CDC 924 console in 'The Terminator' (fwd) - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

12 Oct 1999

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 15:35:05 -0500 (CDT)
From: Grigoni &lt;msg(a)computerpro.com&gt;
To: John Dykstra &lt;jdykstra(a)nortelnetworks.com&gt;
Subject: RE: CDC 924 console in 'The Terminator'

On Tue, 12 Oct 1999, John Dykstra wrote:

...
  On Monday, October 11, 1999 11:05 PM, Grigoni
[SMTP:msg@computerpro.com]
 wrote:
  A reasonbly good scan of the showcase photograph
from a marketing brochure
 for the CDC 924 can be found at: http://www.mtr.webconcept.de/image/
 computer/cdc/924.jpg  
 The correct URL is <http://www.mtr.webconcept.de/image/computer/cdc924.jpg>.

 Michael, when was this machine marketed?  The tape drives in the photo look
 like 607's, and the chassis is similar to a 6000-series machine. 
They seem to be pre-corporate-switch 606s, eg. 606A or B.  However, the
machine (like the 1604) was originally marketed with Ampex tapedrives,
generally the vacuum-column versions although the torsion-arm versions
were also used (the model numbers escape me at the moment, but in the
case of the 1604 I believe the 4-drive chassis was the 1605).

This photo is of a newer configuration, probably circa 1963.  I remember
some indications that the 1604 and 924 were prototyped in 58-59 and
the 1604 first delivered to the Navy in 1960.  Our 160 reference manual
(first printing with the blue/white color scheme) is dated 1959.

Michael Grigoni
Cybertheque Museum

...

 It's amusing to note that the teletypewriter in the photo is an IBM model.
 CDC made some pretty good peripherals, but they didn't try to out-do IBM in
 this arena.

   --  John