Difficult to get the 60Hz pure AC to sync the data bits, I would think!
On 2023-06-04 16:15, Rick Bensene via cctalk wrote:
Earlier today, I wrote:
Doubtful that VW Bug was on the Autobahn at the time, and, while the
advertisement was very
novel with a full-on minicomputer in the back seat of a VW Bug, the amount of
data
potentially being transported was likely only 4K 12-bit words, or 48K bits.
Since the machine had magnetic core memory, the system would retain the content
of its memory
without power, so in this scenario, the VM Bug was actually capable moving data
from one
point to another, albeit, not all that much data.
Now, if the Bug had a trailer hitch, it could tow a trailer behind it with a
gasoline or
diesel powered generator with sufficient capacity to run the PDP-8. If that
were the case,
the machine could actually process the data in its memory while it was moving
down the
road...something a station wagon full of reels of magnetic tape wouldn't be
able to do.
To which David Barto replied:
Are you suggesting some kind of, say, portable computer?
Runs, dodging and weaving.
I'm not sure that you could fit a complete Model 33-ASR Teletype in the
passenger seat of
the Bug. I suppose if the Teletype was removed from its stand, it might be able
to sit on the
seat, and be powered by the same generator that runs the Straight-8. The
Straight-8 came with a 110-baud current-loop serial I/O interface, so it'd just
be a matter of cabling it up to the Teletype.
It'd be really hard to operate the machine while driving, for sure. It'd be
far worse than messing with a smartphone while driving :-/. But, once stopped
somewhere pleasant, you could
actually develop programs using the punched tape reader/punch on the 33ASR.
It'd definitely be
an example of early "mobile computing". (Tongue firmly in cheek).
--
Nigel Johnson, MSc., MIEEE, MCSE VE3ID/G4AJQ/VA3MCU
Amateur Radio, the origin of the open-source concept!
Skype: TILBURY2591
