EPROM erase times and lifespan

[Dave McGuire]

On Jan 31, 2009, at 3:53 PM, blstuart at bellsouth.net wrote:
>> One thing that's sometimes worth a quick demo is the propensity of  
>> EPROMs to
>> temporarily lose their programming when nailed with high-intensity  
>> light from,
>> say, a camera flash. That caught me out a few times -- I've got a  
>> couple of
>
> That also caught IBM when introducing the 701,
> though it wasn't EPROMs.  If I remember the story
> correctly, they used one of the forms of CRT memory
> systems in the machine.  Originally, it seemed like
> a good idea to make the tubes visible both because
> it looked cool and because you could see what the
> machine was doing.  But at the press introduction,
> they fired off flashbulbs and the light interacting
> with the memory devies crashed the machine.
> Watson dictated that the plexiglass be replaced
> by a steel plate.

   I build a lot of stuff with 8751 chips.  They will usually crash  
when a camera flash is aimed at them.

          -Dave

-- 
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL