[GreenKeys] Ft Lee Va SAGE building

[Bryan Brodie]

I consider myself very fortunate to have personally had a tour of such
an iconic and historic part of information technology history.
Wikipedia says SAGE was the biggest single computer ever constructed,
and that it is unlikely that any future system will be bigger. I also
remember the massive bomb-proof doors - bigger than any bank vault
door I ever saw.

They showed us the "tube room" (racks and racks of radio tubes, some
absolutely huge) the "spaghetti room" (a giant switchboard with what
seemed to be millions of wires) and a room where Air Force personnel
were hunched over glowing radar screens. We saw them dragging
information on the screens around using the gun-like pointer. It was
very hushed and serious in that area. We were in there for only a
minute before being ushered out.

They didn't show us the big "war room"  - that was off limits. I
remember that they said they replaced something like 30 tubes a day,
preemptively, because by the time we saw SAGE (circa 1973) it was
showing its age... and that it was cheaper to replace the tubes than
build a new system, because SAGE could never be allowed to shut down.

I wasn't aware at the time of the ICBM issue that caused the
obsolescence of SAGE, so by '73 it was probably on its way out.

On Sun, Feb 12, 2012 at 7:13 PM, Roy Morgan <k1lky at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> On Feb 12, 2012, at 9:05 PM, Bryan Brodie wrote:
>
>> I googled NORAD SAGE FT LEE VA and looked at the images; # 2, 3 & 4
>> seem to be the old building repurposed to new use. #1 is also quite
>> interesting!
>
>
> I checked it out.. interesting!  The thing that strikes me about these
> photos taken way back then is that the equipment is all quite new.. (and in
> good condition).  What we see in museums at times is quite battered and worn
> out from age.
>
>
> Roy
>
>
> Roy Morgan
> k1lky at earthlink.net
> K1LKY Since 1958 - Keep 'em Glowing!