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Ken Shirriff

@ken_shirriff@robot.villas

Chip reverse engineering, vintage computer restoration, silicon die photography, and electronics archaeology.

Source: https://www.righto.com/feeds/posts/default

Homepage: https://www.righto.com

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Posts
31
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Posts

  • Reverse engineering a vintage diode-transistor logic chip #RetroComputing #Electronics #Hardware

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    Nov 8, 2026

  • Inside the Intel 8087 chip: floating-point addition and subtraction #Hardware #RetroComputing #Microcode

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    Oct 18, 2026

  • Inside a 1980s filter chip that uses switched capacitors #Electronics #VintageTech #ChipDesign

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    Oct 10, 2026

  • Reverse-engineering the vintage Intel 8087's tangent algorithm: more than CORDIC #Electronics #RetroComputing #Hardware

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    Sep 26, 2026

  • Microcode in Intel's 8087 floating-point chip: the scale instruction #Hardware #RetroComputing #Microcode

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    Sep 12, 2026

  • Cores in space: The core memory module from a 1980 Spacelab computer #RetroComputing #SpaceTech #Electronics

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    Aug 30, 2026

  • Energizing a vacuum-tube flip-flop module from a 1948 IBM system #VintageTech #Electronics #RetroComputing

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    Jul 31, 2026

  • Examining circuit boards from the Space Shuttle's I/O Processor #Electronics #Space #RetroTech

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    Jun 28, 2026

  • The adder at the heart of Intel's 8087 floating-point chip #Hardware #RetroComputing #Engineering

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    Jun 13, 2026

  • Powering up a module from the IBM 604: an electronic calculator from 1948 #VintageTech #Electronics #History

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    Jun 7, 2026

  • Microcode inside the Intel 8087 floating-point chip: register exchange #Hardware #RetroComputing #Microcode

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    May 30, 2026

  • Reverse engineering circuitry in a Spacelab computer from 1980 #RetroComputing #Electronics #SpaceTech

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    May 23, 2026

  • The electromechanical angle computer inside the B-52 bomber's star tracker #Electronics #VintageTech #Aerospace

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    Apr 18, 2026

  • The rise and fall of IBM's 4 Pi aerospace computers: an illustrated history #Computers #History #Tech

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    Mar 29, 2026

  • Instruction decoding in the Intel 8087 floating-point chip #Hardware #RetroComputing #CPU

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    Feb 14, 2026

  • Notes on the Intel 8086 processor's arithmetic-logic unit #Hardware #CPU #RetroTech

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    Jan 23, 2026

  • Conditions in the Intel 8087 floating-point chip's microcode #Hardware #RetroComputing #Microcode

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    Dec 30, 2025

  • The stack circuitry of the Intel 8087 floating point chip, reverse-engineered #ReverseEngineering #ComputerHistory #Hardware

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    Dec 9, 2025

  • Unusual circuits in the Intel 386's standard cell logic #Electronics #VintageTech #ComputerHistory

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    Nov 22, 2025

  • Solving the NYTimes Pips puzzle with a constraint solver #Puzzles #Algorithms #ConstraintProgramming

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    Oct 18, 2025

  • A Navajo weaving of an integrated circuit: the 555 timer #Electronics #Art #History

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    Sep 6, 2025

  • Why do people keep writing about the imaginary compound Cr2Gr2Te6? #Science #Research #Materials

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    Aug 18, 2025

  • Here be dragons: Preventing static damage, latchup, and metastability in the 386 #Electronics #VintageTech #ComputerHistory

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    Aug 17, 2025

  • A CT scanner reveals surprises inside the 386 processor's ceramic package #Hardware #RetroComputing #ReverseEngineering

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    Aug 9, 2025

  • How to reverse engineer an analog chip: the TDA7000 FM radio receiver #Electronics #ReverseEngineering #Radio

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    Aug 2, 2025

  • Reverse engineering the mysterious Up-Data Link Test Set from Apollo #RetroTech #Space #Engineering

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    Jul 21, 2025

  • Inside the Apollo "8-Ball" FDAI (Flight Director / Attitude Indicator) #SpaceExploration #VintageTech #Engineering

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    Jun 14, 2025

  • Reverse engineering the 386 processor's prefetch queue circuitry #ReverseEngineering #Hardware #CPU

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    May 10, 2025

  • The absurdly complicated circuitry for the 386 processor's registers #Hardware #RetroComputing #Electronics

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    May 1, 2025

  • A tricky Commodore PET repair: tracking down 6 1/2 bad chips #RetroComputing #Electronics #Repair

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    Apr 13, 2025

  • Notes on the Pentium's microcode circuitry #Hardware #RetroComputing #CPU

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    Mar 31, 2025