Intel C1101A

[Brad H]

Putting this out there for those hopefully in the know.

 

I have been acquiring date-correct ICs and parts for my Mark-8 project,
which is years down the line.  I'm planning to build it on very carefully
replicated clone boards, based off my originals.  For my purposes, I'm
trying to keep ICs early 1975 or earlier.

 

Most Mark-8s that I've seen have P1101a plastic encapsulated RAMs.  Most are
Intel brand, but I've seen some that I think might be National or
something.. they just say P1101A on top.

 

The only source other than ebay that I have are those big chip vendors like
Summit.  And the problem with them is they aren't always precise about date
codes.  The P1101A, because they were produced for years, have a wide range
of codes and the places I prospected them from couldn't guarantee 75 or
prior.  

 

To my surprise, I found a few places had C1101A.  They are white ceramic,
gold legs.  They have a 'batch code' of F1268.   I got 16 of them for $14
each.  I was going to get 32, but Summit also surprised me with 5 1973
vintage Signetics n8263s @ $25 each.  I hadn't been able to find any
pre-1980 so I snatched those.. but that put me beyond a budget where I could
buy 32.  I figured I'd buy 16 chips for now and then buy another 16 the next
month.

 

Now of course, the chip houses have turned tables on me.  They want $48 per
chip instead of $14 like last time.  And checking around, that seems to be
uniform.  Now, I'm not averse to paying that, though it will sting.  But I
want to make sure my assumptions are correct.. that these white vintage ICs
are in fact pre-76.  Can anyone confirm that?  The info out there is a
little vague.

 

And would it be totally out of place for C1101as to be on a Mark-8?  Could a
hobbyist have had a source for them, beyond having some lying around?