[rescue] Nicolet 400- series and 660-series.

[Andrew Jones]

On 02/27/2013 01:53 PM, Andy Crofts wrote:
> Secondly, at one time in the late 80's I was the only person in Europe that
> could fix a Nicolet 660B. Needed a helluvalot of ancilliary equipment
> (extender boards, diagnostics). As the youngest person who could fix them -
> and I'm 57 - I don't wanna repair another. 660's kept me awake all night
> trying. (Although I never had to send one back to US for them to fix - even
> though I was trained in their Orangeburg facility).
> I think I'm the only person still alive who still could. It's not just an
> oscilloscope job. Neither series had 'Microprocesors' as we know them. 440
> used 74181 4-bit slice, the 660 has 2901 slice bit processors.

I seem to be missing the thread that brought this to light, but it 
sounds like a fascinating point in 29xx bit-slice history.

What was the broader picture on Nicolet?  What was their commercial 
niche? do you have any insight on why AMD bitslice was the choice, or 
how 74181 gave way to 29xx?