Dissecting the 1968 U.S. Military Computer: A Journey Through Time
This machine has been in my eBay collection for a long time. One day, I accidentally glanced at my collection and suddenly found that the seller had drastically reduced the price to only $15, with a best offer option. You can’t lose with $15, you can’t be fooled with $15. Without further ado, I decisively made the purchase.According to very limited information,this machine is codenamed AN/ASX-2 and is part ofthe non-cooperative identification friend or foe system developed by the U.S. military for the F4 fighter jet in 1968. The so-callednon-cooperative identification friend or foe means identifying the type of target directly through analysis of the target’s feature information without using a radio transponder. Naturally, such a system has a high probability of misidentification. The machine disassembled this time isused to analyze the echoes received by radar through spectral analysis to determine the type of the opposing aircraft and judge the type of target. Of course, this equipment is very old now, and has completely lost its confidentiality value. In addition, in 1988, due to misidentification, the U.S. military shot down an Iranian passenger plane (see Iran Air Flight 655 disaster), and the U.S. subsequently terminated the development of the non-cooperative identification friend or foe system (of course, whether or not it continued secretly is unknown). Therefore, such equipment has also been completely abandoned and appeared as electronic waste on the internet.The machine obtained this time has aserial number of 001. It is said that this set of equipmentwas produced only 6 units in total, and it is estimated that this one is the first prototype developed by the U.S. military, and it is very likely to be the first working machine since the U.S. began research in 1965. Therefore, I personally feel that its historical value is also considerable. However, obviously, the machine can no longer work, as several circuit boards are missing, and circuits like the simulation front-end have been removed. However, it is still relatively complete. I will share it to broaden everyone’s horizons.The shell is gray, and nothing can be seen.This side has some words written on it, meaning that the machine is broken and can only be used as a part.This side has two temperature-sensitive stickers, followed by an introduction.The seller also sent a small control box, but it is unknown whether it is compatible with the machine.Number No.001, ASSY M600663-1The interface part originally had a fan that has long been removed.The aviation socket has a coaxial interface, which I have never seen before. It is estimated that the simulated signal from the radar enters here.Giant aviation socketFault indicator light, with gold plating inside.The bulb is an incandescent bulb, and there is a layer of steel mesh inside the lampshade. Indeed, high-end goods win in details.Below, this is thetemperature indicator label, which can be used to detect the maximum temperature during the operation of the equipment. When the temperature exceeds the corresponding value on the label, the corresponding circle will turn black and will remain black and will not return. This way, putting the equipment on the plane to operate for a while, when you come back, you can know what the maximum temperature is.After blowing with a hairdryer for a while, the 170-degree circle turned black.The back of the machine hides a huge magnetic core storage module.Opening a side panel, you can see the complex bus structure inside.。。。Close-up, this isa circuit manually connected with a special winding tool. It is common in early computers and military equipment because it does not require printed circuits and is convenient for modification and prototype production.These two interfaces may be used for debugging or programming (purely a guess).Next, opening another side cover… I found that many boards are missing, so it seems impossible to get the machine running.Fortunately, there are still 7 circuit boards left.From the side, there are many chips on the circuit board.Change angleThere is a 14MHz crystal oscillator, which seems to be active, providing clock for the system.Another one has been removed.Next, pulling out the first board, it’s simply beautiful. It’s hard to imagine thatin 1968, the Americans already had surface mount technology. Back then, Armstrong hadn’t landed on the moon, and Dongfanghong hadn’t gone to the sky. Most Chinese engineers hadn’t even heard of integrated circuits.However, the back.。。UhThe wiring is too free-spirited.。。However, it should also be made as a prototype, just used to verify functionality. The flying wires used on it are also something I have seen for the first time, seemingly a layer of very thin transparent insulating material wrapped around a silver-plated wire, looking almost like exposed wire.Chips made by General Instruments, unknown purpose. They look like cache or something. This company was later acquired by Microchip (the company that makes PIC microcontrollers).The board interface is also quite special, hollow gold-plated cylinder.Next, I will take out the second board. The circuit board is completely made of stainless steel, embedded in an aluminum frame.This board is full of small-scale integrated circuits, which should be used to implement logic functions.The back is also as free-spirited.Upon closer inspection, it is found that the power and ground connections of each chip are connected to the power bus hidden inside the board, and the remaining pins also use special silver-plated flying wires.The third board has not only surface-mounted chips but also several through-hole chips from Fairchild Semiconductor. Of course, the models cannot be found.This board has components on both sides.In fact, it is two stainless steel circuit boards embedded in the same aluminum frame on both sides.The circuit board number is also 001.The other several boards are actually very similar, all have many small-scale integrated circuits.This one is numbered 002.The board is also attached with a temperature label for observing the internal temperature of the machine.This board clearly has problems and is being debugged with flying wires.This one is the same.All remaining circuit boards have been taken out, and you can see that each board has positioning pins at different positions on the bottom to prevent incorrect insertion.Looking from the sideEmpty chassis, each socket is labeled with the corresponding module number.All circuit boards together.Now let’s look at the details. The small-scale integrated circuits used on these circuit boards are produced by American Sylvania (now the manufacturer of lamps). This company was also one of the earliest manufacturers of integrated circuits, but later on it could not keep up…It must be mentioned that Sylvania successfully developed TTL integrated circuits in 1963, making it one of the earliest manufacturers to produce TTL integrated circuits in the world (yes, earlier than the famous Texas Instruments and the 74 series chips). The first generation TTL integrated circuits used in this machine are from Sylvania. This mini packaging is called flat pack, which was common in the 1960s and was widely used in military equipment.The SGxxx in the picture is a logic gate, and the SFxxx is a flip-flop. According to the information, SG220 is a NAND gate, SG200 is an 8-input NAND gate, and SF130 is a 50MHz j-k flip-flop.There is nothing interesting inside the host, let’s open the cover on the back of the machine to see what’s inside.The nameplate, this module was produced by Litton. This company is a well-known arms manufacturer in the U.S., and its products include navigation systems, fire control systems, aerospace, etc., and even produced space suits for NASA.The nameplate did not write any valuable information, but according to the information, this is a 32KB magnetic core storage module.Take it apart.Looking at it alone, it says bad memory, indicating that the memory module is also broken.The entire module is completely wrapped in metal and sealed with a tag.The seal says Litton Company/Navigational and Control Division, last date July 12, 1972.I originally did not want to break the seal, but in order to see what it looks like inside, I still reluctantly took it apart…Removing the side, I saw a pile of magnetic core storage boards stacked together.Change angleThe lid on top should have something, continue to disassemble.As soon as I opened the lid, a flash of gold passed by.。。I am blinded.。。。All are golden chips, neatly arranged…I have to say that so far, this is the most beautiful circuit I have ever seen.Taking it down, this is the front.The back also has a layer, and the two boards are attached to a steel plate on both sides.The front circuit board number is 001.Fairchild’s chip.These are ceramic resistors.Resistors.The white ones are Motorola chips.SN5400, the famous TI has appeared! This is a flat pack packaged 74 series TTL chip, produced in the fourth week of 1968. 54 represents military-grade chips, and 5400 is naturally the famous 4 NAND gate.It is said that in 1968, such a chip was worth $20, so the entire system must have been quite expensive.The other side of the module also has a similar circuit board.The front and the previous one are exactly the same, probably the front-end circuit for magnetic core reading and writing.The flying wires are still unavoidable.Two boards together, this is the back, different functions, and different component layouts.The front looks the same.Let’s take a look at the serial number, one is 01, the other is 02. The serial number is printed on, the Americans really put in a lot of effort.。。。Close-up, modern 74HC chips and 50-year-old 54 chips appear together. I found that although so much time has passed, the pitch of the surface mount SO package has not changed at all in 50 years. I can’t help but admire the foresight of the Americans in setting standards. Looking at us, many standards change overnight, making it difficult to continue.After removing the board, the module is made of stainless steel.Gold-plated interfaces.Disassembling further, you can see that the magnetic core storage is piled up. The top is a diode board, and the ones below are all magnetic core boards. Unfortunately, they are soldered together, so they cannot be disassembled without damage, so I won’t disassemble them. Diode array. A bunch of wiring.Here is also a small board, the chips on it are simply… From left to right, they are from National Semiconductor (NS), Texas Instruments (TI), Motorola, HELIPOT (a manufacturer of resistors), and on the far right is Fairchild.Finally, here are a few pictures of the module as a whole. Because it is simply too beautiful, I can’t help but post a few more pictures.Thus, the disassembly is complete.Finally, here’s a picture that can serve as a desktop wallpaper.
—THE END—
Editor ∑GeminiSource: Digital Home
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Below, this is thetemperature indicator label, which can be used to detect the maximum temperature during the operation of the equipment. When the temperature exceeds the corresponding value on the label, the corresponding circle will turn black and will remain black and will not return. This way, putting the equipment on the plane to operate for a while, when you come back, you can know what the maximum temperature is.
Now let’s look at the details. The small-scale integrated circuits used on these circuit boards are produced by American Sylvania (now the manufacturer of lamps). This company was also one of the earliest manufacturers of integrated circuits, but later on it could not keep up…
The lid on top should have something, continue to disassemble.As soon as I opened the lid, a flash of gold passed by.。。I am blinded.。。。
Here is also a small board, the chips on it are simply… From left to right, they are from National Semiconductor (NS), Texas Instruments (TI), Motorola, HELIPOT (a manufacturer of resistors), and on the far right is Fairchild.Finally, here are a few pictures of the module as a whole. Because it is simply too beautiful, I can’t help but post a few more pictures.
Thus, the disassembly is complete.Finally, here’s a picture that can serve as a desktop wallpaper.
