'Pony' up to the Hemingray No. 9 insulator

© Mark Ollig

Bell-shaped glass insulators played an essential role during the early years of the telephone network.

Glass insulators were used when attaching bare iron wires to telephone poles. They prevented short circuits and corrosion by insulating the wires from each other and the pole.

Additionally, glass insulators prevented electrical current loss during the transmission of telephone calls.

The “pony” insulator, also known as style-9, made of annealed tempered glass, was commonly used by telephone companies.

The 3/16-inch thick glass insulator weighs about nine ounces and measures 3.38 inches high and 2.25 inches wide. It has a rounded single groove encircling its circumference and a petticoat-shaped flare skirt bottom.

A 1.7-inch bulbous glass dome on the insulator is said to resemble a pony’s head.

I never understood the resemblance between a pony’s head and a glass insulator.

The insulator was screwed onto a threaded 12-inch wooden pin bracket nailed to the telephone pole.

The insulator’s glass-flared skirting protected the threaded wooden portion from rotting caused by rain and snow.

Originating from a telephone company’s switchboard or central office, galvanized iron wires were strung along the poles, connecting with homes and businesses telephones.

The wire manufacturer’s galvanization process entailed immersion of the iron wire into molten zinc, forming a long-lasting protective layer against rust and corrosion caused by harsh outdoor conditions.

On some poles, 10 iron wires were supported by 10 glass insulators placed parallel to each other along an eight-foot-long rectangular wooden cross-arm beam attached near the top of the pole.

A 12-inch insulated stranded wire was wrapped around an iron wire placed in the 1/8-inch-deep, 3/8-inch-wide groove of a glass insulator, securing it in place.

The iron wire then continued to the next insulator connection point.

The unique design of the glass insulators allowed for a sturdy, secure, and electrically insulated attachment of the wires to a telephone pole.

Various manufacturers produced the style-9 pony glass insulators.

Gray & Hemingray, a glass manufacturing firm, was founded by Robert Hemingray and Ralph Gray in 1848.

The company was renamed Hemingray Glass Company, Inc., in 1870, and it was well known for producing various glass products, including tableware, windowpanes, light fixtures, milk, soda, and beer bottles.

The company also manufactured special glass containers for storing the liquid electrolyte solution used in wet cell batteries, which provided electricity for telegraphs and telephones.

In 1892, telegraph and telephone exchanges began using the Hemingray No. 9 glass insulator manufactured in Muncie, IN.

The Hemingray No. 9 insulator was made from high-quality borosilicate glass (silica sand, boron trioxide, and soda ash) and withstood extreme temperature changes without cracking.

Its petticoat-shaped glass helps distribute weight evenly and reduces the effects of moisture and dust.

Materials used during production resulted in insulator glass appearing as clear to light aqua to aqua-blue, amber, and green.

Robert Hemingray obtained US Patent 496,652 May 2, 1893, for adding triangular glass drip points (teeth) along the base of the glass insulators, improving their performance and longevity by effectively and quickly draining rainwater off the insulator.

Drip points were added to nearly all new and existing glass insulator styles, including the Hemingray No. 9.

Hemingray Glass Company, Inc. became one of the most popular manufacturers of glass insulators in the US and worldwide.

The Hemingray No. 9 glass insulator’s reliability and quality earned it widespread popularity during the history of the telegraph and telephone industry.

The one billionth Hemingray glass insulator rolled off the production line in 1937.

By the 1950s, telephone companies were replacing galvanized iron wire with plastic-insulated copper-wired cable.

Copper wire has superior electrical conductivity than galvanized iron. It is also thinner and more flexible than a 9-gauge iron wire, making it easier to install and maintain.

I recall working with mostly 22 and 24-gauge copper telephone wiring.

Copper-wired telephone cables attached to poles transmit voice signals over long distances and, unlike iron wire, do not require glass insulators.

By 1955, the last Hemingray No. 9 glass insulator was produced, and in 1966, the company’s manufacturing plant closed.

Porcelain is the most widely used material for electrical insulators by power utilities today.

Hemingray No. 9 glass insulators are now considered valuable collectibles and remembered for their importance in constructing the telegraph and telephone network.

When I worked at the Winsted Telephone Company, I installed and removed many green glass insulators with the markings “Hemingray No. 9” on one side and “Patent May 2, 1893” on the other.

While going through my old Graybar Telephone Catalog from 1957, I stumbled upon a description of the Hemingray No. 9 glass insulator on page 137. It was labeled as “Pony. Single-groove, single petticoat. Lightweight for rural telephone lines.”

I picked up and stared closely at one of the glass insulators in my collection, and for a moment, it resembled a pony’s head.

Computer magazine's rise and fall

© Mark Ollig

In October 1957, two significant events happened in the world of technology.

On Oct. 1, the first computer magazine, DATAmation, was published by Thompson Publications of Chicago.

On Oct. 4, the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik 1, the world’s first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.

Sputnik 1 shocked many Americans and started the “space race” between the two countries.

The launch of DATAmation magazine demonstrated a growing interest in computers among the general public. It was significant in helping to propel the technological revolution.

In September 1975, McGraw-Hill published BYTE, a monthly microcomputer magazine.

BYTE appeared when electronic magazines began advertising build-it-yourself computers such as the Altair 8800 and IMSAI 8080.

In the 1983 movie “WarGames,” David Lightman, a young computer hobbyist, uses his IMSAI 8080 computer to hack into an online gaming system. However, he accidentally accesses NORAD’s War Operation Plan Response (WOPR) military central supercomputer.

When Lightman starts playing the Global Thermonuclear War game on WOPR, the supercomputer believes it is engaged in a real war, causing it to activate the United States’ nuclear arsenal in response to Lightman’s simulated attack.

It’s a good movie.

In 1977, I purchased my first BYTE magazine, primarily because of its digital-binary reference to bits and bytes.

I knew eight bits made up one byte, so there you go.

Bits and Bytes also became a good name for a newspaper column.

But I digress.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, as a young telecommunications and computer enthusiast living in a small apartment above the bank in Winsted, I often spent evenings reading through computing magazines and sipping freshly-brewed coffee from my Mr. Coffee maker.

These magazines were a window into the exciting new world of personal computing. They helped me stay up-to-date on the latest technologies and gave me a sense of community with other computer enthusiasts.

BYTE magazine’s coverage of the latest trends and developments in computing sparked my interest in this field.

The illustration on the cover of the April 1981 issue of BYTE featured a computer wristwatch with a display screen, a keyboard, and a miniature floppy disk inserted into its side.

The inner page of the magazine mentions the cover, noting it was associated with an editorial on future computers.

There was also a note to the readers that the magazine was issued in the same month as April Fool’s Day, hinting the illustration on the cover was satirical.

In 1981, technology for miniaturizing electronic devices was already in development, so it was a prediction by BYTE that a 5.25-inch floppy disk, nearly the size of a dinner plate, would eventually be miniaturized to the point where it could be used with a wearable wrist computer.

The BYTE front cover, depicting a future when computers are portable and wearable, was widely discussed as a real possibility by computing engineers and designers.

BYTE magazine ceased print publication in July 1998 because of decreasing advertising revenue and the growth of online information.

It relaunched as an online digital magazine a year later and continued publication until 2009.

In April of this year, Maximum PC and MacLife became the last monthly-circulated paper-printed computer magazines to cease publication, ending an era that began nearly 66 years ago with DATAmation.

DATAmation itself had already ceased printed magazine publications in 1998.

A wide selection of free online information and the convenience of consuming digital content on smart devices has led to the decline of print magazines.

However, many computer magazines no longer in publication are still able to be viewed online at the Internet Archive website: https://archive.org.

Numerous wrist-worn computing devices are available today, including the Citizen CZ Smartwatch, which sells for around $450.

In addition to telling time, this smartwatch features a Snapdragon Wear 4100+ system-on-a-chip processor, 8 GB of storage, and a 1.28-inch touchscreen display with a 416 by 416-pixel resolution.

The Citizen CZ Smartwatch runs on the Google Wear operating system and is compatible with iPhones and Android phones.

Its features include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, NFC, texting, YouTube Music, Google Maps, medical monitoring, and telecommunication capabilities when tethered to your smartphone.

The CZ Smartwatch includes built-in AI software applications from IBM Watson and the NASA Ames Research Center.

The 8 GB CZ Smartwatch holds 20,000 times more data than a 5.25-inch floppy disk from 1981.

DATAmation magazine still covers computing technology through its website at https://www.datamation.com.

Its October 1957 issue can be seen at https://tinyurl.com/bytesData.

And yes, I kept my April 1981 BYTE magazine, which features a wearable computing watch and miniaturized floppy disk on the front cover.

Kenbak-1 to the IBM 5150

© Mark Ollig

In 1970, John Blankenbaker founded the Kenbak Corp. in Los Angeles, CA, and envisioned manufacturing an affordable, easy-to-use home computer.

In the spring of 1971, before the first microprocessor chip had been invented, Blankenbaker finished constructing his prototype computer, the Kenbak-1.

Since his computer had no central processor, it relied on digital and sequential logic gates to execute arithmetic and logical tasks.

The memory comprises two streams of 1,024-bit serial sequential access memory (SAM) for 2,048 bits, which equals 256 bytes since there are eight bits in a byte.

The Kenbak-1 had a clock cycle time of one microsecond, comparable to the clock speed of a 1 MHz microprocessor.

There was no keyboard; the computer used switches to key the input, and lights displayed the output.

The Kenbak-1 computer uses machine code to write programs and performs less than 1,000 instructions per second, as each operation requires multiple clock cycles, and accessing the memory takes up a lot of time.

The Kenbak-1 computer made use of binary base-two arithmetic.

From a set of front panel switches, input data was entered for the machine code instruction set. The output was then displayed through a row of individual lights.

The Kenbak-1 was an eight-bit machine using a basic instruction set, making it suitable for simple educational and hobbyist purposes.

The computer measured 4.25 by 19.25 by 11.5 inches, and it weighed approximately 13.5 pounds.

The Kenbak-1 lacked pre-installed programs, so a user manual included sample programs a person could input and execute on the computer.

On Jan. 16, 1972, the News Chronicle newspaper in Thousand Oaks, CA, featured John Blankenbaker instructing computer programming, generally taught at the college level, to fifth and sixth-graders.

Blankenbaker taught students how to convert long binary numbers into shorter written forms using the base-eight octal and base-16 hexadecimal numbering systems.

I recall in 1979 when my brother Mike and I used binary, octal, and hexadecimal conversions to program the first digital telephone system in Winsted installed at the local hospital.

Each student had a Kenback-1 computer on their desk and used its console buttons to enter instruction programs.

The students entered instruction data into the Kayback-1 computer using its switches and buttons and then executed the program by pressing the start button.

The Kenbak-1 would then begin its operation of the input instructions, and the output results were displayed as a combination of illuminated lights.

After executing each programming instruction, the lights updated to display the results.

The newspaper noted how one student used the Kenbak-1 to calculate the trajectory of a model rocket.

Grade school students 52 years ago learned the basics of writing, programming, and running computer programs on the Kenbak-1.

In mid-1973, the Kenbak Corporation closed its doors after selling only 44 computers.

During a June 14, 2007 interview, Blankenbaker said, “We didn’t choose the right market, we should have emphasized the private individual.”

Although sales of the Kaybak-1 were unsuccessful, in May 1986, a panel of judges at the Computer Museum in Boston, MA, recognized the Kenbak-1 as “the first personal computer.”

One of the panel judges was Apple computer co-founder Steve Wozniak.

Today, only 14 Kenbak-1 computers are known to be owned by collectors and museums.

In 1980, Timothy Paterson wrote the disk operating system (DOS), initially called the quick and dirty operating system (QDOS), for Seattle Computer Products (SCP) to work with the Intel 8086 microprocessor.

The name reflects the approach used by Paterson to build a functional operating system as quickly as possible, as QDOS was to be only a temporary OS until the completion of the CP/M-86 (Control Program for Microcomputers Model 86) OS to be used with the Intel 8086 processor-based computers.

QDOS evolved into 86-DOS, used as an operating system with computers among early computer hobbyists.

Around 1980, IBM requested Microsoft to provide an operating system (OS) for its new IBM personal computer (PC).

In 1981, Microsoft bought 86-DOS from SCP and hired Tim Paterson to modify the software design into MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System), licensed to IBM for its computer OS, called PC-DOS.

PC-DOS and MS-DOS were widely used operating systems for computers with very few distinguishable differences.

On Aug. 12, 1981, IBM launched its computer, the IBM Personal Computer (model 5150), initially priced at $1,565, which today amounts to $5,112.

The model 5150 computer I used was equipped with an Intel 8088 4.77-MHz CPU, 64 KB of RAM, two 160 KB 5.25-inch (floppy) disk drives, a monochrome display, an IBM Model F keyboard, an Epson MX-80 dot-matrix printer, and a 20 MB external hard drive the size of a bread box.

The computer came with pre-installed software, including PC-DOS, a text-based operating system; IBM BASIC, a programming language; VisiCalc, a spreadsheet; and MultiMate, a word processor.

In 1994, the IBM Personal Computer model 5150 I used for many years while working at the telephone company in Winsted, was donated to the local high school.

 IBM Personal Computer model 5150

John Blankenbaker with the Kenbak-1
(1986)

My 41-year-old Epson HX-20 portable computer

© Mark Ollig

The Epson HX-20, a lightweight and portable computer introduced at the 1981 COMDEX (Computer Dealer’s Exhibition) show in Las Vegas, attracted much attention.

The notebook-sized, 3.5-pound lightweight computer was hailed as the first true portable laptop computer.

Another reason for using the Epson HX-20 computer was that it did not require AC power.

This computer came with four rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries, which could power it for an average of 40 to 50 hours once fully charged after eight hours, allowing people to use the computer from anywhere.

In addition to the quality full-sized keyboard, the Epson HX-20 was the first notebook computer to incorporate a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen; note the Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100, with an LCD screen, came out in 1983.

The LCD showed four lines of 20 characters in a five-by-seven dot font or 120-by-32 dot graphics. It allowed sideways scrolling to view lines up to 255 characters long.

A removable cartridge housing on the top right above the LCD screen provides access for adding an optional microcassette drive for data storage.

You can load or save data from an audio cassette tape to the HX-20 computer through a serial interface cable with a cassette recorder.

The Epson HX-20 buttons, labeled P1 to P5, are programmable function keys that could control a connected tape recorder or be programmed for other commands.

A 5.25-inch floppy disk could also be used with the HX-20 computer through a serial cable connection to a separate Epson TF-20 external floppy disk drive peripheral device.

The TF-20 weighed 13.2 pounds and contained two floppy drives and a power supply.

The top left corner of the HX-20 holds a built-in 24-column dot-matrix impact paper micro-printer.

The Epson HX-20 includes 32 KB (kilobyte) of internal read-only memory (ROM) using four EPSON BASIC1R0 M66021AA chips, with an expansion socket available to add another eight kilobytes for 40 KB.

Included is 16 KB of random access memory (RAM), expandable to 32 KB, by sliding an expansion module cartridge into a recessed side compartment on the computer case.

The HX-20 is equipped with EPSON BASIC, a command interpreter or compiler that enables it to run BASIC computing code.

BASIC, or Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code, is a programming language developed at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH, in 1964. It has been modified over the years for compatibility with later computer models.

The Epson HX-20 computer used two eight-bit C63010CA A16-2H1 microprocessors in a primary/secondary configuration, each with a clocking speed of 614Khz.

The primary CPU managed the operating system, or command interpreter, whereas the secondary CPU handled the display output and keyboard input data. In 1982, this configuration allowed the computer to achieve a relatively high level of performance.

The Nov. 25, 1982, Minneapolis Star and Tribune ran an ad for “the new powerful, affordable, and portable Epson HX-20 for under $800.”

The price was $795, equivalent to $2,475 today.

The Epson HX-20 included software programs such as:

• SkiWriter, a word processor.

• EPSON BASIC, a version of the BASIC programming language designed for the HX-20.

• MailList, to create and manage their mailing lists.

• The Card Index, to store and organize information.

• The Personal Journal, a diary to track thoughts and experiences.

Games, educational, and business software programs were purchased separately.

An HX-20 computer user could access online dial-up computer services using the Epson CX-20 modem attached to a telephone line.

The CX-20 data rate was 300 baud/bits per second; slow, by today’s standards, but fast enough for the text-based online services available in 1982.

Online dial-up commercial computer services included CompuServe, which provided real-time chat, information, email, and news.

In my previous columns, I wrote about the dial-up Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) created and maintained by computer hobbyists. These virtual communities were free for users to join and participate in.

But I digress.

Using the HX-20 RS-232C serial port, the computer could directly connect to an external printer, television monitor, or another computer.

RS-232 is a recommended standard (RS) published by the EIA (Electronic Industries Alliance). The standard number is 232; the ‘C’ version was released in 1969.

In 1980, Yukio Yokozawa invented the Epson HX-20 (the HC-20 in Japan). It was patented and sold by Suwa Seikosha, a branch of Seiko (now Seiko Epson).

The Osborne 1 computer, produced in 1981, has been noted for its portability compared to the Epson HX-20.

First, it was large and heavy, weighing around 25 pounds; others (and I) found it much too cumbersome to be called a lightweight “portable” computer.

Furthermore, unlike the Epson HX-20, which uses internal batteries allowing it to operate from anywhere, the Osborne 1 needed to be plugged into an AC outlet.

Recently, I took my 41-year-old Epson HX-20 computer out of mothball storage.

Even though the computer is old, its well-organized appearance and modern design still hold up.

The Epson HX-20 was the first truly portable laptop personal computer, paving the way for the ones used today.