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Published on 10/16/1995 All articles from this issue

Unique mainframe computer saved from destruction by local historical association

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A historically important mainframe computer has been rescued by the Computer History Association of California, based in Palo Alto. The machine, a 30-year-old SDS 930 built by Scientific Data Systems in Santa Monica, is the last such computer known to exist intact.

Weighing more than four tons, the SDS 930 was one of the fastest computers available when it was installed at the Table Mountain Observatory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 1965. It performed real-time date acquisition related to nuclear test compliance and spacecraft data transfer until it was shut down in Feb. 1995. At that time, the agency contacted CHAC rather than see the unique computer scrapped.

The computer has been placed in secure storage in the South Bay and will be exhibited, along with other computers and memorabilia belonging to CHAC, as available space and funding permit. This rescue was accomplished with the valued help of the Perham Foundation in Los Altos and The Computer Museum in Boston as well as private donors and technical experts.