On 06/07/2017 09:12 AM, william degnan via cctech wrote:
Where there any computers that used a "rectangular sense" core RAM?
Whirlwind core is diagonal. This page describes the differences/evolution
of the sense line.
More: http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/Byte/76jul.html
Were rectangular core planes used in any commercial/government computer
that saw production activity, presumably the period 1953-1959? Whirlwind
is known for diagonal sense planes, but was there a brief period when the
core was "rectangular sense" I know core was added to Whirlwind as an
upgrade, it did not launch into production with core. (right?)
I think IBM LCS on the mid-scale 360s were rectangular. I
assume by rectangular you mean that all wires were on a
rectangular grid, parallel to the select wires. The google
article on core memory shows a CDC 6600 core plane that
shows no sign of diagonal wires.
I think many old core planes with big cores ran all wires on
a square grid, as there was plenty of window area in the
cores. When they went to smaller cores and combining the
sense/inhibit winding, then the diagonal wire threaded more
easily through the remaining window after the X and Y select
wires were in place.
Jon
