[ih] ruggedized Honeywell 516 ARPANET IMP cabinet top lifting hooks (Was: The IMP Lights story (Was: Nit-picking an origin story))

[Barbara Denny]

 Having trouble with the mailing list 
  Another story....
I thought SINCGARs radios we were getting at SRI were milspec.  I was surprised when in one shipment a radio had been broken by the post office.  Nothing major, just a corner piece had broken off.  
Some of you might be wondering what SRI was doing with these radios.  We had a project with ITT to develop a packet applique (another box) to transform the analog radio to one that supported packet switching. We used the packet radio protocols as a starting point for  the nodes and we did demonstrate it during exercises at military bases (Fort Bragg and Fort Gordon).  Hosts were using TCP/IP for the applications. Last I heard ITT and General Dynamics were competing? for the next production of the radios and this included support for packet switching.  This was back in the late 80s(?),  shortly after our project ended. I know ITT had also done more internal IR&D in this area. I don't know how much of the original packet radio technology got incorporated.
barbara

    On Monday, August 25, 2025 at 06:00:24 AM PDT, Steve Crocker via Internet-history <internet-hist

The 516s were ruggedized but they were not "milspec."  Frank Heart was
concerned they might get roughed up in transit or, possibly, in the
research labs where they were accessible to STUDENTS!

I believe the hooks -- really eyes, to be precise -- on top were for being
picked up by a crane for loading and unloading.  I don't know if they were
ever used.

There was no requirement or expectation that the IMPs would survive a
nuclear event.  The idea that the net was designed for nuclear
survivability is a red herring.  At best there was the possibility that
some aspects of the technology, if successful, might be useful in
the future for designing a nuclear survivable communications system.  It
was NOT a design goal for the Arpanet.

Steve