Olympia RAE 4 / 30 Technology
Electronics
First-generation all transistor logic with core memory.
- Telefunken AF 138 PNP High Frequency
- Telefunken AC 122 PNP Audio Frequency
- COSEM 2N1990
- Texas Instruments SS1280
Architecture, Memory & Speed
- 15 displayed digits with negative sign indicator
- Digit encoding and processing architecture to be determined
- Core memory, 5 arrays of 8 x 8 = 320 cores
- Master clock, core cycle, full-number time to be determined
Construction
Mechanical and electronic construction is very similar to the RAE 4 / 15.
The electronics are constructed on 14 single-sided phenolic PCBs. The double-ended PCB design is carried over from the RAE 4 / 15, this brings along the inconvenience of requiring an extender card and a flying lead for in-circuit testing of a PCB.
A form of integrated circuit is employed in this model, with 2-transistor flip-flop modules being separately built and then soldered to the logic boards. It’s hard to see this as as a major innovation or improvement as the modules are no easier to servce at component level and exchanging them involves a fair bit of desoldering and resoldering.
The steel chassis is carried over from the RAE 4 / 15, together with the large cooling fan. The same keyboard design is used with microswitches for key contacts.