15 Aug
1999
15 Aug
'99
4:08 a.m.
I imagine you're thinking of Williams Tube memory,
which was used on
various computers before core memory was available,...
A very close relative, but not the reference I had seen. I think the
thing that I saw was explaining a new tube that tried to simplify even
the Williams Tube.
Does anyone know how RCA's Selectron memory tube
worked? I've seen pictures
but no explanation.
Do you have a number for it?
Memory wasn't the only part of early computers
that used special and somewhat
bizarre electron tubes. One of the earliest CRT display devices was the
Charactron.
There was also a monoscope character generator - essentially a camera
tube with a permanent image of characters. I suppose thru some rather
fancy scn circuitry, one could have a character ROM. RCA type 4560, for
those that care.
William Donzelli
aw288(a)osf.org