Fifty Years Ago .... from the pages of Computer Weekly

Spring 1970 computing, compiled by TNMOC volunteer archivist, Brian Aldous.

A selection of stories from Computer Weekly from the spring of 1970. The full archive of Computer Weekly can be seen at TNMOC, where there are special rolling displays of front pages from 25 and 40 years ago.

NDPS to expand its LEO strength:

To provide extra computing power to meet growing processing demands without the need for extensive reprogramming, the Post Office is installing five LEO 326s, ordered from ICL. The five machines, worth over £2 million, have been produced on specially re-opened production lines at ICL’s plant at Kidsgrove, Staffs. (CW 12/3/70 p32)

1904As to aid BRs Payroll Centralisation:

As part of the British Railways Board computerisation process, two ICL I904As are to be added to the present 1906s installed at Crewe and Peterborough. The two machines are worth about £1 million and their main use will be for a centralised payroll scheme for 350,000 employees. (CW 19/3/70 p11)

Three Mod Ones for MEDIATOR:

An order for hardware which includes three Modular One Processors has been received by Computer Technology from Plessey Radar for installation in the London Air Traffic Control Centre at West Drayton. The computers will process data from the long-range radar station newly opened at Burrington in Devon, which forms part of Mediator, the Board of Trade’s en-route air traffic control system which covers the southern half of the UK. (CW 26/3/70 p40)

SRL given contract to install 503 in Moscow:

A contract to install an Elliott 503 in Moscow has been given by ICL to Systems Reliability Ltd of Luton. There is already a 503 in Moscow and expansion of existing applications will be achieved by the Installation of a similar system. The equipment to be installed includes the 503, which has 64K 40-bit words of core, a printer, four magnetic tape drives, and a card reader. The 503 supplied by ICL, which was originally an Elliott internal order, is unused and was the last one off the production line. (CW2/4/70 p1)

Mersey Tunnel to have Elliott-designed toll control:

A toll control system, including a central processor, closed circuit television and an automatic evasion alarm for the present Mersey Tunnel and a new tunnel connecting Liverpool with Wallasey which is due to be completed in 1971, is being designed and installed by AEI-Elliott Process Automation Ltd, part of GEC-Elliott Automation. The central processor is custom designed and built by AEI at Leicester and based on four Mullard FI standard eight-bit word 1K modules. The system incorporates two identical memory systems, both of 2K 16-bit words with capacity divided equally between update information and printout data. (CW 2/4/70 p3)

All set for MOON WALK No 3:

While the world watched Armstrong and Aldrin carrying out their moon manoeuvres last year, scientists at the NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre at Houston, Texas, were already grappling with the problems posed by the Apollo 13 venture scheduled to blast off from Cape Kennedy on Saturday. For compiling lunar maps or for selecting a moon landing site, NASA scientists have once again been using a variety of information processing aids to send the three-man crew on their 500,000-mile, 195-hour journey into space. Among this mass of computers, some of the most sophisticated systems in the world, are the Olivetti Programma-101s which have been involved in virtually every phase of the Apollo programme. Altogether there are 34 at NASA’s massive Houston complex and several others employed by independent contractors. One of the first lunar tasks for a Programma-101 was to help scientists study moon photos relayed to earth by Surveyor. Using the machine they were able to compute the dimensions of the pock-marked lunar surface from measurements of shadows cast by crater walls. (CW 9/4/70 p31)

4/70 link with March for ICI Research Lab:

The central instruments research laboratory of ICI at Pangbourne, which is in the forefront of research in process control, will take delivery this year of a system consisting of an ICL 4/70 linked to a March 2140. This major installation, which is likely to lead to the development of new high-level process control languages, is a significant order for ICL and for GEC-Elliott Process Automation who will provide the 2140 system. This is the first ICI order for a System 4 machine, but it is believed that they took delivery of a 2140 for on-line control of a mass spectrometer late last year. (CW 9/4/70 p32)

Mod One to be front-end processor on UKAEA 4/70:

An advanced interactive graphics display system is to be built by the Culham Laboratory, UKAEA, using a Modular One computer from Computer Technology Ltd as a front-end communications processor on their ICL 4/70 system. The software will be written at Culham in association with CTL. The communications system will be one of the first in which a front-end processor has been attached to an ICL 4/70. In addition to the graphics terminal, a Cossor CSD 1000 display, the system will have initially about 64 teletypewriter terminals and eight alphanumeric CRT displays. (CW 30/4/70 p1)

Michelin orders Dual PDP-8/L Online System:

A £70,000 order for a dual on-line computer system for the Michelin Tyre Co is announced by Instem Ltd of Stone, Staffs. The system, which contains two Digital Equipment Co PDP-8/L processors, will control delivery of materials and process sequences in a new tyre plant now being built by Michelin at Stoke-on-Trent. Instem will design, assemble, and program the system which will be operational later this year. It is believed to be one of the first applications of on-line computers in the UK rubber industry. (CW 30/4/70 p27)

Ferranti System Checks Cross-Channel Traffic:

With cross-channel traffic through the Dover Car Ferry Terminal expected to increase over the next few years to a million vehicles and six million passengers annually, the Dover Harbour Authority has opened a £2 million terminal extension incorporating an 8K Ferranti Argus 400 computer-based Digi-TV system to monitor traffic, confirm and allocate ferry space, provide communication control and produce sailing manifests. Catering for 600 vehicles an hour on 48 ferries and 48 hovercraft operating daily, the system uses the computer’s word block store coupled to a Digi-TV controller feeding 16 TV screens and an illuminated display board. Computer communication is via a keyboard operated by control personnel, and traffic control is carried out with a Pye closed-circuit monitoring system and UHF pocket-phones as well as a Reliance 150-line private automatic telephone exchange. (CW 7/5/70 p28)

Japanese get toehold in UK market:

Following the conclusion of an agreement between Farrington Overseas Corporation and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Japanese computers are being marketed in Britain, with one unit already installed and others due for delivery within the next three months. Under the agreement, which also covers France, two computers - the Melcom 83 and 84 - are being marketed in the UK by Farrington Data Processing Ltd, and in France by CSM-Farrington, which is claimed to be the largest office-machine distributor in the country. (CW 14/5/70 p1)

Mod Ones ordered for pathology and worms:

Two orders for Modular One systems for work in the medical field have been announced by Computer Technology Ltd. One machine will be used for the development of a pathology laboratory system, and the other will be used for the study of the nervous system of a worm. The pathology laboratory project will be developed jointly by CTL, Dundee University, and the Scottish Home and Health Department on a system installed at the university’s department of clinical chemistry at the Royal Infirmary, Dundee. The installation, which will initially be used in routine clinical chemistry analysis, is regarded as a first step towards a central computing facility for several laboratories within a hospital complex, and additionally for remote users via GPO lines. (CW 14/5/70 p32)

GEC-Marconi £3m MET Contract:

A contract valued at £3million for the supply of mobile computerised meteorological stations to the British Army is to be awarded to GEC-Marconi by the Ministry of Defence. Major sub-contractors will be Plessey Radar Ltd and Plessey Radio Systems Division. Called AMETS (Artillery Meteorological System) each station will be used by artillery regiments to provide reports on prevailing atmosphere conditions in less than two minutes. An 8K Marconi-Elliott 920B computer will automatically process data from radar and radiosonde equipment in the station tracking a hydrogen-filled balloon. (CW 21/5/70 p12)

Long-awaited multiple disc launched by ICL:

More than 18 months after the first order was reported ICL have officially announced their multiple exchangeable discs store for use with both the 1900 and System 4 series of computers. To be known as the EDS 30, the system uses 20-surface disc packs and can have from three to nine drives. Full software support is being provided. The first EDS 30 is scheduled to go to Schweppes who placed that first order in 1968 when plans to replace a KDF8 with IBM equipment were switched to an ICL 4/50. This is due to be installed this month. (CW 28/5/70 p1)

Marconi-Elliott win £1m order for Jaguar systems:

The largest military order so far for computers for the British services, which is worth £1 million, has been received by Marconi-Elliott Computer Systems for their 920M microminiature digital computers. They will be the heart of a navigation and weapon-aiming system which Elliott Flight Automation is to produce for the British version of the Anglo-French Jaguar aircraft developed jointly by BAC and Greguet. The initial contract covers the provision of the computers, spares, and back-up equipment to equip a large number of Jaguar aircraft, and MECSL expect to get a further major order for the other aircraft at a later date. The order to MECSL arises out of the £5m order awarded to Elliott Flight Automation by Mintech for the digital inertial and weapon aiming system, the first system of its kind in Europe. This order will cover a large proportion of the 200 aircraft which will go into service with the RAF. (CW 28/5/70 p10)