Activity Report - July 06, 2004
- agenda -

July 6th, 10:45 - from C J Kantmann -
"Let's gather and roll up some sleeves and have a little party."

1. remove all covers
2. complete Physical Object Screen forms for the equipment in the 1401 room/lab
3. detail power analysis with regard to using the 1402/1403 in the display area and 60 cycle power supplies from the 1401 and determine if we can make this a 60 cycle system or not
4. in the overall system logbook we will have a section for listing parts/supplies/tools/ we need
5. tag lines to the power supplies for removal for the purpose of swapping or cap reforming as determined

by Ed Thelen - (click here for pictures)

This report is not intended to be comprehensive - view it as a report by a "sidewalk superintendent" - not the combined report of the knowledgeable group leaders.

I arrived at the Computer History Museum parking lot one minute after the scheduled time of 10:45 - that is stylishly late - and if that isn't good enough I have 6 or 7 implausible excuses ;-))

It turns out that I was the last one to arrive! The other 8 people (including all the hardware group leaders) were already hard at work. Most IBM 1401 components already had had their covers off, and there was lots of peering about. Allen Palmer had arrived 45 minutes early! My Goodness, what an eager crew!!

On the way in, Chris Garcia of the museum staff was bringing a Bob Brubaker into the building, so of course I had to suggest that Bob be brought into the 1401 area! Well - it turns out that Bob is an "old" IBM C.E. and was right at home with the now naked 1401 subsystems. He and the 1401 team spent hours looking at parts, trading knowledge, telling a few "war stories". Bob is talking with Paul Pierce about restoring a 709. Unfortunately, Bob is in town for only two days - ?he lives in Southern California? Bob Brubaker's e-mail address is BruBob@Primeris.com

I mentioned I arrived at the work party 1 minute late - way too late! So to cover my error I started taking pictures. (People tend to forgive photographers who are taking their pictures - I hope.)

Soon it developed that folks wanted physical support such as

- extension cords

- shop vacs

- horizontal surfaces

- table

- cart

- priority manual

- binders that were left last Wednesday

- and a vacuum with brush to try to get some of the oily dust off.
and I was out scurrying about contacting relevant Museum people (who were very supportive and quick).

- and I "borrowed" several bundles of paper towels from nearby toilets

Many units showed extensive "disuse" -

• the reel drive belts in the first 729 tape unit examined would move about 1 centimeter - then come to a soft stop - they would not go further - but it was not like hitting a hard stop.
  Soon it developed that the belts had rusted to the pulley - and a little more force freed the system for normal manual rotation.

  there is extensive surface rust in the card punch feed area of the 1402 - and the card transport system does not look good.

It was noted that all of the 729s were even more different than originally noticed

• one of the 729 IIs is equipped for two processor use. It has two cable sockets input, and two cable sockets output
• the other 729 II is single processor use This one (since 729 IIs are low data rate) might be the first to be restored?

Frank was delighted that the 1403 seemed still well lubricated.

The folks took a quick lunch break in the Volunteer's Room after a suitable raid on the Volunteer's refrigerator for drinks and bars.

About 2:45 folks were starting to pack up, wondering about beating the commute traffic.

Various group leaders expressed an interest in working at least two days per week - or this restoration project might take years! There is the thought that maybe some of the "borrowed" tables, extension cords, power strips, shop vacs, etc. could be left in the 1401 restoration room for easy access --

It was also noted that we left the floor significantly dirtier than when we arrived, and the waste basket was full, and what should we do about it?

Respectfully,

Ed Thelen

1401 - "Open Wide"	I'm sorry I didn't get more pictures of the 1401, but heck, ya seen one transistor, ya seen 'em all ;-))	1402 - DonCull	1402 - DonCull & DonLuke
1402 - problems	1402 - more problems	1403 - Frank Explaining To Allen	1403 - conference
1403 - Frank Getting Dirty	1403 - hammer drivers	1403 - hydraulic-booboo	1403 - Cleaning Filters
729- Allen Removing Blower	729- Allen This Is Not Funny	729 - decomposition left	729 - decomposition right
729 - file reel hub	729 - Spring Cleaning 16 Yrs Later