Running a DTS-70 test system on a 21st century PC

Large investments on the order of billions of dollars were spent in the 1960´s and 1970´s developing automated test systems based on 16-bit minicomputers like the HP 1000, the Nova/16-bit Eclipse and the PDP-11. These systems revolutionized the test industry. As decades passed, requirement changed to indefinite support and continuation and these issues threaten to erase their historical success. Migration has proven to be both expensive and time consuming. The engineering expertise for legacy (original) testers is often already retired and the required documentation may be difficult to locate. Finding COTS peripherals and instruments in today´s marketplace that connect in yesterday´s ways can seem impossible. The costs for software patches and certification only serve to drive simple, but well meant goals into very costly migration projects. In an ideal model, the solution would mostly be a drop-in replacement with some modern technology. At NAVSEA NUWC-Keyport, a PC emulation successfully replaced a DTS-70 minicomputer. This project used the Strobe Data Kestrel Co-Processor as a replacement for the HP 1000 E-Series minicomputer. A case history of the upgrade at the US Navy NUWC-Keyport is provided, covering the steps and issues faced with the conversion, particularly replacing the hardware, software and microcode in the DTS-70. The end product is a turnkey approach, which offers ease and economy of migration, productivity improvement and increased reliability, as well as adding new features without altering any of the original software code.