Capturing sufficiently detailed measurements of an actual 1130

In order to finalize the display panel, keyboard, printer enclosure, table top, button placement and other external details, given the goal of attempting to produce as realistic an experience as possible, I will need very good measurements and close up pictures of important details.

I arranged to visit Bob Rosenbloom, who owns an 1130, to spend a few hours measuring and photographing all the details needed for the project. This took place on Saturday. He has a very extensive collection of machinery that includes an 1130 and an 1800 system (a related machine that IBM sold for process control uses).

Bob's 1130 as I began measuring it and recording details

 We opened it up to take certain measurements, Bob using the opportunity to clean up the front light panel.

Display panel (lights) with front cover removed, light honeycombs visible.

Desk surface tilted up, exposing the keyboard mounting details.

I took quite a few closeup pictures as well to help me as I interpret my measurements and drawings, plus they serve to help me recreate cosmetic details as I build the replica.

Side view with details of console printer enclosure shape and light pedestal mounting.

Rotary switch details (on right side of light pedestal)

Right hand unit showing key design details.

Some components are readily available to me, such as the pushbuttons and rotary switch, while others are much rarer. The Emergency Power pull switch, on the left side of the light pedestal, is extremely difficult to find, so I will be manufacturing a substitute. Here are closeups to help me achieve this:

View of Emergency Power Off (EPO) pull switch on left side of panel

Top view of the EPO switch showing construction details.

Bob offered a documation card reader for my project, which I will now interface to appear to be a 2501 (one of the two card readers sold with the 1130 system).

Documation card reader to be used as an IBM 2501 peripheral

I have a paper tape reader I am adapting to look like the 1130's peripheral, but Bob offered a high speed punch to complement it. This way I can produce paper tape that can be read on the reader:

Paper tape punch to use as 1130 PT punch output

Finally, he gave me a small pen plotter that should fit into an enclosure to look like the IBM 1627 (the plotter that was used with the 1130):

Plotter I will build into a replica 1627 unit.

I used my hotair rework station to remove two chips on my input board that didn't solder properly during the initial reflow. They were SSOP sized, smaller pins closer together than the others which were SOIC size, but also at the edges of the board which didn't reach as high a temperature as the remainder. I only partially liquified the solder, it didn't achieve the surface tension that would pull the pins onto their pads. In some places I had too much paste which formed a pool spanning multiple pads; this eliminated the surface tension effect for the pins inside the blob. The hot air brought the temp on the targeted chips to the melting point of the solder, allowing me to pull them off without affecting the soldering of the adjacent chips (although one small 0805 sized capacitor was also unsoldered, but easily reattached by hand soldering).

I took the opportunity to repair a small board I had for my logic analyzer, one chip was damaged by an accidental high voltage connection and the other chip was misaligned when I had soldered it months ago. I removed both with the hot air rework, put on new chips and had a fully functional level adjusting board once again.

The input board chips in question were out of stock at the suppliers I normally use (Digikey and Mouser), and at alternative after alternative I investigated. Finally, I discovered one distributor who had 41 left in stock, RS Components in the UK and tried to place an online order. However, this site serves the UK, its companion for the US, Allied Electronics, not only had no stock but said it would not accept orders for the chip I wanted, while the UK site would not accept an address that was outside the UK.

A while later I came upon Arrow Electronics who also had a small supply left. My online order seemed to go through, providing a confirmation screen, but when I clicked the page button to Print a copy, I received an error message about a region error that cancelled my order and the need to contact their service department by phone during the day. After a bit, I went through the order process again, got a confirmation and was able to print my confirmation.

Shortly, I received an email confirmation of the order, under $8 for a batch of six chips but sent with overnight shipping which jacked the entire order up to about $30. Yikes! I received a second confirmation with a different order number. Apparently the order that was cancelled in fact was not cancelled. I quickly sent an email to Arrow asking them to check whether this is a duplicate and if so, to ensure I only get one. Well, 12 hours later, no reply to the email but I did get two shipping notifications. My packages are apparently both on their way overnight to me. While I didn't need two times six chips, the cost is low enough that I don't care. I do care, however, that I wasted the overnight fee for the duplicate. They offered to refund the duplicate order, but I imagine that is the $8 not the shipping; nor would I refuse delivery of one of the two. I will just have to be very careful with their online ordering; hopefully others will be forewarned by this experience if they too get spurious messages on the site claiming their order is cancelled.

I have finished more research and found that I have enough information to interface the Documation reader, as well as new information that will ensure I can produce a 100% timing/behavior faithful 1442 Card Reader/Punch emulation. The Tally paper tape punch unit seems pretty straightforward from the document that Bob shared with me, although it is for a somewhat different model. Once I verify that the two devices are operational, I can work up the designs.

Remaining data I need for a totally complete project include:
   - one page of ALD and more documents on the 2501 reader for timing.behavior completeness
   - ALD pages for 1403 printer
   - ALD pages for mux channel attachment onto 1131
   - ALD pages for selector channel option, if I want to interface a 9 track tape drive
  - ALD pages and documentation for 2250 graphic stations
  - ALD pages for a 1237 optical mark reader

From a hardware standpoint, I have no plans yet for a realistic:
   - card punch
  -  disk drive
  -  line printer
  - communications adapter,  2250 graphic station, 1237 reader, etc as less likely choices.

Time to convert my measurements into drawings, designs and plans. My first look shows that my LED panel layout was close enough to work correctly when placed behind a suitably masked transparent panel. I will wire up the final production version of the boards and begin building the pedestal enclosure.