4 Nov
2008
4 Nov
'08
11:39 a.m.
Robert Borsuk wrote:
On Nov 3, 2008, at 11:15 PM, Brent Hilpert wrote:
Just to put some dates on it, looking more closely at the IC Master I have
here, the 9440 is stated to have been available in early 1978, while the 9445
followed in late 1980. So the 9440 was successful enough that Fairchild saw fit
to produce the 9445 follow-on.
In that datasheet from bitsavers there are schematics (pg29-32) for a full
switches-and-blinkenlights front panel for the 9445! Funny to see that for a
microproc in 1982, presumably some legacy from the minicomputer origins.
--
I haven't looked into it in depth but it has been a point of interest to me as
to how Fairchild fell from grace in the 1980s: failing to produce a strong
contender in the microproc arena?, betting the farm on the wrong technology
(high-performance bipolar/I3L instead of CMOS?, too focussed on the high-end
military market?, too much brain drain to other companies? ...
The counterpoint is how Motorola has managed to adapt and stay on the forefront
of technology since it's inception producing car radios in the 1920's.
Amazing, I'm wondering whether it's another instance of Fairchild
missing the
boat in the microproc era, or, as Chuck is suggesting, they were
high-end
enough that they were limited to the military market
Don't know if you guys found this but I did find one computer reference.
http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=196
and the data sheet on bit savers for the chips(thank you Al).
If your wondering, I was looking for information on a Strobe Data Hawk
board and happen to go the the simulogics web site. The have a
product called reNOVAte which happens to emulate the Strobe Data board
and the 9440 / 9445 Microprocessor. Having never heard of that micro,
the hunt was on.
Don't you love these little distractions?