PDP-11/23 Debugging

[Noel Chiappa]

    > From: Ben Sinclair

    > what is the best way to connect the wire-wrap jumpers? I've never
    > actually wire wrapped anything, but is that what I should do?

Well, I use wire-wrap, but anything that makes a good connection and doesn't
get in the way (of other cards, etc) is fine, really. Don't feel you have to
use wire-wrap, or anything.


If you want to wire-wrap, there are two ways to go. They used to make manual
tools for wrapping the wire, but I've never used those; I learned with a gun.
Those are available on eBay now for relatively cheap, since wire-wrap is now
more or less obsolete (if you're slightly patient - I paid $25 for a kit
containing two guns, a bunch of different tips for different gauge wire,
several packages of pre-stripped wires, several of the strippers that cut the
wire and strip the right amount, and some un-wrap tools - a great deal :-);
that's the way I'd go.

They are pretty easy to use; the only real trick is to learn how to apply just
the right amount of up-down force while doing the wrap. Too much up, and you
tend to pull the gun up as it wraps, and you don't get a nice tight wrap.  Too
much down, and you get an ugly ball at the bottom of the post as the wrap
winds around itself. The trick is to try and hold the gun neutrally weighted,
and as it wraps let it push _itself_ up the pin, producing a nice tight wrap.

And of course you can do test wraps, and undo them if they come out looking
bad. It doesn't take long to get reasonably good with it.

	Noel