Saturday, December 17, 2011

#47) A Voice From The Past - George Leiby

A person named George Leiby recently subscribed to this News Blog, but since he wasn't on our master mailing list I wasn't sure he was a Libravet. That led to the following exchange of e-mails:

Hi George,

Thank you for subscribing to our Librascope Memories - News Blog. How did you hear about the Blog?


I didn't recognize your e-mail address, so I searched our on-line Librazettes, and found a G. J. Leiby on page 11 of the September, 1961 issue. Is that you? I was first at Librascope from 1958 to 1961, then I returned in 1986 and retired in 1997.


Hope to hear from you,

Carl
___________________________________________

Hi Carl,
Nice for you to write me. The Librascope experience is one of my fondest memories.

I really don't know how I ended up at your site. I was doing some research on the Burroughs Atlas program and ended up on the Librascope site where Wes Stupar had sent you a note about the short book he has written. As Librascope made the plotters used in the Atlas program, maybe I was searching for something about them.

In any case, Wes hired me, probably in 1961 or so as a field engineer for the FAA program, for either in the Silicon Valley area or at NAFEC in New Jersey. I spent several months studying the drum memory system used on that program and I suppose became more or less an expert with Bryant drums and the drum logic and electronics. I think that Viv Ninninger was the person responsible that part of the system and think that I indirectly reported to him.

I went out to NAFEC in Jersey, only about 40 miles from where my folks lived. I stayed at home, collecting per diem for about six months and then got married to a local girl. When the FAA contract went belly up, Ninninger, I think, invited me to work in engineering on an interface he designed for the Air Force contract, 473L? At that time Viv had left Librascope and was partners in a company called Abacus, co-founded with I think Chuck Davies?? In any case I worked at Librascope for Paul Hickey and later Jim Conway, doing a redesign of the Disk File Interface and the debug of some logic designed by a consultant, John Francis, called a multicolor display interface?? and something else John did, maybe a multichannel interface, that unless this lazy guy looks at some old resumes, will have to be unidentified.

As the 473L design phase wound down, I became itchy for new challenges and headed off to Data Products, which is an altogether different story.

I may have a Librascope Engineering telephone listing or two for the 1960 through 1963 era if this information would be of interest.

Finally, I am trying to find out how to purchase the Stupar book. If you could direct me on this it would be appreciated. I suspect that Wes will have a great perspective on this time interval that we were so lucky to have in this silly computer business.
George
___________________________________________
 
Hi George,
Thank you for responding. Your e-mail story is the kind of thing that other Libravets enjoy reading about. So, would you mind if I posted our first two e-mails (minus the address headers) on our Librascope Blog? As you noted, I did this for when Wes first contacted me. The latest e-mail address I have for Wes is still: compaps@roadrunner.com. I'm sure he would like to hear from you. If you don't hear back from him, try leaving a "Comment" beneath his post (#7).
Yes, I would certainly like to have any old Librascope Phone Books, Brochures, etc. that you may have. My collection is large, but will never be complete. By the way, there are quite a few documents from the 1960's era on our main web-site. It's at www.librascopememories.com. Look on the Librazettes+ page toward the bottom.
Thanks again George. Keep in touch.
Carl
_________________________________________
Carl, 
Post whatever you like. Thanks for the Stupar address. As we will be leaving for a five week stay on Tybee Island, GA Sunday I probably won't have time to sort out what little Librascope stuff I have and send it to you. However, I will do it late in January when I return.

I appreciate you making the very big effort to keep Librascope memories alive. And yes, I know what a big time consuming time it can be.


George
________________________________________

Sunday, December 11, 2011

#46) In Memoriam - Carl Krohn

Carl and Ruby's 50th in 2007
Carl Robert Krohn passed away December 1, 2011 near his home in Boulder City, NV. He was 83 and worked at Librascope from 1956 until 1991 when he retired as Vice President of Quality and Product Support. Carl's family has published a very thoughtful obituary with several of his photos, which you may view by clicking here.

Last year, Carl attended the 2010 Libravet Reunion in Burbank, CA. In recognition of his long service at Librascope, Ray Hand and Georgine Archer searched the 300+ Librazettes that are on-line at www.librascopememories.com, and put together an interesting collage of clippings which you may view by clicking here.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

#45) Help....Hank Pinczower is looking for info about the Librascope LARGO.

Hank Pinczower is looking for any information available about the Librascope Largo computer. Hank says the Largo was never built, but it was marketed as a lower cost "stripped down" version of Librascope's ASN 24 airborne computer. There were marketing brochures, and he believes there was an article published about the Largo.
 
The computer got its name from Los Angeles' Club Largo on Sunset Boulevard that Candy Barr, the stripper, was performing in at the time. This was sometime around the late 1950's or early 1960's.
 
If you remember the Largo computer, or know of any information available, please comment below or contact Hank or myself by e-mail.
 
Carl

PS If you have any special requests, Libravet news, or know of anyone on our newly updated missing Libravets (click here) web-site, please let me know about that too.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

#44) A Couple Interesting Tid-Bits.

1) Since we posted the "Lost Libravets" page at http://goo.gl/siDji we've located 16 individuals that were missing from our current master e-Mail list of nearly 500 Libravets. The "newly found" are highlighted in orange. Please take a look at this newly updated list and see if you know any of the Libravets that are still missing.

2) This month will mark the 1 year anniversary of this News Blog. Since October 20, 2010 we have had nearly 12,000 hits (visitors), or nearly 1,000 per month! Visitors have come from several countries, including China, Iran, Sweden, Canada, Russia, and more.

3) Nearly 100 Libravets have subscribed to our Blog mailing list recently, with many more to come. Remember, it's free and easy to subscribe, and only subscribers automatically receive e-mail copies of postings the same day they are made. See Blog Post #41 below for instructions on how to subscribe.

#43) Janice (Tempesta) Sandiford's Husband Passes.

Judy MacFarland reports that Joe Sandiford, husband of  Janice (Tempesta) Sandiford, passed away September 13, 2011 of Cancer, shortly after his 85th birthday. Janice worked at Librascope for 13 years, and now resides in Carlsbad, CA.

Friday, August 26, 2011

#42) In Memoriam - Tom Kokinda

Tom Kokinda at the 2010 Reunion
Tom Kokinda passed away last Tuesday August 23rd at his home in Southern California. He was 74, and worked at Librascope from 1960 until 1992 when he retired as Field Service Manager. His wife, Donna, says that Librascope was a large part of his life. Per Tom's request, there will be no funeral service.

As a tribute to Tom's long service at Librascope, Ray Hand searched all the Librazettes on line for articles about Tom and put together a very nice collage of clippings. You may view this tribute by clicking here.

#41) How to Subscribe to this News Blog (if you don't already)

Why should I subscribe? If you are interested in current events related to Libravets, and would like to automatically receive a copy of all future posts to the Librascope Memories - News Blog on the same day they are made, you should subscribe now.

Occasionally, I send out e-mails to all the Libravets on our large mailing list, but I hesitate to do this very often. By subscribing to the Blog posts, you won’t miss any Libravet news and you’ll receive it ASAP. Since October, 2010, we’ve averaged about four posts per month.

What does a subscription cost? It’s free.

Can I easily cancel my subscription in the future? Yes, there is an unsubscribe link at the bottom of every e-mail you’ll receive.

How do I subscribe? Simply follow these 3 steps: To Print these instructions, first click here.

1.  Go to the upper right hand side of the news blog just below the red background, and enter your e-mail address in the “SUBSCRIBE TO THESE NEWS BLOG POSTS BY E-MAIL” block. Click on Submit. The Blog’s web-site is located at http://librascopememories.blogspot.com/.

2. After clicking on Submit, you will immediately be taken to an “Email Subscription Request” web-site page designed by FeedBurner to help prevent spam. To verify your request, type in a copy of the “distorted” (CAPTCHA) text displayed in the box, and click on Complete Subscription Request. If your first attempt is not successful, you will be given a new chance. Normally, more than one attempt is required, so repeat this process until your request is accepted.

IMPORTANT - to subscribe to this Blog, you MUST complete one more step....

3. Shortly after you successfully complete step 2, you will receive a verification Email from FeedBurner Email Subscriptions in your Inbox. You MUST respond to this Email by opening it, and clicking on the blue hyper-link provided inside the message. You should then be taken to a FeedBurner web-site acknowledging your successful request. 

Congratulations, you are now subscribed.

Note, if the above Email never arrives, it is probably in your Email program’s spam filter or you may have mis-typed your e-mail address in step 1. Unfortunately, some Libravets have never completed this final step, and thereby failed to subscribe without understanding why.

Thanks for subscribing,
Carl

Monday, July 25, 2011

#40) Had Trouble Publishing Comments to a Blog Post?

I've noticed recently that it is sometimes difficult, if not impossible, to publish a comment to posts on this Blog. The problem seems to be related to the type of internet browser being used to make the comment. Specifically, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer sometimes cause problems, but Google Chrome seems to work every time. However, since our Blog software program (aka "Blogger") was designed by Google, I suppose that's no surprise. Note, Google Chrome is free, mature, and highly rated for its performance. Comments?

Saturday, July 16, 2011

#39) More Missing Libravets

Blog #24 told about several Libravets that we had lost contact with. Since then, a few of them have been located. Today, however, we've added four more. They are: Diane Dunning Montgomery, Victor Netupsky, Jerry Beushausen, and Jim Ford. To see the complete updated list click here. If you know anything about any missing Libravets, please leave a comment below or e-mail Georgine or myself.

#38) The Social Media Revolution - 2011

This short two minute YouTube video is not about Librascope "memories", but rather about "The Social Media Revolution" that has happened since the Glendale facility was closed over a decade ago. Enjoy.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

#37) In Memoriam - Wallace "Pat" Patterson

Wallace "Pat" Patterson
On March 15th, Wallace (Pat) Patterson passed away after having been diagnosed with lung cancer in January. He and his wife, Martha, had been married for 36 years.

Pat worked for Librascope from 1983 to 1999. Pat and Martha both enjoyed the five years spent in Nuremburg, Germany, then Eatontown, NJ and Bel Air, MD., with Librascope   Prior to that, he had retired as a Lt. Colonel after having served 22 years in the Army.

Pat had fond memories of his years with Librascope and the many people he worked with, especially his boss, Hank Pinczower.

In 1999, after he left Librascope, Pat and his wife moved to Hopkinsville, KY. That same year, he became a consultant for Intellitec of Deland, Florida for the next four years.

Pat's many hobbies included the computer, reading, music and especially his guitar. He also took time to transfer all his LP's to CD's, which took many months.  Another special interest was genealogy.

Pat was buried, with full military honors, in the KY Veterans Cemetery West in Hopkinsville. His wife Martha survives, as well as two sons and a stepson.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

#36) e-Mail from Victor Riehl

Recently received the following update from Victor Riehl, former Librascope VP and Legal Counsel:

----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 4:44 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: Librascope Memories - News Blog #34

Hi Carl,

Thanks for the nice memories, brought back to life by your website and the photos from the 2010 get-together. It is good to see Jerry Deitz, Walt Picker and Hank Pinczower looking so well. Lorene Burrows, too--I saw her a couple of years ago at the Nixon Library.

Marie and I are living back in Pasadena now.  We restored a  big, old farmhouse in Provence, sold it in 2008 and now are back in California permanently. I retired from Ocean Systems (formerly Bendix, now L-3 Communications) in 2006, worked overseas as a consultant for a couple of years and now refuse to do anything more strenuous than clean the pool and play golf--and I excel at neither.

Keep up the good work!

Victor Riehl

Monday, June 27, 2011

#35) In Memoriam - Howard Stahle

Howard at the 2006 Libravet Reunion
This report just in from Bruce Perkin:


Howard Stahle passed away on May 21st.  He was 78 years old.  Howard is remembered as "Mr. Logic Design" for the many extremely competent digital designs that he and the group he led performed.  Old timers will remember Howard as a once physically robust individual who rode his bicycle to work every day, rain or shine.  Spinal nerve disease ended that; but even when confined to a wheelchair, he continued to drive himself around in his minivan. He also insisted on keeping his office upstairs, adjacent to the lab and the engineering development taking place, right up until his retirement in 1995. 
One of the most significant of Librascope's digital design accomplishments occurred late in Howard's career.  That was the application of digital logic to custom integrated circuits required to miniaturize the graphics engine of the BSY-2 submarine system.  Ten different ICs were designed using several different technologies.  While the industry generally assumed that it was very lucky to use "first silicon" for even a single design, Librascope was able to use the original run for all ten ICs.  Howard worked diligently with all of the engineers on the project, none of whom had ever designed an IC before. His efforts assured that the ICs would work and also work together.  All of his correcting, coaching, and teaching was well received by the individual engineers assigned to each IC and that made the project successful.
Howard's wife, Bernie, also a long time Librascope employee, survives him.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

#34) News Blog Headline Animator Added

A "Headline Animator" widget from Feedburner, that continuously displays the five most recent headlines posted on this Blog, has been added to the Librascope Memories web-site. The widget is located near the bottom of the web-site's Welcome page, and is duplicated here FYI:
Librascope Memories - News Blog
Note, clicking anywhere on the animator above will allow you to select between various (free) subscription options for this Blog. I suggest selecting the e-mail option, if you do not already have an RSS Reader on your computer.

Monday, June 13, 2011

#33) Price for Librascope Balance Computer Reduced 70%!

Librascope Balance Computer in a Display Case (Typical)
Blog #20, on April 2nd, described a Librascope Balance Computer in a display case that was for sale on Craig's List for $10,000. That price has recently been reduced 70% to $3,000, and re-listed.

The current listing may be found at:
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/clt/2438444208.html

#32) Librascope Mk 7 Mod 7 Barrage Computer For Sale

A Mk 7 Mod 7 Barrage Computer that was designed and built by Librascope during W.W. II for the U.S. Navy's use aboard ship for directing 5 inch Anti-Aircraft Guns is for sale from a private party. The unit is said to be in good condition, and includes the original cover but no instruction manual.

Bidding starts at $250, and the last day for bidding is 7/13/11. The Librascope will be sold to the highest bidder on that date. Note, the successful bid price does not include the cost of shipping to the buyer from Minneapolis, MN.

Please submit all questions and bids to Rachel Weber at rachelweber86@hotmail.com

Friday, June 3, 2011

#31) Librascope's Optics Business - Puerto Rico

The other day I received the following e-mail from a son who recalls his Father's association with Librascope's Chester Brandon during the 1950's. Some Libravets may remember those times. Others may be familiar with Bray Optical Company, who also made spotting scopes for hunters. Regardless, I think you will find the history interesting.
Carl


----- Original Message -----
From: Wade Bray
To: Carl Sorensen
Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2011 7:17 AM
Subject: Bray Optical Company, Chester Brandon and Librascope Puerto Rico

Dear Mr. Sorensen,
 
For some unknown reason the name "Librascope" popped into memory this morning, so I just Googled it and found your excellent site.
 
I am the son of the late Max R. Bray (1912-2000) who founded and operated the Bray Optical Company at 3445 West First Street in Los Angeles (DUnkirk 7-8295) from 1937 until he sold it and became a consultant in 1958.
 
During my childhood years the name Librascope was frequently heard from my father. Librascope was a major and continuing customer of precision optics made by Bray Optical Co.
 
Whether or not through Librascope, my father became acquainted at least by the early 1950s with the optical designer Chester (Chet) Brandon, who in the late 1950s moved from Southern California to Puerto Rico and either ran or was associated with Librascope P.R. Dad and Chet became very good friends.
 
In 1958 when I was an 8th grader at the Webb School of California in Claremont, Chet Brandon had my father perform several months of consulting in Puerto Rico to set up an optical fabrication facility for Librascope P.R. near San Juan (Guaynabo, if memory serves). The project was partially supported by a Puerto Rican Government business program called "Fomento." My parents and I communicated via amateur radio phone patch: Chet Brandon (KP4AEQ) was an advanced amateur radio operator.
 
I seem to recall my Dad driving us one night past the Glendale Librascope facility just to see the beautiful new blue internally-illuminated sign with the large script letter L.
 
My father and Chester Brandon had several other collaborations, including Dad making objective lenses for some Brandon-designed refracting telescopes and the optics for the original (pre VernonScope) Brandon eyepieces. Dad purchased the Brandon "70-22" spotting scope design from Chet and manufactured them at the West First Street facility. The American Rifleman magazine rated the Brandon "70-22" by Bray Optical Co. (70 mm aperture, 22x magnification) the best spotting scope. I still have one, plus a few sheets of advertising literature.
 
Best regards, and I am happy to have recollected a few things related to the living Librascope memories. I would welcome hearing from anyone.
Wade
 
Wade Bray
Vice President
HEAD acoustics, Inc.
6964 Kensington Road
Brighton, MI 48116
telephone: 248 486-0099 ext. 207
Fax: 248 486-9470

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

#30) Bulletin - New e-Mail Notification Feature Added!

To: All Librascope Memories - News Blog Readers,

Google has added a new time-saving feature to all their Blogs (this is a Google Blog) which offers to e-mail any interested reader whenever a new post is made. The service is free, and e-mails are never sent out unless a new post has been made.

Now, at the end of each day, Google will check this Blog and e-mail everyone interested a copy of any new Blog posts made that same day. No new items that day, no e-mail that day! This feature, therefore, eliminates the inconvenience of having to personally check a Blog web-site like this one for new items. It may also reduce the number of e-mails I need to send out in the future, although Google will not divulge who signs up for this service.

To sign up for this free time-saving service, simply enter your e-mail address into the "FOLLOW BY EMAIL" block, and press "Submit". No other information is required or requested. This e-mail block is located near the top of this Blog on the right hand side. If you later decide to unsubscribe, there is a convenient "unsubscribe" link provided at the bottom of each Google e-mail you receive.

Please input your e-mail address and sign up now.
Thanks,
Carl

Monday, May 23, 2011

#29) Major Update to the Librascope Memories Web-Site.

The companion web-site to this Blog has been updated to include over 100 new documents and photos. The last update was made seven months ago. Updates include additions to almost every section, including Sea Stories (2), Product Literature (32), Brochures (4), Advertisements (18), News Items (5), and Videos (1). Additional photos include the following: People (21), Places (6), Products (12), and two Photo Albums with 60 photos of the 2010 Reunion.

To view the updated Librascope Memories web-site, click here.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

#28) 20+ Libravet "Has Beens" Gather for Luncheon.

A little over twenty local Libravets gathered Wednesday for a "Has Beens" luncheon in Burbank. As always, it was a good opportunity to renew friendships, reminisce, and update each other on recent activities. The Has Beens' luncheons have been held locally since the mid 1990's, and are usually held two or three times a year. To add your name to the mailing list, contact Ralph Simon at ralph3222@aol.com.

Monday, May 9, 2011

#27) Art Angel's Memorial Service - May 10, 2011




Art Angel passed away May 3, 2011. Memorial Services will be held at King Harbor Yacht Club tomorrow Tuesday, May 10. Gathering will begin at 12 noon. Services will begin at 12:30. King Harbor Yacht Club is located at 280 Yacht Club Way, Redondo Beach, CA 90277.

The following was received last night from Art's youngest son Keith: 

Dear Past Librascope Employees:

My father enjoyed his years at Librascope very much.  For those of you who did not keep up with him, he remained very active after his retirement from the company.  He and my mother, Elaine, continued to cruise their Catalina 30 sailboat all over Southern California’s waters for many years, he continued playing tennis right up until six months ago, well into his 86th year.  He took up golf (because my son, his only grandson and I did) and we enjoyed the game together up until about a year ago.

After his retirement from Librascope in 1986, my father worked as a real estate broker until he finally hung up his sales shingle once and for all about eight years ago.

He and my mother traveled as much as they could, and enjoyed (shipboard) cruises and various trips around the U.S.  He became involved with the Sixth Bomb Group Association, with whom he served in WWII in the South Pacific and attended every reunion since he joined.
 
Please know my father enjoyed life to the fullest, and that we will be celebrating that joy on Tuesday.

Warm Regards,
Keith (Art’s youngest son)

At Librascope, Art worked in Marketing as Manager of Technical Sales for the Products Group from 1968 to 1986.


In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made in Art’s name to one of the following  charitable organizations: King Harbor Youth Foundation, 280 Yacht Club Way, Redondo Beach, CA 90277, or The National Kidney Foundation Serving S. California & S. Nevada, 15490 Ventura Blvd Ste 210, Sherman Oaks, CA  91403-3016.

For additional information please call:
Keith Angel - 562 233-4412, or
Elaine Angel  - 818 343-6320

Sunday, May 8, 2011

#26) Help - Anyone Remember Herman Schultheis (1949 - 1955)?

Following is my response to an e-mail request for information about a fellow Libravet. If you can provide any additional information, please contact John Canemaker at NYU.  Mr. Canemaker is an animation historian and the author of ten books on the subject. He is also the winner of both an Academy Award and an Emmy for his work. Currently he is writing a book about Mr. Schultheis' work at the Disney studio in the Special Process/Effects and Camera Lab. You may view a short, but excellent, video about one of his Disney books by clicking here.
Hi John,
I did a search of the 300+ Librazettes (Librascope's company newsletter) on our web-site, and found a very interesting two-page article in the July, 1953 issue about Herman Schultheis' trip to Mexico. There are also five other Librazettes, including the March - April, 1956 issue which has a sad story about his strange disappearance in 1955.
I'll post your e-mail on our Librascope Memories - News Blog, and we'll see if any of our Libravet readers remember Herman.
Hope this helps you.
Carl
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Canemaker" <john.canemaker@nyu.edu>
Sent: Sunday, May 08, 2011 7:30 PM
Subject: Seeking Libravets for Research Information
8 May 2011 
Dear Carl Sorensen,
I am doing research on an engineer named Herman Schultheis, who worked for Librascope from 1949 - 1955. Your website Librascope Memories has proven very informative and I hope you will be able to help me further. I am seeking to contact any former Librascope employees who may have known or worked with Mr. Schultheis or have memories of him.  I hope you might help me contact the Libravet community.
Thank you for your interest.
John Canemaker
120 West 70 Street
9-D
New York, N.Y. 10023
212/874-7462
john.canemaker@nyu.edu

Thursday, May 5, 2011

#25) Next "Has Beens" Lunch is Wednesday May 18, 2011

To: All Librascope "Has Beens" - aka Libravets,
 
You are all invited to the next "Has Beens" Luncheon which will be held on Wednesday May 18, at the Hill Street Cafe in Burbank. The restaurant is located at 3301 N. Glenoaks Blvd., Burbank, CA 91504. We have a reservation for 11:45 AM and a prearranged menu for $15.00 per person. The price includes a choice of entree, soft drink beverage, tax, and gratuities. You are on your own for bar drinks.

Please RSVP to me (Ralph) by Monday May 16th. I need a head count for the restaurant. 

All Libravets are welcome, so please pass this invitation on. My e-mail address list for Libravets is limited, and may not be up to date. 

Ralph Simon
ralph3222@aol.com

Saturday, April 16, 2011

#24) Help - Currently Lost Libravets

To update our master Libravet mail list, we've compiled a list of people that we have lost contact with and we need your help. If you have any information that may be helpful, including an e-mail address, phone number, or address, please let Georgine or myself know. My Gmail address is in the upper right hand corner of this Blog, and you already have Georgine's.

There are certainly many other lost Libravets, so please contact us if you know the name of anyone else that may not be receiving our mailings, or know about our web-sites. If they are not already on our active mailing list, we will add them to the currently lost list.

Please note that some of the "lost" Libravets are members of Facebook and/or LinkedIn, so you may be able to contact them for us in that way.

Click here to view the lost list. Note, this list is updated continuously, so it is always current.

Thanks for your help,
Carl

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

#23) News from Mark Derksen at Manassas

The other day, I received the following e-Mail from Mark Derksen at Manassas. As you can see, he has been busy working on some important and interesting programs.

Hello Carl,

I guess the few of us remaining here could be considered the “remnant of Librascope” because technically we are still the same company in a new location.  I think there are probably 10 – 12 of us still here.  Things are going well and I’m keeping busy.

I have been working International Submarines since 2006 and am the Weapons SME (Subject Matter Expert).  My main focus has been the Spanish S80 submarine and I have also been working the Brazil 209 upgrade that is now undergoing sea acceptance tests.  The S80 is still a couple of years from being launched.  I am also just now starting a weapons upgrade to the Walrus class submarine for the Royal Netherlands Navy.

I originally came here as the SME of the NBC (now called CBRN) programs and successfully completed the MICAD program in early 2001.  Subsequent to that the BAWS program gained new life internationally and I supported systems for the Czech Republic, Germany, Canada, and the largest by far, Japan.  I spent a fair amount of time in Japan training the Japanese soldiers.  I transferred back to International submarines when S80 started because of my previous weapons experience on U.S. submarines and the Australian submarine.

I hope you’re enjoying your retirement and are doing all the things you wanted to do before you retired.

Later,
Mark

Thursday, April 7, 2011

#22) Some Interesting Viewer Statistics

Now that the number of Pageviews for this Blog have just passed 5,000, I checked the Blog's viewer statistics and discovered the following:
1) Pageviews by Countries: Nearly all of the pageviews were from the USA; however, the number 2 was Iran with 130 pageviews or about 2.6%! Next was Malaysia with only 13 (0.26%), China 11, Canada 10, Sweden 9, UK 7, Germany 5, Austrailia 2, and Brazil with 2.
2) Pageviews by Browsers: Internet Explorer 75%, Safari 13%, Firefox 8%, Chrome 2%, and all others less than 1% each.
3) Pageviews by Operating Systems: Windows 85%, Macintosh 7%, iPad 4%, and all others less than 1% each.

Interesting!

Monday, April 4, 2011

#21) An Interesting LGP-30 Web-Site

John Gustafson recently discovered a web-site which documents some widely unknown early (1956-60) Librascope history related to the LGP-30 computer (which he worked on when he first came to Librascope in 1955). According to the web-site, an LGP-30 was the computer used by Ed Lorenz in discovering the Butterfly Effect which founded the science of Chaos (aka Chaos Theory). Here's the LGP-30 link, which includes or links to other Librascope related memorabilia:

http://hst250.history.msu.edu/wiki-online/index.php/LGP-30

You'll also be amazed to read of the LGP-30's contribution to so many early programming languges.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

#20) $10,000 for a Librascope Balance Computer in a Display Case?

An original Librascope Balance Computer, mounted in an attractive display case suitable for mounting on a wall, has been posted on Craig's List for $10,000 or best offer. You may see the posting at:

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/clt/2292457359.html
 
The current owner recently acquired the unit from a friend who bought it at an auction about ten years ago.

More than one of these display units were built by Librascope. One is displayed at each of the Libravet Reunions, and another is said to be on display in Washington DC. Also, Libravets may remember there was one on display in the main lobby of Building 8. Others are unaccounted for.

#19) Librascope Now On Qwiki


View Librascope and over 3,000,000 other topics on Qwiki.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

#18) New! 366 Libravet Photo-Movie Now On-Line.

From 1980 through 1989, there were 366 Libravet service award photos published in the Librazettes. Those 366 photos were recently cropped, collected, and put into a slide-show movie format with background music. The resulting 24 minute photo-movie was then published, and is now available for viewing on the Internet. The name of the web-site is Carl’s Gallery, which may be new to some viewers.

Each photo has the Libravet’s name, year the photo was published, and the years of Librascope service being awarded. Service awards were made every 5 years, but unfortunately some Libravets were camera shy when their time came. Consequently, some Libravets had two photos taken during this 10 year period, while others had only one or none. You will note that a few Libravets received awards for 40 years of service!

To view this new photo-movie click here. Next, scroll down to the Movie section on the web-site, and select the “Libravets 1980 - 1989” movie. While you are on the web-site, you will note that there are several other Librascope photo albums and movies that may have been updated since you last saw them.

My thanks to Ray Hand for preparing the 366 photos. To view an index of all the names in alphabetical order click here.

Enjoy,
Carl

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

#17) "Librascope Document Errors" List

When using the powerful Librascope Search function included on the Librascope Memories web-site, it is important to realize that there are, for example, spelling errors in the Librazettes that can affect your search results. To reduce this problem, a new document with all the errors currently known to exist, along with their corrections, has been added to the Librascope Search database stored on-line.

To illustrate how this will help, assume you want to search for Nick "Costantini". Initially, all the Librazettes and other documents that include his name correctly spelled will appear in the search results, along with this new "Librascope Document Errors" document. When viewed, this new document will list all the additional documents where Nick's name is misspelled as, say, Constantini.

The Librascope Document Errors" document may be viewed by clicking here. Please let us know if you find any errors that we should add to this list.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

#16) Jay Wilcox Retires from L-3

Jay Wilcox, Librascope President from November, 1992 to August, 1993, recently announced his retirement from L-3 Marine & Power Systems as Group Vice President. Previously he held executive positions at Lockheed Martin, Loral, and Goodyear. More details are on LinkedIn.
Jay and his wife Barbara live in the Washington DC area (Virginia), and are looking forward to spending more time with their four grandchildren. He also hopes to attend the next Librascope Reunion.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

#15) 2010 Librascope Reunion Photos - Album 1 of 2


To view a full screen slideshow of this album, click here, and then select "Slideshow".

#14) 2010 Librascope Reunion Photos - Album 2 of 2


To view a full screen slideshow of this album, click here, and then select "Slideshow".