Provision is made in the basic Atlas computer for attaching the following input and output equipments, in addition to the magnetic tape system described elsewhere.
(it is likely that additional special input/output devices will be attached to individual Atlas machines).
Brief specifications of the above equipments follow.
Type: Ferranti TR5 Ferranti TR7 Speed: 300 characters/second 1000 characters/second Tape width: 5 or 7 channel 5 or 7 channel
The standard code for 5-channel paper tape will be that used at present with the Mercury and Pegasus computers. The standard 7-channel tape code is appended to this document. Flexowriter equipment will be available for producing paper tape in this code.
Four TR5 readers will be available on the Atlas at Manchester University.
Type: Teletype Creed 3000 Speed: 110 characters/second 250 characters/second Tape width: 5 or 7 channel 5 or 7 channel
Four Teletype punches will be available on the Atlas at Manchester University, three will produce 7-channel tape and one will be set for 5-channel tape. Further punches will be added if the work load requires them.
Type: Creed 75 Speed: 10 characters/second
These teleprinters handle the standard Mercury/Pegasus code. Two such teleprinters are used on Atlas for issuing directives to the operators and are not generally available to programmers.
Type: I.C.T. 593 (Atlas/Orion) Speed: 600 cards/minute Card size: 80 columns
Routines will be available for condensing column information to six-bit character form when cards are punched in standard I.C.T. or I.B.M. card codes. Binary cards can also be handled.
One reader will be available on the Manchester University Atlas.
Type: I.C.T. 582 Speed: 100 cards/minute Card size: 80 columns
Routines will be available for punching cards in the standard I.B.M. and I.C.T. codes.
One punch will be available on the Manchester University Atlas.
Type: I.C.T. 665(Atlas/Orion) Speed: 600 lines/minute w / 0t> Line length: 120 characters Character set: 50
The character set will include: 0, 1, 2, ... 9, A, B, C, ... Z, 13 special characters
Facilities are available for multiple line feeding and for homing the paper to preset positions when using prepared stationery.
One printer will be available on the Atlas at Manchester University.
Type: N.E.P. Speed: 7 - 1000 characters/second Tape width: 6 information + 2 checking channels.
This tape is intended to be used to supplement the paper tape input and output channels. Off-line equipment is available for preparing and processing such tape.
It is expected that three such mechanisms will be available on the Atlas at Manchester University.
Full details of this device are not available. It is a C.R.T. type of output with camera attachment. The display consists of a 1024 × 1024 array.
A 24-hour digital clock giving G.M.T. in hours, minutes, seconds is available as an input to Atlas.
