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Please Help Us to Restore VCF’s IBM 1130

ajacocks

ajacocks

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The IBM 1130 is an early example of what became commonly known as minicomputers (smaller than room-size); one computer for one person. It is also unique in the sense that there are only a small number in existence, and few are functional.

We take pride in the fact that many, in fact most, artifacts displayed in our museum are functional and provide an interactive experience for our museum visitors. We now have an opportunity to add the IBM 1130 to the list of functional artifacts!

Please consider helping us to restore this amazing artifact:

https://vcfed.org/2022/10/15/ibm-1130-repair-fundraiser/

Feel free to share this with like-minded individuals and organizations who may also be interested in helping to preserve computing history.

- Alex
 
Hi Alex,

Where can I read about exactly what 1130 equipment that you've acquired? (i.e. peripherals).
On the same topic, whatever happened to the CHM IBM 1620 restoration project? I haven't seen much about it in recent years.
 
Chuck,

I’m not sure that we have anything online about peripherals, but we have the associated keypunch and printer. I’ll ask and find out.

No idea on the 1620. I’ll see what I can find there, too.

- Alex
 
Thanks, Alex. I remember programming the 1130 and being a little flummoxed that the card read only read column-binary and that it was up to me to translate the punch codes--that was "bare metal" assembly. Not a big thing but a departure from traditional IBM practice.
The reason that I ask about CHM's 1620 is that the newsthread went silent. Given that the 1130 and 1620 are roughly from the same period, I wonder if there are any lessons to be learned.
 
Ouch, that visible rust doesn't bode well. IIRC, the big stumbling block with the 1620 was the core memory condition. I can't imagine that poor 1130's core is in any better condition. The CHM expended a heroic effort to get their 1401 up and running--and it was a pretty complete system.

Perhaps the best course would be to clean the system up and show it as a static exhibit?
 
We’ve already been in contact with Carl Claunch, who has restored several other similar machines, and he has seen ours, and assured us that it is complete and repairable.

- Alex
 
Looks like the IBM 2501 reader, used a lot on medium S/360 boxes also. For the low-end S/360 20 stuff, you usually saw the 2560 MFCM (insert your own mnemonic version-as in "Mother F*****r Card Mulcher").

I see that you also have the 1627 plotter.

What's the rack unit to the right of the 2501 in the photo?
 
Chuck(G) said:
Hi Alex,

Where can I read about exactly what 1130 equipment that you've acquired? (i.e. peripherals).
On the same topic, whatever happened to the CHM IBM 1620 restoration project? I haven't seen much about it in recent years.
Click to expand...
From what I know we have the Card Puncher, Card Reader and a bigger green bar printer. Not sure of all the model numbers. If you are looking for something in particular, then I can look in the warehouse. I'm not familiar with all the peripherals for the 1130. I only know what I have seen in the museum and warehouse the past 14 years.
 
Chuck(G) said:
Looks like the IBM 2501 reader, used a lot on medium S/360 boxes also. For the low-end S/360 20 stuff, you usually saw the 2560 MFCM (insert your own mnemonic version-as in "Mother F*****r Card Mulcher").

I see that you also have the 1627 plotter.

What's the rack unit to the right of the 2501 in the photo?
Click to expand...
That is an EAI TR-20. Along with a plotter for it (can't see from the picture). We are also restoring that machine to make it work. We have someone who used to work at the company working on it, slowly, but surely.
 
arkaxow said:
From what I know we have the Card Puncher, Card Reader and a bigger green bar printer. Not sure of all the model numbers. If you are looking for something in particular, then I can look in the warehouse. I'm not familiar with all the peripherals for the 1130. I only know what I have seen in the museum and warehouse the past 14 years.
Click to expand...
No, just testing my memory, from over a half-century ago. To me, the 1130 wasn't nearly as interesting as the 1620. I doubt that few people younger than about 50 would even find the 1620 interesting, but back in the day, there were a lot of them in use (and the 1710 industrial controller version). I do recall that Dijkstra didn't think much of them.

The usual card reader/punch was the 1442 for the 1130--a holdover from the 1440 computer system. It was good enough to find use on S/360 and S/370 as well as System/3. The 1620 used the 1622 reader/punch which was an adaptation of the 1402 unit from the 1401 computer systems.

This holdover from older system designs was pretty common. The venerable IBM 1403 line printer found use across IBM's line for many years. It was a design that other computer makers did their best to copy. A dirty little secret is that when CDC was designing the 512 line printer, they purchased a 1403 through the gray market and took it to pieces.

IIRC, Standard Oil near Chicago had a program for high school students that used the 1800 there (Industrial controller version of the 1130).

The EAI analog unit should be interesting.
 
Last edited:
On CHM’s IBM 1620, this is from Dag Spicer, curator:

Our IBM 1620 Restoration Project was an amazing success, with some clever innovations -- like building an emulator to get software into it and replacing a rusted out magnetic core main memory with a semiconductor replacement!

We had the system on display and demonstrated it for about 10 years. It was in its own room with cool graphics.
Click to expand...

So, they completely succeeded!

- Alex
 
Thanks for that :), but do observe that this again, was a huge effort and that a major part of the original could not be saved.

How many other operating 1130 systems are there around that yours can eventually join?
 
Chuck(G) said:
Looks like the IBM 2501 reader, used a lot on medium S/360 boxes also. For the low-end S/360 20 stuff, you usually saw the 2560 MFCM (insert your own mnemonic version-as in "Mother F*****r Card Mulcher").

I see that you also have the 1627 plotter.

What's the rack unit to the right of the 2501 in the photo?
Click to expand...
Unrelated. EAI analog computer equipment.
 
I think these are the same 1130. They are labelled VCF and were taken in 2015, so there is the printer and the console, card reader, plotter, tape punch and card reader...


DSCF1620.JPGDSCF1698.JPG
 
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