This lot included:

• Vintage mainframe computer punch cards (IBM 80-column card format) - 10pcs
• Vintage mainframe computer perforated punch cards (IBM 80-column card format) - 1pc
• Vintage magnetic tape (IBM 9 track format) - 3.96 meters / 156 inches / 13 feet

Many years ago these punch cards and magnetic tape were used how information carriers instead of diskette, CD/DVD and Flash drives in Soviet mainframes (series: BESM, MIR, Ural, Kiev, Dnieper, Minsk-32, ES-1030/1035/1040/1050/1036/1045/1046/1055/1060/1061/1065/1068/… and others series ES-10XX). These punch cards and magnetic tape were created in period 1970's-1980's in USSR.

Punch cards

Speed of the Soviet punch cards reading depended on the specific implementation of the reader and ranged from 20-50 punch cards/min in the first computers and up to 2000 in newer machines such as the ES-series computers (late 70s). This performance was achieved by using several readers (readers) punch cards in parallel. Information recording ("hole punching") was performed at the rate of 10-250 punch cards per minute. Soviet punch cards made similar as IBM format and have 80 characters as standard. According to the IBM standard, each card must have size 7⅜ × 3¾ inches (187.325 × 82.55 mm), card thickness 0.007 inches (0.178 mm). Total one punch card can save only 24 machine word. One machine word had a size of 36 bits (in period time when were used the punch cards). Similar punch cards were used for first mainframes in USA (IBM series: 704/709/711/709/7094, American machines UNIVAC) and also for others computing systems. With help these punch cards first programmers wrote first programs using programming languages: Cobol, Algol, Fortran, Assembler and others.

Magnetic tape

Vintage magnetic tape reel 9-track (IBM 9 track format) ORWO GDR, width ½ inch has 9 tracks and allowe to write exactly one byte in each position of the tape (8 information bits plus 1 control), and the 9-track tape was invented and started its work together with IBM System/360. In the USSR, magnetic tapes were used with recording densities of 32, 63, and 243 bits/mm (800, 1600, and 6250 bits/inch). The tape was wound on a plastic spool (bobbin). Bobbins were made in two formats: standard coils with a diameter of 267 mm (10.5 inches) containing 730 meters of tape, reduced coils with a diameter of 178 mm (7 inches) containing 183 meters of tape.

Similar goods for purchase

• You can purchase punch cards separately, please click buy punch cards
• You can purchase perforated punch cards separately, please click buy perforated punch cards
• You can purchase magnetic tape reel, please click buy magnetic tape