27 Oct
2000
27 Oct
'00
10:38 a.m.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Vintage Computer Festival" <vcf(a)siconic.com>
To: "Classic Computers Mailing List" <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Friday, October 27, 2000 12:10 PM
Subject: GTE Discrete Modem
Here are some pictures of the modem I mentioned yesterday. It is GTE
labelled but was apparently manufactured by Sangamo Electric in West
Union, South Carolina.
< picture URLs snipped >
It's about 9"x17"x5" and weighs
maybe 20 pounds.
Looking at the cards in the rack, it seems that the cards (and thus the
whole modem) are bigger than they need to be. The traces and components are
pretty far apart (the trace pattern is groovy though). Why is this? Were
the boards hand built, and the greater clearances made them easier to
solder together? Was the box a standard 19" rack size, so there was no
point making the cards smaller than the box? Was it a cooling issue? I'm
pretty ignorant of the practices and design issues in the industry at this
time.
Regards,
Mark.