A Word to Visitor

[Aleksandrs Guba]

Dear Visitor,

I started my programming experience in August 1976 with NCR 299 and NCR 399. Later there was NCR Century 8250 - an outstanding computer of its time...

Because this year (on August 16, 2006) there will be 30 years since I became familiar with programming and NCR computers, last year I decided to collect materials (pictures, technical data) regarding old (2nd half of 20th Century) NCR computers, having in mind to create personal site about them as a gift to myself and to all those people who programmed and maintained them. Now you may see the results after more than a year of such activities.

I will continue my efforts to make the site better. In case you have any photos, booklets, texts or other artifacts about NCR computers or will decide to write a short essay regarding your work with NCR, please send them to me to .
 
King regards,
 
Aleksandrs Guba

[dlreedy]

Thank you, Aleksandr,  for compiling this historical information on NCR computers. I started work at NCR (then called National Cash Register) in 1970 and worked in the Basic Software Group, programming for the B1, B2 operating systems.  Later, I worked on the Savings and Loan System (CLASS) for banks using the Century 100, 200 and 300 machines.  These pictures and stories bring back lots of memories of my 10 years with NCR and I still think NEAT/3, level 2 and level 3 are among the best languages ever used.  I will bookmark this site and I have saved many of the pictures for my own album.  Thank you again.

Dennis Reedy

[n8eyh with OCD-WM42 of Hilse]

Dear Dlreedy,

I have a question.

I think that NCR 615 basic software overlay architecture was so excellent structure of the modularity,
because the software engineering methodology was not established yet around 1960s.

Would you let me know such a successful back-ground of the software development of NCR?

Best regards,
Katsuhiko

[gl123844]

I have just finished browsing through your site, and am quite impressed. This certainly stirs old memories, good and bad .
I started with NCR in 1965 and worked the first 20 years as a field engineer on MOST of the systems listed on your site.
The last 21 years I have functioned in a support capacity of one sort or another, I am currently involved in the Teradata division
doing fault analysis coding for user reporting tools.

[jwo]

What a great site.  I hope it serves as a magnet for those like me who occasionally search for history of NCR computers.  I'll come back and visit some more.  Just briefly for now...

I started my career in computers thanks to a work/study job in a small college in the mid 70s.  The college offered no programing or computer courses so the work/study job paid me to learn COBOL.  I worked on the administrative computer, an NCR 101.   By the time I was a senior, I had a contract programming job serving NCR customers writing custom code and modifying NCR application code (that was no fun!) on the 8250 and the 399.  Also the 499 but I don't see that model mentioned on your web site.

I also had had some work on the NCR 8150 if I remember the model number correctly. It was a stepped-down version of the 8250...or more like a step-up progression path for existing customers of the 399.  It served very small businesses.  I can't remember too much about it (27 years ago!) except I did not like the CRT because it had very limited display space.  Also very limited memory so I had carefully write my COBOL code to manage memory swapping. I wrote my COBOL code on the 8250 and set compiler option to generate object for the 8150 (if I remember correctly).

I'll go through my "pack rat" boxes in my garage to see if kept anything from those days.   I seem to recall some sort of NCR-branded ruler used for report layouts, and maybe I have some kind of physical template used when programming the 399. 

[fordem]

Absolutely amazing site - you have brought back so many memories.

I started with NCR as a field engineer just about 30 years ago - in 1977 - and worked first on cash registers and the older mechanical accounting machines - the 32 & 33 - before moving up to 299, 399 & 499 and then the 8100 series - 8130, 8140, 8150 & the 8200 & 8250 series, and of course the different processors - 605, 6080, 6081, 6082 - printers - 349, 6420, 6440 - and the rebranded CDC disk drives 656 (Hawk), 6560 (Falcon) & 6566(Pheonix). 

One experience I will never forget - lying on my stomach on the floor of my dorm room, poring over a printout filled with compilation errors - to eventually find an O where a 0 should have been, in the data description field of a COBOL program - that one mistake generated over ninety-nine compilation error messages - that was my first software class - IDPS - Interactive Data Processing System, which I believe was a limited feature version of IMOS, I subsequently did both IMOS III & IMOS V.

I remember the CTEC well, and despite the passage of time, quite a few names of the folks I met there, instructors, staff & fellow FEs.

Thanks for making this trip down memory lane possible.

[bugman50]

Thanks for the site:  I worked as a field engineer for 10 years and still remember my many stays at CTEC.  I worked primarily on the 8200 - 9800 series systems but also spent many hours working on the 605 based scanning system including the helical printers on the 255 registers which was the workhorse of the retail industry.  Despite their simplicity the ANSWER printers on the 2552 and other systems never possessed the ruggedness of its predecessor.  I was fortunate to never get training on the 2140 of which we were always hearing horror stories.

Its fun to reminisce about pleasant times spent with the best company I ever worked.