Core memory shield

Community Exhibition / Gallery
1

Hi,

A friend and I have just put up a page describing a core memory shield we built for the Arduino. Core memory is an early memory technology which stores bits in small donuts of magnetic material. If your project is running out of memory, and 32 more bits might help, this could be what you've been waiting for!

http://www.corememoryshield.com/

Thanks for making the Arduino such a great platform to work with,

Ben.

2

Wow. I would buy one of those just for the cool factor.

3

Fantastic. And it could solve the storage problem we often have when using too many strings.

Rob

4

This is so cool!
I have a 1k module somewhere!
Then again I also have a working magnetic bubble memory "card", that's 1M!

5

Brings back a lot of memories. I was a field service engineer in the 70s for a mini-computer manufacture (Varian Data Machines) and they were still selling core memory into the 80s for their systems, although they did also offer semiconductor memories options starting in the 70s.

Core memories were very reliable and rarely did I see a hardware failure with them, sometimes a weak sense amp chip would need replacement. They were however quite expensive as was anything related to computer hardware in that era. I recall working on large 132 column line printers that sold for more then my 3 bedroom house cost at the time. :wink:

Lefty

6

I love it!

I've got a 16K plane of core (well, you can't see the cores - they're behind a metal plate) on a PCB hanging on my dining room wall. I also have a really old chunk of core memory "sandwitch" which has the cores exposed (its a sandwitch of bakelite frames, each frame having the cores - its missing all the control components, and some of the frames are damaged, a few missing - the cores are nice and fat on it though, easily viewable).

All you have to do now is get the density up some...LOL.

:slight_smile:

7

I have a diode-logic nixie-tube calculator somewhere, it has a 32x32 (I think) core module in the centre of a 1000 diodes. It's a clear plastic module that was obviously a product you bought in those days.

All the diodes are mounted vertically like a field of young mangrove roots, God know how they debugged the board.

Rob

8

Well done, lovely project and so well written !!