Harris H800 Computer

Mark J. Blair nf6x at nf6x.net
Wed Apr 20 22:33:50 CDT 2016


Back when I spent a couple of years at UNLV in the late 80s, I had a class in which I was forced to use an account on a Harris H800 computer, if my memory serves me correctly. Being a BSD snob, I felt that was a terrible imposition, much like being forced to calculate compound interest on a stone-age abacus made from partially petrified dinosaur turds. *Without gloves.*

Now, of course, I'm a lot more easy-going, and downright curious about things that might not have been my first choice for a computing environment. Even VMS!

So, does anybody here know anything about that family of computers? I seem to recall getting a tour of the computer room once, and the two front panels of the machine were swung open to reveal two thick, mattress-like beds of twisted pair wires. That seemed nauseatingly primitive to me at the time, but now the memory seems fascinating.

I also seem to remember an operator's console with two round CRTs on it, but I might have fabricated that memory from whole cloth.

 
-- 
Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net>
http://www.nf6x.net/



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