I've found only a few pics of the NCR 315 on the net, all poor quality. Even asking NCR was a dead end. This computer series has great nostalgic value to me. Any links would be most appreciated.
> I've found only a few pics of the NCR 315 on the net, all poor quality. Even > asking NCR was a dead end. This computer series has great nostalgic value to > me. Any links would be most appreciated.
Worked on a 315 RMC at U of Nebr at Omaha in the early 70's Sorry, no photos, but "fond" recollections of the CRAM (Card Random Access Memory), the most devilish device *ever* devised for computer I/O. If you're not familiar with it, I'll reminisce... LMK
>>I've found only a few pics of the NCR 315 on the net, all poor quality. Even >>asking NCR was a dead end. This computer series has great nostalgic value to >>me. Any links would be most appreciated.
> Worked on a 315 RMC at U of Nebr at Omaha in the early 70's > Sorry, no photos, but "fond" recollections of the CRAM > (Card Random Access Memory), the most devilish device *ever* > devised for computer I/O. If you're not familiar with it, > I'll reminisce... > LMK
> Bill (Double Drop!!!) Turlock
Only one I ever saw was at the Miamisburg tech school. Noisy when it operated, like a Boeing 707 noisy. Never heard the result of a double card drop but was told the whole damn building knew when it happened.
>>>I've found only a few pics of the NCR 315 on the net, all poor quality.
> Even
>>>asking NCR was a dead end. This computer series has great nostalgic
> value to
>>>me. Any links would be most appreciated.
>>Worked on a 315 RMC at U of Nebr at Omaha in the early 70's >>Sorry, no photos, but "fond" recollections of the CRAM >>(Card Random Access Memory), the most devilish device *ever* >>devised for computer I/O. If you're not familiar with it, >>I'll reminisce... >>LMK
> I remember seeing one in action at a computer show in the '60s. It was loud. > Really, really loud.
I worked for NCR in the early 60s. We got a 315 around December 62. Not the RMC version, which came later. Yes, it was LOUD - so much so that I suspect it would not be acceptible to OSH types now.
>>>>I've found only a few pics of the NCR 315 on the net, all poor quality.
>> Even
>>>>asking NCR was a dead end. This computer series has great nostalgic
>> value to
>>>>me. Any links would be most appreciated.
>>>Worked on a 315 RMC at U of Nebr at Omaha in the early 70's >>>Sorry, no photos, but "fond" recollections of the CRAM >>>(Card Random Access Memory), the most devilish device *ever* >>>devised for computer I/O. If you're not familiar with it, >>>I'll reminisce... >>>LMK
>> I remember seeing one in action at a computer show in the '60s. It was loud. >> Really, really loud.
> I worked for NCR in the early 60s. We got a 315 around December 62. Not > the RMC version, which came later. Yes, it was LOUD - so much so that I > suspect it would not be acceptible to OSH types now.
Did the big NCR units use [electric motor driven] hydraulics for moving the cards around and driving the belts that took them to and from the read head cylinder? I can't remember if the RCA Spectra version called the Mass Storage Unit or "moose" was based on NCR or CDC mechanisms. Dimly recall it had the old epoxy black dot transistors, which usually meant CDC ancestry.
Most customers kept them in a separate room, soundproofed.
> > I've found only a few pics of the NCR 315 on the net, all poor quality. Even > > asking NCR was a dead end. This computer series has great nostalgic value to > > me. Any links would be most appreciated.
> Worked on a 315 RMC at U of Nebr at Omaha in the early 70's > Sorry, no photos, but "fond" recollections of the CRAM > (Card Random Access Memory), the most devilish device *ever* > devised for computer I/O. If you're not familiar with it, > I'll reminisce... > LMK
The CRAM was the center of NCR's pavilion at the 1964 New York Worlds Fair. That's the only place I've ever seen one. Now if you want to talk about the RCA RACE unit, also a card memory system and rumor has it designed by the same guy who designed the CRAM, I can go for hours. Still have a RACE card in my stash of old computer stuff. Yes, tell me more about the CRAM......
>Did the big NCR units use [electric motor driven] hydraulics for > moving the cards around and driving the belts that took them to > and from the read head cylinder? I can't remember if the > RCA Spectra version called the Mass Storage Unit or "moose" was > based on NCR or CDC mechanisms. Dimly recall it had the old > epoxy black dot transistors, which usually meant CDC ancestry.
> Most customers kept them in a separate room, soundproofed.
I may be wrong, but I thought the NCR CRAM card was sucked down the chute, wrapped around the read/write cylinder, and sent back up to the card rods, by vacuum action.
I never saw a 315 CRAM unit in action, but I did see some NCR Century Series CRAM units in action, and they were quite loud. I believe it was the evacuating air (which caused the vacuum) that was so noisy.
I wrote a file system for Crams connected to a DEC PDP 9. That was in turn connected to a pair of "servers". They were so unreliable I had to write a second copy of everything ( a log) and recovery software for card wrecks. They were however fast, probably as fast as the early moving head discs.
I think the NCR sales guys were bemused by the fact that anyone outside NCR would use the wretched things. I suspect my current partial deafness is due to standing in a small room with 10 crams going full bore! Jack Russell
>>>I've found only a few pics of the NCR 315 on the net, all poor quality.
>Even
>>>asking NCR was a dead end. This computer series has great nostalgic
>value to
>>>me. Any links would be most appreciated.
>>Worked on a 315 RMC at U of Nebr at Omaha in the early 70's >>Sorry, no photos, but "fond" recollections of the CRAM >>(Card Random Access Memory), the most devilish device *ever* >>devised for computer I/O. If you're not familiar with it, >>I'll reminisce... >>LMK
>I remember seeing one in action at a computer show in the '60s. It was loud. >Really, really loud.
[the bit about using oil for the carrier for the iron dust doesn't match my recollection--for the 729's, IBM supplied some kind of nasty volatile solvent to clean the heads with, and the label proclaimed it was also "tape developer medium"]
Anyway--
I started at UNO in the spring of 1970, hired on the basis of my experience as a crack operator on the U1108 RTOS at GWC. The UNO computing center had just signed a contract w/Univac for an 1106 (de-clocked 1108). About that time IBM started throwing their political weight around, got the contract annulled and made them get a M40, (I think). They had both the 315 and the M40 operating while I was there.
Anyway, the pics in the first URL are most likely from one of the early models of the the CRAM. Ours wasn't so space-agey looking, and _not_ pastel! It had a glass front door all the way to the floor, and was a bit taller.
IIRC, the card, after being selected, fell by gravity down a channel until it met the spinning drum, where a vacuum held it to the drum for reading and writing. To release, I think fingers picked it off the drum and inertia shot it back up the return channel (or mabe it was the same channel, I'm not sure) and a solenoid-operated plate smacked it back onto the pack, suspended by the eight " lazy-'D' " rods which were the selection mechanism.
As mentioned earlier in the thread, if some of the address notches in the cards became flexed due to wear, it was possible for more than one card to drop simultaneously. The channel/drum gap wasn't quite wide enough for two cards to pass, but since they both couldn't get to the gate precisely at the same instant, one was offset from the other, resulting in a wedge-jam just ahead of the drum, with one card usually halfway around the drum, being chewed up as a result.
It made a characteristic whine, audible and recognizable throughout the machine room. Many's the time I'd be sitting in the ops mangager's office shooting the breeze when we'd hear the siren-like sound of the jam. Someone would shout "double-drop!!" and we'd all rush out to the CRAM.
The first guy there would fling the door open, drop to his knees, and without any hesitation (if you flinched you'd get your hand chewed up) slam the heel of his hand against the outside edge of the spinning drum to bring it to an abrupt stop.
Surprisingly, we were able to save the majority of the cards involved in a D.D. if we were fast enough. They were quite rugged, despite being not too much thicker than mag tape, maybe a bit thinner than a punch card. Most of the time, IIRC, we'd have to open the back door of the cabinet to put the drive belt back on the pulley.
Somewhere I've got an address template for the cards showing which parts of the notches to trim to hard code the card number. I scanned it once, if I can find it I'll post a URL to it.
... > The first guy there would fling the door open, drop to his > knees, and without any hesitation (if you flinched you'd get > your hand chewed up) slam the heel of his hand against the > outside edge of the spinning drum to bring it to an abrupt > stop.
...
This strikes me as superbly shitty engineering! Or perhaps the unit predates any formal workplace safety standards for First World countries. Every clothes washer and drier I've ever used has the drum come to a quick halt when the lid is opened. It shouldn't have been much of a stretch for the design team to add such a facility before the first unit was shipped. But then again, much like the PHBs contemplating the Ford Pinto's gas tank design, NCR may have figured that it's cheaper to pay off injury and damage claims. Besides, machine room operators who lose a hand can probably be re- trained.
