Why not have the machine punch out a card? Card punches from the 60's were reliable, and many juristictions now have the readers. Correct preprinting on the front of the card makes for easy verification by the voter. The software should be trivial. Recounts could be either mechanical or manual. The unreliability, which comes from the use of partially prepunched holes that are finished with a stylus, is eliminated. I once had an experience with this type of cards, after a few trips through our card reader extra holes started appearing spontaneously. What fun.
Bill
The system didn't work at all. If it had it would have identified the area that was sinking all that power and isolated it. The blackout then would have involved perhaps one city. Instead the grid tried to fill the sink. Then one by one power plants checked out to avoid destroying themselves thus making the situation worse and worse.
IBM 1620 (1960's small scientific machine) memory which you may have- it was 4 bits + parity anyway. That got you a decimal digit, everything was decimal, even the instructions and addresses. 20 microseconds for an access (read-writeback) per digit. 240 microseconds to read an instruction (2 digit op plus two 5 digit addresses). Each core had 4 wires (later 3) through it, an x, a y, a sense and if I remember an inhibit. to read you put a current just less than enough to change a "1" state to a "0" state on the appropriate x and y wires if the core at the intersection was a "1" the combined x and y current would drive it to "0", the change of magnetic field put a pulse on the sense line. No pulse was a 0. Then if it was a 1 you drove the x and y opposite to before to reset the core to 1. The fastest core I recollect was of the order.6 microsecond.
Further reserch indicates a single plane with a trapese like rig out the back. The two plane idea which I had heard about must have been an early proposal that was never used.
Actually two c-119 airplanes with a cable between them (they took off that way). The film canister was separated from the parachute by a long riser. The planes attemped to fly the cable into the riser, if successful the cable would then be played out from one plane and retrieved into the other until the film was on board. Later I believe a single c-130 with a Y shaped tubing rig on the front was used. The same rig could be used to retrieve a person from the ground (a balloon was used to extend the riser in that case). Neat ride I hear. I've seen the rig on the plane- never got the ride. This is early 1960's
Actually the last bit of the powered phase of the shuttle flight drives back toward the earth to give the tank a trajectory that will intersect the atmosphere. After release of the tank I believe the OMS is then used to guarantee that the shuttle itself does not reenter prematurely. Thus keeping the tank would actually save fuel. Maneuvering with the center of gravity offset by the mass of the tank would probably cost a little in fuel use but probably way less than the orbit adjustment after release of the tank.
Why process on board at all? The rules as I read them say after the run you get to hook your vehicle to a dockside computer to download the data. Processing could be done there or you could simply display the pictures and read them with your eyes. Humans are good at removing all kinds of noise from images. Then write the results on a slip of paper and pass it to the judge. Also allowed by the rules. You get 5 minutes, it should be easy. Might not get you all the discretionary points though.
When I was in the army (1960-63 82nd airborne Fort Bragg NC) the theater in Fayetteville would advertise that they had a Road Runner cartoon on the marquee. It was good for sales, some went for the cartoon and then left.
I hope Mr. jones is remembered as the great artist he was.
The US rifle in 7.62 nato was the M-14 which appeared to be an evolution from the M1 Garand. The M16 which replaced it was always 5.56. Regarding "wobble" the rifling rate (inches per turn) of early the early M16 was barely able to stablise lead core ball ammo. This may have been done to increase lethality but a side result was poor accuracy. This plus a nato requirement for an armor piercing round which is less dense, hence longer at the same weight, hence less inherently stable made the original barrels obsolete since the armor piercing round would not have been stablised at all. M16s were then rebarreled with fewer inches per turn rifling for better accuracy and the ability to stablise any reasonably forseeable ammo.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually many larger bullets exist- the projectiles for 16 inch naval guns weigh over a ton.
Why not have the machine punch out a card? Card punches from the 60's were reliable, and many juristictions now have the readers. Correct preprinting on the front of the card makes for easy verification by the voter. The software should be trivial. Recounts could be either mechanical or manual. The unreliability, which comes from the use of partially prepunched holes that are finished with a stylus, is eliminated. I once had an experience with this type of cards, after a few trips through our card reader extra holes started appearing spontaneously. What fun. Bill
The system didn't work at all. If it had it would have identified the area that was sinking all that power and isolated it. The blackout then would have involved perhaps one city. Instead the grid tried to fill the sink. Then one by one power plants checked out to avoid destroying themselves thus making the situation worse and worse.
How about boxing? The promoters get all the money and you get your brains beat in besides.
IBM 1620 (1960's small scientific machine) memory which you may have- it was 4 bits + parity anyway. That got you a decimal digit, everything was decimal, even the instructions and addresses. 20 microseconds for an access (read-writeback) per digit. 240 microseconds to read an instruction (2 digit op plus two 5 digit addresses). Each core had 4 wires (later 3) through it, an x, a y, a sense and if I remember an inhibit. to read you put a current just less than enough to change a "1" state to a "0" state on the appropriate x and y wires if the core at the intersection was a "1" the combined x and y current would drive it to "0", the change of magnetic field put a pulse on the sense line. No pulse was a 0. Then if it was a 1 you drove the x and y opposite to before to reset the core to 1. The fastest core I recollect was of the order .6 microsecond.
Further reserch indicates a single plane with a trapese like rig out the back. The two plane idea which I had heard about must have been an early proposal that was never used.
Actually two c-119 airplanes with a cable between them (they took off that way). The film canister was separated from the parachute by a long riser. The planes attemped to fly the cable into the riser, if successful the cable would then be played out from one plane and retrieved into the other until the film was on board. Later I believe a single c-130 with a Y shaped tubing rig on the front was used. The same rig could be used to retrieve a person from the ground (a balloon was used to extend the riser in that case). Neat ride I hear. I've seen the rig on the plane- never got the ride. This is early 1960's
Actually the last bit of the powered phase of the shuttle flight drives back toward the earth to give the tank a trajectory that will intersect the atmosphere. After release of the tank I believe the OMS is then used to guarantee that the shuttle itself does not reenter prematurely. Thus keeping the tank would actually save fuel. Maneuvering with the center of gravity offset by the mass of the tank would probably cost a little in fuel use but probably way less than the orbit adjustment after release of the tank.
Why process on board at all? The rules as I read them say after the run you get to hook your vehicle to a dockside computer to download the data. Processing could be done there or you could simply display the pictures and read them with your eyes. Humans are good at removing all kinds of noise from images. Then write the results on a slip of paper and pass it to the judge. Also allowed by the rules. You get 5 minutes, it should be easy. Might not get you all the discretionary points though.
When I was in the army (1960-63 82nd airborne Fort Bragg NC) the theater in Fayetteville would advertise that they had a Road Runner cartoon on the marquee. It was good for sales, some went for the cartoon and then left. I hope Mr. jones is remembered as the great artist he was.
The US rifle in 7.62 nato was the M-14 which appeared to be an evolution from the M1 Garand. The M16 which replaced it was always 5.56. Regarding "wobble" the rifling rate (inches per turn) of early the early M16 was barely able to stablise lead core ball ammo. This may have been done to increase lethality but a side result was poor accuracy. This plus a nato requirement for an armor piercing round which is less dense, hence longer at the same weight, hence less inherently stable made the original barrels obsolete since the armor piercing round would not have been stablised at all. M16s were then rebarreled with fewer inches per turn rifling for better accuracy and the ability to stablise any reasonably forseeable ammo.