--- On Sat, 4/18/09, Gordon JC Pearce MM3YEQ <gordonjcp at gjcp.net> wrote:
Bit of an odd one this, rescued along
with a Seiko graphics tablet (but
no puck) and a 15" rather nice Sony monitor that needs
110V.
Certainly would be unusual. IIRC, Shima Seiki made their name in CNC circular knitting
machines (that is, CNC machines that could knit tubular shapes like socks and gloves) and
were in that field for many years, and according to their web site they still are around.
The machine you have could have been a fabric design workstation although by the time of
the 286 and 68000's Shima had branched out into more general purpose 2D CAD and paint
systems. The company I worked for in the late 80's had 14 HDTV versions of the Shima
Seiki paint system in the UK and Germany, and one low-res version which I think may be
similar what you have found. I looked after them for a couple of years. They were
certainly multi-processor in nature. I believe these were among the first NHK (analog)
HDTV systems installed in Europe, using Sony HDTV monitors, and we established quite a
close relationship with Sony Europe as a result. We were all terribly excited because
Industrial Light and Magic also had a couple of Shima Seiki systems. These days of course
they'd be old hat but in 89/90 they were quite something.
-Dave