The Catacombs Catacombs Model Gallery
Year 2 Computers


The Beta Cloud

The computer panels in Command Center in Year 2 were designed and built for Gerry Anderson's Into Infinity and were built by Terry Curtis of Space Models. After Into Infinity but before Space: 1999, they appeared in a Space: 1999 exhibition at the Selfridges department store in London for the Christmas 1975 season. After Space 1999, the individual panels were swapped around during the various exhibitions (Blackpool, Alton Towers), so the configurations shown here are not those seen on television.

There are five 4 x 8 foot panels in all; each is made up of 16 2x1foot sections. The top 4 sections and the bottom 6 sections are blank panels also used on the Year 1 computers. The central 6 panels are decorated with lights and switches.

In the original configuration, two of the panels use black sections; two others use grey sections, and one has a mixture of yellow, orange and red sections. In all, the basic pattern is the same: an array of lights, seven columns and 4 rows (28 in total). Various lettering and lines (all Letraset), non-functional "buttons" and squares of coloured perspex are added.

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Below: two composite panels as seen in 2012. Both have been shortened and altered since the photographs above, and are in a poor state of repair. The red panel is from the Weapons Section set.

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These sections are examples of the black and grey sections, which were not clearly seen on screen. The grey sections are mostly plain, but the black sections are finely detailed.

The top black panel ("ITL") has labels for "Power", "Play Sequence" and "Compute".
The middle black panel ("TC3") has labels for "Control B", "Range One" and "Horiz" (the dials are cut-out pictures of aircraft instrumentation).
The bottom black panel ("CR1") has labels for "Pressure A On", "89 tank", "Control", "boost","compt","Oil pressure" and labelled switches for "Stand by Compt", "Man O/R" and "On", "boost", "Computer lock-in", "Mains" and "Burn", and "Start".

click for larger image (180k) click for larger image (128k) This grey panel includes one distinctive section with a green stripe. It is labelled "TEST" and "Internal Lighting M34".

Labels include "Read Out", "Circuit Test", "Mod", "Dia", "Seq", "3V New Codes".

click for larger image (349k) click for larger image (340k) click for larger image (163k) These are mostly coloured sections that appeared in the middle of the Command Center computers
Maya

The top yellow panel ("HD") has labels for "Backup", "Ratio", "Guidance", "Gyro", "Hold", "Stop", "End", "Yaw", "Pitch", "Roll", and, in large letters, "Trim".
The middle yellow panel ("C5") has labels for "Gravity Generator", "ST1", "POS", "DE2" and "Deviation".
The bottom yellow panel ("NO") has labels for "Display", "Roll Factor", and "Gyro". The top orange panel ("Meter") has labels for "Bias", "Activate" and "Back up".

Below: details of an "X5 Computer" panel.

X5 Computer X5 Computer

Images copyright Martin Willey
Page copyright Martin Willey