Core memory

[Paul Koning]

> On Apr 1, 2022, at 2:38 PM, Brent Hilpert via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
> 
> On 2022-Apr-01, at 6:02 AM, Paul Koning via cctalk wrote:
> 
>> When I looked at that ebay listing of "glass memory" it pointed me to another item, https://www.ebay.com/itm/265623663142 -- described as "core rope memory".  Obviously it isn't -- it's conventional core RAM.  Interestingly enough, it seems to be three-wire memory (no inhibit line that I can see).  It looks to be in decent shape.  No manufacturer marks, and "GC-6" doesn't ring any bells.
> 
> Well, it would still work for 1-bit-wide words, so to speak. One wonders what the application was.

I wonder if the sense wire was used as inhibit during write cycles -- that seems doable.  It would make the core plane simpler at the expense of more complex electronics.  With that approach, you have regular memory, not limited to 1 bit words.

> There are a couple of Soviet core-rope memories up right now:
> 	https://www.ebay.com/itm/294558261336
> 	https://www.ebay.com/itm/294851032351

Neat looking stuff.  It doesn't look like core rope memory in the sense of the AGC ROM, nor in the sense of the Electrologica X1.  It looks more like the transformer memory used in Wang calculators that you documented in your core ROM paper.

	paul