UNIVAC Solid State

The UNIVAC Solid State was a 2-address, bi-quinary coded decimal computer, with memory on a rotating drum with 5000 signed 10 digit words, spinning at 17,667 RPM in a helium atmosphere. It was announced by Sperry Rand in December 1958, as a response to the IBM 650. It came in two versions: the Solid State 80 (IBM-style 80 column cards) and the Solid State 90 (UNIVAC-style 90 column cards).

With 20 vacuum tubes, 700 transistors, and 3000 FERRACTOR amplifiers in its CPU, the Solid State was one of the first computers to use solid state components.

External links

• Unisys History Newsletter. Volume 1, Number 2, December 1992 (revised 1999) - The UNIVAC Solid State Computer
• Univac Solid State Manuals and documentation