On Sun, 15 Aug 1999 CLASSICCMP_at_trailing-edge.com wrote:
> Eric Smith wrote:
> >William Donzelli <aw288_at_osfn.org> wrote:
> >> The lights ("blinkenlights") on some early machines (and even a few not
> >> so early machines) were tiny tubes, as well. A bit more simple than a CRT...
> >
> >Yes, but those weren't particularly "bizarre". They were just common
> >incandescent bulbs.
>
> I've seen scientific and computer equipment from the 60's and 70's using
> a variety of "tubes" as indicator devices, everything from simple neon
> bulbs to decatron counters and storage CRT's.
>
> One might argue that a neon bulb or a decatron isn't properly a "tube"
> (they certainly aren't "valves" because they don't have a control grid
> like a triode), but they are non-linear devices that are capable of
> storing (and displaying) state information and performing simple logic
> functions.
>
> Question for the UKer's: is a tube rectifier (no control grid, just
> an anode and a cathode) called a "valve"?
Well, it functions like a check valve.
> Is a voltage regulator tube (like
> the venerable OA2) called a "valve"?
I cannot think of a good analogy for that one, unless it would be a
pressure relief valve.
- don
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Received on Sun Aug 15 1999 - 17:28:28 BST