Re: building a PDP-8 computer in your kitchen

On  8-May-00 at 09:50, Alan and Carmel Brain (aebrain@dynamite.com.au)
wrote:
 
> And the UYK-7 computer, still to be found in many combat ships, still
uses
> Core memory. It's very resistant to EMP, doesn't require a refresh (so
if
> power is lost, you still have the memory as it was at the time), and
> degrades gracefully - shoot a bullet through it, and only the bits
actually
> damaged by the projectile are lost.

I have news for those in power in the Navy that have this silly idea
that you can power core memory down and back up.  If you use the front
switch it is fine, but if you take an electrical casualty, especially
one that kicks the emergency power on, when that pup comes back up the
memory is going to be slicked.	It is much quicker and more reliable
to have a PROM with they system software.

Roger (Speaking from experience, I worked on a CP-642B.)