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Hadn't see the pictures of the Lorraine prototype before. The article you linked refers to breadboards but that's not what is shown on the picture and it's unli
by Renaud 10y ago
Hadn't see the pictures of the Lorraine prototype before. The article you linked refers to breadboards but that's not what is shown on the picture and it's unlikely that much more than very basic concepts were built using breadboard.
Instead people would use wire a much more reliable technique for building prototypes and very low volume productions.
Wire wrapping involves boards with pre-drilled holes in which you insert IC sockets with elongated pins. You then wrap a few turns of wire around the pin and route your wire to another one.
That's what we see in the picture and others of the same prototype.
http://obligement.free.fr/gfx2/lorraine_cartes_5.jpg http://obligement.free.fr/gfx2/lorraine_cartes_5.jpg
- colejohnson66 10y agoThe IBM 1401 was built using "SMS cards"[0] connected using wire wrap [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Standard_Modular_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Standard_Modular_System
- TheOtherHobbes 10y agoThe earlier DEC machines had a wire-wrap backplane. The wire-wrap assembly was automated - which was just as well: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/PDP-10_1090_Backplane.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/PDP-10_1... I think it's hard to be amazed enough at projects like the Amiga. Custom chips prototyped with discrete logic and a complete multitasking OS - all built from scratch.