Vintage Calculators

[Nick]

That is really interesting and a trip down memory lane! I was there from '74 to '77, and remember the red brick Zeppler building well. But I never met the man himself.

You must be a few years older than me, but our paths probably did cross. I also spent a year there working for Professor John Betts (we discussed this by email a while ago!).

The picture of Eric Zepler I was referring to hung in the entrance foyer (if you could have called it a foyer!) of the Zepler Building, right opposite the main door...

Zepler came across as a really nice gentle guy. I have no idea what he was doing in the building at that hour - maybe he was at a social do at the university and decided to visit his namesake?

Whatever the reason, I'm glad I met him - a true pioneer of RF design.

The building was a bit of a horror story of narrow corridors, old cream-painted brickwork and dodgy infrastructure. I loved it though

Talking of cigars - you may remember then then head of the EE department - an imposing character with a large frame and follicly challenged... he lit a cigar up in the machine room where the Modcomp and Honeywell machines were. When I politely indicated the No Smoking signs, I got a swift put-down - "It's a privilege of being HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT"...

Them was the days...