Initial Testing of a Computer Electrostatic Storage System

Abstract

Following preliminary tests of the individual Whirlwind electrostatic-storage tubes, 16 tubes were installed in a bank in the Whirlwind computer. This thesis report describes the initial testing of the bank as a system, first without and then with the main control circuits of the computer. Because it has had only limited distribution, it is being issued as a Project Whirlwind R-series report. The author wishes to express his sincere appreciation to Mr. Jay W. Forrester, head of Project Whirlwind, for the use of the library and laboratory facilities of the Project, to Mr. Patrick Youtz for his careful supervision of the thesis, and to Mr. Stephen Dodd for his generous aid and advice concerning the technical details of the work. The author acknowledges also the work of the Project Whirlwind staff in the design of the systems with which much of the thesis is concerned.