25 Apr
2023
25 Apr
'23
2:20 p.m.
People who used to do watches. Similar size issues.
On April 25, 2023 3:38:16 PM GMT+02:00, Paul Koning via cctalk
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
On Apr 25, 2023, at 9:25 AM, KenUnix via cctalk
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
Rod,
Never heard the singing. Switch room's were too noisy.
It always amazed me that those core planes were hand wired. I guess by
little people. Or, big people with little hands.
People (often women I think) with steady hands. I think the setup used a work surface
with notches in it corresponding to the positions of each core. They would pour a cup
full of cores onto that and use gentle shaking and vibrating to get all those notches
filled, then pour off the excess. Next, threading the cores much like you thread a needle
-- except that the wire is stiffer than thread and thus easier to make it go straight
through.
One wonders if this could have been done by machine. Probably yes, but given the volumes
involved I suppose the capital investment wasn't justified.
The more amazing kind of hand-wired core is core ROM, where the wires weave in and out of
various cores according to the required bit pattern. Getting that right seems like a far
more complicated craft.
paul