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Photos: Missile detecting DEC computer
Handy for when Jaguars go missing...

By Andy McCue

Published: Tuesday 16 September 2008

This DEC PDP 1134 is a disc-based computer system, using 2MB discs. A lot of the input/output and data exchange from this generation of machines was quite often done on paper tape.

This machine came from Scotland and had one particularly unusual job to do.

Murrell said: "The RAF lost a Jaguar aeroplane that crash landed in the Highlands and it couldn't be found quickly. This machine, using its seismic sensors, tracked where the Jaguar had actually hit the ground with sufficient force to create a seismic shock and triangulated the position and within a day they were able to find the location of the Jaguar."

See the DEC PDP 1134 in action on video here…

Photo credit: Andy McCue/silicon.com