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134-487: The processing power behind SAGE was supplied by the largest discrete component-based computer ever built, the AN/FSQ-7 , manufactured by IBM . Each SAGE Direction Center (DC) housed an FSQ-7 which occupied an entire floor, approximately 22,000 square feet (2,000 m) not including supporting equipment. The FSQ-7 was actually two computers, "A" side and "B" side. Computer processing was switched from "A" side to "B" side on

268-671: A Sage/Missile Master Integration/ECM-ECCM Test in 1963, and although SAGE used AMIS input of air traffic information, the 1959 plan developed by the July 1958 USAF Air Defense Systems Integration Division for SAGE Air Traffic Integration (SATIN) was cancelled by the DoD. SAGE radar stations , including 78 DEW Line sites in December 1961, provided radar tracks to DCs and had frequency diversity (FD) radars United States Navy picket ships also provided radar tracks, and seaward radar coverage

402-570: A "Digital Radar Relay" (SAGE data system) used AT&T voice lines, microwave towers, switching centers (e.g., SAGE NNX 764 was at Delta, Utah & 759 at Mounds, Oklahoma ), etc.; and AT&T's "main underground station" was in Kansas (Fairview) with other bunkers in Connecticut (Cheshire), California (Santa Rosa), Iowa (Boone) and Maryland ( Hearthstone Mountain ). CDTS modems at automated radar stations transmitted range and azimuth, and

536-516: A 1952 USAF Project Lincoln "fullscale study" of "a large scale integrated ground control system" resulted in the SAGE approval "first on a trial basis in 1953". The USAF had decided by April 10, 1953, to cancel the competing ADIS (based on CDS), and the University of Michigan's Aeronautical Research Center withdrew in the spring. Air Research and Development Command (ARDC) planned to "finalize

670-488: A CDTS site. SAGE Direction Centers and Combat Centers were also nodes of NORAD's Alert Network Number 1, and SAC Emergency War Order Traffic included "Positive Control/Noah's Ark instructions" through northern NORAD radio sites to confirm or recall SAC bombers if "SAC decided to launch the alert force before receiving an execution order from the JCS". A SAGE System ergonomic test at Luke AFB in 1964 " showed conclusively that

804-567: A Combat Center (CC) for "supervision of the several sectors within the division" ("each combat center [had] the capability to coordinate defense for the whole nation"). SAGE became operational in the late 1950s and early 1960s at a combined cost of billions of dollars. It was noted that the deployment cost more than the Manhattan Project —which it was, in a way, defending against. Throughout its development, there were continual concerns about its real ability to deal with large attacks, and

938-408: A Fourier synthesizer, a tide-predicting machine , which summed the individual harmonic components. Another category, not nearly as well known, used rotating shafts only for input and output, with precision racks and pinions. The racks were connected to linkages that performed the computation. At least one U.S. Naval sonar fire control computer of the later 1950s, made by Librascope, was of this type, as

1072-805: A September 1959 experimental ATABE test between an "abbreviated" AN/FSQ-7 staged at Fort Banks and the Lexington XD-1, the 1961 "SAGE/ Missile Master test program" conducted large-scale field testing of the ATABE "mathematical model" using radar tracks of actual SAC and ADC aircraft flying mock penetrations into defense sectors. Similarly conducted was the joint SAC-NORAD Sky Shield II exercise followed by Sky Shield III on 2 September 1962 On July 15, 1963, ESD's CMC Management Office assumed "responsibilities in connection with BMEWS , Space Track , SAGE, and BUIC." The Chidlaw Building 's computerized NORAD/ADC Combined Operations Center in 1963 became

1206-615: A certain heading or vector . This Dowding system was the first ground-controlled interception (GCI) system of large scale, covering the entirety of the UK. It proved enormously successful during the Battle of Britain , and is credited as being a key part of the RAF's success. The system was slow, often providing information that was up to five minutes out of date. Against propeller driven bombers flying at perhaps 225 miles per hour (362 km/h) this

1340-626: A city-sized area. When the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb in August 1949, the topic of air defense of the US became important for the first time. A study group, the "Air Defense Systems Engineering Committee" was set up under the direction of Dr. George Valley to consider the problem, and is known to history as the "Valley Committee". Their December report noted a key problem in air defense using ground-based radars. A bomber approaching

1474-428: A comparatively intimate control and understanding of the problem, relative to digital simulations. Electronic analog computers are especially well-suited to representing situations described by differential equations. Historically, they were often used when a system of differential equations proved very difficult to solve by traditional means. As a simple example, the dynamics of a spring-mass system can be described by

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1608-604: A computer to handle the task of taking reports and developing tracks had been explored beginning late in the war. By 1944, analog computers had been installed at the CH stations to automatically convert radar readings into map locations, eliminating two people. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy began experimenting with the Comprehensive Display System (CDS), another analog computer that took X and Y locations from

1742-754: A computer was possible. The Valley Committee was introduced to Jerome Wiesner , associate director of the Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT . Wiesner noted that the Servomechanisms Laboratory had already begun development of a machine that might be fast enough. This was the Whirlwind I , originally developed for the Office of Naval Research as a general purpose flight simulator that could simulate any current or future aircraft by changing its software. Wiesner introduced

1876-428: A copy of a 1950s cover girl image programmed for SAGE display was identified as the "earliest known figurative computer art ". Company histories identifying employees' roles in SAGE include the 1981 System Builders: The Story of SDC and the 1998 Architects of Information Advantage: The MITRE Corporation Since 1958 . AN/FSQ-7 Combat Direction Central The AN/FSQ-7 Combat Direction Central , referred to as

2010-627: A fully electronic analog computer at Peenemünde Army Research Center as an embedded control system ( mixing device ) to calculate V-2 rocket trajectories from the accelerations and orientations (measured by gyroscopes ) and to stabilize and guide the missile. Mechanical analog computers were very important in gun fire control in World War II, the Korean War and well past the Vietnam War; they were made in significant numbers. In

2144-753: A map and automatically generated tracks from repeated inputs. Similar systems began development with the Royal Canadian Navy , DATAR , and the US Navy , the Naval Tactical Data System . A similar system was also specified for the Nike SAM project, specifically referring to a US version of CDS, coordinating the defense over a battle area so that multiple batteries did not fire on a single target. All of these systems were relatively small in geographic scale, generally tracking within

2278-407: A pair of AN/FSQ-7 computers to provide fault tolerance . One was active at any time, the other on standby. The standby system copied data from the active system to minimize switchover time if needed. A scheduled switchover took place every day. The AN/FSQ-7 calculated one or more predicted interception points for assigning manned aircraft or CIM-10 Bomarc missiles to intercept an intruder using

2412-400: A physical panel with connectors or, in more modern systems, as a software interface that allows virtual management of signal connections and routes. Output devices in analog machines can vary depending on the specific goals of the system. For example, they could be graphical indicators, oscilloscopes , graphic recording devices, TV connection module , voltmeter , etc. These devices allow for

2546-679: A production contract for the Lincoln Transition System". Similarly, the July 22, 1953, report by the Bull Committee ( NSC 159) identified completing the Mid-Canada Line radars as the top priority and "on a second-priority-basis: the Lincoln automated system" (the decision to control Bomarc with the automated system was also in 1953.) The Priority Permanent System with the initial (priority) radar stations

2680-409: A radar station would detect the signals from the radar long before the reflection off the bomber was strong enough to be detected by the station. The committee suggested that when this occurred, the bomber would descend to low altitude, thereby greatly limiting the radar horizon , allowing the bomber to fly past the station undetected. Although flying at low altitude greatly increased fuel consumption ,

2814-478: A regular basis, allowing maintenance on the unused side. Information was fed to the DCs from a network of radar stations as well as readiness information from various defense sites. The computers, based on the raw radar data, developed "tracks" for the reported targets, and automatically calculated which defenses were within range. Operators used light guns to select targets on-screen for further information, select one of

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2948-572: A target drone in August 1958 used the Kingston, New York , Q7 1500 miles away. By 1959, the 2000th simulated BOMARC intercept had been completed by the Q7. The SAGE/ Missile Master test program conducted large-scale field testing of the ATABE mathematical model using radar tracks of actual Strategic Air Command and Air Defense Command aircraft conducting mock penetrations into defense sectors (cf. Operation Skyshield ). The vacuum-tube SAGE network

3082-417: A very wide range of complexity. Slide rules and nomograms are the simplest, while naval gunfire control computers and large hybrid digital/analog computers were among the most complicated. Complex mechanisms for process control and protective relays used analog computation to perform control and protective functions. Analog computers were widely used in scientific and industrial applications even after

3216-444: A voltage on a particular wire). Therefore, each problem must be scaled so its parameters and dimensions can be represented using voltages that the circuit can supply —e.g., the expected magnitudes of the velocity and the position of a spring pendulum . Improperly scaled variables can have their values "clamped" by the limits of the supply voltage. Or if scaled too small, they can suffer from higher noise levels . Either problem can cause

3350-430: Is a type of computation machine (computer) that uses physical phenomena such as electrical , mechanical , or hydraulic quantities behaving according to the mathematical principles in question ( analog signals ) to model the problem being solved. In contrast, digital computers represent varying quantities symbolically and by discrete values of both time and amplitude ( digital signals ). Analog computers can have

3484-522: Is one of the few fields where slide rules are still in widespread use, particularly for solving time–distance problems in light aircraft. In 1831–1835, mathematician and engineer Giovanni Plana devised a perpetual-calendar machine , which, through a system of pulleys and cylinders, could predict the perpetual calendar for every year from AD 0 (that is, 1 BC) to AD 4000, keeping track of leap years and varying day length. The tide-predicting machine invented by Sir William Thomson in 1872

3618-405: Is placed on data primarily so that the multiplication of two numbers will always result in a product smaller than either of the numbers, thus positively avoiding overflow. Properly scaling calculations was the responsibility of the programmer. Instructions used the right half word plus the left sign bit to form addresses, yielding a 17-bit address space. The remainder of the left half word specified

3752-513: Is striking in terms of mathematics. They can be modeled using equations of the same form. However, the difference between these systems is what makes analog computing useful. Complex systems often are not amenable to pen-and-paper analysis, and require some form of testing or simulation. Complex mechanical systems, such as suspensions for racing cars, are expensive to fabricate and hard to modify. And taking precise mechanical measurements during high-speed tests adds further difficulty. By contrast, it

3886-764: Is the PEAC (Practical Electronics analogue computer), published in Practical Electronics in the January 1968 edition. Another more modern hybrid computer design was published in Everyday Practical Electronics in 2002. An example described in the EPE hybrid computer was the flight of a VTOL aircraft such as the Harrier jump jet . The altitude and speed of the aircraft were calculated by

4020-497: Is to combine the two processes for the best efficiency. An example of such hybrid elementary device is the hybrid multiplier, where one input is an analog signal, the other input is a digital signal and the output is analog. It acts as an analog potentiometer, upgradable digitally. This kind of hybrid technique is mainly used for fast dedicated real time computation when computing time is very critical, as signal processing for radars and generally for controllers in embedded systems . In

4154-405: Is very inexpensive to build an electrical equivalent of a complex mechanical system, to simulate its behavior. Engineers arrange a few operational amplifiers (op amps) and some passive linear components to form a circuit that follows the same equations as the mechanical system being simulated. All measurements can be taken directly with an oscilloscope . In the circuit, the (simulated) stiffness of

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4288-763: The 646th Radar Squadron (SAGE) October 1.) Additional sectors included the Los Angeles Air Defense Sector (SAGE) designated in February 1959. A June 23 JCS memorandum approved the new "March 1959 Reorganization Plan" for HQ NORAD/CONAD/ADC. Project Wild Goose teams of Air Materiel Command personnel installed c.  1960 the Ground Air Transmit Receive stations for the SAGE TDDL (in April 1961, Sault Ste Marie

4422-568: The AUTOVON Network. SAGE Sector Warning Networks ( cf. NORAD Division Warning Networks) provided the radar netting communications for each DC and eventually also allowed transfer of command guidance to autopilots of TDDL-equipped interceptors for vectoring to targets via the Ground to Air Data Link Subsystem and the Ground Air Transmit Receive (GATR) network of radio sites for "HF/VHF/UHF voice & TDDL" each generally co-located at

4556-780: The Air Defense Engineering Service (ADES), which was contracted in January 1954. IBM delivered the FSQ-7 computer's prototype in June 1956, and Kingston's XD-2 with dual computers guided a Cape Canaveral BOMARC to a successful aircraft intercept on August 7, 1958. Initially contracted to RCA , the AN/FSQ-7 production units were started by IBM in 1958 (32 DCs were planned for networking NORAD regions.) IBM's production contract developed 56 SAGE computers for $ .5 billion (~$ 18 million per computer pair in each FSQ-7)— cf.

4690-660: The Air Force Council recommended 1955 funding for "ADC to convert to the Lincoln automated system" ("redesignated the SAGE System in 1954"). The " experimental SAGE subsector, located in Lexington, Mass. , was completed in 1955…with a prototype AN/FSQ-7…known as XD-1 " (single computer system in Building F). In 1955, Air Force personnel began IBM training at the Kingston, New York , prototype facility, and

4824-620: The Air Movements Identification Service (AMIS) provided air traffic data to the SAGE System. Radar tracks by telephone calls (e.g., from Manual Control Centers in the Albuquerque , Minot , and Oklahoma City sectors) could be entered via consoles of the 4th floor "Manual Inputs" room adjacent to the "Communication Recording-Monitoring and VHF" room. In 1966, SAGE communications were integrated into

4958-603: The F-94 Starfire , F-89 Scorpion , F-101B Voodoo , and F-4 Phantom were controlled by SAGE GCI. The F-104 Starfighter was "too small to be equipped with [SAGE] data link equipment" and used voice-commanded GCI, but the F-106 Delta Dart was equipped for the automated data link (ADL) . The ADL was designed to allow Interceptors that reached targets to transmit real-time tactical friendly and enemy movements and to determine whether sector defence reinforcement

5092-551: The Operation Sky Shield tests showed that only about one-fourth of enemy bombers would have been intercepted. Nevertheless, SAGE was the backbone of NORAD 's air defense system into the 1980s, by which time the tube-based FSQ-7s were increasingly costly to maintain and completely outdated. Today the same command and control task is carried out by microcomputers , based on the same basic underlying data. Just prior to World War II , Royal Air Force (RAF) tests with

5226-717: The Q7 for short, was a computerized air defence command and control system. It was used by the United States Air Force for ground-controlled interception as part of the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment network during the Cold War . The name “AN/FSQ” derives from Army-Navy / Fixed Special eQuipment . An advancement of the pioneering MIT Whirlwind II digital computer design, and manufactured by IBM as prime contractor,

5360-537: The Strategic Defense Architecture (SDA-2000) planned an integrated air defense and air traffic control network. The USAF declared full operational capability of the first seven Joint Surveillance System ROCCs on December 23, 1980, with Hughes AN/FYQ-93 systems, and many of the SAGE radar stations became Joint Surveillance System (JSS) sites (e.g., San Pedro Hill Z-39 became FAA Ground Equipment Facility J-31 .) The North Bay AN/FSQ-7

5494-641: The Syracuse sector's DC-03 was operational ("the SAGE system [did not] become operational until January 1959.") Construction of CFB North Bay in Canada was started in 1959 for a bunker ~700 feet (210 m) underground (operational October 1, 1963), and by 1963 the system had 3 Combat Centers. The 23 SAGE centers included 1 in Canada, and the "SAGE control centers reached their full 22 site deployments in 1961 (out of 46 originally planned)." The completed Minot AFB blockhouse received an AN/FSQ-7, but never received

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5628-465: The spring constant and g {\displaystyle g} the gravity of Earth . For analog computing, the equation is programmed as y ¨ = − d m y ˙ − c m y − g {\displaystyle {\ddot {y}}=-{\tfrac {d}{m}}{\dot {y}}-{\tfrac {c}{m}}y-g} . The equivalent analog circuit consists of two integrators for

5762-504: The " 4620th Air Defense Wing (experimental SAGE) was established at Lincoln Laboratory" On May 3, 1956, General Partridge presented CINCNORAD 's Operational Concept for Control of Air Defense Weapons to the Armed Forces Policy Council , and a June 1956 symposium presentation identified advanced programming methods of SAGE code. For SAGE consulting Western Electric and Bell Telephone Laboratories formed

5896-489: The "Direct Analogy Electric Analog Computer" ("the largest and most impressive general-purpose analyzer facility for the solution of field problems") developed there by Gilbert D. McCann, Charles H. Wilts, and Bart Locanthi . Educational analog computers illustrated the principles of analog calculation. The Heathkit EC-1, a $ 199 educational analog computer, was made by the Heath Company, US c.  1960 . It

6030-618: The "SAGE Defense System" ("Air Defense Weapons System "). Burroughs Corporation was a prime contractor for SAGE network interface equipment which included 134 Burroughs AN/FST-2 Coordinate Data Transmitting Sets (CDTS) at radar stations and other sites, the IBM supplied AN/FSQ-7 at 23 Direction Centers, and the AN/FSQ-8 Combat Control Computers at 8 Combat Centers. The 2 computers of each AN/FSQ-7 together weighing 275 short tons-force (2,450 kN) used about ⅓ of

6164-535: The $ 2 billion WWII Manhattan Project . General Operational Requirements (GOR) 79 and 97 were "the basic USAF documents guiding development and improvement of [the semi-automatic] ground environment. Prior to fielding the AN/FSQ-7 centrals, the USAF initially deployed "pre-SAGE semiautomatic intercept systems" ( AN/GPA-37 ) to Air Defense Direction Centers , ADDCs (e.g., at " NORAD Control Centers "). On April 22, 1958, NORAD approved Nike AADCPs to be collocated with

6298-536: The 1939 Twin Lights Station in New Jersey, and the post- World War II experimental Cape Cod System used a Whirlwind I computer at Cambridge, Massachusetts to network long-range and several short-range radars . The key Whirlwind modification for radar netting was the development of magnetic-core memory that vastly improved reliability, doubled operating speed, and quadrupled input speed relative to

6432-465: The 1950s to the 1970s, general-purpose analog computers were the only systems fast enough for real time simulation of dynamic systems, especially in the aircraft, military and aerospace field. In the 1960s, the major manufacturer was Electronic Associates of Princeton, New Jersey , with its 231R Analog Computer (vacuum tubes, 20 integrators) and subsequently its EAI 8800 Analog Computer (solid state operational amplifiers, 64 integrators). Its challenger

6566-555: The AN/FSQ-7 was the largest discrete computer system ever built. Each of the 24 installed machines weighed 250 tons . The AN/FSQ-7 used a total of 60,000 vacuum tubes (49,000 in the computers) and up to 3 megawatts of electricity, performing about 75,000 instructions per second for networking regional radars. Installations in the USAF Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air defense network were configured as duplex systems, using

6700-563: The Apes TV series (Season 1, Episode 5, "The Legacy" aired October 1974), and many others. The Computer History Museum displays several AN/FSQ-7 components. MIT selected IBM as the prime contractor for equipment construction. The Central Computer System of the AN/FSQ-7 had two computers for redundancy each with Arithmetic, Core Memory, Instruction Control, Maintenance Control, Selection & IO Control, and Program elements. The Q7 had input/output devices such as: Punched card data

6834-657: The Automatic Target and Battery Evaluation (ATABE) algorithm. Also used in the Nike AN/FSG-1 system , ATABE automated the Whiz Wheel (Felsenthal CPU-73 A/P Air Navigation Attack Computer) method used in manual command post operations. The Q7 fire button launched the Bomarc, and an additional Q7 algorithm automatically directed the missile during climb and cruise to the beginning of its supersonic dive on

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6968-664: The Bottom of the Sea , amongst others). SAGE histories include a 1983 special issue of the Annals of the History of Computing , and various personal histories were published, e.g., Valley in 1985 and Jacobs in 1986. In 1998, the SAGE System was identified as 1 of 4 "Monumental Projects", and a SAGE lecture presented the vintage film In Your Defense followed by anecdotal information from Les Earnest , Jim Wong , and Paul Edwards . In 2013,

7102-630: The DC's 2nd floor space and at ~$ 50 per instruction had approximately 125,000 "computer instructions support[ing] actual operational air-defense mission" processing. The AN/FSQ-7 at Luke AFB had additional memory (32K total) and was used as a "computer center for all other" DCs. Project 416L was the USAF predecessor of NORAD, SAC, and other military organizations' "Big L" computer systems (e.g., 438L Air Force Intelligence Data Handling System & 496L Space Detection and Tracking System ). Network communications: The SAGE network of computers connected by

7236-661: The Dumaresq were produced of increasing complexity as development proceeded. By 1912, Arthur Pollen had developed an electrically driven mechanical analog computer for fire-control systems , based on the differential analyser. It was used by the Imperial Russian Navy in World War I . Starting in 1929, AC network analyzers were constructed to solve calculation problems related to electrical power systems that were too large to solve with numerical methods at

7370-520: The FSQ 7 memory 1 had 65,536 words and memory 2 had 4096 words. At Luke Air Force Base , the FSQ-7 held 65,536 words at each bank and the FSQ-8 4096 words at each bank. For data storage, each word was divided into two halves, each half was a 15-bit number with a sign bit . Arithmetic operations were performed on both halves simultaneously. Each number was treated as a fraction between −1 and 1. This restriction

7504-454: The FSQ-7 was based on the IBM 701 but, while the 701 was investigated by MIT engineers, its design was ultimately rejected due to high error rates and generally being "inadequate to the task." IBM's contributions were essential to the success of the FSQ-7, and IBM benefited immensely from its association with the SAGE project, most evidently during development of the IBM 704 . On October 28, 1953,

7638-645: The FSQ-8 (the April 1, 1959, Minot Air Defense Sector consolidated with the Grand Forks ADS on March 1, 1963). The SAGE system included a direction center (DC) assigned to air defense sectors as they were defined at the time. * Some of the originally planned 32 DCs were never completed and DCs were planned at installations for additional sectors: Calypso / Raleigh NC, England / Shreveport LA, Fort Knox KY, Kirtland / Albuquerque NM, Robins / Miami , Scott / St. Louis , Webb / San Antonio TX. The environment allowed radar station personnel to monitor

7772-543: The Hamilton AFB BUIC II was installed in the former MCC building when it was converted to a SAGE Combat Center in 1966 (CC-05). On June 3, 1963, the Direction Centers at Marysville CA, Marquette/K I Sawyer AFB (DC-14) MI, Stewart AFB NY (DC-02), and Moses Lake WA (DC-15) were planned for closing and at the end of 1969, only 6 CONUS SAGE DCs remained (DC-03, -04, -10, -12, -20, & -21) all with

7906-403: The NORAD Command Center ( Ent AFB , 1963 Chidlaw Building , & 1966 Cheyenne Mountain ). NORAD's integration of air warning data (at the ADOC ) along with space surveillance, intelligence, and other data allowed attack assessment of an Air Defense Emergency for alerting the SAC command centers (465L SACCS nodes at Offutt AFB & The Notch ), The Pentagon / Raven Rock NMCC /ANMCC, and

8040-445: The NSDC automatically communicated crosstelling of "SAGE reference track data" to/from adjacent sectors' DCs and to 10 Nike Missile Master AADCPs . Forwardtelling automatically communicated data from multiple DCs to a 3-story Combat Center (CC) usually at one of the sector's DCs ( cf. planned Hamilton AFB CC-05 near the Beale AFB DC-18) for coordinating the air battle in the NORAD region (multiple sectors) and which forwarded data to

8174-421: The Q7 at Luke AFB was demolished in February 1984. The SABRE airline reservation system used AN/FSQ-7 technology. Q7 components were used as props in numerous films and television series needing futuristic-looking computers, despite the fact they were built in the 1950s. Q7 components were used in The Time Tunnel , The Towering Inferno , Logan's Run , WarGames , Independence Day , Planet of

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8308-419: The USAF manual ADDCs at Duncanville Air Force Station TX, Olathe Air Force Station KS, Belleville Air Force Station IL, and Osceola Air Force Station KS. In 1957, SAGE System groundbreaking at McChord AFB was for DC-12 where the "electronic brain" began arriving in November 1958, and the "first SAGE regional battle post [CC-01] began operating in Syracuse, New York in early 1959". BOMARC "crew training

8442-442: The Valley Committee to Whirlwind's project lead, Jay Forrester , who convinced him that Whirlwind was sufficiently capable. In September 1950, an early microwave early-warning radar system at Hanscom Field was connected to Whirlwind using a custom interface developed by Forrester's team. An aircraft was flown past the site, and the system digitized the radar information and successfully sent it to Whirlwind. With this demonstration,

8576-400: The XD-1 was in August and the prototype was complete in October 1955, except for displays. DC-1 at McGuire Air Force Base was the first operational site of the AN/FSQ-7 with consoles scheduled for delivery Aug–Oct 1956. Groundbreaking at McChord Air Force Base was in 1957 where the "electronic brain" began arriving in November 1958. The Cape Canaveral BOMARC 624-XY1 's intercept of

8710-428: The advent of digital computers, because at the time they were typically much faster, but they started to become obsolete as early as the 1950s and 1960s, although they remained in use in some specific applications, such as aircraft flight simulators , the flight computer in aircraft , and for teaching control systems in universities. Perhaps the most relatable example of analog computers are mechanical watches where

8844-405: The aim of beginning a development lab similar to the war-era Radiation Laboratory that made enormous progress in radar technology. Killian was initially uninterested, desiring to return the school to its peacetime civilian charter. Ridenour eventually convinced Killian the idea was sound by describing the way the lab would lead to the development of a local electronics industry based on the needs of

8978-568: The analog computer readout was limited chiefly by the precision of the readout equipment used, generally three or four significant figures. (Modern digital simulations are much better in this area. Digital arbitrary-precision arithmetic can provide any desired degree of precision.) However, in most cases the precision of an analog computer is absolutely sufficient given the uncertainty of the model characteristics and its technical parameters. Many small computers dedicated to specific computations are still part of industrial regulation equipment, but from

9112-631: The analog part of the computer and sent to a PC via a digital microprocessor and displayed on the PC screen. In industrial process control , analog loop controllers were used to automatically regulate temperature, flow, pressure, or other process conditions. The technology of these controllers ranged from purely mechanical integrators, through vacuum-tube and solid-state devices, to emulation of analog controllers by microprocessors. The similarity between linear mechanical components, such as springs and dashpots (viscous-fluid dampers), and electrical components, such as capacitors , inductors , and resistors

9246-542: The available defenses, and issue commands to attack. These commands would then be automatically sent to the defense site via teleprinter . Connecting the various sites was an enormous network of telephones, modems and teleprinters. Later additions to the system allowed SAGE's tracking data to be sent directly to CIM-10 Bomarc missiles and some of the US Air Force 's interceptor aircraft in-flight, directly updating their autopilots to maintain an intercept course without operator intervention. Each DC also forwarded data to

9380-407: The circuit to produce an incorrect simulation of the physical system. (Modern digital simulations are much more robust to widely varying values of their variables, but are still not entirely immune to these concerns: floating-point digital calculations support a huge dynamic range , but can suffer from imprecision if tiny differences of huge values lead to numerical instability .) The precision of

9514-432: The computer would need to be fed information directly, eliminating any manual translation by phone operators, and it would have to be able to analyze that information and automatically develop tracks. A system tasked with defending cities against the predicted future Soviet bomber fleet would have to be dramatically more powerful than the models used in the NTDS or DATAR. The Committee then had to consider whether or not such

9648-623: The concept of a centralized system as proposed by the Air Defense Systems Engineering Committee, and we agree that the central coordinating apparatus of this system should be a high-speed electronic digital computer." The report went on to describe a new lab that would be used for generic technology development for the Air Force, Army and Navy, and would be known as Project Lincoln. Loomis took over direction of Project Lincoln and began planning by following

9782-434: The continuous and periodic rotation of interlinked gears drives the second, minute and hour needles in the clock. More complex applications, such as aircraft flight simulators and synthetic-aperture radar , remained the domain of analog computing (and hybrid computing ) well into the 1980s, since digital computers were insufficient for the task. This is a list of examples of early computation devices considered precursors of

9916-478: The data value retrieved from memory, and a B register that held the least significant bits of a multiplication, the magnitude of a division, as well as shifted bits. There was also a program counter, four index registers, and a 16-bit real-time clock register which was incremented 32 times a second. Trigonometric sine and cosine functions used 1.4 degree precision (256 values) via look-up tables. Analog computer An analog computer or analogue computer

10050-515: The early 1970s, analog computer manufacturers tried to tie together their analog computers with a digital computers to get the advantages of the two techniques. In such systems, the digital computer controlled the analog computer, providing initial set-up, initiating multiple analog runs, and automatically feeding and collecting data. The digital computer may also participate to the calculation itself using analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters . The largest manufacturer of hybrid computers

10184-432: The equation m y ¨ + d y ˙ + c y = m g {\displaystyle m{\ddot {y}}+d{\dot {y}}+cy=mg} , with y {\displaystyle y} as the vertical position of a mass m {\displaystyle m} , d {\displaystyle d} the damping coefficient , c {\displaystyle c}

10318-466: The headquarters base: "9th [at] Geiger Field … 32d, Syracuse AFS … 35th, Dobbins AFB … 58th, Wright-Patterson AFB … 85th, Andrews AFB ". The 26th SAGE Division (New York, Boston, Syracuse & Bangor SAGE sectors)--the 1st of the SAGE divisions—became operational at Hancock Field on 1 January 1959 after the redesignation started for AC&W Squadrons (e.g., the Highlands P-9 unit became

10452-470: The highest echelon of the SAGE computer network when operations moved from Ent AFB's 1954 manual Command Center to the partially underground "war room". Also in 1963, radar stations were renumbered (e.g., Cambria AFS was redesignated from P-2 to Z-2 on July 31) and the vacuum-tube SAGE System was completed (and obsolete). On "June 26, 1958,…the New York sector became operational" and on December 1, 1958,

10586-612: The initial BUIC systems were phased out 1974–5. ADC had been renamed Aerospace Defense Command on January 15, 1968, and its general surveillance radar stations transferred to ADTAC in 1979 when the ADC major command was broken up (space surveillance stations went to SAC and the Aerospace Defense Center was activated as a DRU .) For airborne command posts, "as early as 1962 the Air Force began exploring possibilities for an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS)", and

10720-456: The lab and the students who would leave the lab to start their own companies. Killian agreed to at least consider the issue, and began Project Charles to consider the size and scope of such a lab. Project Charles was placed under the direction of Francis Wheeler Loomis and included 28 scientists, about half of whom were already associated with MIT. Their study ran from February to August 1951, and in their final report they stated that "We endorse

10854-436: The last half of the year as low-altitude, unmanned gap-filler radars. The total consisted of 47 gap-filler stations, 75 Permanent System radars, 39 semimobile radars, 19 Pinetree stations ,…1 Lashup -era radar and a single Texas Tower ". "On 31 December 1958, USAF ADC had 187 operational land-based radar stations" (74 were "P-sites", 29 "M-sites", 13 "SM-sites", & 68 " ZI Gap Fillers"). Systems scientist Jay Forrester

10988-468: The lead of the earlier RadLab. By September 1951, only months after the Charles report, Project Lincoln had more than 300 employees. By the end of the summer of 1952 this had risen to 1300, and after another year, 1800. The only building suitable for classified work at that point was Building 22, suitable for a few hundred people at most, although some relief was found by moving the non-classified portions of

11122-530: The mathematical understanding of the Gibbs phenomenon of overshoot in Fourier representation near discontinuities. In a differential analyzer, the output of one integrator drove the input of the next integrator, or a graphing output. The torque amplifier was the advance that allowed these machines to work. Starting in the 1920s, Vannevar Bush and others developed mechanical differential analyzers. The Dumaresq

11256-414: The modern computers. Some of them may even have been dubbed 'computers' by the press, though they may fail to fit modern definitions. The Antikythera mechanism , a type of device used to determine the positions of heavenly bodies known as an orrery , was described as an early mechanical analog computer by British physicist, information scientist, and historian of science Derek J. de Solla Price . It

11390-547: The new Chain Home (CH) radars had demonstrated that relaying information to the fighter aircraft directly from the radar sites was not feasible. The radars determined the map coordinates of the enemy, but could generally not see the fighters at the same time. This meant the fighters had to be able to determine where to fly to perform an interception but were often unaware of their own exact location and unable to calculate an interception while also flying their aircraft. The solution

11524-632: The new Lincoln Laboratory , the USAF conducted Project Claude which concluded an improved air defense system was needed. In a test for the US military at Bedford, Massachusetts on 20 April 1951, data produced by a radar was transmitted through telephone lines to a computer for the first time, showing the detection of a mock enemy aircraft. This first test was directed by C. Robert Wieser . The "Summer Study Group" of scientists in 1952 recommended "computerized air direction centers…to be ready by 1954." IBM 's "Project High" assisted under their October 1952 Whirlwind subcontract with Lincoln Laboratory , and

11658-624: The northern air approaches to the United States" (e.g., in Canada). After a January 1950 meeting, Valley and Jay Forrester proposed using the Whirlwind I (completed 1951) for air defense. On August 18, 1950, when the " 1954 Interceptor " requirements were issued, the USAF "noted that manual techniques of aircraft warning and control would impose "intolerable" delays" ( Air Materiel Command (AMC) published Electronic Air Defense Environment for 1954 in December .) During February–August 1951 at

11792-455: The operation. The first three bits after the sign specified an index register . The following bits specified an instruction class, class variation and instruction-dependent auxiliary information. Addresses were written in octal notation, with the two sign bits forming a prefix, so 2.07777 would be the highest word in memory 2. Arithmetic registers were provided for both halves of the data word and included an accumulator, an A register that held

11926-551: The original Williams tube memory of the Whirlwind I. The AN/FSQ-7 was based on the larger and faster (but uncompleted) Whirlwind II design. It proved too much for MIT's resources, resulting in IBM being retained as prime contractor – though the MIT Lincoln Laboratory Division 6 still participated in AN/FSQ-7 development. Similar to the Q7, the smaller AN/FSQ-8 Combat Control Central

12060-561: The patch panel, various connections and routes can be set and switched to configure the machine and determine signal flows. This allows users to flexibly configure and reconfigure the analog computing system to perform specific tasks. Patch panels are used to control data flows , connect and disconnect connections between various blocks of the system, including signal sources, amplifiers, filters, and other components. They provide convenience and flexibility in configuring and experimenting with analog computations. Patch panels can be presented as

12194-670: The period 1930–1945 in the Netherlands, Johan van Veen developed an analogue computer to calculate and predict tidal currents when the geometry of the channels are changed. Around 1950, this idea was developed into the Deltar , a hydraulic analogy computer supporting the closure of estuaries in the southwest of the Netherlands (the Delta Works ). The FERMIAC was an analog computer invented by physicist Enrico Fermi in 1947 to aid in his studies of neutron transport. Project Cyclone

12328-478: The possible construction of such calculators, but he had been stymied by the limited output torque of the ball-and-disk integrators . Several systems followed, notably those of Spanish engineer Leonardo Torres Quevedo , who built various analog machines for solving real and complex roots of polynomials ; and Michelson and Stratton, whose Harmonic Analyser performed Fourier analysis, but using an array of 80 springs rather than Kelvin integrators. This work led to

12462-405: The potentiometer was then equivalent to the formula of the equation being solved. Multiplication or division could be performed, depending on which dials were inputs and which was the output. Accuracy and resolution was limited and a simple slide rule was more accurate. However, the unit did demonstrate the basic principle. Analog computer designs were published in electronics magazines. One example

12596-550: The project, administration and similar, to Building 20. But this was clearly insufficient space. After considering a variety of suitable locations, a site at Laurence G. Hanscom Field was selected, with the groundbreaking taking place in 1951. The terms of the National Security Act were formulated during 1947, leading to the creation of the US Air Force out of the former US Army Air Force . During April of

12730-422: The public via CONELRAD radio stations. The Burroughs 416L SAGE component ( ESD Project 416L, Semi Automatic Ground Environment System) was the Cold War network connecting IBM supplied computer system at the various DC and that created the display and control environment for operation of the separate radars and to provide outbound command guidance for ground-controlled interception by air defense aircraft in

12864-557: The radar data and systems' status (e.g., Arctic Tower radome pressure) and to use the range height equipment to process height requests from Direction Center (DC) personnel. DCs received the Long Range Radar Input from the sector's radar stations, and DC personnel monitored the radar tracks and IFF data provided by the stations, requested height-finder radar data on targets, and monitored the computer's evaluation of which fighter aircraft or Bomarc missile site could reach

12998-444: The same year, US Air Force staff were identifying specifically the requirement for the creation of automatic equipment for radar-detection which would relay information to an air defence control system, a system which would function without the inclusion of persons for its operation. The December 1949 "Air Defense Systems Engineering Committee" led by Dr. George Valley had recommended computerized networking for "radar stations guarding

13132-484: The solid-state AN/GSG-5 CCCS instead of the AN/GPA-73 recommended by ADC in June 1958. Back-Up Interceptor Control (BUIC) with CCCS dispersed to radar stations for survivability allowed a diminished but functional SAGE capability. In 1962, Burroughs "won the contract to provide a military version of its D825" modular data processing system for BUIC II . BUIC II was first used at North Truro Z-10 in 1966, and

13266-730: The speed of analog computers was their fully parallel computation, but this was also a limitation. The more equations required for a problem, the more analog components were needed, even when the problem wasn't time critical. "Programming" a problem meant interconnecting the analog operators; even with a removable wiring panel this was not very versatile. While a wide variety of mechanisms have been developed throughout history, some stand out because of their theoretical importance, or because they were manufactured in significant quantities. Most practical mechanical analog computers of any significant complexity used rotating shafts to carry variables from one mechanism to another. Cables and pulleys were used in

13400-445: The spring, for instance, can be changed by adjusting the parameters of an integrator. The electrical system is an analogy to the physical system, hence the name, but it is much less expensive than a mechanical prototype, much easier to modify, and generally safer. The electronic circuit can also be made to run faster or slower than the physical system being simulated. Experienced users of electronic analog computers said that they offered

13534-411: The state variables − y ˙ {\displaystyle -{\dot {y}}} (speed) and y {\displaystyle y} (position), one inverter, and three potentiometers. Electronic analog computers have drawbacks: the value of the circuit's supply voltage limits the range over which the variables may vary (since the value of a variable is represented by

13668-484: The target when guidance transferred to the missile seeker system for the homing dive. Later improvements allowed transmission of Q7 guidance to autopilots of manned fighters for vectoring to targets via the SAGE Ground to Air Data Link Subsystem (cf. bomber vectoring to a Bomb Release Point in 1965–1973 Vietnam via vacuum-tube analog computers .) The first United States radar network used voice reporting to

13802-413: The team calculated that the bomber would only need to do this for about 10% of its flight, making the fuel penalty acceptable. The only solution to this problem was to build a huge number of stations with overlapping coverage. At that point the problem became one of managing the information. Manual plotting was ruled out as too slow, and a computerized solution was the only possibility. To handle this task,

13936-437: The technical concept was proven. Forrester was invited to join the committee. With this successful demonstration, Louis Ridenour , chief scientist of the Air Force, wrote a memo stating "It is now apparent that the experimental work necessary to develop, test, and evaluate the systems proposals made by ADSEC will require a substantial amount of laboratory and field effort." Ridenour approached MIT President James Killian with

14070-657: The threat first. The DC's "NORAD sector commander's operational staff" could designate fighter intercept of a target or, using the Senior Director's keyed console in the Weapons Direction room, launch a Bomarc intercept with automatic Q-7 guidance of the surface-to-air missile to a final homing dive (equipped fighters eventually were automatically guided to intercepts). The "NORAD sector direction center (NSDC) [also had] air defense artillery director (ADAD) consoles [and an Army] ADA battle staff officer", and

14204-503: The time. These were essentially scale models of the electrical properties of the full-size system. Since network analyzers could handle problems too large for analytic methods or hand computation, they were also used to solve problems in nuclear physics and in the design of structures. More than 50 large network analyzers were built by the end of the 1950s. World War II era gun directors , gun data computers , and bomb sights used mechanical analog computers. In 1942 Helmut Hölzer built

14338-737: The vacuum tube AN/FSQ-7 centrals. In 1966, NORAD Combined Operations Center operations at Chidlaw transferred to the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center (425L System) and in December 1963, the DoD approved solid state replacement of Martin AN/FSG-1 centrals with the AN/GSG-5 and subsequent Hughes AN/TSQ-51 . The "416L/M/N Program Office" at Hanscom Field had deployed the BUIC III by 1971 (e.g., to Fallon NAS ), and

14472-470: The visualization of analog signals and the representation of the results of measurements or mathematical operations. These are just general blocks that can be found in a typical analog computing machine. The actual configuration and components may vary depending on the specific implementation and the intended use of the machine. Analog computing devices are fast; digital computing devices are more versatile and accurate. The idea behind an analog-digital hybrid

14606-483: The wrong timing of human and technical operations was leading to frequent truncation of the flight path tracking system " (Harold Sackman). SAGE software development was "grossly underestimated" (60,000 lines in September 1955): "the biggest mistake [of] the SAGE computer program was [underestimating the] jump from the 35,000 [WWI] instructions … to the more than 100,000 instructions on the" AN/FSQ-8. NORAD conducted

14740-537: Was Electronic Associates . Their hybrid computer model 8900 was made of a digital computer and one or more analog consoles. These systems were mainly dedicated to large projects such as the Apollo program and Space Shuttle at NASA , or Ariane in Europe, especially during the integration step where at the beginning everything is simulated, and progressively real components replace their simulated parts. Only one company

14874-526: Was "to provide a means for the orderly transition and phasing from the manual to the SAGE system." The plan identified deactivation of the Eastern , Central , and Western Region/Defense Forces on July 1, 1960, and "current manual boundaries" were to be moved to the new "eight SAGE divisions" (1 in Canada, "the 35th") as soon as possible. Manual divisions "not to get SAGE computers were to be phased out" along with their Manual Air Defense Control Centers at

15008-660: Was Applied Dynamics of Ann Arbor, Michigan . Although the basic technology for analog computers is usually operational amplifiers (also called "continuous current amplifiers" because they have no low frequency limitation), in the 1960s an attempt was made in the French ANALAC computer to use an alternative technology: medium frequency carrier and non dissipative reversible circuits. In the 1970s, every large company and administration concerned with problems in dynamics had an analog computing center, such as: An analog computing machine consists of several main components: On

15142-440: Was a mechanical calculating device invented around 1902 by Lieutenant John Dumaresq of the Royal Navy . It was an analog computer that related vital variables of the fire control problem to the movement of one's own ship and that of a target ship. It was often used with other devices, such as a Vickers range clock to generate range and deflection data so the gun sights of the ship could be continuously set. A number of versions of

15276-844: Was activated January 1, 1958", and AT&T "hardened many of its switching centers, putting them in deep underground bunkers", The North American Defense Objectives Plan (NADOP 59–63) submitted to Canada in December 1958 scheduled 5 Direction Centers and 1 Combat Center to be complete in Fiscal Year 1959, 12 DCs and 3 CCs complete at the end of FY 60, 19 DC/4 CC FY 61, 25/6 FY 62, and 30/10 FY 63. On June 30 NORAD ordered that "Air Defense Sectors (SAGE) were to be designated as NORAD sectors", (the military reorganization had begun when effective April 1, 1958, CONAD "designated four SAGE sectors – New York, Boston, Syracuse, and Washington – as CONAD Sectors".) SAGE Geographic Reorganization: The SAGE Geographic Reorganization Plan of July 25, 1958, by NORAD

15410-465: Was an analog computer developed by Reeves in 1950 for the analysis and design of dynamic systems. Project Typhoon was an analog computer developed by RCA in 1952. It consisted of over 4,000 electron tubes and used 100 dials and 6,000 plug-in connectors to program. The MONIAC Computer was a hydraulic analogy of a national economy first unveiled in 1949. Computer Engineering Associates was spun out of Caltech in 1950 to provide commercial services using

15544-505: Was completed (and obsolete) in 1963, and a system ergonomic test was performed at Luke Air Force Base in 1964. According to Harold Sackman, it "showed conclusively that the wrong timing of human and technical operations was leading to frequent truncation of the flight path tracking system." Back-Up Interceptor Control Systems (BUIC) were used to replace the AN/FSQ-7s: two remained at SAGE sites until 1983 including McChord AFB, and

15678-505: Was completed in 1952 as a "manual air defense system" (e.g., NORAD / ADC used a " Plexiglas plotting board" at the Ent command center .) The Permanent System radar stations included 3 subsequent phases of deployments and by June 30, 1957, had 119 "Fixed CONUS" radars, 29 "Gap-filler low altitude" radars, and 23 control centers". At "the end of 1957, ADC operated 182 radar stations [and] 17 control centers … 32 [stations] had been added during

15812-584: Was developed by the Lincoln Laboratory's Digital Computer Laboratory and Division 6, working closely with IBM as the manufacturer. Each FSQ-7 actually consisted of two nearly identical computers operating in "duplex" for redundancy. The design used an improved version of the Whirlwind I magnetic core memory and was an extension of the Whirlwind II computer program, renamed AN/FSQ-7 in 1953 to comply with Air Force nomenclature. It has been suggested

15946-685: Was developed in the late 16th century and found application in gunnery, surveying and navigation. The planimeter was a manual instrument to calculate the area of a closed figure by tracing over it with a mechanical linkage. The slide rule was invented around 1620–1630, shortly after the publication of the concept of the logarithm . It is a hand-operated analog computer for doing multiplication and division. As slide rule development progressed, added scales provided reciprocals, squares and square roots, cubes and cube roots, as well as transcendental functions such as logarithms and exponentials, circular and hyperbolic trigonometry and other functions . Aviation

16080-687: Was discovered in 1901, in the Antikythera wreck off the Greek island of Antikythera , between Kythera and Crete , and has been dated to c.  150~100 BC , during the Hellenistic period . Devices of a level of complexity comparable to that of the Antikythera mechanism would not reappear until a thousand years later. Many mechanical aids to calculation and measurement were constructed for astronomical and navigation use. The planisphere

16214-570: Was dismantled and sent to Boston's Computer Museum . In 1996, AN/FSQ-7 components were moved to Moffett Federal Airfield for storage and later moved to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California . The last AN/FSQ-7 centrals were demolished at McChord AFB (August 1983) and Luke AFB (February 1984). Decommissioned AN/FSQ-7 equipment was also used as science fiction cinema and TV series props (e.g., Voyage to

16348-556: Was first described by Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD. The astrolabe was invented in the Hellenistic world in either the 1st or 2nd centuries BC and is often attributed to Hipparchus . A combination of the planisphere and dioptra , the astrolabe was effectively an analog computer capable of working out several different kinds of problems in spherical astronomy . The sector , a calculating instrument used for solving problems in proportion, trigonometry, multiplication and division, and for various functions, such as squares and cube roots,

16482-505: Was instrumental in directing the development of the key concept of an interception system during his work at Servomechanisms Laboratory of MIT. The concept of the system, according to the Lincoln Laboratory site was to "develop a digital computer that could receive vast quantities of data from multiple radars and perform real-time processing to produce targeting information for intercepting aircraft and missiles." The AN/FSQ-7

16616-414: Was known as offering general commercial computing services on its hybrid computers, CISI of France, in the 1970s. The best reference in this field is the 100,000 simulation runs for each certification of the automatic landing systems of Airbus and Concorde aircraft. After 1980, purely digital computers progressed more and more rapidly and were fast enough to compete with analog computers. One key to

16750-490: Was necessary. Familiarization flights allowed SAGE weapons directors to fly on two-seat interceptors to observe GCI operations. Surface-to-air missile installations for CIM-10 Bomarc interceptors were displayed on SAGE consoles. Partially solid-state AN/FST-2B and later AN/FYQ-47 computers replaced the AN/FST-2, and sectors without AN/FSQ-7 centrals requiring a " weapon direction control device " for USAF air defense used

16884-415: Was not a serious concern, but it was clear the system would be of little use against jet-powered bombers flying at perhaps 600 miles per hour (970 km/h). The system was extremely expensive in manpower terms, requiring hundreds of telephone operators, plotters and trackers in addition to the radar operators. This was a serious drain on manpower, making it difficult to expand the network. The idea of using

17018-409: Was of great utility to navigation in shallow waters. It used a system of pulleys and wires to automatically calculate predicted tide levels for a set period at a particular location. The differential analyser , a mechanical analog computer designed to solve differential equations by integration , used wheel-and-disc mechanisms to perform the integration. In 1876 James Thomson had already discussed

17152-660: Was produced without an 'Automatic Initiation Area Discriminator' A simplex version of the AN/FSQ-7 was located at the premises of the System Development Corporation in Santa Monica, California from 1957 until the premises were vacated some time after 1981. The experimental SAGE subsector , located in Lexington, Massachusetts , was completed in 1955, equipped with a prototype AN/FSQ-7 known as XD-1 in Building F. The third evaluation run with

17286-441: Was programmed using patch cords that connected nine operational amplifiers and other components. General Electric also marketed an "educational" analog computer kit of a simple design in the early 1960s consisting of two transistor tone generators and three potentiometers wired such that the frequency of the oscillator was nulled when the potentiometer dials were positioned by hand to satisfy an equation. The relative resistance of

17420-679: Was provided. By the late 1960s EC-121 Warning Star aircraft based at Otis AFB MA and McClellan AFB CA provided radar tracks via automatic data link to the SAGE System. Civil Aeronautics Administration radars were at some stations (e.g., stations of the Joint Use Site System ), and the ARSR-1 Air Route Surveillance Radar rotation rate had to be modified "for SAGE [IFF/SIF] Modes III and IV " ("antenna gear box modification" for compatibility with FSQ-7 & FSG-1 centrals.) ADC aircraft such as

17554-607: Was the first operational sector with TDDL). By the middle of 1960, AMC had determined that about 800,000 man-hours (involving 130 changes) would be required to bring the F-106 fleet to the point where it would be a valuable adjunct to the air defense system. Part of the work ( Project Broad Jump ) was accomplished by Sacramento Air Materiel Area . The remainder ( Project Wild Goose ) was done at ADC bases by roving AMC field assistance teams supported by ADC maintenance personnel. (cited by Volume I p. 271 & Schaffel p. 325) After

17688-548: Was the principal computer in the Mk. 56 Gun Fire Control System. Online, there is a remarkably clear illustrated reference (OP 1140) that describes the fire control computer mechanisms. For adding and subtracting, precision miter-gear differentials were in common use in some computers; the Ford Instrument Mark I Fire Control Computer contained about 160 of them. Integration with respect to another variable

17822-458: Was to send all of the radar information to a central control station where operators collated the reports into single tracks , and then reported these tracks to the airbases, or sectors . The sectors used additional systems to track their own aircraft, plotting both on a single large map. Operators viewing the map could then see what direction their fighters would have to fly to approach their targets and relay that simply by telling them to fly along

17956-516: Was transferred to and from the core memory as binary images . Only the rightmost 64 columns were transferred, with each row containing two 32-bit words. (The left columns could be punched using a special instruction.) Data were transferred to the line printer as a card image as well. The FSQ-7 and -8 used core memory with 32-bit words plus a parity bit, operating at a 6-microsecond cycle time. Both machines had two banks of memory, memory 1 and memory 2 (Commonly referred to as Big Mem and little Mem). On

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