Yes most core stringing was outsourced.
By hand under magnification was used.
I cant recall any references to automation.
That would br down to the supplier.
The story I heard was at least some were done by embroidery girls in
Hong Kong
Rod Smallwood -- Digital Equipment Corporation 1975 to 1985
On 19/07/2021 22:50, Jules Richardson via cctalk wrote:
On 7/19/21 3:40 AM, Joshua Rice via cctalk wrote:
I believe much of the core manufacturing for DEC minicomputers was
outsourced, but a lot of it had become much more automated by the
late 60's and early 70's.
I've got a trio of planes here, two of which are from a Lockheed
MAC-16, but the other one is made by Keronix out of Santa Monica for
an unknown machine (dated 1973, model number "P4" and p/n 816335 if
that means anything to anyone, approx 16"x16" with two 100-pin,
double-sided finger edge connectors on 0.1" spacing).
Anyhoo, the Keronix one has a sticker on it saying it was repaired by
DMA, inc. in Amery, WI in 1980 - which might suggest that there were
third parties around working on boards, rather than them having to go
back to the manufacturer for repair. (I have no idea what the nature
of the repair was, of course; maybe it was to surrounding logic rather
than the mat itself).
It's worth noting that most computer manufacturers appreciated the
fragility of core memory planes at the time, with most of them being
protected with either PCB's or perspex/plastic shields on top of the
core planes.
Yes, that's how all the ones I've ever seen have been. The Keronix one
has an additional shield over the top of the entire PCB, on top of the
one protecting the cores.
Jules
