11 Aug
2008
11 Aug
'08
8:13 p.m.
On Sunday 10 August 2008 04:53, Eric Smith wrote:
Philip Belben wrote:
I think I may even have a NEC databook that features some of those, and
remember how odd it was that those seemed to me at the time. Probably
somewhere around 1978, maybe?
--
Member of the toughest, meanest, deadliest, most unrelenting -- and
ablest -- form of life in this section of space, a critter that can
be killed but can't be tamed. --Robert A. Heinlein, "The Puppet Masters"
-
Information is more dangerous than cannon to a society ruled by lies. --James
M Dakin
I have a couple of Sharp calculators from about
that date. I just
grabbed the nearest (an ELSI-160) and opened it up, to find that the
four chips have date codes in early 1971 and forty-two (yes, 42) pins
each in a dual zigzag arrangement.
42-pin DIP packages were common among Japanese semiconductor vendors but
I don't recall seeing any from US vendors.
For example, the early NEC cassette/cartridge tape controller chip,
uPD371 was in a 42-pin DIP. I think their single-density floppy
controller chip, uPD372, might also have been in a 42-pin DIP.