Uploaded March 2022 | Updated September 2026, 13 minutes ago
Volunteers from The National Museum of Computing in Bletchley, UK, have been working over the past two years to restore the Ferranti Argus 500 to working order. The machine is an example of a British computer from the late 1960's, and this example was in service until around 2018 controlling the Dungeness B nuclear power station in Kent.
Malcolm Clark, ex Ferranti employee and TNMOC volunteer takes us on a tour of the Argus 500. Peter Vaughan shows us the paper tape station (an OS2 PC) and talks us through how it interfaces with the computer. We then see a program loaded from the paper tape station and see it running on the machine.
Our volunteers then discuss the technologies used in the machine, and challenges encountered getting it back in working order.
Recorded February 2022.
Volunteers from The National Museum of Computing in Bletchley, UK, have been working over the past two years to restore the Ferranti Argus 500 to working order. The machine is an example of a British computer from the late 1960's, and this example was in service until around 2018 controlling the Dungeness B nuclear power station in Kent.
Malcolm Clark, ex Ferranti employee and TNMOC volunteer takes us on a tour of the Argus 500. Peter Vaughan shows us the paper tape station (an OS2 PC) and talks us through how it interfaces with the computer. We then see a program loaded from the paper tape station and see it running on the machine.
Our volunteers then discuss the technologies used in the machine, and challenges encountered getting it back in working order.
Recorded February 2022.
