Changeset 460 in t29-www


Ignore:
Timestamp:
Sep 7, 2013, 12:43:23 PM (11 years ago)
Author:
heribert
Message:

Englische Seiten aktualisiert

Files:
4 edited

Legend:

Unmodified
Added
Removed
  • de/rechnertechnik/gamma55.php

    r459 r460  
    1515                </div>
    1616                </div>
    17         <p>Eine "neue" Computer-Anlage von BULL beglückt unser Museum: BULL Gamma 55, nach dem Zusammenschluss von Bull mit General-Electric auch mit "GE-55" bezeichnet. Diese Anlage war 26 Jahre lang in der Schweiz komplett mit allen notwendigen Unterlagen (Manuals, Lochkarten...) eingelagert und erblickt jetzt wieder das Licht der Welt. <br>
     17        <p>Eine "neue" Computer-Anlage von BULL beglückt seit 2012 unser Museum: BULL Gamma 55, nach dem Zusammenschluss von Bull mit General-Electric auch mit "GE-55" bezeichnet. Diese Anlage war 26 Jahre lang in der Schweiz komplett mit allen notwendigen Unterlagen (Manuals, Lochkarten...) eingelagert und erblickt jetzt wieder das Licht der Welt. <br>
    1818        Sie wurde 1966 von BULL (Frankreich) entwickelt und kam 1967 auf den Markt. Gedacht war die GE-55 für kleine und mittlere Betriebe, die bisher auf "elektronische Rechenanlagen" aus Kostengründen weitgehend verzichten mussten.<br>
    1919        Dieser Computer zeigt, welche ungeheuerlichen Schritte Mitte der 60er Jahre vollzogen wurden. Während im GAMMA 10 alle Befehle und Rechenschritte mittels unzähliger aufwändiger "Zyklen" durch logisch aktive (und damit störanfälliger) Schaltungen generiert wurden, geschieht dies im GE-55 in einem riesigen Festwertspeicher in Form eines gefädelten ROMs. Hier sind sogar ganze Mikroprogramme abgelegt. Das vereinfachte den Aufwand an Logik-Bauelementen sehr stark.
     
    3333
    3434September 2013: <b id="ge55">Der Rechner läuft!</b> <br>
    35 Nach langem Suchen aller versteckter Fehler ist die Anlage nun funktionsfähig. Auch größere Gebrauchs-Programme die dabei waren, laufen einwandfrei. Mehr als 25 defekte Transistoren und Dioden mussten aufgefunden werden. Diese Bauteile sind während des "Stillstandes" innerhalb der letzten 33 Jahre kaputt gegangen. Nach umfangreichen Recherchen stellen wir fest: Dies ist der einzige Gamma 55 unseres Planeten der noch funktioniert!<br>
     35Nach langem Suchen aller versteckter Fehler ist die Anlage nun funktionsfähig. Auch größere Gebrauchs-Programme die dabei waren, laufen einwandfrei. Mehr als 30 (!!) defekte Transistoren und Dioden mussten aufgefunden werden. Diese Bauteile sind während des "Stillstandes" innerhalb der letzten 33 Jahre kaputt gegangen. Nach umfangreichen Recherchen stellen wir fest: Dies ist der einzige Gamma 55 unseres Planeten der noch funktioniert!<br>
    3636Wer sich für den Aufbau und die Programmierung des Rechners interessiert, kann hier nachlesen (in deutscher Sprache):  <a href="http://www.technikum29.de/download/Manuals-Bull%20GE55/"> BULL Gamma 55 Manuals </a> </p>
    3737
  • en/computer/gamma10.php

    r455 r460  
    66        require "../../lib/technikum29.php";
    77?>
    8     <h2>A second generation calculator: The BULL GAMMA&nbsp;10</h2>
     8    <h2>A second generation calculator: BULL GAMMA&nbsp;10</h2>
    99
    1010    <div class="box center auto-bildbreite">
     
    123123     <p>While our GAMMA 10 is in a very good shape, we cannot use the
    124124        printer any more, since all electronics are missing.<br>
    125         But we were very lucky: We got a printer from the "Federation des Equipes Bull"
    126 from France which is a perfect match for our Gamma 10. Although some parts like
    127 the outer enclosing are missing we can use parts from another printer that is
    128 beyond repair to restore this printer to working condition. Nevertheless this
    129 was a lot of work.</p>
     125        But we were very lucky: An original printer has been donated to the museum by
     126the F.E.B. (Federation des Equipes Bull) in France. Although the enclosure is
     127missing completely as well as some other parts, we were able to rebuild a
     128fully functional printer basied on this devices together with the parts
     129already in the collection. The result is remarkable (see below).</p>
    130130
    131131<div class="box center auto-bildbreite">
    132132                <img src="/shared/photos/rechnertechnik/bull-i50,vor-nachher.jpg" alt="Drucker-I 50" width="851" height="316" />
    133133                <div class="bildtext">
    134                 <p><b>BULL I 50: Before a printer fragment and afterwards fully functional </b></p><br>
    135                 </div></div></p>
     134                <p><b>BULL I 50: Before a printer fragment and afterwards fully functional </b></p>
     135                </div></div>
     136
     137<p class="small">
     138Some interesting technical data: The computer contains more than 4,000
     139discrete transistors, about 10,000 diodes and more then 2,500 test points
     140which aide the service technician.
     141Tracking down errors by swapping boards was not possible since the logical
     142functions are spread over the whole chassis and are not concentrated on
     143single cards. A typical errorneous function had to be traced from card 17,
     144which is connected to card 95, which is, in turn, connected to card 43 and
     145card 293 which contains a flipflop which is necessary to implement this
     146particular basic function. Without detailed schematics and cycle diagrams it
     147would be impossible to repair this machine.</p>
     148
     149
    136150               
    137151
  • en/computer/gamma55.php

    r303 r460  
    3737
    3838The basic implementation of the machines makes heavy use of mechanical
    39 parts but at least the card reader is an optical device.<br>
     39parts but at least the card reader is an optical device.<br>   
     40
    4041<div class="box left">
    41                 <img src="/shared/photos/rechnertechnik/ge-55-2.jpg" alt="Während der Restauration" width="566" height="322" />
    42                 <div class="bildtext">
    43 
    44 <p>During reconstruction:
    45 The picture on the left shows the system during the refurbishment of
    46 the cabinets etc.</p>
    47 </div>
    48 </div>
     42<a class="popup" href="/shared/photos/rechnertechnik/ge-55-2.jpg">
     43                <img src="/shared/photos/rechnertechnik/ge-55-2.jpg" alt="Während der Restauration" width="565" height="323" /></a>
     44               
     45                <div class="bildtext"> 
     46        <p>The system during the refurbishment of
     47the cabinets <a class="popup" href="/shared/photos/rechnertechnik/ge-55-2.jpg"> (enlarge picture) </a><br> </p>
     48                </div>
     49                </div>
     50               
    4951
    5052<p>Our machine can be programmed in machine language or some kind of a
     
    6668same time other companies like UNIVAC or IBM already employed
    6769integrated circuits (DTL, Diode-Transistor-Logic) for their machines.<br>
     70    </p>
     71       
     72September 2013: <b id="ge-55">Success! The machine is up and running!</b><br>
     73After a substantial amount of time spent for debugging, the machine is now
     74fully operational again. More the 30 (!!) defective transistors and diodes had to
     75be traced down and replaced to achieve this. These parts failed silently
     76during the 33 years in storage. We can now proudly state that this is the
     77only surviving Gamma 55 on earth which is still running. If you are
     78interested in details concerning the architecture and programming of the
     79machine, have a look here (in German only): <a href="http://www.technikum29.de/download/Manuals-Bull%20GE55/"> BULL Gamma 55 manuals </a> </p>
    6880
    69 We are still working on restoring this wonderful machine to working
    70 condition. So stay tuned, we will post status updates along the
    71 process.
    72     </p>
     81<div class="box left">
     82                <a class="popup" href="/shared/photos/rechnertechnik/leser617.jpg">
     83                <img src="/shared/photos/rechnertechnik/leser617.jpg" alt="Card-Reader" width="402" height="249" /></a>
     84                <div class="bildtext">
     85                <p>Card-Reader <a class="popup" href="/shared/photos/rechnertechnik/leser617.jpg">(enlarge picture)</a><br> </p>
     86                </div></div>
     87The card reader of the GE55 can be seen on the left of the pictures (without
     88its cover. It is interesting to see that Bull solved every problem for which
     89as (practical) mechanical solution exists in a mechanical way (as compared to
     90our times where microcontrollers are abundant even in applications which
     91might be implemented more easily with a mechanical approach). The card is
     92coupled to a punched tape which generates the clock signal for reading the
     93card's columns. Although this part can wear out easily, it is nevertheless an
     94ingenious solution.<br>
     95Also visible is the projection display: 10 digits and two
     96additional symbols are displayed by an array of incandescent lamps with
     97associated lenses. This is the main way of communicating with the machine
     98like today's video terminals.
     99The picture below shows the read-only-memory containing 1024 words. A very
     100heavy contraption but very maintainable. (Both pictures can be enlarged by
     101clicking on them.)
     102               
     103               
     104                <div class="box right">
     105                <a  class="popup" href="/shared/photos/rechnertechnik/ge55-rom.jpg">
     106                <img src="/shared/photos/rechnertechnik/ge55-rom.jpg" alt="Read-only-memory" width="399" height="259" /> </a>
     107                <div class="bildtext">
     108                <p>Right: Read-only-memory removed from the machine.
     109 <a  class="popup" href="/shared/photos/rechnertechnik/ge55-rom.jpg">(enlarge picture)</a><br></p>
     110                </div>
     111                </div>
    73112
    74113        <div class="cols">
     
    87126input/output devices and one high speed channel used by external
    88127memory units or a fast line printer...<br>
    89 </div>
    90 <div class="rightcol"><blockquote><p class="small">
    91128....the cycle time is 7.9 us. Characters are represented by their
    92129respective ISO-code. The core memory is used as data and program
    93130memory. A since byte, comprised of 8 data bits and one parity bit,
    94131stores a single alphabetical character or up to two numerical
    95 digits...<br>
     132digits...
     133</div>
     134<div class="rightcol"><blockquote><p class="small">
    96135
    97136Instructions are analyzed and executed under control of a
  • en/news.php

    r454 r460  
    55       
    66        $neues_menu = <<< MENU
     7       
     8- titel: "Gamma 55 is up und running"
     9  text: ""
     10  link: "#September_2013"
     11 
    712- titel: "Punch-Card-Music"
    813  text: "Technique and art"     
     
    1722  link: "#March_2013"
    1823 
    19 - titel: "NCR446"
    20   text: "Paper tape accessories"
    21   link: "#February_2013"
    2224
    2325 
     
    3638    <ul class="news-feed">
    3739       
    38        
     40        <li><h3>September 2013</h3>
     41<div class="box left">
     42                <img src="/shared/photos/rechnertechnik/leser617.jpg" alt="Lochkartenleser" width="241" height="149" /><br><br>
     43                </div>
     44Success! The BULL GAMMA 55 is up and running! An historical moment, <a href="/en/computer/gamma55.php#ge-55"><b>look here</a></b><br><br><br><br>
     45
     46
    3947        <li><h3>May 2013</h3><br>
    4048<div "box left clear-after">
     
    6068  <a href="/en/devices/functional-explanation-pianola.php/"> <b>Functional explanation of the pianola</b></a>
    6169</li>
    62         <li><h3>February 2013</h3>
    63 <div class="box left">
    64 <img src="/shared/photos/rechnertechnik/handlocher.jpg" width="341" height="214" />
    65 </div>
    66 Also accessories for paper tape provide an insight into the early storage media. <br> <a href="/en/computer/commercial.php#acc"><b>Look here:</b></a>
    67 <div class="clear"></div></li>
     70
    6871
    6972       
Note: See TracChangeset for help on using the changeset viewer.
© 2008 - 2013 technikum29 • Sven Köppel • Some rights reserved
Powered by Trac
Expect where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons 3.0 License