Old Calculator Museum Advertising & Documentation Archive
Wang Electronic Calculators - Wang 370 Programmer
Wang 370 Programmer Keyboard/Display Unit
August, 1968.
The Wang 370 is an add-on console for the
Wang 300-Series electronic
calculator systems with special logic internal to the console that
provides full programming capabilities to the calculator. The
370 connects to a minimum of one and up to four specialized
Model 371 "bed of nails" punched card readers (not to be confused with the
earlier Wang CP-1 and
CP-2 punched card readers)
that added very simple linear programming capabilities to the 300-Series
calculators). The 371-Master and 371-Slave punched card readers can
be daisy-chained together to provide up to 480 program steps. The program
steps were read directly from the punched cards as programs are being executed.
A single-step function, as well as the ability to display the step number
and the program instruction located at that step on the punched card
made program debugging a bit less arduous, although making changes
if errors were found could lead to having to re-punch some or all of
the program cards, which could prove rather inconvenient.
The 370 Programmer provides instructions for testing the sign of the
number on the display, as well as determining if the number on the display
is exactly zero. If a logic test is true, the next instruction on the
card is skipped over, and if false the next step is executed, allowing
for different actions to be taken depending on the result of the test
instruction. An unconditional jump instruction to a different step on
the same punched card for creating loops is provided. Another instruction
provides for switching to the same step number on a different card reader
is provided for use in cases where multiple card readers are connected to
the 370.
The 370 also provides a group of instructions
that allow communication with external devices plugged into the I/O
port of on the back the 370. A fairly wide-range of peripheral devices became
available for the 370 in time, including add-on memory systems
(the Model 372 and
373 Data Storage units),
the Model 379-5 IBM Selectric Output Writer,
the Teletype Model 33ASR Input/Output Terminal interface (Model 377),
and the Model 379 Graphic
Storage Tube Display Interface.
The Wang 370 Programmer Console, combined with one of the higher-end
Wang 300-Series calculator Electronics Packages, four Model 371
punched card readers(one master and three slaves), a Model 373 Data
Storage unit, and a Model 377 Teletype Interface with a Wang-modified
Teletype Model 33ASR data terminal made for a fairly capable computing
system that in certain cases could out-perform entry-level minicomputer
systems available at the time at significantly lower cost.