All of the electronics training that I had experienced until now really came to fruition at Bunker-Ramo. This was a company that was way ahead of the curve, where digital technology was concerned.
This was a company that put thefirst on-line computers in three area banks, that was Howard Savings Institution, Newark, N.J.; Union Dime Savings Bank, New York, N.Y.; Society for Savings, Hartford, Conn. also at the New York Stock Exchange Teleregister TeleCenter, New York, N.Y.; and two airlines; United Airlines Reservations, Denver CO, and TWA, New York JFK Airport ( known at that time as Idlewild). The year was 1964, and the company was then known as the Teleregister Corp. The plant was located in Stamford, CT. They were building commercial computers, (as listed above), and they were now getting into the teller terminal business. Before the days of personal computers, teller terminals were connected to a local controller that talked to the main computer at some central location. There was no memory in the terminal, just switches, relays, and lights. The controller had a memory of sorts ( a delay line, really). A delay line could buffer keystrokes from a number of terminals, transmit these to the main computer, receive a reply, store the reply in the delay line and direct that reply to the proper terminal to print and update a crt screen or a customer's passbook.
As an historical aside, the computers of the 1960's were a far cry from the computers that we all have today. Back then, computers were so expensive and complex in structure, that only large entities like banks, airlines, etc, could afford them. As field Service Engineers, we had to work closely with the computer room personnel of our customers. Banks excluded, most of our commercial customers used IBM 360's as their main frame. Most banks preferred the Univacs or Honeywells. As the pictures below show, these machines took up a lot of real estate for the data storage and memory they provided. Data was stored on tape reels and disk platters; these platters being about 12 to 18 inches in diameter, in cabinets that stood 6 feet high. RAM, or Random Access Memory, was provided by rotating drums, as pictured below and magnetic core memory with capacities in the order of 64K bytes. These were real core ferrite magnets. They were shaped as small donuts, hence the name "core" very small in size and wired in a matrix configuration. Programs were typed and punched on IBM (Hollorith) cards and read into memory with card readers. A card reader is seen to the right of the operator in picture No. 1. A pity if these cards were ever out of order. It's amazing to see how far we've come in this technology. To me, it's really mind boggling. The picture on the left is me with a Bunker-Ramo controller, used in a sales brochure in the early '70's.
The second picture shows a technician about to solve a computer problem with a hammer???
My job initially, was to check out the bank controllers, as well as the teller terminals before shipping to our bank customers. The back panels of the frames in the controllers were all hand wired at the time, so that, as the technicians received them, a good many wiring problems existed, wiring errors as well as pinched wires. (Pinched wires were the most difficult to find). Often times units were received with failed transistors and improperly installed circuit boards. There were maybe 80 to 100 small circuit boards plugged in to the wired frames.
Eventually, all of the manufacturing and assembly functions became automated, reducing errors. But for a long while, they were hand wired and hand tested.
Meanwhile, back at home, we left the Fairfield apartments and moved to an upstairs apartment on West Wooster Street after Therese wrote a letter to the newspaper, decrying landlords not wanting to rent to large families. One such landlord read her article and offered an empty, upstairs apartment to us. Some months later, the ground floor apartment became available, so we moved again. This was a very pleasant location where we played Whiffle Ball with the kids and our neighbors, young and old, and got along great with the landlord.
But, dark clouds were gathering over our happy family. In fact, these years in Danbury were the darkest years of my life. Therese and I were going through some difficult times where our marriage was concerned, which eventually resulted in a divorce in September of 1966. Before we divorced, I moved out of the house and for a while roomed with a co-worker and his wife. They were both of European extraction (Austrian or Hungarian, or something). They would often both get drunk at night and fight. I eventually returned home, but the marriage problems persisted. After the divorce, I found a room near the Danbury hospital. I stayed there for a while and later, rented a room in Norwalk, closer to my work.
Before the divorce, I took on extra jobs in order to raise more money for our growing family. Therese also had an evening job. First at Davis and Geck and later at Barden's in Danbury. The job I took on was that of a door to door salesman, selling Electrolux vacuum cleaners. I would go out on sales calls evenings and weekends, weather permitting. I sold maybe a half dozen total, (mostly to relatives). I would make $50.00 per sale. Even then, that was not much. I then tried my hand at selling Culligan water conditioners. These paid $100.00 per sale but, unfortunately, I never sold a one. I always felt that salesmen made the most money. Then one day, I walked out of my job at Bunker Ramo to sell, full-time, Tilo Roofing. After one week, in frustration, I returned to Bunker Ramo, believing that I no longer had a job. But after walking in, my boss, Lou Santaniello, just asked me where I had been, and told me to get back to work. I enjoyed my job even more after that. My 'salesman job' days were over. I really hated knocking on doors.
The room I was renting on Elm St in Norwalk was just that, a room. On the third floor, it was just a bedroom with an adjoining small kitchenette. Between my room and the next apartment over was the bathroom, which I shared with the other roomer, whom I never met. Whoever was using the bathroom would lock the other door and unlock it when he (or she) left. Later on, a larger apartment, with private bathroom, opened up on the second floor, which I grabbed immediately.
Living alone, I decided that I would be happier on the road. So, Iapplied for a job with the Service Engineering department of Bunker Ramo as a Field Service Engineer. Bill Folkerts, the director, gladly accepted me because at the time, they had no one with experience in the banking equipment. The job paid more, and included travel and meal expenses and made me forget my problems. The only drawback was that when I was out of town on weekends, I couldn't see the kids. But when I was home, I would spend as much time as I could with them. Though I was divorced, I had no intention of disappearing from the lives of my kids.
My tenure at Bunker-Ramo lasted 8 years until 1972. I would have to say that this was one of the best companies I have ever worked for. Both Lou Santaniello and Bill Folkerts were truly concerned about the employees they had working under them. They were forgiving of your mistakes and would bend over backwards to help when you were in trouble.
In any case, now my life was on a different schedule, able to come and go as I pleased and as was necessary. One of my assignments was the installation of a banking system for the Glendale Savings and Loan in Glendale California. It was January 1967 and Super Bowl I (one) was being played at the Los Angeles Coliseum. I went there that Sunday, planning to see the game. However, the only seats available were way up in the nosebleed section, at $14.00 per seat. I figured that it wouldn't be worth while; I'd never be able to see anything from way up there, so I left and went to Disneyland instead. I remember the smog being so bad, I could hardly keep my eyes open that day. Of course, in hindsight, I should have bought the ticket anyway, along with a program, just as a souvenir.
