lab area next to its
LA120. OTOH, my MicroPDP setting next to me is only around 75 lbs or so
(~34 kg).
As long as on person can lift the CPU it's not Big Iron. At least
when we go for pre 1990 Machines. Real Big Iron needs a forklift ...
Shure, a simple definition, just I like it.
> >> There are folks who ask me the same thing regarding my large
collection of
>> early
radios and early televisions, some large and heavy. Same answers.
>In fact, the situation is very similar - if you ignore this digital
>radio and TV chanals you still can use your 30 year old TV set to
>see Letterman, with no relevant difference (And when they air
>I love Lucy or Flipper, not difference at all:).
Yes. We know someday in the next century
(beginning a _year_ from now ;-)
all TV will be digital and we'll have to use the planned digital to analog
conversion devices to use them. There was absolutely no concept of digital
TV back in the late 40's when a bunch of my sets were made.
Starting with wide screen transmission some years ago it already got
hard to have a 60's TV give you the whole movie. And the digital era
is already present - at least some FM stations are up, and digital
satelite and cable chanels are no longer future or testinstallations ...
I feel that we may soon have a situation where the old stuff is just
no longer usable on its own.
At least virtually all our old computers should work on their own :-)
provided we can still get floppy disks, magnetic tape and other removeable
media for them (if they use it) as that stuff wears out eventually. Should
still be the same 120/240 volt 50/60 Hz mains worldwide.
Regards, Chris
-- --
Christian Fandt, Electronic/Electrical Historian
Jamestown, NY USA cfandt(a)netsync.net
Member of Antique Wireless Association
URL: http://www.antiquewireless.org/