The picture below is one of the few on the Web and it just doesn't do this device justice.
Gallery reader Larry G. Birt sent us this picture -- a Gallery of Old Iron exclusive! (click for larger version).
This picture shows a 3890 in the final test area at the IBM facility in Endicott, New York, prior to shipment.
Larry also sent us the following information:
- The 3890 Document Processor was originally developed in 1972/73 in Endicott, New York.
- It could pick, magnetize, read the MICR, print a 10-digit number and rubber stamp endorse
2420 paper checks per minute.
- A microfilmer was added in the 1970's to digitize the front and back of each check while moving at
seventeen miles per hour. This was accomplished with xenon flash lamps.
- With the maximum stackers installed, the device was up to 50 feet long.
- The original 1970's device had core memory. Monolithic memory was substituted in the 1980's.
- In 1988, much of the control electronics was replaced by an IBM PS/2. A new print head was developed
that was capable of shooting 100,000 droplets of ink per second from each of 32 streams.
- It was renamed 3890XP when converted to System 370 channel operation (from System 360).
- The 3890XP was enhanced with the 3897-001 to capture digital images of the front and back of checks in
1990. This was further enhanced with the latest digital photography technology in the 3897-004 in 1997.
- Check21 legislation made a digital image of a check a legal document. This meant that paper checks
were no longer needed after the first pass through the device, significantly streamlining check processing.
In fact, a good number of checks are now digitized at the point of sale instead of being sent to a
processing facility.
A Message from Don Harris
It was my good fortune to be one of the first CE's trained on the 3890 check sorter/processor.
I was assigned to Third National Bank in Nashville and we had two 3890's, S/N's ....019 & ....031 (can't remember the first part).
Anyway, these were the 9th and 21st machines to actually be shipped from the plant.
I don't remember the exact number, but I think these early 3890's had more than 200 engineering changes shipped.
The 3890 gave me many opportunities to grow technically, but it also gave me an opportunity to grow personally.
In the fall of 1975, my manager asked if I'd be available for a temporary assignment if it came up.
I was single and free to travel, so in late October of that year, I took off for London where they were in need
of a 3890 person. It seems that National Westminster Bank had ordered 14 3890's and IBM had hired a new CE and
sent him to school in Chicago, only to have him quit IBM as soon as he returned home.
NatWest had scheduled operator training for all their sorter operators, so they were desperate to have an IBM CE available.
For the next three months, my job was to keep a brand new 3890 running while the operators trained.
A very easy job especially since they did not have the item numbering or microfilm features.
The trainer did ask me to periodically force jams in the sorter so her girls (60 women - 0 men) would know what to
do when they occurred. What a great 3 months it was!
Thanks for bringing back these memories for me.
Don Harris
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