General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

2

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

METAL CASING; METAL, PLASTIC & GLASS COMPONENT PARTS/ PLASTIC WINDOW IN FRONT ACCESS DOOR

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

73.0 cm

Width

56.5 cm

Height

174.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Computing Technology

Category

Digital computing devices

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Ampex

Country

United States of America

State/Province

California

City

Sunnyvale

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

1971-1988

Canada

USED BY THE RCMP TO COMPILE, SEARCH &STORE THEIRCOLLECTION OF FINGERPRINT IMAGES. RCMP WAS THE FIRST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO USE A COMPUTER-BASED SYSTEM OF IDENTIFICATION WHICH STORED FINGERPRINT IMAGES ON TAPE & RETRIEVED THEM FOR COMPARISON ON A VIDEO MONITOR. RCMP OPERATIONS MUCH RESPECTED, & EMULATED BY OTHERS.

Function

UNIT TRANSLATES ADDRESS & FUNCTIONAL COMMANDS FROM FILING & DISPLAY SECTIONS INTO OPERATING DIRECTIONS FOR ALL SECTIONS. IT CONTROLS THE ROUTING OF ADDRESSES & IMAGES FROM ONE SECTION TO ANOTHER & CAUSES THESE ACTIONS TO TAKE PLACE IN A PREDETERMINED MANNER (REF. 3, P.12)

Technical

FIRST SEMI-AUTOMATED FINGERPRINT SEARCHING, STORAGE & RETRIEVAL SYSTEM IN THE WORLD. NEW TECHNOLOGY PERMITTED REDUCTION OF MANPOWER & SPACE REQUIRED TO OPERATE THE FINGERPRINT BUREAU, AND REDUCED SEARCHING FROM HOURS OR OFTEN DAYS TO A FEW MINUTES.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

OPAQUE BUTTON IN UPPER FRONT RIGHT CORNER BEARS FOLLOWING MESSAGE:'POWER'/ ORANGE BUTTON TO RIGHT BEARS FOLLOWING: 'SCS/1'; IDENTICAL BUTTON IN UPPER BACK RIGHT CORNER/ LABEL IN UPPER FRONT LEFT INSIDE CASING BEARS FOLLOWING HANDWRITTEN MESSAGE: 'MAKE SURE TMB/ TAPE IS NOT/ THREADED BEFORE/ TURNING POWER OF[F]'/ LABEL BELOW ON RIGHT BEARS HANDWRITTEN MESSAGE: 'SYSTEM PWR/ FOR 24V PWR CONT/ DON'T TURN OFF'/ HANDWRITTEN PAGE TITLED 'COMMENTS' TAPED ON FLAT PANEL INSIDE FRONT HAS BEEN REMOVED & STORED IN SUPP.INFO./ ALL SWITCHES, DIALS, ETC. LABELLED/ NUMEROUS MARKINGS ON COMPONENT PARTS

Missing

N/A

Finish

GREY WRINKLE-TEXTURED FINISH ON FRONT & BACK ACCESS DOORS/ BLACK FRAME VISIBLE THROUGH OPEN SIDES

Decoration

N/A