Do not remove the chip from the bias magnets. All will be lost if you do. The Nicolet 3091 used a bubble memory but I don't know it it was the Intel or other manufacture.
Dwight ________________________________ From: cctalk <cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org> on behalf of Pete Lancashire via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org> Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2018 12:29:47 PM To: Mark J. Blair; General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: WTB Intel 7110 Bubble Memory Subsystem or Chipset Doing a paper napkin design, should be pretty easy to build a bubble emulator in the same size On Thu, Feb 22, 2018 at 12:08 PM, Mark J. Blair via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > I'm about to acquire a couple of 1980s-vintage military surplus > AN/UGC-137A terminals (i.e., glass TTYs with some local message preparation > and storage capabilities) which have a bubble memory subsystem. They use > plug-in cartridges containing 256 kbytes of storage in the form of two > Intel 7110 1 Mbit bubble memory chips and their 7242 formatter/sense > amplifiers. > > One of the cartridges contains the one and only copy of the terminals' > firmware, which I believe they need to load up at each reboot. Naturally, > extracting the contents of that irreplaceable cartridge for archival, and > potential future emulation, is going to be a very high priority for me. I > have a few different approaches in mind for accomplishing that. One > approach would be to remove the two memory devices from the critical > cartridge in order to dump their contents in an independent bubble memory > subsystem. > > With that in mind, I'd like to get my hands on a working Intel 7110 bubble > memory subsystem, or the parts to build one myself (i.e., a complete > 7110/7220/7230/7242/7250/7254 chipset that I could make a board around). > > Might anybody here have what I need available for sale or trade? I might > be able to use some arbitrary old computer or other device that has a > subsystem based around the Intel 7110, or a development kit such as the > Intel BPK-72, or a chipset to make my own board. > > If I can't acquire or make the hardware to dump the memory chips outside > of their native system, then I think my next option would be to passively > snoop the host bus interface of the Intel 7220 controller I expect to find > inside the terminals as they perform their initial firmware load, so that I > can reconstruct the cartridge contents from the trace data. > > The terminals were made by the Librascope division of Singer, and > brochures can be found here: > > http://www.librascopememories.com/Librascope_Memories/ > Product_Literature_files/Communications%20Terminal.pdf > > http://www.librascopememories.com/Librascope_Memories/ > Product_Literature_files/SST.pdf > > http://www.librascopememories.com/Librascope_Memories/ > Product_Literature_files/Bubble%20Memory%20Cartridge.pdf > > I already have the critical cartridge in hand, and I posted some pictures > of it on Twitter: > > https://twitter.com/nf6x/status/964578291767173120 > > > > > -- > Mark J. Blair, NF6X <n...@nf6x.net> > http://www.nf6x.net/ > > >
