Punched card input/output
A computer punched card reader or just computer card reader is a
History
Many early computers, such as the
Punched cards had been in use since the 1890s; their technology was mature and reliable. Card readers and punches developed for punched card machines were readily adaptable for computer use.[2] Businesses were familiar with storing data on punched cards and keypunch machines were widely employed. Punched cards were a better fit than other 1950s technologies, such as magnetic tape, for some computer applications because individual cards could easily be updated without having to access a computer. Also file drawers of punched cards served as a low-density offline storage medium for data.
Operation
The standard measure of speed is cards per minute, abbreviated CPM: The number of cards which can be read or punched in one minute. Card reader models vary from 150 to around 2,000 CPM.[3][4] At 1200 CPM, i.e. 20 cards per second, this translates to 1,600 characters per second (CPS), assuming all 80 columns of each card encode information.
Early computer card readers were base on electromechanical
Card punches necessarily run more slowly to allow for the mechanical action of punching, up to around 300 CPM or 400 characters per second.[5]
Some card devices offer the ability to interpret, or print a line on the card displaying the data that is punched. Typically this slows down the punch operation. Many punches would read the card just punched and compare its actual contents to the original data punched, to protect against punch errors. Some devices allowed data to be read from a card and additional information to be punched into the same card.
Readers and punches include a hopper for input cards and one or more stacker bins to collect cards read or punched. A function called stacker select allows the controlling computer to choose which stacker a card just read or punched will be placed into.
Card readers/punches
Control Data Corporation
- CDC 405 — CDC 6000 series card reader, 1200 or 1600 cards per minute (CPM)[6]: 2–1
- CDC 415 — CDC 6000 series card punch, 250 cards per minute[6]: 4–1
Documation
- M-200 card reader, 300 cards/minute[7] also sold by DEC as the CR-11 card reader for the PDP-11[8]
- M-600 card reader, 600 cards/minute, also sold by HP as 2892A and 2893A [9]
- M-1000-L card reader 1,000 cards/minute[10]
Their card readers have been used in elections,[11] including the 2000 "chads" election in Florida.[12]
IBM
- IBM 711 card reader computer peripheral used in the vacuum tube era, 150 or 250 CPM
- IBM 2501 card reader, 600 or 1000 CPM
- IBM 1402 high speed reader/punch introduced with the IBM 1401, 800 CPM
- IBM 1442 reader/punch introduced with the lower-cost IBM 1440, read 80-400 CPM, punch 91-355 CPM
- System 360
- IBM 2560 Multi-Function Card Machine (MFCM), first introduced for the IBM System/360 Model 20, could also collate, sort and print/interpret.[13]
- System/370in 1971, read 1200 CPM, punch 300 CPM
Binary format
For some computer applications,
An alternative format, used by the
As a
See also
- Plugboard discusses how early card readers worked in some detail
- Computer programming in the punched card era
- List of IBM products#Punched card and paper tape equipment
References
- ISBN 0-932376-14-2.
- ^ The IBM 711 Punched Card Reader's card-feeding mechanism was similar to the IBM 402's card-feeding mechanism
- ISBN 9788184242119. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- ^ IBM 711 at IBM archive
- ^ IBM Corporation (1971). IBM 3505 Card Reader and IBM 3525 Card Punch Subsystem. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- ^ a b Control Data Corporation (1967). PUNCHED CARD EQUIPMENT TRAINING MANUAL (PDF). Retrieved May 9, 2021.
- ^ Documation M-200 Card Reader Manual, 1972
- ^ Documation M-200 photo
- ^ "2892A Card Reader". HP Museum. Retrieved 2017-09-11.
- ^ Documation M1000L Card Reader Archived 2012-07-21 at archive.today
- ^ (2006 elections, Arizona) "Certified Voting Equipment Before 2006 - Arizona Secretary of State" (PDF).
- ^ "Dimpled and Pregnant Chad are not votes".
- S2CID 24960497.
- ^ Thelen, Ed. "Chinese Binary". Retrieved 12 December 2013.
- ^ IBM (1955). IBM Operator's Guide, 22-8484-3 1955 Type 24 Card Punch. IBM.
- ^ Raymond, Eric S. (1991). The New Hacker's Dictionary. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. p. 219.
Punched card equipment
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An IBM 650 computer, introduced in 1953, came with the IBM 533 Card Reader/Punch, right. At many IBM 650 installations, punched cards and address 8000 on the console were the only input and output medium.
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IBM 711 card reader on an IBM 704 computer at NASA in 1957
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The popular IBM 1401, introduced in 1959 featured a fast card reader/punch, the IBM 1402, left
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IBM 711 card readers, far left and foreground, attached to dual IBM 7090s at NASA Mission Control in 1962.
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An IBM 2540 Card Reader Punch at the University of Michigan computer center in 1968
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Punched card reader/punch on an IBM System/360 Model 20
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IBM System/3, announced in 1969 introduced a new, smaller punched card and a combined reader/punch/sorter, right
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IBM 7070 with IBM 7501 Console Card Reader, right, based in the IBM 026 keypunch
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Documation M-600 card reader