IBM 1401 Restoration Project
Meeting #6, June 16, 2004
Summary by R. Garner
Attendees:
Mary Cicalese Tim Coslet Mike Falarski Glenn Furlong Robert Garner Alex Hurwitz Chuck Kantmann Frank King Glenn Lea Don Luke Ron Mak Dan McInnis Allen Palmer Dag Spicer Ed Thelen Ron Williams Agenda:
- Introduction of new volunteers
- Dag Spicer on Museum restoration philosophy, procedures, rules, & safety
- Organizing for bring-up plans
- 50-Hz power
- Accessioning
- Facilities
- Web site
Meeting Minutes:
- Our team now includes ~20 local, retired-from-IBM volunteers who maintained 1401’s as Customer Engineers, Field Engineers, or Technicians many years ago. (We will want to record the stories.) It was noted there are ~10 (out of total of ~45 on the team) volunteers who were 1401 programmers—which behooves us to begin to organize educational lectures/classes on 1401 programming.
- > Robert - Ask Betsy for nametags for everyone on team.
- > Ron Mak - Coordinate and plan for 1401 software educational classes, seminars, and instruction.
- Dag gave a great presentation, soon to be on the 1401 web site, on the Museum’s restoration philosophy (what causes objects to degrade, why restoration projects, need for expert help on restoring finishes), handling procedures (change reversibility, consensus before alterations, gloves on surfaces), transparency (log books, document everything, photos), team conflict resolution, and safety (high voltages, CPR, defibrillator). Dag will be asking everyone to sign a Pledge form to abide by the Museum procedures. We agreed to organize a CPR and First Aid class at the Museum for at least 3-4 certifications.
- > Mary - Organize CPR and First Aid class. Invite Allison Akbay to give object-handling presentation at next meeting.
- > Dag - Ask volunteers to sign a Pledge to adhere to the Museum’s restoration rules, regulations, and procedures. Give presentation again at next meeting for those who missed this time.
- We had a spirited discussion on record keeping and how to organize the log books: Whether to have just one overall log book, log books for each unit, or both. We eventually agreed to do both: A master system logbook and one log book for each unit, for five total: System, CPU, Reader/Punch, Printer, Tape. (Changes in subunits would be referenced in master copy, later in the project, when we reach system integration stage.) The five 729 tape drives will also each have a logbook.
- We discussed a process for writing the bring-up plan. Each unit leader will be responsible for a unit-specific bring-up plan. Although there will be common items between them, such as capacitor reforming, it is expected each unit bring-up plan will have unique requirements. (For instance, the printer can be hand cranked and the tape drives have vacuum columns.) We will have a group meeting of the unit leads plus someone from PDP-1 or 1620 projects next Weds. We nominated Chuck to be the system integration group leader. Chuck will also be our primary contact with Arnold Schweinsberg, the machine’s original CE.
- Robert discussed 50-Hz status. Plan is to bring-up pieces of the system and the 729’s at 50 Hz (380vY/220v). Later we may convert the 729’s (and more units) to 60 Hz. This scheme reduces the power nameplate requirement from the full-system 13 kVA down to a less-expensive and more manageable 5 kVA, static converter.
- > R. Garner - Explore procuring a 5 kVA, 60à 50 Hz, 3-phase solid-state converter. Also follow-up on Grant’s lead on a $500 12-kVA motor generator set.
- Mary summarized the inventory meeting in the 1401 server room last Friday. A couple of spreadsheets now record an overall summary of what we have, and will be distributed as soon as they’re reviewed. Next step is to go down one more level of detail. Some of the documents have been copied now. Plan is to move all of the original documents out of the server room within a month or so. Chuck proposed envelopes for the SMS cards as a first-step to cataloging them. This will free up storage rack space so tools, equipment, etc. can be moved in.
- Mike Falarski conducted a facilities orientation for unit leads & others and issued them building cards. We asked about humidity control and the lights in the server room. The Liebert unit shows 50% relative humidity. Question: What would be the optimal humidity for the 1401 server room?
- > Mike F. - Replace non-functional lights & install two fire extinguishers in room.
- > Dag - Procure a humidity sensor.
- > Dag - Re-host Ed Thelen’s 1401 site to Museum’s site. (Use wiki server too?)
- We noted that the server room floor surface is now wonderfully clean. (Thanks to a father/son volunteer team last weekend.)
- Next general meeting scheduled for Weds, June 30th, 11-1pm. Dag will give his restoration & procedure talk again and Allison Akbay will give her object handling class.
- There will be a unit lead bring-up meeting on Weds, June 23rd, 11-1pm (including a meeting with IBM’s archivist, Dave Lasewicz), and the next inventory session with Mary is in the morning, from 9-11.