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Found some Core memory by Fabri-Tek - trying to find what system & the manual

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Ragooman

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I have some Core memory from a guy who worked at Four Phase. They're made by Fabri-Tek and he remembers these being used in some IBM system - the best he can remember. The really cool thing about this is that it's assembled in a way where it folds up. I have some pics at the links below. I'm hoping somebody might know what system this came from. I also have closeup pics of the board, serial, and part numbers too. Then maybe I can find a manual for this. With some luck and some hacking, I can then wire an interface to this for my homebrew PDP-8.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragooman/5788472143/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragooman/5788471265/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragooman/5789025174/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragooman/5788469637/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragooman/5788469117/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragooman/5789023250/in/photostream

thanks !
=Dan
 
g4ugm said:
Whilst I am sure there is info on interfacing core elsewhere on the net, I know there are some articles in the ACC newletters, Volume-1, issues 2-5 which you can find here:-
http://www.smrcc.org.uk/members/g4ugm/acc.htm
Hope you find these usefull...
Click to expand...

Yes, there's a few resources about building a memory controller circuit for Core memory.
I'm always open to more information like this.
Thanks for the tip !


g4ugm said:
Ypu might also want to ask on the Hercules-390 yahoo group if any one has any info. Its an emulation group but it has lots of ex (and current) IBM staff on it so some one might have more info..
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/hercules-390/
Click to expand...

thanks again for the tip
I'll try there too

Looking at this closer again, it's just a raw core memory card. I'm hoping to find some more info to help me pinpint all the connections on this. It would save time that to trace the connections manually. So then I can begin to make a memory controller for this.

=Dan
 
Maybe a bit off topic, but I stumbled on this interesting page (Nicolet Instrument was funded by Fabritek):

http://versci.com/1080proposal/index.html

It's the story of building a PDP-8 equivalent into a data acquisition system:

We did things the hard way. For example, we etched printed circuit boards in glassware liberated from the kitchen. I had access to a PDP-8 and I could have used it to write a cross assembler. Instead, I wrote an assembler for the 1080 using only pencil and paper. I used the switch register to get it into the computer. Then I used the teletype to create the source code for the assembler. That made it possible for the assembler to assemble itself. I must have been crazy. The assembler was then used to write an editor, a debugger, a floating point package including transcendental functions and a Cooley Tukey FFT. The hardest part of the 1080 project, the part that took the most time, was the magnetic core memory.
Click to expand...
 
Dan,

Check out the 8/E Maintenance Manual Vol. 1 (processor options) for the excellent writeup on the MM8-E. I'm not sure if you have an Omnibus machine, but if you do, just copy the MM8-E.

Do you have to have core, or can you tolerate a semiconductor memory? If the latter and you have an omnibus machine, it's very easy to make your own memory.

Lou
 
Posted on another thread on this Board was a link to scanned and OCR'd early editions of Byte magazine: ftp://helpedia.com/pub/archive/temp/Byte/
Issue #11 has a focus on core memory and an article on how to use surplus core stacks by using SN75325 TTL (Texas Instruments Memory Core Driver chip), perhaps it could be useful in Dan's project.
Incidentally in Byte issue #3 on page 95 there is a ad for some Honeywell core memory that has a board that looks a somewhat like Dan's except it has two edge connectors not three. But it does have a similar form factor, and metal top edge I think...?

Steve.
 
It doesn't look like any of the core memory I saw when working on Univac mainframes. Univac II, UIII, 1107, 1106, 1108, 1050, 1004, 1001
 
Dan:
Just found this forum. In the early 70's I was the OEM Field Service Manager at Fabri-Tek. From the best of my knowledge, this memory module is not for a PDP anything. All the PDP 8's and 11's used an 8k memory module, P/N 256-0232-01. I looked at the pictures and can't identify this module.
JohnW
 
Fabri-Tek memory module

Fabri-Tek memory module

Dan:
Just found this forum. In the early 70's I was the OEM Field Service Manager at Fabri-Tek. From the best of my knowledge, this memory module is not for a PDP anything. All the PDP 8's and 11's used an 8k memory module, P/N 256-0232-01. I looked at the pictures and can't identify this module.
JohnW
 
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