Site outage yesterday

[Coach]

Hi guys,

If you stopped by yesterday, you probably noticed that the site was down for most of the day while I was performing some upgrades. That's me in the picture fixing the broken flux capacitor. It took a lot longer than I thought.

The good news is that the site is now up and running and should be faster than ever before. I have plans to update the forum software over the next few months as well. There is a chance that some of the old site features like the casino may not carry over. It doesn't seem like anybody uses them any more anyhow. I appreciate your patience as I try to make this forum a better place to visit.

-Coach

[kcvet]

US subs used a computer called the TDC (Torpedo Data Computer) in WW2



an early electromechanical analog computer used for torpedo fire-control. Britain, Germany, and Japan also developed automated torpedo fire control equipment, but none were as advanced as the US Navy's TDC, as it was able to automatically track the target rather than simply offering an instantaneous firing solution. This unique capability of the TDC set the standard for submarine torpedo fire control during World War II. I also read there was one used by artillery units to put the round dead on target

[jap1]

US subs used a computer called the TDC (Torpedo Data Computer) in WW2



an early electromechanical analog computer used for torpedo fire-control. Britain, Germany, and Japan also developed automated torpedo fire control equipment, but none were as advanced as the US Navy's TDC, as it was able to automatically track the target rather than simply offering an instantaneous firing solution. This unique capability of the TDC set the standard for submarine torpedo fire control during World War II. I also read there was one used by artillery units to put the round dead on target

They used analog computers on battleships (like the USS Missouri). They tried to upgrade to digital ones (in the 80s I think), but they couldn't get the same accuracy with long distance artillery (20+ miles) as they were able to get with the analog computers. So they stuck with the analog computers from the 40s.

[N TX Dave]

Well when I first went into the Army I was at a Nike Hercules site which was still using analog computers to guide the missile to the target but I did not really work on them I just operated them. The right hand cabinet was servos that were the actual computer this is one computer to track the intercept point.

[Coach]

Never realized how advanced my first computer was till I read this thread.

[AkChief49]

I went to the Kennedy space center in Florida a few years ago and took the tour. At the Mercury launch site they had a model of the old flight computer, approx. 3'X2'X1-1/2'. Sitting on top of it was a reference to the size of the computer that replaced it, it was a wrist watch.

[Chiefster]

Never realized how advanced my first computer was till I read this thread.

[tornadospotter]

Never realized how advanced my first computer was till I read this thread.

Hey! Do you still have that? I need to upgrade my home system. The wife wants the room.

[Chiefster]

Hey! Do you still have that? I need to upgrade my home system. The wife wants the room.

That's gotta be a whole 64K!

[tornadospotter]

That's gotta be a whole 64K!

Well never mind, at that cost, I will just keep mine.

[Chiefster]

Well never mind, at that cost, I will just keep mine.

Actually, I was talking Kilobytes.