firedome
Well-known member
...anyone care to guess what it is? No, it won't do dishes, but it might be used to analyze their compostion!
Newest oddball appliance acquisition...it's not the world's fanciest countertop dishswasherr
- Thread starter firedome
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8-bit hobbyist computer
Well? Am I right?
Well? Am I right?
firedome
Well-known member
no ceeegar...
sorry, wrong on both counts! Well, unless one was a very RICH hobbiest!
sorry, wrong on both counts! Well, unless one was a very RICH hobbiest!
firedome
Well-known member
Think....
a bit more upscale... and no, not that particular upscale.
Only old Enginerd types might know this one...
a bit more upscale... and no, not that particular upscale.
Only old Enginerd types might know this one...
firedome
Well-known member
In 1976...
a mere $16,800 got you a Data General Nova 3/12 minicomputer. Commonly found in scientific research, university labs, and mid-sized businesses (not for home use obvious reasons), they were the first "cost-effective" alternatives from Digital and Data General, to IBM, Control Data, Sperry Univac, Honeywell, and other "Big Iron" mainframes. For this paltry sum (equivalent to $70,000 today) you got yourself a 16 bit processor with A 128k word newly introduced semiconductor (not magnetic core) memory, auto program load, memory management...however extra memory, I/O boards, and peripherals were extra!
Starting in the late '70s, microcomputers rapidly made these machines obsolete in size, price and performance, so minicomputers the size of refrigerators (this is the CPU only) were abandoned in droves, making then very rare and sought after today. However the DG Nova was famously reliable and, amazingly, 40 years later one is still being used in Orion "Hurricane Hunter" aircraft, and as a process controller for a nuclear reactor in Ontario Canada!
This Nova 3 CPU is currently being restored... still searching for peripherals. If you think finding vintage appliance parts is difficult, just try one of these!
a mere $16,800 got you a Data General Nova 3/12 minicomputer. Commonly found in scientific research, university labs, and mid-sized businesses (not for home use obvious reasons), they were the first "cost-effective" alternatives from Digital and Data General, to IBM, Control Data, Sperry Univac, Honeywell, and other "Big Iron" mainframes. For this paltry sum (equivalent to $70,000 today) you got yourself a 16 bit processor with A 128k word newly introduced semiconductor (not magnetic core) memory, auto program load, memory management...however extra memory, I/O boards, and peripherals were extra!
Starting in the late '70s, microcomputers rapidly made these machines obsolete in size, price and performance, so minicomputers the size of refrigerators (this is the CPU only) were abandoned in droves, making then very rare and sought after today. However the DG Nova was famously reliable and, amazingly, 40 years later one is still being used in Orion "Hurricane Hunter" aircraft, and as a process controller for a nuclear reactor in Ontario Canada!
This Nova 3 CPU is currently being restored... still searching for peripherals. If you think finding vintage appliance parts is difficult, just try one of these!
firedome
Well-known member
here's a typical mini installation
with disk and tape drives, and a Data General Eclipse S-130 processor sharing duties with a Nova 3:
with disk and tape drives, and a Data General Eclipse S-130 processor sharing duties with a Nova 3:
if you're ever in Seattle, the Museum of Computing makes for a fascinating couple of hours---Brian and I were not expecting much but it was very cool.
firedome
Well-known member
thanks,
yes I've heard of it, there's computer museums in Rhode Island and Bay area CA,
as well as here in Endicott NY, the original home of IBM, who once had 4 factories employing 15,000 here.
I thought there were more computer-geek types here at AW.o?
yes I've heard of it, there's computer museums in Rhode Island and Bay area CA,
as well as here in Endicott NY, the original home of IBM, who once had 4 factories employing 15,000 here.
I thought there were more computer-geek types here at AW.o?
cornutt
Well-known member
The first computer I ever used was a Nova II owned by the high school I attended. This was circa 1975. It had a whopping 64K bytes of magnetic core memory, and two 5MB front-loading cartridge disk drives. Four Teletype ASR-33s, two DG Novadisplays, and an ADDS Consul 580. And a Centronics 100 dot matrix printer that shook the room when it printed.
firedome
Well-known member
This came right on the heels of the Nova 2, in '75...
and used some of the same types of peripherals, usually a Diablo 33 disk drive, and DG Dasher terminal. It's going to be a real challenge to find them for this restoration.
and used some of the same types of peripherals, usually a Diablo 33 disk drive, and DG Dasher terminal. It's going to be a real challenge to find them for this restoration.
cornutt
Well-known member
Diablo 33s were what ours had. I have no idea where you'd find a working one, or cartridges for it. I think -- I'm not sure -- it used an SMD interface. You might be able to find something like a mid-80s Fiujitsu fixed-disk drive and make it work. It would be way more storage than RDOS can address, and you'd probably have to hack the driver to accommodate the disk geometry, but it might work.
