Brian, Re: the classic discord, Most of the people on it will be at VCFMW. In fact, the man who runs the Vcfmw also runs the discord. A suggestion is to join and ask anything and let people know you’ll be at VCFMW next week and stop by. You might get some interesting information. This particular discord gets a lot of activity and there’s a few ex and current IBM people on it that are fountains of knowledge.
Just a thought. Sent from my iPhone > On Sep 4, 2025, at 12:56, Brian L. Stuart via cctalk <[email protected]> > wrote: > > In the interest of not cluttering everyone's inbox, I'm going to try to > respond > to everyone all at once. This may fail spectacularly. :) > > Van Snyder wrote: >> Contact Dag Spicer <[email protected]>?at the Computer History >> Musum in Mountain View. > > Good suggestion. I hadn't thought to ask him, but he would be a good one > to talk to. > > Wayne S wrote: >> Have you searched the bitsavers archives? > > That is where I found some of the information I was able to find on the > Type 513, but as pointed out below, I did overlook the training manual. > >> Also you might join the CLASSIC COMPUTER discord. > > I tend to steer away from the real-time conversational tools, but this might > be a good enough reason to bite the bullet on it. > > David Wade wrote: >> Looking at the photographs linked from here:- > > I can't remember where I found this, but the best photograph of these units > that I've seen is: > > http://cs.drexel.edu/~bls96/eniac/brl-card.jpg > >> I think you are correct, but I wonder if the 512A and 518 were "specials" >> which is why there is little information on them. > > I've wondered that as well. The wording in the IBM letter that I found reads: > > "Some two or three months ago, Colonel P.N. Gillon called on Mr. Thomas J. > Watson, President of International Business Machines Corporation, with a > request that we furnish certain of our standard units for use with a special > machine for calculating purposes now being built. ... > > "We have worked out the details of the interconnection of our machines with > the remainder of the apparatus and are ready to start construction of the > units at our factory. In order to start construction on any of our machines, > an order and WPB approval is required. > > "It is suggested that a new contract be entered into for two items: > 1 - Card Reading Unit (Type 512A) > 1 - Gang Summary Punch (Type 518)" > > That would be very consistent with them being special units, probably > variations on standard products. > > If anyone is interested in seeing the letter itself, here's a scan from > microfilm: > > http://cs.drexel.edu/~bls96/eniac/letters/ibm-devs.pdf > >> The only other pictures I could find were in this book, 28th page in the PDF >> >> http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/punchedCard/Training/IBM_Accounting_Course_1949.pdf >> >> which shows a reproducing punch so I wonder if that is a 512.. > > I hadn't looked that the training manual there. My bad. The one on that page > labeled Card Reproducing Punch looks a lot like the one that I'm pretty sure > is the punch in the ENIAC pictures. > > Bill Degnan wrote: >> My Operators Guide (to) Electronic Punched Card Accounting Machines put out >> by IBM in 1951 lists the 513, 514, 519. I agree that the two you're >> looking for were special units, and it appears not commercially available. > > I'm inclined to think we have enough informed opinions to say that unless > something else comes to the fore, the best conclusion is that they were indeed > special units. The only reference I've seen to the 518 outside this letter > is: > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_IBM_products > > and that lists as reference a book that doesn't appear to be on archive.org. > >> I might try the Hagley Museum in Wilmington, >> Delaware, sometimes they have rare technical documentation and it might be >> worth a shot. > > Good idea. Most of my research has been at the UPenn archives, and they > do have some overlap with the Hagley, but I haven't been to Hagley yet and > should visit. > > As a bit of background, some years ago the Hagley, the UPenn archives, > and the Charles Babbage institute all realized that among them, they had > almost all of the exhibits from the patent trial. So they got a grant to > gather them all together and have them microfilmed. Each of the institutions > got back their originals and full sets of the microfilm. I've actually > been through it (all 210 rolls) and have capture several GB of scans. I'm > still processing them an making them available, with priority on the > engineering drawings. If you're interested in taking a look at the drawings, > here's a link to the ones I've posted so far: > > http://cs.drexel.edu/~bls96/eniac/drawings/ > > And anyone who will be at VCFMW next weekend is welcome to stop by > my table and see my ENIAC simulaton if you're interested. > > Thanks for all the tips, > BLS >
