You described it correctly, except that my Nova had 16-bit word and content was displayed by 16 lamps (tiny bulbs - it was before LEDs). Scope 'terminal' was something minicomputers of that time could not afford. But few hundred instructions for a papertape loader is much - my bootstrap had 20-30 16-bit words.
Which was that machine your dad worked on? 6 bit word could be something from Remington Rand (later Sperry, then Univac, then Unisys).
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Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Q#5196
MkII #080000376, 18GB green
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