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Vintage Computers Any vintage computer systems, calculators, video games etc., but with an emphasis on 1980s and earlier equipment. |
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1st Dec 2006, 3:28 pm | #1 |
Pentode
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: East London, UK.
Posts: 231
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Anyone fancy have a go at this......
Found this on the web, and i confess, i'm impressed.
Mind you the wirewrap stuff looks like a bit of a nightmare !!! What do you make of it? Alan. http://www.homebrewcpu.com/ |
1st Dec 2006, 5:02 pm | #2 |
Retired Dormant Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: North London, UK.
Posts: 6,168
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Re: Anyone fancy have a go at this......
Masochist!
I've handwired a couple of fairly complex logic designs but not on this scale. Doing it in a FPGA makes it a lot easier because there's no wiring. |
1st Dec 2006, 5:22 pm | #3 |
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Oxford, UK
Posts: 27,785
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Re: Anyone fancy have a go at this......
Wirewrapping like that was a standard prototype and short run production technique for digital stuff in the 70s and 80s. I remember the prototype of ITN's in-house graphics device VT80 was built that way around 1980 (hence the name, I think.) The boards looked pretty fearsome and I'm glad I didn't have to locate faults
Paul |
1st Dec 2006, 7:04 pm | #4 |
Retired Dormant Member
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Re: Anyone fancy have a go at this......
I used to know a guy who worked for Texas Instruments UK who wire wrapped quite complicated processor prototypes while watching TV in the evenings
Mike |
1st Dec 2006, 7:51 pm | #5 |
Retired Dormant Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: West Yorkshire, UK.
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Re: Anyone fancy have a go at this......
Hi,
In my first job I wire-wrapped some quite large custom process control systems. With an electric cut/strip/wrap gun it's fast, too. I had an endless supply of little plastic thingies with pin numbers on; with the IC reference scrawled on in biro then shoved over the IC socket pins it was pretty easy to find my way around. By "large" I mean a 19" card frame full of double eurocards, all wire-wrapped, with the backplane wire-wrapped as well. With a schematic and the ICs and pins identified on the wiring side these things weren't too tricky to modify and repair, either. Cheers, Kat |
1st Dec 2006, 9:14 pm | #6 |
Rest in Peace
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: North Bedfordshire, UK.
Posts: 395
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Re: Anyone fancy have a go at this......
Mike,
Do you remember the name of the guy who worked for Texas Instruments? I designed systems for TI that were protyped in wirewrap, so I almost certainly knew him. PM me if you prefer. |
1st Dec 2006, 10:34 pm | #7 |
Retired Dormant Member
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Bishop's Waltham, Hants, UK.
Posts: 939
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Re: Anyone fancy have a go at this......
The backplane of my 11/45 (http://www.g1jbg.co.uk/comp1.htm) is wire wrapped - there is a picture about halfway down the page.
Jim. |
2nd Dec 2006, 12:10 am | #8 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Seaford, East Sussex, UK.
Posts: 5,997
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Re: Anyone fancy have a go at this......
For a while I did a bit of PDP11 programming for a manufacturing plant. As Kat says, wire-wrapping with the right tools is very quick. Somewhere I still have a box of wire-wrap IC holders with the long square pins.
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