Emulators of Classic Computers

From: William Maddox <wmaddox_at_pacbell.net>
Date: Wed Jan 21 06:38:45 2004

> > But with TUBE computers you just fix the broken part.:)
>
> Oh really? :-) When was the last time that you saw someone pop open a
> tube and replace or repair an open filament, repair a short between
> elements or restore the vacuum in a gassy tube, etc., and then put the
> tube back into use?

I make no claims about the practicality of doing this for the small tubes
used in computers, but it used to be common to rebuild CRTs for TVs.
The setup for doing it was suitable for a small shop -- I recall TV service
oriented magazines containing ads for equipment to get into the rebuilding
business. I believe the point was to salvage the expensive glass bottle,
replacingthe entire electron gun. You removed the end of the neck, and
"welded" on a new one, then pumped the tube back down and sealed it
off.

--Bill
Received on Wed Jan 21 2004 - 06:38:45 GMT