Univac 1218

Does anybody have any idea what a Univac 1218 would be worth? It seems like it was about $100K in 1964. A friend has one, but we have no idea what it would be worth now. Probably in working condition, no card stuff, no keyboard, just the computer. It's about 8' high, maybe 3' on a side. Lots of cool lights and switches.

Post as many nice, big pictures as you can. Sounds very interesting and more like something you'd want to have in a museum (or start your own!) rather than sell.

Univac 1218

I am the software curator at the Computer History Museum in Mtn View, CA.
Please ask your friend to consider offering this machine to CHM. We have other members of the Univac military computer family, but not a 1218.

thats nuts, how in the world did he get a hold of that?

It's not difficult at all, Mike. What is difficult is getting rid of obsolete computer equipment-- no one wants it, except for the scrap value and what ever amounts of precious metals can be recovered in the process. Where I once worked, we scrapped obsolete computers and peripheral equipment by the truckload; and who's to say what happened to it once it left the loading dock. I'm sure many guys took some of the stuff home if nothing more than to use as a "conversation piece". I've done that. I have a complete Head/Disk Assembly (HDA) from an IBM 3350 disk drive.

No kidding, where did you work?

I worked for a similar company (trueCycle) for almost a year, we specialised in actually smashing computers and other electronics into tiny pieces and sorting them into different commodity categories. My job was repairing and refurbishing the resellable stuff, which included antique computers to some extent. When I left they were processing about ten tons per day, with most of the weight in CRT glass.

I'm sorry. I afraid my wording might have given the wrong impression. We were the "Scrapee", not the "Scrapper". I worked for a large computer outsourcer and many of the clients were nationally known brand names. The data center consisted of thousands of DASD volumes and its total capacity was measured in Terabytes (1 terabyte = 1,000 gigabytes). For example. A 250GB hard drive would be 0.25TB. When we replaced our IBM-3380 DASD with RAID, it took many trailer trucks to haul away the old equipment.

I was a computer systems maintenance technician in the Marine Corps in the 70s and worked on the 1218. I also taught the 1218 in the Naval DS (computer tech) school. The 1218 was a wonderful computer. I'm glad to hear that at least one was saved. All of those cool lights and switches were essential to rapid troubleshooting. Back then, a technician couldn't simply swap out a CPU board when faced with a problem. The 1218 contained *hundreds* of boards. If your 1218 still has the circuit boards, you'll notice that each is roughly 4"x2". Each board included circuitry for several logic gates. There was not a single IC chip in the 1218; everything was discrete component. I miss those days when a computer technician had to really know the system inside and out to be an effective troubleshooter.

I still have original logic diagrams, etc. for the 1218. If anyone requires additional information on this wonderful computer, I'd be happy to assist.

In regards to the cost of the 1218, please take a look at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNIVAC_418#UNIVAC_1218_Military_Computer

1218 schematics

1218 schematics

> I still have original logic diagrams, etc. for the 1218.

Would it be possible to get copies of what you have to add to the
Computer History Museum archives?

We have very little on Univac military computers.

domski

domski

Domski is an ole' 5982 SuperTech and knows what he's talking about. We worked together on this 1218 in Japan 1982.
Enjoy!

Univac 1219...(close to the 1218)

Univac 1219...(close to the 1218)

Here is a link to the sales manual and some pics for the 1219:

http://vintagecomputer.net/univac1219.cfm

Bill

If I recall correctly, the 1218 required 3-phase 400 Hz power.