System 1720 Control System IBM 1720 Control System Operator Console (Click picture for larger version) Those are nixie tube displays in the upper right!
This page is under construction. Our 1720 panel is in the process of being cleaned up. Coming soon -- Stories about this machine from one of the engineers who maintained it. The 1720 was an experimental real-time process control computer delivered in 1961. Only three were built. The panels in The Gallery's collection came from the 1720 installation at Standard Oil (Indiana - AMOCO) at Whiting, Indiana. The experience gained on the 1720 allowed IBM to produce a smaller less expensive and less functional version, the 1710, that was very successful with several hundred being produced. The 1710 experience in turn lead to the highly successful 1800 series, of which several thousand were built in the 1960's. The 1720 came out of an effort to produce industrial process control computers in the 1950's, once computers could be made smaller (although still quite large by today's standards), inexpensive, and rugged enough. Several base computers were evaluated for suitability and the IBM 1620 was chosen as the foundation because it was computationally oriented (instead of character based) and had good cost characteristics. Much of the information about this machine is contained in the article, Evolution of Small Real-Time IBM Computer Systems, IBM Journal of Research and Development, Vol. 25, No. 5, September, 1981. From the RJ article: Industrial environment -- The 1720 system was designed principally for the heavy industries of petroleum refining, steel plants, power generation, and the like. It was the first complete IBM system designed for such an industrial environment. The enclosure was built of 1O-gauge steel, designed to survive an inadvertent impact from a fork lift truck. The operating limits were specified at 40 to 122 F and 0 to 95% relative humidity (85 F maximum wet bulb temperature). The entire system had a vibration specification of k0.25 G, which required testing 2500-pound units at this vibration level. In addition the covers were gasketed and closed with screw locks to allow them to be maintained at a slight positive pressure to exclude hazardous or contaminating gases. The IBM 1620, 1130, 1720, 1710, and 1800 computers were clearly "mini-computers" long before that term was coined in the late 1960's. The following picture is the power panel for The Gallery's 1720. From this panel, a Customer Engineer or Field Engineer could diagnose many kinds of problems. That power meter is almost 8 inches wide! Return to The Gallery of Old Iron home page

System 1720 Control System

IBM 1720 Control System Operator Console
(Click picture for larger version)

Those are nixie tube displays in the upper right!

This page is under construction. Our 1720 panel is in the process of being cleaned up.

Coming soon -- Stories about this machine from one of the engineers who maintained it.

The 1720 was an experimental real-time process control computer delivered in 1961. Only three were built. The panels in The Gallery's collection came from the 1720 installation at Standard Oil (Indiana - AMOCO) at Whiting, Indiana. The experience gained on the 1720 allowed IBM to produce a smaller less expensive and less functional version, the 1710, that was very successful with several hundred being produced. The 1710 experience in turn lead to the highly successful 1800 series, of which several thousand were built in the 1960's.

The 1720 came out of an effort to produce industrial process control computers in the 1950's, once computers could be made smaller (although still quite large by today's standards), inexpensive, and rugged enough. Several base computers were evaluated for suitability and the IBM 1620 was chosen as the foundation because it was computationally oriented (instead of character based) and had good cost characteristics.

Much of the information about this machine is contained in the article, Evolution of Small Real-Time IBM Computer Systems, IBM Journal of Research and Development, Vol. 25, No. 5, September, 1981.

From the RJ article: Industrial environment -- The 1720 system was designed principally for the heavy industries of petroleum refining, steel plants, power generation, and the like. It was the first complete IBM system designed for such an industrial environment. The enclosure was built of 1O-gauge steel, designed to survive an inadvertent impact from a fork lift truck. The operating limits were specified at 40 to 122 F and 0 to 95% relative humidity (85 F maximum wet bulb temperature). The entire system had a vibration specification of k0.25 G, which required testing 2500-pound units at this vibration level. In addition the covers were gasketed and closed with screw locks to allow them to be maintained at a slight positive pressure to exclude hazardous or contaminating gases.

The IBM 1620, 1130, 1720, 1710, and 1800 computers were clearly "mini-computers" long before that term was coined in the late 1960's.

The following picture is the power panel for The Gallery's 1720. From this panel, a Customer Engineer or Field Engineer could diagnose many kinds of problems. That power meter is almost 8 inches wide!

Return to The Gallery of Old Iron home page