28 Feb
2003
28 Feb
'03
6:27 a.m.
I've looked recently inside an Anita MK IV
calculator and a doubt that you
would want to use that many tubes with heaters in that small a case...
Most thyratrons have filaments anyway. The only one that leaps to mind
that doesn't is the Americal 0A4G, and it is an octal. I am sure there
are some other obscure types, but my Tube Lore is buried somewhere. The IBM
favorites 2D21 and 5696, have filaments (they are miniatures).
For something as simple as a calculator, you could get away with a couple
hundred subminiature tubes, and still be able to plug it into a standard
wall outlet, and still have it small enough to sit on a desk. The KWR-37
crypto box from the 1950s has something like 500 submini dual triodes, yet
still is only a few cubic feet.
Of course, no one in there right mind would pay for such a calculator.
The thyratons it uses are cold cathode and quite
small. It also uses 1
Decatron tube...
Interesting. I would think there would be more Decatrons than that.
William Donzelli
aw288(a)osfn.org