Overview
The Datamatic Division of Honeywell announced the H-800 electronic computer in 1958. The first installation occurred in 1960. A total of 89 units were delivered. The H-800 design was part of a family of 48-bit word, three-address instruction format computers that descended from the DATAmatic 1000, which was a joint Honeywell and Raytheon project started in 1955. The 1800 and 1800-II were follow-on designs to the H-800.
Data
The basic unit of data was a word of 48 bits. This could be divided in several ways: * 8 alphanumeric characters of 6 bits each * 12 hexadecimal or decimal characters of 4 bits each * 16 octal characters of 3 bits each * An instruction with four components of 12 bits each: the operation to be performed, and three memory addresses.
Hardware
The Honeywell 800 was a transistorized computer with magnetic-core memory. Its processor used around 6000 discrete transistors and around 30,000 solid-state diodes. The basic system had: * A Central Processor with 16 controlled input/output trunks * An Input/Output Control Center (IOCC) with control functions for: ** A card reader/punch, ** A high-speed printer ** Up to four magnetic-tape units * A control memory of 256 special registers of 16 bits each * A main memory containing four banks of 2048 words.
Software
Available software included: * ARGUS (Automatic Routine Generating and Updating System), an assembly language. * FACT (Fully Autom atic Compiling Technique), a business compiler. * PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique), a project management system. * COP (Computer Optimization Package), a program testing system. * COBOL (COmmon Business Oriented Language), a compiler for the well known business programming language. * FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslator), a compiler, runtime package, and "load and go" OS for the scientific language compiler.
Further reading
* King, Jane & Shelly, William A.: "A Family History of Honeywell's Large-Scale Computer Systems," IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, Vol. 19, No. 4, October/December 1997, pp. 42–46.
External links
* Company Sales Manual for the Honeywell 1800 * Honeywell 800 a superior scientific computer * A Family History of Honeywell's Large-Scale Computer Systems * Martin H. Weik, A Third Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems, Ballistic Research Laboratories, Report No. 1115, March 1961 (ed-thelen.org) * Real Machines with 24-bit and 48-bit words * www.yourdictionary.com Honeywell