Re: LOTS of US Water Plants Hit by Hacks

On Thu, 6 Aug 2026 12:45:52 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> Yeah. Uniselectors I think we called them...360 degrees was rare
> though...
> essentially multiway relays.
> 
> Big, expensive  - especially to replace if one contact was dodgy.

Also noisy and slow. The advantage was the plant electricians of the day 
could deal with physical apparatus. With the Eagle Signal design it was 
obvious what was going on.  When the drum was at position X a glance at 
the cam showed which outputs should be active. Relays were still physical 
but you had to be able to interpret the schematic rather than looking to 
see which solenoid #15 connected to.  TTL logic? Even worse. 
 
> Became easier to use a bit of electronics to drive a bank of single way
> relays instead.
> 
> That whole area of control logic was one of the first areas to get
> 'digitised' IIRC. It wasn't my field though.

Yes. The larger picture is much of the US physical plant had been renewed 
during WWII. By the late '60s it was tired and new technologies were ready 
for new machine tool designs. Then came the oil embargo. The resultant 
financial turmoil discouraged capital spending. By the time the dust 
settled manufacturing had been moved off shore and the machine tool 
industry had went virtually extinct. 

I'm fast on my feet and could adapt. Many couldn't, including entire 
cities that had been built around the manufacturing plants. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w038TQyWRN8

Springsteen has turned into a bit of an asshole but he did write some fine 
songs.