DaveL59

17 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

Yes, all of the above. I remember the paper tape reader/puncher and bi-directional reel to reel tape drives using half inch tape which was great for making extra long VHS cassettes from as a physics teacher showed us!  Yes, the 14 inch Winchester had removeable platters, a stack of 5 or 6 discs (sorry, disks!).

yeah, modern computers even mainframes are such boring things to look at or show someone. Big bland box and maybe a single indicator light and switch, maybe a couple extra. Nothing like the old days with rows of switches and lights flickering away showing the PC and memory address etc:

And those old data-dynamics teletype terminals, a handy desk-shaker to wake you from a snooze when a console alert came in that you'd need to act on 😉 

Those little reels are DECtape, 100 block random-access tape drives, bi-directional read/write and all 🙂 

What's the diameter of the OTA tube?

I have an old head that's no use to me but is small diameter, as per pics. No Slo-Mo just basic alt-az but if its of use to you I'd be happy to send it on.

5 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

I don't bother with Twatter, it's not my thing.

I did have an account there, only used to enter a house raffle competition several years ago and lain dormant since. Was the only "social" media account I had, no FB or other mobile battery killing stuff for me thanks.  Deleted it as soon as news broke that the big twit was going to be buying it as did several friends. Is no surprise that its now lost lots of users and advertisers, I can see bankruptcy in its future or total failure of its app when the remaining workforce decide to tell him what he can do with his latest unreasonable terms of employment... 

43 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

The way I read that made me howl with laughter! 🤣

So we can expect more? Cool!

does that mean that tw@tter wants her to post images with more flesh content I wonder? 😉 

24 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

Honeywell 516 mainframe with magnetic core memory, 14 inch winchester drives and, of course wire-wrapping everywhere and only 16 k of RAM, all programmed in octal. That was my first (and last) mainframe experience.

Never met that one, DECsystem-10 KA & KI processors (piano-key and flashing light consoles) and ICL 1902T and occasionally some IBM thing up in Scotland that we remotely accessed. All our drives were removable, multi-platter spinning rust (RP03/RP06) along with the obligatory tape drives with vacuum tubes as the movies like to show. Not forgetting of course the tape punch/reader and the card punch/verify/sort/readers. Proper old skool tech, huge, loud and eminently kickable when it didn't do what you'd asked 😄 

That was my thought also, tho the speed may be down to load, probably a large amount if initial interest after all. 

The first mainframe and minicomputer systems I worked on had mag core memory, also wire-wrapped backplane interconnects etc. Of course they occupied a vast amount of space and now a basic smartphone trounces that tech for performance and capacity, but I'm glad to have worked on stuff that was at the earlier part of the tech slope and seen how things developed in leaps and bounds over the past decades.

Here's one that may interest some:

Restoring The Apollo Guidance Computer (Part 2) - The Samtec Blog

very professional looking piece of kit, nicely done Mandy 🙂 

3 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

I believe NASA has already commissioned Northrop Grumman to create a suitable block for Mr. Cruise to stand on, when shooting any lunar scenes with his co-astronauts. 

hmmm, wouldn't platform boots be easier?

so back on track, Angry at Goonhilly, tracking Artemis 🙂 

I agree @Carbon Brush tech has come on a very long way. Back in the mid 70's I had a TI58 programmable calculator, great it was and by comparison the on-board computers in the apollo missions were akin to the slide rule. Memory, sure mag-core maybe?

Let's not forget battery tech too, after all they didn't have solar cells or LiPo etc. Hate to think tho what'd happen if a lithium battery went runaway up there, it'd all be over pretty fast 😮 

I think where a lot of the critique has come tho is after all those past missions and developments in how to do things, it took so long to just get it off the ground. It's just a stretch limo version of the old shuttle fuel tank with a cherry on top in many ways, or looks like it. Perhaps if they'd gone for a different design/appearance folks would get that it's very new so be less frustrated at the delays and problem and abandonned launches.

10 minutes ago, Paul M said:

Tom Cruise is waiting for the script

 

Nah he's too short to be an astronaut isn't he? 😄 

2 minutes ago, Dark Adaptation said:

There, see, I thought so. Some huge conspiracy theory! 😀😉

easy too, cover of darkness to get concorde back to its parking spot and she can climb to 60,000 ft so would look about right.

SRB's? easy, a couple fighters paralleling and peel away left/right at the right moment and there you have it 😉 

29 minutes ago, Dark Adaptation said:

Nah, I'm dreaming, it didn't launch 😁

nope, it was all done with VR and computer animations, just like the moon landings way way back in a big warehouse with some grey coloured sand. I mean, that flag fluttering, gotta have been staged, right? 😉 

Oh and that big loud flaring object in the sky, they de-mothballed their concorde, gassed it up and did a fast climb with full afterburners lit 😄 

4 minutes ago, Dark Adaptation said:

Aggghhh I missed the launch live feed. Ah well. 😪😁

Looks like our big roman candle finally launched!

you can at least get to watch it via youtube and at least you know it actually will rather than joining a live stream and just hoping it will 🙂 

It is pretty good isn't it 🙂

Myself and some others chose to make our own carrier with either a prism or mirror which means the LT70 is still complete and can be used or passed on/sold. In my case it'll be going to my daughter and kids to use. There's a thread or 2 on here that covers what we've done from a couple years back.

lets not forget too our little spaceship is on a decaying orbit tho at least there's quite a while before it gets to be a real concern... 🙂 

we're getting closer:

Spaceport Cornwall granted operating licence - BBC News

now just need the OK to fire the rocket 🙂 

4 minutes ago, DaveS said:

I started watching the NASA Spaceflight livestream last night, and left it on my phone so I could pick it up this morning, so just caught the launch when I surfaced to take my tablets.

I wasn't sure it was worth getting up, half-expecting another delay but decided to set the alarm anyway. Of course hearing that going off one of the kitties decided it was a good time to come into the bedroom and call out his demand for food so I of course then had to get up. Joined the live stream at T-10 and was please to see it get going as I tucked in to breakfast.

Can't seem to change the title to put the year in, could one of the Moderators sort it for us, please 🙂 

so we're in orbit, solar panels deploying. Should mean they'll have enough spare power to run the cassette deck playing "wheels on the bus" to keep Mr Spock and the rest of us kiddies entertained on the long trip 😉 

1 minute ago, Mr Spock said:

Are we there yet...

nearly 🙂

it's up and ditched the boosters and abort systems. looks good so far.

all cloud cover here too, moon just a fuzz-ball up there. Still, T-10 and holding so looks like it'll be lit this time around 🙂

8 minutes ago, Stu said:

Ladies and gents, whilst I find the shapes of certain rockets as amusing as the rest of you, let’s try to keep this thread on the straight and narrow, as it were….

sorry dude, it was just too hard to resist 😉 

anyways, fingers crossed we get an exciting show as us UK bods wake for the day 🙂 

Nice job Mandy, how much are you planning on charging for one of these? 🙂