Front panel switches - what did they do?

On 05/24/2016 01:22 PM, Al Kossow wrote: No, there was another system made by AMP. The backplane connectors had rectangular posts, about .030 x .050" or something. You had rolls of stranded wire, maybe about 26 Gauge. There was a "gun" that had a roll of little metal clip (or maybe it was a stick-like magazine) that wrapped almost completely around the posts. So, you stuck the end of the wire into a notch in the gun and pressed the gun down onto the post and squeezed the grip. A mechanism would break the clip off the strip or roll and push it down onto the post, shearing the insulation off the wire and trapping it against the post. it was actually faster than wire-wrap. I think there was a way to do bussed wiring with it, so you just made a little loop of wire and went snap-snap-snap over the rows of posts. You could put 4 or 5 wires on a post easily, too. There was a special tool that would hook the clip and pull it off, when changes were needed. I also can't remember the name of this system. A big piece of gear, two or 3 relay racks full of boards, was built using this at a VERY prior place of employment, so that was in 1969. Jon