Gould 32/77 (was: NWA auctions)

[Rick Bensene]

> I'm curious what the Systems 32/77 is..
>Wasn't Gould SEL?  maybe an SEL system?


The 32/77-series was a 32-bit machine implemented in ECL, based on
earlier SEL designs, but is definitely Gould in design/manufacture. 

Some of the machines in the series had a very powerful (for the time)
floating point unit (known as the IPU) that operated in tandem with the
main CPU that vastly increased the number-crunching power available

The machines were mainly intended for real-time control applications (as
used in the flight sim applications in the auction)

The machine ran a real-time executive called MPX-32.

More information: http://www.encore-support.com/htmls/32_77.htm

Years ago, I had some experience with these machines.  They were quite
powerful for their time, and were also workhorses that just ran and ran.
Very robust design.

These are neat machines, and I hope that they end up in the hands of
someone that can care for them rather than ending up scrap.

--
Rick Bensene
The Old Calculator Museum
http://oldcalculatormuseum.com