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View Full Version : Conrad Zeus model V1 question?


copperclad
12-01-2006, 12:55 AM
hi
i have been trying to find some info on a toy i had in the mid 60's , i believe it was based on the mechanical card racks that Conrad Zeus built to use as memory or adders for his first machine the V1 , the toy was given to me when i was young and i had no interest in it at the time , as i recall it was a rack of 9 cards held in a frame , up on edge , and it could be programmed by inserting short lengths of soda straw on the edge of each card , i believe it functioned as an binary adder , years later i became interested in computers and came across a picture of Conrad Zeus standing in front of his V1 , and sure enough on top were a row of these card racks , so long story short , i would give my eye teeth to find out more about what these were and how they worked , i have googled around the web , but i am not sure what they may be called and other than following out links to Zeus , i haven't been able to find anything , comming across this site , it occured to me , someone here might know , thanks , dana :)

Grant Stockly
12-01-2006, 10:27 PM
You might also want to ask your question at these two places:

http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/index.php

and

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.folklore.computers

:)

copperclad
12-02-2006, 04:57 PM
hi Grant
thanks for the links , they were both new to me , and very cool , thanks again , dana :)

copperclad
12-16-2006, 12:23 AM
hi
i ended up finding out what i was looking for and thought i would post it back here incase anyone was interested , thanks again , dana

here is a link to an emulator i found
http://www.scoopsfolks.com/digicomp1/


The Digi-Comp 1 is the "first real operating digital computer in plastic."

This is a great educational, toy computer that has been a delight for many. This was an introduction to Boolean logic and programming for many children. It requires no batteries but is operated mechanically, and demonstrates basic logic principles. Its versatility is amazing.


This Digi-Comp 1 was produced by E.S.R. Inc. in about 1963.

sje
03-02-2008, 04:42 PM
There were two Digi-Comp models:

http://www.oldcomputermuseum.com/digicomp_1.html

http://www.oldcomputermuseum.com/digicomp_2.html

sje
03-02-2008, 07:01 PM
"Konrad Zuse" is the correct spelling of the man who, more than any other person, was the inventor of the program controlled digital computer. He also developed the first high level programming language, the PlanCalculus. Unfortunately for Zuse, his work in Germany in the early 1940s was poorly funded and encountered serious setbacks due to airborne deliveries by British and American strategic bombing missions.

Zuse started in his parents' basement designing relay based calculators. He built the first full scale relay computer, the Z3, in 1941. It successfully performed programmed floating point calculations all day long at a whopping five Hz. Zuse is also known for designing and building a fast binary adder/subtracter with only two relays (four pole, double throw) per bit.

For more on Zuse, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_Zuse

Why do I know this? In part because I'm designing the Rhea (Relay Hacker Experimental Analysis) language to be used for describing and implementing relay calculators and relay computers. I hope the simulation, complete with graphics, runs faster than five Hz. (Even on a 2 MHz 8080!)

For a recent working physical implementation of a working relay computer, see: http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~harry/Relay/