Litton Industries Monrobot XI computers available

From: David Betz <dbetz_at_xlisper.mv.com>
Date: Tue Feb 25 13:54:01 2003

Do you have any idea how much it would cost to ship a 400# machine?

On Tuesday, February 25, 2003, at 02:26 PM, Peter C. Wallace wrote:

> On Tue, 25 Feb 2003, David Betz wrote:
>
>> I recently received email from FThomas470_at_aol.com informing me about
>> the availability of some Monrobot XI computers. I would love to
>> acquire
>> one of these as the Monrobot XI was the first computer I ever
>> programmed (in junior high school). Unfortunately, I am not sure I am
>> going to be able to afford to ship one from Virginia to NH. In any
>> case, I certainly can't take all 5-6 of them. If you are interested,
>> please contact the email address above. I don't have any more
>> information than what I'm posting here. If anyone decides to rent a
>> truck to move them from Virginia toward New England I'd be interested
>> contributing to the cost of the rental in exchange for hauling one for
>> myself.
>>
>> Here is the text of the messages I've received about these machines:
>>
>> Litton Industries's Monrobot XI
>>
>> We are in Charlottesville, Virginia and we have 5 or 6 of them in
>> storage. Until 7 or 8 years ago two of them were still being used and
>> worked just fine. In their time, they were really great machines and I
>> enjoyed programming and working with them.
>>
>> We also have 2 Friden Computypers which are earlier than the
>> Monrobots.
>> They had no electronics at all, but used rwo Friden late model
>> mechanical calculators with solenoids on all the keys and electrical
>> contacts on all the dials. They used a pile of stepping switches and a
>> big plug-board for programming. It was a far-out design but worked
>> very
>> well.
>>
>> We will be moving shortly and are pressed for space. Please let me
>> have
>> your thoughts and/or suggestions. If you are interested, any
>> reasonable
>> offer would be considered.
>>
>> The Monrobot consists of the main computer unit which contains the
>> electronics and magnetic drum, a little control unit with switches and
>> control buttons and a place for the I/O typewriter. It's about the
>> size
>> of an office desk and weighs about 400 lbs. A side section connects to
>> it and has a paper tape punch and a reader.
>>
>
>
> Jeez 5-6 computers from the 50's and they're all 400# and far away -
> road
> trip!
>
>
> I would help fund such trip if there was any chance of getting one to
> the west
> coast...
>
>
> Peter Wallace
Received on Tue Feb 25 2003 - 13:54:01 GMT