paul@devon.UUCP (02/06/87)
In article <210@pembina.alberta.UUCP>, cdshaw@alberta.UUCP (Chris Shaw) writes: > Actually there seems to be two models of 1403, one noisy and one > soundproofed. The soundproofed one is useless if you want to do self-service > printing, though. I say "is" as opposed to "was" because until (maybe) 6 > months ago, Waterloo still had all impact-printing done on its 4-5 1403's. I once worked at an installation using a 360/25 (remember 2319 drives? (or was that 2314?)) and a 1403-N1 printer. I think the CE's referred to the N1 designation as "Nancy One". Anyway, it had a "soundproof" cover that was raised and lowered with buttons (motorized or hydraulic, I don't remember which). It was noisy with the top down; you didn't want to run it very long with the top raised. Anyone (besides me) ever clean up the pile of paper behind one of those things when the carriage-control tape broke, sending the printer into an endless search for channel 1 (and _rapidly_ form-feeding paper out the back)? Whew! Those were the days! -- Paul Sutcliffe, Jr. paul@devon.UUCP (or, if you prefer:) Devon Computer Services {seismo,ihnp4,allegra,rutgers}!cbmvax!devon!paul Allentown, PA "I love work. I could sit and watch people do it all day!"
martin@mipos3.UUCP (02/10/87)
My favorite 1403 memory is of the evening we decided to test the safety
interlock on the 1403 cover (the cover was driven open and closed by a
screw drive an a "little" electric motor, so they put an override on it
to keep it from removing the operator's arm). We opened the cover (grind,
whirr, grind, grind), put a full box of cards in the opening, and pressed
"Cover Close." Whirr...grind...whirrr...whirrr...shred...clunk, right
through the 2000 card box without even straining. Gosh, swing shift sure
was fun back then. (Lucky us, we used blank cards, and not some poor goniff's
2000 card PL/I program.)
My other fun 1403 memory was the system's behavior during a crash; all of the
printer covers would open (this was OS/VS2, release god-only-knows: I don't
remember whether this was hard crash, or just a HASP crash that caused this).
It was great--the computer room would get very quiet: no card reader (!),
no printers, and then every audible alarm would go off, and the line printer
covers would all start going up at once.
--Martin Harriman
*I hope my employers have no opinions about the 1403 at all*henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (02/11/87)
> ... and a 1403-N1 printer. I think the CE's referred > to the N1 designation as "Nancy One". Anyway, it had a "soundproof" > cover that was raised and lowered with buttons (motorized or hydraulic, I > don't remember which). It was noisy with the top down; you didn't want > to run it very long with the top raised. Ah yes, the N1. The printer that automatically raised its cover when it ran out of paper. The way you could tell a novice user of the RJE facility back home was that he ran his cards through and then plopped the deck down anywhere on top of the printer while waiting for his output. The experienced users all carefully put *their* decks down on the fixed part of the cover, so the cards wouldn't get dumped onto the floor behind the printer if it ran out of paper at the wrong moment... The rise in noise level when the cover lifted was really quite impressive, even when the printer was idle. There was a story told about someone being asked for help by a panicky freshman who gasped "it opened its mouth and screamed at me!". -- Legalize Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology freedom! {allegra,ihnp4,decvax,pyramid}!utzoo!henry
tank@apc3b2.UUCP (02/11/87)
At the University of Oklahoma they were running some tests on the emergency
systems for the 370. Halon gas triggered by an emergency button with a
one minute delay (in case of accidental use). There was also an override
button a little out of the way (about 6 feet off the floor). One of the testers
was describing what the button was for, stumbled, and hit the button.
Needless to say the emergency system worked, it got hard to breath immediately
after that. An expensive test.
Details are of course fuzzy. I have slept a lot since this happened.
-tank-
--
Jon A. Tankersley | Usenet: { ... }!okstate!apc3b2!tank
Amoco Corporation | Voice: (918) 581-4086
PO Box 591, MS N1068 | Disclaimer: My own opinions.
Tulsa, Oklahoma, 74013 |