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PICOMM computers by Potter Instrument Co, New York?

A

alltare

Experienced Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2004
Messages
106
Does anyone here know anything about PICOMM computers by Potter Instrument Co, New York? Back in the late sixties/early seventies, Potter made a 3-axis dimensional inspection machine. It used a "traveling bridge" arrangement that could take very accurate X, Y, and Z measurements anywhere in a 2 foot by 2 foot by 1 foot volume (approximately). Results were displayed on a NIXIE tube digital readout and/or on an ASR-33 Teletype. The brains of the system was a custom built (I believe) minicomputer known as the PICOMM computer. I may be wrong here. It may have simply been someone else's computer (a PDP 8?) rebranded. All I know is that it used ferrite core memory (by FerroxCube) and it could run a simple version of BASIC. If anyone knows anything at all about the computer or the complete system, I would sure be happy to hear from you. If it will tickle your brain cells, I can post a picture of it.

Thanks.
Alltare
 
OK, Joe. I posted a 100KB image HERE .

Alltare
==================

joe sixpack said:
i know nothing of this machine but it sounds very intresting please do post pic's
Click to expand...
 
All I have is the computer's front panel. The whole system was scrapped and sold in pieces at auction about 10 years ago, where I managed to buy the front panel for $5.00.
 
I'm going to move this thread over to the TECHNICAL SUPPORT > HARDWARE area. If you have any comments on this subject, please go to the "PICOMM Computer" thread there. Thanks.

Alltare
 
alltare said:
I'm going to move this thread over to the TECHNICAL SUPPORT > HARDWARE area. If you have any comments on this subject, please go to the "PICOMM Computer" thread there. Thanks.

Alltare
Click to expand...

I moved the entire thread for you. In the future you can feel free to request a thread move if you feel that you started it in the wrong area.

I'll make the same decision from time to time. . . :)

Did you want the other thread deleted?

Erik
 
Sure, kill the other one, Erik. Thanks. These electronical bits get me all enflusterated at times.

Alltare
 
re PICOMM computer

re PICOMM computer

Hi: I lived and worked near Potter Instrument in the 1960's. Their primary products in those days were IBM compatable OEM magnetic tape drives and some Line Printers. I have lost track of them since I moved out here (Indiana), so I don't know what became of them. Hoever, part of my job in those days and on into the 70's was to be aware of and as familiar as possible with every minicomputer available, and PICOMM rings a bell in my head. I think it was made by Potter (Hence the name PIcomm). It was designed to fill their in-house demand for a variety of applications in the Instrumentation area, although I don't know if it was ever used for anything but the one you describe. Sort of like the computers made by Johnson Controls, Foxboro and similar companys. I would guess that it is kind of like the Minute Man missile computers that were among the first to get into the hands of the hobbiest, in the early 70's. They were powerful and fun but almost all software had to be developed from scratch. I think there might have been a User Group and it may even show up on google. I'll try it later and see what I can fine on both PICOMM and Minute Man compter.
Good luck and I hope you fined this epistile of non-information interesting if not useful.
Ray
 
Ray, thanks for your feedback. If you should turn up any other info, please tell me about it.

The name "PICOMM" was, as you said, derived from the company name. The Potter factory was in Plainview, Long Island. I think FerroxCube, whose memory was used, was also in or near Plainview at the time. A google search yields little more than a couple of complete measuring systems for sale by surplus equipment dealers.

I've posted another photo HERE of just the front panel, as I have it now. By inspection of the indicators/switches, it appears to have used 8-bit words and 15(?) address bits. There's a clear plexiglas cover that would normally be slid into place over the upper recessed portion of the panel, to keep curious fingers from poking buttons while running. I removed it for the photo. The separate PICOMM nameplate was originally mounted to the computer's cabinet, above the control panel, as can be seen in my first picture.

This whole thing is particularly frustrating for me because I was sent to Potter's school for 2 weeks to learn how to operate it and how to do basic maintenance (that's me in the first picture). I think I could still operate the thing if I had to, but I've forgotten all of the technical stuff they taught me. It was such a reliable system that I never even had to change a fuse.

It's interesting that you left NY for Indiana at about the same time I left Indiana for New Mexico. You can have that winter weather.

Alltare
=============================
 
More info leaking slowly from my aging memory cells:

I don't recall that the computer had any kind of mass storage device other than the Teletype's punched paper tape- no floppy or hard disc, no mag tape, and no drum. Of course with the non-volitile ferrite memory, once the operating program was loaded, it was permanently installed, somewhat like being in ROM, until purposely erased. There was no need to reboot the system each time it was powered up. In case of machine failure, there was a procedure to reload everything from punched tape, but I don't think this was ever necessary while I was the operator.

Alltare
 
re PICOMM

re PICOMM

Hi Altair;
I have a few questions which are not exactly technical, but more like nostalgic.
When did you attend school on the machine? Did you work for Potter here in Indiana, or for someone who bought one of the systems to be used as a mesuring system?
When did you go to New Mexico, and what did you do there? Are you still working for a living, retired or what?
I'm 73 and will be 74 in June. I moved from Long Island to Bloomington, Indiana in the summer of 1973 to work for Indina University in the Psych dept. as their first resident systems engineer. That lasted until about May of 76 when I had to quit and attend to the computer store I had opened in Feb. It was called "Te Data Domain" and was oneof thefirst dozen or so stores in the country. The Data Domain was considered by many to be one of the best stores there was. We had customers from all over the country, and many from places like Brazil, the middle east, Europe and the far east. If you have read the book titled "Fire In The Valley" you have seen my name a few times. The book was co-authored by Mike Swaine who worked for me for a few years prior to his move to the West Coast to become famous as the editor of Dr. Dobbs Journal.
I enjoyed your discussion of the FerroxCube memory in the computer. Ah for the good old days of non-volatile main memory, and referring to the size in termsof"Words" not Bytes. Of course they were just a wee bit more expensive than semiconductor RAM. I can remember ordering an 8K stack for expansion of an SDS 920 computer. Word length was 24 bits and the 8192 word stack cost over $20,000. Now you buy a half a gigabyte for a few bucks.
It is hard for a lot of fellow collectors to imagine the computers of the years prior to the 8080 chip (et al) and the fact that we didn't have sexey operating systems, floppy disks, CD Roms, huge capacity hard disks and things like Windows XP that represent many millions of machine language instructions and many thousands of man hours from many thousands of programmers. I knew a guy who wrote a real-time data acqusition and control program consisting of 26,000 lines of debugged and annotated code in just over 6 months, by himself! I'm not a programmer and not learning to really program is the biggest regret of my almost 50 years of working with computers.
Well I'll keep thinking about the PICOMM and Potter Instrument Company. I worked at Brookhaven National Labs about 30 miles further out that Plainview. But I visited them more than a few times over the years between 1956 and 1972, for one thing or another.
Ray
 
Ray, I've inserted my comments in your text, below.
-------------------------
Hi Altair;
I have a few questions which are not exactly technical, but more like nostalgic.
When did you attend school on the machine? Did you work for Potter here in Indiana, or for someone who bought one of the systems to be used as a mesuring system?
------------------------
I worked for Sparton Southwest (now Sparton Industries) in Albuquerque for a couple of years around 1969/1970. At the time, Sparton was owned by Daystrom Industries, who I believe owned Heathkit at about the same time. Sparton's main products were mechanical pressure transducers and PC boards and assemblies for (mostly) Sandia Labs and the Air Force, for the Viet Nam war effort. I think they were one of the few companies who could successfully make 4-layer PC boards at the time. I was in the QC department, officially I was an inspector, but being one of their few employees who knew anything about digital electronics, I was also the designated repair guy for the Picomm. I attended the factory school in late 1969. Half for operation, and half for general troubleshooting and maintenance. Of course, any real problems would require a factory rep to fix.
------------------------
I enjoyed your discussion of the FerroxCube memory in the computer. Ah for the good old days of non-volatile main memory, and referring to the size in termsof"Words" not Bytes. Of course they were just a wee bit more expensive than semiconductor RAM. I can remember ordering an 8K stack for expansion of an SDS 920 computer. Word length was 24 bits and the 8192 word stack cost over $20,000. Now you buy a half a gigabyte for a few bucks.
It is hard for a lot of fellow collectors to imagine the computers of the years prior to the 8080 chip (et al) and the fact that we didn't have sexey operating systems, floppy disks, CD Roms, huge capacity hard disks and things like Windows XP that represent many millions of machine language instructions and many thousands of man hours from many thousands of programmers. I knew a guy who wrote a real-time data acqusition and control program consisting of 26,000 lines of debugged and annotated code in just over 6 months, by himself! I'm not a programmer and not learning to really program is the biggest regret of my almost 50 years of working with computers.
---------------------------
I *almost* bought a Bendix G-15 computer (about the size of a refrigerator, tube-powered, drum memory, Flexowriter I/O) for $100 from an architectural firm in ~ 1978. That would have been a great conversation piece, and I wouldn't have had to run my furnace in the winter. At the last minute, they donated it to a local museum for the tax writeoff. The museum junked it a few years later, I heard. Too bad.
---------------------------
Well I'll keep thinking about the PICOMM and Potter Instrument Company. I worked at Brookhaven National Labs about 30 miles further out that Plainview. But I visited them more than a few times over the years between 1956 and 1972, for one thing or another.
-----------------------------
Please keep me informed, Ray

alltare
 
Potter Picomm

Potter Picomm

Probably was a PDP 11/05 (red front panel on computer?)

NIXIE tube displays and PICOMM were a major breakthru made by Jack Potter who was an inventor and mechanical engineer from RPI.

I worked in systems engineering and product test engineering. Potter was a leader in computer disk, tape, and printers. They OEMed them to computer manufacturers and sold a line of IBM compatible peripherals and controllers.

IBM licensed many of their tape and disk patents.
 
This thread is over 2 years old, I don't think they are even active anymore. Please check dates in the future...
 
I still check back every now and then, Vlad. The pictures are still posted too.

Thanks for your input, Kmoskow. Did you work for DEC or Potter?
I'm not sure what red front panel you're talking about- the PICOMM is all black. Also, it seems to use 8-bit words. The PDP 11/05 was a 16-bit machine, and the PDP 8s were all 12-bit (I don't think any PDP products used anything smaller). That would pretty much rule out DEC computers as being the true soul of the PICOMM.

In the 2 years since I started this thread, I have still not come up with any real documentation, ads, or any other printed material about the PICOMM, but I'm still looking.
 
Last edited:
Potter PICOMM

Potter PICOMM

Yes, this is an old thread. But...
I worked for Potter in the early seventies up until they folded (my last paycheck was lost in the mail.....)
Potter had myriad products used in instrumentation and they also contributed much to the magnetic tape and disc storage as used in mainframe and military uses. I was a tech support sort on the plug compatible mag tape, disc and printer equipment. Potter Instruments (PICO) built and marketed both hydraulic and voice coil actuated disk drives suitable for use on IBM mainframe. In the field of magnetic tape, PICO filed for patents on the RLL encoding used in 6250 BPI in the sixties. (PICO had tons of patents!)
They built re-labeled equipment for Burroughs and other companies during their apex. Financial skullduggery probably caused their collapse. Jack Potter had difficulty with the IRS maybe?

The PICOMM minis were in a different business area and I never did much with them. IMHO, the mini computer of the 60s and 70s were not very different. When I later worked around Prime, Data General, PDP and several others brands all seemed very much the same.
 
Thanks for your comments, Woodym1. Sorry to hear about your paycheck. If you should ever come across anything about Potter's computer(s), please post it here.
 
Old Potter hand

Old Potter hand

Alltaire - I was hired by John Potter and worked for Potter Instrument on 115 Cutter Mill Road in Great Neck back in the early 1950s until I was drafted in 1953. I worked on several early Potter test instruments, but not the PIICOM, which I suspect was a successor unit. RCA Systems was the primary user of the earlier testing systems, but they were also installed as process controllers in steel mills in western Pennsylvania and Ohio. I searched through my older documents, but can't find any reference to your item. Perhaps Charlie Marshall, Mike Flanagan or Mickey Burke of Potter's development lab are still around. Mike and Mickey would be in the eighties if they are still around. The earlier test systems were based on Potter's printed circuit boards with vacuum tubes and high speed rotating crystals, and the various sensors were supplied by outside contractors. Output systems included Tektronic scopes. I worked on a page reader using photoelectrical cells and an early inkjet printer that was under contract for Harvard University. As far as I know it was never successful, primarily due to the limited capabilities of the photoelectric scanner. The inkjet printer wasn't really reliable either. Sorry I can't help out more.
 
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