Cabinet - CSIRAC Computer, Front 4, Arithmetical Circuits, 1949-1964

Search the collections

or return to home page

Where is it from?

A Commissioned By Sydney, Australia
B User Parkville, Australia

Similar items over time

1870
1875
1913
1931
1940
1947
1949
1949
1950

Summary:: Cabinet holding the arithmetic circuitry for CSIRAC. The arithmetic unit was the heart of CSIRAC. It controlled the input and output of data to and from the registers and the sequence of operations between the registers while performing calculations. All the other units in CSIRAC were there to support the processing of data carried out in the registers under the control of the arithmetic unit.

A register provides a means of storing numbers or other pieces of information, which are currently involved in computation. In CSIRAC, the registers consisted of short mercury delay liines, which operated in the same manner as the longer mercury delay lines in the main memory. The arithmetic registers were housed in a small 'hot box' containing short mercury delay lines.

CSIRAC at Melbourne consisted of two rows of cabinets, a control console, input and output devices, test equipment and an off-line paper tape editing area. There were nine cabinets, five in the front row and four in the back. Cool air was blown up through all the cabinets from the basement below. The auxiliary memory (disk drive) occupied the space that would have been occupied by a cabinet in the back row.

The five front row cabinets contained (from left to right viewed from the front) power supplies, input and output circuitry, clock and control circuits, arithmetical circuits and memory control circuits. The four back row cabinets contained (from left to right viewed from the front) power supplies, auxiliary store control circuits, 'disk drive', auxiliary test power supplies and memory control circuits.

The date range (1949-1964) is given to indicate that, although the metal cabinets were first used in 1949, changes were made to the structure and circuitry over the period of CSIRAC's working life.
Description:: Grey metal cabinet. It has doors on the front and the back. It now sits on a purpose built collection management stillage.
Statement Of Significance:: CSIRAC was the fourth stored program computer in the world and the first one in Australia. It is the only intact first generation computer left on the planet.
Acquisition Information:: Donation from Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), 1965

Discipline:	Technology
Dimensions:	180 cm (Height), 500 cm (Width), 130 cm (Length)
Weight:	2 kg (Weight)
Dimension Comment:	Measurements for Board of Valves

More information

Tagged with:	computers, computing, csirac computer
Themes this item is part of:	The significance of CSIRAC, 1949 - 1964, Information & Communication Collection, CSIRAC Collection, Trevor Pearcey, Computer Engineer & CSIRAC Specialist (1919-1998), Trevor Pearcey, 1919 - 1998: a brief biography, Trevor Pearcey, 1919 - 1998: a brief biography, Trevor Pearcey & the First Australian Computer: A Lost Opportunity?, Trevor Pearcey & the First Australian Computer: A Lost Opportunity?
Primary Classification:	COMPUTING & CALCULATING
Secondary Classification:	Digital Computing
Tertiary Classification:	mainframes
Designer:	Dr Trevor Pearcey, Australia, 1947-1949
Designer:	Mr Maston Beard, 1947-1949
Commissioned By:	Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1947
User:	University of Melbourne (The), Parkville, Victoria, Australia, 1955-1964
Bibliography:	[Book], Mr Peter Thorne, Dr Doug McCann, The Last of the First CSIRAC: Australia's First Computer, Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering- The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 2000, 2000 [Book], Mr Paul Doornbusch - University of Melbourne (The) Computer Science Department, the music of csirac, Common Ground Publishing, Australia, Melbourne, 2005, 2005