| Re: Movie Computers [message #339890 is a reply to message #339871] |
Mon, 20 March 2017 19:12   |
Anne & Lynn Wheel
Messages: 3156
Registered: January 2012
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scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) writes:
> That seems pretty useless. How do you encode two EBCIDC F0 bytes?
re:
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2017c.html#65 Movie Computers
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2017c.html#68 Movie Computers
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2017c.html#72 Movie Computers
I think you find "column binary" was compatibility with pre-360 and
machines that had 6bit bytes (or 36bit words).
I periodically mentioned that I redid 1401 MPIO (handled unit-record
front end for 709 that ran tape-to-tape ... and then tapes moved between
709&1401 to do reader->tape and tape->printer/punch.
cards were BCD format (character) or "binary", two six-bit bytes/column
most common, the "binary" was the executable output from compilers.
the difference between pre-360 binary executable ... which had
difference between BCD (character) mode and "column binary" executable
..... and 360 (compiler/assembler) executable ... and each column
treated as 2**8 EBCDIC/hexadecimal .... aka didn't have different read
operations for character and executable ... character translating from
2**8 possible punch combinations to 8bit bytes.
a couple recent posts mentioning MPIO
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2017.html#46 Hidden Figures and the IBM 7090 computer
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2017.html#80 Languages
in some past afc discussions involving MPIO ... somebody mentions
reading all cards as "column binary" and then (if needed) performing the
punch hole combination translation in the computer (rather than having
it done in the controller).
--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #339942 is a reply to message #339885] |
Tue, 21 March 2017 16:38 |
Gene Wirchenko
Messages: 1166
Registered: January 2012
Karma: 0
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On Mon, 20 Mar 2017 18:00:41 -0400, Alan Bowler <atbowler@thinkage.ca>
wrote:
> On 2017-03-18 10:55 PM, Joe Pfeiffer wrote:
>>
>> Would an EBCDIC card only use the top eight rows of the card?
>
> No. The top 3 rows (12,11,0) and the bottom 2 rows (8,9) had
> and number of had any combination of holes, but the middle row (1-7)
> had at most 1 hole punched. This ensured that there was never a
> card with all holes punched (lace-card), and were strong enough to
> stand most card reader actions. This could be important for binary
> object decks. Also allowed the controller/reader hardware catch
But weren't binary decks 1 1/2 bytes per column which would allow
creating a lace card (either deliberately or not)?
If I am mistaken on that, how were binary decks encoded?
[snip]
Sincerely,
Gene Wirchenko
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #339961 is a reply to message #339942] |
Tue, 21 March 2017 20:06 |
Charlie Gibbs
Messages: 5313
Registered: January 2012
Karma: 0
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On 2017-03-21, Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> wrote:
> On Mon, 20 Mar 2017 18:00:41 -0400, Alan Bowler <atbowler@thinkage.ca>
> wrote:
>
>> On 2017-03-18 10:55 PM, Joe Pfeiffer wrote:
>>
>>> Would an EBCDIC card only use the top eight rows of the card?
>>
>> No. The top 3 rows (12,11,0) and the bottom 2 rows (8,9) had
>> and number of had any combination of holes, but the middle row (1-7)
>> had at most 1 hole punched. This ensured that there was never a
>> card with all holes punched (lace-card), and were strong enough to
>> stand most card reader actions. This could be important for binary
>> object decks. Also allowed the controller/reader hardware catch
>
> But weren't binary decks 1 1/2 bytes per column which would allow
> creating a lace card (either deliberately or not)?
>
> If I am mistaken on that, how were binary decks encoded?
You're not mistaken; you could read or punch lace cards (although
they're so flimsy that the hardware might tear them to bits).
I don't recall ever seeing column binary used for a real application.
As for "binary" decks, if you mean object code, they were punched
one column per byte, using all 256 possible combinations, meaning
that there was at most one punch in rows 1 through 7. Such decks
were strong enough to survive many passes through the card reader.
--
/~\ cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid (Charlie Gibbs)
\ / I'm really at ac.dekanfrus if you read it the right way.
X Top-posted messages will probably be ignored. See RFC1855.
/ \ HTML will DEFINITELY be ignored. Join the ASCII ribbon campaign!
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #339970 is a reply to message #339961] |
Tue, 21 March 2017 22:39 |
Gene Wirchenko
Messages: 1166
Registered: January 2012
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On 22 Mar 2017 00:06:51 GMT, Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid>
wrote:
> On 2017-03-21, Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> wrote:
[snip]
>> But weren't binary decks 1 1/2 bytes per column which would allow
>> creating a lace card (either deliberately or not)?
>>
>> If I am mistaken on that, how were binary decks encoded?
>
> You're not mistaken; you could read or punch lace cards (although
> they're so flimsy that the hardware might tear them to bits).
> I don't recall ever seeing column binary used for a real application.
I remember reading something about it for OMR (Optical Mark Read)
cards for one card reader at UBC. The routine for handling binary
cards was named Binary Arrangement of Row Format (or something
similar); the acronym was BARF.
> As for "binary" decks, if you mean object code, they were punched
> one column per byte, using all 256 possible combinations, meaning
> that there was at most one punch in rows 1 through 7. Such decks
> were strong enough to survive many passes through the card reader.
I did. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Gene Wirchenko
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #339975 is a reply to message #339970] |
Wed, 22 March 2017 02:08 |
Charlie Gibbs
Messages: 5313
Registered: January 2012
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On 2017-03-22, Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> wrote:
> On 22 Mar 2017 00:06:51 GMT, Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid>
> wrote:
>
>> On 2017-03-21, Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> wrote:
>
> [snip]
>
>>> But weren't binary decks 1 1/2 bytes per column which would allow
>>> creating a lace card (either deliberately or not)?
>>>
>>> If I am mistaken on that, how were binary decks encoded?
>>
>> You're not mistaken; you could read or punch lace cards (although
>> they're so flimsy that the hardware might tear them to bits).
>> I don't recall ever seeing column binary used for a real application.
>
> I remember reading something about it for OMR (Optical Mark Read)
> cards for one card reader at UBC. The routine for handling binary
> cards was named Binary Arrangement of Row Format (or something
> similar); the acronym was BARF.
Usually I object to words being force-fit to create an acronym.
There are so many truly twisted examples that obviously came from the
equally twisted mind of a marketroid. But sometimes an opportunity
arises that is too good to pass up, and the one you mentioned above
is one of them. (Litmus test for an acronym: if management doesn't
like it, it's probably good.)
Yes, OMR would be a good application for column binary (reading,
at least). Those cards were divided up into fields every which way.
About the time I dropped out (or maybe shortly afterwards, since a
friend hung on for the fourth year), I saw OMR cards for WATFIV input.
In addition to regular input, there were shortcuts: single marks that
were replaced by keywords like DO, CONTINUE, etc. I'll have to dig
through my card collection and see whether I have any.
The one time I played with column binary input was when I tried to
write a routine to read 90-column cards. These were the product
of Remington-Rand, and were used by early Univac equipment; the
keypunches and sorters were really wild. (Some of the more ancient
equipment surfaced years later at county fairs; I can still hear
the barker calling "Have your handwriting analyzed by Remington-Rand
machine!" while 90-column cards ran through ancient sorters with
legs like old Singer sewing machines. But I digress...)
Ninety-column cards were the same size as 80-column cards, and had
the same 12 rows; however, the 12 rows were divided into two tiers
of 6 (since the format came from the days of 6-bit characters).
The first tier occupied the top 6 rows of the card, while the second
tier occupied the bottom 6 rows. However, there were 45 columns
across the card instead of 80 (2x45 giving the 90 columns after
which the card was named), due to the fact that the holes were
round and had almost the same diameter as the height of a hole in
an 80-column card. This meant that the columns didn't line up
with those of an 80-column card. Well, some of them came close,
but some of them fell in the middle and were unreadable. (The
Univac 1004's card reader generated timing marks on a little
magnetic drum that was geared to the reader mechanism; it had
two heads at appropriate spacing so that it could generate the
appropriate timing for either 80- or 90-column cards under
program control - if you consider a plugboard to be a program.)
The concept of multi-tiered cards resurfaced several years later
when IBM brought out the 96-column card with the System/3. These
cards also carried a 6-bit code, but had 3 tiers of 32 columns.
Fun trivia fact: the width of a 96-column card is exactly the same
as the height of an 80-column card. This probably saved IBM some
money in the manufacturing process.
--
/~\ cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid (Charlie Gibbs)
\ / I'm really at ac.dekanfrus if you read it the right way.
X Top-posted messages will probably be ignored. See RFC1855.
/ \ HTML will DEFINITELY be ignored. Join the ASCII ribbon campaign!
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #339976 is a reply to message #339961] |
Wed, 22 March 2017 02:57 |
Ahem A Rivet's Shot
Messages: 4843
Registered: January 2012
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Senior Member |
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On 22 Mar 2017 00:06:51 GMT
Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> wrote:
> You're not mistaken; you could read or punch lace cards (although
> they're so flimsy that the hardware might tear them to bits).
> I don't recall ever seeing column binary used for a real application.
IBM 1130 cold start cards were the only example I came across.
--
Steve O'Hara-Smith | Directable Mirror Arrays
C:>WIN | A better way to focus the sun
The computer obeys and wins. | licences available see
You lose and Bill collects. | http://www.sohara.org/
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #339983 is a reply to message #339942] |
Wed, 22 March 2017 09:07 |
scott
Messages: 4237
Registered: February 2012
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> writes:
> On Mon, 20 Mar 2017 18:00:41 -0400, Alan Bowler <atbowler@thinkage.ca>
> wrote:
>
>> On 2017-03-18 10:55 PM, Joe Pfeiffer wrote:
>>>
>>> Would an EBCDIC card only use the top eight rows of the card?
>>
>> No. The top 3 rows (12,11,0) and the bottom 2 rows (8,9) had
>> and number of had any combination of holes, but the middle row (1-7)
>> had at most 1 hole punched. This ensured that there was never a
>> card with all holes punched (lace-card), and were strong enough to
>> stand most card reader actions. This could be important for binary
>> object decks. Also allowed the controller/reader hardware catch
>
> But weren't binary decks 1 1/2 bytes per column which would allow
> creating a lace card (either deliberately or not)?
Yes, that is correct. And that's how Burroughs encoded binary.
Note that long stretchs of contiguous @ff@ bytes were _extremely_
rare, because it was a BCD architecture, and only the numeric
subset had a zone digit of @f@. The most frequent use of the
value @ff@ would have been the B length field for the bit operators
(BOT, BZT). For example,
BOT /FF FIELD
would set the equal flag if the field was non-zero.
http://vseries.lurndal.org/doku.php?id=instructions:bzt
http://vseries.lurndal.org/doku.php?id=instructions:bot
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #339984 is a reply to message #339976] |
Wed, 22 March 2017 09:09 |
scott
Messages: 4237
Registered: February 2012
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> writes:
> On 22 Mar 2017 00:06:51 GMT
> Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> wrote:
>
>> You're not mistaken; you could read or punch lace cards (although
>> they're so flimsy that the hardware might tear them to bits).
>> I don't recall ever seeing column binary used for a real application.
>
> IBM 1130 cold start cards were the only example I came across.
The Burroughs medium systems bootstrapped (coldstart, warmstart, halt/load)
with a small binary carddeck until I rewrote the bootstrap to load from
floppy disk instead.
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #340023 is a reply to message #339882] |
Wed, 22 March 2017 15:12 |
hancock4
Messages: 6746
Registered: December 2011
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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On Monday, March 20, 2017 at 4:33:06 PM UTC-4, Charlie Gibbs wrote:
> For most applications, column binary is impractical; if you punch too
> many holes in a card, it becomes quite flimsy. A lace card (all 960
> holes punched) has a good chance of jamming before it even makes it
> out of the punch. If it does, when you later try to read it the reader's
> picker knife will probably shred it before it makes it to the read head.
Years ago, for the heck of it, I made a "lace card". You are right--
making it was difficult as it did jam easily. It also didn't last
as it torn rather easily, too.
> We had an aged accounts receivable application which stored six months'
> worth of aged balances in the card (six 5-column fields punched directly
> from the packed decimal accumulators in the program). We had to do this
> in order to fit it, plus additional information, into 80 columns. We
> didn't use column binary for this, just punched a lot of those EBCDIC
> codes which you don't normally see except in object decks. Most of the
> middle 30 columns of the card were filled with 12-0-1-8-9 punches (hex 00).
> The cards still fed pretty reliably, but if you fanned such a deck it
> definitely had a different feel from a normal deck.
In the old days, a great deal of effort was spent on compressing data
to fit in limited space, as described above. A lot of creative
techniques were developed. But this meant handling and reading the
data had to be done carefully and per the protocol. This continued
in the conversion to Y2K when there was limited file or record space.
Part of learning assembly language was learning various assembler
techniques to save bits and cycles in a program. These were very
common in the old days (and, IMHO, pretty impressive.)
When a particular computer was upgraded, sometimes it was discovered
that the compressive effort was not compatible with the new computer
CPU and/or its peripherals, and a rush conversion had to be performed.
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #340726 is a reply to message #339585] |
Fri, 31 March 2017 18:50 |
Andrew[1]
Messages: 36
Registered: August 2012
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In article <XnsA73BB0FF551DAfalkarcabca@213.239.209.88>,
Alfred Falk <falk@arc.ab.ca> writes:
> Not quite the same functionality: 029 could do EBCDIC. I don't know what
> the 026 needed tubes for but they took a while to warm up, whereas the 029
> was on instantly.
I arrived at university (physics) in 1983, and this was the year
the online computing system went live. Whilst we new undergrads
unsed the new terminals instantly, most of the staff stuck with
their decks of FORTRAN cards for a while. The status symbol in
the department amongst the staff was to have your own 029 card
punch in your office, so you didn't have to go off to the
communal punch room.
However, within a term or two, they too were realising the
advantages of using the online terminal system instead. The
029 card punches got pushed out into the corridors (which
were fortunately quite wide) to make space for the new status
symbol - a terminal or a DECwriter in your office.
This left lots of 029 punches dumped in the corridors, until
someone discovered they had £1000 worth of platinum (or some
other precious metal) on the relay/switch contacts in each one.
They pretty much all vanished overnight, and the department
even had a problem hanging on to just one so people could
still edit the odd deck of cards occasionally.
--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #340727 is a reply to message #340726] |
Fri, 31 March 2017 19:54 |
Quadibloc
Messages: 4399
Registered: June 2012
Karma: 0
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On Friday, March 31, 2017 at 4:53:28 PM UTC-6, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
> This left lots of 029 punches dumped in the corridors, until
> someone discovered they had £1000 worth of platinum (or some
> other precious metal) on the relay/switch contacts in each one.
Gold is the usual metal used on relay and switch contacts, and it
would have taken more than a couple of ounces to be worth quite
that much back then.
John Savard
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #341018 is a reply to message #340727] |
Mon, 03 April 2017 15:33 |
hancock4
Messages: 6746
Registered: December 2011
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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On Friday, March 31, 2017 at 7:54:18 PM UTC-4, Quadibloc wrote:
> Gold is the usual metal used on relay and switch contacts, and it
> would have taken more than a couple of ounces to be worth quite
> that much back then.
I don't know about now, but years ago people made a living buying
up old computers for scrap to dig out the precious metals in them.
How much money could be realized from say a S/360-30 scrap I don't
know. Nor do I know how the precious metals were reclaimed from
the box.
When inflation was bad, raw commodities would go up in price.
I know a steel mill had to close since it used scrap metal as
its raw material, and scrap shot up to $150/ton, too much for
the mill to operate economically (this was years ago).
In more recent years, some scrapped stainless steel passenger
rail cars sold for good money due to the high value of stainless
steel.
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #341021 is a reply to message #341018] |
Mon, 03 April 2017 15:39 |
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Originally posted by: JimP.
On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 12:33:51 -0700 (PDT), hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
> On Friday, March 31, 2017 at 7:54:18 PM UTC-4, Quadibloc wrote:
>
>> Gold is the usual metal used on relay and switch contacts, and it
>> would have taken more than a couple of ounces to be worth quite
>> that much back then.
>
> I don't know about now, but years ago people made a living buying
> up old computers for scrap to dig out the precious metals in them.
> How much money could be realized from say a S/360-30 scrap I don't
> know. Nor do I know how the precious metals were reclaimed from
> the box.
>
> When inflation was bad, raw commodities would go up in price.
> I know a steel mill had to close since it used scrap metal as
> its raw material, and scrap shot up to $150/ton, too much for
> the mill to operate economically (this was years ago).
>
> In more recent years, some scrapped stainless steel passenger
> rail cars sold for good money due to the high value of stainless
> steel.
Around 10 years ago I saw a documentary on recycling pcs. They were
basically ground up, magnets pulled the ferrous metals out, and some
process they wouldn't let the camera crew record pulled out any
precious metals like gold. Plastics were sent to a company that made
recycled goods.
I have a clipboard my relatives gave me for Christmas some years ago.
Its a motherboard with a clipboard clip on it. The company made
smaller sizes to. Always caused a sensation when I took it to work.
--
Jim
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #341031 is a reply to message #341021] |
Mon, 03 April 2017 17:51 |
Charlie Gibbs
Messages: 5313
Registered: January 2012
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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On 2017-04-03, JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> wrote:
> I have a clipboard my relatives gave me for Christmas some years ago.
> Its a motherboard with a clipboard clip on it. The company made
> smaller sizes to. Always caused a sensation when I took it to work.
I have a pair of cufflinks made from chunks of old circuit boards.
They turn a few heads too.
--
/~\ cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid (Charlie Gibbs)
\ / I'm really at ac.dekanfrus if you read it the right way.
X Top-posted messages will probably be ignored. See RFC1855.
/ \ HTML will DEFINITELY be ignored. Join the ASCII ribbon campaign!
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #341033 is a reply to message #341031] |
Mon, 03 April 2017 18:24 |
Michael Black
Messages: 2799
Registered: February 2012
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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On Mon, 3 Apr 2017, Charlie Gibbs wrote:
> On 2017-04-03, JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I have a clipboard my relatives gave me for Christmas some years ago.
>> Its a motherboard with a clipboard clip on it. The company made
>> smaller sizes to. Always caused a sensation when I took it to work.
>
> I have a pair of cufflinks made from chunks of old circuit boards.
> They turn a few heads too.
>
SOmeone gave me a tiny modem, he'd drilled a hole in it (since it had
failed) and offered it as a something to put on a keychain. I used it for
a while, but it was kind of prickly in my pocket, and I worried about
putting holes in the pocket.
Before it went upscale, we had a store here that had a lot of surplus
electonics. ANd they'd routinely get scrap circuit board. If it had just
been drilled, but not etched, one could work around the holes, or just use
it as a copper surface for breadboarding. But they also got etched
boards, which would have made good novelty items, since no parts on them.
I know I'd look at them and see if I could define any use for them, hoping
to see something that could be populated with parts.
Michael
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #341034 is a reply to message #341033] |
Mon, 03 April 2017 18:45 |
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Originally posted by: Lawrence Statton NK1G
Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> writes:
> Before it went upscale, we had a store here that had a lot of surplus
> electonics. ANd they'd routinely get scrap circuit board. If it had
> just been drilled, but not etched, one could work around the holes, or
> just use it as a copper surface for breadboarding. But they also got
> etched boards, which would have made good novelty items, since no
> parts on them. I know I'd look at them and see if I could define any
> use for them, hoping to see something that could be populated with
> parts.
>
> Michael
One of my "rites of passage" was going into Weird Stuff in the SFBA and
seeing some overrun for a product I had built in the scrap PCB bin. (I
was certain that it came from the PCB house, because every one of the
boards that was delivered to the customer was individually accounted
for).
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #341036 is a reply to message #341021] |
Mon, 03 April 2017 18:48 |
Peter Flass
Messages: 8375
Registered: December 2011
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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JimP. <solosam90@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 12:33:51 -0700 (PDT), hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
>
>> On Friday, March 31, 2017 at 7:54:18 PM UTC-4, Quadibloc wrote:
>>
>>> Gold is the usual metal used on relay and switch contacts, and it
>>> would have taken more than a couple of ounces to be worth quite
>>> that much back then.
>>
>> I don't know about now, but years ago people made a living buying
>> up old computers for scrap to dig out the precious metals in them.
>> How much money could be realized from say a S/360-30 scrap I don't
>> know. Nor do I know how the precious metals were reclaimed from
>> the box.
>>
>> When inflation was bad, raw commodities would go up in price.
>> I know a steel mill had to close since it used scrap metal as
>> its raw material, and scrap shot up to $150/ton, too much for
>> the mill to operate economically (this was years ago).
>>
>> In more recent years, some scrapped stainless steel passenger
>> rail cars sold for good money due to the high value of stainless
>> steel.
>
> Around 10 years ago I saw a documentary on recycling pcs. They were
> basically ground up, magnets pulled the ferrous metals out, and some
> process they wouldn't let the camera crew record pulled out any
> precious metals like gold. Plastics were sent to a company that made
> recycled goods.
>
> I have a clipboard my relatives gave me for Christmas some years ago.
> Its a motherboard with a clipboard clip on it. The company made
> smaller sizes to. Always caused a sensation when I took it to work.
I saw a documentary on "recycling" in some african country which gets trash
from the US and Europe. I think they stripped out the guts and burned them,
which generated lots of toxic fumes. Then someone sorted thru the ashes to
extract the metal.
--
Pete
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #341044 is a reply to message #341036] |
Mon, 03 April 2017 19:15 |
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Originally posted by: luserdroog
On Monday, April 3, 2017 at 5:48:15 PM UTC-5, Peter Flass wrote:
> JimP. <solosam90@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 12:33:51 -0700 (PDT), hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
>>
>>> On Friday, March 31, 2017 at 7:54:18 PM UTC-4, Quadibloc wrote:
>>>
>>>> Gold is the usual metal used on relay and switch contacts, and it
>>>> would have taken more than a couple of ounces to be worth quite
>>>> that much back then.
>>>
>>> I don't know about now, but years ago people made a living buying
>>> up old computers for scrap to dig out the precious metals in them.
>>> How much money could be realized from say a S/360-30 scrap I don't
>>> know. Nor do I know how the precious metals were reclaimed from
>>> the box.
>>>
>>> When inflation was bad, raw commodities would go up in price.
>>> I know a steel mill had to close since it used scrap metal as
>>> its raw material, and scrap shot up to $150/ton, too much for
>>> the mill to operate economically (this was years ago).
>>>
>>> In more recent years, some scrapped stainless steel passenger
>>> rail cars sold for good money due to the high value of stainless
>>> steel.
>>
>> Around 10 years ago I saw a documentary on recycling pcs. They were
>> basically ground up, magnets pulled the ferrous metals out, and some
>> process they wouldn't let the camera crew record pulled out any
>> precious metals like gold. Plastics were sent to a company that made
>> recycled goods.
>>
>> I have a clipboard my relatives gave me for Christmas some years ago.
>> Its a motherboard with a clipboard clip on it. The company made
>> smaller sizes to. Always caused a sensation when I took it to work.
>
> I saw a documentary on "recycling" in some african country which gets trash
> from the US and Europe. I think they stripped out the guts and burned them,
> which generated lots of toxic fumes. Then someone sorted thru the ashes to
> extract the metal.
>
This was also covered on the documentary series "Futurama
..
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #341058 is a reply to message #341036] |
Tue, 04 April 2017 00:56 |
Michael Black
Messages: 2799
Registered: February 2012
Karma: 0
|
Senior Member |
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On Mon, 3 Apr 2017, Peter Flass wrote:
> JimP. <solosam90@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 12:33:51 -0700 (PDT), hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
>>
>>> On Friday, March 31, 2017 at 7:54:18 PM UTC-4, Quadibloc wrote:
>>>
>>>> Gold is the usual metal used on relay and switch contacts, and it
>>>> would have taken more than a couple of ounces to be worth quite
>>>> that much back then.
>>>
>>> I don't know about now, but years ago people made a living buying
>>> up old computers for scrap to dig out the precious metals in them.
>>> How much money could be realized from say a S/360-30 scrap I don't
>>> know. Nor do I know how the precious metals were reclaimed from
>>> the box.
>>>
>>> When inflation was bad, raw commodities would go up in price.
>>> I know a steel mill had to close since it used scrap metal as
>>> its raw material, and scrap shot up to $150/ton, too much for
>>> the mill to operate economically (this was years ago).
>>>
>>> In more recent years, some scrapped stainless steel passenger
>>> rail cars sold for good money due to the high value of stainless
>>> steel.
>>
>> Around 10 years ago I saw a documentary on recycling pcs. They were
>> basically ground up, magnets pulled the ferrous metals out, and some
>> process they wouldn't let the camera crew record pulled out any
>> precious metals like gold. Plastics were sent to a company that made
>> recycled goods.
>>
>> I have a clipboard my relatives gave me for Christmas some years ago.
>> Its a motherboard with a clipboard clip on it. The company made
>> smaller sizes to. Always caused a sensation when I took it to work.
>
> I saw a documentary on "recycling" in some african country which gets trash
> from the US and Europe. I think they stripped out the guts and burned them,
> which generated lots of toxic fumes. Then someone sorted thru the ashes to
> extract the metal.
>
I saw a bit about it, but it was in China.
It's not just the air that gets polluted. The piece I saw pointed out
that the toxic stuff gets into the water system.
Michael
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #341072 is a reply to message #341036] |
Tue, 04 April 2017 05:44 |
mausg
Messages: 2483
Registered: May 2013
Karma: 0
|
Senior Member |
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On 2017-04-03, Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> wrote:
> JimP. <solosam90@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 12:33:51 -0700 (PDT), hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
>>
>>> On Friday, March 31, 2017 at 7:54:18 PM UTC-4, Quadibloc wrote:
>>>
>>>> Gold is the usual metal used on relay and switch contacts, and it
>>>> would have taken more than a couple of ounces to be worth quite
>>>> that much back then.
>>>
>>> I don't know about now, but years ago people made a living buying
>>> up old computers for scrap to dig out the precious metals in them.
>>> How much money could be realized from say a S/360-30 scrap I don't
>>> know. Nor do I know how the precious metals were reclaimed from
>>> the box.
>>>
>>> When inflation was bad, raw commodities would go up in price.
>>> I know a steel mill had to close since it used scrap metal as
>>> its raw material, and scrap shot up to $150/ton, too much for
>>> the mill to operate economically (this was years ago).
>>>
>>> In more recent years, some scrapped stainless steel passenger
>>> rail cars sold for good money due to the high value of stainless
>>> steel.
>>
>> Around 10 years ago I saw a documentary on recycling pcs. They were
>> basically ground up, magnets pulled the ferrous metals out, and some
>> process they wouldn't let the camera crew record pulled out any
>> precious metals like gold. Plastics were sent to a company that made
>> recycled goods.
>>
>> I have a clipboard my relatives gave me for Christmas some years ago.
>> Its a motherboard with a clipboard clip on it. The company made
>> smaller sizes to. Always caused a sensation when I took it to work.
>
> I saw a documentary on "recycling" in some african country which gets trash
> from the US and Europe. I think they stripped out the guts and burned them,
> which generated lots of toxic fumes. Then someone sorted thru the ashes to
> extract the metal.
>
Ivory Coast, I think.. there is a rumor that they read the old HDs for
relevent data. There is a story that a ship arrived in Abidjan(sp?), docked,
and nobody could be found, so after a while they searched the ship, which
was filled with drums of very dangerous effluent. I have heard that story
of old truck tires here. (.ie)
--
greymaus.ireland.ie
Just_Another_Grumpy_Old_Man
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #341119 is a reply to message #341072] |
Tue, 04 April 2017 14:22 |
Michael Black
Messages: 2799
Registered: February 2012
Karma: 0
|
Senior Member |
|
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On Tue, 4 Apr 2017, mausg@mail.com wrote:
> On 2017-04-03, Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> JimP. <solosam90@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 12:33:51 -0700 (PDT), hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Friday, March 31, 2017 at 7:54:18 PM UTC-4, Quadibloc wrote:
>>>>
>>>> > Gold is the usual metal used on relay and switch contacts, and it
>>>> > would have taken more than a couple of ounces to be worth quite
>>>> > that much back then.
>>>>
>>>> I don't know about now, but years ago people made a living buying
>>>> up old computers for scrap to dig out the precious metals in them.
>>>> How much money could be realized from say a S/360-30 scrap I don't
>>>> know. Nor do I know how the precious metals were reclaimed from
>>>> the box.
>>>>
>>>> When inflation was bad, raw commodities would go up in price.
>>>> I know a steel mill had to close since it used scrap metal as
>>>> its raw material, and scrap shot up to $150/ton, too much for
>>>> the mill to operate economically (this was years ago).
>>>>
>>>> In more recent years, some scrapped stainless steel passenger
>>>> rail cars sold for good money due to the high value of stainless
>>>> steel.
>>>
>>> Around 10 years ago I saw a documentary on recycling pcs. They were
>>> basically ground up, magnets pulled the ferrous metals out, and some
>>> process they wouldn't let the camera crew record pulled out any
>>> precious metals like gold. Plastics were sent to a company that made
>>> recycled goods.
>>>
>>> I have a clipboard my relatives gave me for Christmas some years ago.
>>> Its a motherboard with a clipboard clip on it. The company made
>>> smaller sizes to. Always caused a sensation when I took it to work.
>>
>> I saw a documentary on "recycling" in some african country which gets trash
>> from the US and Europe. I think they stripped out the guts and burned them,
>> which generated lots of toxic fumes. Then someone sorted thru the ashes to
>> extract the metal.
>>
>
> Ivory Coast, I think.. there is a rumor that they read the old HDs for
> relevent data. There is a story that a ship arrived in Abidjan(sp?), docked,
> and nobody could be found, so after a while they searched the ship, which
> was filled with drums of very dangerous effluent. I have heard that story
> of old truck tires here. (.ie)
>
So they have to deal with the drums of waste, and then they get to break
up the ship.
There was an article, I think in The Atlantic, about "ship breakers",
cheap labor doing it mostly by hand, the ship beached somewhere in INdia
and then the workers go to work. Probably as messy and cheap labor
intensive as the third world breaking up of circuit boards.
Michael
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #341132 is a reply to message #341036] |
Tue, 04 April 2017 17:29 |
hancock4
Messages: 6746
Registered: December 2011
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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On Monday, April 3, 2017 at 6:48:15 PM UTC-4, Peter Flass wrote:
> I saw a documentary on "recycling" in some african country which gets trash
> from the US and Europe. I think they stripped out the guts and burned them,
> which generated lots of toxic fumes. Then someone sorted thru the ashes to
> extract the metal.
Yes, it seems a lot of recycling work is done in third world countries
overseas due to toxins involved. The S.S. United States had its asbestos
removed overseas. Some stainless steel train cars were sent to Mexico
to get rid of their asbestos.
I wouldn't be surprised if all the plastics of modern electronics
got rather toxic when "processed" to get out valuable metals.
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #341133 is a reply to message #341058] |
Tue, 04 April 2017 17:34 |
hancock4
Messages: 6746
Registered: December 2011
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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On Tuesday, April 4, 2017 at 12:48:26 AM UTC-4, Michael Black wrote:
> It's not just the air that gets polluted. The piece I saw pointed out
> that the toxic stuff gets into the water system.
Yes. One of the challenges of bringing back industrial jobs to the U.S.
is the nasty pollution associated with industry. Steel making, for
example, generates tons of air pollution and nasty acids to the water
supply. There was a steel mill ordered to stop dumping acid into
a river that was a water supply for towns; but containment would've
cost too much and the mill closed.
Foreign industry saves a ton of money over US plants due to lack
of expensive pollution controls. Will people be willing to pay
20% more for an automobile or refrigerator?
The reports are few, but pollution in other countries, like China
or Romania, is horrible. The rivers run black with junk, just like
American rivers did 100 years ago. Sometimes you see people in China
all running around wearing masks.
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #341151 is a reply to message #341133] |
Wed, 05 April 2017 00:40 |
Morten Reistad
Messages: 2108
Registered: December 2011
Karma: 0
|
Senior Member |
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In article <db2616fa-bc2a-442c-9f4f-a84e3df875b2@googlegroups.com>,
<hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote:
> On Tuesday, April 4, 2017 at 12:48:26 AM UTC-4, Michael Black wrote:
>
>> It's not just the air that gets polluted. The piece I saw pointed out
>> that the toxic stuff gets into the water system.
>
> Yes. One of the challenges of bringing back industrial jobs to the U.S.
> is the nasty pollution associated with industry. Steel making, for
> example, generates tons of air pollution and nasty acids to the water
> supply. There was a steel mill ordered to stop dumping acid into
> a river that was a water supply for towns; but containment would've
> cost too much and the mill closed.
Another implication of containment is that you need to increase
the scale by at least an order of magnitude to make e.g. a steel
mill or aluminium plant economical. The old 80MW mills get replaced
by gigawatt ones. The barrier cost only increases at sqrt(size)
when the plant is grown,
> Foreign industry saves a ton of money over US plants due to lack
> of expensive pollution controls. Will people be willing to pay
> 20% more for an automobile or refrigerator?
>
> The reports are few, but pollution in other countries, like China
> or Romania, is horrible. The rivers run black with junk, just like
> American rivers did 100 years ago. Sometimes you see people in China
> all running around wearing masks.
Old-style "naive" constructions do that to the environment, making
lots of small, uncontained plants. Hopefully, they will learn.
-- mrr
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #341153 is a reply to message #341119] |
Wed, 05 April 2017 04:35 |
Harry Vaderchi
Messages: 719
Registered: July 2012
Karma: 0
|
Senior Member |
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On Tue, 04 Apr 2017 19:22:47 +0100, Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> wrote:
> On Tue, 4 Apr 2017, mausg@mail.com wrote:
>
>> On 2017-04-03, Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>> JimP. <solosam90@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 12:33:51 -0700 (PDT), hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
>>>>
>>>> > On Friday, March 31, 2017 at 7:54:18 PM UTC-4, Quadibloc wrote:
>>>> >
>>>> >> Gold is the usual metal used on relay and switch contacts, and it
>>>> >> would have taken more than a couple of ounces to be worth quite
>>>> >> that much back then.
>>>> >
>>>> > I don't know about now, but years ago people made a living buying
>>>> > up old computers for scrap to dig out the precious metals in them.
>>>> > How much money could be realized from say a S/360-30 scrap I don't
>>>> > know. Nor do I know how the precious metals were reclaimed from
>>>> > the box.
>>>> >
>>>> > When inflation was bad, raw commodities would go up in price.
>>>> > I know a steel mill had to close since it used scrap metal as
>>>> > its raw material, and scrap shot up to $150/ton, too much for
>>>> > the mill to operate economically (this was years ago).
>>>> >
>>>> > In more recent years, some scrapped stainless steel passenger
>>>> > rail cars sold for good money due to the high value of stainless
>>>> > steel.
>>>>
>>>> Around 10 years ago I saw a documentary on recycling pcs. They were
>>>> basically ground up, magnets pulled the ferrous metals out, and some
>>>> process they wouldn't let the camera crew record pulled out any
>>>> precious metals like gold. Plastics were sent to a company that made
>>>> recycled goods.
>>>>
>>>> I have a clipboard my relatives gave me for Christmas some years ago.
>>>> Its a motherboard with a clipboard clip on it. The company made
>>>> smaller sizes to. Always caused a sensation when I took it to work.
>>>
>>> I saw a documentary on "recycling" in some african country which gets
>>> trash
>>> from the US and Europe. I think they stripped out the guts and burned
>>> them,
>>> which generated lots of toxic fumes. Then someone sorted thru the
>>> ashes to
>>> extract the metal.
>>>
>>
>> Ivory Coast, I think.. there is a rumor that they read the old HDs for
>> relevent data. There is a story that a ship arrived in Abidjan(sp?),
>> docked,
>> and nobody could be found, so after a while they searched the ship,
>> which
>> was filled with drums of very dangerous effluent. I have heard that
>> story
>> of old truck tires here. (.ie)
>>
> So they have to deal with the drums of waste, and then they get to break
> up the ship.
>
> There was an article, I think in The Atlantic, about "ship breakers",
> cheap labor doing it mostly by hand, the ship beached somewhere in INdia
> and then the workers go to work. Probably as messy and cheap labor
> intensive as the third world breaking up of circuit boards.
>
There's no H&S there and the death rate is quite high. Simon Reeve tried
to do a bit about it when he went around the Tropic of (C-word)
Bagladesh:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaJWVEJ9MSk
India:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afwaPzo2ei4
--
Bah, and indeed, Humbug
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #341180 is a reply to message #341119] |
Wed, 05 April 2017 04:43 |
mausg
Messages: 2483
Registered: May 2013
Karma: 0
|
Senior Member |
|
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On 2017-04-04, Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> wrote:
> On Tue, 4 Apr 2017, mausg@mail.com wrote:
>
>> On 2017-04-03, Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>> JimP. <solosam90@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Ivory Coast, I think.. there is a rumor that they read the old HDs for
>> relevent data. There is a story that a ship arrived in Abidjan(sp?), docked,
>> and nobody could be found, so after a while they searched the ship, which
>> was filled with drums of very dangerous effluent. I have heard that story
>> of old truck tires here. (.ie)
>>
> So they have to deal with the drums of waste, and then they get to break
> up the ship.
In that case, they got it followed up, and the original causers had to pay.
The problem was, as far as I remember, that the stuff was being handed through
several agents.
>
> There was an article, I think in The Atlantic, about "ship breakers",
> cheap labor doing it mostly by hand, the ship beached somewhere in INdia
> and then the workers go to work. Probably as messy and cheap labor
> intensive as the third world breaking up of circuit boards.
Pakistan, from a program on TV. Makes you glad to live in the first world.
--
greymaus.ireland.ie
Just_Another_Grumpy_Old_Man
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #341204 is a reply to message #341153] |
Wed, 05 April 2017 17:31 |
Alfred Falk
Messages: 195
Registered: June 2012
Karma: 0
|
Senior Member |
|
|
"Kerr Mudd-John" <admin@127.0.0.1> wrote in
news:op.yx7rgxnmmsr2db@dell3100.dlink.com:
> On Tue, 04 Apr 2017 19:22:47 +0100, Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 4 Apr 2017, mausg@mail.com wrote:
>>
>>> On 2017-04-03, Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>> JimP. <solosam90@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> > On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 12:33:51 -0700 (PDT), hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
>>>> > wrote:
>>>> >
>>>> >> On Friday, March 31, 2017 at 7:54:18 PM UTC-4, Quadibloc wrote:
>>>> >>
>>>> >>> Gold is the usual metal used on relay and switch contacts, and it
>>>> >>> would have taken more than a couple of ounces to be worth quite
>>>> >>> that much back then.
>>>> >>
>>>> >> I don't know about now, but years ago people made a living buying
>>>> >> up old computers for scrap to dig out the precious metals in them.
>>>> >> How much money could be realized from say a S/360-30 scrap I don't
>>>> >> know. Nor do I know how the precious metals were reclaimed from
>>>> >> the box.
>>>> >>
>>>> >> When inflation was bad, raw commodities would go up in price.
>>>> >> I know a steel mill had to close since it used scrap metal as
>>>> >> its raw material, and scrap shot up to $150/ton, too much for
>>>> >> the mill to operate economically (this was years ago).
>>>> >>
>>>> >> In more recent years, some scrapped stainless steel passenger
>>>> >> rail cars sold for good money due to the high value of stainless
>>>> >> steel.
>>>> >
>>>> > Around 10 years ago I saw a documentary on recycling pcs. They were
>>>> > basically ground up, magnets pulled the ferrous metals out, and
>>>> > some process they wouldn't let the camera crew record pulled out
>>>> > any precious metals like gold. Plastics were sent to a company that
>>>> > made recycled goods.
>>>> >
>>>> > I have a clipboard my relatives gave me for Christmas some years
>>>> > ago. Its a motherboard with a clipboard clip on it. The company
>>>> > made smaller sizes to. Always caused a sensation when I took it to
>>>> > work.
>>>>
>>>> I saw a documentary on "recycling" in some african country which
>>>> gets trash from the US and Europe. I think they stripped out the
>>>> guts and burned them, which generated lots of toxic fumes. Then
>>>> someone sorted thru the ashes to
>>>> extract the metal.
I have read that the same process is used in China to recover metals from
Christmas light strings which are discarded in great numbers each in N.A.
Really makes you feel good about recycling. :(
>>> Ivory Coast, I think.. there is a rumor that they read the old HDs
>>> for relevent data. There is a story that a ship arrived in
>>> Abidjan(sp?), docked, and nobody could be found, so after a while
>>> they searched the ship, which was filled with drums of very
>>> dangerous effluent. I have heard that story of old truck tires
>>> here. (.ie)
>>>
>> So they have to deal with the drums of waste, and then they get to
>> break up the ship.
>>
>> There was an article, I think in The Atlantic, about "ship breakers",
>> cheap labor doing it mostly by hand, the ship beached somewhere in
>> INdia and then the workers go to work. Probably as messy and cheap
>> labor intensive as the third world breaking up of circuit boards.
>>
> There's no H&S there and the death rate is quite high. Simon Reeve
> tried to do a bit about it when he went around the Tropic of (C-word)
>
> Bagladesh:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaJWVEJ9MSk
> India:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afwaPzo2ei4
Also Edward Burtinsky's photos
http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/site_contents/Photographs/Shi pbreaking.html
These are at their depressing best in the very large-format prints he likes
to make.
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #341216 is a reply to message #341180] |
Wed, 05 April 2017 22:34 |
|
|
Originally posted by: J. Clarke
In article <slrnoe9bdm.1df.mausg@smaus.org>, mausg@mail.com says...
>
> On 2017-04-04, Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> wrote:
>> On Tue, 4 Apr 2017, mausg@mail.com wrote:
>>
>>> On 2017-04-03, Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>> JimP. <solosam90@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Ivory Coast, I think.. there is a rumor that they read the old HDs for
>>> relevent data. There is a story that a ship arrived in Abidjan(sp?), docked,
>>> and nobody could be found, so after a while they searched the ship, which
>>> was filled with drums of very dangerous effluent. I have heard that story
>>> of old truck tires here. (.ie)
>>>
>> So they have to deal with the drums of waste, and then they get to break
>> up the ship.
>
> In that case, they got it followed up, and the original causers had to pay.
> The problem was, as far as I remember, that the stuff was being handed through
> several agents.
>
>
>>
>> There was an article, I think in The Atlantic, about "ship breakers",
>> cheap labor doing it mostly by hand, the ship beached somewhere in INdia
>> and then the workers go to work. Probably as messy and cheap labor
>> intensive as the third world breaking up of circuit boards.
>
> Pakistan, from a program on TV. Makes you glad to live in the first world.
Looking at Brownsville, Texas makes me sad. Saratoga, Constellation, and
Ranger in pieces. My Dad built Sara--seeing her that way makes me cry.
The third world isn't the only place where there are shipbreakers.
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #341256 is a reply to message #341216] |
Thu, 06 April 2017 16:29 |
|
|
Originally posted by: JimP.
On Wed, 5 Apr 2017 22:34:07 -0400, "J. Clarke"
<j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> wrote:
> In article <slrnoe9bdm.1df.mausg@smaus.org>, mausg@mail.com says...
>>
>> On 2017-04-04, Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> wrote:
>>> On Tue, 4 Apr 2017, mausg@mail.com wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 2017-04-03, Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>> > JimP. <solosam90@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Ivory Coast, I think.. there is a rumor that they read the old HDs for
>>>> relevent data. There is a story that a ship arrived in Abidjan(sp?), docked,
>>>> and nobody could be found, so after a while they searched the ship, which
>>>> was filled with drums of very dangerous effluent. I have heard that story
>>>> of old truck tires here. (.ie)
>>>>
>>> So they have to deal with the drums of waste, and then they get to break
>>> up the ship.
>>
>> In that case, they got it followed up, and the original causers had to pay.
>> The problem was, as far as I remember, that the stuff was being handed through
>> several agents.
>>
>>
>>>
>>> There was an article, I think in The Atlantic, about "ship breakers",
>>> cheap labor doing it mostly by hand, the ship beached somewhere in INdia
>>> and then the workers go to work. Probably as messy and cheap labor
>>> intensive as the third world breaking up of circuit boards.
>>
>> Pakistan, from a program on TV. Makes you glad to live in the first world.
>
> Looking at Brownsville, Texas makes me sad. Saratoga, Constellation, and
> Ranger in pieces. My Dad built Sara--seeing her that way makes me cry.
>
> The third world isn't the only place where there are shipbreakers.
Back about the mid-1980s I looked up my old ship. It had been broken
up for the metal, deemed too expensive to upgrade to the newer systems
like propulsion and electronics. Other ships in that squadron were
used as targets.
--
Jim
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| Re: Movie Computers [message #341257 is a reply to message #341018] |
Thu, 06 April 2017 16:34 |
Jon Elson
Messages: 646
Registered: April 2013
Karma: 0
|
Senior Member |
|
|
hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
> On Friday, March 31, 2017 at 7:54:18 PM UTC-4, Quadibloc wrote:
>
>> Gold is the usual metal used on relay and switch contacts, and it
>> would have taken more than a couple of ounces to be worth quite
>> that much back then.
>
> I don't know about now, but years ago people made a living buying
> up old computers for scrap to dig out the precious metals in them.
> How much money could be realized from say a S/360-30 scrap I don't
> know. Nor do I know how the precious metals were reclaimed from
> the box.
IBM did a big program before the 360 came out to reduce gold usage in PC
boards/backplanes. The SMS series of boards (70xx, 14xx, etc.) had a LOT of
gold in them, heavy plating on the card edge fingers and backplane contacts.
The 360 had much less. Instead of card edge fingers, they had contacts
soldered to the PC board, and covered by a protective housing. These
contacts were selectively plated with a tiny bit of gold. The backplanes
were gold-plated pins on the board side, solder-plated on the wire-wrap
side. The only other gold was in the capacitive control store ROM cards,
that sandwiched thin Mylar sheets between boards that formed the capacitor
plates. These were gold plated, but probably quite thin, as there was no
mechanical contact wiping action.
Other makers at the same time used a LOT more gold, liberally splashing it
everywhere, to the delight of the scrap guys. Many companies even used gold
as the etch resist, until the price went up. Then, they had to scramble for
new processes.
Jon
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