Any other older folks learn to program with this?

[coppice]

I remember entering the bootloader on front panel switches manually.

That was always such fun when the machine developed a problem that kept corrupting the section of core containing the bootloader.

[retrolefty]

I remember entering the bootloader on front panel switches manually.

That was always such fun when the machine developed a problem that kept corrupting the section of core containing the bootloader.

 Nope, on the minicomputer I field serviced for, the bootloader was always overwritten, so the 16 word bootloader always had to be fingered in via front panel switches. No problem, it was memorized so it took me about 20 secs to enter and hit run.   

[coppice]

I remember entering the bootloader on front panel switches manually.

That was always such fun when the machine developed a problem that kept corrupting the section of core containing the bootloader.

 Nope, on the minicomputer I field serviced for, the bootloader was always overwritten, so the 16 word bootloader always had to be fingered in via front panel switches. No problem, it was memorized so it took me about 20 secs to enter and hit run.   

On the Novas, Perkin Elmers, DECs and others I've had to get up from scratch by entering the boot loader, it was a lot more than 16 words, but normally survived between reboots.

[rstofer]

In grad school ('75-76), I used an ASR33 teletype connected to a DataGeneral system when I was on the campus.  At home I dialed in using a glass teletype (ADM3) and acoustic coupler at 110 Baud (later I got up to the smoking speed of 300 Baud).

I had to write a tiny Algol compiler using DataGeneral Basic (because that is what I had access to) and it wasn't pretty.  Up to a point, it worked well.

At the end, the Dean told me that I was the biggest single user of computer time on campus.  I didn't tell them that most of that time was spent playing StarTrek.

The other grim project was writing an 8080 Assembler in PL/I (which I kind of liked) but I had to run it on the business 360-45, time available.  That didn't work well either but the assembler turned out fine.  I needed the assembler because my Altair 8800 didn't have much in the way of software.  That changed rather quickly as Basic, C, PL/I and Pascal became available over the next 5 years.

I started programming in Fortran on an IBM1130 in '70.  Something like this:
http://computermuseum.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/dev/ibm1130/ibm1130.html

The system, along with the IBM Electronic Circuit Analysis Program (ECAP) was quite helpful getting me through undergrad (EE).  I now have an FPGA implementation of the entire system including the plotter and it runs all of the original IBM software including the 27 pass Fortran compiler.

Good times!

[basinstreetdesign]

I went through the co-op program at my university which meant that I was in class every other four months and out to work the rest of the time.  Once, in 1973 or 1974 I spent a work term at the mapping branch of the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources ostensibly as a lowly draughtsman on a gov.-sponsored make-work program.  It was pretty boring for the first couple of weeks when I happened to mention to my boss that I had some experience with a PDP-8.

Holy cow, I never saw him move so fast as on that day.  He said that they had one they would take on field trips to the arctic when they would check the location of the benchmark stations against the reigning navigation tool of the day which was the Omega system of high-power VLF transmitters.  He said that they needed some error analyses software developed and no one else had any idea how to turn the damn thing on let alone write software for it.

So he set me up with my own machine, paper tape reader, punch, and TTY in a hastily organized room about 12' x 12' and all the paper tape I could eat.  So for the next 3 1/2 months I was monarch of my own computer domain and a minor VIP on that floor.  I finished the project, complete with extensive instructions for use by the time I had to leave but I never got any feedback about its use in the field.

[ebclr]

I learned with this amazing machine

[brucehoult]

I learned with this amazing machine

I've never seen one naked, but I'm guessing that's a ZX80.

[CJay]

I learned with this amazing machine

I've never seen one naked, but I'm guessing that's a ZX80.

That's the beasty, there was one on a window ledge of a wooden outbuilding at Jodrell Bank with the cases next to it for a while, still regret not taking the one I was offered but I may get the gumption to build a clone some day...

[ebclr]

If you are serious about making the clone this may help you

https://echorod.home.xs4all.nl/zx/wilfs_zx97_article.htm

[xrunner]

PDP 8 and a Teletype.  I Played with one every day after classes in High school 1973 -1976.  Anyone that walked into the math lab at school was automatically labeled a nerd. 

I guess I'll admit it - and here's my lab book and some of my programming from university. You can see the date for yourself. 

[boffin]

PDP 8 and a Teletype.  I Played with one every day after classes in High school 1973 -1976.  Anyone that walked into the math lab at school was automatically labeled a nerd. 

I guess I'll admit it - and here's my lab book and some of my programming from university. You can see the date for yourself. 

Immediately my brain says "Hey that was printed on an LA36 DECwriter" (although we mostly had LA120s )

Also, my aunts' husband taught electroncs at Algonquin around that time, quite likely you had him as a teacher

[retrolefty]

PDP 8 and a Teletype.  I Played with one every day after classes in High school 1973 -1976.  Anyone that walked into the math lab at school was automatically labeled a nerd. 

I guess I'll admit it - and here's my lab book and some of my programming from university. You can see the date for yourself. 

 

Immediately my brain says "Hey that was printed on an LA36 DECwriter" (although we mostly had LA120s )

Also, my aunts' husband taught electroncs at Algonquin around that time, quite likely you had him as a teacher

Cool picture. We use to have a ton of LA-36s at the refinery I worked at. We found a 3rd party retrokit that would speed up the LA-36 to LA-120 speed for a lot cheaper then replacement. Those were very reliable printers and were the first generation of great I/O gear that DEC made along with VT-100. Prior to that I didn't think much of DEC I/O gear although their processors were always good.

[Housedad]

Wow,  in the late 70's,  I would drive up to Northeast Philly to the Heathkit store on Roosevelt Blvd and when I walked in, they had a H8 computer with a DeCwriter on display.   I remember spending most of my time (When they had it there) drooling and fawning over the DeCwriter and wishing I was rich.

I Loved going to the Heathkit store!!!  Pure candyland!

[Housedad]

OT, but from near the same era.  For some reason, I always thought that this Radio Shack computer table from 1978 was the coolest looking computer table that I have ever seen.

[digsys]

Yup, old memories. Adelaide University 1970-1972ish+  As computer geeks, we were given 5.0 Secs (10.0?) of processing time FREE a week? That was quite a lot as it was
charged out to industry at $20 a Sec back then. I had an awesome short term stint claning valve pins.