On 6/8/24 12:33, Jon Elson via cctalk wrote:
On 6/8/24 11:56, Vincent Slyngstad via cctalk wrote:
On 6/8/2024 7:43 AM, Jon Elson via cctalk wrote:
On 6/7/24 20:42, Vincent Slyngstad via cctalk wrote:
On 6/7/2024 6:19 PM, Jon Elson via cctalk wrote:
OK, I have to chime in here. I worked for Artronix about 1972.
The LINC computer was developed at MIT for use in biomedical
research labs, and a bunch of people involved with it later moved
to Washington University in St. Louis. The Biomedical Computer Lab
there later added some features such a a crude memory mapping unit
and more memory, and called this the Programmed Console, so as not
to scare people away. Artronix began building these PC's and
selling them to hospitals for radiation therapy planning. I have
no idea how many were sold. They were built into a desk, and used
7400-series logic chips. They etched their own PC boards, drilled
them by hand and soldered in the chips by hand. I wrote a series
of diagnostics for them.
Do any survive? I've looked for them but never found one.
An Artronix PC? I seriously doubt it, but it is possible. There is
at least one LINC that was restored about a decade ago, and taken
out to VCF 10. If an Artronix PC did evade the scrapper, it would
not be that hard to get it running again.
Even maintenance drawings would be great.
Does any software survive? Diagnostics would be cool, but so would
MUMPS. Not sure the radiology software would be useful, but it would
still be of historic interest.
Well, I believe that LINC LAP-6 will "boot" on an Artronix PC. I am
fairly sure I did try that a long time ago.
And, the guys who resurrected the LINC for the VCF demo did have LAP-6
running. One big feature of the Artronix PC was a TEK storage scope
that allowed you to see a whole page of text at a time, instead of the
tiny window that was available on the LINC. I think the LINC could
only support about 8 or 12 short lines due to the slow refresh.
Jon
I'll ask Al Weber if he has anything. I know unless it's PC sized he
doesn't have it. He has a lot of RS6000 stuff I need to pick up and
Victor. I think he did a give away of a lot of his documentation about
5 years ago, so he may have given it away if he had it.
thanks
Jim
