Following on from the project mentioned below, which uses two transistors and four resistors to store one bit of data, I remembered I have a core memory module where just one ferrite ring does the same job. (Clearly, transistors had to shrink in size a fair bit before core memory like this could be replaced). And data is retained if power is lost! I bought it some years ago on eBay and was told at the time that it came from a computer at a ground station that was part of the network used to track Apollo missions. Unfortunately, I have no more details and have been unable so far to identify it, so please let me know in the comments section below if you recognize it!
It contains 48x64, i.e. 3072, ferrite rings for storing 3k bits of data. On one face, the sides are numbered 1 to 4 in ink and there is some text, also in ink: 363-105, an identifier perhaps. One of the corner holes is highlighted in yellow (paper triangle on one face, paint on the other), presumably to indicate the correct orientation for mounting it in a stack of identical modules. It looks like it was made in a workshop rather than a factory, suggesting it could have been a prototype or from a small production run.
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