Modern Tube computing

From: ben franchuk <bfranchuk_at_jetnet.ab.ca>
Date: Tue Jan 20 21:21:56 2004

William Donzelli wrote:
>> Have we forgotten John Zabolitzky's MUNIAC?
>
>
> No, but I haven't heard anything about it since the initial flurry of
> activity.
>
> I would also like to fool around with making a tube based computer, but
> frankly, I have enough projects to keep me busy. I have the tubes -
> probably about 2000 computer rated dual triodes of various flavors, but I
> am holding them until someone rolls a tubeless 709 up my driveway.

Great more computers with WHEELS.

> One thing I would find very interesting is making a tube computer (or
> rather just the building blocks) using technology from 1930. No modern
> stuff. Vintage tubes (24s, 27s, and the like), vintage sockets, vintage
> caps and resistors, and so forth. It might be fun to see if even basic
> logic functions could be made reasonably. Of course, a full computer
> (imagine racks and racks of black wrinkle chassis with glowing tubes
> behind) is silly for many reasons - size (even a serial machine would have
> a big footprint), and parts availability (the tubes are not so bad, it is
> everthing else, like *good* *reliable* vintage caps, as well as the iron).
> And the radio people would probably hang you for buying up all these
> parts.

Hey, I saw just the computer you were thinking about on a old STAR TREK
re-run: CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER.

> William Donzelli
> aw288_at_osfn.org

Vintage TUBE stuff is the latest fad of PRO-AUDIO, so that stuff is all
dried up. You can't even get tubes from the 1940's for example: New Old
Stock 6SN7 $39 ... New sov-tech 6SN7 $9.
Ben.
Received on Tue Jan 20 2004 - 21:21:56 GMT