Bits and Bytes OnLine: October 2023

Friday, October 27, 2023

From feather quills to space pens

In the past, people in the Western world wrote with quill pens made from feathers of different birds, such as geese, swans, and turkeys.

When using a feather quill pen, one occasionally dips the nib, the pointed end that touches the parchment surface, into ink to ensure smooth writing.

The US Declaration of Independence was written using a quill pen and oak gall ink.

American inventor Lewis Edson Waterman (1836 to 1901) invented the first modern fountain pen, for which he received US Patent No. 293,545 titled “Fountain Pen” Feb. 12, 1884.

His pens were known for their craftsmanship, reliability, and visual aesthetics, featuring handmade parts and a pen nib feeding mechanism to provide a steady flow of ink.

Waterman fountain pens were made using precious metal overlays of gold and silver and colorful finishes like onyx, turquoise, emerald, jet black, and moss agate, and to this day, remain popular.

American Harvard-educated lawyer, leather tanner, and inventor John J. Loud (1842 to 1916) developed a ball-bearing marking pen in 1888.

Loud needed a writing tool to mark rough leather products, but pencils broke, and fountain pens required a smooth surface.

His pen used a rotating steel ball at the nib, which dispensed ink on rough surfaces, and Oct. 30, 1888, he obtained US Patent No. 392,046 titled “Pen.”

Although Loud had invented a pen unsuitable for writing on paper and his patent expired, his invention played a significant role in developing the modern ballpoint pen.

Laszlo Biro (1899 to 1985), a Hungarian journalist, is credited with inventing the modern ballpoint pen in 1938 with his brother, Gyorgy, a chemist.

They developed a steel ball tip that freely turned inside a socket, evenly accumulating ink from a cartridge and smoothly depositing it on paper while writing.

Biro patented the invention in France in 1938 and would take his family to Argentina in 1943 during World War II.

On June 17, 1943, Biro filed for a patent in the United States.

On Dec. 11, 1945, he was issued US Patent No. 2,390,636, titled “Writing Instrument.”

The patent states there is “a reservoir from which ink is fed to the ball kept practically covered with ink so that on rolling out the inner surface thereof, the ink will mark the paper with well-defined strokes.”

Laszlo Biro founded Biro Pens of Argentina in 1943 and began selling the Birome pen.

American Milton Reynolds (1892 to 1976) was born “Milton Reinsberg” in Albert Lea, MN.

While visiting Argentina before WWII ended, Reynolds purchased several Birome pens and realized they would sell well in the US market.

After founding the Reynolds International Pen Company in Chicago, IL, he teamed up with others to create a modified ballpoint pen that featured a redesigned ink cartridge to avoid infringing on Laszlo Biro’s patent.

On Oct. 28, 1945, the New York Daily Sunday News featured a full-page promotion advertising the next-day sale of Reynold’s International pen as a “miracle pen that would revolutionize writing.”

On Oct. 29, 1945, Gimbels Department Store in New York began selling the first ballpoint pens in the US for $12.50 each, quickly depleting their 10,000-pen inventory within days.

In December 1945, Reynolds hired Paul C. Fisher (1913 to 2006) to assist him with perfecting the ballpoint pen.

Fisher later became a successful inventor and manufacturer of pens, and he played an important role in the NASA space program.

Inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s “We choose to go to the Moon” speech in 1962, Paul C. Fisher invented a ballpoint pen to function in the weightlessness of outer space.

Fisher’s space pen is brass and steel, with chrome plating and a sealed tungsten carbide ballpoint encased in a stainless-steel socket.

The pen’s pressurized, hermetically sealed thixotropic and viscoelastic reservoir cartridge keeps the ink in a gel-like state until the ballpoint’s movement transforms it into a fluid, enabling it to write on any surface.

The space pen operates within a temperature range of 30°F to more than 250°F, writes on most surfaces, can draw a line over three miles long, and has a shelf life of 100 years.

On Nov. 15, 1966, Paul C. Fisher obtained US Patent No. 3,285,228 titled “Anti-Gravity Pen.”

In 1967, Fisher submitted his space pen to NASA, which approved it after thorough testing.

On Oct. 11, 1968, NASA launched the Apollo 7 Saturn IB rocket and Fisher’s space pen.

During a live TV broadcast from the Apollo 7 command module, the astronauts were shown using the Fisher AG7 (Anti-Gravity 7) space pen.

On July 24, 1969, the AG7 traveled to the moon.

NASA opted to use pens instead of pencils due to the potential flammability of graphite dust particles and the risk of broken pencil lead coming into contact with sensitive electronics and causing short circuits.

Writing with ink has come a long way – from the earliest feather quill to the space pen.

Friday, October 20, 2023

An early computer modem paved the way

In 1977, Dale Heatherington and Dennis Hayes developed the 80-103A, also known as the DC Hayes 80-103A data communications adapter. This full-duplex modem could transmit and receive data simultaneously at speeds up to 300 baud.

The 80-103A was used with the S-100 bus structure, which Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) originally developed for the Altair 8800 computer.

The S-100 bus was designed to be a 100-pin expansion bus that allowed users to plug in different peripheral cards and to expand or modify the computer’s capabilities.

With a common bus architecture among various computing machines, several companies began providing plug-in CPUs, memory, video, disk controllers, and other compatible peripheral cards for S-100-based systems.

The S-100 bus became the basis of the first personal computer hardware standard and often used Zilog Z80 CPUs and Digital Research’s 1974 Control Program/Monitor (CP/M) operating system.

The name “S-100” was derived from its 100-pin edge connector. The “S” in S-100 stands for “system.”

The 80-103A enabled data transfer within the S-100 bus architecture when connecting computers, printers, and data terminals.

It allowed computing devices to communicate with other devices through the telephone network via a 24-volt DC-powered device known as a Data Access Arrangement (DAA), usually provided by the local telephone company.

Western Electric had manufactured the DAA wired to a business’s computing equipment, allowing data transmission over telephone network lines connected to various computing equipment.

The 80-103A supported numerous computers, printers, and data terminals. It was sold by retailers in the United States and Canada, as well as through Hayes Microcomputer Products.

The price of the 80-103A in 1978 was $595.

A 1979 advertisement from Byte magazine sold it for $499, and a 1980 advertisement from Popular Electronics magazine listed it at $395.

The 80-103A was used with other S-100 bus-compatible communications boards installed in computers during the 1970s, including:

• Altair 8800,

• IMSAI 8080,

• Sol-20,

• Cromemco Z-2,

• North Star Horizon.

Much of the storage for these computers consisted of paper or audio cassette tapes, eight-inch “memory,” or 5.25-inch floppy diskettes.

These hobbyist computers from that era usually had less than 64KB of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) stored on computing chips.

Many did not have a video display screen and used LED lamps to indicate status and computed results; the user input data into the computer using front panel switches or tape.

Back then, computers required the user to understand the hardware and programming thoroughly to use them effectively.

Despite a steep learning curve, those 1970s computers became popular among electronic hobbyists and computer enthusiasts.

The S-100 bus became a de facto standard and was later adopted as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE-696) computer bus standard.

However, in 1981, the S-100 bus was replaced by other architectures, such as the IBM PC Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) buses.

In 1981, the 80-103A was superseded by the DC Hayes Smartmodem 300.

The Smartmodem 300, a faster and more reliable 300-baud modem, also included what became the industry standard AT command set for modem control.

This set of commands is composed of short text strings that can be combined to create instructions for tasks like dialing, hanging up, and modifying connection settings.

Most dial-up modems utilized the Hayes AT command set. Some command examples include:

• AT – Attention. Used to start all AT commands.

• ATD – Dial the phone number.

• ATH – Hang up the phone.

• ATS – Set the modem’s speed and other parameters.

• ATA – Get the modem’s status.

• ATZ – Reset the modem to its factory default settings.

Using the Hayes command set, one modem would need to dial the phone number of the other modem via an old-fashioned POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) telephone line to establish a data connection.

Let’s use 123-456-7890 as the receiving modem’s phone number and connect our modem with it using the Hayes command: ATD1234567890.

And always, make sure you hear the dialtone before placing your call.

The Hayes command set, named after Dennis Hayes, the founder of Hayes Microcomputer Products, profoundly impacted the history of online computing, as folks connected their computers directly with other computers and online dial-up services, including CompuServe, Prodigy, AOL, and Hobbyist Bulletin Board Systems (BBS).

I still have a vintage 1978 DC. Hayes 80-103A printed wiring card and user guide.

The 45-year-old user guide introduction begins with “The time has come for microcomputer users to expand the power of their systems through the use of the existing telecommunication networks which are capable of connecting their computers to remote devices such as terminals, other small computers, or timesharing systems.”

Little did we know in 1978 where the technology would take us in 2023.

Friday, October 13, 2023

Breaker breaker one nine: got your ears on?

Upon waking up most mornings, my instincts led me to reach for my Android phone.

I look for new messages, scan Facebook, glance at the news sites, and check the weather for the day.

After brewing my first-morning coffee, I sit with my laptop, open Microsoft Word, and begin typing my next Pulitzer prize-winning column.

Sandwiched in between, I am typing emails and text messages.

I am typing more now than in Mr. Harold Knoll’s 1975 high school typing class.

“The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” How many thousands of times was this sentence punched on those QWERTY keys?

Ah, yes, the good old days.

Many remember a time before boarding the high-tech boat transporting us through continuous waves of today’s fast-paced technology, whose quickening pace sped up during the 1960s with its many advancements.

The IBM 7094 is regarded as one of the 1960s most powerful and advanced mainframe computers.

NASA used it during the Gemini and Apollo space programs, as did the US military and many corporations.

In 1960, Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, better known as the laser, was first successfully demonstrated at the Hughes Research Laboratory in California.

In 1962, NASA launched Telstar, the first active communication satellite to orbit the Earth.

In 1963, compact cassette tapes were introduced, followed by eight-track tapes in 1965.

In 1967, Whirlpool introduced the first residential countertop microwave ovens.

On Feb. 16, 1968, the first “911” call was made in Haleyville, AL. Windom, MN, and St. James, MN, were the first cities in Minnesota to install citywide 911 systems in the same year.

The first US bank ATM (automated teller machine) opened at Chemical Bank in New York in 1969.

From the 1960s to the 1970s, we used cassette and eight-track tape players, transistor radios, and watched home movies on a Bell & Howell 8 mm film projector.

The walnut and cherry wood cabinet Hi-Fi radio/record turntable and console television in our living rooms were considered furniture.

We had fun using walkie-talkies and looking at photographs projected on a screen from a Kodak Carousel slide projector.

Amateur radio enthusiasts spoke and exchanged Morse code across the country and around the globe.

Today, some converse with astronauts onboard the International Space Station through a program called Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS).

In the late 1970s, Mr. Roger Syvertsen, an amateur radio operator, was one of my high school teachers.

He taught electricity and electronics classes, and is credited with developing the first high school computer training curriculum.

Mr. Syvertsen’s amateur (ham) radio was set up on a table in the corner of the classroom. His FCC-registered radio call sign is K0VOO.

One day, our class helped him install a new high-gain Yagi radio antenna on the school’s roof.

Occasionally, Mr. Syvertsen would sit down at the radio and speak into the microphone, “CQ, CQ, CQ” (originally a Morse code abbreviation for “calling anyone”).

He often would hear an acknowledgment from another amateur radio operator from within this country or someone from another country.

We would gather around the radio to listen, and Mr. Syvertsen would usually mention the radio was set up in a classroom.

I was saddened to learn of Mr. Syvertsen’s passing on April 21 recently.

During the mid-to-late 1970s, you would have seen me driving around town in my metallic green Plymouth Duster with a dangling CB (citizens band) whip antenna extending from the hood of the trunk.

CB radios were all the rage back then; I was hooked, as were many folks.

CBs were bought and installed as home base stations and in cars and trucks.

I used a 23-channel CB radio made by Channel Master in my Plymouth Duster.

Attention-grabbing usernames or CB handles were common; mine was “The Green Hornet.”

“Breaker breaker one nine [channel 19], this here is ‘The Green Hornet.’ I’m reading you five by five, as in wall-to-wall and treetop tall. I’ll be ten-ten on the side.”

When the FCC allocated 40 channels for CB radio in 1977, I changed out my car’s 23-channel unit with a Midland Cobra 40-channel CB radio.

Does anyone recall those cars with “dummy” CB antennas on their trunks or roofs, solely to achieve that cool “CB look” while cruising through the streets?

CB’ing was as popular then as using smartphones is today – and yes, I can see the younger millennials and Gen Z folks rolling their eyes.

I’ll end this nostalgic trip down memory lane with an old CB radio sign-off: “10-7 to you; we be gone, bye-bye.”

Friday, October 6, 2023

Solar system ‘time capsule’ brought to Earth

About 4.5 billion years ago, a large carbon-rich asteroid formed between Mars and Jupiter in the main asteroid belt.

A powerful collision between 700 million and two billion years ago shattered this asteroid into fragments.

Some of these fragments escaped the asteroid belt and became near-Earth asteroids, including one that we now know as Bennu.

Bennu has acted like a time capsule, protecting its original elements from the damaging effects of heat, radiation, and impacts that have altered other asteroids.

Scientists believe it may contain some of the earliest materials in our planetary system.

Bennu is a carbon-rich remnant of the early solar system, which may have organic molecules similar to those that contributed to the origin of life on Earth.

Studying samples from asteroid Bennu will help us understand how our solar system formed and whether similar asteroids may have brought organic compounds and water to Earth.

NASA’s website states that asteroid Bennu has a diameter of approximately 1,670 feet and a weight of about 85.5 million tons.

It orbits the sun every 1.2 years, maintaining an average speed of 63,000 mph.

The mission of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) spacecraft was to obtain a sample from the Bennu asteroid and return it to Earth for study.

On Sept. 8, 2016, at 6:05 p.m. EDT, the 4,650-pound OSIRIS-REx spacecraft was launched aboard a 190-foot tall Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, FL.

I’m sure many of my readers know that Sept. 8, 2016, marked the 50th anniversary of the first episode of “Star Trek.”

After reaching space and detaching from the rocket, the spacecraft unfolded its fan-shaped solar panels extending from its sides to provide electricity for its systems and instruments during its lengthy mission to asteroid Bennu and back to Earth.

While in flight mode with its solar panels deployed, the spacecraft measures approximately 20.25 feet long by eight feet wide.

On board the spacecraft are high and low-gain antennae, a star tracker, a laser altimeter, spectrometers, and an X-ray imaging system to observe and analyze the asteroid.

After a two-year journey, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrived at Bennu Dec. 3, 2018, after traveling 1.2 billion miles while constantly adjusting its course to match Bennu’s orbit around the sun.

OSIRIS-REx began orbiting Bennu Dec. 31, 2018, and studied the asteroid for the next two years, mapping its surface and determining the best location for getting a surface sample.

On Oct. 20, 2020, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft descended towards the surface of Bennu at a speed of about 0.2 mph.

The spacecraft, the size of a van, flew close to a specific area on the surface of Bennu. Then, it extended an 11-foot robotic arm with a round device called TAGSAM (Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism) attached to the end.

The TAGSAM came within a foot of Bennu’s surface, touched it briefly, and released nitrogen gas for about six seconds; rocks, pebbles, and dust were stirred and delivered into the TAGSAM device, which stored them in its capsule container.

Three 450-gram nitrogen gas bottles were stored on board the spacecraft; however, success was achieved using only one bottle, with the other two available as backups.

On May 10, 2021, having collected over half a pound of material from Bennu, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft began its journey back to Earth.

On Sept. 24, 2023, after a seven-year trip of more than four billion miles, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft released its sample return capsule about 63,000 miles above Earth.

Four hours later, as the capsule re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, traveling at approximately 27,650 mph, it experienced temperatures as high as 5,000 degrees.

Deploying two parachutes, the capsule’s rate of descent slowed, and it safely landed at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range, 80 miles west of Salt Lake City, UT.

The capsule’s canister of rock, pebbles, and dust from asteroid Bennu was transported to a clean room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX.

In addition to its scientific objectives, the Bennu mission also served to protect our planet.

Studying the asteroid’s orbit and trajectory enabled us to gather more information to assess the probability of it colliding with Earth.

Bennu has an estimated one in 2,700 chance of impacting our planet Sept. 24, 2182.

Don’t worry; NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office monitors near-earth asteroids and is developing strategies to redirect Bennu’s orbit away from Earth.

Stay tuned.

In the meantime, the material collected from asteroid Bennu, the solar system’s “time capsule” brought to Earth, will be shown during a live news conference at 11 a.m. ET or 10 a.m. CT Wednesday, Oct. 11, on NASA TV and at https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv.About 4.5 billion years ago, a large carbon-rich asteroid formed between Mars and Jupiter in the main asteroid belt.