<s>
KDF8	B-Device
was	O
an	O
early	O
British	O
computer	O
built	O
by	O
English	O
Electric	O
as	O
a	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
RCA	B-Device
501	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Firstly	O
,	O
English	O
Electric	O
built	O
a	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
RCA	B-Device
501	I-Device
computer	O
which	O
was	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
KDP10	O
(	O
KDP	O
for	O
Kidsgrove	O
Data	O
Processing	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1964	O
it	O
was	O
re-designated	O
as	O
the	O
KDF8	B-Device
and	O
sales	O
continued	O
to	O
1965	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
machine	O
was	O
essentially	O
the	O
same	O
as	O
the	O
RCA	B-Device
501	I-Device
and	O
manufactured	O
under	O
license	O
so	O
that	O
English	O
Electric	O
could	O
offer	O
a	O
full	O
range	O
of	O
computer	O
systems	O
for	O
all	O
its	O
customers	O
,	O
without	O
the	O
expense	O
of	O
developing	O
an	O
entirely	O
new	O
machine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
second	O
large	O
computer	O
to	O
emerge	O
from	O
development	O
work	O
at	O
Kidsgrove	O
was	O
the	O
KDF9	B-Device
,	O
primarily	O
designed	O
for	O
scientific	O
work	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
KDF8	B-Device
was	O
installed	O
at	O
the	O
Kidsgrove	O
(	O
Staffordshire	O
)	O
site	O
of	O
The	O
English	O
Electric	O
Company	O
's	O
computer	O
bureau	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
KDF8	B-Device
was	O
a	O
transistor	B-Device
based	I-Device
machine	O
with	O
magnetic	O
core	O
memory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
KDF8	B-Device
used	O
an	O
octal	O
(	O
base	O
eight	O
)	O
addressing	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
KDF8	B-Device
was	O
strictly	O
a	O
batch	O
processing	O
computer	O
,	O
running	O
one	O
program	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Kidsgrove	O
KDF8	B-Device
had	O
eight	O
magnetic	O
tape	O
units	O
on-line	O
,	O
each	O
rated	O
at	O
40k	O
characters	O
per	O
second	O
read/write	O
speed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eight	O
was	O
considered	O
the	O
working	O
maximum	O
number	O
of	O
tape	O
units	O
,	O
one	O
per	O
channel	O
,	O
for	O
any	O
actual	O
KDF8	B-Device
configuration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
provided	O
an	O
off-line	O
printing	O
facility	O
for	O
volume	O
output	O
,	O
freeing	O
the	O
KDF8	B-Device
to	O
run	O
other	O
work	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
notable	O
exception	O
was	O
a	O
wiring	O
design	O
program	O
called	O
"	O
WRS1	O
"	O
,	O
used	O
to	O
help	O
design	O
the	O
hardware	O
for	O
the	O
later	O
English	B-Device
Electric	I-Device
KDF9	I-Device
and	O
System	B-Device
4	I-Device
range	O
of	O
Mainframe	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
