What happened in 2025?

Credit: H. Pedersen/ESO (the full license is at https://www.eso.org/public/copyright)

The Halley Comet is back!
We were able to read a few files from DDS-1..2 cassettes for ESO. Fabio Sogni was looking for a way to retrieve the data from the cassettes. After several attempts failed, he turned to Cray-Cyber and datArena. We had been using a working DDS-3 drive for the Cray YMP-EL in our archive since 2018. Using tools developed by Gerard J van der Grinten, we were able to create TAP files. This allowed us to rescue nearly 2,000 files. One of them is shown in the photo above.

Otherwise:
Unfortunately, we are repeatedly held back by deficiencies in air conditioning technology and buildings.

John and I were able to make progress on the 960, and the Cray YMP-EL is being excellently maintained by our new colleagues and is running wonderfully. The E10K is also making progress and will be back in operation in Q1 2026. Our colleagues were also able to get a PDP-11/40 up and running, along with many other machines.

Unfortunately, we are currently unable to offer online access, but we hope that this will be possible again soon.

I wish you all the best, happy holidays, and a happy start to the new year.

Ralf N.

Update CDC, Cray

We are currently working on all systems.
The Cyber 930 console has been converted to XT-IDE with 128MB disk on module, the 960 is completely assembled and is currently being repaired.
The 930 has a problem with its batteries and the 5V power supply from CEAG is defective and is being overhauled.
E10k and Cyber 4000 are also moving into the operating range.

The Last CDC Cyber 180/960 Mainframes, a 39-year era comes to an end

https://web.archive.org/web/20210629231855/https://santamariatimes.com/news/local/military/vandenberg/the-last-cyber-mainframes-a-39-year-era-comes-to-an-end/article_5ac69350-b95e-5457-8948-8991078b6495.html

The colleagues in Vandenberg (USA) have shut down their 960 forever in June 2021.

I really hope we get our 960 back in service. At the moment it doesn’t look bad, our small data center doesn’t have a suitable power connection. However, the new building is almost finished, only small things are missing.

Cray YMP-EL start up after VCFe 2018

Last year we mainly took care of the CDC 960. It’s time to continue with the small Cray.

IMG_20190525_153105bs_fault_leds_ympel.jpg
Cray YMP-EL fault LEDs
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Power for the Cray
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Power connection to cab two
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IPI wiring cab2 to cab1
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IO System connectors interchange
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Load IOS
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Unicos up and running

The Cray is running, I am very happy that there was no bigger problem. Now we can take care of the UNICOS and the network.

IBM 360-65 and 360-44 Operator Consoles

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IBM 360 consoles, 360-65 & 360-44

We got two IBM consoles.
From the IBM 360-65 and the 360-44, the special thing about the 44 is that it is labeled in German.

Thanks Wolfgang Kainz- Huber for the quick reaction and the organization.

In the future we will probably build a 360 emulation with a RaspberryPI to make the consoles “blink”.

Vintage Computer Festival Europe 20.0

Yes, it’s VCFe again! This time we are not represented with an exhibition. But there will be a lecture on Cray-Cyber on Saturday. Generally Saturday, Wolfgang Stief continues his lecture series on Cray with the Cray 3, unconditional recommendation.

Program VCFe 20.0: http://www.vcfe.org/D/VCF.html
Lecture Cray-Cyber: http://www.vcfe.org/D/Vortraege.html#11
Lecture Cray 3: http://www.vcfe.org/D/Vortraege.html#2
VCFe 20.0 http://www.vcfe.org/D