--- Ross Archer <archer_at_topnow.com> wrote:
>
> I have some Synertek NMOS 6502s from various weeks
> in 1984, still in their (original?) Synertek static tubes.
> (At least, "Synertek" is stamped on the tubes.)
Cool. The 6502 was so widely shipped (from PETs and Apples to Nintendo
and even terminals/muxes/peripheral card embedded CPUs) that it's unlikely
to be "R_at_RE" anytime soon, it's always nice to have a few on hand.
> A few "boy are these stupid" questions:
>
> 1. Does anyone have any cool Synertek lore they'd like to
> share with the group? All I know about them is they made
> the SYM-1 and were a 6530 second-source. I guess it's safe
> to conclude they were also a 6502 second-source. :)
They were also a 68000 second-source for Motorola. I have a quantity
of them, c. 1982.
> 2. Is this a "Find" in any sense? (I paid all of 30 cents
> each for them.) My motivation is to have enough replacement
> parts to keep all my 6502-based hardware humming for years
> to come. Though in this case I have several lifetimes' worth.
> :)
I wouldn't call it the find of the year, but it's probably the find
of the week. I don't have any NOS, but between a crate of boards
from text terminals (100% socketed ICs!) and two crates of boards
from a mux (thanks Bob!), I have tubes of Rockwell and other brands,
as pulls.
> 3. Is there any reason to fear that these chips will "go
> bad" at any significant rate as they age?
Not if they are powered off and stored in static packaging in
a dry place.
> My plan is to come into work some evening... and test them all...
No need to power them up unless you are intensely curious. Odds
are, they probably all work. Personally, I'd wait until you needed
one, then pull a tube and start with the first one.
No major harm is likely to come to them, but you might as well keep
them in their present state, protected from any random harm until
you need one.
-ethan
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Received on Tue Jul 30 2002 - 00:00:00 BST