[cctalk] Re: First Personal Computer

On Tue, May 28, 2024 at 6:06 PM ben <bfranchuk(a)jetnet.ab.ca> wrote: A radio that runs off gas rather than plugging into the electricity mains. Let me explain. The main use for either gas or electriciy in UK homes until the mid 1920s was heating (including cooking) and light. Both energy sources could easily be used for that. But then a large number of electric appliances using motors started to appear, along with other things, like radios that ran off the electricity mains (rather than a dry battery for the HT supply (B+) and a single-cell lead acid accumulator for the valve filaments). The gas supply companies were worried they would lose business as a result and designed gas powered version of all the mains electrical devices. One classis was the table fan which had a small Stirling-type hot air engine to turn the blades. There was of course a little gas burner to run the engine. The only problem was the heat of the flame rather negated the cooling effect of the fan. Anyway, the gas radio. This was a wooden floor-standing console cabinet looking like most other radios of the time. The bit I repaired (for a museum, where I understood it would be run off a normal electrical power supply for obvious reasons) was the radio which was a normal-for-the time 3 or 4 valve (tube) set. There was a speaker in the cabinet too. At the bottom was the power supply. This consisted of a gas burner with a thermopile (array of thermocouple junctions) on top to provide the valve filament and HT voltages. There was no flue. The combustion products were simply vented into the room, And yes the gas burner was inside the wooden console cabinet, so it was something of a fire risk to be polite about it. AFAIK they were never sold to the public, thankfully. -tony