- Location
- West of the Severn UK
- Info
When I were a lad you had to build the blinking computer before you could even program it.
(There's a photo somewhere. I'll post it if ever find it)
@AndyB @Guinea_Pig_Tester
Hi Andy, Rob,
The first computer on which the beginnings of Templot ran (1980) was a Rockwell AIM-65:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIM-65
I built a backplane and several home-made expansion boards -- all home-etched on the well-known international size of 16" x 4"
The AIM was used to drive a Bridgeport miller which we converted to CNC control for machining turbine-blade tooling. The great thing about the AIM-65 was that it came with a full circuit diagram and a full listing of the embedded source code. I learnt a lot from a close study of that. It was still working fine 10 years later, to make the tooling for the Hunslet:

The PCB sheets were cut to size for me by Crossley & Bradley in Leyland, Lancashire, and it seems I'm not the only one who remembers them:
https://forum.leylandtown.co.uk/showthread.php?tid=639
https://web.archive.org/web/20090926132818/http://www.crossley-bradley.co.uk
And still going strong:
https://www.ccieurolam.com/en/contact/uk
The punched cards 8 years before the AIM were for programming an IBM System/7 computer, controlling chain welding machines:
https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/system7/images/5407PH04.jpg
https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/system7/system7_tpress.html
Still in my pocket as I write this is a penknife given to me on a visit to the Wafios factory in Germany in 1972.
cheers,
Martin.
message ref: 1341