[rubicon]

My first computer was a Radio Shack Tandy $2500. We also purchased our first printer which I believe was a HP pin wheel drive. I believe the years was 1983.

[John_W]

If you guys are going back to where you worked and the computer you used on the job, then I think I've got a winner. It was August 16, 1977 and how do I remember, it was the day Elvis died. The equipment was a (ARTS 2) Automated Terminal Radar System at Pensacola Approach. We were closing the old approach control located on the Navy base 9 miles away and opening a brand new approach with computerized radar at Pensacola Regional Airport. Our approach was bigger than most because we handled not only the civilian traffic but all the aircraft flying in and out of the 3 Navy Airports in the area and up to Flight Level 210. Most approachs only handle up to 10,000 feet and maybe 25 miles out, we handled up to 50 miles out.

Our new facility looked like a mini-center, we had 10 radar displays each one was outfitted with a new ARTS 2 system, which had a keyboard for entry and a joy stick so you could slew your cursor to the aircraft you wanted to handoff or receive or whatever. This was night and day from what we had at Navy Pensacola. With the digital readout on the screen we now also had altitude from the aircraft transponder and we had ground speed because the computer can calculate speed between radar sweeps. Every aircraft was given a different transponder code to squawk that was unique in the system and the computer would recognize the aircraft and tag it after 2 sweeps.

The older system that we left at Navy Pensacola had no individual identifying ability. What I meant was you worked a sector and you would have every aircraft in your sector squawk the same code, that could be 0400 and every aircraft would look the same. You could tell yours from another sector because they might on 0500 or 0600 etc., but you couldn't tell one aircraft in your sector from another of your aircraft, you had to memorize each aircraft. Also without computer, there is no altitude or ground speed, you could tell a jet from a Cessna for example because when looking at primary radar, you see a trail behind the aircraft and of course a jet has a longer trail. The new radar was not primary radar, you were looking at a computer display, which meant you had to have a transponder in your aircraft to be seen.

The day we made the change over I was at Navy Pensacola with one other controller and we were handing off the aircraft to the new facility. They would give us the new transponder code and we would give it to the aircraft and when the new facility had radar contact we would give them control. During one of the landline communications with the other facility, the controller voice was coming out of the speaker above my console and he said, 'did you hear, Elvis died', that was some shock just when we were doing this. I never forgot that day.

[Polar Bear]

Originally Posted by Mikeod

...Now we have more power in our phones.

We have far more power in our current phones than the computers used to land the first man on the moon.

[Fredster]

It must have been sometime in the early 80's and I was out of work, looking for a job.
After a couple of phone contacts with prospective employers who asked me computer related questions,
I realized I was what was known as a "computer illiterate".
This realization motivated me to invest in a small Mac (don't recall the model) and then each morning
I got out the manual, poured a cup of coffee, and proceeded to teach myself the basics.
I treated it like I was going to work!

Then as luck would have it, I get hired by a firm that was just considering going to computers,
and to my surprise, even with my rudimentary knowledge I was in a fairly short time the department computer guru!
Go figure, what a change in a matter of months!

[biker1]

Well, yes, that was nearly 50 years ago in 1969 - an eternity in computer technology. My iPhone has more raw computing power than a Cray-2 (a system with no fundamental design limitations, not even price) from 1985 - 16 years later than that. However, it is a totally silly comparison as the design objective of the systems on Apollo were much different (power usage and reliability were important).

Originally Posted by Polar Bear

We have far more power in our current phones than the computers used to land the first man on the moon.

[jsw14]

Originally Posted by Polar Bear

I'm a PC guy, but my first computer was an Apple II.

My first PC was a Apple II C, no hard drive. Ur info was stored on 5" floppy disk. I still have it....

[n8xwb]

TI-99 in the early eighties, followed by an Apple 2C.

[jnieman]

I first began using computers in the late 1970's. My first one was a mag card with a one line screen. I remember we would have stacks and stacks of magnetic cards that had to be kept in order and numbered with a grease pencil. I remember dropping the stack on the floor by accident and it was an unnumbered pile. I had to start the document all over again. I graduated from that to a Wang computer with a tube monitor. I remember it having an Execute key where you would type then hit execute.

I still have my original AOL account and have used it all of these years and it still works fine.

[biker1]

Dropping an IBM 029 card punch deck was not much fun either. You pretty much only did that once and then you sequenced your decks.

Originally Posted by jnieman

I first began using computers in the late 1970's. My first one was a mag card with a one line screen. I remember we would have stacks and stacks of magnetic cards that had to be kept in order and numbered with a grease pencil. I remember dropping the stack on the floor by accident and it was an unnumbered pile. I had to start the document all over again. I graduated from that to a Wang computer with a tube monitor. I remember it having an Execute key where you would type then hit execute.

I still have my original AOL account and have used it all of these years and it still works fine.

[jnieman]

Originally Posted by biker1

Dropping an IBM 029 card punch deck was not much fun either. You pretty much only did that once and then you sequenced your decks.

Yes, for sure I remember those punch card computers. I remember sending that document down to technical publications (tech pubs) for them to retype it. I think it was several hundred pages.

[biker1]

Depending on how much clout/funding you had would impact whether you could use hard drive space on the system. If you didn't have much then you used card decks.

Originally Posted by jnieman

Yes, for sure I remember those punch card computers. I remember sending that document down to technical publications (tech pubs) for them to retype it. I think it was several hundred pages.

[Nucky]

My first computer was a Compaq from Crazy Eddie. Searching for a faster dial up was everyone's mission and I had a company called Net-Zero. The computer cost me an arm and a leg and I was self taught and never gave up trying to learn how to use that sucker. I can remember the awe I felt when somebody in the computer talked to me. Whoa! Probably the best thing I could do now is take a course just above the basic class in TV'S. Thank's for another great memory Schaumburger.

[Carla B]

In the mid 80's I had a very costly PORTABLE Compaq that weighed 35 lbs. that I would carry around to do clients' bookkeeping. I couldn't afford to buy it outright so my friend financed it. Then we got married and I didn't have to make payments any more.

[Jima64]

home built from a kit, very sloow almost no storage.

[Jaggy]

I think the first was Gateway? I just remember buying it cause the black and white box was so darn cute !!!!