17 Feb
2010
17 Feb
'10
1:16 a.m.
Hi,
Speaking of tubes, television variety or otherwise, does anyone know
if there are any tube-based computers, large or small, still in
existence?
I saw parts of one a few years ago at the Computer History Museum in
Silicon Valley but none that have approached a 'working' unit or
sub-unit!
Murray--
18 Feb
18 Feb
2:30 a.m.
?Speaking of tubes, television variety or otherwise,
does anyone know
if there are any tube-based computers, large or small, still in
existence?
I saw parts of one a few years ago at the Computer History Museum in
Silicon Valley but none that have approached a 'working' unit or
sub-unit!
Paul Pierce in Portland Oregon has a IBM 709. I think it is complete
but hasn't run in decades. In 1989 or 1990 it was stored in a
warehouse which we rented part of. Now he has his own building.
http://www.piercefuller.com/collect/index.html
Paxton Hoag
Astoria, OR
USA
8:28 a.m.
I've visited Paul's collection fairly recently and in addition to the 709, which
is complete, he has several machines of that vintage.
Then there's Roger Holmes with his ICT 1301. He's posted links to YouTube videos
of it on this list in just the past week or two -- Ian
________________________________________
From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of
Paxton Hoag [innfoclassics at gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 2:30 AM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: Re: Tubes & Computers of Olden Days
Speaking of tubes, television variety or otherwise,
does anyone know
if there are any tube-based computers, large or small, still in
existence?
I saw parts of one a few years ago at the Computer History Museum in
Silicon Valley but none that have approached a 'working' unit or
sub-unit!
Paul Pierce in Portland Oregon has a IBM 709. I think it is complete
but hasn't run in decades. In 1989 or 1990 it was stored in a
warehouse which we rented part of. Now he has his own building.
http://www.piercefuller.com/collect/index.html
Paxton Hoag
Astoria, OR
USA
9:01 a.m.
?Speaking of tubes, television variety or otherwise,
does anyone know
if there are any tube-based computers, large or small, still in
existence?
I saw parts of one a few years ago at the Computer History Museum in
Silicon Valley but none that have approached a 'working' unit or
sub-unit!
I have never done an accurate study, but I think the count is
somewhere around 25 tube computers still around in this world. I do
not think any in the US are running, but I think there may be a
running machine in the UK.
The chances of more tube computers coming out of the woodwork is very,
very slim, but it has happened in the past few years. It is actually
reasonable to think that someone could have an IBM 650 or Bendix G-15
tucked away in a basement or garage.
--
Will
9:25 a.m.
On Thu, 18 Feb 2010, William Donzelli wrote:
The chances of more tube computers coming out of the woodwork is very,
very slim, but it has happened in the past few years. It is actually
reasonable to think that someone could have an IBM 650 or Bendix G-15
tucked away in a basement or garage.
Here's one that last I heard was in service with the RAF:
http://199.254.199.10/BehindTheScenes/lockheed.html
The company that owned it was bankrupted by the training market downturn
after 9/11. It was sold in 2003.
g.
--
Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007
http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.
http://www.simpits.org/geneb - The Me-109F/X Project
ScarletDME - The red hot Data Management Environment
A Multi-Value database for the masses, not the classes.
http://www.scarletdme.org - Get it _today_!
7:16 p.m.
Gene Buckle wrote:
On Thu, 18 Feb 2010, William Donzelli wrote:
I'm pretty sure Colossus is running again at Bletchley Park. I only
wish I could get over there to see it in person. There are some youtube
videos available.
Later,
Charlie C.
The chances of more tube computers coming out of the woodwork is very,
very slim, but it has happened in the past few years. It is actually
reasonable to think that someone could have an IBM 650 or Bendix G-15
tucked away in a basement or garage.
Here's one that last I heard was in service with the RAF:
http://199.254.199.10/BehindTheScenes/lockheed.html
The company that owned it was bankrupted by the training market downturn
after 9/11. It was sold in 2003.
g.
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9:23 a.m.
Murray McCullough wrote:
Speaking of tubes, television variety or otherwise, does anyone know
if there are any tube-based computers, large or small, still in
existence?
I saw parts of one a few years ago at the Computer History Museum in
Silicon Valley but none that have approached a 'working' unit or
sub-unit!
I should think it would well be possible to get those remaining accumulators
from ENIAC working again in some sort of
counter/display mode. The Smithsonian
has a couple I believe, does the CHM have any
of them?
With that said, I also understand the priority - particularly of the
Smithsonian - is presumably to preserve them in original condition rather than
repair/muck-around with them.
Apologies to those who have heard me mention them here too often, but to (help)
satisfy my interest in tube-digital equipment I maintain some old tube-based
frequency counters (~100 tubes).
20 Feb
20 Feb
1:32 a.m.
On Wed, 17 Feb 2010 04:16:55 -0500
Murray McCullough <c.murray.mccullough at gmail.com> wrote:
Speaking of tubes, television variety or otherwise,
does anyone know
if there are any tube-based computers, large or small, still in
existence?
There is a Zuse Z22 from 1956 still operating at the ZKM:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z22
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XulGCz1s1y8
http://www.zkm.de/algorithmische-revolution/index.php?module=pagemaster&…
--
tsch??,
Jochen
Homepage: http://www.unixag-kl.fh-kl.de/~jkunz/
5:13 a.m.
I believe that there is at least one, possibly more, Royal
McBee/Librascope/General Precision LGP-30 computers still running today.
The University of Stuttgart in Germany has a nice video of their
operational LGP-30 up at YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WaYYNUCWMY
21 Feb
21 Feb
8:12 a.m.
Also at the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park, the
Harwell WITCH is currently being restored. See
http://www.tnmoc.org/126/section.aspx/120
Only a couple of tubes - mainly for the power supply. It is a decimal
machine and uses dekatrons.
Simon
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Well, an engineer is not concerned with the truth; that is left to
philosophers and theologians: the prime concern of an engineer is
the utility of the final product."
Lectures on the Electrical Properties of Materials, L.Solymar, D.Walsh
8:22 a.m.
On 21 Feb 2010 at 16:12, Simon Fryer wrote:
Also at the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley
Park, the
Harwell WITCH is currently being restored. See
http://www.tnmoc.org/126/section.aspx/120
Only a couple of tubes - mainly for the power supply. It is a decimal
machine and uses dekatrons.
Isn't there a Univac SS80 in Germany in private hands? The guy used
to have a web site, but I can't find it. Magnetic core logic, but
the clock driver uses a bunch of 4X150s and ISTR that the printer
uses thyratrons. It was operational.
If anything, the Univac Solid States are more unusual than vacuum-
tube logic machines.
--Chuck
10:20 a.m.
On Feb 21, 2010, at 11:22 AM, Chuck Guzis wrote:
Isn't there a Univac SS80 in Germany in private
hands? The guy used
to have a web site, but I can't find it. Magnetic core logic, but
the clock driver uses a bunch of 4X150s and ISTR that the printer
uses thyratrons. It was operational.
4X150s as clock drivers?!!
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL
10:31 a.m.
On 21 Feb 2010 at 13:20, Dave McGuire wrote:
On Feb 21, 2010, at 11:22 AM, Chuck Guzis wrote:
Yup, 6 of them, I seem to recall. In the type of logic used by the
SS machines, it's the clock that furnishes all of the power for
logic. I think the 4X150s are driven by 6146s.
There are some good SS docs on bitsavers if you're curious about the
machine. In the days of vacuum-tube systems, it was noted for its
reliability. Transistor logic eventually rendered the technology
obsolote.
--Chuck
Isn't there a Univac SS80 in Germany in
private hands? The guy used
to have a web site, but I can't find it. Magnetic core logic, but
the clock driver uses a bunch of 4X150s and ISTR that the printer
uses thyratrons. It was operational.
4X150s as clock drivers?!!
11:05 a.m.
On Feb 21, 2010, at 1:31 PM, Chuck Guzis wrote:
Yup, 6 of them, I seem to recall. In the type of logic used by the
SS machines, it's the clock that furnishes all of the power for
logic.
Wow, a very interesting design.
Isn't there a Univac SS80 in Germany in private
hands? The guy used
to have a web site, but I can't find it. Magnetic core logic, but
the clock driver uses a bunch of 4X150s and ISTR that the printer
uses thyratrons. It was operational.
4X150s as clock drivers?!! I think the 4X150s are driven by 6146s.
...both of which I used as a kid as ham-band output stages! Scary!
There are some good SS docs on bitsavers if you're
curious about the
machine. In the days of vacuum-tube systems, it was noted for its
reliability. Transistor logic eventually rendered the technology
obsolote.
I'll look there for schematics.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL
22 Feb
22 Feb
4:44 a.m.
John Bohne r has both a Univac-3 and an LGP 30 (and a half). Neither
run right now, but were "decomissioned" and collected complete from the
owners.
Univac3 photos are linked to at end of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNIVAC_III
I'd rather not have my web site in the google crawl of this article, so
apologize for the extra step. U3 has tube tape drives, but was a mix of
transistor, and tubes.
Jim
On 2/17/2010 1:16 AM, Murray McCullough wrote:
Hi,
Speaking of tubes, television variety or otherwise, does anyone know
if there are any tube-based computers, large or small, still in
existence?
I saw parts of one a few years ago at the Computer History Museum in
Silicon Valley but none that have approached a 'working' unit or
sub-unit!
Murray--
5369
days inactive
5374
days old
14 comments
13 participants
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jkunz＠unixag-kl.fh-kl.de -
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