(j3.2006) [Fwd: Fw: IBM 7094 and 1401s in Australia]

[Van Snyder]

To all you old farts:

I was contacted by a lady in Australia named Susan Vigor
<vigors at iinet.net.au> who has an IBM 7094 and two 1401's.  She thinks
they are in fairly good condition.  Her sons wanted to sell the
collection as scrap metal but she has so far convinced them the value is
far greater.

I contacted Robert Garner at the Computer History Museum in Sunnyvale,
and he is contacting others (below).

I hope it is not sold for scrap.  Ideally it would be to put it back
into operating order and displayed operating occasionally.  Imagine
that:  A 1960's scientific computer center with an operating 7094 and
its tape drive string, fed by two 1401's.

Since Australia uses 50 Hz power, it's unlikely CHM would set it up to
work (they have enough trouble driving one 1401 at 50 Hz), but maybe
Haus zur Geschichte der IBM Datenverarbeitung would do it....

If you have any thoughts of who might give this historically important
computer a home, contact me or Susan or Robert Garner
<robgarn at us.ibm.com> (who is the leader of the 1401 restoration team at
the Computer History Museum).

Van
===================================================================================
Classic computing aficionados, 

I've been contacted about the potential availability of a complete IBM
7094 system in Rosedale, Australia.  It's owner is Susan Vigors.
 Included are docs, tapes, punched cards, etc..   Also two 1401s. 

Here's what Susan has written about the collection so far.  Please
contact her at <vigors at iinet.net.au> and please cc John Deane
(Australian Computer Museum Society) and I (or whole list) if
interested. 

[The computer collection] started with David's purchase of the Weapons
Research Establishment (WRE) IBMs at auction, following a suggestion by
his cousin (then Purchasing Officer for WRE) that it would be prudent to
keep the Defense computer in working order for a while in case a need
for it arose. He added that its scrap value was unlikely to be
recognised by the scrappies, and additionally it was the first computer
on which David worked in the late 50's and early 60's. By the way, the
1401's we used at WRE as front end consoles for the 7094, which is why
they were sold in the same lot. To this very large computer (I believe
the largest ever in the southern hemisphere) was subsequently added a
collection of computers over the years including calculators, manuals
and accessories, with a view to one day assembling a computer museum on
the property.  We are in the process of converting the property to a
tourist centre, but lack resources to initiate or manage the museum. So
- any ideas? The shed where they are stored is needed for tools and
equipment, but I have so far restrained my sons from sending them for
scrap, partly on the grounds of their value far exceeding anything the
scrap yard will offer. 

The computers were initially stored securely in our barn, but the 7094
drum was so heavy it broke the floor boards. So after a few years they
were banished to the machinery shed with a concrete floor, high iron
roof and walls and iron sliding doors (like an aircraft hangar). They
were kept dry, but not covered, so that dust, insects and rodents over
the years have deposited on the tops of the cabinets, and infiltrated
where doors were not securely shut. In the last 10 years my sons have
pushed the cabinets close together and stacked smaller computer
equipment on top of the 7094 to make space for a workshop in half the
shed, so photos are hard to come by.  There is no catalogue of the
hardware and software. ... We have a set of manuals for the 7094
equipment, paper tapes and card decks for boot-up, tapes for the tape
drives, and I'm not sure what software is included. ... We never planned
to [restore the system], as the cost of power and air conditioning would
have made it quite impractical. We envisaged a working tape unit,
possibly driven by a 1401 or a more modern PC, and perhaps a tape or
card reader to demonstrate the older technology. 

Regards, 

- Robert 


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://j3-fortran.org/pipermail/j3/attachments/20100528/c2b1fd7c/attachment.htm>