9 Dec 2024 12:33 pm
I worked on one of the first transistorized calculators that was capable of doing trig.LowIQTrash » 09 Dec 2024, 11:44 am » wrote: ↑ “We all have calculators these days, why bother?” ~ most kids probably in 2024
It weighed 200 pounds and it needed a 208 volt, 3 phase, 400 cycle, 3 KW generator for power and to make it portable.
It was the FADAC M-18 [yep it was just 2 numbers down from the M-16 in the Army Ordinance Directory because it was considered part of a weapon system...typical Army thinking]]
It cost in the neighborhood of $100,000 and it needed a well trained "specialist" to operate it.
It wasn't very popular with the Fire Direction Control Teams because a 5 pound briefcase stocked with $5 worth of manual plotting equipment and a slide ruler could provide the Field Artillery with the same AZ / EL / MUZZLE ANGLE / CHARGE and TIME OF FLIGHT information, in about the same time it took the FADAC to arrive at a solution.
The FDC teams used to hate hauling the 200 pound FADAC around and dealing with the loud, troublesome generator so much that they would sabotage it and evac it for repair.
Not many years later Texas Instruments marketed a pocket calculator [the size of a modern smart phone] with the same capabilities as the FADAC M18, plus it was solar powered.
You can bet that whatever electronic gadgetry they use to aim the howitzers nowadays takes so little skill that even a Libtard could do it....
