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Ken Shirriff

A display made from electromechanical rotating wheels. I applied power to the display, causing digits to rotate.

31 August at 15:56 | Open on oldbytes.space
7 comments
Ken Shirriff

The display is constructed as a matrix. One line selects the digits and one line selects the value of that digit. On the back, each digit has a diode matrix card.

Ten small circuit boards on the back of the display. Each holds ten striped diodes. Horizontal wires run between the boards, suspended in the air. A bundle of yellow wires connects the boards to the rest of the system.
31 August at 15:58 | Open on oldbytes.space
Ken Shirriff

The system was built by CDC in the 1970s, probably for aerospace navigation, but I haven't been able to find any details.

My previous thread on this system: oldbytes.space/@kenshirriff/11

31 August at 15:59 | Open on oldbytes.space
Sorvall

@kenshirriff it’s aerospace and It looks military. But I’m fairly sure that it’s not navigation. Military aircraft from the 50’s would either use TACAN, a beacon system or INS which means it would need to be hooked up to a gyroscope.

It could be part of an early form of computer bombing system for some kind of primitive CCRP release system. But even then it’s missing things that a bomb system would have like inputs for measurements like drag factors on bomb types.

Things like T/A (Target Angle), and G/T (Ground Target?) make it look like it was at least part of some kind of targeting system.

@kenshirriff it’s aerospace and It looks military. But I’m fairly sure that it’s not navigation. Military aircraft from the 50’s would either use TACAN, a beacon system or INS which means it would need to be hooked up to a gyroscope.

It could be part of an early form of computer bombing system for some kind of primitive CCRP release system. But even then it’s missing things that a bomb system would have like inputs for measurements like drag factors on bomb types.

31 August at 17:02 | Open on meow.social
spmatich :blobcoffee:

@kenshirriff do you know if the surface mount boards were wave soldered or would soldering have been done by hand?

31 August at 23:28 | Open on ioc.exchange
Meercat ✅
kccqzy

@kenshirriff Is this how odometers on older cars work?

2 September at 4:07 | Open on techhub.social
Ken Shirriff

@kccqzy They both have rotating wheels, but in this display each digit is independent and rotates to an arbitrary digit depending on which electromagnet is energized.

2 September at 6:41 | Open on oldbytes.space
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