29 Dec
2007
29 Dec
'07
9:14 p.m.
This from Billy Petit:
------- Forwarded message follows -------
Unless I have badly confused names, the GRID system was a very
unusual Control Data experiement. It was a 160-A made from CDC's
Interbrid logic chips. It used a 12 bit X and Y axis vector
display. The instruction set was the standard 160-A but with some
extra commands supporting the display. It was initialized with
Function Ready commands, then did vector transfers directly from the
processor memory. The memory was 12K core of 12 bits.
This was a very small run system, somewhere around 20 to 30 systems
total built. They were made at the Roseville plant.
The GRIDsystemwas droppeda little afterCDC bought out the imaging
group from Itek and formed the Digigraphics Division. (The market
wasn't big enough to support two competing product lines.) The 274
console was the second generation system from this new group. The
first was a huge console used on 3000 systems. It was used on large
CAD systems. They were made at the Burlington, Mass. plant. I
installed four of them at Lockheed in Marietta when they won the C-5
contract, circa 1966-67. Maybe another 10 systems total, were made.
The second generation Digigraphics system used a new controller built
from 6000 logic modules. It was a 16 bit controller and
used on the
1700 systems. There was a limited version that shipped with the
System 18.
I'd love to see the GRID manual posted to bitsavers. If you will
loan it to Al or me, we will scan it and return to you. I may still
have some schemantics for it in the garage, but I haven't seen them
since 1976 so I maybe imagining their existence.
I have recently talked to one of the designers of the GRID, but my
contact addresses for him don't work.
I still can't post emails directly to the cclist, so can I get one of
you to put up this follow up message?
Thanks,
Billy