Computer Operators Unite!
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Well, this is a first! My first web page! Devoted to those of us who operate the various brands of mainframe computers.

My first operator job was on a Gould 6040J machine! Ugghh! :) I worked my way from there onto the IBM 3081. After a couple of years there, I was able to run anything that McClellan AFB had (except the Sperry 1100 - which was run by "other" operators)! I could run an HP3000, various DEC/VAX 11/750 machines and a Tandem TNS/TXP. But I got good enough on the Gould that other operators came to me with their problems and I rewrote the operators manual. In our print room (where I was before I became a true "operator") we had 3 Xerox 9700 laser printers.

Over the years, they improved some of the machines. The IBM was upgraded to a 3090, the HP3000 was upgraded and we brought in an HP9000 to replace the Gould (Xwindows and Openview, added a bit later, made it a NICE machine! - BUT we needed more video RAM - which we never got). More VAX 11/780 and 11/785 machines were brought in (I think we ended up with about 14 of them), and the Tandem was replaced with a MUCH improved Tandem Himalaya. I got my Operator 2 status in 1990 and continued to work there until McClellan closed the site in 1998. We also ran the print room. In there we upgraded to Xerox 4135s.

Since McClellan AFB closed up our building I've been working contracts. I had one job through Alltel at Western Farm Credit Bank. They had an IBM 3090 connected to numerous PCs. One of those PCs ran an SQL server. The others were 286 laptop clones in docking stations with modems varying from 2400 to 9600 baud. These modems sent out data to other credit banks all over the country on a LAN and WAN... At 2400 - 9600 baud!!!
That was a contract because another company took over using servers instead of the IBM mainframe. Wise move!
This past December I got laid off from a company called Autovia as an Operations Center Engineer! Cool job title, eh? I monitored a network of up to 150 auto mechanics connected through us to local parts suppliers. It looks as though they may have gone belly-up! This link: may not be good anymore!
Now I've got to find another job... I'm thinking of going back to my roots as a mainframe operator. If I could just get away from the shift work, I'd love it.



Some of the hardware and software I've worked with.


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