One Bit Ferrite Core Memory

Re:One Bit Ferrite Core Memory by ocfnash on Wednesday November 18, 2020 @06:09AM (#25135436)

You can buy core memory kits [1] for adding core memory to an arduino. They only give 8x4 but you could get to "cordmp" with a five-bit encoding ;-)

The vendor, with whom I have absolutely no affiliation except for exchanging a few emails a several years ago, based his kits on a project that I did with a friend a long time ago [2].

It was a fun project that had interesting analog and digital sides to it.

[1] https://www.tindie.com/products/kilpelaj/core-memory-shield-...

[2] https://corememoryshield.com/

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Re:One Bit Ferrite Core Memory by rnestler on Wednesday November 18, 2020 @06:20AM (#25135533)

Oh very nice thanks :) It would feel a bit like cheating though to just buy a ready made kit ;)

I wonder how they assemble the cores and the wires efficiently, because that was always the most painful part when working with the cores.

Edit: Typos

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Re:One Bit Ferrite Core Memory by EvanAnderson on Wednesday November 18, 2020 @02:20PM (#25141157)

There's some really good core assembly footage in this old Sperry-Rand film: https://youtu.be/s39Dzei2Z2I?t=92

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Re:One Bit Ferrite Core Memory by ocfnash on Wednesday November 18, 2020 @07:02AM (#25135843)

Threading the cores is indeed quite fiddly. I think back in the day, large numbers of seamstresses pivoted into manufacturing core memory!

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Re:One Bit Ferrite Core Memory by hazeii on Wednesday November 18, 2020 @08:49AM (#25136656)

If I recall correctly, the weaving was often done in Malta as it was the only place where the carpet weavers had fingers nimble enough to do it.

(edit) a bit of digging around turned up an article [0] showing women building core memory for the Apollo Guidance Computer.

[0] https://www.amusingplanet.com/2020/02/that-time-when-compute...

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