TIME TUNNEL COMPUTERS aka ANSF-Q7 of Air Force SAGE Radar Systems Today

This footage is of the computer panels that were used in the classic 60's science fiction series called "The Time Tunnel". Series producer Irwin Allen requested that 20th Century-Fox studios acquire the equipment specifically for his series when the Air Force offered them as surplus sometime in the early 1960s (they were being replaced by newer satellite-based radar technologies). "The Time Tunnel" series only ran one year, so these panels made appearances in other Irwin Allen 20th-Fox productions like "Lost in Space", "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", "Land of the Giants", etc. Movies that featured these computers included Woody Allen's "Sleeper", "City Beneath the Sea" (TV-movie), "The Towering Inferno", and "The Swarm", among others.

The computer panels exist today in a Hollywood prop shop specializing in electronics.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• sciencefiction
• TVseries
• computers

[Spindriftful]

Irwin Allen was a visionary, these were actually his property. He purchased these computers from the Air Force after they were mothballed. His first production, The Time Tunnel, first used on TV.

[MR1227]

@Spindriftful Actually, I learned from the current owner that indeed Irwin Allen did NOT own this equipment. But it was Allen who REQUESTED that 20th Century-Fox purchase them because he needed alot of 'hi-tech' equipment for his new series, "The Time Tunnel". The father of the gentleman who currently owns the equipment purchased them from Fox when they had a big auction back in 1976 Turns out Irwin Allen had to rent them from this guy when he made "The Swarm" in 1978.

[johathaw]

so who owns this now, is it displayed someplace ?

[undeadpresident]

like the old bat-computer

[JPMorganMustDie]

The lights, the colors

All that computing power used to flash light bumbs, amazing.

[CRESWIN2000]

THE COMENTS AND THIS VIDEO

SUCKS!

[inachu]

all these ears and i thought they were fake blinking lights lol!

[caesarcerf]

incredible

[paulmurphy42]

@FUBUXGEAR Did they really blink as much as that in real life or was that just rigged up for the tv cameras?

[robphilll22]

One day Speilberg and Howard should do(to the letter) the original Time tunnel pilot in movie form.

[nozcr]

Where are the panels with the 30 inch Cathode Ray Tubes that showed those rotating spirals? They're missing. What happened to them?

[Biminirun]

Thanks so much for posting!! I loved the Time Tunnel, seeing as how I was 8 y.o. when it debuted. Those years of '67 to '69 were the best for we sci-fi fans!! Lost in Space,Batman,The Green Hornet, Land of the Giants, The Invaders with Roy Thinnes!!, and of course Star Trek too!! Also thanks to those of you who are sharing personal anecdotes about these shows!!