
We obtained a mysterious box of 1960s electronics. I reverse-engineered it and with much effort, we got it running. It turns out to be a test unit for testing NASA's Up-Data Link, a system from the Apollo moon landing to control the spacecraft from the ground. Let's take a look inside... 1/n

This box has thirteen orange digits at the top, which look like Nixie tubes. But they are a different technology called edge-lit lightguide display. Each digit has ten plastic sheets and ten lightbulbs. Each sheet has dots etched in the shape of a number. Lighting a sheet lights up that number.
Welcome to Ken Shirriff spacestr profile!
About Me
Computer history. Reverse-engineering old chips. Restored Apollo Guidance Computer, Xerox Alto. Ex-Google, Sun, Msft. So-called boffin.
Interests
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