Dissecting the 1968 US Military Computer: A Journey Through Time

The shell is gray, nothing can be seen

The seller also sent a small control box, but it’s unknown if it matches the machine

Number No.001, ASSY M600663-1

The interface part originally had a fan that has long been removed

Aviation socket, which also has a coaxial interface, is the first time I’ve seen one. It is estimated that the simulated signal from the radar comes in here

Giant aviation socket

Fault indicator light, which is gold-plated inside

The light bulb is an incandescent bulb, and there is a layer of steel mesh inside the lampshade. Indeed, high-end goods win in detailsBelow, this is a temperature indicator label attached to the chassis, 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 without returning. This way, after running the device on the plane for a period of time, you can know the maximum temperature.

The back of the machine hides a huge magnetic core storage module

Open a side panel, and you can see the complex bus structure inside.。。。

Up close, this isthe circuit manually connected with a special winding tool. It is common in early computers and military equipment due to the absence of printed circuits and the convenience of modification and prototype production.

These two interfaces may be used for debugging or programming (purely a guess)

Fortunately, 7 circuit boards are still left

Looking from the side, many chips can be seen on the circuit board

Change the angle

This has a 14MHz crystal oscillator, which seems to be active, providing a clock for the system

There is another one that has been disassembled

Pull out the first board, it’s simply beautiful It’s hard to imagine that the US already had surface mount technology in 1968. At that time, Armstrong had not yet landed on the moon, and Dongfanghong had not yet gone to space, and most Chinese engineers had never even heard of integrated circuits.

However, the back.。。Uh

The wiring is too whimsical.。。However, it should also be produced as a prototype, just for functional verification. The flying wires used here are also the first time I’ve seen, seemingly a silver-plated wire wrapped in a very thin layer of transparent insulating material, looking almost like exposed wire.

The chips are manufactured by General Instruments, with unknown purposes. It looks like something similar to a cache. This company was later acquired by Microchip (the company that makes PIC microcontrollers).

The circuit board interface is also quite special, a hollow gold-plated cylinder

Next, take out the second board. The circuit board is entirely made of stainless steel, embedded in an aluminum frame.This board is filled with small-scale integrated circuits, likely used to implement logical functions

The back is also as whimsicalUpon closer inspection, it is found that each chip’s power and ground are connected to the power bus hidden inside the board, while the other pins are also connected with special silver-plated flying wires

The third board has several through-hole chips from Fairchild Semiconductor in addition to surface-mounted chips. 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

The circuit board number is also 001

The other boards are actually quite similar, all have many small-scale integrated circuitsThis one is numbered 002

There are also temperature labels on the board, used to observe the internal temperature of the machine

This board clearly has issues, with flying wires for debugging

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 locations on the bottom to prevent incorrect insertion into slots

Looking from the side

Empty chassis, each socket is labeled with the corresponding module number

All circuit boards group photo Now, let’s take a look at the details. The small-scale integrated circuits used on these circuit boards are produced by Sylvania (now known for making light bulbs). This company was also one of the earliest manufacturers of integrated circuits, but it didn’t do well later…

The main unit doesn’t have much to see, so let’s open the cover on the back of the machine to see what’s inside

The nameplate indicates that this module was produced by Litton. This company is a well-known arms manufacturer in the US, with products including navigation systems, fire control systems, aerospace, and even produced spacesuits for NASA.There is no valuable information written on the nameplate, but according to the data, this is a 32KB magnetic core storage module.

Taking it down

Looking at it individually, it says bad memory, indicating that the memory module is also broken

The entire module is completely wrapped in metal and has a seal

The seal reads Litton Company / Navigation and Control Division, final date July 12, 1972

I originally didn’t want to break the seal, but to see what it looks like inside, I had to make the painful decision to open it…After removing the side, I saw a pile of magnetic core storage boards stacked together

Changing angles The cover on top should have more things, continue to disassembleJust opened the cover, and a golden light flashed. I’m going blind.。。。。

All golden chips, neatly arranged…I must say, so far, this is the most beautiful circuit I’ve ever seen

Taking it down, this is the front

The back has another layer, and the two boards are attached to a steel plate on both sidesFront circuit board number 001

These are ceramic resistors

Resistors

The white ones are Motorola chips

SN5400, the famous TI has appeared! This is a flat pack package of the 74 series TTL chip, produced in the 4th 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 US dollars, so the entire system must have been quite expensive.

The other side of the module also has a similar circuit boardThe front and the previous one are exactly the same, likely the front circuit for reading and writing magnetic cores

Flying wires are still unavoidable

A group photo of the two boards, the back has different functions, and the component layout is also different

The front looks similar

Let’s take a look at the serial numbers, one is 01, and the other is 02. The serial numbers are silk-screened, the Americans really put in a lot of effort.。。。

Close-up, modern 74HC chips and 50-year-old 54 chips appear together It’s found that despite the long time, the pin spacing of the surface mount SO package has not changed at all in 50 years. One can’t help but admire the foresight of Americans when setting standards. Let’s look at us, many standards are changed frequently, making it difficult to continue.

The module after removing the boards, made of stainless steelGold-plated interfaces

Further disassembly reveals that the magnetic core storage is piled upThe top is a diode board, and the others are magnetic core boards. Unfortunately, they are soldered together, so they cannot be disassembled without damage, so I won’t take them apart.Diode arrayA bunch of wiringHere is a small board, and the chips on it are simply…From left to right: National Semiconductor (NS), Texas Instruments (TI), Motorola, HELIPOT (a resistor manufacturer), and on the far right is Fairchild.Finally, here are a few pictures of the module in full view. Because it is so beautiful, I can’t help but post a few more pictures.That’s the end of the disassemblyFinally, here’s a picture that can be used as a desktop background

Book Giveaway
We are giving away 5 copies of the new book "Data Leadership: Key Pathways for Digital Transformation in the Age of Artificial Intelligence," just launched! Sponsored by "Peking University Press."

This book centers around the experiences of seven individuals, recording the journey of digital transformation in various industries, showcasing the specific dilemmas, experiences, and lessons learned during the process, and illustrating the scenarios and pathways where data leadership plays a role. The seven individuals come from different industries and hold different positions, but they all demonstrate leadership in their actual work and have gradually promoted the process of digital transformation. They not only need to showcase the value of data but also influence those around them, helping the organization embrace the concept of data and achieve data-driven process re-engineering. With every step, they have goals, and they will try and reflect, whether successful or not, readers can gain insights and references based on their actual scenarios.

Participation method: Like + "Looking" + "Comment" at the bottom of this article. Only high-quality comments related to the article content can go on the wall! The top 5 readers with the most likes on their comments will receive this book, and they cannot win again within 30 days. Those who have previously won a book can temporarily refrain from participating to give newcomers a chance. Thank you for your support. The deadline is before the next article is published, and the final winners will add me on WeChat to claim their prize.
PS: Malicious liking is prohibited! Those who are found will be blacklisted and disqualified from going on the wall.

Little Monkey WeChat
Scan to add friends, and I can pull you into a study group.

🧐 Share, like, and look, give a three-hit combo!👇