Interdata Systems (Perkin-Elmer)

 

Perkin-Elmer 1610 (Interdata 8-16)

I have had this system in storage for about 33 years now, so I thought I would pull it out and get it working. After replacing a capacitor on the memory board and cleaning contacts on the tape drive I was able to get it powered up. I had to figure out the pin connections and baud rate on the interface board. I used an old laptop as a serial terminal.
The Perkin-Elmer 1610 is a slightly redesigned Interdata 8-16 and was to be sold as a 16 bit version of the 32 bit 3220 systems. I don't know how many were sold, this one was an evaluation system bought by the company I worked for to test the memory boards they were designing and building. The system uses a microcoded bit-slice CPU based on the AM2901 chips.
I had attached an old Ampex tape drive, which seems to still work, however I don't have any software to load at this time. I seem to recall loading diagnostics and possibly OS/16, but the tape I had with the system doesn't seem to have anything on it (or is no longer readable). I have been looking for a copy of OS/16 on sites like Bitsavers, but no luck. If anyone has a copy (or any other Interdata 16 bit software) please let me know.

*** UPDATE ***

I have located some OS/16 tapes and have sucessfully read them and transfered the files to a PC.   I'm in the process of going through the files and building a bootable tape for my 1610 system.   Progress and links to the files will be at the bottom of this page.


1610 CPU board

 

 

 

 

Boot loader ready to load tape image.

 

 

Card cage. CPU board on top, memory board, Loader interface board, and Mag Tape interface board.

 

System in relay rack. Ampex tape drive on top, PE 1610 rack, and power supply. The old core memory unit at the bottom is not connected.

 

 

 

 

Memory board is constructed with a wire embedding teknique.   Traces were rolled onto the board with epoxy coating and connected at the feedthroughs.  Traces can cross each other because wire is coated with enamal.    

 

 

I also have a core memory board for the 1610.

 

RAM memory.   I have more of the piggy-back modules to increase the RAM size.