Core memory for the Arduino.

[schmitt trigger]

Stumbled with this weird product while surfing the web.

https://www.i-programmer.info/news/91-hardware/12726-magnetic-core-memory-for-arduino.html

Now, if they had only used TTL gates instead of a CPLD....

Note; I am not affiliated with the seller.

[NivagSwerdna]

Brek (who is often found around these parts) did a couple of fun core videos..



along the same lines and not a CPLD in sight

[rstofer]

That's neat!  I started my programming efforts when core memory was the only game in town.  So, I bought one of these gadgets to show my grandson how memory used to work.  Should be fun!

[MarkF]

Some old time core memory here:
The tan PCBs at the bottom have four layers that I remember with a 1/2" gap between containing the ferrite beads.
It had a whopping 32K 16-bit words of memory.

[schmitt trigger]

Indeed one can actually read the label "MEMORY EQUIPMENT" at the bottom of the picture.

What is the date that you think this were made? Wikipedia mentions that they were manufactured starting in 1969

[MarkF]

Indeed one can actually read the label "MEMORY EQUIPMENT" at the bottom of the picture.

What is the date that you think this were made? Wikipedia mentions that they were manufactured starting in 1969

I don't know.  The company I was working for was using them in 1978.  The program was assembly language and was loaded via little magnetic tape.  Interface was from the front panel and it had a teletype with paper tape.

More pictures:

[MarkF]

Here is a dual version of the DECtapes.  Ours only had one drive.

[rstofer]

My first machine was an IBM 1130 released in '65.  I started with it in '70.  Our machines had just 8k 16 bit words of core memory plus the cartridge disk drive.

http://ibm1130.org/hw/cpu/

It has been a nearly 50 year love affair!  I have an FPGA implementation that runs all of the IBM software unchanged.  And at 50 MHz versus about 300 kHz...

[Canis Dirus Leidy]

There were also more advanced "cubes of memory". They used ferrite plates with flat coils instead of discrete rings:
128x16 bit version
512x19 bit version, designed in sixties

[schmitt trigger]

Canis D.
Thanks for sharing. I love Soviet-era technology in general, electronics in particular. Their products have a very distinct design approach.

What are the block forms made of? At first glance it appeared like Bakelite, but a closer inspection has an appearance similar to wood. 

[Canis Dirus Leidy]

What are the block forms made of? At first glance it appeared like Bakelite, but a closer inspection has an appearance similar to wood.

I can't be completely sure, but it's most likely textolite (fabric-based laminate).

P.S. Some memoirs (in Russian) about development of core memory modules for the BESM-6.