On January 25, CyberPeasant wrote:
> Well, I thought I could supply a direct quote, but I can't find the
> reference now. But I did see this in some DEC spec sheet or manual.
> The number of allowed insert/remove cycles was a single digit
> decimal integer.
> 
> This caused me immediate fear, since I have been playing "Happy Pierre"
> with SIM swapping in other (wintel) machines.  

  I wouldn't worry too much about this...It's a sad fact that the
people least likely to know much about a particular piece of computer
hardware's capabilities is it's manufacturer.

> The possibility of problems becomes evident when one looks at a
> used SIM -- you can often *see* where the socket has dug into the
> little tin/gold pads on the pcboard of the SIM. I can believe that
> this could wear out.  The DEC pub. I saw seemed to be talking about
> the *sockets* wearing out, too [shudder]. SIM sockets are not exactly
> Zero-Insertion-Force. (Although you don't need a rubber mallet, 
> (I wear one on each foot) like I once used to insert a Unibus card in a VAX).

  Yes, you can see the little marks...but until it wears through the
gold or tin (which is thin), then through the copper (which isn't) you
won't have any problem.  Then, when you manage to wear through both of
them, you can just touch it up with a soldering iron in a few seconds.

  As for the sockets...cheap construction will come up to bite you
once in a while...Those all-plastic SIMM sockets with the locking
fingers really suck.  I like the ones with the metal spring
clips...they seem to last forever.  The basic answer here is to keep
spares around.


                              -Dave McGuire
                               mcguire@neurotica.com